94: INDIA!* CORN". 



It is attended with a twofold advantage : in quicken- 

 ing and promoting germination, and in offering a 

 means of protection against the earliest and most 

 dangerous enemies. There are various liquid prepa- 

 rations employed for tins purpose. Some of the more 

 usual are solutions of saltpetre, guano, copperas, wood 

 ashes, etc. The sulphate, nitrate, and muriate of am- 

 monia, and chloride of lime have also been used with 

 advantage, as well as urine, and other forms of liquid 

 manure. These solutions, however, require to be 

 used with caution, and most of them should be made 

 very dilute. 



Some cultivators are in the habit of employing 

 powerful solutions, and others recommend to raise 

 them to a very unusual temperature, as if they imag- 

 ined that some extraordinary effort in starting the 

 crop were going to have the effect of a charm all the 

 way through. But the object of steeping is to pro- 

 mote, not merely a quick but a healthy germination ; 

 and this is not to be accomplished by the use of ex- 

 cessive stimulants. A morbid growth, however rapid, 

 is no ultimate advantage. The results of experience 

 combine to prove that in this, as in every other stage 

 of the growth of corn, there is nothing gained by 

 doing violence to the processes of Nature. 



Some solutions are more effectual than others in 

 protecting the grain against its enemies. Saltpetre 

 and copperas are each considered good for this pur- 

 pose, but a moderate coating of tar is found to be 

 still better, and this practice is now pretty generally 

 adopted. 



