94 AGRICULTURE. 



next step in this process is to roll the seed in pul- 

 verized gypsum. 



3d. Of the time of sowing wheat. 



On this head there is a diversity both in practice 

 and opinion. Some prefer early, others late sow- 

 ing : some sow in the full, others in the wane of 

 the moon, &c. 



Theory is certainly on the side of early sowing ; 

 since it gives time for the roots of the grain to es- 

 tablish themselves before winter; and experience 

 proves that grain early sown throws up more lat- 

 eral stems than that which is sown late. 



Of lunar influences we know very little, except- 

 ing that they extend to the waves of the ocean ; 

 which probably first gave rise to the opinion held 

 by M. Toaldo and other philosophers, that the at- 

 mosphere, which is only another and more fluid 

 ocean, and which has much to do with the health 

 and diseases of animals and vegetables, is also sub- 

 ject to these influences. But the calculations of 

 M. de Place prove that the effect of lunar influ- 

 ence on the atmosphere does not make a difference 

 of one line and a half on the barometer, and that it 

 is wholly insufficient to account for those great 

 agitations of the atmosphere which have been sup- 

 posed most to affect vegetation. 



4th. Of the different modes of sowing wheat. 



These are two, the one executed with the hand, 

 the other with a sowing machine, of which we have 

 already spoken. The latter has been advocated on 

 the ground of economy, employing less seed, and 

 distributing what it does employ more equally. 

 Nor will it be denied that, when wheat is very high 

 and labour very cheap, there may be a saving in the 

 use of this machine ; but in all other circumstances 

 the comparison is in favour of the other method, as 

 it requires less time and fewer labourers, and as the 

 waste and irregularity imputed to it are, in hands 

 practised and steady, reduced to little or nothing. 



