The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1882-08-18
EArCULrURE.
PREPARATION OF THE LAND-APPLICA-
TIoN OF FERrIIIZERs

Messrs Editors American Farmer: After
waiting long time before complying with
the request made by your Mr.. William Bl
Sands, that should write au article fo
your paper respecting my mode Of wheat
culture, have this aftern,)n Gust after
being stopped from cutting wheat BY heavy
thunder and r,in storn). conclulsd to defer
the mttter NJ bns,r, bit give y,u my plan
In as brief an article as p,ssbl. to cover
the ground, and if you think it to, lony or
oil too little intcres; for public ,tion, please
consign it to tho waste basket and I will
tax no offence.
Preparation of the laudis the first in or.
der. This should be done when fa How is
being prepared, as early in the summer as
possible. l prefer having my land,all thor
oughly plowed, the sod being uniformly in
verted and at as great depth as an Oliver
Chilled Plow (Which prefer) or any other
good plow can bury it, provided the subsoil
is not brought to tn, slrf,c.. After blow.
ing, which should BE- done AS early in Au
gust a. possible, [ use Il heavy roller and
Acme harrow to Gil up all interstices and
assist ii settling the earth aud mixing it
as comp'ct and fiue as possible This thor,
oush compactncss aud pulvcriz ,tion regard
the great essential in the preparation of land
for wheat. Inow apply my barn.yarI ma.
nure and beforegrass starts to grow Gas pro-
pose keeping my seed bed free from eithe r
grass or weeds) | have spring tooth harrow
run over the ground, which mikes the u,an =
ure with tho surf,c, eirth aud destroys the
young grass and weeds and keeps the ground
in con ,i,ion to tcceivc and retain the at.
mospheric influences. After this treatment
l can generally disp,ns, with further cult.
vltion until just before seeding whca, at
which time have tn, spriug tooth harrow,
the Thrnts sm1o.hin5 h,rrow anl tho
roller use" to put the seed bed in as fnc
and solid condition as possible I prefer
prec .ding my drill with the roller, and imme.
diately after drilling roll asln. This latter
process I regard very important, although
many good farmers think differently My
reason for adopting the plan OF rolling
after the drill is that the surface of the seed
bed may by Us nearly as possible ofthe same
degree OF compactncss as that portion Of the
seed bed imDe lia'ely unle: the freshly
deposited grain. My experience with the
process is, that have no winter sillinr of
wheat, my wheat invariably making such
vigorous root growth in compact soil that it is
not thrhwn out ofthe ground. Oh the contra.
ry, IL was not to roll after seeding (unless
rain should fall to settle the ground very
soon thrceafter), the very fine porous earth
loosened up by the tine ofthe drill would b,
the only covering Of tn; wheat, and would
necessarily be much more c,n,enial to til @
young delicate rootlets than the hards r
and more compact soil Immediately under
the point the tine where the grain is
deposited The result Of this last let alone
processis, that the surface becomes one a,,s 8
of ots, and the wheat m,y Look cqu,lly az
we'll On the fallow as upon the land where
the roller had been used. (thlt is, provided
the surface soil has fertility sufficient to
keep tho whea. IN vigorous growth until
overtaken by freezing weather, and it is at
this point the trouble beyins); but the un
rolled wheat has no depth Of root, it lays
upon the surface feeding upon the corgenial
loose soil until overtaken by winter, and then
remains quiesceut until favorable weather
for its growth. When this period arrives
the wheat makes an effort to find more food.
the freezing and thawing process has broken
Oft the young feeders, and it is struggle
for fresh food until the weather becomes
permanently settled. BY this time the fly
makes its appearance and now begins again
new battle for life with imp,ired con stitu-
tiou anI all hacluse OF not applying the
proper remedy Immediately after seeding.
While living in Blltimore county tested
this matter thoroughly. I had a neiyhbor
who prepared his land (Which was of the
same character ofsoil as my own) in the most
perfect manner, the only difference in the
cultivation was he would not roll after seed
ing and did. His crop for several years
10 succession was % bushels per acre; mine
80. He a ttributed the difference to the kind
ofwheat aud bought his seed of me- The
difference in yield per acre continued the
same. He would not roll after seeding
because he considered the lose ear b the
tine drew mp between the rows of wheat
was grand thing to recov the wheat roots