ASRICt^LTURAL MUSEUM "83 



clearly to prove; and if more of this food is obtalnec?^ 

 when the air^s condensed by a degree of moisture, than 

 when it is in a state of rarefaction, it results, that this 

 wheat cannot equally impoverish the soil with any otlier 

 species. Reeauseit comes to maturity before the heats 

 of summer have driven down vegetables to pasture 

 themselves, almost exclusively, upon the store of food ab- 

 sorbed by the earth. 



4 Admitting this theoretic argument to be inconch:- 

 sive,it will not weaken the force of another, which is ex- 

 perimental. Clover was sown upon four of the six lot? 

 of this wheat, and also upon other kinds contiguous to it. 

 The clover, and, where there was no clover, the weeds 

 succeeding this wheat, surpassed in growth the clover 

 and weeds succeeding other kinds, so greatly, that their 

 superior luxurianey was distinguishable, ahnost as far as 

 they could be discerned. And tho' this effect should be 

 attributed to the removal of the forward wheat from the 

 ground, earlier th,an the other^ or to any other cause, 

 yet it must be acknowledged, that it will have a preser- 

 vative influence upon the fertility of the soil. 



5 Wherever the cfinaate will admit of the cultivation 

 of artiiicial grasses, the last observation deserves consi- 

 derable attention. And it is aidable by oth,ers directed 

 to the same object Before, as well as after the forward 

 wheat was cut, the growth of the clover sown upon it, 

 greatly exceeded that of its neighbours. And it also 

 came up better. Whether this is aseribable to the low- 

 jiess of the wheat, and its not being burthened by any 

 operativie weight of fodder, or to any other cause, it is 

 vet an effect, as recommendatory of it to northern cli- 

 mates, as its safety against rust is to southern. The pro- 

 duct of the grass, both for hay and pasture, is greater, 

 arid it also acquires a strength of constitution, capable of 

 withstanding the summer heats ? There it almost uni- 

 versally survived, whilst the contiguous clover, debilita- 

 ted by being oppressed with a greater burthen of straw, 

 and to a later period, perished generally in great quan-. 

 titles, and in spots, entirely. 



