APPENDIX. 271 



do fo ; namely, its {landing fo thick as to 

 exclude the air and fun from the roots and 

 items, whereby the ftems become weak and 

 fpungy, unable to ftand upright againft wind 

 and rain, and fall down to the ground before 

 they are loaded with the weight of the ears, 

 and even before the ears are filled with grain ; 

 but, if the drilled wheat is not too thick, it 

 will generally ftand and the ears not touch 

 the ground, though by their weight they hang 

 down and bend the ftraw that fupports them 

 in a manner not common to any other but 

 the horfe-hoed wheat ; the diftance to which 

 the plants are to be thinned at firft depends 

 upon the quality of the land and the hoeing. 



Brining and liming the feed is ufeful, to 

 prevent the fmut, but is attended with one 

 inconveniency, that the land fhould be moid 

 when fown or drilled ; for fteeping the feed, 

 cfpecially if done as frequently directed for 

 many hours, caufes the corn to fwell and im- 

 bibe fo much moifture that a vegetation com- 

 mences; and if then fown in dry earth, and 

 no rain falls foon, the vegetation is checked, 

 which kills or much weakens the feed. Other 

 feeds in general, both in farming and garden- 

 ing, are fown when the earth is dry ; and the 

 reafon that wheat is an exception to this, is 

 its being fo long fteeped in brine ; for which, 

 however, there is no neceflity, for it is the 

 fmutty powder adhering to the ieed-corn that 

 caufes the crop to be fmutty. If no fuch 



powder 



