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harrow and the drill; but when buried deep it does not nourish the young plant in its first growth, and impart to it strength and size to cndure the approaching winter. Nor does it mulch | the surface and protect the tender plants from heaving frosts and blighting winds. The rains in their descent wash the soluble elements downwards and away from the searching roots. Surface manuring reverses these processes, and is more rational and productive of more immediate and visible results.

Well fermented farm-yard manure is good enough for any crop, and the best manure for all, but the trouble is we can't get enough of it. Whether the wheat grower can afford to purchase and use fertilizers is a question which he must settle by experiment and observation. Lime may often be used with great profit; plaster is beneficial in some seasons, and salt returns a liberal profit if sown on land rich in humus. Fertilizers for the wheat plant should be applied before the seed has germinated, as a general rule. at least before the spring growth begins. The preferable time is just before sowing.

New York Nurseries. The nurseries which are situated along the line of the New York Central Railroad, have been long famed as among the most extensive in the country, and in the world. This railroad ships more trees by far than any other line. At Rochester and Syracuse, and intermediate points, about four thousand tons of trees were distributed during the autumn of 1866 and the spring of 1867-one year's sales. The following statement of these shipments, from the principal points, was furnished us by W. G. Lapham, superintendent of this division of the road:

From Rochester......
...... 2449 tons,
Fairport, (Penfield nurseries)... 108
Macedon........................ 151

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The quantities shipped at other places, will probably run up the amount, on the whole line, to five thousand tons-the net value of which would be about a million dollars, and the number of trees probably over five millions. In addition to this amount, large quantities are shipped at Rochester by the Genesee Valley Railroad to the Erie road, and by steamer to Canada; at Geneva by steamer south; and at Syracuse by the Syracuse and Binghamton, and by the Syracuse and Oswego railroads. The question naturally occurs-Will not such a vast number soon supply the whole country, with all the orchards and trees needed, and the market become over

stocked? The answer is, emphatically, No. There are at least a million farms in the whole United States, and if all the other nurseries are equal in extent to those already mentioned, which may be the case, then there are only ten trees annually, each, for these farms. A farmer wants a hundred apple trees, and a hundred more others of different sorts, for a fair family supply of fruit. Twenty years would be required, therefore, for even this moderate supply, provided every tree lived and grew well. Under present management, we are sorry to say, not one-half ever reach successful bearing-thus prolonging the designated period to forty years by which time, as an average, the whole will need renewing. It may be, therefore, laid down as a fact, that the present entire extent of nurseries in the United States, is required for supplying the natural decay, to say nothing of planting new orchards on unoccupied lands.

In the preceding estimate, it is intended to give merely the average plantings for a general supply-although in actual practice, many landowners raise large orchards for furnishing fruit to those who have none. By bringing village and city population into the account, a larger supply will of cours be needed.Co. Gent.

Heading off the Curculio.

In a recent number of the Ohio Farmer there was an account of a meeting of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, at which a letter was read from P. S. Bush, of Covington, Ky., detailing his method of heading the curculio from the plum trees. It consists in removing the turf from around the trees, if any there be, over a space somewhat larger than that covered by the top or branches, and covering the ground half an inch thick with marble dust, leached ashes, blue clay, or gravel well composted or beaten down. This forms a coating impenetrable to worms and insects. The experiments tried were confined to the gravel and marble dust, used singly, but the other materials mentioned, it is supposed, will answer the purpose. Trees, upon ground thus prepared, have borne a full crop of plums ever since. J. W. Rust, residing also in Covington, saves his plums by burning tobacco stems under the branches of his trees every morn ing. He was induced to do this by noticing the fact that a plum tree, under whose shade he was accustomed to enjoy his pipe daily, produced a fine lot of fruit, while all the rest cast theirs from the action of the curculio. Acting on this hint, he fumigated his trees with the smoke of burning tobacco stems, and saved his plums.-Rural New Yorker,

"Golden Fleece."

