CONCLUSION. [Chap. 



the cobb that has no grains upon it. Sometimes 

 this imperfect part is two inches long ; at others, 

 it is not half an inch, perhaps ; but in mine, it 

 rarely happens that the top of the cobb is not 

 crowned with grains ; and this has surprised me 

 more than any other circumstance connected 

 with this interesting experiment. So prolific 

 have some of the plants been, that we have 

 found many, very many eats, each having 

 a small ear growing out from the side, or, rather, 

 bottom of it. In several instances, tivo small 

 ears growing thus ', in some instances tliree ; in 

 one instance, at Kensington, four ; in one in- 

 stance, at Barn-Elm, ^t'<? ; and, in another i'i.X' ; 

 so that, in this last instance, there is a clump of 

 seven ears^ coming out of one and the same 

 foot-stalk or tail. A parcel of these ears to- 

 gether, is, I think, one of the most beautiful 

 things that man ever saw, especially when as- 

 sociated with the idea of the mass of bread and 

 meat that it in reality contains. The general 

 colour of the outside of the grain, is a bright 

 yellow ; but there is frequently a plant that pro- 

 duces purple ears, or, rather, a shade between 

 a purple and a red. This mixture of colours in 

 a heap of ears, adds to the beauty ', but that 

 is all the advantage that I know of; for, the 

 flour of both is of the same colour and of the 

 same quality ', and it is curious enough, that 



