Chapter VII: Preface (7)

Another Experiment I propose to be made as a Trial for the
Satisfaction of such sceptical Gentlemen who may doubt the Truth of
what I have related in p. 27, 28. concerning the wonderful Effect of
deep Hoeing. In a Field of very poor old decayed St. Foin, let Two
or Three Perches be hedged in, in a square Piece, and Two, Three, or
more Intervals, of Three or Four Feet wide each, be well pulverized
by the Spade, leaving between every Two of them, Two or Three Feet
of the St. Foin unmoved. Begin this Work in Summer, and repeat the
Hoeing pretty often, observing the Rules I have laid down for Hoeing
the Intervals of Wheat. Let not the Back of the Spade be turned
towards the unmoved St. Foin, from which it throws the Earth at the
First time of Hoeing; which is contrary to the First Hoeing of Wheat
with a Spade; because there would otherwise be Danger of moving
Wheat-roots; but there is no Danger of moving the St. Foin Roots,
unless you wholly dig them out: Therefore the best Way for this
Hoeing is to dig with the Back of the Spade towards one or the other
End of the Interval: This cuts off the fewest Roots, and covers the
most of them, and may perhaps be sometimes best for Wheat also. When
the Earth is turned towards the St. Foin Rows, the Spade’s Face will
be towards them of course.

Be sure to leave Four or more Feet untouched next to the Hedge that
bounds the Piece, to the End that the Increase of the hoed St. Foin
may the more plainly appear by comparing its Plants with those that
are not hoed.

If the Plants are very thick, make them thinner on one side of an
Interval; and, on the other side, let them remain thick. You will
certainly find the thin Plants most wonderfully increased in a Year
or two, and the thick ones in proportion; and also the natural Grass,
and all other Vegetables that grow near to the Intervals when they
are well pulverized. I am confident mine, thus managed by Ploughs,
increased some to an Hundred, some to a Thousand times the Size they
were of before that Pulveration.

All the Methods I have here and elsewhere described for the Field, I
advise to be tried in these few Perches for Experiments.

I think some of those Ridges whereon one End is to be managed
differently from the other End, should be longer than Six Feet; else
the Roots of the Wheat and Weeds may so mix, and draw Nourishment
from one another in the Middle of the Ridge, that the Difference
of the Managements may not so plainly be seen as when the Ridge is
longer.

The few Perches of Land whereon any of the proposed Experiments are
to be made, should be bounded in with dead Hedges; and should not be
situate within Three or Four Poles of a live Hedge or Tree.

The Three Instruments to be used in these unexpensive Trials, are,
the Spade, to supply the Use of the Plough and Hoe plough; the
Hand-hoe; and a Rake, instead of Harrows.

I don’t know that I ever had an Acre yet, that was tolerably well managed in this Manner, but what produced much more.

CHAP. X.

_Of_ SMUTTINESS.

Smuttiness is when the Grains of Wheat instead of Flour, are full of a black, stinking Powder: ’Tis a Disease of Wheat, which I don’t know is usual any-where but in cold Northern Countries; for if it had been common in _Greece_ or _Italy_, there would probably have been some Word to express it by, in those Languages, as well as there is for the Blight.

I take it to be caused by cold wet Summers; and I was confirmed in this by several Plants of Wheat, taken up when they were in Grass in the Spring, and placed in Troughs in my Chamber-window, with some of the Roots in Water. These Wheat-plants sent up several Ears each; but at Harvest, every Grain was smutty; and I observed, none of the Ears ever sent out any Blossom: This Smuttiness could not be from any Moisture that descended upon it, but from the Earth, which always kept very moist, as in the aforesaid Mint Experiment. The Wheat-plants in the Field, from whence these were taken, brought very few smutty Grains, but brought much larger Ears than these.

Whatsoever the Cause[149] be, there are but Two Remedies proposed; and those are Brining, and Change of Seed.

[149] The largest grained, plump, fat Wheat, is more liable to
Smuttiness, than small-grained thin Wheat.

Brining of Wheat, to cure or prevent Smuttiness (as I have been credibly informed), was accidentally discovered about Seventy Years ago, in the following Manner; _viz._ A Ship-load of Wheat was sunk near _Bristol_ in Autumn, and afterwards at Ebbs all taken up, after it had been soaked in Sea-water; but it being unfit for making of Bread, a Farmer sowed some of it in a Field; and when it was found to grow very well, the whole Cargo was bought at a low Price by many Farmers, and all of it sown in different Places. At the following Harvest, all the Wheat in _England_ happened to be smutty, except the Produce of this brined Seed, and that was all clean from Smuttiness. This Accident has been sufficient to justify the Practice of Brining ever since in all the adjacent Parts, and in most Places in _England_.

I knew Two Farmers, whose Farms lay intermixed; they bought the same Seed together, from a very good Change of Land, and parted every Load betwixt them in the Field. The oldest Farmer believed Brining to be but a Fancy, and sowed his Seed unbrined; the other brined all his Part of Seed, and had not a smutty Ear in his Crop; but the old Farmer’s Crop was very smutty.

Wheat for Drilling must have no other Brine, than what is made of pure Salt; for if there be any Brine of Meat amongst it[150], the Grease will not suffer the Wheat to be dry enough to be drilled.

[150] Urine also makes the Wheat so greasy, that it will not be dry
time enough to be drilled.

If Seed-wheat be soaked in Urine, it will not grow; or if only sprinkled with it, it will most of it die, unless planted presently.

