842 ON * H * BLIGHT IN WHEAT. 



of every farmer to sow such land, and such only, to wheat, 

 as is fit for wheat ; to get it in order early in the summer, 

 that it may be close and firm before sowing ; to sow as early 

 as the state of the weather will permit, particularly in cold 

 soils or exposed situations ; and to sow those kinds of wheat, 

 which arc disposed to ripen early, (a circumstance much 

 more attended to in Scotland than in England;) but above 

 all, not to wear out his land by cropping it oftcner with 

 wheat than its nature will bear ; always considering, that 

 it is not the number of acres sown, but the number of 

 bushels produced, that will enrich the farmer, or supply the 

 market. 



Blight in some When I assert that weak crops are the most susceptible 



cases mcreased of flight, I do not altogether mean such crops as are weak 

 in consequence of a zcant of manure, but such as grow on 

 land which has been made so light by repeated culture, that 

 the plants cannot get firm foothold, the great desideratum, 

 in fact the sine qua non of a good wheat crop ; and ma- 

 nure, particularly horse-dung, instead of remedying this 

 defect, only adds to the evil. In this instance, the remark 

 which has been often made, that the highest manured crops 

 are the most susceptible of blight, is perfectly consonant 

 with my observation. For the same reason, these crops 

 are apt to fall before they are ripe, and in that situation if 

 there be any blight in the air, they are sure to be infected 

 with it, because the sun cannot dry them, and the circula- 

 tion of the sap is impeded by the bruising of the straw. 



Too much ma- It Avas well observed in one of the Agricultural Re- 

 ure injurious j )0r ^ " that land may be made so drunk with dung, that 

 a wheat crop cannot stand upon it :" and I will defy any 

 man to get a good yielding crop of wheat in a highly-ma- 

 nured garden. He may, and probably will, get a good 

 crop of straw. 



Wheatoncer- Mr. A. Young is right, in saying in his Annals, that 



lain lands sel- on hj„h ] a nd, not of the best quality* wheat is seldom 

 dom blighted. , , 



blighted. The reason is, that such land is not made too 



loose by culture and manure, and the straw stands upright 

 Instances of and exposed to the sun and wind. I had a very striking in- 

 flight on ,and stance of this on the Marquis of Bath's land, under my 

 loosened too ' J 



much by cul- care, a few years ago : I had ploughed up twenty acres of 



furze- 



