i-9t5 EXPERIMENTS t)I^ WHEAT, Part II. 



that ' the blades were broader and longer, and of a much deeper 

 greeh. The plants had generally a great number of very thick and 

 long ftalks which were crowned with large ears quite full of grain, 

 and much heavier than thofe of the common wheat. 



'• All thefe obfervations were fufficient to convince me, that my 

 lands were in the ftate I wiflied them to be; that is to fay, that they 

 were looiened and divided fo as to be capable of yielding great pro- 

 dudlions. 



*' It was therefore lefs to fatisfy myfelf, than to give the public a 

 farther proof of the excellence of the new hufbandry, that I made the 

 -experiment I am going to relate. It •<vas an interelHng one in every 

 "refpedl; and I do not doubt but that it will induce many others to 

 make the like trial. I can affure them, that they will find it well 

 worth their while. 



" The harvefl of 1753 being over, I immediately fet about plow- 

 ing my fields, and forming the new beds which were to be fowed. 

 The year was a very dry one. I ufed frequently to w^alk both over 

 the beds that had juft been reaped, and over the fields cultivated 

 in the common way, where the corn had likewife been lately cut 

 down. 



" The firft thing that ftruck me in thefe Walks, was, the diffe- 

 'feJnce which I found in the ftubble. That of the fields cultivated in 

 the common way was fo poor and weak, that it fcarcely oppofed the 

 motion of my feet. That of the beds, on the contrary, refifted great- 

 ly : I often felt it break under my feet, aftd frequently met with 

 ^afts of 20, 30, 40, and fometime more ftalks, which ftopt me fhort, 

 like fo many little buflies. 



" I am the more particular in my account of this ftubble, becaufe 

 it fhews the great ftrength of the plants; which they would not have 

 had if the earth had been lefs well prepared. Befides, this ftubble 

 lias its real ufe, as I fhall fhew elfewhere. It is a much better manure 

 for land than the common Jlubble is. 



** This bbfervation led me to examine carefully what other diffe- 

 rences I .could find between the fields cultivated either way. The 

 moil important is, the ftate of comprefllon which thofe in the com- 

 mon way were in after harvefl. They offered nothing pleafing or fa- 

 lisfadlory to the eye: the earth was extremely hard, clofe and<:ompadli 

 'and its furface almofl as firm as that of a Beaten road. 



" The fields in the new way, prepared by better plowings made at 

 proper feafohs, were, on the contrary, ftill very light and foft m the 



middle 



