The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-08-08
AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.
Culture of Wheat.

Culture of Wheat.
| In an essay before the Lancaster, Pa.
County Agricultural Society, Mr.. J. G.
Linville read very interesting article
told some plain truths. He begins with
the idea that forkfuls of manure flung
around loosely in chunks is wrong. OF
course, if very heavy coat is applied it
does not require SO nice spreading to
make it cover the ground. If your soil
is rich it is better to apply light coat
and make it reach further. Four loads
to the acre, well spread, I'll benefit the
crop as much as five or six loads thrown
around in forkfuls, as is too often done.
Having your manure out, the next thing
is to plough it under. It makes little
difference whether it is ploughed in as
soon as spread, or left on the surface q
month or more. Much has been written
by theorists about the escape of am
monia. The fact is, there is, rs general
rule, but little free ammonia in barnyard
manure when hauled to the field, and if
there was it would take flight Immediate
| ly when spread, even before it could be
| ploughed down. A good way to prevent
| the loss of ammonia carbonate of am
| monia) is to have quantity of land plas-
ter (sulphate of lime on hand, and APP
ply some of it to the floors of your
stables every time you clean them out.
This is said to {" fl" the ammonia. That
is, the sulphuric acid leaves it's hold of
the lime and seizes the ammonia, form
ing carbonate of ammonia, which is nom
volatile. To prove that this is not mere
theory get some pulverized plaster, and
when you clean your horse stable on o
hot day, and the air is SO redolent of
hartshorn that you are almost strangled,
sow quart of plaster in each stall and
in five minutes the pungent odor will
have gone. I once ploughed field COW
cred with manure in the early part of
August, with the exception Of about an
acre. This lay bleaching and roasting
in the sun for about a month plenti-
full crop of weeds grew up through it,
and it was turned down in the beginning
of September and produced by far the
best wheat in the field. It may be truly
said that one experiment. does not prove
anything, but there can be no question
but strawy manure is benefited by ex-
posure to the sun. At the same time the
soil is improved by the mulch. As
general rule, early ploughing is the best;
but there are so many exceptions to the
rule that it cannot be insisted on. When
you are ready and the ground ina proper
state of moisture go to work and plough,
and pay no regard to the signs. The first
thing in the preparation of the soil for
wheat or any other crop is to have it we'll
ploughed. IF this is not thoroughly done
no amount of after cultivation will rem
edy the evil. Bad and careless ploughing
is at the root of more slovenly farming
than ANYTHING else In order to break
the ground thoroughly we must have
good ploughs. There are not any better
adapted to our soils and suited to our
wants than are made near home. have
long tried to get steel plough that
would "fi1l the biIl,' but am now con-
vinced that chilled cast iron mould will
clean as well and last much longer than
steel one. Iaa regari te the much
vexed question of deep or shallow
ploughing think the almost unanimous
voice of practical farmers is in favor of
shallow or medium ploughing. When
say shallow ploughing do not mean the
skinning process practiced in some parts
of the South. The Commissioner of
Agriculture of the State of Georgia re-
ports the average depth Of ploughing in
| that state to be one inch. Farmers in
the sunny South must trust to Provi-
dence more than we. It has not yet been
proven that foot in depth is better than
six or eight inches, and as long as the
| matter remains in doubt we will plough
| shallow or medium and save our teams.
| Having come to grief two or three times
| by cultivating the ground too much when
| in dusty condition, / hardly know what
to say about its final preparation. I
think there is not much danger of culti-
waiting too much when the ground is
moist. A safe rule is, when the ground
is dry roll much and harrow little when
the ground is moist and solid, harrow
much and roll little. The soil ought not
to be disturbed when very wet or very
dry, but we-have no control of the wealth
er and must shape our work accordingly.
When the ground is not hard there is no
/ better cultiyator than the common tooth
or spike harrow. The Thomas smooth
ing harrow is an excellent implement for
| finishing, but will not supersede the com
mon harrow in hard, stubborn ground.
| IF the soil is very hard it will require
something of the shovel harrow or hoe
harrow species to prepare the seed bed.
A field in good order for sowing presents
| q firm bottom, a mellow surface to the
| depth of two or three inches, and nice
even face Have the ground properly
prepared between the 10Th of September
and the 9Th of October (don't wait on
the moon) take your drill-the Farm
ers Friend" and Buckeye" are good
machines and drill in your wheat to the
depth of one and half inches, and at
the rate of one and half to two bushels
per acre. If the fall is favorable and the
winter not too severe, and the spring
neither too wet nor too dry /; if tornado,
nor hail, nor mildew, nor rust destroy it !;
if midge, nor Hessian fly, nor other of
insects that prey upon wheat molest not
| the crop, you may harvest a crop of from
fifteen to forty bushels per acre. One,
or more Of these calamities will proba-
| bly, come, and the balance will be on the
| wrong side Of the account.
Postmaster General Key, accompanied
by his wife aud two daughters, will leave
Washington to-day for New York city,
where they will remain few days, and
thence proceed to various points in New
England on tour of pleasure. They
intend to make short stay in Rhode Is
land, and will probably spend week in
the White Mountains.
Robert G. Pillow, son of the late Gem:
eral Gideon J. Pillow, while working on
| his plantation, in Arkansas, was bitten by
cotton-mouth snake. Heat once drank
II