Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-08-24
DRILLING WHEAT

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well satisfied that niue.tenths of the
farmers drill their wheat too deep.
This conclusion has been arrived at
after close observation and long expe.
riencc. In lSi7 | was one of a com.
pany formed for tho purpose Of mann.
featuring wheat drills at Ercldoun,
Chester county, Pa. At that time il
was difficult matter to get the farms to
believe that there was any great ad.
vantage in drilling in wheat, and am
now sure that there was no advantage
in it when drilled very deep. Some.
times, yes often, il was necessary to
put in half field for farmer, while
he would have the other half on the
field sowed by hand and narrowed in.
The drill vas then to be left with the
farmer until after harvest, aud if the
drilled wheat proved to be the best
then he vas to buy the drill at a Ger.
tain price. AT that time it was be-
lieved by many of us that il was neces.
sary to drill the wheat deep, in order
to have il take a good hold of the
soil, so that the irosts of Spring would
not heave il out. | think right here
lies the greatest mistake Of all.
! well remember that in 1S47 or
ls4S, | took drill to Henry Mongel's
farm, in Conestoga Valley, Bcrks Co,
to try Us above mentioned. drilled
one.half ofa large field they sowed and
narrowed in the other half drilled
the wheat deep as | thought at that
time that it must be deep to bold its
own through the action Of the Spring
irosts The test was failure. The
narrowed wheat was the best, and the
drill was not sold. This began to mako
things look gloomy enough for us, as
we had put every cent we were worth
in the business Now the question
arose as to the cause of the failure
None OF us could tell just why, then.
have generally been a close observer
Of things and had been amongst the
farmers a good deal, and kept a close
watch Of the wheat fields, and | noticed
that in every-case at the ends of the
field where the soil was tramped fine
and solid by the horses in TURNING,
the wheat was the best. Now, why
was this SOP In the Fall, at seeding
time, ! kept close watch of this thing,
aud soon found that the drill was not
only doing its best work on the head
lands, but was putting the wheat in
very shallow. Why should shallow
drilling be the best? Twill try, in my
own plain way, to give my views on il.
You may drill ia wheat too deep to
germinaie at oil put it in n little shal.
lower and il may grow, but with very
little vigor put it in still little shall.
lower aud you will find that it will
grow more vigorously. Continue on
at this until you have some covered
barley one.haii to one inch deep, and
You will find that this shallow plant
ing will grow with more vigor than
any of the rest, provided always that
the soil be moist and solid. Wheat
will form two sets of roots. Suppose
you drill your wheat pretty deep. 1T
will come up but feebly, forming one
set of roots at the grain, another set at
the surface; your wheat may grow
and look pretty well in the Fall, If it
prove to be moist weather, but wait
until freezing weather in March comes
on, and tbawing in daytime. Suppose
you get rain sufficient to saturate the
surface soil, and at night get one OF
those sudden freezes, as we do often
have in March. The ground will be
frozen tight to the wheat at the sur.
face, and in raising will snap the slend.
or stem between the two sets of roots.
and if this freezing and thawing should
continue you will lose good deal of
your wheat. have seen wheat in
rich, black soil, in Wayne Co, Ohio. so
badly injured in this way that although
looking pretty well 10 early Spring,
when the dry winds and weather
would come on it seemed TO fade, and
upon examination it was found TO be
so loose that it could be brushed away
with the hand. have heard farmers
say that the worms had cut off their
wheat, when | was well satisfied that
the frost had done the work. So well
am | satisfied of the advantages Of
having the soil made fine and solid for
wheat, that | have come to value a
good, heavy, but small roller above
every other implement for that pur.
pose. | would as soon think OF doing
without a harrow as | would without
a roller ! think that making the soil
solid for wheat is better, for at least
two reasons: Your drill will not put
the wheat IN so deep, and it will keep
moist enough whore the grains lie to
to keep it growing,-Geo Worral Lee,
in the Ohio Farmer.