ON GRAIN CROPS. 99 



day or two, it should be spread thinly on the floor, but never 

 kej)t in sacks, lest it ferment and its vegetative powers become 

 injured. 



[Grain perfectly clear and free from smut, may do well 

 without undergoing this process. But the fertilizing effect of 

 this steeping may more than compensate for the expense and 

 render assurance doubly sure against the disease in question.] 



Wheat sometimes becomes too luxuriant in spring, especially 

 when sown early — and then it is apt to become lodged and 

 run to sraw more than to produce grain. In this case it may 

 be pastured, for a short time, with sheep. 



The produce of the crop varies greatly with the seasons, the 

 nature of the soil, and the mode of cultivation. A fair crop 

 may be held to be thirty bushels per acre. The average crop 

 of England does not perhaps exceed twenty-two bushels, and 

 that of Scotland twenty-five. The weight of the straw is 

 reckoned to be about double to that of grain. As provender, 

 that is a feed for cattle, wheat straw is considered inferior to 

 that of oats — better than that of barley. In other countries 

 of Europe, it is that which is most esteemed for provender, 

 being generally reduced to chaff. Wheat is subject to various 

 accidents, and diseases, and insects, some of them peculiar to 

 itself. But as no remedy for any of these, except the smut, is 

 suggested by our author, we here close our quotations and re- 

 fer the reader to the book itself for many other interesting re- 

 marks. It is No. 62, of our agricultural library. 



The remarkable success of Benjamin Rodgers, of Andover, 

 renders his statement specially interesting. The use of leach- 

 ed ashes, which contain much lime and plaster of Paris, is 

 well worthy of notice. Farmers in many parts of Essex, we 

 know, have little faith in the value of the latter article as a 

 manure, but they may be in an error. The effect of gypsum 

 is undoubtedly greater and more obvious in some places than 

 in others, But it by no means follows that it does no good in 

 the latter places. It may well remunerate for the expense 

 which is comparatively trifling, where its benefits are not obvi- 

 ous, and we should recommend its use in all cases on wheat 



