Af/ricuUiire of Norfolk. 
329 
Lis possession. He thinks '• Spaldiug" is tlie most general favourite, but he prefers 
those named, as being superior in qualitj'. Mr. Neave's wheat attracted my ob- 
servation so much, that 1 inquired to whom it belonged, when I found this was one 
of the gentlemen on my list; and, but for his good crops, I should have gone con- 
siderably out of my way. This case was an exception ; but nearly all the best 
crops of wheat I saw iu the county were of the sort called " Spalding," the straw of 
which is bright and stiff. The seed is drilled. In Norfolk, generally, the 
drill is so constructed, that the man followiiuj it may, to a great extent, guide it. 
This partly accoimts for the straight drilling almost everywhere seen there. In 
other districts, where all this depends on the horses and their leaders, it cannot be 
expected that the work should be so generally well done. But 1 hope this hint will 
be sufficient to introduce the improvement (now very old in Norfolk) to more ge- 
neral notice. The farmers, I suppose, may send for them, if their neighbouring 
agricultural-implement makers do not. 
The wheat is drilled eight inches from row to row, about three bushels to the 
acre ; the quantity varying according to the season and state of the land, but 
generally beginning with a smaUer quantity, and increasing it as the season 
advances.— — Would dibble part, if he would get the dropping" done well. 
To prevent smut,' the wheat is prepared for sowing thus : — To three gallons of 
boiling water a quarter of a peck of quicklime is added, and, after boiling, when 
ett'ervescing, three pints of strong salt-brine are added, the whole being then 
stirred up and mixed together. This is poured over three bushels of wheat, which 
is then turned four times, sweeping the com up quite clean after each turning. 
The growing wheat is hand-hoed for Is. fc'rf. or 2s. per acre. To mow 300 acres of 
wheat, Mr. Hudson has thirty-four men as mowers. — —Each mower is followed by 
two women, or strong boys or girls in lieu of them. One gathers with the hand 
and the other prepares the band and ties it up : but they take the work alter- 
nately. This company is followed by eight team-men, who set up ten sheaves 
in a shock, not as suits their convenience, but, commencing with the two sheaves 
intended for the centre, they place two more, first on one side of them, then 
on the other, that the shock may be equally balanced, and therefore more likely 
to stand ; as is shown by the numbers over each pair of the sheaves in the ac- 
'0 6 2 4 8 
* Mr. Conlson, of Quidenham, states, he has for several years used blue vitriol, 
and finds it " a perfect preventive of smut in wheat," which was not the case with 
salt and lime when he used them. 
" The vitriol should be put into a tub and dissolved with boiling water, then add- 
ing cold water at the rate of (hot and cold) three pailfuls to one pound of vitriol. 
" The wheat should be steeped in the solution, and then turned out on the floor. 
" It soon dries, and is ready for use. It drills freely in any weather, which is not 
the case with salt and water ; as we frequently could not get it to drill at all in very 
damp weather." 
