jSo4. Sted Wheat Is Steeped. 443 



* All ftem aware tliat deeping feed in pickles of coaimoa fait is 

 attended with dangerous confequences. ' The doclrine, here 

 pieant to be inculcated, I deny, \\\ tlie moil exprcfs terms \ and, 

 for a trifling preniium per acre, will undertake to infure the 

 whole feed of England from injury by pickling, aiid the crop 

 from being damaged by fniut, providing the following recipe is 

 judicioully applied. 



Steep your v/Iieat five or fix hours in water brou^lit from the 

 fea, which will favc expcncc, if it can conveniently be got ; but 

 it at too groat a dillance from the fea, ftcep it in common water 

 falted, till it is (trong enough to fwim an egg, llirring it frequcnt- 

 Jy. Procure frefh unflacked lime from the kiln, and when you 

 begin to let the water off, flack your lime with a fmall quantity of 

 it ; when the water is completely drained olT, turn the wheat out 

 of your tub, and to every bulhel of it allow a peck of lime ; fprin- 

 kle this over it, and keep ftirring the whole with a fhovel till they 

 are completely mixed, fo as every graiii may receive a fliare. 

 When dry, it is ready for fowing ; but Ihould the lime prove 

 t rouble fome or dangerous to the feedfman's eyes, fome more wa- 

 ter may be thrown upon it ; for when the lime is dry, the cure 

 is effeded. If the wheat is meant to be drilled, fift the lime 

 upon it, in the firft initance, and from it afterwards. 



The lime, I am perfuaded, is the grand panacea ; and I only re- 

 commend fait water in preference to frelh, becaufe the lime adheres 

 more clofeiy to the grain, when the former is ufed. The principal 

 difRculty in the procefs lies in the mixing of the wheat and hme 

 completely together, fo as every kernel of the wheat may receive it$ 

 due proportion of lime ; for uniefs this is carefully attended to, dan- 

 ger will not be prevented, every kernel that efcapes the lime be- 

 ing liable to receive and propagate the difeafe. I once witnefled 

 a cafe, which has fixed me mod firmly in the opinion that frefh 

 lime is abfolutely nectflary to accomplifh a cure. A very expe- 

 rienced and intelligent farmer having ufed all the wheat he had 

 prepared tor feed, wanted a few bulhels to complete his fowing ; 

 and being at a confiderable diltance from the kiln, determined to 

 make ufe of fome old lime, w^hich had been long in his poflef- 

 fion. I examined the crop, along with the owner, in the fuc- 

 ceeding year, w^hen it was ready for the fickle, and fouiid, that 

 where hot fime had been ufed,. no fmut prevailed, but that the 

 crop was much hurt where cold lime had been fubilituted. 



Some caution is certainly necefiary with regard to lime ; fo7 

 (liould it be ufed when not properly flacked, the great degree of 

 of heat thereby occafioned would deftroy the vegetative principle 

 of the feed ; but if applied with the precautions recommended, I 

 am perfuaded that the liming and pickling, t"o far front proving 



prejudicial^ 