The most expeditious Way of brining Wheat for the Drill, is to make a very strong Brine; and when the Wheat is laid on an Heap, sprinkle or lave it therewith; then turn it with a Shovel, and lave on more Brine; turn it again with a Shovel, until, by many Repetitions of this, the Wheat be all equally wet. Next, sift on Quick-lime through a Sieve; turn the Wheat with a Shovel, and sift on more Lime; repeat this Sifting and Turning many times, which will make it dry enough to be drilled immediately; and this has been found sufficient to preserve uninfected Wheat from the Smut in a bad Year, the Seed being changed.

To dry it, we use[151] Quick-lime (that is, unslacked), which, beaten to Powder, and sifted thereon, confines the Brine to the Surfaces of the Grains, and suffers none of it to be exhaled by the Air: But when Lime has been long slacked, and is grown weak, ’tis unfit for this Purpose.

[151] But if this doth not afford Powder enough, the Pieces must be
slacked immediately before using; for if the Lime lie long after it
is slacked (especially that made of Chalk), it will become weak, and
lose most of its drying Quality.

Some Farmers use only to boil the strongest Quick-lime in Water, with
which, instead of Brine, they sprinkle their Wheat, affirming it to
be as effectual as that for preventing the Smut: But this not being
within the Compass of my own Experience, I am doubtful of it; yet I
wish it may be found effectual, because it would save Trouble to the
Sower, and more to the Driller.

Smutty Seed-wheat, tho’ brined, will produce a smutty Crop, unless the Year prove very favourable.

For ’tis to be known, that favourable Years will cure the Smut, as unkind ones will cause it: Else, before Brining was used, and the bad Years had caused all the Wheat in _England_ to be smutty, they must have brought their Seed from Foreign Countries, or never have had any clean Wheat: Therefore ’tis certain, that kind Years will cure the Smut: ’Tis therefore to prevent the Injury of a bad Year, that we plant clean Seed, and well brined.

But of the Two Remedies against Smuttiness, a proper Change of Seed some think the most certain.

A very worthy Gentleman assures me, that since he has found out a Place that affords a Change of Seed proper to his Land, which is for these Ten Years past, he never had a Smutty Ear in any of his Crops (and he never brines nor limes it), tho’ all other Wheat have been often smutty throughout his Neighbourhood every wet Year, tho’ brined and limed. He says, the Person who furnishes him with this Seed, is very curious in changing his Seed also every Year.

This gives a Suspicion, that our drowned Wheat at _Bristol_ might possibly be Foreign; and then might not have been smutty the next Year, tho’ it had not been soaked in the Sea-water.

The Wheat sown by the Two Farmers aforementioned might be from a good Change of Land, but the Seed not changed the precedent Year; and then it might be no more infected, than what the Brine and Lime did cure.

To know what Changes are best to prevent Smuttiness of Wheat, we must consult the most Experienced; and they tell us, that the strong Clay Land is best to be sent to for Seed-wheat, whatever Sort of Land it be to be sowed upon; a White-clay is a good Change for a Red-clay, and a Red for a White. That from any strong Land is better than from a light Land; and the old Rhyme is, that Sand is a Change for no Land. But from whatever Land the Seed be taken, if it was not changed the preceding Year, it may possibly be infected; and then there may be Danger, tho’ we have it immediately from never so proper a Soil.

The strongest Objection that has been yet made against constant annual Crops of Wheat, is, that those Grains of the precedent Crop which happen to shed, and grow in the following Crop, will be in Danger of Smuttiness, for want of changing those individual Seeds.

All I can say in Answer is, that during these Five Years, which is all the time I have had these annual Crops, this objected Inconvenience never has happened to me, even when a precedent Crop has been smutty.

The Reason I take to be, that a Crop very early planted is not so apt to be smutty; and if it be not planted early, the Grains that are shed grow, and are killed before, or at the time of planting the next Crop. This saves a Crop following a smutty one (which is always occasioned by bad Seed, or bad Ordering); and when the former Crop was planted with good Seed well ordered, the shattered Grains of that may produce clean Wheat the Second Year; and ’tis very unlikely, that any Breed of these Grains should remain to grow in the Crop the Third Year.

CHAP. XI.

_Of_ BLIGHT.

Wheat is blighted at Two Seasons; First, when in the Blossom; and then its Generation is prevented and many of the Husks are empty in the Ear, the Grains not being impregnated.

Secondly, Wheat is blighted, when the Grains are brought to the time of their Maturity, but are light, and of little Value for making of Bread; because they are not well filled with Flour.

The First cannot happen in _England_ by the Frost because the Winters do not suffer it to grow so much, as to come into Blossom before the Month of _June_; but they are long continual Rains that rot or chill the Blossoms, and prevent their Fertility. Yet this is what seldom happens to any great Degree. Wheat that grows in open Fields has some Advantage from the Wind, that dislodges the Water sooner from the Ears, than it can do in sheltry Places; and Lammas Wheat does not hold the Drops of Rain so long as the Bearded (or Cone) Wheat, which received very great Damage by this sort of Blight in the Year 1725, the like never having been heard of before.

The Second sort of Blight, _viz._ from light Ears, is that which is most frequent, and more general: This brings the greatest Scarcity of Wheat. The Cause is plainly Want of Nourishment to perfect the Grain, by whatever means that Want is occasioned.

Several Accidents kill the Plants, or injure their Health, and then the Grains are not filled; as Lightning, the Effects whereof may be observed by the blackish Spots and Patches in Fields of Wheat, especially in such Years as have more of it than usual. Against this there is no Defence.

