THE WHEAT CROP. 23 



parts of the country, according to the different opinions 

 as to their efficacy. The most common, probably, is 

 the solution of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), used 

 in the proportion of 1 Ib. to each sack (4 bushels) of 

 grain to be steeped, and dissolved in sufficient water to 

 completely cover the grain when placed in the tub. The 

 grain is left in the steep for twenty to thirty minutes, 

 then removed, drained, and laid out 011 the floor to dry, 

 when it is ready for use. If time presses from any cause, 

 the drying process may be accelerated by dusting it over 

 with lime, or, better still, with gypsum; and, in all cases, 

 it is desirable that it be sown as soon after it is dried as 

 convenient. Sulphate of iron (green vitriol) is also used, 

 and in the same proportions ; but, although a little cheaper, 

 is not so efficacious. In the eastern counties particularly 

 arsenic is largely used for the purpose, combined with an 

 alkali (soda) to assist its solubility. This composition, 

 "arseniate of soda," is largely manufactured in Glasgow 

 and other places, and sold to the farmers in a crude state, 

 and at a cheaper rate than they can purchase the blue 

 vitriol. In some districts a solution of caustic lime 

 in water is the simple form of preparing the steep 

 liquor; in others again, a fermented chamber lye, or 

 putrid urine, is the favourite composition. This, until 

 lately, was the steep commonly used in the north, where, 

 indeed, it still is frequently to be met with. Another 

 alkaline steep is used on the Continent, and is recom- 

 mended by Mr. Berkeley in his Introduction to Crypto- 

 gamic Botany. This is a solution of Glauber salts (sul- 

 phate of soda), dried off with quicklime. The lime com- 

 bines with the sulphuric acid, and so forms sulphate of 

 lime (gypsum), while caustic soda is set free. 



These represent the composition of the two generally 

 used forms of steep liquors the metallic and the alka- 

 line the action of both of which can be readily ex- 



