22 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



the heads had not ripened in a uniform manner. In the 

 other part, I sowed seed perfectly ripe, and of the best 

 quality. 



" At the time of harvest, after having cleared the field 

 of cereal crops, the cloveu was fine throughout, and the field 

 presented a uniform aspect. As the clover was high enough 

 to be mown, it was cut for forage in October, and it main- 

 tained its fine appearance until December. Towards that 

 time many of the stools of the clover in that part where 

 we had sown the bad seed dried up ; then others ; and at 

 last, in the spring, there remained of them only a few tufts, 

 here and there ; the rest had either died out or were so 

 poor that we could no longer reckon upon them : they 

 seemed to have been pierced by insects. Those stools, 

 proceeding probably from the refuse seeds, still subsisted, 

 and yielded a middling crop, being few in number ; the 

 second cutting was rather better, but still it was meagre. 

 In that part in which the good seed was sown I retained 

 a good crop of forage, cut green, and the second cutting 

 was very fine, very thick, and seemed of a different 

 species. 



" In view of this fact, I recollected my first pasture of 

 trefoil and rye, and of some sowings of wheat, which had 

 the same result. "When farmers come to me for seed of 

 my large beetroots, in order to have them of the same size 

 on their farms, I say to them, ' Dung well and plough deep, 

 and you will have them as fine with any other seed.' In 

 the meanwhile, I have often been assured by them that 

 they have sown my seed, and others less ripe, and the beet- 

 root proceeding from them appeared not to be of the same 

 species. 



" I will not go so far as to say that everything depends 

 upon the seed ; for a good seed committed to a bad soil, or 

 one badly prepared, will assuredly yield a bad crop ; whilst 

 seed of an ordinary quality will sometimes succeed in a 

 good soil. But I am satisfied, from observations which I 

 have had the opportunity of making during an extended 

 practice, that the choice of seed is very important, and that 



