AGRICULTURE. 
a hundred guineas, and which, in eight 
hours, will thresh fifteen quarters of wheat. 
The granary should be over this mill, and 
the corn may then, immediately after thresh- 
ing, be drawn up into it and deposited safe 
under the key of the farmer. Fresh thresh- 
ed straw is better than old for feeding cat- 
tle, and is best managed for them by being 
cut into chaff. 
FRUIT TREES. 
The culture of trees, for the purpose of 
deriving a fermented liquor from their juice, 
employs a great proportion of the land of 
this as of other countries ; and is, therefore, 
an important branch of agricultural atten- 
tion. The preparation of the juice of apples 
is more particularly attended to in the 
British empire, than of that of any other 
fruit ; and the few remarks on the general 
subject which our limits will permit, will be 
confined to that fruit. The varieties of ap- 
ples are entirely artificial, nature having 
produced only one species, which is the 
common crab. But different culture pro- 
duces very great differences, which are pre- 
served by artificial propagation. The seeds 
of the finest flavoured apples, among the 
native species, should be sown in seed beds, 
in an extremely rich soil ) and the assistance 
of a frame, or even a stove, may be applied. 
In the first or second winter the plants 
should be removed to the nursery ; while 
they remain there, the intervals between 
them may be occupied with garden stuff, 
which should not, however, crowd or over- 
shadow them; and weeds, whenever they 
appear, should be extirpated. In pruning, 
particular attention must be given to the 
leader; and, where there are two, the 
weakest of them must be cut off. The un- 
dermost boughs should be gradually remov- 
ed, and not all in one season. The height 
of ’the stem should be seven feet, or seven 
and a half, as the crops on a tree of this 
elevation are less exposed, and, indeed, the 
tree itself is less susceptible ofinjury. When 
they have attained five inches in girt, which 
they will do in seven or eight years, they 
may be safely planted out. Tillage is fa- 
vourable, as the ground is thus stirred about 
them ; and, where cattle are permitted to 
feed among them, they are apt to injure 
them, and, indeed, also to injure themselves 
after the trees begin to bear, by the fruit 
sticking in their throats ; on which account 
apple grounds, not in tillage, should be eaten 
bare before the season of gathering. Apple 
trees should be carefully cleared of a redun- 
dance of wood, which intercepts the free 
circulation of the air. They should be kept 
clear also of the misletoe, which is often ex- 
tremely injurious. Moss likewise should 
never be permitted to incumber them. The 
failure of crops, in particular years, is often 
ascribed to what is called blight ; but, to 
adopt more intelligible language, is probably 
imputable to the great exhaustion of the 
trees by recent bearings; to prevent, or 
mitigate which exhaustion, the best appli- 
cation is that of care, to bestow upon them 
all the natural means of healthy and vigor- 
ous vegetation. Excess of bearing, however, 
will inevitably impair strength. Grafting in 
the boughs, and when they are fully grown 
thinning the branches, will prevent excessive 
produce, and may be considered as a very 
probable method of procuring fruit in mo- 
derate quantities every year. As general 
management, with respect to orchard 
grounds, it is a judicious rule to plant for 
such, a broken up worn out sward, keeping 
it under arable till the trees have attained 
tolerable growth, when it may with advan- 
tage be laid down to grass, and be permit- 
ted to remain in that state till the trees are 
finally removed. After one set of graft- 
stocks on the stem have become effete, a 
second has been successfully applied : and 
thus, though the effect of age will at length 
prove fatal, the bearing of trees has been 
often very long protracted. The pear tree 
is of much longer duration than the apple. 
Both should be extirpated without reluc- 
tance, when their produce no longer com- 
pensates for the ground occupied by them. 
TIMBER TREES AND COPPICES. 
The planting of timber trees is an impor- 
tant aid to general cultivation, particularly 
in mountainous and moorish situations, 
where they afford shelter both for corn 
crops and cattle. Wherever plantations are 
formed in such situations, the aspect of the 
surrounding land is always improved, and 
exhibits a richer verdure. When suddenly 
removed, the contrary effect takes place ; 
the efforts of human industry are then im- 
paired ; the warmth of the soil is dissipat- 
ed ; vegetation is pierced and chilled by 
the unresisted blasts which sweep along 
its surface ; and the cattle are benumbed and 
stunted for want of protection from its fury. 
In a flat and rich country, plantations of- 
ten operate injuriously ; and lofty hedge 
rows, containing stately trees, check the 
free passage of the air and light, prevent 
the seasonable drying of the ground, and, 
in a changeful and critical climate, the corn 