The other Causes of the Blight, which are most general, and do the most Damage, may, in some measure, be prevented.

One Cause is the lodging or falling of Corn; for then the Stalks are broken near the Ground, whereby many of the Vessels are so pressed, that the Juices cannot pass them; and then the free Circulation is hindered; the Chyle cannot mount in sufficient Quantity to be purified, and turned into Sap; the Defect whereof makes the Plants become languid, and only just able to live; they have Strength enough to linger on to the time of their Period, as in very old Age, but not to bring their Fruit, which is the Grain, to its natural Bulk, nor to fill it with Flour: and the sooner the Stalks fall, the less and thinner the Grain will be.

Hence it often happens, that when Tillage, Dung, and good Land have brought a Crop of Wheat, that in the Months of _April_ and _May_ promise to yield the Owner Five or Six Quarters on an Acre, then in _June_ it falls down, and scarce affords Five or Six Bushels; and that perhaps is so thin and lank, that the Expence of reaping and threshing it may overbalance its Value.

That the falling down of Wheat does cause the Ruin of the Crop, is well known; but what causes it to fall, is not so plain.

And, without knowing the true Causes, ’tis not likely that a Remedy should be found against the Disease.

I take this Weakness of the Stalks, which occasions their falling, to proceed from want of Nourishment, want of Air, want of the Sun’s Rays, or of all Three.

One Argument, that it lodges for want of Nourishment, is, that a rich Acre has maintain’d a Crop of Five Quarters standing, when another poorer Acre was not able to support a Crop from falling, which was but large enough to have brought Three Quarters, if it had stood: and this in the same Year, and on the same Situation. And ’tis very plain, that if one Acre was twice as rich as the other, it must be able to nourish Five Quarters better than the other could nourish Three Quarters.

Air is necessary to the Life and Health of all Plants, tho’ in very different Degrees: Aquatics, which live under Water, are content with as little Air, as their Companions the Fishes.

But Wheat, being a terrestrial Plant, (tho’ in Winter it will live many Days under Water, whilst the slow Motion of its Sap gives it little or no Increase), requires a free open Air, and does not succeed so well in low sheltery Places, as upon higher and opener Situations; where the Air has a greater Motion, and can more easily carry off the Recrements from the Leaves, after it has shaken off the Dews and Rains, which would otherwise suffocate the Plants; and therefore the Leaves are made so susceptible of Motion from the Air, which frees them from the Dews, that would stop in the Recrements at the _Vesiculæ_ of the Leaves, but shaken down will nourish the Plants at the Roots: The want of this Motion weakening the Wheat, ’tis (as Animals in the like sickly Case are) the more unable to stand, and the more liable to be press’d down by the Weight of Rain-water, and more unable to rise up again when down: All which Evils are remov’d by the free Motion of the Air, which shakes off both Dews and Rains, and thus contributes to prevent the falling (or lodging) of Wheat.

A great Quantity also of the Sun’s Rays is necessary to keep Wheat strong, and in Health; and in _Egypt_, and other hot Countries, it is not so apt to fall, as it is when sown in Northern Climates, tho’ the Produce of the South be the greatest[152].

[152] This proves that the Crop doth not lodge on account of its
Bigness.

It may be observ’d, that every Leaf is inserted into a Sort of Knot, which probably delivers the Sap to be depurated at the _Vesiculæ_ of the Leaves, and then receives it back again for the Nourishment of the Plant, doing for that Purpose the Office of an Heart: But the Sun with his Rays supplies the Part of Pulse, to keep the Sap in Motion, and carry on its Circulation, instead of the Heart’s _Systole_ and _Diastole_. Wheat, being doubtless originally a Native of a hot Country, requires by its Constitution a considerable Degree of Heat to bring it to Perfection; and if much of that Degree be wanting, the Wheat will be the weaker; and when the Solar Rays cannot reach the lower Parts of the Stalks, the lowest Leaves and Knots cannot do their Office; for which Reason the Chyle must mount higher before it be made into Sap, and there must be then a greater Mixture of crude Chyle next to the Ground, as by the white Colour it appears[153]. By this Means that Part, which, if it had a due Share of the Sun’s Influence, would be harden’d like a Bone or Spring, for the Support of the Stalks, for lack of that, becomes more like to a Cartilage, soft and weak, unable to sustain the Weight of the bending Ear, which, having its greatest _Impetus_ against this Part, which is most feeble to resist it, it yields, and lets it fall to the Ground; and then the Grain will be blighted.

[153] But now I suspect this to be a Mistake, it being more likely,
that the white Colour of the Rind is owing to the Absence of the Sun
and free Air, than to the Chyle, as the Skin of those Parts of our
own Bodies that are concealed from them, is whiter than of those
which are exposed to them, though no Chyle-vessel comes near our Skin.

There is also another Cause of the Blight; and that is, the Wheat’s coming too late into Blossom. The usual Time is the Beginning of _June_; and if it be later, the Days shorten so fast after the Solstice, that the Autumn of the Year hastening the Autumn of the Wheat’s Life, the full Time of its Pregnancy[154] is not accomplish’d; and then its Fruit, which is the Grain, becomes as it were abortive, and not full-grown. This Time betwixt the Generation, Blossoming, and the Maturity of the Grain, is, or ought to be, about Two Months.

[154] _Ut enim Mulieres habent ad Partum Dies certos, sic Arbores ac
Fruges._ Varro, _Lib._ 1. _Cap._ 44.

