114 



EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



tural Society, in which the result of the cultivation of a single 

 season was even much more extraordinary than the above ; but 

 it is well known to the agricultural world, and need not be 

 restated. 



XV. STEEPING SEEDS. 



I may as well here as any where recur to an experiment ex 

 hibited at the Dundee Show, of the effect of prepared steeps for 

 seed. It excited great attention on that occasion. I visited the 

 grounds of the gentleman who made the experiment j and he has 

 been kind enough to write me, on the subject, a letter, which 1 

 subjoin. 



&quot;SEMINARIES, DUNDEE, ]3th September, 1843. 



&quot; Sir, 



&quot; Since I had the pleasure of meeting you in Edinburgh, 

 I have thought a good deal about the way in which I ought to 

 proceed as to concealing for a time, or at once revealing, my 

 method of preparing seeds, so as to produce superior crops of 

 grain. I have at last determined that the better way is to make 

 the process known to the heads of agricultural societies. 



&quot; In accordance with this resolution, I have written to the 

 Duke of Richmond, as president of both the National Agricultural 

 Institutions of Great Britain, and to the president of the Royal 

 Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, disclosing the 

 processes which I have used ; and I now do the same to you, as 

 agricultural commissioner from the United States. 



&quot; I consider this plan better, in every respect, than sending 

 prepared specimens of seeds, as the applications for these might 

 soon become too numerous to be attended to. 



&quot; The specimens of growing corn, which I exhibited at the 

 show here, were the produce of seeds steeped in sulphate, nitrate, 

 and muriate of ammonia ; nitrates of soda and potass, and com 

 binations of these. It was objected by some that the tallest 

 specimens of oats were too rank, and would break down before 

 coming to the ripened seed. I should by no means be afraid of 

 such a result, as the stems were strong in proportion to their 



