286 EXPERIMENTSON Part II. 



*' countries where moft of it is eaten, are healthy, ftrong and hardy, 

 " and generally well grown and well-looking; except only where, 

 " from the neighbourhood of marfhes or ftagnant waters, the air 

 *' they breathe is unv/holefome." 



We have the pleafure to acquaint the reader, that, fince the 

 publication of the former edition of this work, we have been in^ 

 formed, that a gentleman -in Lincolnfhire planted fome acres of 

 ground with maiz, which ripened perfedtly well. 



CHAP. IV. 



Experiments on Smyrna wheat. 



QMyrna wheat has a very large ear, with feveral lefs, or collateral 

 ^ ears, growing out of, or round this large one. It requires a great 

 deal more nourifcmcnt than the common hufbandry will afford; for 

 there its ear? grows very little bigger, and produce little, if any, more 

 grain than thofe of common wheat-]". In all probability, it will do 

 much better when cultivated according to the new method: but the 

 experiments which have hitherto come to our knowledge are very 

 few. The following is the chief, and indeed the only one worth 

 mentioning. 



M. Le Vayer, one of the majR:ers of the court of requefls, fowed 

 fome of this wheat in 1751, in a fmall part of his eftate at Du- 

 viere, in the province of Maine, and had a very good crop. He 

 fowed it again in 1752, in the common way; and though it did 

 not anfwer near fo well this time, it yielded him a third more than 

 common wheat would have done. 



In order to try how this wheat can be cultivated to the befl advan- 

 tage, M. Le Vayer fowed feven pounds and an half of it, in Novem- 

 ber 1752, in two pieces of ground which had formerly been a kitchen 

 garden, and of which the foil was good and deep. It came up well, 

 and the plants were very fine till July, when heavy rains fell, which 

 laid them quite flat. The great heats which came on immediately 

 after, raifed thcni but very imperfe<Sly. However, notwithftanding 

 all this, the grain filled and ripened perfectly : but, tho' the year was 

 very forward and extremely hot, this corn could not be reaped till 



* Count de la Galiflbniere, fays M. Duhamel, fowed fome of it for feveral years : 

 it produced a little more grain than common wheat; but the bread that was made of 

 it, was not fo good. 



near 



