The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-10-22
LAND FOR WHEAT GROW
ING.
A MCDOWELL County Farmer Tells What
Methods He Has Found Most Profitable.

Wu6h6 SOWING 61In0 mas now come
again, and the farmers are getting
ready to SOW their wheat. Some are
buying their fertilizers, drills, and
harrows with which to put in their
wheat, while some are going to SOW
it the old wsy-just simply SOW it
down with the hands and plow it in
with a shovel plow.
Now, every energetic man who
sows wheat this fall wants to realize
just as large profit as he possibly
can. In this article we shall attempt
to give some profitable ideas from
what knowledge we have gained by
experience and by observation while
travelling through the State from
Tennessee TO the coast, and from
South Carolina to Virginia in several
places.
We find that a majority of the
farmers of North Carolina SOW too
much wheat and do not prepare the
soil we'll enough before they SOW. If
we will SOW fewer acres, prepare the
soil better, use more fertilizer to the
acre, put the wheat in the ground
with more care, use nothing but first
class seed, and SOW it on time, we
will make a better profit on our
wheat and do less work i'm sowing
and harvesting.
Now, we wish first to notice how
we should
PREPARE OUR GROUND BEFORE SOWING
wheat. If we wish to SOW wheat for
a profit, we should never SOW 1t after
corn, cotton, or cane, because If the
soil we SOW in wheat is to yield a
profitable cropit must receive good
supply of ammonia which is caught
from the air by certain plants and
conveyed to the roots and deposited
in the ground that the next crop may
get the benefit.
Neither oorn,, cotton, nor cane
store any ammonia in the ground,
but draw away what there may be
in it. There is but one time in the
year when the ammonia is caught
and deposited in the ground and that
Is during the summer or growing
season. And wheat is sown just as
this season closes and is out off just
as 1t begins, therefore you plainly
see that if we SOW down our wheat
after crop that has drawn away all
the ammonia, no matter how we may
fertihze, we need not expect profit
able yield of wheat. And wheat to
bring a profitable yield should not be
soWn after wheat, unless we have
good coat of peas on the ground after
the wheat was taken off, and yet not
every time will this bring q profit
able yield.
Now that we may get a profitable
yield off our wheat sown: The first
thing, our ground needs to have rested
one year and not have anything done
to it at all. Then the second year go
in the winter and take turning
plow and let it down as deep as it
will go if the land is light, mixed
sand and clay, but if it is all clay let
your turning ploW down as far as it
will go and let subsoiler go right
behind it. Then leave the ground
alone until about the 10Th of June,
and go and Cross plow your land with
a shovel plow. Then SOW down with
about N or 3 bushels of peas to the
acre and harrow them in, and leave
them alone until you wish TO cut them
for hay. Then go again with your
turning plow and turn again just as
deep as you can. Then take a shovel
or disc harrow and harrow it thor
oughly just before you get ready to
SOW your wheat. And when you
have done this you have your ground
ready to bring profitable yield of
wheat.
Some few years ago we took lot
of land that lay on south hill side.
It contained five acres of land and
had lain out and was pastured for
about four years before. We pre-,
pared it the way above described and
it yielded that crop rs bushels on
the five acres, or about Is bushels
per acre. This was very profitable
yield for the land. The fall follow
ing this we turned under just the
natural growth of weeds and sowed
it down again just as we did before.
And as failed to tell how we put
the wheat in before, will tell now.
We drilled it in with our old fash