Ij2 Of B l i g h t. Chap. XI. 



lncreafe of Bread, which they had difcover'd to be 

 moil: beneficial for the lncreafe of Wine. One Me- 

 thod was, to hoe the Vines after they had bloffom'd, in 

 order to fill the Fruit, as in Columella, Lib. iv. Cap. 

 2 8 . Convenit turn crebris FoJJionibus implere : nam fit 

 uberior Puheraticnibus. And if what Palladia s fays, 

 5f#. ix. be true of the Sarritions and Sarculations in 

 the Month of January ', and that if Beans do twice un- 

 dergo that fcratching Operation, they will produce 

 much Fruit, and fo large as to fill the Bumel almoft 

 as full when fhard as unmal'd. 



Faba, fi bis farculetur, proficiet, cj? multum Frutlum 

 & maximum afferet, ut ad Menfuram Modii complendi 

 fre/a propemodum ficut integra refpondeat. 



This is to be done when Beans are Four Fingers 

 high, and Corn when it has Four or Five Leaves to 

 a Plant; even then the Harrowing- work, tho' it tore 

 up iome of the Plants, yet it w 7 as obferv'd to do 

 Good againfl the Blight. 



. Si ficcas Segetes farculaveris, aliquid contra Rubigi- 

 nemprajlitifti, maxime fi Ordeum fucum farrietur. 



When the Antients obferv'd this, 'tis a Wonder they 

 did not plant their Corn fo as to be capable of re- 

 ceiving this Benefit in Perfection. They might have 

 imagin'd, that what was effectual againfl the Blight, 

 when the Corn was in Grafs, muff, in all Probability, 

 be much more effectual when in Ear. 



But the moft general Blight that happens to Wheat 

 in cold Climates, is caufed by Infects, which (fome 

 think) are brought in the Air by an Eaft Wind ac- 

 companied with Moifture, a little before the Grain is 

 filling with that milky Juice, which afterwards har- 

 dens into Flour. Thefe Infects depofit their Eggs 

 within the outer Skin (or Rind) of the Stalks ; and 

 when the young ones are hatched, they feed on the 

 Parenchyma, and eat off many of the Veffels which 

 fhculd make and convey this Juice; and then the 

 Grain will be more orlefs thin, in Proportion to the 



Numbef 