_Mense Maio florent; sic Frumenta, & Ordeum, & quæ sunt Seminis
singularis, Octo diebus florebunt, & deinde per Dies_ 40.
_grandescunt Flore deposito usque ad Maturitatis Eventum._ Palladius,
_Pag._ 114, 115.

_Quindecim Diebus esse in Vaginis, Quindecim florere, Quindecim
exarescere, cum sit maturum Frumentum._ Varro, _Lib._ 1. _Cap._ 32.

But the different Heat that there is in different Climates, may alter
both the Time that Plants continue in Blossom, and the Time betwixt
the Blossoming and the Ripening.

Therefore ’tis advantageous to hasten, what we can, the Time of Blossoming, and to protract the Time of Ripening: And ’tis observ’d, that the earliest sown Wheat generally escapes the Blight the best, because it comes first into Blossom.

Feeding down the Wheat with Sheep prevents the Blight, by doing what the Blight wou’d do, if the Wheat fell down, _i. e._ causes the Ears to be light[155].

[155] Heavy Ears never fall. If they did, that would not make them
light. Wheat falls sometimes whilst ’tis in Grass, and before it
comes into Ear; so far are the Ears from causing it to fall. This was
proved by my whole Crop the last Harvest, and particularly by the
_Measured Acre_, the Ears of which, tho’ prodigious large and heavy,
were none of them lodg’d, when those of sown Wheat on the other Side
of the Hedge were fallen down flat, and lodg’d on the Ground.

And we find, that those who practise this Method of feeding their Wheat with Sheep in the Spring, to prevent the lodging of it, have most commonly their Straw weak, and Ears light.

These, instead of making the Stalks strong enough to support heavy Ears, make the Ears light enough to be supported by weak Stalks. They know that heavy Ears make the greatest Crop; and yet they still hope to have it from light ones.

They _cause_ the _Blight_ by the very means they make use of to _cure_ it.

This feeding of Wheat much retards the Time of its blossoming; and that it may blossom early, is one chief End of sowing it early, to prevent the Blight. But when it is fed, what the Plants send up next is but a Sort of second or latter Crop, which has longer to stand than the first would have required, and is always weaker than the first Crop would have been; and the longer time it has to continue on the Ground, the more Nourishment is required to maintain it; and yet, as has been shewn, the longer it has been sown, the more the Earth has lost of its Nourishment; and consequently, the Crop will be yet weaker, and in more Danger of the starving Blight[156].

[156] I am sure, that whenever Sheep break into my drill’d Wheat
in the Spring, it lessens my Crop half, just as far as they eat
the Rows. There are several Reasons why Sheep are more injurious
to drilled Wheat than sown; I would not therefore be understood to
decry the Practice of seeding sown Wheat, when the Thickness and
Irregularity of its Plants make it necessary: I have only endeavoured
to shew, that that Practice is founded upon a false Theory. For, if
Wheat fell down by reason of the Luxuriance of it; a Plant of it
would be more likely to fall when single, and at a great Distance
from every other Plant, than when near to other Plants, because such
a single Plant is (_cæteris paribus_) always the most luxuriant; and
I have not seen such a one fall (except Birds pull down the Ears),
but have observed the contrary, though its Ears are the largest.

The Subject I write on is Drilling and Hoeing, and of whatsoever else
I think relates to the Practice or Theory thereof; which obliges me
to advise against Drilling too thick upon any Sort of Land; but more
especially upon very rich Land: For though I have no such Land, yet
I apprehend, that a too great Number of Plants may overstock the
Rows, and cause them to be liable to some of the Inconveniences of
sown Wheat; and in such a Case, perhaps, Sheep may be rather useful
than prejudicial to the drilled Wheat; but of this I have had no
Experience: And if it should be too thick, it will be owing to the
Fault of the Manager or Driller; but, I suppose, it might be a better
Remedy to cut out the superfluous Plants by the Hand-hoe, in the
manner that superfluous Turneps are hoed out.

The most effectual Remedy against the Blight is that which removes all its Causes (except such extraordinary ones as Lightning); as,

First, _Want of Nourishment_.

The Horse-hoe will, in wide Intervals, give Wheat, throughout all the Stages of its Life, as much Nourishment as the discreet Hoer pleases.

Secondly, _Want of Air_.

Air, being a Fluid, moves most freely in a right or strait Line; for there the fewest of its Parts meet with any Resistance; as a strait River runs swifter than a crooked one, from an equal Declivity; because more of the Water strikes against the Banks at the Turnings, and is there somewhat retarded: and the rest moving no faster than in the strait River, the whole Stream of the crooked must be slower in its Course, than that of the strait River.

The Air cannot pass thro’ sown Corn in a direct Line, because it must strike against, and go round every Plant, they standing all in the Way of its Course, which must stop its Current near the Earth.

And the Air amongst sown Corn is like Water amongst Reeds or Osiers in the Side of a River; it is so stopp’d in its Course, that it almost becomes an Eddy; and since Air is about Eight hundred Times lighter than Water, we may suppose its Current thro’ the Corn is more easily retarded, especially near the Earth, where the Corn has occasion for the greatest Quantity of Air to pass: For, tho’ the upper Part of the Wheat be not able to stop a slow Current of Air, yet it does so much raise even a swift one, as to throw it off from the Ground, and hinder it from reaching the lower Parts of the Stalks, where the Air must therefore remain, in a manner, stagnant; and the thicker the Wheat is, where it stands promiscuously, the less Change of Air can it have, tho’ the greater the Number of the Stalks is, the more fresh Air they must require.

