386 



the 10th September, the whole jiutumn would be at the farmer's disposal for clearing 

 the laud aud getting ready for the autumn and very early spring sowing of barley and 

 oats, beaus, and peas ; the root-crops would not require to be hurriedly removed ; and, 

 in factj the farmer would be always well ahead of all his work throughout the 

 year. 



4. The crop would never become " winter proud " even in the mildest seasons, or laid 

 by heavy summer rains. 



5. The harvest would be from two to three weeks earlier. Thus, notwithstanding 

 the cold spring, I had (May 26) August-sown wheat just bursting into ear, aud August- 

 sown barley, which was quite out in ear and in full bloom more than a week before. 

 The harvest being over at least a fortnight sooner would be of immense advantage 

 in the cleaning of the land. 



6. Whereas seasons are frequently most unfavorable to late-sown cereals, they are 

 scarcely ever so to early-sown ones. 



There is no real ground whatever for assuming our present amount of iiroduce per 

 acre to be final and unalterable. One hundred years ago the iiroduce per acre proba- 

 bly was, and certainly might with equal reason have beeu, deemed so ; and yet it has 

 now been nearly doubled. 



We have seen that the present average contents of onr ears of wheat must be from 

 20 to 30. Were it grown as I propose, the average contents of the ears would be at 

 the very least from 40 to 60 — far more probably from 60 to 90 ; for under such a system 

 so small an ear as one of 40 grains is quite the exception. And this increase of the 

 contents of the ears would be obtained without any diminution of their number; in 

 other words, the crop would thus at least be doubled. This is no mere speculation, 

 as I have had 27 quarters of wheat grown upon 3 acres of land from 1 bushel of seed 

 upon the whole 3 acres ; and I have grown over a whole field 82 bushels per acre of 

 barley, weighing .57 jiouuds per bushel, from only one jieck of seed per acre. Aud this 

 was ouly au approximation to the system which I advocate before you to-day. 



It may very fairly be asked me : Is your crop of wheat at present growing sown in 

 August and the early days of September ; and if not, why not ? I answer at once that 

 it is not so, I am sorry to say, although a good deal of it was got in at the end of Sep- 

 tember. 



I have been foolish enough to try and combine the old practice with the new, and to 

 hope by an approximation to August-sowing practically to reap all its advantages. The 

 success which has attended this earlier sowing has been most remarkable, as the crops 

 at this moment growing upon my poor laud will abundantly show ; but such approxi- 

 mation is at the most but a half-way house to the greatest possible improvement, as 

 may be seen by comparing these crops with those I have which were sown in August. 



I have become, by these gradual steps, convinced of the absolute necessity of aban- 

 doning entirely our ordinary x>i"actice of sowing wheat after mangolds, carrots, cab- 

 bage, rape, &.C., and have arranged to have very nearly, if not quite, all my wheat 

 drilled this year in August and the early days of September; and my crops are and 

 will be at all times open to the inspection of every member of this club. 



There may be seen upon my farm now, wheat sown in single grains, in August, one 

 foot apart each way ; and some sown early in September, 1.5 inches apart each way ; 

 also about 30 acres drilled at end of September and the beginning of October with 5^ gal- 

 lons per acre. Barley sown in August, single grains, 18 inches apart each way, side 

 by side with some planted April 1st, 9 inches apart each way ; also a field of barley 

 drilled with 2 gallons per acre, aud 48 acres drilled with 3| gallons per acre. 



I counted (May 26th) the stems upon a plant from a single grain of wheat, of barley, 

 aud of white Canadian oats, all sown in August, as follows : 



A plant of wheat -- - 84 stems. 



A plant of barley 87 stems. 



A plant of oats 36 stems. 



I will now show how the 31 millions of acres of wheat sown in England could be 

 drilled in August and the early days of September. 



Taking the crops of England as given in the agricultural returns for 1872, at the end 

 of this paper : 



First, there are 585,000 acres of bare fallow. Next, there are 496,000 acres of beans, 

 and 353,000 acres of pease. And these beans and pease should be sown in the autumn 

 and come sooner to harvest. Then there are 420,000 acres of vetches, lucerne, &c. 

 And of clover aud grasses under rotation, 2,822,000 acres. In all 4,676,000, out of 

 which to obtain 3,337,000 acres of wheat. 



To the extent of about one-half of the clover and grasses under rotation, whether 

 for hay or not, it would doubtless be necessary to sacrifice all the growth at present 

 obtained after about midsummer or the middle of July. 



In the Standard of December 10, 1873, in au account of the annual dinner of the 

 Central Farmers' Club, an honorable agricultural member is thus reported : " He was 

 astonished, therefore, to hear so painstaking, careful, aud thoughtful a statesman as 



