}6 Cultivation of Arable Land. Wheat. Crops cultivated after. 



1 . 



but one earth after (uch forts of crops can feldom or ever inftire an abundant pro* 



duce. 



Experience has fhcwn, in the mod clear and fatisfactory manner, that this fort 

 of crop fnou Id never, where it can be avoided, be grown after other kinds of 

 grain crop, as rye, barley, or oats; and that the manure mould not be applied 

 to it, but for fuch crops as may precede it.* Where the contrary practice is 

 adopted, the crop is not only liable to be injured by the rampant growth of weeds, 

 but from its being more apt to be difeafed. 



Whatever the nature of the ground may be, or the kinds of crops that pre 

 cede this fort of grain, it- &quot;would feem that the preparation mould always be fuch 

 as has a tendency to reduce the foil to a pretty high degree of pulverifation, as 

 under fuch circumfbmces the vegetation of the crop is not only more perfect 

 and uniform, but, from the evennefs of the furface, and compact Irate in which it 

 is left, is more fit for affording fupport arid protection to the roots of the plants, 

 by allowing them to fpread and extend themfclves with greater readinefs in the 

 fine mould thus provided, as well as by its falling down moreclofely about them. 

 It has, notwithftanding, been maintained by fome agricultors, probably without 

 fufficiently attending to the fubject, that a rough or cloddy fhite of the furface is 

 the moft proper condition for the reception of this fort of crop, as the young 

 plants are thereby better guarded agai ntt the effects of the fevere cold that fre 

 quently occurs in the winter feafon. It is probable, however, that cold is feldom 

 hurtful in any great degree to this fort of grain, except where combined with 

 too much moifture, or where fudden frofts and thaws have the effect of render 

 ing the fuperficial parts of the foil fo light and open as to be incapable of afford 

 ing a proper fupport for the roots of the young plants. 



Time of /owing. The exact periods at which this fort of grain maybe put 

 into the ground with the greatefl chance of fuccefs, under different circumihnces 

 of foil and climate, have not yet, fo far as we know, been fully afcertained by 

 experiment. In addition to the obfervations that have been already made in 

 fpeakingof fowihg in general, it may, however, be ufeful to remark, that the 

 earlier the feed of the autumnal fowings can be put into the foil, the greater 

 chance the youngplants will have of being well eftablifhed in the ground before 

 the frofts take place, which we have juft feen to be a circumftance on which the 

 welfare of the crop in a great meafure depends. Befides, the ftate of the land 



.. * Middleton s Report of the Agriculture of Middlefcx. 



