434 OBSERVATIONS Part IV. 



♦ 

 warm days would have made it fit to cut: but the continual rains' re- 

 tarded the harvert of that grain till the end of the month. 



The wheat was very fliort, and full of weeds, particularly pop- 

 pies, blue-bottles, and fox-tails. As the feed of this lail cannot 

 be feparated from the wheat, it leflens its value confiderably ; becaufe 

 it gives the bread that is made of it, a bitter tarte and a purplifih 

 colour. 



Oats were very fine, efpecially where the foil was light- 

 Barley and pea? were alfo very fine : the grapes burft, efoecially thofe 

 which grew on ftiff lands. 



An epidemical diftemper attacked the poultry : thif was the pip, 

 and cancers in the throat. The former was cured by cutting the 

 tongue; and for the latter, a finger was thrufl into their gullet, 

 which was rubbed with fait, and their throat was afterwards waflied 

 with vinegar. Thefe fowls voided a great deal of flimy matter, and 

 feveral of them recovered: but as young chickens could not he 

 treated in this manner, many of them died. 



August. 



As we obferved in the account of laft month, the rye harvefl: did 

 not begin till the end of July: confequently our farmers were bufied 

 with that work in the beginning of Auguft. To the rye, fucceeded 

 the wheat harveft, which was begun and finifhed without interrup- 

 tion. The ilcy ftill continuing cloudy, and threatening rain, people 

 were in fuch a hurry to houfe their corn, that they did not give the 

 weeds, which the fheaves were full of, time to dry. The confe- 

 qucnce was, that the corn piled up in barns, heated to that de- 

 gree, that many wei'e obliged to bring their fheaves out to air 

 them. 



Luckily, notwithftanding the uncertainty of the weatfier, which 

 feemed every day to threaten rain, we had not had much wet. The 

 wind continued north, and very fharp. 



As the wheat was low and thin, part of it was mowed, and fo 

 great a quantity of weeds was gathered up with it, that fome farmers 

 who took the pains to feparate them very carefully, found that they 

 had two thirds more weeds than they had wheat. 



After harveft, the new feed corn, which was greatly inferior to 

 the old, was worth from 22 to 24 livres * the J'cf tier, which weighs 

 24O pounds: and the old 20. The fame meafufe of oats fold for 5 



livres 

 * From 19 to 21 ihillings. 



