Season 0/I8I6. 213 



practice of sowing down my turnings in rye, for the pur- 

 pose of attracting the fly, and causing them to deposit 

 the egg therein, and always thought my crop was bene- 

 fited thereby. The turnings sowed down with the rye 

 were invariably destroyed, and the wheat only partially 

 injured. This plan is totally at variance with that of 

 soaking the wheat in hot water, or rather scalding and 

 liming it ; which of them is correct, will remain for fu- 

 ture experiments to decide. The destruction this season 

 is so general, throughout this and the adjoining counties, 

 that it is the opinion of the best informed farmers, that 

 more wheat will not be made than will suffice for seed, 

 and bread for family use. With the exception of my 

 son's farm, at Swan point, in Kent county, (the land 

 whereof is of very superior quality to the forms in gene- 

 ral,) I know of no one that will produce a fall crop ; the 

 ground there is handsomely covered with wheat. A con- 

 siderable part of his ground, where his fallow wheat is, 

 was manured with the sea oak, or weed, from the bay. 

 Benjamin Chew, Esq. of your city, can describe the 

 Swan point farm to you, if necessary to your inquiries. 

 As to what you term the stunt, I presume it is, what in 

 this part of the country is termed sedging, or putting on 

 the appearance of young sedge. This, I am of the opi- 

 nion, is caused by an insect that girds or eats round the 

 root, and causes the plant to die. With a small magni- 

 fying glass, I have discovered an insect among the roots 

 of the sedged wheat : a microscope would enable a per- 

 son to give a better description of this insect. The best 

 lands, particularly bottoms, and hills that have been aid- 

 ed by manure, suffer ?nost ; indeed I have frequenth 

 been obliged to plough up land, sowed in wheat, (th( 



