Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-10-06
WHEAT CULTIVATION.
BY V. NJ. METCALFE.

10 the Standard.
1t is getting rather late in the season
for an article on this subject to do much
good, as in many sections of the coun-
try farmers are about through seeding
wheat. Yet l am urged by many of
my friends to give them my experience
as well as observation. l do SO with
the hope that it may be OF some SER
vice.
There is no crop grown in our coun-
try Of more Importance than wheat,
and yet there is no crop grown with so
little care and attention. We have Of
ten seen crop sown on corn land and
scratched in with dull pillow or brush
ed in with thorn bush or scratched
in with dull harrow. And you have
heard this same farmer complain about
the uncertainty of the wheat crop, and
declare that it was not worth raising.
No wonder except it is that such far
mers raise any wheat at all. We have
no excuse for raising poor crop of
wheat, especially in the Middle States.
| might give you many causes for fail,
ure, but this is not our purpose at pres.
ent, only to remark that two of the
most common causes of failure are pov.
erty Of the land and badly prepared
land.
| shall now give you the surest plan
to raise good paying crop:
First, be sure and not over crop
yourself You should not put in more
than you can thoroughly prepare the
soil for. The best farmers usually fall
low (not too deep their clover fields
in July or early in August, turning un-
der good clover sod. They then har-
row the ground several times before
sowing, never letting hard crust form
on the surface. If your land is rich
nothing more is needed until after you
sow your wheat. But if it is poor you
had better haul out all the stable ma.
nure you have or can get and scatter
evenly over the surface just before har>
rowing the last time. Never plow un>
der manure for wheat, as the roots are
near the surface and will feed more
readily upon it if not too deep.
If you have not enough stable ma.
nure then buy the best commercial
bone fertilizer you can get. But |
would not advise farmers to spend toe
much money for commercial fertilizers
until they experiment with them and
learn how to use them and on the kind
of ground best adapted for them. Thai
they pay on some kinds Of soil wher
properly used can not be questioned
but there are many mistakes
1t does not pay usually to follow
wheat after corn, and yet this is the
usual custom in many sections. If q
good crop of clover or any other greer
stuff has been turned under the previ
Gus year, before putting in corn, anC
your land is full of organic or vegeta
BILE matter, then a good wheat crol
may reasonably be expected afte
corn if the land is properly prepared
The best preparation | have ever know
for corn land is not to cut up the corr
but to thoroughly plow with double
shovels the land both ways. Thel
drill the wheat Elm the standing corr
with a one horse drill. But if yol
have no drill SOW broadcast and plov
in with double shovels. If the winte
is mild broadcast sowing will sometime
do as well as if drilled, especially
sown early and not put in too deer
But usually you save seed and put
in uniform depth if sOwn with drill
If you cut up your corn do not ploN
very deep, and l have always found /
best to plow with double shOvels unles
the ground is very grassy. Then
plow with one or two hoHes, not dee
but harrow the ground two or thre
times until l get it thoroughly pulvel
lied. There is no implement that pay
50 well on the farm as the good harrow
and know of very few farmers thu
have good ones--the old straight toot
harrow is hard on the team and dot
poor work.