speciAL coLLecrioNS OouqLas LibRAuy AT kiNGSTION kiNQSTON ONTARIO CANADA OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOWING OF SPRING WHEAT, AND ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE GLOBE TURNIP. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE DUBLIN SOCIETY. > •-f(jSeotatoe and half fallow Potatoe, . . Ditto, . Diif., ■ ■ ■ Ditt..: Ditto, ■■••■■ Ditto. . ' ' ' Ditto. Ditto, Heavy damp soil; secon 12 barrels per acre. (Produce, on potatoe ground, 12 barrels; leniams, | I on an average, 3 barrels. in all. i A LETTER FndM THS RIGHT HONOURABLE :rHE 3TARiiUIS OF SLIGO. JVest]>ort House, October 9 lit, 16Q5. .SIR, THE Dublin Society having expres- sed a wish, (with their offer of a premium for the cultivation of spring wlicat in Ire- land, ) for any information, that could be ob- tained on that important subject, of so much public interest, I beg leave to transmit to them, through you, the result of some expe- riments, which I have made upon it in three years of successive practice. I believe I was one of the first persons in Ireland, that ventured on the experiment of sowing wheat in spring. The practice is still new with us, and I am very much mistaken if it be well understood in Great Britain, though I know it has been followed s there d ON SPRING "U'HEAT. there? for years, especially on the borders of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Nottinjr- hamshire. The universally received opinion of there being more husk and bran in spring wheat than in that, which is sown in autumn, I am inclined to think is un- true altogether. It is positively contradict- ed by every experiment that I have made of it; and if it has any foundation, 'tis that the kind of wheat, usually called spring wheat, is of an inferior quality, and may have given rise to an opinion, for which T can trace no other grounds. ^ Having so disposed of one of the most weighty objections, that I have heard offered to the sowing of wheat in spring, I proceed to state the further result of my own ex- perience on this subject, and I shall take the liberty of forwarding with my report samples of the grain, on which I have formed my opinion, with the best explanation I can give of the quantity and quality of the pro- duce, and of every circumstance connected with it. By some accident, (I believe the extent of. my other works,) I was prevented in the year 1SQ2 frojn an early preparation of my wheat fallow. The ground was not ploughed to my liking,., when the frost set in, and I or- dered it in . consequence to be ploughed again and ON SPniNG iVHEAT. 5 and again, and to be sown in the earliest part of the spring witli the seed, which I had procured for sowing in November, and which was the common red Lammas of a good quaHty. The seed was sown in March, and produced a fine crop of wheat, perhaps a week later ripe than it might have been, had it been sown in autumn, but certainly not more. In the exposed situation, in which I live, the crops of wheat on our high lands, being open to the storms from the Atlantic, often fail, as the people here say, from the shoots being broken by the violence of the winds. It became therefore an object with me to follow up the experiment of sowing wheat, after those storms were over. I therefore directed another spring sowing in the spring of 1804 from the produce of this last crop, and I never saw a finer field of wheat. For a further investigation of the subject, in November 1804', I limed a hill, which was considered a fair soil for wheat, and I sowed about ten acres of it, in the month of November, with seed from the wheat, w'liich had been sown in the preceding spring; and about one acre of the same soil, in the same field, I sowed also in November^ with seed sold to me as spring wheat. The produce of both was very good, any difference fully to be accounted for by » 2. a dlffut twelve and an half barrels per acre. Note, This calculation is made from count* ing the stocks and threshing one. The re- mainder is yet on the hovel, and reserved by me for my seed this year. No. 4. Two and an half acres of land, similar to No. 3, and immediately adjoin- ing; in iSO^, had produced a large crop of drill potatoes, well manured. This ground was sown with Dantzic white wheat, and finished the ISth of March. (This seed proved to be mixed, producing both red and bearded ears). It looked poorly in May. In the beginning of June, No'. 3 and 4 WTre sown with rye-grass and clover, bush harrov/ed and heavily rolled. From the time of this rolling, both crops improved daily. Seeing the good effect, I rolled No^ 1 and 2, though then up tp the horses knees : ON SPRING? WHEAT. 11 knees; this improved their appearance very much; but No. 4 continued growing, tilj it acquired a greater length than any crop I ever saw, not a stalk in it being less than six feet, and some much taller. The ears, however, were not so long as in the adjoin- ing lot, nor were they quite so well filled.