AGRICULTURE. 



der to prevent putrefaction, it will be of- 

 >en requisite to pull it clown, and, after 

 fulh. exposing every sheaf to the air, to 



istnict it. 



Tin method of preserving potatoes has 

 already been suggested, MM to go far- 

 ther into detail on this subject would ex- 

 ceed our limit s. 



Threshing. 



The usual mode of threshing is attend- 

 r-d with the inconvenience of the straw 

 being very often not thoroughly cleared, 

 by which much grain is lost ; and with 

 that of affording the workmen great and 

 perpetual incentives to depredation, 

 which, perhaps, are rarely resisted, or at 

 least are certainly often yielded to. A 

 fixed threshing- mill will give compara- 

 tive security against these evils; and one 

 \\orkcd by two or three horses maybe 

 purchased for from sixty to a lAmdred 

 guineas, and which, in eight hours, will 

 thresh fifteen quarters of wheat. The 

 granary should be over this mill, and the 

 corn may then, immediately after thresh- 

 ing, be drawn up into it, and deposited 

 safe under the key of the farmer. rivsh 

 threshed straw is better than old for 

 feeding cattle, and is best managed for 

 tin-in by being cut into chaff. 



fruit trees. 



The culture of trees, for the purpose 

 of deriving a fermented liquor from their 

 juice, employs a great proportion of the 

 land of this, and of other countries, and is, 

 therefore, an important branch of agricul- 

 tural attention. The preparation of the 

 juice of apples is more particularly at- 

 tended to in the Itritish empire, than that 

 of any other fruit ; and the few remarks 

 on the general subject which our limits 

 will permit will be confined to that fruit. 

 The varieties of apples arc entirely artifi- 

 cial, nature having produced only one 

 species, which is the common crab. But 

 different culture produces very great dif- 

 ferences, which are preserved l>\ artifi- 

 cial propagation. The seeds of the finest 

 flavoured apples among the native spe- 

 cies should be sown in seed beds, in an 

 extremely rich soil ; and the assistance of 

 a frame, or even a stove, may be applied. 

 In tin- first or second winter tin- plants 

 ^hould be removed to the nursery ; while 

 'hey remain there, the intervals In 

 them may be occupied with garden stuff', 

 which should not, however, crowd or 

 -m ; and weeds, whenever 



they appear, should be extirpated. In 

 pruning, particular attention mubt be gi- 

 ven to the leader ; and, where there are 

 two, the weakest of them must be cut 

 oflT. The undermost boughs should be 

 gradually removed, and not all in-.: 

 son. The height of the stem should be 

 seven feet, or seven and a half, as the 

 crops on a tree of this elevation are less 

 exposed, and, indeed, the tree H 

 less susceptible of injury. When they 

 have attained five inches in girt, which 

 they will do in seven or eight years, tluv 

 may be safely planted out. Tillage is fa- 

 vourable, as the ground is thus stirred 

 about them ; and, where cattle are per- 

 mitted to feed among them, they are apt 

 to injure them, and, indeed, also to injure 

 themselves after the trees begin to bear, 

 by the fruit sticking in their throats ; on 

 which account apple grounds, not in til- 

 lage, should be eaten bare before the sea- 

 son of gathering. Apple trees should be 

 carefully cleared of a redundance of wood, 

 which intercepts the five circulation of 

 the air. They should be kept clear also 

 of the mUletoe, which is often extremely 

 injurious. Moss likewise should never 

 hi- permitted to incumber them. The 

 failure of crops, in particular years, is 

 often ascribed to what is called blight; 

 but, to adopt more intelligible language, 

 is probably imputable to the gn 

 haustion of the trees by recent bear- 

 ings; to prevent or mitigate which ex- 

 haustion, the best Application is that of 

 care, to bestow upon them all the natu- 

 ral means of healthy and vigorous vege- 

 tation. Excess of bearing, however, will 

 inevitably impair strength. Grafting in 

 the boughs, and when they are fully 

 grown thinning the branches, will prevent 

 excessive produce, and may IK- consider- 

 ed as a very probable method of procu- 

 ring fruit in moderate quantities e\er\ 

 year. As general management, with re- 

 spect to orchard grounds, it is a judici- 

 ous rule to plant, for such, a broken up 

 worn out sward, keeping it under arable 

 till the tre< s have attained tolerable 

 growth, when it may with advantage be 

 laid down to grass, and be pcrmitu d '<> 

 remain in that state tiljthc trees are final- 

 ly removed. After one set of graft -stocks 

 on the stem have become effete, a second 

 has been successfully applied : and thus, 

 though the ett'er- ill at length 



prove fata!, th- bearing of trees h: 

 often very long protracted. Tl 

 tree is of much longer dur.it ion than the 

 apple. Both should be extirpated with- 

 out reluctance,, whvn their produce no 