Lat

Dover Plains on Harlem Railroad, and sixteen miles from Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River Railroad.-Canada Farmer.

Winter Wheat-Drilling & Manuring.

Observation, during the past year, has more strongly confirmed our belief that drilling is preeminently the best method of sowing winter wheat. Frequent freezing and thawing during the late winter and early spring months does more damage to the wheat crop through the country, than all other causes of harm combined. Drilling wheat in a proper manner is the best within immediate and general reach of farmers to counteract this evil. The drill covers the seed at a uniform depth, and it should leave the soil

Our United States neigbors have long overlooked the merits of the long-wooled and mutton breeds of sheep, and have given the greasy little Merinoes a monopoly of their affections terly, however, a gratifying change of opinion has been observable, and here and there enterprising sheep-men have begun to patronize the Cotswolds, Leicesters and Downs. The foundation of a number of flocks has been laid, and we expect in a very few years that Canadian flockmasters will have to mind what they are about, or they will find themselves outdone by their spirited neighbors, in the breeding of longwooled sheep. Among those who deserve honable mention in this connection, is Mr. John D. Wing, "Maple Shade" farm, Washington, Dutch-crowning between the rows of grain; this little ess Co., New York. This gentleman has got together a fine flock of Cotswolds, consisting of selected animals from the best flocks of thoroughbred sheep in England. They are strictly pure, without a cross, and every sheep has a reliable pedegree. Mr. Wing has neither spared expense nor trouble, his object being to form a flock of choice blood, second to none in the world.

Most of the sheep composing his flock were bred by Mr. Wm. Lane, of Broadfleld, a name that stands among the highest on the list of breeders on the Cotswold Hills. Others of these choice animals were supplied by Messrs. Garne, of Aldsworth, Hewer, of North Leach, and Fletcher, of Andoversford, all of whom are known as careful and successful breeders. Along with his imported sheep, Mr. Wing brought over an ex

perienced Cotswold shepherd, who has charge of

the flock.

The sheep from this flock have never been shown that they have not carried off the highest honors, and the prize ram "Golden Fleece," was shown at the New York State Fair at Saratoga last year, where he won the first prize, also at Dutchess County Fair with the same result, and at the Auburn Fair of the New York State Sheep Breeders' and Wool Growers' Association in May, 1867, when, after taking the first prize in his class, he won the sweepstakes prize. He sheared on this last occasion twenty pounds of wool. He was bred by Mr. Wm. Lane, sired by "Cotswold King"-the highest priced Cotswold sheep ever sold, viz: $1200 in gold-and his dam was winner of the prize of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. He is the stock ram, being used in the flock at present, and his lambs are very promising.

Mr. Wing's farm, "Maple Shade" is at Washington, Dutchess Co., N. Y., about six miles from

ridge is a protection against the cold winds, the lightest snows lodge behind it on the crowns of the plants, and when the ground thaws, the soil

works from it downward to cover the roots of the wheat a little deeper. Other advantages resulting from drilling over the method of handsowing, are, a saving of time, the cultivation the drill gives the land-equal to one harrowing

exactly the desired quantity of seed per acre sown, and scattering it evenly. We may add that the work is finished as the drill passes along, which is some importance in case a heavy rain

comes on.

tion that when manure is applied to winter We are equally well convinced from observawheat, the best way is to put it on the surface, or incorporate it, by using the harrow or gang

plough, with two or three inches of the top soil. In this position, it affords winter protection to the grain, and the soluble parts are readily taken up by the roots of the plants. The best results to the grain crop will be derived from the surface application of manure, and if grass follows, as it generally does, that, also, will receive the most immediate benefit. We have seen very large crops of grass taken this season from land of doubtful quality, the result of heavy surface manuring on the preceding winter grain. Manure ploughed under deeply is like a rich subsoil; it is a good thing to underlie a farm, but it costs some labor and takes time before the crops receive the full benefit of it.

