Why Wheat Winter Kills

TT!FrIIirTZX?rr'imTn'IJS!rrTI11 "" Vi en the t';íl frc:;;;, it is greatïy expan,d,el ; and the expansión is all ujc I, becuuss the unfiozen earth belo'.y will nc.í yielu i9 the frozen straturn ; and there s no vacant Bp;ico to bo fillod by the lateral cnlargement. For this reasoQ tho uirfoco of {he soil 'vs often el(v!.'.t.:d two, ti: eei or moro inchen higbffl1 tfeat) it etands when tho grouud is not frozen. The writor once had two eticks of fciuiber with their ends on the 8Üls of oca of his out-building-s, and tho iniíMle of caeh was ftupported bj posts-set n thü ground where frost could not reach them, Iu vej-y cold weather, the entiro building would be raised by tho freezing of tila oarth benoüth the foundation, so that a plaufc, li inch thiok, could be put undor the tiinbers, on the top of the ponte. If the position of shalloir rooted troen, whore the gronnü froezcs deoply, be compared with horizontal marks on a building; that the frost doea notf lift, it wiil ofteu bo seon that thoy stand froiu on to two inche8 higher, when the soil is thus frozen, than when Cree froni irost. As VxB roota of suob trees fie nearly in o horizontal position. they rise and settle back with the lifting. and ssttling of the sou. Thus itis with sod ground. The roots of the.grass form s-ach a tangled mat near the surfaco' of the ground, that the outire layer of turf eettles back in a body,, keeping, tha roots ia their true positioD. The injury to tho wkeat plant nrising: from the treezing and thuwing oí the Boil, is usually the most serious obstacle that farmers meet with in cru? wbeat growiog regions. By the alternato freezing and thawing oi the surfaco of the soil, the stools of wheat are lifted and separated l'rora their hold upon the soil. The deep roota wbich penétrate' bolow the reach of shallow frosts are broken off, and tho earth is more or lesa loosened from the others. Here we perceivo the disadvantage of depositing the Reed too deep. The roots originating froio the seod, being far below the surfaee of the ground, when the plant is liftcd by the expansión of tl)o soil, the stem will hu likoly to boseparated somowhere between the surfaee of the ground and tho roots. The pltiuts then .eoon die. Whcn tho roots strike downward, their hold in tho soil is loosened ; and as they do not settlu baok to their original pÓBitión wnen tbc grotmd thawsi, ths plants are soon worked upwards, until tliey are raised almost clear of tho soil, as it they h:id been pulled up by hand. Evury practioal whéat-grower is familiar with theso disadvantages in :,' winter wheat. With spring S, none of thesa things occur. In order theofore, to prevent in a great degree, or cnlirely, any injury to ■ I at plant from freezing and thawiog of tha soil, two things aro essential. The first is thoróugb drainage, where the soil is .at nll inolined to ba wet. Dry so.! i are aöocted but little by frfe xing ; but when a soil is saturated .with witter, it often heaves severa! .Liclieü above its usual hight. This nroecss so disturbs tho roots of wheat, uiat.they have no moro hold on the soil, thanifjust transplanted. Henee, they are apt soon to die. Tho naxt important thing is, tp prepare tho soil, as has heen previously directed, by keeping a thin stratura of the richedt soil oa tha surfaee, and by depositing tho seed at a uniform depth of uot over two inches over the entire field, so that the prirnary roots, those starting Lrom the seed, and those other roots whieh etart from above the seed, will nll spread out nearly in a horizontal direction, interlooking with each other, and thus forming n tangled mat like a sward, that will rise and settle back to its proper p"pition, whea tho soil freezes and thaws, without losing its hold upon the soil. Tbis is aimed at when wheat is put in with an ordinary drill ; and, lor the most part, the end sought is secured, if the 80H be of a uniform quality and con;dition, eo that tho teeth will run at a givcD depth. But when the soil is mellow in somo places, and hard in others, Bome drills will deposit the seed in tho mellow places too deep, so that puttiDg in with a drill will havo no advantage over sowing broadpaat, so far as. obviating the injuriousefl'ects of.frcezing and thawing are ooncerned. The teeth of grain drills should bo set to run not more than two inchtis in depth. One nnd a half inches deep for winter grain is better than two, tbr reasons already assigned. At this depth, nearly all the roots will be so near each other, that the expansión of the soil will neither break tho sten) or seriously damago the roots : nor will it cause perceptible