Ch.X.] ON WHEAT. 147 



of the benefit to be derived from the plan : the best proof of its efficacy is, 

 however, certainly to be found in the success with which it has been at- 

 tended ; though this we imagine to be chiefly owing to the judicious rotation 

 of crops, the proper application of manures, and the general superiority of 

 management under which his farms are conducted. It is also to be 

 observed, that the greater part of his land is of a very poor and sandy 

 nature. 



It must be evident that, supposing the seed to be, in all cases, equally 

 good, and the season equally propitious to its growth, yet the quantity to 

 be used should be in a great measure governed by the state and quality of 

 the land upon which it is to be sown. Now the farms which Mr. Coke has 

 under cultivation being in general light and thin, as well as lying in a very 

 exposed situation, many of the plants may naturally be expected to perish 

 from vvant of nourishment and protection. On such soils, and in such 

 situations, it may, therefore, be the most prudent course to fill the land with 

 plants at seeding time ; but judging from all that we have seen and read 

 of the prejudicial effects of thick sowing upon good land, we cannot but 

 consider it as injudicious, both as a waste of seed, and a disadvantage to the 

 crop. On this, indeed, in addition to what we have already said on the 

 subject in a former chapter, it has been justly observed by Mr. Burroughs, 

 " that soils naturally rich, or such as are highly improved by cultivation 

 and manure, will require much less seed than those in an unfertile state ; 

 on the contrary, the lighter and the less cultivated the soil, the greater will 

 be the quantity of seed which it requires. The reason is obvious ; plants 

 tiller more in ricli and strong than in unfertile soils, and, therefore, occupy 

 respectively a greater space : they are less liable to be killed on good soils 

 in the winter months, and every plant generally comes to maturity ; the 

 straw also becomes more luxuriant, and consequently requires a greater 

 circulation of air to preserve it in health and vigour ; whereas the plants on 

 light soils will but weakly and partially tiller ; therefore this deficiency of 

 stock on the land must be supplied by producing a greater number of 

 plants ; and as the straw will not be so liable to rot or mildew on light soils, 

 little danger need be apprehended on such from growing too tiiick a crop*. 



The grain may be sown at the depth of from two to three inches upon a 

 clay soil ; and upon land which is more dry and porous, even at four ; 

 for it will thus obtain a firmer hold of the earth, and will be more out of the 

 reach of that extreme drought to which those soils are frequently exposed. 

 It may, therefore, on such land be safely put in upon a superficial plough- 

 ing, when not sown upon a clover ley. These are, however, the extreme 

 depths. On every soil, the nature of the land, as well as its condition, 

 should also be well understood, before the depth can be properlv determined ; 

 for if it be a heavy, wet clay, the seed should be sown proportionately 

 nearer to the surface, than if it consists of a friable loam ; and if it has 

 been brought into complete order by the operation of a summer-fallow, it 

 will necessarily be in a state of openness Vv'hich will allow of the seed being 

 placed deeper. 



SPRING TILLAGE. 



Although wheat generally supports the rigours of the winter, yet the 

 uncertainty of the temperature in our northern climate is such as sometimes 

 to expose it to hazard. On the return of spring it is, therefore, occa- 

 sionally found in such a sickly state as to afford no prospect of a crop : this 

 particularly occurs on poor soils, lying in a low situation, which have 



* On the Cultivation of White Crops, p. 1 1. 



L 2 