One reason, we think, why manure is so often ploughed under, is the greater labor involved in drawing it on the field after it is broken up;

sometimes the manure is so coarse as to obstruct the harrow or drill if on the surface. But it is easy to spread the manure from the unploughed on to the ploughed ground, if it is in small piles and uniform rows.-Rural New Yorker.

Preparation of Land for Wheat. Much wheat is lost every year by being heaved out by frost. This seldom happens except in light soils, or in land in which the seed has been sown so late in the Fall that it had not time to become firmly rooted before vegetation was checked by frost. Shallow ploughing is frequently the cause of wheat being heaved out, also the stagnant water of undrained soils, for the roots cannot penetrate deep enough to draw up those ingredients which are necessary to sustain the plants, or to acquire a firm hold on the soil. Soil saturated with water expands considerably in freezing, and in doing so, fractures the roots of plants, and loosens their hold on the soil. Wheat is never heaved out in land which has been thoroughly drained, and deepened by subsoiling across the drains.

that its gluten, which contains a large percentage of nitrogen, is invariably increased by the increased proportion of nitrogen in the manure.

The composition of wheat varies greatly according to many circumstances, such as soil, manure, climate, variety, time of sowing, and time of harvesting, &c. The following analysis by Sprengel may be taken as an average: 100,000 parts dry wheat contains 1,777 of ash or inorganic matter; the same quantity of wheat straw contains 3,518 parts of ash. They consist of the following substances:

Potash.........................225

Soda..................

Lime
Magnesia
Alumina

Grain. Straw.

20

........240

29

.......................... 96

240

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Phosphoric acid ............................................ 40
Chlorine....

170

10

30

1777 3518

One hundred parts of wheat, in its natural

Albumen

30

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Heavy clay lands have generally been denominated "wheat soils," yet some of the most abundant crops of this grain have been raised on sandy soils, which have been properly tilled state, contains, according to Gregory, the foland enriched by manure. Previous to the in-lowing ingredients: troduction of the turnip into the husbandry of England, stiff, clay soil was alone thought suitable for the production of wheat, and it was ameliorated by fallowing and frequent ploughings, &c. The introduction of turnips produced a complete revolution in the system of cropping. Naked fallows disappeared and a regular system of rotation of crops has been established, by means of which the land is manured evenly, and weeds and destructive insects are banished. Soils so light as to come under the denomination of "blowing sands" have been consolidated by growing turnips, and folding the sheep to eat them on the fields; their trampling and droppings being sufficient to make a light soil tenacious. Heavy, tenacious soils have been ameliorated by drainage, the adoption of the drill system of husbandry, and rotation of crops.

Wheat delights in new soil, but it is necessary that the roots of the grasses and other plants should be decomposed, in order to prevent their growth, and to furnish food to the wheat plants. Land that has been for sometime in tillage and then laid down in good heart, and allowed to remain for a few years in grass, when broken up again will generally produce a better crop of wheat than "wild soil," that is soil which has never produced a cultivated crop. Nitrogenous manures are best suited for wheat. Professor Johnston proved this in his "Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry." If we take a wheat plant and examine the composition of the flour it contains, as raised on different soils, and from the application of different manures, it will be found

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We may understand the properties of a manure, and yet not apply it properly. If we make use of an abundance of ammonical manure, the stem and leaves of the wheat plant will become so large and succulent that the roots will not be able to support them, they will fall down and fail to produce a crop. We must endeavor to remedy this evil, by making use of a manure that will give strength to the stem as well as weight to the grain.

It has been well established by repeated analyses that silica forms a considerable part of the straw of wheat, and that potash and phosphoric acid exist in the grain, and a certain portion of lime in both straw and grain. It is evident that the soluble silica which is absorbed by the straw, should be given back to the soil by turning the straw into manure, instead of selling it in the markets. One cause of the deterioration of the wheat crop is the removal of the straw without compensating the soil for the ingredients which have been absorbed by it.

