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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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705 



face mould for the reception of the grain. But good crops 

 may be raised on the lighter sorts, though the introduction 

 of it on such kinds of lands, has been suggested as disadvan- 

 tageous from their being so much more adapted to the raising 

 of other kinds of crops. The Cone, Bearded, or Rivet sorts 

 of such Wheat, aie the most proper for the heavier, more 

 moist, and less broken down and reduced kinds of land, that 

 have been more lately put in cultivation, on which very 

 weighty crops are not unfrequently produced. Propagation 

 and Culture. Wheat is generally grown after the land has 

 been prepared by repeated ploughing and harrowing or 

 summer fallowing. In some cases Flax and Hemp afford a 

 good preparation for this grain ; but some consider Beans as 

 tbe best, though experiment has shewn Tares and Clover 

 to be equally favourable. In Norfolk, Wheat almost con- 

 stantly succeeds Clover, except where Pea or Bean crops are 

 interposed, the land being scarcely ever fallowed with this 

 view, except iu the case of what are called Bastard Sum- 

 mer Tills. It has indeed been well observed, that if there 

 be one practice in husbandry proved by modern experiment 

 to be worse than another, it is that of sowing Wheat on 

 fallows. In some counties the fallows are ploughed just 

 before harvest, on two-bout ridges, ready to plough and 

 sow under the furrow in the spraining method, a seedsman 

 to every plough, which reverses the ridges. In others they 

 lay their land into ten or twelve furrow stitches or ridges, 

 and sow some under the furrow, some under the harrow. 

 The ridges vary exceedingly according to their wetness; and 

 in Kent they have, by means of the turn-wrest plough, no 

 lands at all, but a whole field one even surface. It would 

 be useless to dilate on the circumstance attending fallow 

 Wheat, as it ought not to be grown ; for if fallows be, or 

 are thought, necessary, let them be sown for Barley or Oats, 

 or with any thing but Wheat. However, in whatever man- 

 ner, or after whatever crop, Wheat may be cultivated, the 

 soil should constantly undergo that sort of preparation, 

 which may be sufficient to bring it into a state of consider- 

 able fineness of mould, especially in the more superficial parts, 

 and thereby prevent as much as possible the rising of weeds; 

 for it has been well noticed by a late writer, that whoever 

 has attended to the progress of this sort of crop in such 

 lands as have been well broken down and reduced, and in 

 such as have been left in a lumpy crude state, at the time of 

 sowing, will have found the difference to be very consider- 

 able. But it may be remarked, that when this kind of crop 

 is taken after Clover, the land seldom undergoes more than 

 one ploughing, which takes place in general immediately 

 before the seed is sown. In many cases, however, where 

 this mode is adopted, the grassy matter is extremely apt to 

 rise and injure the crops in the more early stages of their 

 growth; hence it maybe better to follow the practice adopted 

 in some districts, of using a slim-coultered plough, by which 

 the remains of the Clover-weeds and grassy material an the 

 surface will be cut or skimmed off, and turned into the 

 bottom of the furrows, where they are immediately covered 

 with the loose mould from below to such a depth, that little 

 or no inconvenience can be sustained by them, while the 

 land is thus rendered more clean, and capable of being 

 harrowed in a more perfect manner, than where the common 

 'ough only is employed. Besides, a better bed of mould is 

 -obably turned up in this way for the seed to vegetate in, 

 provided the furrow is not made of too great a depth and 

 breadth, and remain some time before it is sown, which the 

 gricultuist should constantly attend to in preparing this 

 ind of ground for Wheat crops. But it is the custom of 

 -me counties, as Norfolk and Warwick, where the land is 



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plou, 

 prob 



often continued two years in a state of Clover, to break them 

 up in the latter end of June, in the second giving two, and 

 sometimes three ploughings. Where the situation is favour- 

 able, and the weather turns out suitable for reducing the 

 soil to a proper state of tilth, this may be an advantageous 

 practice, as by such means great benefit may be obtained 

 by cutting the grass in the beginning of the season in which 

 it is to be ploughed up; but where circumstances of so favour- 

 able a nature do not occur, such a method of preparation 

 must be less beneficial than that of giving only one ploughing. 

 In the preparation of a Clover ley for Wheat, Mr. Ducket 

 has observed a singular experiment. He had a field, in 

 which Wheat generally turned out greatly root-fallen. This 

 field he scarified repeatedly, till he had torn up the Clover, 

 and also produced tilth enough for drilling it in ; then he 

 collected the Clover fragments, and carted them into the 

 farm-yard to make dung, and drilled the field: the Wheat 

 having a firm bottom in an unstirred soil, surmounted the 

 disease, and produced abundantly. The Clover-bulb, which 

 would have secured the dreaded looseness of the soil, had it 

 been turned down, made a large quantity of useful dung, 

 though it was not applied in that particular field. It has 

 also been stated, on the authority of a cultivator of consider- 

 able experience, that, in cases where the Clover-crops have 

 been such as to leave the land in a foul weedy condition, it 

 would be highly improper to sow them with this sort of grain, 

 as, from its remaining such a great length of time upon 

 the ground, they may be liable to have their seeds perfectly 

 evolved, and brought into a state of vegetation. In such 

 cases it has been suggested as more advantageous, to have 

 recourse to such sorts of crops as may require the operation 

 of homing during the time they are upon the ground. The 

 putting in of Wheat after Pea crops, may probably be attended 

 with success in such districts as are, from the nature of their 

 situation, sufficiently early to admit of the land to be pre- 

 pared and fully cleaned by repeated ploughings and harrow- 

 ings, after such crops have been removed, before the proper 

 time for sowing the grain. But where they are so late as 

 only to allow of the land being prepared by one ploughing 

 before the period for sowing, it is supposed by some to be an 

 extremely hazardous practice to attempt the culture of Wheat 

 after such crops; because, unless the ground be in a high 

 state of tilth, there can be liltle chance of a good crop. 

 This is the opinion of the author of the work on Modern 

 Agriculture; but the Norfolk farmers are in the constant 

 habit of setting or sinking in Wheat upon a Pea stubble, 

 with a single ploughing, and consider it a very safe and 

 excellent husbandry. The Pea crop ouerht however to be 

 kept clean ; and after it is harvested, the haulm harrowed 

 off. They never plough a Bean-stubble more than once. 

 In some counties it is the constant practice to cultivate 

 Beans and Wheat alternately on the same land for some time. 

 This is the case on the stronger kinds of soil in the county ot 

 Kent, on which it is found to answer in a very advantageous 

 manner; and where Wheat is occasionally sown after such 

 crops, it is often found an useful practice ; but in all such cases 

 the Beans should be cultivated in drills, as from twenty to 

 thirty inches' distance, in order that they may admit of being 

 hand and horse hoed in the most perfect manner. If this 

 method has been followed, and the business of hoeing during 

 the growth of the crops effectually performed, the land may 

 be sufficiently prepared for the succeeding Wheat crops, by 

 one ploughing, as the soil, from being thus kept clean, and 

 in high tilth, can scarcely fail of affording a good produce. 

 It has been remarked, that where the farmer has a Bean 

 stubble intended to be sown with Wheat, he should give it 



