There have been those who would tell us that manure can be best used to wheat by subjecting the seed to various steeps; but we need hardly stop to question the folly of the assertions which from time to time re-appear, both at home and abroad, upon this point.
Thus far the subject of manures has been treated as for wheat as a shifting crop; but this crop has been grown year after year on the same soil, and, in some cases, without an apparent diminution in quantity or quality. One instance that came under our own observation was in Gloucestershire, where a cottager had grown wheat on the same plot of ground for thirteen years, and, for aught I know, it may still be continued. Hence the subsoil was Lias shale; but it was well drained and cultivated as a garden, the manure employed being the contents of the garden-house.
In cases of this kind, an annual application of manure is absolutely necessary; and we are happy to find that different manures and their effects have been experimented upon and duly noted, for the same plots, during a period of no less than twenty years, and that by such careful and reliable inquirers as J. B. Lawes, Esq., F.R.S., and Dr. Gilbert, F.R.S.; full details of the results of whose labours upon this subject will be found in Vol. XXV. of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, from which we have extracted some of the following general conclusions as to average yield and weight of corn for the lengthened periods quoted:—
A glance at this table shows us the wonderful results of continuous manuring for the soil operated upon; we might, however, expect that, though the general conclusions would probably not greatly vary, yet that there would not be absolute uniformity in these respects in different soils and districts.
2. On the Quality and Quantity of Seed-corn.—It seems to be generally concluded that a thin seed, from poorer soil, should be preferred for land of a better quality; but our own experience would lead us to look for seed from as great a change of soil as possible, and to procure therefrom not a poor, but as good a sample as we could. We should, however, look for our seed, not from a richer soil or a warmer climate, but the reverse. Oats, for example, as previously shown, degenerate, even to wild ones, if the poor seed be brought from a poor, cold soil, to be cultivated in land still poorer. We, however, on our farm, sowed oats during the past season weighing 48 lb. per bushel on a sandy soil; and, although our return was not so large in bushels as though we had sown black oats, yet their weight was but just under that of the seed. Now, these oats were from Canada, and, no doubt, the warm climate of the west of England suited them as to change.
As regards barley, we prefer a good sample for seed, if it be of home-growth; at the same time, very thin samples from Russia, or the States, often do well. Last season, we sowed some American barley of so poor a quality, that it was impossible to tell its name, but which gave for 50 acres an average yield of 40 bushels per acre, so even and plump, that only 28 sacks of “tailing” were separated, and the bulk—good Chevallier barley—was equal to any in the market.
In cultivating wheat, climate must ever be considered, as only in warm situations can the finest samples of white wheats be grown. Upland cold positions are suitable for red wheats, and so are undrained lowlands; still, good farming will render it possible to grow white wheats where, before drainage and other ameliorating processes, such was impossible.
As regards the quantity to be sown per acre, it will be seen that the margin is sufficiently wide, if we say that it lies between half a peck and half a quarter. In garden cultivation, with deep digging, and in the absence of weeds, birds, or insects, where you can choose your time for every operation, dibble in a seed in a place, the minimum quantity may suffice, as good crops have been got from a very small quantity of seed; but garden experimenters rather too positively lay down the law, when they tell the farmer that this thin seeding will do equally well on broad acres, where every operation is circumscribed by circumstances. Where there is so much to do, you cannot always get everything done at the right season, even if the soil were favourable for so doing; and the period at which you get your land ready for the seed, and the time of sowing it, makes a wide difference. But there is another point of even—if possible—greater importance; namely, the quality of the seed. Now, on our farm we always ascertain the germinating power of every sample of seed before sowing; and from this, as well as from the results of numerous experiments on this subject, we have arrived at the conclusion, that there are immense differences in this respect, which cannot possibly be made out at sight, but can only be ascertained experimentally. To make this matter clear, we append a [table (2)] of the results of experiments on this point upon no less than forty-two samples, which were tried in 1863.