15 



mend for trial that species which produces its grain on 

 one side hke a feather : it is very late in ripening, likes 

 a strong- cold clay, and never shakes with wind. 



The oat tribe seems more diversified than any other spe- 

 cies of our grain, and, as it forms an important part of the 

 food of the lower orders in many parts of the United King- 

 dom, well deserves the attention of the agricultural school. 



A vegetable remains, probably of more value to man, 

 than any other with which he has yet formed an acquaint- 

 ance — I mean the potato : — the use of this excellent 

 root is more extended than that of any other plant we cul- 

 tivate : lor, it not only affords a pleasant and nourishing 

 food to man, and in treble the quantity he can obtain from 

 any other vegetable he cultivates on the same area, but is 

 equally well adapted to the sustenance of every domestic 

 animal we keep, either for our own food, or for labour. 



The field too, in which the potato may be cultivated, is 

 more widely extended than that we deem adapted to our 

 other favourite vegetables : every soil suits it, and we see 

 it ascend to very considerable elevations, and we find it 

 productive on our very wettest bogs, when sufficiently 

 drained. 



To the agriculturist y the potato is of the utmost con- 

 sequence; for it is a meHorating crop, renovating and re- 

 freshing his exhausted ground, and effectually preparing it 

 for whatever other crops he chooses it to be succeeded by. 



To the naturalist y the potato is a curious subject for 

 his attention. This vegetable has two distinct modes of 

 propagation, by the root and by the seed: the former gives 

 us an abundant crop of excellent food, while the latter, 

 like the stones and seeds of our fruit-trees, gives us 

 varieties, sometimes new, which never had been noticed 

 before. 



