i66 EXPERIMENTS ON WHEiAT, Part III 



better crops than mine, even the firft year; becaufe, i. They now 

 know the preparations which the earth requires : 2. They may be 

 provided with inll:ruments already experienced to anfv\er their pur- 

 pole with conveniency and edfe. The different circumflances to be 

 attended to, are hke wife known. From the knowledge I have ac- 

 quired in thefe matters,. I can fay, that the prefent appearance of 

 the corn, which I have fowed this year in beds, proniifes a very 

 great crop next feafon. I Ihall likewife have occafion, in the courfe 

 of thefe obfervations, to Ihew, that though the firll crop may feem 

 very fmall, yet it is in fail more profitable than that of lands culti- 

 vated in the common way. 



*' Let us now proceed to the prefent ftate of the lands cultivated 

 for two years according to the new hufbandry, and obferve what the 

 efFedls have already been. 



" When the corn was fowed, the beds were in a much loofer Hate 

 than before, and the grain confequently covered with a fine mould. 

 It came up better, the roots more eafily extended themfelves, and 

 increafed in number, in a foil which fcarce refilled them : the plants 

 Avere ftronger, and better able to bear the feverity of the winter ; 

 and by a fmall increafe of the feed, the earth was better filled with 

 plants, and thereby better able to fuftain the accidents which had 

 thinned them before. After the winter's frofls were over, the mould 

 was in fo loofe a ftate, that it looked as if had been newly plow- 

 ed : a very difterent ftate from ^hat of land in the common hufban- 

 dry, which is at this feafon hard, compatft, and very little fitted to 

 afford an eafy palfage to the tender roots of plants. How eafy too 

 did this render all the fubfequent culture ! The weeds, already great- 

 ly diminilhed, did little damage to the corn; and we may readily con- 

 ceive that the earth, in this loofe ftate, was eafily penetrated by the 

 rains, dews, and molfture of the atmofphere. 



" The effedts were, that the plants grew ftronger and taller than be- 

 fore; that they branched into a greater number of ftalks ; that the 

 ears were very large and well filled with grain, if we may judge 

 by thole which efcaped the hail ; that the wheat was very clear : and 

 laftly, that the crop was greater than that of the preceding vear, 

 though it had been greatly diminilhed by the hail, the hurricane, 

 and the Icorching wind which made many of the ears fhed their corn. 

 I tried every pollible means of afcertaining the lofs occafioned by 

 thefe accidents; but in vain. I have therefore given up an uncer- 

 tain calculation; and all I can fay, is, that I am fure the lofs was 

 very confiderable." A R- 



