Part 16

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.