Wood ashes contain a considerable quantity

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of potash, and therefore are well calculated to increase the weight of the grain of wheat which contains a large proportion of potash in its composition. If all the ashes which are made in the house, and on the farm were carefully collected, spread over the wheat field, and harrowed in with the seed, a large increase in the acreable produce would be the result.

Lime imparts health and vigor to the stem, and a portion of it should be applied to soil intended for wheat. It is useful for correcting acids which are injurious to the roots of plants, assists in dissolving silica, and the phosphates, and in various ways improves the strength and vigor of the wheat plants. A small quantity of lime mixed with muck or rich soil, will have a much better effect as manure, than a larger portion without the addition of any other substance. Professor Johnston says: "Lime acts in two ways on the soil, it produces a mechanical alteration which is simple and easily understood; but it is the cause of chemical changes which are really obscure, and are, as yet, susceptible of only partial explanation." A good crop of

wheat cannot be obtained from a soil that is de

ficient in lime, and on this account every grow er of wheat should make arrangements for applying this indispensable manure.

Common salt is a useful manure, and a portion of it should always be applied directly, or indirectly, to the soil intended for wheat. Lime And salt have a much more powerful effect when applied in combination, than when either is given singly. Liebig says, "common, salt enables a plant to extract sulphur from the ground, where it had existed as sulphate of lime." The grain of the cereal crops may be much improved in size and color by the judicious application of salt. It acts well in conjunction with ammoniacal manures, the salt giving weight and solidity to the grain, while the size and luxuriance of the plant are increased by the ammonia. Immense crops of wheat have been raised by the application of salt and barn-yard dung. A farmer in England obtained ninety-six bushels of wheat from one acre of land, by using a manure composed of salt and well decomposed farm yard manure.

In reply to a correspondent who asks, Can good wine be made from grapes grown at the North? the editor of the American Journal of Horticulture says: We very much doubt it, What are or have been called native wines are fixed-up stuff-grape juice and water sweetened, not wine.

Wheat Bread.

Our whole process of converting wheat into bread has, at almost every step, violated the laws of nature and disregarded her suggestions, and the reform must be a fundamental one. Wheat is, beyond all dispute, the most perfect article of human food, it being the only vegetable production yet discovered that contains all the elements necessary for the nourishment of the muscle, bones, fatty tissue and brains, in just the right proportions. Beans, peas, Indian corn, and the other grains afford perfect nourishment for all the organs but the brain, by which term is included the spinal marrow and the nerves, which branch from the brain, and are identical in composition with it, the whole forming one system or set of organs. Now the pabulum of the brain is phosphorus, whose life-giving fire thrills along the nerves, and whose light illumes the chambers of the mind-for could we rightly understand the correspondences between the material and the spiritual, we might see that light in the intellectual sense was something more than a mere figure of speech. The wear of the brain by study or any mental effort throws off the phosphorus which is found with other waste matter in the urine or other secretions. To keep the brain healthy and in working order the waste must be restored by the use of food containing phosphorus, and that food is wheat.

It would seem as if wheat was made for brain

food, and man, the only animal that works with his brain, is the only consumer of it. But by a strange caprice, the promptings of his intuitions are overruled by his tastes, and in this particular instance, to his great detriment, nearly every particle of this brain-nourishing phosphorus is found in the hull or bran of the wheat, which, when separated from the flour, for the sake of merely gratifying the eye with the sight of white bread, carries with it all the superiority which wheat possesses over a dozen other kinds of cheaper vegetables. In addition to this, the me

chanical action of the bran on the internal organs

keeps them in a healthy state, and supersedes the necessity of pills and other cathartics which many people are obliged to use habitually. This matter of making flour of the whole wheat, is well understood and approved by every school of physicians, and through their recommendation to their patients, and the teachings of health jo■rnals, its use is becoming somewhat common, and wheat flour, as it is called, is a staple article in the markets.

