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Vol. I.
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of Scotland .

453

successive portions, as fast as the turnips are consumed.Wheat has been sown after turnips with tolerable success, aslate even as the first or second week of April. Such a lateperiod, however, cannot be recommended, as the crop isthereby exposed to much risk from late harvests and imper-fect ripening, as was particularly experienced in Berwickshirein the year 1807, when the late-sown wheat after turnips, wasexceedingly inferior in quality, and harvested with great dif-ficulty very late in the season. The second week of March,in this northern climate, seems to be the latest time at whichspring-sown winter wheat can be ventured upon with safety,and a reasonable assurance of reaping a full crop of well ri-pened grain. It has been already observed, that it is onlyon turnip soil of a good staple, verging towards loam, and inhigh condition, that winter wheat, sown in spring, can becultivated with success; but when circumstances are favour-able, it will generally happen that such lands, especially ifwheat is not too frequently repeated, will nearly produce asmany bushels of wheat as of barley; the wheat crop, therefore^will on an average of seasons exceed the value of a barleycrop considerably, and thence its culture is an object whichought not to be neglected.

All the observations hitherto made, refer exclusively to oneor other of the varieties of that species of wheat which hasbeen called triticum hybemum by botanists, the Lammas orwinter wheats of the husbandman. The wheat which is or-dinarily sown in spring after turnips is of that species, and iscalled spring wheat in common language, merely becausesown in the spring season. It consists, however, with the ex-perience of all who have been conversant in the cultivation ofspring-sown winter wheat, that it is of importance to use theproduce of spring-sown grain as seed for sowing again at thatseason, as the crop of such grain ripens about a fortnightearlier than when the produce of the same wheat, wintersown, is employed as spring seed. This circumstance, there-