rowing should be done in the spring, when the plants are four or five inches above ground; and attention is necessary to this point, for if the plants are too far advanced, their growth may be checked by the operation.

Rolling in spring ought never to be omitted. Light soils are frequently left in so loose a state by the winter frosts, that the roots quit the soil and perish. If the land be rough and cloddy, the roller has a more beneficial effect than the harrow in pulverizing the inert masses, and thus increasing the nourishment of the plants. Hand-hoeing and weeding are never negfected by careful farmers.

Feeding sheep on young wheat is sometimes practised, when the shoots are luxuriant, in the early part of spring; but the practice is open to great objection, as the sheep generally nip off the tender blade in the heart of the plant, which hurts its after-growth.

The quantity of seed per acre will depend much upon the nature of the soil, and the mode of culture. Poor land requires more seed than rich land. Drilling economizes the seed, and dibbling does this still more. The quantity accordingly varies from two bushels to three, a little less or a little more, according as the grain is drilled or sown broadcast. When sown in spring, there should be a liberal allowance of seed, as the plants have then less time to tiller and spread their roots.

Wheat is liable to several maladies, but smut, blight, and mildew are most to be dreaded by the farmer. Smut is a kind of fungus, which germinates on the plant; but as to its origin, and mode of cure, there are various opinions, totally dissimilar, and therefore of doubtful authority.

Among the remedies, or preventives for disease in wheat, the following have been recommended :—1. Sowing at a proper season, according to the nature of the soil. 2. Raising early varieties of seed. 3. Constant change of the seed. 4. Consolidating light soils with the roller after sowing. 5. Adopting a due rotation of crops. 6. Extirpating all weeds and plants that are receptacles of rust. These are doubtless all proper, and necessary to be attended to in the cultivation of

wheat; and it is certain, moreover, that benefit has been derived from sowing four bushels of common salt per statute acre with the grain, and a like quantity in the spring, when the crop begins to tiller.

Wheat should be cut, when the straw has assumed a mixed colour of yellow and green, and before it is dead ripe; as then the grain is apt to drop from the ear, and the ear itself to break off, which causes a loss of grain. The best time for cutting all kinds of corn, is when no juice can be expressed from the straw immediately below the ear; the grain will then be comparatively clean-skinned and fine, and both grain and straw are more valuable than if allowed to be full or dead ripe. When over-ripe, the grain assumes a dusky colour, which is much against its appearance in the market.

Wheat is almost universally reaped with the sickle, and tied up in sheaves, which are set up in stooks, and left to dry. The smaller the sheaves the sooner will they dry, and the stooks should be so formed as to allow the wind to pass readily through them. When the knots or joints of the straw are perfectly dry, and free from juice, the crop may be safely carried to the stackyard; and this need not be delayed by a slight shower of rain, for the straw being dry, and of a stiff open texture, a little rain will not cause it to heat, nor prove injurious to the grain.

BARLEY.

Barley, is hardier in its growth than wheat. There are six varieties of this grain, distinguished by the number of rows in the ear. The two-rowed is divided into two principal sorts, early and late. The early or quickgrowing sort is the kind most extensively cultivated, and admits of great latitude in the season of sowing, having in some cases been put into the ground so late as the beginning of June: but when sown early, the straw is always much stronger, and the grain heavier. Bear, bigg, or rough bear, is the hardiest variety of

barley, and the earliest to ripen; and it is on these accounts much cultivated in the more exposed districts of the north, the chances of its coming to maturity being greater than with any other sort. It is generally sown in spring; and although mostly grown on poor land, is well adapted for cultivation on good soil. Its produce in the polders or carse lands of the Netherlands, sometimes amounts to ten quarters on an English acre.

Barley thrives best on a clean, rich, mellow loam, moderately retentive; and on clays tempered with sandy mould, or containing a certain portion of chalk and sand, it is found to succeed well. On wet soils it is rarely successful, and every kind of land on which it is cultivated, should be well worked, and thoroughly pulverized.

Barley usually follows turnips in the rotation, but it is found to thrive well after potatoes, or any green crop. If the turnips have been eaten on the ground, or if the preceding crop has been potatoes, the land should be well ridged up, in order to have it as dry as possible.