-— Produce between ten and eleven barrels per acrci iie:\iarks. About the 15 th of September, when we were busy with harvest, I saw No^ 3 and 4. They looked extremely well, and ivere ripening fast; three successive days of rain and of very high wind (which did great injury to this country) followed. During this period, being much of an invalid, I did not stir out, but, on the weather taking up about the ;21st, as well as I remember, .was greatly surprised to see my wheat still quite black, and, on examining, found it com- pletely mildewed, all except a little skirt at the bottom. I obeyed Mr. Young's directions, and reaped the week following, though, had it not been for the above accident, it should have stood ten days longer. No^ 1 and 2 escaped. a ON SPRING WHEAT. 2 escaped, being fully ripe. If a person, who lias no great skill in Natural history, dare to differ m opinion from Sir Joseph Banks, I would do so. He supposes " mildew " to be 'a vegetable fungus, carried by the " air, which becomes a parasitical plant." I am at present of a quite different opinion, and think, that it arises from the vegetable juices being arrested in their circulation by cold, at which time they burst their vessels, and ooze through the outer skin. The fluid part of the sap, in this state, is soon eva- porated, and leaves a black powder be- hind, This may be called fungus; so I be- lieve is the lump of black sometimes formecl at the top of the wick of a tallow candle, but I do not imagine either are any how re- lated to the mushroom. My opinion is much confirmed b}' exa- niining the straw with a powerful micro- scope. If it was dust carried by the air,. \vhy does not the powder sometimes adhere in a transverse direction? But this is never found. With the assistance of the glass, I can trace the discoloured sap, one or more inches down the stem, before the vessel con-' taining it is actually broke. By my theory t»Q;r,Ji can account for partial mildew, an occurrence which every farmer must fre- quently have observed. Patches of a rood or ox SPRING WHEAT, 13 or an acre will appear quite black and the straw become rotten, while the rest of tlie» field is in perfect health. If the groutnl be, examined in these places, aquatic plants and other marks of moisture will be discovered. Here the evening fogs of a hot day will al- ways connnencc. Now, if we suppose a strong wind to arise, the evaporation from the earth will be greater from these places, than from any other. Evaporation, we icnow, produces positive cold. In these -spots of humid ground, the vessels of tlie plants ;Lre more distended than ordinary. A sudden cold is generated, perhaps for a few minutes, even to freezing; freezing produces ex- pansion, and expansion an innnediate rup- ture. I have not yet seen any satisfactory ac- count of the cause of smut, which, when it occurs in wheat, depreciates it very much; but, during the last four years, I have never found one single ear of any of my crops af- fected, which I attribute to washing the seed in a solution of salt, strong enough to bear an egg. Every grain that swims is rejected, and skimmed otf; the remainder, being well washed, is taken out, spread on a floor, and dusted with quick-lime, and sown as soon as possible. Sucli, 14 OK SPRING "WHEAT. Such, Gentlemen, is the substance of my observations, and, should they seem of any use, they are entirely at your service. I have the honor to be. Your very humble Servant, CHARLES WM. MOOREo Mount Panthery Clough. Rev. Dr.. Lyster, Secretary to the Dublin Socieiy. A LETTER o:?f SPRING WHEAT. 15 A LETTER mtHARD EVANS, ESS. Aiden Wood, \Mh Januanj, J 806. SIR, I SEND you herewith a Surveyor's certificate of mv having cultivated and iovvcd, on the ^d of April 1805, at Arden Wood, county of Kildare, two acres, one rood, three perch, with wheat; and, in con- formity to the desire oi^ the Dubhn Society, I beg leave to report the particular circum- stances. ' The soil was in 1803, a lea, overrun with a thick growth of moss, and quite hidebound, to correct which I planted it with potatoes in the lazy bed mode; first laying a reasonable quantity of w^ell pre- pared compost, consisting chiefly of lime and bog mould, the latter Qt' which con- tained 1^ OS SPRING WIIEA'T. tained a poiiii)ii of mailc of" an inferior ([uality; over this compost, I put a liglit covering of fann-yard dung. The next year, the beds being levelled, and the trenches made where the center of the bed was the year before, I planted a second crop; both crops right good; the second rather exceed-- ing the fust. After digging out tlie se- coml crop, ploughed tlie soil, which turned up in great order, and it being tilled en- tirely to my mind, and wishing to lay the ground down, I, on the 2d of April 1S05, sowed the whole with common red Lammas wheat, the produce of my own land, twenty- seven stone; I am persuaded seven stone too much. This was sowed broadcast, the ground being previously made quite level, and then ploughed in with a seed plough; afterwards harrowed very well, after\vards sown with hay -seeds, six barrels to the acre. The crop came up very slowly and in ail appearance bad, and I feared the many broad hints I got from my neighbours were not ill- founded. Indeed (the sowing of spring wheat being totally unknown in the country) some of them were pleased to say it was on the 1st and not on the 2d of April I made my sowing; however, in taking the veiy dry season into c"onsideration, I was not with- out ON SPRING WHEAT. 