CROPS. 241 



not exceed sixteen bushels to an acre j but on the estate of the 

 late Mr. Coke, afterwards Lord Leicester, where, when he came 

 to reside on his property, it was thought, on account of the thin 

 ness and poverty of the soil, wheat would not grow, the average 

 yield is from forty to forty-eight bushels per acre ; and I have 

 already referred to a large farm where the crop on the whole farm, 

 in 1844-5, a most favorable season, averaged fifty-six bushels 

 per acre. These are most encouraging results j but since, beyond 

 all question, in an instance referred to, eighty bushels have been 

 produced, who will say that the limits of improvement have 

 been generally even approached ? All this too has been, with 

 out doubt, the effect of improved cultivation. 



I have gone so fully into this subject that my readers may 

 deem a recapitulation unnecessary ; but the subject is so impor 

 tant, and bears so strongly likewise upon other crops, that I 

 must claim their indulgence for a few remarks. 



The success of no crop whatever can be commanded ; there 

 are agencies and elements concerned in the production far beyond j 

 the power or skill of man to command or control. But that cul 

 ture may do much, is equally certain j and the circumstances 

 under which it succeeds are those in which we are mainly con 

 cerned. The soil on which the improvements on Lord Leices 

 ter s estate have been made, was originally a thin, gravelly, and 

 light soil : but it has been deepened by ploughing, and thoroughly 

 pulverized, and enriched by manure. The manure has been 

 applied to the green crop, the turnips or swedes, in a most liberal 

 manner, at the rate of fourteen loads to an acre, when ten are 

 ordinarily considered an ample allowance ; but in addition to 

 this, the crops have been consumed on the land by sheep folded 

 upon it, and these sheep, during the folding, have been them 

 selves liberally supplied with linseed oil cake, than which, ex 

 cepting the flaxseed itself, nothing contributes more to enrich 

 the manure. In some cases, Mr. Coke was accustomed to use / 

 rape cake as a manure, and this was ground fine and sowed in \ 

 the drills with his wheat. There is no doubt of its efficacy, but 

 it is not safe to use it without some mixture. The Dutch 

 farmers dissolve it in their tanks of urine, and then apply it with 

 great advantage. It is sometimes used as a top dressing between 

 the rows of the growing crop. I have not found its use extensive. 



VOL. II. 21 