The application of a compost, consisting of lime, marl, or sand and earth, earth and stable-dung, or liquid manure, is of great advantage to the barley crop. If the harrow is not sufficient to pulverize the land thoroughly, the roller must be used to accomplish it. When turnips have been consumed on the ground, it is much trodden, and becomes hard, and will require two ploughings, after which it should be well harrowed and rolled. Indeed the soil for barley cannot be too finely worked.

Barley should be sown as soon after ploughing as possible, when the land is fresh. This will ensure its speedy vegetation. The best season for sowing barley, is from the beginning of April to the middle of May; but it has, in some situations, been sown a month later with success. Drilling barley is practised in some places, the drills being nine inches apart: this mode requires much less seed, but the broadcast system is most generally adopted.

The quantity of seed depends in some measure upon the nature of the soil, but about four bushels to the acre

may generally be considered as sufficient. Thin sowing is disadvantageous, if the season be dry, for the plants will then be stunted, and unable to throw out offsets to fill up vacancies. If, on the other hand, they be too much crowded, the plants are weak, and the grain inferior. In this, as în all other grain, care should be taken that the seed be full-bodied; and it should, if possible, be obtained off soil of a different quality from that in which it is intended to be sown, for a change of seed is always advantageous in every description of crop.

Clover and rye-grass are generally sown with barley, and the seeds are covered by the last harrowing, a light grass harrow being sometimes used for the purpose. Rolling is practised by some farmers immediately after the seed is sown, while others prefer allowing the plants to come above ground first; the small clods in this case acting as a shelter to the tender plants, which is found to be of service in frosty weather.

The following proportions of seeds may be sown with barley; viz.-For soiling the following spring, 2 bushels of Italian rye-grass and 12lbs. of mixed clover (red and white); or if for permanent pasture, 2 bushels of perennial rye-grass, a bushel cock'sfoot, a bushel foxtail, and 4lbs. of white clover,-a little trefoil and ribgrass might also be useful.

Barley is ripe, when the reddish colour on the ear is gone off, or when the ears droop and fall against the stem, and when the stalks have lost their verdure. In the harvesting of barley, more care is necessary than with any other grain, on account of the softness of its stem, and its tendency to vegetate. It is more liable to injury by wet than any other grain, and it is therefore safer, in a damp climate, to put it, when cut, immediately into sheaves and stooks, and not to allow it to lie loose upon the ground. It should remain in the field sufficiently long to harden the grain, and dry the straw; for if it is suffered at all to heat, it becomes discoloured, and is injured for the purposes of the malster, miller, and seedsman.

The produce of barley varies much, according to the

soil and season, it being always the most productive in a warm season. On good soils, and in a favourable season, from thirty to forty bushels per statute acre is considered a fair average crop; but it sometimes is much less. Barley is principally used for malting; and it is also manufactured into pot or pearl barley, and barley-meal, in which latter states it is used for food in the north of England, and in Scotland. The straw is used as fodder, and as litter, for cattle and horses.

OATS.

The Oat, is a hardy grain, and is suited to climates which are too cold for wheat or barley. It generally thrives better in high regions, than in low-lying countries; and its cultivation has greatly contributed to the improvement of waste lands in Ireland, Scotland, and the northern parts of England. Taken in connexion with the artificial grasses, and the improvement of live stock, the benefits which the cultivation of oats has conferred upon the country, are very important.

There are numerous varieties of oats, which are difficult to discriminate, as they change very much in appearance when long cultivated on the same soil. They may, however, be classed into two general divisions,-early and late. The early kinds are useful for exposed cold soils, or late spring sowing. The later sorts require a longer time to come to maturity, and ought, therefore, to be grown on warmer soils, and to be sown earlier in the spring.

Of the early varieties, the Angus, the Black oat, the Dun, the Potato, and the Hopetown, are most generally cultivated. The early Angus sort produces good grain, but its straw is deficient, and the same may be said of the Potato kind. The Black oat is grown to advantage in cold and exposed districts, and is well adapted for newly reclaimed land. It is hardy and productive, and it is to be regretted that its culture is not more generally attended to. The Dun oat yields as abundantly as any other kind, and from the thinness of its husk, it is