1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



15 



indicated by the number of grains in the ear. 



There is moreover, a jiroperty connected with 

 the crrovvth of corn which alTects ihc (luestion of 

 prodTice very materially. All corns produce more 

 straws than one from one root. They do not so 

 invariably; but the instances of a single straw 

 li-om one root are rare in comparison with a 

 number. Single straws are more rare in wheat 

 and in barley than in oats. As many as five 

 stems of wheat and barley may be seen from one 

 root; two,thrce, and four, more frequen!ly,and three 

 most fi-equently. JMany lavorable circumstances 

 must co-exist to determine the number ot" stra\ys 

 which will be developed from one root. Rich soil, 

 either naturally so, or made so by manure and ju- 

 dicious culture, will produce more straws li'om the 

 same number of rools than poor. A fine season 

 has a similar etfect, in this respect, to a rich soil. 

 Early sowinsr will, in general, also produce a siiu- 

 ilar elfect. For example, in regard to wheat, a 

 rich and suitable soil will cause it to "tiller or 

 gtool,"— the technical terms in use to express a 

 multiplication of straws from the same root; while 

 a poor loose soil will scarcely be able to produce 

 one straw trom every seed that geminates. A fine 

 season, particularly a fine spring, always causes 

 Avheat to tiller boldly; and early-sown wheat in 

 autumn will tiller and cover the ground before the 

 ajipruach of winter. There is a variety of wheat 

 cultivated in the borders of Scotland, which pos- 

 sesses the property of tillering in the autumn in a 

 remarkable deoree. It originally came Irom Dan- 

 ziiT, and is called Danzig creeping-wheat. 



Taking, therefore, in the case of a prolific crop, 

 three stravi^s of wheat and barley, and two of 

 outs, as an average number from one root, and 

 supposing, as we formerly did, that every seed sown 

 produceslii root, the produce of wheat ought to be 

 132, instead of 17 times; of barley 84, instead of 

 12 times; and of oats 128, instead of 12 times the 

 seed sown. Or, to place the same result in ano- 

 ther point of view: According to the number of 

 grains contamed in the quantity of corn sown on 

 an acre, it appears that a square foot of land re- 

 ceives, of wheat 61, barley 72, potato-oats 97, and 

 common oats 101 grains. By tillering, the 61 

 grains of wheat should produce 183 straws; the 

 72 of barley, 216 straws; and the 101 of oats, 202 

 straws, on a square foot of land; whereas the 

 number of straws, with the tillering of the roots, 

 does not really exceed one-third of those numbers 

 on that space of ground. The inevitable conclu- 

 sion is that only one-third of the seed-corn sown 

 on the best land grows, the other two thirds are 

 somehow destroyed. This conclusion is startl ng, 

 and may appear incredible to those who pay little 

 attention to these matters: the facts which prove 

 it are accessible to all. But if this proportion of 

 the seed-corn is destroyed in the best soils, a still 

 greater destruction probalily happens in the ave- 

 rage quality of soil in the countrj^ 



The average produce of the average quality of 

 •soil is only seven times the (luantity of the seed 

 sown. The quantity of seed sown per acre has 

 hitherto evidently been ascertained by practice 

 alone. The seed has been sown up to the quantity 

 which produced a full crop, and then that quanti- 

 ty had been fixed upon as requisite lor the crop; 

 but now we see that one-third of that q\iantity is 

 sulUcient for the crop. Ought we then to sow 

 only the third? Prudence would decide in the 



negative, till it is ascertained how the loss of the 

 two-thirds arises. That loss in the mean time is 

 of great magnilude. The number of cultivated 

 acres in Great Britain and Ireland amounts to 

 47,000,000; 30.000,000 of v>^hich are under the 

 plough. Two-fifihs of the latter, 12,000,000 acres 

 are armually under the cereal crops. The average 

 allowance of seed lor the three kinds of corn may 

 be stated at 4 two-thirds bushels per acre. The 

 quantity of seed annually sown thus amounts to 

 7,000,000 quarters. If two thirds of this quantity 

 are rendered unproductive by some agency which 

 has hitherto been uncontrolled, then 4,666,666 

 (juarters of corn are annual'}" wasted! The (luan- 

 tity thus lamentably wasted would support more 

 than 1,000,000 of human beings. 



From tiic Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle. 

 FLOUKISIIING STATE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Some writers have pu/zled themselves in the 

 endeavor to account for the cheapness of corn, but 

 it IS simply owing to abundance, and the abun- 

 dance to the recent improvements in agriculture 

 here and in Ireland. No species of production 

 can be the object of long continued attention, with- 

 out ways and means being discovered of increas- 

 ing the supply, and diminisliing the cost of pro- 

 duction, and consequently the exchangeable val- 

 ue. And it would have been strange, if, while 

 improvements were daily taken place in every de- 

 partment of arts and manufactures, agriculture 

 alone had remained stationary, the amount of its 

 produce as low, and its price as high. 



The truth is, great and gratifying as have been 

 the improvements in manufactures, they do not, 

 perhaps, grratly exceed those which have, during 

 the last ten or fitteen years, been introduced into 

 agricultural operations. It is only about twenty 

 years since the first steam-engine was erected in 

 E:ist Lothian lor thriishmg grain, an example 

 v.'hich for some years was followed by few, but du- 

 ring the last eight or ten years they have rapidly 

 increased, and we know for certain, that there are 

 now upwards of sixty in the country. Judging 

 from present appearances, there wiil not in five 

 years hence be a farm in the county of the extent 

 of 150 acres and upwards, and destitute of water- 

 power, without its steam-engine. 



In East Lothian — we speak chiefly of East Lo- 

 thian, because better acquainted witii its concerns 

 than those of other counties, but agriculture is 

 every Vv^here rapidly progressing — tile or furrow 

 draining is but an introiluciion of yesterday, and 

 already thousands of acres have undergone this 

 admirable improvement. So lately as the sum- 

 mer of 1832, furrow draining was, we believe for 

 the first time, practised in East Lothian, and in 

 one field only. The field in questions had been 

 previously thoroughly cross-drained, lime and ma- 

 nure had been poured into it with a liberal hand, 

 but all without avail. At length drains were put 

 into every other furrow, and immediately two pic- 

 kles grew where but one would grow before; the 

 first crop repaid the whole expenses incurred. On 

 the sarne farm 100 acres, or all that requires it, 

 have since been fitrrow drained, partly Avith stones 

 and partly with tiles. On another farm, with 

 which we happen to be acquainted 200 acres Jiave 

 been tile drained, partly in every alternate furrow, 



