282 OFTHE CULTURE Part II. 



1 . That all the female ears of all the plants were impregnated : 



2. That the female ears of the plants which had loft their male pa- 

 nicles early, were thicker, longer, and fuller of corn, than any 

 others : 3 . That the female ears of the plants whofe panicles had 

 been cut late, were fmaller and fhorter, and that in fome parts of 

 them the grains were abortive. 



It would be right to try the culture of maiz with the cultivator, 

 of which we fhall give a defcription hereafter. To that end, it 

 would be proper to plant the rows two feet afunder, and the grains 

 in thofe rows twelve or fourteen inches diftant from one another. 

 All the neceflary hoeings might then be given with the cultivator 

 drawn by one horfe. M. Aimen believes the maiz would thrive the 

 better for it, and that the land would afterwards be fitter for other 

 grain. It is worth the while of thofe who live in countries where 

 maiz is cultivated, to try what this will do. 



Great quantities of maiz and millet are raifed in Guyenne. What 

 M. Aimen fays of the culture of this laft plant, we fliall defer men- 

 tioning, till we come to treat expreflly of it in the next part of this 

 work, and continue here his obfervations upon maiz. 



Cuftom, fays he, has taught our farmers to keep their plants of 

 maiz about a foot and a half diftant from each other if they would 

 have a good crop. In order to know whether it was abfolutely ne- 

 ceflary to leave fo great a diftance, he made the following experi- 

 ments. 



In April 1763, he prepared fix beds like thofe of the former ex- 

 periments. Three of them, which we ihall fpeak of hereafter, 

 w^ere fown with millet, on the ift of May. The other three were 

 fown with maiz, on the third of that month. The firft was fowed 

 after the ufual manner of the country, with one ounce and one pen- 

 nyweight of feed : the fecond was fowed with two ounces and two 

 pennyweights, the grains being only a foot afunder : and a third, in 

 which they were but fix inches apart, was fowed with four ounces 

 and a half. 



The firft of thefe beds produced 1 8 pounds and four ounces : 

 the fecond, 1 5 pounds 7 ounces ; and the third 1 1 pounds two 

 ounces. 



Maiz is fometimes fowed very thick, when it is intended only for 

 fodder. In that cafe, all the female flowers are barren, and pro- 

 duce no grain. 



This experiment, fays M. Duhamel, proves that fome kinds 



of 



