No. 1. 



On the Manuring and Steeping of Seeds. 



19 



corn, grown in a poor soil, with three or four 

 stems and eight or nine heads. Sunflowers 

 eleven feet high, with flower disks fourteen 

 inches in diameter, and seeds as large as 

 small coffee beans. Potatoes above seven 

 feet high, and tubers in proportion. 



"Varinas and Havanna tobacco have, for 

 eight years, preserved the well-known fla- 

 vour of their native country. 



" Drift sands have produced crops equal 

 in quality to the neighbouring loams. 



"All parts of the plants, stems, roots, 

 leaves, seeds, fruits, have been equally im- 

 proved — the tubers of potatoes, and other 

 roots, are tenderer and more agreeable to 

 the taste. Turnips and fruits more nbundant 

 in sugar, flowers of brighter hues and higher 

 perfume. 



"Agriculture can now be prosecuted after 

 an entirely new method. Manured every 

 year almost without cost, plants will devel- 

 ope themselves almost spontaneously, and 

 yield the largest returns. 



"A rotation of crops is a mere beggary 

 from the soil ! Every third, fourth, or fifth 

 year, the farmer manures a third, a fourth, 

 or a fifth of his whole farm, and in return 

 he has the pleasure of seeing his fields green 

 without putting much into his pocket — while 

 now the most profitable crops may be raised 

 with a luxuriance hitherto unknown." 



The author here calculates the present 

 cost of manuring the soil, and supposing the 

 new method to cost only one-fifth, shows 

 how many millions the adoption of it would 

 annually save to every nation in Europe. 

 He then adds — " Consider how much land 

 in every country at present yields little or 

 nothing, and yet might be brought into the 

 greatest fertility, an'd how many happy peo- 

 ple might enjoy life upon it who arc at pre- 

 sent a burden to the state. . . . 



" Look to England. What fearful want 

 now exists in that country, the resources of 

 which are every year diminishing. Men 

 daily die of hunger, and the most talented 

 statesmen are without hope of mitigating 

 the evil. For several years past the city of 

 London has been paying 24,000,000 of florins 

 of poor's rate, while the whole of Germany 

 pays only 60,000,000. 



" Berlin pays annually 420,000 florins, 

 and 40,000 souls are tax-free. All these 

 could find, in the neighbourhood, land sus- 

 ceptible of cultivation, on which they could 

 not only live, but from which they could pay 

 taxes to the state." . . . 



"Potatoes are vegetable bread; Lidian 

 corn also is a wholesome nourishment; both 

 grow beautifully on the lightest drift sand 

 with the former the whole seashore might 

 be covered." 



The practical farmer will justly consider 

 that Bickes' mode of treating his seed pota- 

 toes must be something wonderful, to make 

 them grow well on the sandy downs that 

 line so much of our coasts. But he proceeds 

 to give testimonials as to the efficacy of his 

 method and the truth of his statements. 

 These testimonials are from practical men 

 in various parts of Germany, and must be 

 deserving of credit to a certain extent. It 

 will be proper, therefore, to hear what they 

 say. The first two are dated Vienna, 1629, 

 and are signed by four persons ; they refer 

 to seed sown in the imperial gardens. From 

 the second of them I quote the following: — 

 ' In general, the plants from the prepared 

 seeds exhibited a very much stronger growth, 

 were of a deeper green, had thicker stems, 

 finer and fresher leaves, larger grain, and 

 the grain was thinner skinned, and therefore 

 contained more meal. In particular, 



' 1°. The hemp was of a much larger 

 size, and had many side shoots bearing seed. 



'2°. The Indian corn had more heads. 



■'3°. The buckwheat was upwards of 

 three feet high, and full of seed. 



"4°. Wheat, rye, barley, and oats are 

 thicker, and have more numerous stems, 

 larger ears, and more grains in each. 



" 5°. The Lucerne was beyond all com- 

 parison stronger, had more shoots, and its 

 roots were as thick again. 



"6°. The disks of the sunflower were 

 doubled in diameter, the cabbage had larger 

 heads, the cucumber large fruit, while the 

 unprepared seed yielded nothing." 



I quote further what must be considered 

 as a mere opinion, adopted in part, no doubt, 

 from the sanguine Mr. Bickes himself: — 

 "Since this highly beneficial discovery red- 

 ders all manure unnecessary, and can be 

 applied to the poorest soils without the ne- 

 cessity of having a previous stock of cattle 

 to produce manure — whicii, from want of 

 fodder, is in many places impracticable — aa 

 the material is of little cost, and as the corn 

 crops will require less seed, its benefit to 

 agriculture must in many respects be incal- 

 culable." 



The next two testimonials are dated from 

 Offenbach, in August, 1830, and are signed 

 by five persons. Three of these had allowed 

 their seed to be prepared by Mr. Bickes, and 

 thus speak of the effects when sown upon 

 their own fields : — " The prepared wheat 

 had from ten to fifteen stalks from each 

 grain of seed, and the ears and grain were 

 larger. The rye had nearly one half more, 

 and larger grains in the row. The two- 

 rowed barley had from eight to fifteen stalks 

 from a single seed ; generally the produce 

 was greater than on the best fields of their 



