Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-05-03

| the growth of all crops. So superior is
it that as high as sixty and seventy bush
els of wheat per acre have been produced
upon land thus treated. Wheat, espe-
cially in arid religions, should never fol-
low oats, rye or barley. So dry is the
winter that the seed scattered In the har-
vesting terminates in the spring and be-
! comes badly mixed with the wheat, and
they are not the proper crops to rotate.
As many opinions are held about SOW
ing as there are farmers that SOW. In
Europe, Australia and other wheat coun-
tries two or three bushels per acre are
sown, while in our own country about a
bushel and a half is the rule. Almost all
the experiments made with thick and
thin seeding are favorable to the latter;
indeed they have reason to be, because
the greatest enemy to the successful ger
mination and healthy growth of the
wheat plant is wheat. Like people, wheat
cannot flourish when sown too thickly.
If a bushel of wheat were sown evenly
over an acre of ground, no two grains
would be more than two inches apart
each way, and half bushel would place
them less than four inches apart-thick
enough for all soils under favorable con-
ditions. However, different preparation
of both seed and soil Will vary the amount
of seed. Rich land requires less seed
than poor, and long season in some sec
tons less than short ones. The proper
depth to SOW grain varies with soil and
climate. In rainy sections where the
frost heaves the surface of the ground in
the spring, wheat should be sown at least
two inches deep and on a rough surface,
while in dry, arid climates, one and a
half inches is deep enough. The heavier
the soil the shallower the sowing, and the
lighter the soil the deeper.
The cultivation of the wheat crop adds
much to its growth and yield; however
absurd this may appear to some, it is
nevertheless true. Most people, and
might say ninety hundredths of all
farmers in the United States, never touch
their wheat from sowing time to harvest.
A cultivation of the wheat crop does it as
much good as a cultivation of the corn
crop or any other crop. AS soon as the
wheat is we'll up and begins to stool,
light narrowing not only kills the weeds
but hel ps the growth of the crop, and
"LCL1 CA4C HhCGtG OCSILl0 W u1dhC SCdAho
another and heavier narrowing will often
increase the yield ten to fifteen per cent.
These borrowings not only kill the little
weeds and give Vigor to the plant, but
they keep the surface of the soil open and
mellow for the better action of the atmos-
phere upon the roots. If the wheat is
sown in drills foot apart a small cult
vator is better than a harrow, especially
in those sections where the crops are irri-
gated. All crops do better when irrigated
from below. The water, when put on
the surface, comes in contact with the
tender plant and Injuries it.
Harvesting should be done early, when
the wheat is in the dough state, to make
good returns for the mill, but seed wheat
should not be cut until fully ripe. Early
harvests often escape rust, make heavier
grain and Of better milling elements, less
wheat is lost in the cutting and.handEng,
and the farmer is better satisfied, having
his crop out of the way.