120 
CULTURE OF WHEAT WITHIN THE TROPICS. 
preparation to which touch of the success may he attributed. The period of the 
moon’s revolution also exercised considerable influence, the grain having been 
planted on the 24th day of her age, or within four days of the change; a circum¬ 
stance of considerable importance as we approach the Equator, where the phases 
of the moon exercise so marked and powerful an influence over the progress of 
vegetation. In the experiments conducted under the authority of Dr. Bancroft, 
in Jamaica, notwithstanding the want of precise dates in his report, the period 
of sowing must have corresponded nearly with the period of change; although 
the January sowing must have taken place in the last, and the March sowing in 
the first quarter of the moon. 
The want of information respecting the details of Dr. Nugent’s experiments, 
is, in some degree, supplied by the memoranda kindly furnished by the Rev. Mr. 
Gilbert, an intelligent proprietor of Antigua, to Sir William Colebrooke, of 
which the following is a transcript. 
“ Memoranda of an experiment on the growth of the Victoria Wheat.” 
“ On the 1st of April, 1838, a spot of virgin soil, in which a single crop of the 
Sweet Potatoe had been raised, was planted with some of the Victoria Wheat 
sent by Dr. Hamilton to his Excellency Sir William Colebrooke. 
“ The soil was of medium quality, and the seed was planted by the dibble in 
holes one foot apart, and at the distance of one foot each in the row.* Two 
grains were deposited in each hole, and 250 holes (or about one hundred and 
seventy-fourth of an acre) were thus planted. The crop had two or three 
occasional weedings, and was reaped (owing to its ripening unequally) at 
successive periods, in the end of July.d ^ 
44 The weather, during the whole time of the experiment , was more than usually 
favourable, and although the ripening of the grain was somewhat retarded by the 
rains which fell in July, yet it did not appear to have sustained any injury on 
that account. An abstract of the rain and temperature is subjoined. 
April 
M y 
June 
July 
Rain in Inches. 
3.05 
8.32 
5.68 
8.80 
Mean temperature . 
76.7 
77.2 
78.6 
78.3 
“ The height of the plants, when ripe, was about two feet, and the produce, 
* No mention is made here of any kind of dressing; although it must be obvious to any person 
acquainted with Antigua, that in no part of that island is the soil rich enough for the production 
of Wheat without manure. 
t This gives a mean interval of little less than one hundred and twenty days, or about thirty 
more than in either Jamaica or New-Providence, between the times of sowing and reaping. 