Strong as the prejudice may be at first against the brown, plebeian-looking loaf, it will vanish in most cases at the first taste, if the bread is

well made from well ground wheat of a good quality, the sweet, fragrant, nutty flavor commending itself to every taste not wholly vitiated. With wheat flour the complaints of heavy, sour and insipid bread would vanish forever, as it is so light, owing to the feathery particles of the hull which pervade it, that no yeast or alkali is necessary to raise it, but it is, when mixed with pure cold water alone, absolutely self-rising to a greater extent than fine flour can be rendered by yeast. Again, no less than thirteen per cent. of the flour is saved by dispensing with yeast, as the fermentation in its growth converts that proportion of the starch and sugar into alcohol. This is saved, of course, by the use of an alkali and acid to generate carbonic acid, but a deleterious neutral salt is, in every case, left in the bread-tartrate of soda, if cream of tartar is used; lactate of soda, if sour milk, and mellassate, if molasses. The best and most entirely innoxious mode of raising fine flour for those who will use it, is to use muriatic acid, which forms with soda common salt, which is needed in the bread, and is a constituent of the human body.

Beet Sugar in Illinois.

A consignment of over twenty-seven thousand pounds of Illinois sugar is on its way to this city from the beet sugar manufactory of the Germania | Sugar Company at Chatsworth, Livingston county, Ill. This is a portion of the product of the past season's business. Most of this sugar, and perhaps all of this consignment, was made in March last, from beets which had been kept in the pits during the winter. This fact is noteworthy as indicating the richness in saccharine of the beet produced in this country, and the length of the manufacturing season as compared with that of the beet sugar countries of Europe; for there the beet so deteriorates in value after the first to the middle of February as to seriously affect the season's profits.

Of the ultimate success of beet sugar manufacture in this country, there is no reasonable doubt. The beets can be grown as well and as cheaply as in Europe. Repeated analyses show that they are as rich in sugar as those produced in Europe. The past year's experience has demonstrated that they contain no elements which render their reduction to sugar more difficult or costly than the European growth beets. The obstacles which prevented the full realization of results anticipated from the crop of 1866 were purely mechanical, and will be removed before the first of September, when the manufacturing season for 1866 opens. Six hundred acres

of beets were planted this spring and are in splendid condition and growing finely. When ready to harvest, the manufacture will commence. The experience of the past season has educated the raw, inexperienced operatives the company were compelied to employ, and the means of success which attended the past season's operations war. rants the highest hopes of success the coming year. We regard the receipt of this sugar product of our Illinois prairies in this city the inauguration of an era in our city's commercial history quite worthy to be celebrated in type. It is not many years ago that our grain and lumber trade had an equally modest beginning; and we predict that within three score years Illinois will produce and export more sugar than any State in the Union. And it will be beet sugar.Chicago Republican.

How to Rent a Farm.

The correct way to arrive at a fair price for both parties is the following: Add the value of the cultivated land and buildings to the value of the stock and tools. If a renter has no benefit of woodland, the growth of timber, and increasing value of the land, will be an equiv alent for the interest on it. Now, if a renter agrees to pay the proprietor, annualy, six, seven, eight, or more per cent. on the aggregate of stock, implements and farm, and keep the soil in a good state of fertility, and make certain improvements every year, the proprietor will receive a better compensation than the renter. A renter could not make a decent profit on many farms, were he to hire them at six per cent; while on others he could afford to pay twelve per cent. The productiveness of the soil must be taken into the account. Then, the per centage must be lessened, in proportion as a renter makes improvements that will increase the value of the farm. If he rents a farm on a term of years, and certain improvements will benefit him as well as the proprietor, each one should share in the expense.

A written contract between the parties should require the renter to adopt a rotation of crops adapted to the soil; to allow nothing to be carried off the farm that would make manure to allow no manure to be wasted by remaining in heaps from year to year; to keep the stock good; to keep all tools, implements and buildings in good repair, making allowance for their natural wear, and not to damage fruit or ornamental trees in any way. The prices at which every thing is valued in different localities render it quite inconsistent to do anything further than simply make suggestions on important points, by which a fair contract for both parties may be framed.

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