SMU 



SMU 



3&5 



is taken to observe the lollowing 

 directions, which are tiie result of 

 seven years' successful expciiencc, 

 even at times when farmers wlio 

 have neglected to follow my exam- 

 ple, have had such wretched crops, 

 as have not paid the charge of 

 reaping. 



" Fake quicklime and pigeons' 

 dung, of each twenty tive pounds, 

 forty pounds of wood ashes, and 

 twenty tive pounds of sea salt, or 

 salt-petre. Put all these into a 

 tub, lar^ie enough to hold half a 

 hogshead of common water added 

 to them. Stir them ail well with 

 a stick, till the lime is quite dis- 

 solved. This ley will keep some 

 time without spoiling. It jnust be 

 stirred again just before the corn is 

 steeped in it. The grain is then 

 put into a basket, and plunged in 

 the lie, where it remains till it has 

 thoroughly imbibed it ; after which 

 it is taken out, and laid in a heap, 

 till it is quite drained of all its mois- 

 ture : Or, which is a still better 

 way, take a mashing tub, till it with 

 grain to within four inches of the 

 brim, and then pour in the ley well 

 stirred beforehand. When the tub 

 is full, let the ley run out at the 

 bottom, into some other vessel, in 

 order to use it again for more corn. 

 It is said, however, tliat a frequent 

 change of the liquor, in which dif- 

 ferent parcels of wheat are stock- 

 ed, is advisable. See close of this 

 article. Let the grain be then 

 taken out, and laid in a heap to 

 drain ; and continue in this manner 

 to steep all your seed corn. The 

 wheat thus prepared, may be sow- 

 ed the next day, and must not be 

 kept above five or six days, for fear 



of its heating. Tliis I say from ex- 

 perience. The quantity of ley 

 above prescribed, will serve to 

 prepare more thaji twenty bushels 

 of wheat." 



Mr. Tull observes, " that brin- 

 ing and changing the seed are the 

 general remedies for smut. The 

 former of these he had heard, was 

 discovered about seventy years be- 

 fore he wrote, by sowing some 

 wlieat which had been sunk in the 

 sf a, and which produced clean corn, 

 when it was a remarkable year for 

 smut all over England : But he af- 

 terwards doubts whether this might 

 not happen by its being foreign 

 seed, and tlierefore a proper chatige 

 for our soil. He teils us, that two 

 farmers, whose lands lay intermix- 

 ed, used seed of the same growth, 

 from a good change of land, and 

 that the one who brined his seed 

 had not any smut, whilst the other, 

 who neglected that precautioti, had 

 a very smutty crop. But again he 

 doubts whether this seed might not 

 have been changed the year be- 

 fore, and so might not be greatly 

 infected :^ Or at least not more 

 than the brine and lime might cure. 

 He adds, that smutty seed wheat, 

 though brined, will produce a 

 smutty crop, unless the year prove 

 very favourable ; for that favoura- 

 ble years will cure smut, as uiikind 

 ones will cause it : But, above all, 

 he assures us that the drill husban- 

 dry is the most eflfectual cure." 



A writer in the Museum Rusti<- 

 cum, says, " having observed a- 

 mongst wheat while green, though 

 shot up into spindle, several black, 

 blighted ears, I examined them, 

 and found these were ears in which, 



