16 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. menstruums, and such vast conceptions ; in the mean time that one may 

 show them as lieathy and hopeless grounds, and barren hills as any in 

 England, that do now bear, or lately have borne, woods, groves, and 

 copses, which yield the owners more wealth than the richest and most 

 opulent wheat-lands : And if it be objected, that it is so long a day before 



mine. I shall therefore rest the whole upon a description of what happens to grain after 

 it has been committed to the earth ; and hope that I shall be able to explain myself with 

 sufficient perspicuity. The subject is curious, and the discussion of it not very difficult. 



A grain of wheat contains, within two capsules, a considerable share of flour, which, 

 when melted down into a liquor by the watery juices of the earth, constitutes the nourish- 

 ment of the tender plant, until its roots are grown sufficiently large to absorb their own 

 food. Here is evidently a store-house of nutriment. And from that idea it is plain that 

 the plumpest grains are the most eligible for seed. Some imagine that poor grains may 

 be so impregnated, as to make them equal in vegetative force to the largest. I have more 

 than once made the experiment, and am convinced that plump seeds, of the same heap, 

 are superior in goodness to the small ones, though ever so carefully macerated. The farina 

 being the food of the embryo plant, it follows that the vegetative powers will be increased 

 in proportion to its quantity. I have sprouted all kinds of grain in a variety of steeps, 

 and can assure the farmer, that the radicle and germ never appeared so vigorous and 

 healthy, as when sprouted by elementary water : an argument that the seed requires no 

 assistance. The same steep, when applied in quantity to the soil, will undoubtedly 

 invigorate the roots, and nourish the plant ; but in that case it operates in common with 

 other manures, and loses the idea of a steep. As nitre, sea-salt, and lime, are generally 

 added to the steeps, I have constantly observed that their application rendered the radicle 

 and germ yellow and sickly : a plain proof that they were unnaturally used at that season. 

 Did the farina need any additional particles, it might be supposed that bi'oth made of the 

 flesh of animals would be the most agreeable. To be satisfied of that, I sprouted some 

 grains in beef broth, and an equal number in simple water. The result was, that the 

 radicle and germ produced by the broth were weaker, and less healthy, than the others 

 sprouted by the pure element. They were afterwards sown, but I could perceive no 

 apparent diffi?rence in the crop. As no invigorating or fructifying liquor, however pom- 

 pously introduced, has ever stood the test of fair and correct experiment, we may venture 

 to lay it down as an established truth, that plump seed clear of weeds, and land jvell prepared 

 lo receive ii, will seldom disappoint the expectation of the farmer ; and upon these he should 

 rely for the goodness of his crop. In this short dissertation upon steeps, or fructifying 

 liquors, it should be remarked, that I have drawn my conclusions from experiments made 

 upon grain, instead of the seeds of forest-trees, in full confidence that the general laws of 

 vegetation are the same in every kind of seed, from the almost imperceptible seed of the 

 Orchis to the Acorn of the Sovereign Oak. And I had this additional reason, that, in the 

 course of a few months, I could make my observations upon the different stages of vege- 

 tation, from the first appearance of the germ, to the final perfection of the plant. 



