W H E

As lime, when mixed with them, takes a very strong■band, it is probable, that the mixing them together inthe application may in some cases produce very good-effects.

It is a practice in some places to sow turnip, buck-wheat,pease, &c. on land ; and when grown up, to plough themdown for manures.

These may be called vegetables in an entire state, todistinguish them from dung made of putrefied vegetables;though no vegetable can be a manure till it is putrefied,

As these vegetables receive their food from the soil onwhich they grow, it is natural to think, that whenploughed down, they do no more than restore what theyhave taken; and therefore, that by this operation landcannot be rendered more fertile than before; at least, can-not communicate such a quantity of vegetable food to itas may be done by frequent ploughings. For the vege-bles, though ploughed down, are not all preserved ; a partof them being uncovered, is blown away by the winds.Besides, the plants while growing, cover the surface, andprevent the vegetable food in the air from entering the soil;whereas, when land is frequently ploughed, none of itsvegetable food is exhausted, and it is exposed to receive allthe benefits from the influence of the air. But, notwith-standing this, some assert from experience, that a crop ofsuch vegetables as those mentioned, ploughed down v ren-der land more fertile than frequent ploughings withoutthe application of manure.

To account for this upon the principles established, letthe following things be considered.

The foil, manured by ploughing down a crop of vege-tables, receives all the vegetable food contained in the seedsown. This quantity in pease and buck-wheat is not veryinconsiderable. The quantity in one grain is probably asmuch as there is in a whole stalk after the feed is fullyripened. It is observed, that plants, when cut green,exhaust land of its vegetable food, but in a very smalldegree to what they do when allowed to carry feed.

Some of the plants mentioned push down their rootsbelow the reach ofithe plough, and bring up the vegetablefood lodged there to the surface. Pease, turnip, clover,,and other plants pulh down their roots very far; andwhatever vegetable food they find, is fucked up ; and■when they are ploughed down, this vegetable food islodged near the surface, and thereby the quantity withinthe pasture of some other plants, such as wheat and bar-ley, is increased. A late author makes a calculation ofthe quantity of vegetable food which clover in this man-ner communicates to land, and represents it as very consi-derable. In few places the soil is so deep as to have thevegetable food in great plenty beyond the reach of the.plough; and therefore it is probable, that this author,in his calculation, makes the quantity of this food broughtnear the surface by clover much greater than it really is.However, it is certain, that as plants push down theirroots below the reach of the plough, they there find nou-rishment, which is communicated to their stems andleaves; and therefore, when these are ploughed down,the quantity of vegetable food near the surface is in-creased.

The covering of the surface seems to be an advantage;for thereby the air in the soil, not having a free commu-nication with the external air, becomes putrefied, by whicha fermentation is raised, and the vegetable pasture en-larged. Whatever is the cause of this fermentation, the

W H E

fact itself is obvious. Every farmer knows, that whenthe foil has been covered for a considerable time by a strongcrop of pease, or any other kind of corn laid down, andwhat is commonly called flooming, though naturally hardand stiff, becomes mellow, soft, and free, and obviouslyin a state of fermentation. It is probable, that this is oc-casioned by the corruption of the air, or of the water,which the covering of the surface prevents from beingexhaled.

To these things it may be added, that it is not impossi-ble but the plants when growing may fuck in the vegeta-ble food from the air in as great plenty as the soil wouldhave done, though there had been no plants growing uponit. If plants have this faculty, considering what an im-mense surface is exposed by them to the influence of theair, the quantity of vegetable food acquired cannot beinconsiderable.

Having thus considered the effects of ploughing, har-rowing, rolling, and manuring land, in order to producea large crop of wheat, we shall now proceed to the cul-tivation of this useful species of grain.

It has been very justly observed by the ancients, as wellas moderns, that wheat will grow in almost any part ofthe world, and that, as it is the plant most necessary tomankind, so it is the most general, and the most fruitful.It thrives not only in temperate climates, but also in veryhot, and very cold regions; and, when sown in placeswhere it never grew spontaneously, succeeds as well aswhere it has been always common. The success of ourj crops of wheat in America plainly proves this: and i»Peru and Chili in particular, where this grain was notknown till the Europeans introduced it there, it now pro-duces as large crops as in most parts of Europe.

Wheat should be sowed in autumn, and always whenthe ground is moist. In the downs of Hampshire, Wilt-shire, and Dorsetshire, farmers begin to sow their wheatin August, if any rain has fallen, and even employ theirpeople to sow one place, whilst they reap another, if we*weather interrupts them in their harvest: for if the corn isnot forward in autumn, so as to cover the ground beforewinter, it seldom does well on those high dry lands, espe-cially if the ensuing spring proves likewise dry. In 1 oWstrong lands, some husbandmen think they are in goodseason, if they get their wheat into the ground by the mid-dle of November; nay, it sometimes is Christmas, ° reven later, before all their wheat is sown. But this la tesown wheat, besides being apt to run too much to sttaW,especially if the spring be moist, is liable to be thrown outof the ground by frosts.

In general, all wheat succeeds best upon strong sens,especially if they have been well drained, so that the cornlies dry : but as some sorts of this grain thrive better msome soils than in others, it might redound to the ?ub >welfare if more particular observations were judiciou ymade, in regard to each kind, than have hitherto ce -The white egg-shell wheat is reckoned best for light lan »and to sow with rye for meflin ; because it ripens w° ne *It should also be the earliest in the ground. This P ec1 ^is much sown in Essex, upon their hazely brick-eart s »loams; as the red wheat, and the Poland bearded walso is there, and in Hertfordshire upon stiff yellow c ayThe white Poland, or pole-rivet wheat has not a nostraw, and therefore is not so subject to lodge as ocorn that has. This kind is particularly sit for tawhere the crop is apt to run much to straw,

4