The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-06-19
AT WHAT PRICE DOES WHEAT
GROWING CEASE TO BE
.'" PROFITABLE?t1 .
Tread before the Farmers Meeting at Pikesville,
Md, by VIM. Fell Johnson.l ,Hf{ b.


Tread before the Farmers Meeting at Pikesville,
Md. by VIM. Fell Johnson.J 4glf ia
The writer does. not consider that
for any length of time during a year
has the price of wheat been SO low as
to justify a universal abandonment OF
it's production.
During certain seasons, generally
that following harvest, the value Of
grain is lowest, partly on account OF
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
ton of SPECTATORS. But a farmer
provided with such granaries as should
be found on a well managed estate,
can hold his crop for a better figure.
In every neighborhood the husband
man taking some extra pains with his
grain, a find a 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 market
value. ~ $3.50
All farmers will admit that to oh.
tain straw for bedding and fertilizing
purposes, to set land to grass and!keep
up rotation of crops SO necessary to
successful agriculture, grain Of some
kind must be produced; and the ques-
ton arises, which of the grains shall
it be? ,.... ..ses- -,is ..,l9 ..s =. If .-ss
Oats and rye can be considered the
only rivals of wheat, and it is only in
some soils and climates that the former
can be produced, with any certainty at
all, while it ever has the disadvantage
of being seeded in the spring press Of
work, it's rapid growth impoverishing
the soil, failing on poor land and fall
ing down on rich. q. .~l - :"5,.
III The general substitution of rye for
wheat would depress the price of the
former; and while it would never be
used as the "staff 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 filling an overlooking treasury.
But wheat IS the "staf of life"
almost 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 -four, and the
demand for it rolls from. continent to
continent.
We would all raise timothy 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 briers
never creep? 1t should not then be
so much a question for farmers at
what price they should give up the
production of wheat, but rather how
can they improve the quantity and
quality of the grain; what fertilizers
act 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 rootlets Of the plant can never
gather the plant food absolutely essen
tial for the formation Of a perfect
grain. .".,..
We sometimes see a poor crop on
rich land and a good one on poor
land, the difference due to preparation
before seeding.
Many persons estimate the cost of
an acre of wheat at $l2; so if we raise
only IL bushels per acre, these cost
81 per bushel; but if we have "A
bushels, the cost is but SO cents a
bushel. The cost to a poor or lazy
farmer to produce a bushel, of wheat
is twice as great as to an industrious
and intelligent one.
A good fertilizer can be bought or
made for $50 a ton, and using 800
pounds to an acre would add about
S. per acre to the cost of the crop;
but even 400 pounds would be advis-
able, and the difference would be made
up in quantity and quality Of grain
and straw, to say nothing of the bene-
tit to the succeeding stand of grass.
Plants feed very much as animals
do; the former receive their nourish-
ment through the leaves, roots, and
bark, the latter through the agency Of
the stomach. To fatten an OK, food
containing elements necessary for the
production of fat, muscle, bone, and
hair, must be given in proper guam
titles; and to make good wheat, all
the elements found in that plant. ex-