AGRIcyLTURAt aiJJSElTMl Si7 



io excess of Tioiuislimcnt, as the grain is always better 

 vv worse ll!lc(i, in j)Foportion to the degree of luxuri- 

 ance thil appears. Besides, did (lie failure in these in- 

 stances ojigiiiate fiom pestilential vapours, how could 

 the suiTou!Klini^ corns escape ? And if the smoke tlrat 

 arises iVom the j^round, when yvaimcd and moistened, 

 •^vas possessed of deleterious powers, what would be 

 the fate of tender barids in the months of May and June, 

 ■when more of that vapour appears tlian at any other 

 season of the year ? Even the blotches, lust and fungi, 

 seen on- exuberaut foliage, ^eem as likely to be formed 

 h^,' the action of the atmosphere upon the exudings and 

 perspiration of plants, as is observable upon plants dur 

 ling severe frost, as fiom 9,ny vegetative principle di aw- 

 ing cxistance from plants, la the case of last season, 

 much of the mischief has been ascribed to drought, from 

 the crop being thereby effected before the commence- 

 «r.cnt of rains. Nothing, however, came within my ob- 

 servation, nor has taken pluce since, which warrants such 

 a conclusion ; the giaiu on the driest parts of :.ll fields 

 in this neighbourhood having been better filled thaa 

 those on deep earthy soils. Oats sutler sooner, aiid 

 ;uore, by he^it, liian any other grain; and yet vvc 

 ^ud those raised on the driest ground meal best. 



A great degree of luxuriance is always unfavorable 

 to the filling of gra-n, us superabundant nutriment, by 

 too highly fostering the stems and foliage, not only 

 postpones the stage of filling, but retards tl^e process 

 of the sap or mucilage in its conversion into graiji. 

 Few seasons have been moi'e favourable to vegetation 

 than the months of May and June last. Crops of all 

 kinds throve in an uncommon manner ; and at t[)e end 

 of July, when the rains began to fall, the heated ground 

 became so ameliorated by the moisture, as to yield nu- 

 triment in no small degree detrimental to the matura- 

 tion of grain. This circumstance, and the long continu- 

 ance of most unfavorable weather afterwards, were; 

 abundantly suflicient, without the aid of putridity, to 

 effect all that cams ta i>as3. JBcsides, the u/ured fitate f^ 



