Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1879-11-01
PHERDSTOWN JEFFERSON COUNTY, VIRGINIA. SATURDAY, NY 1917
HOW TO MAKE WHEAT.

.
and very successful farmer, has writ
ten the following article, under the
above caption, to the Baltimore .7meri-
can Farmer, for publication, and to
which we invite careful perusal by the
farmers of this county -
Ten, twenty, thirty aud forty bushels
OF wheat, may be, and have CtIen been
! made, on one acre of ground. Why Is
il that one farmer makes only FIVE bush
els OF wheat on an acre, while another
makes forty7 The one has brains and
uses ,henl-the other depends on 1.-The
mercy OF chance"
Benjamin Fitzhugh, of Frederick
city, says that the Lawson Brothers, nv
ing near Urbana, in Montgomery coun-
ty, made two years ago ffty-two bushels
of wheat per acre on eight-dollar land.
Mr.. Philip Ritz, living near Wslis-
Walla, Washington Territory, informed
me that one OF his neighbors claims TO
have made one hundred bushels OF
prime wheat on an acre. Senator Nor
ton went TO see this man and obtained
sample Of his wheat. Forty to sixty
bushels is often made in Oregon.
But the farmer who expects TO make
twenty or thirty or forty bushels on an
acre OF poor land, badly farmed, will be
terribly disappointed. To make good
crop of wheat, we must have good land,
in good order, sown at the proper time,
in the proper way, aud properly har-
vested
We mix barn.yard or hog yard ma
nure, or other fertilizers, 10 make the
wheat plant grow. On poor land, the
stalk is too small, two light Il the
growth is too luxuriant, the wheat may
lodge, which hinders the growth and
development of the grain. But when
on good land, q small quantity Of ma
nure acts'fnely on wheat crop, which
natures early on manured land.
"Whcm there is no phosphoric acid
in the soil, wheat will not grow, says
Liebg. There is twenty-six pounds OF
phosphoric acid in twenty-five bushels
Of wheat. If the phosporic acid Of a
soil has been exhausted by repeated
crops, or if that quality Of soluble phos,
phoric acid cannot be furnished by the
soil, twenty-five bushels Of wheat eau
no, be made on that acre. Phosphor!c
acid is furnished most certainly by
bones of animals. 1t is claimed that IT
is present in the South Carolina rock
also. Our experience is that those who
use phosphates make wheat-those that
do not use phosphates make little Or 10
wheat.
If we had some means of strengthen
ing the wheat stalk, so that the whea.
would stand up, the heads would fill
better, the grains would be plumper aud
more perfect. Liebig says that ''solu-
BILE siIicate of potash imparts strength
to the growing crop" 1t is claimed
that soluble silicate of potash exists in
the mari of Calvert county, in Mary
land, and in some mari from New Jer-
sry.
If the farmer wants TO make twenty,
thirty, or forty bushels of wheat to the
acre, he must have rich land. Land is
made rich by barD-yard or hogyard ma
nure, or by clover. Lime will increase
the crop of wheat and OF all cereals and
grass crops likewise, on all soils, rich
and poor. think land cannot he made
rich wiihOm lime.
The elements Of fertility may he in
soil in an iusoluble conditions therefore,
the soil will be unproductiye. The pro
ductiyenoss OF soil is in proportion 10
the solublity OF its fertllizing materials.
Liebig saws: "Steel wire immersed III
nitric acid is not oxidized; steel wire i'm
mersed in sulphuric acid is not oXidlzed;
but steel wire immersed in equal parts
of nitric and sulphuric acid is rapidly
oxidized.' The two acids combined
have a power which singly they do not
possess. Lime, applied 10 soil, may
decompose one ingredient, and this de
composition may liberate n number of
chemical agents, which will give energy
10 the growth and development Of all
plants. "a little leaven leayereth the
whole lump"
To make forty or fifty bushels Of
wheat per acre, the farmer must have
rich land, or brains enough TO make
poor land rich Wheat ripens earlier
on manured land; but too much manure
may Le injurious, by causing too lux
uriant growth.
But hen we have a sufficient growth
of stalk we need soluble phosphUric acid
TO fiji the head with nice, plump grains.
The suresi, cheapest, most reliable mode
Of securing pbosphoric acid to soil is
by the use OF Underground bones
bones dissolved in sulphur:c acid. The
value of all fertilizers is in proportion 10
their solubility. The beat Of the atmos-
phere and the moisture will dissolve the
raw bone in time for a crop. If there
is thirty seven per cent. of pbosphoric
acid in one hundred pounds Of bones in
a soluble condition, one hundred pounds
of bones on an acre, regularly dlstrlbu
ted, would be more than enough 10
make twenty five bushels OF wheat. II
six hundred pounds per acre were used,
and only twenty-five bushels o. wheat
were made, the residue of the pbos-
phoric acid in the soil would be SO much
dead capital.
Some Of our farmers nse one hundred
aud fifty pounds OF Underground bones,
Que bushel o. plaster and one busbel of
salt, mixed, TO an acre, drilled in with
the wheat
Some Of our farmers use one hundred
and fifty pounds Of ground bones, one
hundred pounds Of Peruvian guano, one
hn.b.J of ,laetor and ona huehel oE ssit