the least taint of its sweetness is a sure sign of 
its having been either damp or heated. The 
weight can be guessed within a pound or two in 
| the bushel, by being poised in the hand by any 
one accustomed to examine samples; but accu- 
racy of judgment can only be attained by long 
experience. The quality of any one species can 
thus be correctly estimated by any one who is in 
the habit of attending a corn-market; but large 
quantities are imported from abroad, and also 
made up for sale by the dealers of this country 
in a mixed state. The white wheat from the 
Baltic is generally mixed with red wheat, and is 
known in our markets under the denomination 
of ‘good,’ and ‘fine-high mixed,’ ‘ red-mixed,’ 
and some more ordinary qualities,—the first 
weighing from 61 to 64 lbs..—and the latter from 
56 to 58 lbs. per bushel, running in the propor- 
tions of one-third white to two-thirds red; and 
the price varying from 10s. to 15s. per quarter 
less than the superior articles, in proportion to 
the quantity of red. This mixture, however, al- 
686 WHEAT. 
corn, The smell should likewise be noted; for 
though not rejected by the millers—who fre- 
quently find the use of a portion of it indispensa- 
bly necessary to the grinding of the new corn— 
yet renders it unfit for the use of the farmer as 
seed; for the different qualities could neither be 
advantageously grown on the same land, nor 
would they ripen at the same time. The wheat 
which is shipped in large quantities from Odessa, 
on the Black Sea, and which in scarce years 
sometimes finds its way to this country, it would 
be also dangerous to use as seed, for the length 
of the voyage generally occasions it to become 
heated.” [British Husbandry. ] 
The proper quantity of seed will in a degree 
be determined by each farmer’s theory of the 
comparative advantages of thick and thin sow- 
ing; but, irrespective of this, is powerfully con- 
trolled by the nature of the variety, the time of 
sowing, the nature of the soil, the stage of the 
rotation, the amount of apprehended accidents, 
the manner of sowing, whether broadcast, drilled, 
or dibbled, and a number of other considerations. 
Any spring wheat tillers worse than a corres- 
ponding kind of. winter wheat, and, on that ac- 
count, requires from one-half to three-fourths of 
a bushel more of seed per acre; and any kind of 
winter wheat when sown early requires less seed 
than when sown late,—and, when sown after sum- 
mer fallow, requires less than when sown after 
potatoes,—and when sown after potatoes, re- 
quires less than when sown upon newly broken 
up grass land. “The nature and condition of 
the soil,” remarks Mr. Roberts, “the variety of 
wheat, and the quantity of vermin that consume 
the grain before or after it vegetates,—all have 
some effect on the quantity of seed required. The 
poorer the land, the more plentiful must be the 
seed. Ona poor gravelly soil, where an abun- 
dance of manure is not attainable, 10 pecks are 
requisite, drilled at from 6 to 8 inches; and we 
find, from observation of both wet and dry sea- 
sons, that when this quantity is at all sensibly 
decreased, or the intervals between the drills in- 
creased to a material extent, the crops suffer a 
diminution both in quantity and quality. When 
the land is good, very little seed is required, for 
it always branches out in the spring; but on 
poor land, when sown late, many of the plants 
die, at the same time that others on good land 
are preparing for numerous branches. Nothing 
definite, therefore, can be named as to the proper 
quantity to be sown. Upon the broadcast sys- 
tem, where 24 bushels per acre are sown, it is 
generally allowed that, if drilled, 2 bushels would 
be equivalent, and if dibbled 5 pecks. Asan in- 
stance of the effect of time I may mention that 
upon a poor heavy soil, if we commence in Sep- 
tember with 2 bushels, by the middle of October 
we increase it to 24 bushels per acre. It has 
been repeatedly proved that upon land of the 
best quality, and in high cultivation, if dibbled 
and put in perfectly regular, 4 pecks of seed per 
acre are better than more, inasmuch as it leaves 
a roomy and healthy space between the plants, 
encourages branching, and produces stiffer straw, 
with plumper ears, than when sown thicker, and 
upon the whole gives the most certain and fullest 
production that the land is capable of. Thickly- 
sown wheat on rich land grows much weaker 
straw, smaller ears, and is liable to fall down long 
before the usual time for coming to perfection. 
We have heard of transplanting wheat, and I 
can assign no good reason why it should not be 
more generally adopted. It is true it would be 
a@ somewhat tedious operation to plant many 
acres in this way; but when it is considered 
what a small portion of seed would be required, 
it might repay the farmer for his trouble and 
expenditure.” 
The time of sowing wheat is controlled by the 
state of the weather, the stage of the rotation, 
the quality of the soil, the character of the cli- 
mate, and the nature and adaptations of the va- 
rieties of the plant. . After summer fallow, in 
favourable weather and on suitable soils, winter 
wheat may be sown in Scotland as early as the 
beginning of September, and in the centre and 
south of England as early as the 20th of Septem- 
ber; and either in the event of unfavourable 
weather after summer fallow, or in other circum- 
stances of rotation and soil, it may be sown in 
Scotland at any time till the middle of November, 
and in the centre and south of England at any 
time till the last week of November. On very 
strong clays or cold soils, the sowing ought to 
be at the very earliest eligible period, and ought 
not if possible to be delayed later than about the 
middle of October in Scotland, or the end of that 
month in the centre and south of England; for 
such soils, when thoroughly drenched with mois- 
ture in autumn, are seldom in a proper state for 
harrowing till spring,— and wheat sown upon 
them in good condition in September, will take 