But the confused Manner in which the Plants of sown Wheat stand, is such, that they must all oppose the free Entrance of Air amongst them, from whatever Point of the Compass it comes.

Now it is quite otherwise with Wheat drill’d regularly with wide Intervals; for therein the Current of Air may pass freely (like Water in a strait River, where there is no Resistance), and communicate its Nitre to the lower as well as upper Leaves, and carry off the Recrements they emit, not suffering the Plants to be weakened, as an Animal is, when his Lungs are forc’d to take back their own Expirations, if debarr’d from a sufficient Supply of fresh untainted Air. And this Benefit of fresh Air is plentifully, and pretty equally, distributed to every Row in a Field of ho’d Wheat.

Thirdly, _Want of the Sun’s Rays_.

Sown Wheat-plants, by their irregular Position, may be said to stand in one another’s Light, for want of which they are apt to fall.

’Tis true the whole Field of Plants receive the same Quantity of Sun-beams amongst them, whether they stand confusedly, or in Order: But there is a vast Difference in the Distribution of them; for none or the very least Share of Beams is obtain’d by those Parts which need the greatest Share, in the confused Plants. And when the crural Parts, that should support the whole Body of every Plant, are depriv’d of their due Share of what is so necessary to strengthen them, the Plants (like Animals in the same Case) are unable to stand.

But in drill’d Wheat, where the Plants stand in a regular Order, the Sun-beams are more duly distributed to all Parts of the Plants in the Ranks; for which Way soever the Rows are directed, if they be strait, the Rays must, some time of the Day, fall on the Intervals, and be reflected by the Ground, whence the lower Parts of the Wheat-stalks must receive the greater Share of Heat, being nearest to the Point of Incidence, having no Weeds to shadow them.

As to that Cause of the Blight, _viz._ the Wheat’s dying before the full Time of its Pregnancy be accomplish’d; the Hoe removes all the Objections against planting early, and then it will blossom the earlier: And it has visibly kept Wheat green a whole Week longer, than unho’d Wheat adjoining to it, planted the same Day.

The Antients were perfect Masters of the Vine-Husbandry, which seems to have so engross’d their rural Studies, that it did not allow them so much Reflection, as to apply the Use of those Methods to the Increase of Bread, which they had discover’d to be most beneficial for the Increase of Wine. One Method was, to hoe the Vines after they had blossom’d, in order to fill the Fruit, as in _Columella_, Lib. iv. Cap. 28. _Convenit tum crebris Fossionibus implere: nam fit ulterior Pulverationibus._ And if what _Palladius_ says, _Tit._ ix. be true of the Sarritions and Sarculations in the Month of _January_, and that if Beans do twice undergo that scratching Operation, they will produce much Fruit, and so large as to fill the Bushel almost as full when shal’d as unshal’d.

_Faba, si bis sarculetur, proficiet, & multum Fructum & maximum afferet, ut ad Mensuram Modii complendi fresa propemodum sicut Integra respondeat._

This is to be done when Beans are Four Fingers high, and Corn when it has Four or Five Leaves to a Plant; even then the Harrowing-work, tho’ it tore up some of the Plants, yet it was observ’d to do Good against the Blight.

_Si siccas Segetes sarculaveris, aliquid contra Rubiginem præstitisti, maxime si Ordeum siccum sarrietur._

When the Antients observ’d this, ’tis a Wonder they did not plant their Corn so as to be capable of receiving this Benefit in Perfection. They might have imagin’d, that what was effectual against the Blight, when the Corn was in Grass, must, in all Probability, be much more effectual when in Ear.

But the most general Blight that happens to Wheat in cold Climates, is caused by Insects, which (some think) are brought in the Air by an East Wind accompanied with Moisture, a little before the Grain is filling with that milky Juice, which afterwards hardens into Flour. These Insects deposit their Eggs within the outer Skin (or Rind) of the Stalks; and when the young ones are hatched, they feed on the _Parenchyma_, and eat off many of the Vessels which should make and convey this Juice; and then the Grain will be more or less thin, in Proportion to the Number of Vessels eaten, and as the Insects happen to come earlier or later; for sometimes they come so late, that the Grain is sufficiently fill’d with the said milky Juice before the Vessels are eaten; and then, tho’ the Straw appear thro’ a Microscope to have its Vessels very much eaten and torn, and to be full of black Spots (which Spots are nothing else but the Excrements of those young Insects), yet the Grain is plump, and not blighted, there being an Observation, That the early sown Wheat generally escapes this Blight. And it has been seen, where one Part of a Field is sown earlier than the other Part, without any other Difference than the Time of sowing, that the Grain of the latest sown has been much blighted, and the Grain of the earlier has escaped the Blight, tho’ the Straw of both were equally eaten by the Insects. Hence it may be inferr’d, that the Milk in the one had receiv’d all the Nourishment necessary to its due Consistence, before the Vessels were destroy’d; but, in the other, the Vessels, which should have continued the Supply of Nourishment for thickening the Milk, being spoil’d before they have finish’d that Office, it remains too thin; and then the Grain, when it hardeneth, shrinks up, and is blighted; yet the Grain of one and the other are equally plump until they become hard: The Difference therefore is only in the Thickness of the Milk, that in the blighted being more watery than the other.

The chief Argument to prove, that these Insects are brought by an East Wind, is, that the Wheat on the East Sides of Hedges are much blighted, when that on the West Sides is not hurt: And as to the Objection, that they are bred in the Earth, and crawl thence up the Stalks of the Wheat, because some Land is much more subject to produce blighted Wheat than other Land is; perhaps this Difference may be chiefly owing to the different Situation of those Lands, as they are opposed to the _East_, or to the _West_.

