[ '87 ] 



be found to contain a very fmall green bud ; and if 

 that ear (before ever having been expofed to the 

 atmofphere) be rubbed on the hand, it will give out 

 that difagreeablc odour, of which we arc very fcnfible 

 in the more advanced ftage of it, but contains not 

 the lead appearrance of what is deemed bloom in 

 a wheat ear i therefore, I apprehend, his fmutty 

 wheat in the cold wet fummer proceeded more from 

 the preceding damp harveft, whereby the feed was 

 more infeded with the difeafe (which I have ob- 

 ferved) than from the feafon in which it grew. I 

 am willing to admit his argument, that none but he 

 who can repel blights can reward the hufbandman; 

 but hope that the fociety will not on fuch grounds 

 flop their enquiries. The phyfician might on .this 

 principle withhold his aid; for we all know that man 

 muft die, but nobody knows when, and all wifli to 

 poftpone the day. He is very far from having proved 

 that blight is the caufe of fmut: from many years 

 clofe attention to this enquiry, I am certain it gene- 

 rally is not; for I cannot caufe a blight, but certainly 

 can the fmut in wheat, cither in a wet or dry fummer. 

 I never difcovered any difference in the roots or 

 knots, but it is to be diftinguiHied by an attentive 

 obferver, before it comes to ear, having more the 

 appearance of a wild oat than wheat, the leaf is of a 

 darker green, and fo is the ear on its firft appearance. 



Sir 



