iS05.] 



Obferuations on the Difeafes of Wheat. 



To the Edilor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



THE great importance of the inquiry 

 inltitwted by Sir J. Banks relative to 

 the blight in wheat, muft be univerlally 

 acknowledgeJ, fince all are interefted in 

 the produftjoii of the article either as 

 growers or coiifumersr As a member of 

 the former clafs, I fhiU, with tlie higheil 

 deference for the opinions of one fo we'l 

 qualified in fonie refpedts as Sir Jo(eph 

 Banks is, to write on the fu^jeft, prefume 

 to make a few remarks which occurred to 

 me in the perul'al of his pamphlet, and 

 which are, for the miift part, the reii:lt of 

 my experience as a piai!?lical firmer. It 

 appeals to me to be necefTiry to diilir/guifti 

 with more precifion than is ufi;ally done 

 the different difeafes to which Vi-heat is 

 Jiable ; and this iS a miftake which Sir Jcv 

 feph appears to me to have (alien into, by 

 taking for granted that the biighi, fmut, 

 mildew, and rult, are one and tlie lame 

 difeafe. By the fmut I underltand what 

 ■the millers generally term bladders, filled 

 with a black naufeous po'jvder, and are 

 found in the fame place where the kernei 

 of wheat (hould be produced ; but the 

 blight, or mi-ldew, does not, like the 

 ■fmut, wholly perifh or transform the corn 

 from what it (houKi be, but merely occa- 

 iions a greater or lefs diminution of its fa- 

 rinaceous fiibftance as it may be more or 

 Jefs affected by the blight. The mildew, 

 too, generally affeiSfs every ear of corn in 

 fome meafiire ; (o that, where a piece of 

 wheat is much affefted with it, it is diffi- 

 cult to find an ear perfe6lly found ; but 

 the dirtit c.-ntrary is obferved of the dif- 

 •eaft called fmut, the kernels in thofe cars 

 l)eing wholly periflied, while the furround- 

 ing ones are uninjured. 



On the fubjedf of brining and liming 

 wheat, as a preparation for fowing, it is a 

 lafl frequently obferved, that where, by 

 accident, or defignedly by way of experi- 

 jnent, a fmall quantity of wheat has been 

 /own dry, or without any preparation 

 whatever, a larger quantity of Imutty 

 ears have been produced than could be ob- 

 ferved in any other part of the fame field 

 foA'n with wheat prepared in the ufual 

 way. Another important fa(5l is, that old 

 wheat, or that grown the harveft preced- 

 ing the laft, may be, and ufually is, fown 

 without any preparation, and without fear 

 of fniiit. 



I apprehend Sir Jofeph to have fallen 

 into a great error in rtcoinmending the 

 " feeds of wlitat fo lean anil flirivtlltrd 

 tliat l^arce any flour fit for the manufac- 

 ture of bread can be ob'.amed by grinding 

 Monthly Mac. No. a 3s. 



them," as preferable to the falreft and 

 pluinpeftfimple that can be obtained ; for 

 with alldue deferei ce to Sir Jofeph, the 

 number of plants raifed in pots in a hot- 

 houfe from a certain number of (hrivclled 

 v/heat-keinelt, does not f^) much ;is prove 

 they would have vegetated in the open 

 ground during the heavy ai>d cnilling 

 autumnal rains, much lefs have furvived 

 tile Ivverity of a long winter. Another 

 ftrong reafon for rtje>Siing tlie offjl rorn 

 which Sir J. feems 10 recommend tor feed, 

 whe.T happily the farmer has no blighted 

 ones to fow, is the difF.culty, not to fay im- 

 polfiblliiy, of cleaning it from the noxious 

 feeds wtiich are almoil always to be f .und 

 with it. An Esse.x Farmer. 



June 12, 1805. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 ACCOu.MT 0/ a TRIP from Alexan- 

 dria to ROSETTA. ExlraSlcd from the 

 JOURNAL of an OFFICER ^vho fer-ved 

 'With the BRITISH ARMY in EGiPr in 

 liSoi. 



THE French having capitulated, and 

 having, in canfequence, no longer 

 the fear of battle, murJer, and fudden 

 death before my eyes, I projedled a jaunt 

 toRol'etta, and on the morning of the 9tli 

 of September, accompanied by my friend 



W , iet out on horleback for that 



place. The diitance from our camp (that 

 welt of Alexandria) is about forty miles. 

 Our firft (tage was to Aboukir Bay, 

 feventeen miles, where we had to crofs a 

 ferry. Arrived on the oppofife fhore, we 

 proceeded about four miles further, when 

 v.'e halted, to refrefli ourfelves and horfts, 

 at an old caffle called a caravaniera, in 

 which a few dragoons were quartered.— 

 Having ftaid here a fulKcien; time, we 

 proceeded to accoBiplifli the remaining 

 nineteen miles of out journey. The road 

 lies clofe to the fea-iide, and the ride 

 would have been pleafant, had it not been 

 for the great number of human bodies 

 which were lying on the beach in different 

 Hates of putrefaftion and decav. Some 

 a|)peared to have been drowned, others 

 killed in battle, and feveral to hive been 

 thrown from on board fhip in tneir ham- 

 mocks, without having had fufficient bal- 

 lalf to fink them. About h^lf way be- 

 tween the caravanfera andRoletta is a glo- 

 bular buildint^, Icrving as a (heltcr to tra- 

 vellers, and dole to it a well of tolerable 

 water. Thei'e wells and buildings, I am 

 told, are to be found in certain (laces, 

 well known to the Arabs, thioughout all 

 the dclerts in this country 



When you come clofe upon Rofctts, 

 B (he 



