Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1888-05-24

1us WRITER uoes not CONSIDER llal
for any length of time during year
has the price of wheat been so low as
to Justify a universal abandonment OF
its production.
During certain seasons, generally
that following harvest, the value o:
grain is lowest, partly on accounted
the uncertainty of the size of the
worlds crop, because the necessities Of
many compel them to sell at any
price, and last but not least, the &C
tion of spectators. But farmer pro-
vided with such granaries as should
be found on a well managed estate.
can hold his crop for better figure.
In every neighborhood the husband
man taking some extra pains with his
grain, can find market at an advance
by selling in smaller quantities for
seed wheat, an operation requiring
some labor, but often making up for
the deficiency on the then low mar
ket value.
All farmers will admit, that to OBJ
tain straw for bedding and fertilizing
purposes, to set land to grass and
keep up rotation Of crops 50 necessary
to succes sfu' agriculture, grain of some
kind must be produced, and the ques-
tion arises which of the grain shall it
be.
Oats and rye can te considered the
only rivals of wheat, and it is only on
some soils and climate that the former
can be produced with any ce. tainty
at all, while it ever has the disadvan-
tage of being seeded in the spring
press of work. its rapid growth i'm
poverishing the soil, failing on poor
land and falling down on rich.
Tue general substitution of rye for
wheat would depress the price of the
former, and while it would never be
used as the "statf of life, the purpose
to which it is put is of questionable
value to the public, producing an item
for taxation, and contributing largely
toward filing an overfiowing treasu-
ry.
But wheat IS the "sta T of life," al
most the world over, and into coun-
tries where it is not raised or is pro-
duced in insufficient quantities, is i'm
ported in the Grain or as -four, and
the demand for il rol's from continent
10 continent.
We would all raise imothy hay
and nothing else if it were possible,
but who has a farm of all meadow
land, which will hold grass perpetu-
ally and into which weeds and briars
never creep? 1t should not then be
so much question for farmers at
what price they should give up the
production Of wheat, but rather how
they can improve the quantity and
quality of the grain; what fertilizer
acts best; the analysis of the SOIL the
best producing varieties of the species,
and the mode of seeding and market
ing.
The ground for wheat should be
prepared with as much care as for any
other farm crop. The soil should be
thoroughly pulverized before seeding,
as the rootlers of the plant can never
gather the plant food absolutely es.
sen,ial for the formation Of perfect
grain.
We sometimes see a poor crop on
rich land and good one on poor land.
the difference due to preparation be-
fore seeding.
Many persons estimate the cost Of
an acre of wheat at Sl2; soifwe raise
only IL bushels per acre, these cost
81 per bushel; but if we have "A BUSH
els, the cost is but 80 cents a bushel.
The cost to poor or lazy farmer to
produce bushel of wheat is twice
as great as to an industrious and
intelligent one.
\ good fertilizer can be bought or
made for $50 a ton, and using Sc
pounds to an acre would add about
81 per acre 20 cost OF crop, Iut even
400 pounds would be advisable, and
the difference woull be more than
made up, in quantity and quality oi
grain and straw, TO say nothing Of the
benefit to the succeeding stand oI
grass.
Plants feed ve-y much as animals
DO; the former receive their aourish
meut through the leaves, roots and
bark, the latter through the agency
OF the stomach. To fatten an OK
feed containing elements necessary
tor the production Of fat, muscle
bore and hair must be given in propa
quantities. and to make good wheat
all the elements found in that plant
except those gathered from the ali
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