Another Cause why some Wheat is more blighted than other Wheat on the same Land, is, the different Condition in which the Insects find it; for the Rind of that which is very strong and flourishing[157] is soft and tender; into this they can easily penetrate to lay their Eggs; but the Wheat that is poor and yellow, has an hard tough skin (or Rind), into which the Insects are not able to bore for the Intromission of their Eggs, and therefore can do it no Mischief. It would be in vain to advise to prevent the Blight, by striving to make the Wheat poor; for tho’ Poverty may preserve Wheat from this Blight, as well as it does People from the Gout, yet that is a Remedy which few take willingly against either of these Diseases: But this, I think, might be possible to remedy it, if we could, from the strongest Wheat, take away so much Nourishment as to turn its Colour[158] a little yellowish just before the Insects come[159] which I suppose to be in _June_, after the Ear is out, or at least fully formed.

[157] Some Sort of Land is more subject to this Blight than others;
in such, Lammas Wheat must by no means be drill’d late, and too
thin, lest it should not tiller till late in the Spring; and then,
for want of a sufficient Quantity of Stalks to dispense with all the
Nourishment rais’d by the Hoe, may become too vigorous and luxuriant,
and be the more liable to the Injury of the Blight of Insects.

[158] But this is a very difficult Matter.

[159] Whither those Insects go, or where they reside, from the Time
of their eating their Way out of the Straw, until they return the
next Year, I cannot learn.

Yet this can only be done in wide Intervals; for, unless the fine Earth can be thrust to some considerable Distance from the Roots after they are cut off, they will soon shoot out again, and reach it, becoming more vigorous thereby.

In dry Summers this Misfortune seldom happens, much Heat, and very little Moisture, being most agreeable to the Constitution of Wheat; for then its Rind is more firm and hard, as it is, on the contrary, made more soft and spongy by too much Moisture.

The most easy and sure Remedy, that I have yet found against the Injury of these Insects, is, to plant a Sort of Wheat that is least liable to be hurt by them; _viz._ The _White-cone_ (or bearded) _Wheat_, which has its Stalk or Straw like a Rush, not hollow, but full of Pith (except near the lower Part, and there ’tis very thick and strong): ’Tis probable it has Sap-Vessels that lie deeper, so as the young Insects cannot totally destroy them, as they do in other Wheat: For when the Straw has the black Spots, which shew that the Insects have been there bred, yet the Grain is plump, when the Grey-cone and Lammas Wheat mixt with it are blighted. This Difference might have been from the different times of ripening, this being ripe about a Week earlier than the Grey-cone, and later than the Lammas: But its being planted together both early and late, and at all Times of the Wheat-seed Time, and this White-cone always escaping with its Grain unhurt, is an Argument, that ’tis naturally fortify’d against the Injury of these Insects, which in wet Summers are so pernicious to other Sorts of Wheat; and I can impute it to no other Cause than the different Deepness of the Vessels, the Straw of other Wheat being very much thinner, and hollow from Top to Bottom; this having a small Hollow at Bottom, and there the Thickness betwixt the outer Skin and the Cavity is more than double to that in other Sorts of Wheat; so that I imagine, the Insects reach only the outermost Vessels, and enough of the inner Vessels are left untouch’d to supply the Grain.

This Wheat makes very good Bread, if the Miller does not grind it too small, or the Baker make his Dough too hard, it requiring to be made softer than that of other Flour.

A Bushel of this White-cone Wheat will make more Bread than a Bushel of Lammas, and of the same Goodness; but it gives a little yellow Cast to the Bread.

Another Sort of lodging Blight there is, which some call _Moar-Loore_, and mostly happens on light Land. This is when the Earth, sinking away from the Roots, leaves the Bottom of the Stalk higher than the subsided Ground; and then the Plant, having only these naked Roots to support it (for which they are too weak), falls down to the Earth.

To remedy this, turn a shallow Furrow against the Rows, when they are strong enough to bear it, and when the Mould is very fine and dry; then the Motion of the Stalks by the Wind will cause such Earth to run through the Rows, and settle about the Roots, and cover them[160].

[160] Some Land is very subject to the Misfortune of exposing the
Roots, and therefore is less proper for Wheat; for when the Roots are
left bare to the Air, they will be shrivelled, and unable to support
the Plants: And on such Land the Wheat plants have all fallen down,
though in Number and Bigness not sufficient to have produced the
Fourth Part of a tolerable Crop, if they had stood. I am inclined to
believe, that a thorough Tillage might be a Remedy to such a loose
hollow Soil; for ’tis certain to a Demonstration, that it would
render it more _dense_, and increase its specific Gravity: But to
enrich it sufficiently without Manure, the Tillage must pulverize it
much more minutely, and expose it longer, than is required for the
strongest Land: The Fold also will be very helpful on such hollow
Land.

I have never seen any drill’d Wheat so much spoil’d by falling, as sewn Wheat sometimes is. The drill’d never falls so close to the Ground, but that the Air enters into Hollows that are under it, and the Wind keeps the Ears in Motion. Notwithstanding all the Precaution that can be used, in some unseasonable Years Wheat will be blighted: I have known such a general Blight, when some of my Lammas Wheat, planted late on blighting Land, was blighted, amongst the rest of my Neighbours, by the Insects, but the Grain of the sown Wheat was vastly more injured than that of the drill’d: The former was so _light_, that the greatest Part was blown away in winnowing, and the Remainder so _bad_, that it was not fit to make Bread: The drill’d made as good Bread, and had as much Flour in it, as the sown Wheat had, that was not blighted; for the Grains of the drill’d were much larger than those of the sown; being form’d to have been twice as big as the Grains of Wheat generally are, had they not been blighted.

