142 EXPERIMENTS ON WHEAT, Part IL 



proves it is, that in a fpace about thirty feet long, at the end of 

 the beds, which efcaped the fnails, veiy few plants failed ; and the 

 reflwere very thriving and branched greatly : fo that it is evident, 

 the whole ground could eafily have nouriflied all the plants that 

 were intended to grow on it, and which were at the dillance of fix 

 inches from one another. I make this remark, in order to fhew 

 what may be expected from the following experiments, it being an 

 eafy matter to fow the ground fo as to have the defired number of 

 plants. 



- "I fuppofe then, and I think juftly, that this fmall fpot of ground 

 can produce 210 pounds of wheat at one crop : but the ineftimable 

 advantage of the new hufbandry is, that it keeps the earth in a 

 ftate fit for fowing every year; fo that in two years it can yield 420 

 poundsj whereas in the common hufbandry of this country,* the 

 farmer can have but one crop in -that time, being obliged to fow 

 his land only every fecond year ; and that one crop will fall greatly 

 fhort of the two which the new hufbandry will produce. A vaft 

 advantage in favour of this laft. 



" Without being too partial to the new hufbandry, we may ex- 

 pedt that the fecond and following crops will be more plentiful, the 

 earth being in finer tilth. Accordingly, the wheat with which I have 

 lowed thefe three beds a fecond time, is already vifibly benefited by 

 the loofer flate of the earth which has been fo frequently flirred in 

 the fummer. I have provided againfl the accidents which deflroyed 

 fo many of my plants, by fowing thicker. Inflead of three ounces 

 fifteen pennyweights of wheat, which I fowed laft year, I have 

 now fowed nine ounces twelve pennyweights : and though the fnails 

 have again eat many of the plants this year, clofe to the ground, a 

 fufficient number firill remains, by means of the additional feed, to 

 fill the beds, and they are equally diflributed. 



" I fliall now compare the crop I have been fpeaking of, with that 

 of the experiment which I made on the fame fpot of ground in 'the 

 year 1729, in order to fee whether I could not obtain a more plenti- 

 ful return, by fowing thinner than is ufually prailifed. The ground- 

 was plowed and fowed in the common way. I employed fix 

 pounds of wheat to fow it, being fomewhat lefs than half the ufual- 

 quantity. It looked extreamly well all the time it grew, and pro- 

 duced above double the quantity that wheat did in the common 

 fields. It yielded me 105 pounds of wheat. Evea in this way, I 



cogid 

 * The neighbourhood of Geneva, 