17 out hopes of Still having a good crop, and was very anxious for a change to moist weather. This change, although it came very late in i\ray, had a most wonderful ef- fect in June, and in July I had as promising a crop as any in the neighbourhood, and much better than many. The second week in September I leaped, and soon after drew in and tlireshed about two barrels; tliis month threshed the remainder; total, 21 barrels, 6 stone, 4 pounds; which, at SO^, per barrel, is about £3Q. I am so confident that sowing sprmg wheat is of great utility, that I mean this spring to sow four acres, with a proporti- onable less quantity of seed, on land pre- pared in the same manner, with this dif- ference, that the second crop of pota- toes was planted in drills, three feet dis- tant. I conceive it very much serves the potatoe ground, to get a winter's fallow in addition to the potatoe culture; and I am sure the quantity of seed to be sown in spring need not be half as much as when sown in au- tumn; that the soil is much, better tilled, and the length of the days lessens the ex- pence of labour; that it is a disadvan- tage to sow hay-seeds in April rather than in winter, during which they must consequently c 18 0\ SPRING -W-HEAT. consequently receive much injury. My crop of grass is now the most promising I have seen. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obliged humble Servant, RICHARD EVANS. Rev. Dr. Lyster, Secretary to the Dublin Society, A LETTER ON SPRING WHEAT. 19 A LETTER ED WA RD BURRO UGHS, ESQ. DUBLIN SOCIETY. GENTLEMEN", I DID not read your advertise- jnent, tilLthe beginning of March last, for the encouragement of sowing wheat in spring; however, as I wished to make an experiment on so useful a crop, I was re- solved to make as fair a trial as the nature of my soil would admit of. Having upwards of three acres broken up from the lea, in November 1804, the half of which was well maimred with lime and dung' for a potatde crop, the other half sown with oats the spring following, and limed with 120 barrels per acre, shortly^ after the crop was taken off, and was left fallow till the middle of March follo\\'ing, when it was second ploughed, well har- rowed, c 2 20 ON SPRING WHEAT. rowed, and sown broadcast, with four- teen stone red Lammas wheat per acre, co- vered well with the plough and lightly harrowed, for the purpose of laying down. The potatoe ground was treated in like manner, except half an acre, which I seeded more than the rest, and one quarter sown in ridges. The potatoe ground, or west lawn, is a clayey loam, and the fallow, or east side, is a strong clay, with a light surface of loam. The w^ell field about the same qua- lity with the latter. This field had been ploughed in October 1804, after a crop of wheat, which was the first crop of corn it had given since it was broken from the sward, at which time it was well manured. I second ploughed it the latter end of JMarch and sowed it early in April, 1 rood 124 perch, with 5-k stone white wheat Enghsh seed, partly broadcast and partly in ridges. Im- mediately adjoining this, I had an acre and a half remarkable fine oats, and in the remainder of the field winter vetches, which produced very abundantly two crops. This wheat turned out much more indif- ferent than the red Lammas, producing only half a barrel of very bad wheat, only fit for pigs or fowls; the straw was very ON SPRING WHEAT. 21 very short ^nd iiiiklewed, • and tlie grain shrivelled up. The entire of the crops came up suffici- ently thick and wore a pronnsing appear- ance till June, when it gradually decHned. Most of the young plants turned yellow, and several of them totally failed, espe- cially in tlie east side of the lawn. The rains in summer again hrought forward the crop, and the ear looked promising, particularly on the west side, or potatoe ground, which I was in hopes would have produced a tolerable crop. However, I was deceived ; for, although the plants stood sufficiently thick on this side of the field, there were not four barrels per acre, and on the other side not two of indifte- rent corn; the straw very short and mil- dewed. The soil was in veiy fine tilth when sown, and had the benefit of a fort- night's rain. This field is rather subject to the red worm, which the potatoe crop had greatly destroyed, and prepared the ground better for wheat; however, this field has been known to have produced upwards of twenty barrels of barley and ten of wheat, when not in as good heart as at the present. I did not perceive any difierence in the parts sown in ridges, which were