S3 



and nearly choaked them, I gave over the purfuit, 

 until the condition of the land fliould be changed 5 

 growing only a little wheat, rather by way of ex- 

 periment than for a crop. 



Winter rye fown early I found fucceeded very 

 well. The annual weeds which afterwards vegeta- 

 ted, had not time to ripen their feeds. The rye- 

 plants got poffeflion of the ground, and fubilantially 

 maintained it until the enfuing harveft This in- 

 duced a delire to try winter wheat ; hoping that, by 

 the like early fowing, it might efcape mildew 

 as well as early fown winter rye. And as the Vir- 

 ginian white wheat was faid to ripen a fortnight 

 earlier than other kinds, I concluded, if it would 

 ftand our winter's cold, it would be in little hazard 

 from mildew — the formidable evil which, it was 

 underftood, had caufed the growing of winter wheat, 

 in this part of the ftate, to be long linee abandoned. 

 I procured enough for the experiment. It was fown 

 in drills, that it might be kept perfectly clean. It 

 flouriflied admirably during the autumn -, and not a 

 blade was hurt by a fmart froft about the middle 

 of November : but in the following fpring, not a 

 lingle plant was alive. 



I intended to renew the attempt with fome win- 

 ter wheat growing farther north ; and yet neglected 

 it until the laft year, when I procured a fmall parcel 

 which had grown in New-Haven. Half of this I 

 gave away, for an experiment to be made in the 

 county of VVorcefter. The refidue I defigned to 

 fow in Auguft, at the time of fowing my winter 

 rye. It was put in on the 2 2d : but I was neceflari- 

 ly abfent, and fpace enough was not left for the 

 whole. The remainder was fown the loth of Sep- 

 tember 5 the whole in rows, to admit the hoe, to 



