3-26 Sir Joseph Banks on the Blight in Cant. 



taincd, and in some respects better ; for as a bushel of 

 much blighted corn will contain one-third at least more 

 grains in number than a bushel of plump corn, three bushels 

 of such corn will to as far in sowin"; land, as four bushels 

 or laro;c gram. 



The use of the flour of corn in furtherinc the process of 

 vegetation, is to nourish the minute plant from the time of 

 its developemeut till its roots are able to attract ff)od from 

 the manured earth ; for this purpose one-tenth of the con- 

 tents of a grain of good wheat is more than sufficient. The 

 quantity of flour in wheat has been increased by culture 

 and management calculated to improve its qualities for the 

 benefit of mankind, in the same proportion as the pulp 

 of apples and pears has been increased, by the same means, 

 above what is found on the wildings and crabs in the 

 hedges. 



It is customary to set aside or to purchase for s.eed com, 

 the boldest and plumpest samples that can be obtained ; 

 that is, those that contain the most flour ; but this is unne- 

 cessarv waste of human subsistence ; the smallest grains, 

 such as are sifted out before the wheat is carried to mariet, 

 and cither consumed in the farmer's family, or given to hi? 

 poultry, will be found by experience to answer the purpose 

 of propatrating the sort fiom whence they sprung, as eficc- 

 tually as the largest. 



Every ear of wheat is composed of a number of cups, 

 placed alternately on each side of the straw ; the lower ones, 

 contain, according to ciicurnstances, three or four grains, 

 nearly equal in size ; but towards the top of the ear, where 

 the quantity of nutriment is diminished by the more ample 

 supply of those cups that are nearer the root, the third or 

 fourth grain in a cup is frequently defrauded of its propor- 

 tion, and becomes shrivelled and small. These small 

 grains, uliieh are rejected by the miller, because they do 

 not contain flour enough for his purpose, have nevertheless 

 an ^yriple abundance for all purposes of vegetation, and 

 as iullv ))artake of the sap (or blood, as we should call it 

 in animals) of the kind which produced them, as the 

 fairest and fullest grain that can be obtained from the bot- 

 toms of the lower cups by the wasteful process of beating 

 the sheaves 



Explanation (if the Drawings. 



Fig. 1. (Plate \T.) A piece of the infected wheat straw-rr 

 natural size : at a the leaf-sheath is broken and removed, 

 to show the straw which is not infected under it. 



8 Fig. e. 



