Chap. II. BY M. DE CHATEAU-VrEUX. i8i 



ARTICLE VII. 



^'^ RefeBhns and ohfervations on the fraSike' of the neiv 'btijhandty'^'.;' 



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«- ^TP HE chief objedl of our refledlions laft year was, the effect 

 -*■ which plowing and culture has upon plants. They feem to 

 us to be confirmed by. the followiiTg obfervations. 

 . *' I.. The productions were greateit in thofe places where-the earth 

 had been moll loofened and brought to the fineft tilth.jv' :- 

 ~5c*f ^2. We have feen plainly, that, in order to improve our tillage; 

 it is neceiTary to make the great furrow in the middle of the alleys 

 very deep, becaufe that furrow being afterwards filled up, and a new 

 bed made over it, there is a greater depth of hght well loofened 

 mould immediately under the roots of the plants. 



" T^. We can afhrm, that we have this year, without much trou- 

 ble, plowed our beds from fifteen to eighteen inches deep, which 

 isvery confiderable : but we mufl not flatter ourfelves, that this 

 depth can always be attained the firft year : it is by continuing this 

 fame culture that we fhall infenfibly reach it. 



"4. To have great fuccefs, requires proper care and judgment lit 

 performing every part of the new. hufbandry. The culture which 

 is well executed, will be of very great; ufe ; but that, on the con- 

 trary, which is badly done, will be of no lervice to the plants;,; and 

 may even prove very detrimental to the next year's crop. 



" ^. To perform this culture with advantage,, it is therefore ne-^ 

 ceflary to obferve this important maxim: of tillage, fo little attended 

 to by many farmers,, never to Jet the plough to work, when the earth is 

 too motji. I have adhered to it ftriftly, and have never fuffered my 

 lands to be touched till they were dry. We have tilled v/hen the 

 weather has been very, dry and very hot, and then it~was that oui' 

 culture had the beft eiFeS : the ftitfeft land,, having been broken by 

 the preceding plovdngs, was provided with the moifta re necelTary 

 for plants, from its lurface to the bottom of the furrows ; and the 

 plants were fenfibly benefited. by all our frequent flirrings. 



" 6. I was fo ftruck with it, that I marked feveral llalks, to fee 

 how much they grew each day. From the time that the ears be- 

 gan to appear, till they had done blofibniing, 1- found that they 

 grew an inch in four and twenty hours. The hottefi: days< were; 

 thofe in which the ftalks grew moftj whilil all vegetatiarLieemed 

 alm.oit fufpended ia the wheat in the common way. 



«' 7. Thia 



