706 



TRI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



TRI 



the due tillage as early as possible, which should be regulated 

 by the soil, as on some it may be better to trust the skim- 

 scufflers and scarifiers than the plough. Where the land is 

 very clean, the great skim of the Isle of Thanet is capable 

 of cutting through every thing, and loosening the surface 

 sufficiently to enable the harrows to render it as fine as 

 possible, being picked and burned by women. Where the 

 land is not so clean, the Kentish wood-share may be more 

 effectual ; but in most other cases the scuffier may be suffi- 

 cient for the purpose. When the farmer has got the surface 

 to his mind, he is to consider whether or not he should 

 plough it, which is advisable if the soil be of a firm, solid, 

 tenacious quality, and if he does not intend to drill the 

 Wheat: if he should plough such a soil, he may not have 

 any apprehension of root-fallen Wheat, that is, failing roots 

 from a loose bottom; but he will bring up a new surface that 

 may drill with difficulty, whereas that which has received 

 the influences of the crop, atmosphere, and of his late ope- 

 rations, will be exactly in the right temper for the drill to 

 work in. If the soil be of a more looise friable quality, and 

 he should plough down the fine surface he has gained, he 

 will give the Wheat too loose a bottom, and will run the 

 risk of a root-fallen crop. In all cases, or in any that have 

 a tendency to this evil, he should determine not to plough 

 at all, but drill directly; a method in which he saves tillage, 

 and has the probability of a better produce. This, it must 

 be allowed, is rather a new practice on strong land ; but the 

 practice has met with such success, that no reason is left for 

 doubting the soundness of its principles. It should be re- 

 membered, that whatever other circumstances may influence 

 the growth of this grain, it loves a firm bottom to root in, 

 and rarely flourishes to advantage where the foundation is 

 loose and crumbly; nor will a depth of such mould do, if 

 the under stratum in which it will attempt to fix its roots, 

 be from its quality of a repellent nature : the best basis is 

 cultivatable earth, when become firm from not having been 

 lately disturbed. Where the district is early, and the land is 

 preserved in good order by proper modes of cropping, Wheat 

 may be grown after Beans, whether cultivated in the drill or 

 broadcast system, with success, as there will be sufficient 

 time to give the necessary preparation before the time of sow- 

 ing. But in other situations, it is found advantageous, when 

 this crop is to be grown after either Peas, Beans, or Tares, to 

 plough the land in as light or shallow a manner as possible, 

 and then harrow and take out the roots and weeds, so that 

 they may be consumed on the ground in heaps ; the field being- 

 after this formed into proper ridges for the reception of the 

 seed, by ploughing again a few inches deeper than the first: 

 and in some cases it is even harrowed after the second 

 ploughing, and ploughed a third time for the putting in of 

 the grain. Wheat, too, may sometimes be cultivated to great 

 advantage after Turnip crops, on the heavier Turnip soils, 

 especially where they have been kept clean from weeds by 

 repeated hoeing, and fed off" upon the lauds at such early 

 periods as to admit of the ground being prepared by once 

 ploughing in a light manner. In cases where this kind of 

 crop is intended to be cultivated after Potatoes, which, from 

 their having a great tendency to lighten the soil, as well as 

 to exhaust it, should never be done on the lighter sorts of 

 lands in backward situations, or under any circumstances 

 where a sufficient proportion of manure has not been applied 

 for the Potato crops, one light ploughing immediately before 

 the seed, may be in most cases an adequate preparation, as, 

 where proper attention has been bestowed in the culture of 

 such crops, the soil is generally left in a sufficiently fine 

 condition for the purpose. It has been observed, that the 



cause of Wheat not succeeding well after Potato crops, in 

 many instances is, that, besides the land being rendered too 

 light and porous by the growth and cultivation that are 

 requisite for them, the Wheat becomes more exposed to the 

 injurious attacks of the grub and earth-worm, and other 

 insects, and, in some exposed situations, frem the seed-time 

 being protracted ; the practice obviously becomes improper. 

 In growing the crop after those of Hemp and Flax, as weeds 

 are apt to rise, it is always proper that the land should be 

 ploughed over two or three times, in order that a fine state 

 of tilth may be produced. The custom of giving but one 

 earth after such sorts of crops, can seldom, if ever, ensure full 

 returns of this grain. It has been said, upon the best autho- 

 rity, that experience shews, in the most clear and satisfactory 

 manner, that this sort of crop should never, when it can be 

 avoided, be grown after other kinds of grain-crops, as Rye, 

 Barley, or Oats ; and that the manure should not be applied 

 to it, but for such crops as may precede it : for where the 

 contrary is practised, the crop is not only liable to be injured 

 by the rampant growth of weeds, but from its being more 

 apt to be diseased. On the whole, it may be observed, that 

 whatever the nature or state of the ground may be, or the 

 kind of crops that precede this sort of grain, it would appear 

 that the preparation for it should always be such as has a 

 tendency to reduce the parts of the soil to a pretty fine state, 

 as under such circumstances the growth of the crops is not 

 only more regular and perfect, but, from the even and com- 

 pact state in which the surface is left, it is more fit for 

 affording support and protection to the roots of the Wheat- 

 plants, as allowing them to spread and extend themselves 

 with greater readiness in the fine mouldy earth thus provided, 

 as well as by its falling down more closely about them. It 

 has however been contended by some cultivators, that a 

 rough cloddy state of the surface part of the land, is the 

 most proper state for the cultivation of this kind of crop, 

 as the young Wheat-plants are thereby better guarded and 

 secured against the effects of the severe cold so common in 

 our winters. It seems probable, however, that cold seldom 

 becomes hurtful in any great degree to Winter Wheat-crops, 

 except when accompanied by too much moisture, or where 

 sudden frosts and thaws have the effect of rendering the 

 surface parts of the soil so light and open, as to be incapable 

 of affording proper support to the roots of the young Wheat- 

 plants. In Berkshire, three ways of preparing the land for 

 Wheat are practised : by summer fallowing, and manuring 

 with yard-dung, compost, rags, soot, and chalk in some 

 cases ; by folding on it with sheep, in cases where the ground 

 is not of too deep and wet a nature ; and by putting it in on 

 the back of Clover leys, after one or two crops of grass, by one 

 or more ploughing!. Some, however, thi-nk that manuring 

 for Beans or other crops is a much better practice when 

 followed by Wheat, than the old custom of fallowing and 

 manuring for this crop, which renders the land too light, 

 and consequently subject to blight. In Oxfordshire, the 

 farmers prepare for Wheat by different numbers of plough- 

 ings, according to the circumstances of the land ; but the 

 layers are mostly ploughed in a shallow manner, as Wheat 

 loves a firm bottom to root in, and which ploughings in sandy 

 land cannot be too light. With respect to the time of sowing 

 Wheat, the earlier the autumnal sowings can be put into the 

 soil, the greater chance the young plants will have of being 

 well established before the frosts take place, on which the 

 welfare of the crop is well known to depend. The state of 

 the land also, and of the season, are much more proper for 

 the process of vegetation, when the crop is put in at an 

 early period, than when delayed till late ; the state of the 



