—$—<—$<$<$$<$$__$ ea 
fitable, owing to a difference between them regard- 
ing the quantity and quality of the meat they afford, 
so two different kinds of wheat, though sown on 
land precisely similar, and in equally good condition, 
may give unequal returns, owing to a difference be- 
tween them regarding the quantity and quality of the 
flour they afford. Hence the importance, too often 
overlooked by farmers, not only of preparing the 
land for the crop in a good and sufficient manner, but 
also of selecting that kind of seed which experience 
has pointed out as being most valuable and productive. 
It was with a view, not only of ascertaining the re- 
lative value, hardiness, and other properties of se- 
veral of the most commonly-planted wheats, but also 
of effecting an improvement in the best of them, that 
the following experiment was commenced on the Ist 
of November 1837. To insure accuracy in the re- 
sults, it was necessary that the seeds of each variety 
should be planted so as to have them all at equal 
distances. To effect this, two boards were used, 
each six inches wide, nine feet long, and half an inch 
thick. Along the centre of each board was a row of 
holes, three inches apart and one inch in diameter. 
A dibble was made to fit into the holes, having a 
shoulder at the distance of 2} inches from the point. 
When the board was placed on the ground, and the 
dibble put through each hole in succession, a series 
of holes was thus made, two inches deep, and three 
WHEAT. 
inches apart from centre to centre. After this had 
been done through the first board, the second, which | 
was touching it, and parallel to it, was served in the 
same way; and then the first was taken up, and 
placed on the other side of the second. By proceed- 
ing thus, the whole ground was finished, and then 
one grain of wheat was dropped into each hole. The 
rows were thus exactly six inches apart, and the 
grains in the rows were three inches from one an- 
other. The regularity with which the planting was 
performed was thus mathematically accurate. The 
ground planted lies on the lower edge of the great 
oolite formation, and the soil is a stone-brash, about 
ten inches in thickness. Crops of potatoes had been 
taken off it for a succession of eight years; and it 
had been manured every alternate year, with a com- 
post of equal bulks of stable-dung and earth, at the 
rate of about twenty cubic yards per acre. It was 
sixty-seven feet in length; and three rows of each 
variety of wheat were planted, except the first and 
last numbers, of which there were four rows. The 
outer row of each of these, however, was not taken 
into account, because their roots had a much greater 
extent of ground for their growth than the others, 
whose roots touched one another all round. The 
end plants of each row were also rejected for the 
same reason. Sixty-six feetin length of ground were 
thus taken up, and three rows of each variety occu- 
pied in width 14 foot: the ground occupied by each 
variety was thus ninety-nine square feet, the 440th 
part of an acre. 
) co} i Bo) a 
; 3 A 2 os a Be n 
o ° 
3 B [Bs eis (32 ta) Sie g 
¢ Bula 2 |§ 55 Sel 80 live sills 
a |. Bee 5/7 6 | Weight of |> | 2 |2 s| Weight of |2 §| Weight of 
a. |S| Name of Whence’ | 4 |o & = 8/6 9/8 3/Wheat perlo 3) S |£ &| Straw per|8 2] Roots per 
q |“| Wheat. obtained | 9 [2A “H|oeloa| Acre |G.) g ijn @| Acre. |e] Acre. 
S pn low m | lao me) Se Ihe ee ees 
rt OOS eres 3 oo mae} & 160 5 
eo 6 |2e Al je jas eH 8 2 eS 
) ae 5 s &N)O is A 50.5 fe) 
A gE 12" a oe S 
Zz \|q |e a = = 
Nov) |. (Ibs IP. et. qr. 1b. ft. in.| 1bs.|T. et. qr. Ib.| lbs.|T. ct. qr. 1b. 
15) 1/Old red Lam-|Pusey, Berks, | 792 | 387 25/6 |6 |1 8 2 8/413) 5 8 1163/3 5 224)5 |0 19 2 6 
mas. 
.| 2}Golden drop - : 792 | 291 25/5 |62)1 6 2 8/4615 6 |15t/3 0 0 38/5¢/1 0 214 
.| 3}Ten-rowed |Hareby, Lin-| 792/391 19 | 33 | 43 1016 216/27 | 5 5 |123/210 010/5 |0 19 2 6 
prolific. colnshire. ‘ <4 
.| 4|Hunter’s, Leek, Lincoln-] 792 | 273 20 | 41 | 43 1016 216/27 | 5 6 /123)2 12 010)5 |0 19-2 6 
shire. 
66 D eciseet Lyford, Berks.| 792 | 120 30 | 42 |102 |2 1 1 0/72) 5 8 /193|}3 5 214| 73 |1 9 124 
uffolk., ; 
.| 6)Hickley’s pro-|Old Bucking-| 792 | 132 29 | 43 |10t {119 3 3/693) 5 7 |163/3 5 2 24/63 |1 6 2 8 
lific. ham, Nor- 
folk. 
16) 7)White Taun-|Wallingford, | 792 | 305 27 | 5 | 6 |1 8 1 20/412/5 6 |15t/3 0 O Oj 53}1 1 212 
ton. Berks. 
.| 8)Silver drop. |Lyford, Berks) 792 | 218 26 | 43/8 |111 120/55 | 5 6 {183/312 212/6 |1 3 2 8 
.| 9|Scotch white. - - 792 | 379 g4 | 52] 64/1 4 2 6/438 | 5 9 |163)3 5 224) 53 }1 1 212 
. .{10) Talavera. Taunton. 792 | 434 20 | 53 | 55/1 © 214/36 | 5 8 |142)2 16 314] 53 }1 1 2 12 
21|11/Smithers’ Cirencester | 792| 319 25 | 5} | 921117 1 8|653; 5 6 |173|8 8 3820/5 |019 2 0 
Hereford (Smith). 
white. 
. .|12/A red wheat. - - 792 | 252 35 | 62 |12 |2 5 112/823/5 0122 14 7 0 2/9 |115 2 6 
. 13) Egyptian - = 792 | 528 7/2: | 34/0138 0 24/23 | 6 0} 8/111 2 2)3 |O11 38 4 
cone. 
.|14)Red straw - - 792 | 510 21 | 73 | 43/016 216\27 | 5 8 |143)216 3 4/5 (019 2 6 
Lammas. 
. {15} Blue cone. - - 792 | 264 16/5 |6 |1 8 1 28)414/6 0] 9$;)116 116/6 |1 3 2 8 
. .{L6)}Red cone. - =. 792 | 456 24|7 {10 |119 1 4/682}5 3/123/2 9 O 0} 428/018 210 
1| 2 3 4 9 | 10 {11 12 13 | 14 | 15 16 17 18 
Although the tabular form in which this experi- 
ment is detailed explains itself by the headings of 
each column, yet it is considered necessary to give a 
somewhat fuller account of it. The seed from which 
the first. ten varieties were raised was carefully se-- 
lected from specimens of each obtained in the ear. 
The others were from samples; and here, also, the 
greatest care was taken that the seed from which 
each was raised should be the best and plumpest 
that could be obtained. The first five columns need 
each; the sixth shows the number of grains lost from 
casualties. If the frost had been the only agent in 
the destruction of so many of the seeds, this column 
might have been considered as a very accurate index 
of the relative hardiness of each variety. This, how- 
ever, is not the case, for the havoc which the birds 
made must also be taken into account. It was 
thought, at the time, that more injury was sustain- 
ed, from the latter cause, by those varieties planted 
on the 2Ist, than by any of the others; but this 
ao explanation beyond what is given at the head of | does not appear to have been the case, for, if the 
i 
( 