equally unproductive 22 ON SPRING WHEAT, iinpiodiictive with the other parts, though this ground the year before, without ma- nure, had given a tolerable crop of oats. I beg leave here to remark, that the grass- seed grew remarkably well, where sown with this crop, being much more luxuri- ant than the adjoining field laid down with oats. As I was not offered within four shillings a barrel of the current price, I sent five barrels and an half to the mill, then in possession of a friend of mine, lest I should be deceived in the produce, which was as follow: — 8^ cwt. weak se- conds; two stone, inditterent thirds; nearly twenty stone of very bad bran. Mr. Jackson, a neighbour of mine, sowed an acre with English white wheat the latter end of March, in a remark- able good field, (a deep loam) well pre- pared and ploughed in ridges, about six- teen stone per acre. The crop very indif- ferent in every respect, not three barrels of corn produce. He sowed the remain- der of the field with barley the second week in May, which had the same culti- vation and manure with the wheat. He cut upwards of seventeen barrels per acre of the field. His ground is not subject to the red worm, notwithstanding many of the wheat plants totally failed at the time the ON SPRING WHEAT. 23 the barley shewed a most promising ap- pearance. I have known wheat to be sown in some counties of England in February, and even early in March, in cold wet ground, when too heavy to be tilled in autumn; but those, who have been obliged to defer sowing so long, acknowledge their pre- ference of autumn sowing, though they had sometimes tolerable crops, owing to a very favourable season. I certify the foregoing account is true, which I shall verity by affidavit on my return to the County of Kilkenny. EDWARD BURROUGHS. The above wheat sown in the County of Kilkenny, barony of Gowran, parish of Tullowhern, and townland of JBishops-r lough. Note. — The Society having offered pre- miums for sozving spring wheat in 1806, postpone their observations on the advan- tages or disadvantages of this mode of hus- bandry^ till they have received the reports of 1806. ON ON THE GLOBE TURNIP. THE Society having received several letters addressed to their worthy Member, Colonel Hardy, recommending the sow- ing of Globe Turnips, think proper to publish the three following for the infor- mation of the public. N. B. ITie seed may be had at Simpson's, College-green. No. I, Prudhoe Castle, Norihutiiberlcnd, 25 th February, 180G. SIR, IN answer to your letter respect- ing the superiority of the globe turnip to the Norfolk, or even to any other kind which lias yet been introduced into this neigh- bourhood, allow me simply to state (with- out attempting a theoretical description of its superior qualities), that in this district, where a great proportion of the soil is pe- culiarly adapted to the cultivation of this excellent ON THE GLOBE TURNIP. ' 25 excellent root, and, I presume, some little attention has been paid to the selection and raising of seed from the most valuable kinds, that, so far as the practice and ex- perience of this neighbourhood may tend to prove the utihty of any particular species, the globe turnip, in preference to all others, may be justly said to be the only kind now cultivated in . T3'ne side for winter fo6d, consequently stands highest in esti- mation. The bullock turnip and Swedish, or Ruta- baga^ have been partially culti\'ated for spring use latterly, aiid bid fair for more general culture; as, with proper attention being paid to the preservation of the Ruta- baga when drawn from the ground, it may be kept perfectly good until the latter end of May or beginning of June, which is of material consequence, considering the scarcity of green food which often pre^ vails in our northern cUmate at that season. I am Sir, Very respectfully Yours, ^yM. LAWS. No. II* 26 ON THE GLOBE TURNIP. No. n. Clasions, near Gateshead, Feb. 16, 1806. SIR, I HAVE sown the globe turnip for some years, and give it the preference to any I have yet tried; being of opinion, it is the most nutritive, and from its shape stands the winter well: it is a valuable turnip to use early, being of quick growth, and gets to a very large size w^ien sown about the last week in May, or the first week in June; those intended to be eaten late I sow two or three weeks later. JOHN KELL. No. HI. Bachworth, Durham, Feb. 21, 1806. SIR, I HAVE cultivated the globe tur- nip twelve years, and found it preferable to any other sort that has come under my in- spection; in its texture it -is firm and com- pact ; its juices are nutritious and sweet to the taste, making an excellent vegetable for the table, and, from these qualities, im- proving cattle amazingly; it shoots a small close top, throwing off the wet and resisting frost ON THE GLOBE TURNIP. 2/ frost in preference to any of tlie flat sorts. Since it has become generally known, no other kind is cultivated in this district. I remain Sir, Most respectfully yours, THOMAS BOURN. I