AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM 3i9 



potatoes, continues in a heaithy state, when othci' 

 wheat is diseased uiuJ debilitated; and of course the 

 culture of potatoes must be viewetl as one oi" the best 

 preparations for wheat with which we are acijuainted. 



1 have long regretted, tiiat iVoin potatoes not keeping 

 over one season, the culture of that vakiabh^ root 

 shouhl have been less i'oilowed than other crops ; but, 1 

 flatter myself, that now when unfavorable prejudices 

 against them are wearing away, tlieir cultivation \y\'\ 

 be considerably extended, not only as a preparatory 

 seed lor wheat, but also as food for horses and cattle. 

 Along with rata baga, I hope that potatoes will soon 

 be used Wi' supporting farm stock, dui-ing the winter 

 and spring nionlhs, to the great benelit of tiie animals, 

 and the advantage of their owners. 



Before i tinish, aliow me to state that the bad crop oi' 

 wheat, in 17^9 caused the woolly eared variety almost 

 entirely to be given up ; since wiiich t!ic smooth chatifed 

 sorts have been generally used. I have doubts on the 

 propriety of the change, because the woolly earedkind 

 had long been in vogue, and was considered to yield the 

 greatest produce. The foliowing fact perhaps merits 

 some attention. A seed rncix-hant in 180T, sent me seven 

 bushels of English wheat, which was sown on part of 

 a nine acre held that lay at a distance from ray resi- 

 tlence. This Held had not been inspected during the 

 foggy and rainy weather at the close of last summer i 

 but when viewctl afterwards, the part sown with Eng- 

 giish wheat, which turned out to be of the woolly cared 

 variety, distinguished itself at half a mile's distance, 

 by presenting a dark dusky appearance, the chaff be- 

 ing much blackened ; notwithstanding these circum- 

 stances, the crop ^vhen threshed, yielded plumper grain, 

 with less refuse, than what was obtained from the r^st 

 of the field ; which, after aii, might in seme respect, bp 

 owing to the cha.nge of seed. 



I q.[v., yours &c. 



Mid Lothian, 1809. 



