No. 8. 



Varieties, Properties, and Classifrmiun of IVheaL 



2:j9 



out beip.GT deprived of any part of it by tlip I before the Thri^fhn or„ . r . 



grasses, the land is a Iso as il were, partially tkl dudnVu o or h Jo T ' T^l^^l' '''"''^' P"""" 



F.ll„wm/,br a wir„le season is .llo.,ether Se te hllTw h' "Z'f """■,"? "■" 

 too expensive . mode t„ be adopted by%hoi S pToSucS • ""^'" '° "''"'' '^S'f 



who pay a Injh rent for tlieir land, as paring ' 



and bur-ningr, and the drill system, or a sort of 

 half fallow will answer the purpose equally 

 well. From land in a very bad state infested 

 with couch grass in 1832, by means of paring 

 and burning, previous to taking a crop of po*^ 

 tatoes, which produced thirty-four thousand 

 eight hundred pounds of saleable potatoes the 

 acre, and with an after dressing of forty bush- 

 els to the acre, of kelp or sea weed ashes, I 

 raised forty bushels of fine wheat to the acre. 

 One season I raised fifty-five, and last season 

 fifty-one bushels to the acre ; this year I hope 

 to have reaped as much with drill husbandry, 

 though on land in a very bad state, which had 

 been much neglected. j 



These are not mere assertions without proof, •' 

 as a reference to my corn and millers book, 

 would furnish all the details. I 



It may be seen what a perch of ground i 

 might be made to produce, by multiplying the ' 

 nineteen rows exhibited in the tables, by the 

 produce of tVo. 8, Koeleri; which would give 

 eighty pounds weight to the perch, or ninety 

 bushels to the acre. Now, extraordinary as 

 this may appear, I have no doubt that land, 

 m a perfect state of tilth, and with seed suited 

 to the soil and climate, may hereafter be made 

 to bear that quantity. | 



Herodotus mentions an encouratrino- fact, 

 which should lead farmers to hope, not Indeed' 

 to rival the produce of wheat in Egypt, but 

 greatly to increase their own. In "his Clio 

 it is stated "of all countries which have come 

 within my observation, this is far the most 

 fruitful in corn. Fruit trees, such as the vine, 

 the olive, and the fig, they do not even at- 

 tempt to cultivate; but the soil is so particularly 

 well adapted for corn, that it never produces 

 Jess than two hundi^d fold; in seasons which 

 are remarkably favorable, it will sometimes 

 rise to three hundred : the ear of their wheat; 

 as well as barley is fitir dibits in size. The 

 itimense height to which MiUetand Sesamum ' 

 *ill grow, although I have witnessed it my-' 

 self, I know not how to mention. I am we'll 

 aware that they who have not visited this 

 country will deem whatever I may say on the 

 subject, a violation of probability." | 



This elegant and authentic historian, who! 

 flourished about four hundred and fifty years' 



RESULT. 



By the evidence of Mr. Jacob, before the 

 select committee on Agriculture, in 1833, 

 whose authority is unquestionable, the aver- 

 age consumption of wheat, in the United 

 Kingdom, may be about thirteen millions of 

 quarters,* and the average produce per acre, 

 ot England and Wales, is about twenty-one 

 bushels ; this for the sake of argument [ as- 

 sume to be that of the whole Kingdom, though 

 It will somewhat overrate it for Ireland and 

 Scotland ; then, deducting the average im- 

 portation of wheat since the year 1828, or a 

 million and a half of quarters, we have about 

 four millions, four hundred thousand acres in 

 wheat annually. 



I From the circumstance of some portion of 

 the country producing less than that average, 

 I will suppose the land under cultivation for 

 wheat to be five millions of acres. 



Now assuming the average price of wheat 

 for the last five years, to have been fifty shil- 

 lings the quarter, it will readily be conceded 

 that any means that could enable the farmer 

 to raise onequarter of wheat, nay half aquar- 

 ter more per acre, would not only be a great 

 individual advantage, but a very large increase 

 of the national wealth ; a nation is a great 

 family, and whether it be merely a portion 

 of the great family, a family of Rothschilds 

 for instance, who are enriched by the intelli- 

 gence, activity, and perseverance of one in- 

 dividual, or every individual who by the ap- 

 plication of the same energies is enabled to 

 mcrease his own income, it is still so much 

 mcrease of the national wealth, augmented 

 in the ratio of the number so actively era- 

 ployed. 



It follows, if the mode I suggest, of raisiag 

 wheat suited to each soil und climate, be 

 adopted ; it may reasonably be expected, in 

 the course of a few years, such is the amazing 

 productiveness of wheat, that the country will 

 be supplied with suitable seed; and it is a 

 consideration to which I earnestly call the at- 

 tention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; 

 an increase of one quarter per acre, may be 

 made to take place ; even more than this in- 



*A quarter is eight busheU. 



