oil good for corn, potatoes,
or a garden, may, with proper tillage, produce the best of wheat.
Experience in England, and in all the old countries on the continent of
Europe, shows us that old land may be made to yield as large crops of
wheat as the virgin soil of the New World. The production of wheat at
suitable intervals, for a century, on the same land, need not lessen its
power to produce good wheat in large quantities. Wheat is a plant
demanding a rich soil, worked deep, and not too wet: these three things
will produce a good crop on any land. We say to all farmers, raise wheat
on any land that you can afford to prepare. First, if your land has not
a dry subsoil, underdrain it thoroughly: water standing in the soil, and
becoming cold or stagnant, is very injurious to wheat. Drainage is
hardly more essential to any other crop than this. Next, plow deep.
Subsoiling, on most lands, is very important to wheat. Manure highly,
and put the manure between the soil and the subsoil: this attracts the
roots deep into the soil, which is the greatest protection against
winter-killing, and the effects of excessive drought. Render the surface
of the soil as fine as possible. A finely-pulverized soil is as
essential for wheat as for onions. Coarse lumpy soils are so open to the
action of the atmosphere as to render the growth unequal, and cause the
roots of the plant to grow too near the surface, for dry weather or the
cold of winter. Always apply lime to wheat-lands, unless it be a
limestone soil--not too much at once, but a few bushels to the acre
annually. On no other crop do wood-ashes and dissolved potash, applied
in the coarse manures, pay so well as on wheat. Sowing the seed is next
in importance. The three questions in sowing are the manner, the depth,
and the quantity. Shall it be drilled or sowed broadcast? Broadcast
sowing requires more seed, and is liable to be less evenly covered;
hence, we should prefer drilling. The depth of the seed is to be
determined by the texture of the soil. Careful experiments have shown,
that on clay land there is no perceptible difference in the growth of
the plants, at any of the stages, in seed sown at any depth, from a
slight covering to three or four inches. At a greater depth, it comes up
less regularly, and in every way is in a worse condition. But on a light
soil, it is, no doubt, best to plant it from four to six inches deep. On
very loose soils, as muck land and alluvial soils, the