140 ENGLISH STRAW PLAT. [No. 



not, therefore, be too rich ; yet it ought not to be very 

 poor. If it be, you get the straw of no length. I 

 saw an acre this year, as beautiful as possible, sowed 

 upon a light loam, which bore last year a fine crop 

 of potatoes. The land ought to be perfectly clean, 

 at any rate ; so that, when the crop is taken off,, the 

 wheat straw may not be mixed with weeds and grass. 



226. SEASON FOR SOWING. This will be 

 more conveniently stated in paragraph 228. 



227. QUANTITY OF SEED AND MANNER 

 OF SOWING. When first this subject was started 

 in 1821, I said, in the Register, that I would engage 

 to grow as fine straw in England as the Ita.ians could 

 grow. I recommended then, as a first guess, fifteen 

 bushels of wheat to the acre. Since that, reflection 

 told me that that was not quite enough. I therefore 

 recommended twenty bushels to the acre. Upon the 

 beautiful acre which I have mentioned above, eigh- 

 teen bushels, I am told, were sowed ; fine and beau- 

 tiful as it was, I think it would have been better if it 

 had had twenty bushels ; twenty bushels, therefore, 

 is what I recommend. You must sow broad cast, of 

 course, and you must take great pains to cover the 

 seed well. It must be a good even-handed seedsman, 

 and there must be very nice covering. 



228. SEASON FOR CUTTING. Now, mind, 

 it is fit to cut in just about one week after the bloom 

 has dropped. If you examine the ear at that time, 

 you will find the grain just beginning to be formed, 

 and that is precisely the time to cut the wheat: The 

 straw has then got its full substance in it. But I must 

 now point out a very material thing. It is by no 

 means desirable to have all your wheat fit to cut at 

 the same time. It is a great misfortune, indeed, so to 

 have it. If fit to cut altogether, it ought to be cut all 

 at the same time ; for supposing you to have an acre, 

 it will require a fortnight or three weeks to cut it and 

 bleach it, unless you have a very great number of 

 hands, and very great vessels to prepare water in. 

 Therefore, if I were to have an acre of wheat for 

 this purpose, and were to sow all spring wheat, I 



