Account of S. G. Hubbard
Hatfield, Hampshire County, Mass., December 18th,
1850.
Sir:--Having received one of your Agricultural
Circulars, I shall endeavor to give what information I can upon the cultivation
of winter wheat.
Winter wheat is cultivated only to
a limited extent in New England, and especially in Massachusetts.
I believe it can be cultivated with
profit on the "alluvial bottoms" of the Connecticut and other large rivers.
In this town, 20 bushels per acre are considered an ordinary crop--25 and
30 quite common--and, in favorable seasons, we sometimes have 40 and 50
bushels per acre, which, being in the market, readily commands $1.25 per
bushel.
Our mode of cultivation is as follows:--
After land has been cultivated for
a number of years, it is frequently seeded down to clover, for the purpose
of renovating it. After lying thus for one or two years, the second
growth is ploughed under, generally in the month of September, and is immediately
sown. It is also sown to a considerable extent after broom-corn.
The broom is cut as early as possible in autumn, and the stalks, making
a great quantity of vegetable matter, are buried in the soil with a plough
adapted for the purpose; then, previous to sowing, the ground is rolled
and harrowed, in order to make the soil as finely pulverized and compact
as possible.
Seed wheat is prepared by soaking
1 or 2 days in strong solution of salt-petre, then the water is drained
off, and the seed is rolled and dried with lime. This is a very effectual
remedy against smut.
S. G. Hubbard
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