CHAP. XII.

_Of_ ST. FOIN.

St. Foin, from the Country we brought it from, is call’d _French Grass_: And for its long Continuance, some having lasted Forty Years, ’tis call’d _Everlasting Grass_, tho’ it be not strictly a _Gramen_.

’Tis call’d in _French_, _Sain Foin_, i. e. _Sanum Fœnum_, from its Quality of Wholsomeness, beyond the other artificial Grasses, green and dry. ’Tis also call’d _Sanctum Fœnum_, Holy Hay.

’Tis a Plant so generally known to every Body, that there is no need to give any formal Description of that Part of it which appears above-ground, It has many red Flowers, sometimes leaving Ears Five or Six Inches long: I have measured the Stalks, and found them above Five Feet long, tho’ they are commonly but about Two Feet.

The Reason why _St. Foin_ will, in poor Ground, make a Forty times greater Increase than the natural Turf, is the prodigious Length[161] of its perpendicular Tap-root: It is said to descend Twenty or Thirty Feet. I have been inform’d, by a Person of undoubted Credit, that he has broken off one of these Roots in a Pit, and measured the Part broken off, and found it fourteen Feet.

[161] There is a vulgar Opinion, that _St. Foin_ will not succeed on
any Land, where there is not an under _Stratum_ of Stone or Chalk,
to stop the Roots from running deep; else, they say, the Plants
spend themselves in the Roots only, and cannot thrive in those Parts
of them which are above the Ground. I am almost ashamed to give an
Answer to this.

’Tis certain that every Plant is nourished from its Roots (as an
Animal is by its Guts); and the more and larger Roots it has, the
more Nourishment it receives, and prospers in proportion to it. _St.
Foin_ always succeeds where its Roots run deep; and when it does
not succeed, it never lives to have long Roots; neither can there
ever be found a Plant of it, that lives so long as to root deep in
a Soil that is improper for it: Therefore ’tis amazing to hear such
Reasoning from Men.

An under _Stratum_ of very strong Clay, or other Earth, which holds
Water, may make a Soil improper for it; because the Water kills the
Root, and never suffers it to grow to Perfection, or to attain to its
natural Bulk. The best _St. Foin_ that ever I saw, had nothing in the
Soil to obstruct the Roots, and it has been found to have Roots of a
prodigious Depth. If there be Springs near (or within several Feet
of) the Surface of the Soil, _St. Foin_ will die therein in Winter,
even after it has been vigorous in the first Summer; and also after
it hath produced a great Crop in the second Summer.

This Tap-root has also a Multitude of very long horizontal Roots at the upper Part thereof, which fill all the upper _Stratum_, or Staple of the Ground; and of thousands of _St. Foin_ Roots I have seen taken up, I never found one that was without horizontal Roots near the Surface, after one Summer’s Growth; and do much wonder how Mr. _Kerkham_ should be so mistaken, as to think they have none such.

Also these Tap-roots have the horizontal ones all the Way down; but as they descend, they are still shorter and shorter, as the uppermost are always the longest.

Any dry Ground may be made to produce this noble Plant, be it never so poor; but the richest Soil will yield the most of it, and the best.

If you venture to plant it with the Drill, according to the Method wherein I have always had the best Success; let the Land be well prepared before you plant it. The Seed, if not well ordered, will very little of it grow; therefore ’tis convenient to try it in the manner mention’d in the Chapter of _Hoeing_; where are also Directions to find the proper Quantity and Depth to plant it at: I have observ’d, that the Heads of these Seeds are so large, and their Necks so weak[162], that if they lie much more than half an Inch[163] deep, they are not able to rise through the incumbent Mould; or if they are not cover’d, they will be malted[164]. A Bushel to an Acre is full twenty Seeds to each square Foot, in all I try’d; but there is odds in the Largeness of it, which makes some Difference in the Number.

[162] The Kernel or Seed, being much swollen in the Ground, I call
the Head: This, when it reaches above the Ground, opens in the
Middle, and is formed into the Two first Leaves; the Husk always
remaining at the same Depth at which it is cover’d: The String that
passes from the Husk to the Head, is the Neck; which, when by its too
great Length ’tis unable to support the Head till it reaches to the
Air, rises up, and doubles above it; and when it does so, the Head,
being turn’d with its Top downwards, never can rise any higher, but
there rots in the Ground.

[163] In very light Land the Seed will come up from a greater Depth;
but the most secure Way is, not to suffer it to be cover’d deep in
any Land.

[164] We say it is malted, when it lies above-ground, and sends out
its Root, which is killed by the Air. And whether we plant _bad_ Seed
that does not grow, or _good_ Seed buried or malted, the Consequence
will be much the same, and the Ground may be equally understock’d
with Plants.

The worst Seasons to plant it are the Beginning of Winter, and in the Drought of Summer. The best Season is early in the Spring.

’Tis the stronger when planted alone, and when no other Crop is sown with it[165].

[165] The worst Crop that can be sown amongst _St. Foin_, is Clover
or Rye-Grass; Barley or Oats continue but a little while to rob it;
but the other artificial Grasses rob it for a Year or Two, until the
artificial Pasture is near lost; and then the St. Foin never arrives
to half the Perfection as it will do when no other Grass is sown
amongst it.

