SEPTEMBER". 473 



method, the seed is not steeped at all, but only 

 swam. No. 6 was nearly his method, bat it failed 

 here very much ; yet the quantity of arsenic I 

 used was double what he prescribes. The reader 

 is, however, to remember, that no man in his 

 senses would sow such seed as that 'of this ex- 

 periment. That gentleman's method is certainly 

 sufficient, with, fine clean seed, because no crops 

 are cleaner than his; but to discover on what cir- 

 cumstance of the preparation the security depends, 

 is an object certainly of consequence. 



Every operation the seed went through did good : 

 washing in common water, lessened the smut from 

 one-half to one-third. 



Swimming in brine, and liming, appears to be 

 utterly deficient. 



A striking feature in the result is, the utter 

 failure of the method so warmly recommended by 

 Mons. 1'Abbc Tessier : yet nothing can be more 

 decisive than the circumstances, as reported by him; 

 and in consequence of his and M. Tillet's experi- 

 ments, the King's Council in France issued an 

 edict, prohibiting the use of arsenic and other poi- 

 sonous drugs. Conclusions are not to be drawn 

 from one experiment. I shall repeat this, and with 

 variations. 



December 7, 1787, sowed 34 beds with the same 

 wheat-seed, as black with the smut as I ever saw 

 any. 



No. 1. Sown dry: nothing done to it, 

 , 2, Washed well in clean water. 



No. 3. 