The Injury these Hay-crops do to the St. Foin is best seen where some
Parts of the same Field have them, and the other Parts are without
them.

If Barley, Oats, or other Corn sown with St. Foin, do lodge, it will kill[166] the young St. Foin that is under it: But then so great a Crop of Corn will certainly answer the very little Expence of drilling the St. Foin again, either the next Year, or as soon as the Corn is off the Ground.

[166] When Barley, among which the St. Foin is planted in a dry
Summer, is great, there are few Farmers that know till the next
Spring, whether the St. Foin succeeds or not; because the young
Plants are not then visible; unless it be to those who are accustomed
to observe them in all the Degrees of their Growth. I have seen a
Field of Ten Acres of such, wherein, after the Barley was carried
off, nothing appeared like St. Foin; but when by the Print of the
Chanels I searched diligently, I found the small St. Foin Plants
thick enough in the Rows; they had no Leaves, they being cut off by
the Scythe; no Part of them that was left had any Green Colour; but
from the Plants there came out many Sprigs like Hog’s Bristles, or
like the Beard of Barley: This whole Piece of St. Foin succeeded so
well, that the Third Year its Crop was worth Three Pounds _per_ Acre,
the Land being good.

St. Foin drill’d betwixt Rows of Barley or Oats, always is stronger than when drill’d amongst Corn that is sown at random; and therefore is in less Danger of being kill’d by the Lodging of the Corn; neither is the Corn in Rows so liable to fall as the other.

The Quantity of Seed to be drill’d on an Acre will depend, in great Measure, upon the Goodness of it; for in some bad Seed, not more than One in Ten will grow; and in good Seed, not One in Twenty will miss; which is best known by stripping off the Husks of a certain Number of Seeds, and planting the Kernels in Earth, in the manner directed for finding the proper Depth to plant at, which, in this Case, let be half an Inch: This being done, the Quality of the Seed will be known. But until frequent Trials have furnish’d Experience enough to the Planter to know the Difference, let him observe, that the following are good Signs; _viz._ The Husk of a bright Colour, the Kernel plump, of a light-grey or blue Colour, or sometimes of a shining black; yet the Seed may be good, tho’ the Husk is of a dark Colour, if that is caused by its receiving Rain in the Field, and not by heating in a Heap, or in the Mow; and if you cut the Kernel off in the Middle, cross-ways, and find the Inside of a Greenish fresh Colour, it’s surely good; but if of a yellowish Colour, and friable about the Navel, and thin, or pitted, these are Marks of bad Seed.

The Quantity, or rather Number of Seeds convenient to drill, ought to be computed by the Number of Plants[167] we propose to have for making the best Crop, allowing for Casualties[168].

[167] Not that we need to be so exact as to the Number of Plants,
whether they be Two, Three, or Four hundred upon a square Perch.
Neither is it possible to know beforehand the precise Number of
Plants that may live; for sometimes the Grub kills many, by eating
off the first Two Leaves.

[168] Many even of the best of Seeds, both sown and drill’d, are
liable to Casualties, but not equally; for about Twenty-eight Years
ago, my Servants (being prime Seedsmen) had a Fancy in my Absence to
try an Experiment of the Difference betwixt sowing and drilling of
St. Foin; and in the Middle of a large Field of my best Land they
sow’d a square Piece of Three Acres, at the Rate of One Bushel to
an Acre, not doubting but, by their skill in sowing even, it would
succeed as well as if drill’d; but it succeeded so much against
their Expectation, that the Land all round it, which was drill’d at
the same Time, with the same Proportion of the same Seed, brought
extraordinary good Crops of St. Foin; but the sow’d Part was so very
thin, that tho’ it lay still with the rest for Eight Years, it never
was a Crop, there not being above Three or Four upon a square Perch,
taking the Three Acres all together: Not that it can be supposed,
that the sown would always meet with so many Casualties as this did;
for then Eight Bushels sown to an Acre might have been too thin, and
much thinner than all the rest of the Field was, tho’ drill’d with
only One Bushel to an Acre: And ’tis often seen, that when an Acre is
sown with seven Bushels of Seed, the St. Foin is as much too thick,
as that sown with One Bushel was too thin.

I do not know, that of the many hundred Acres of St. Foin, that have
been drill’d for me, ever one Acre was too thin, except when planted
with Wheat: The young Plants were kill’d by the Frost.

In drilling St. Foin not to be ho’d, and before the Ploughs of my Drill were so perfect in making narrow Chanels as they are now (for, when the Chanels were open, they had Six times the Breadth, wherein Part of the Seed was wasted), then my Quantity was One Bushel to an Acre, sometimes Six Gallons.

But a single Acre (in the middle of a large Field of St. Foin) being drill’d late in _October_, the frosty Winter kill’d at least Nineteen of Twenty Parts[169] of that Bushel. At first it made such a poor Appearance, that ’twas by mere Accident, or it had been plow’d up for a Fallow; but, missing of that, a few Plants were perceiv’d in the Summer, which by their Singleness grew so vigorous, and so very large, that the Second Year of Mowing it[170] produc’d a Crop double to the rest of the same Field, which was drill’d in the Spring, with the same Proportion of Seed, and none of it kill’d: tho’ all this Field was a much better Crop than some that was sown in the common Manner, with Seven Bushels to an Acre. I have generally observ’d the thin[171] to make the best Crop, after the First or Second Year.

[169] But I believe, there might remain alive Three or Four Plants to
each square Yard, standing single, and at pretty equal Distances.

[170] But _Note_, This Acre was dunged, and in better Order than the
rest.