ing to the crown, to nobles, and to the peasants, then subdivided into whole Bauernhofe (entire farms) half farms, quarter farms, one-eighth farms, and at last comes the house owner, with a garden, and even sometimes an acre of land. The number of acres varies according to the greater or less amount of population, but the parcels on the Rhine are very limited. A Rittergut of two hundred acres is considered an extensive estate; a whole farm of forty, and a half farm of twenty-five acres, a fortune. The house owners believe themselves well off if they possess one or two acres of land;. some must try to live from one-fourth of an acre. The number of mall farms is very great in the Rhenish provinces: for instance, the district of Cologne comprises 75.65 German square miles, which is parcelled out into 161 estates of nobles, 2,325 full span or whole farm, 19,106 half span, and the rest, amounting to 19,106, is held by house owners, with from a half to two acres, working it with the hoe, spade or their cow. This unlimited system of division has been favored by home governments, with the idea that small estates are generally better cultivated and yield higher profits; but the injurious result has made them aware of the necessity of restricting the division to that of the large estates: that is, of confining it to a certain nun? ber of acres which will support a family, according to the state of soil and other local circumstances. Another injurious effect was produced by the division of the common property of villages; the villagers who opposed that law were considered as obstinate and blind to their own interest; but experience, the test of all theories, has shown that the measure did more harm than good.

XIX.-On Wheat, Tobacco, Spelt, as cultivated on the Rhine.

Wheat being one of the principal products of our farmers, I have thought it might be of some service to collect, in the different countries through which I passed, the experience of the most eminent agriculturists on this subject. Schwertz, who is so well known by his various agricultural works, has described the mode of cultivating wheat practised on the Rhine, collected from authentic sources, from which I have made the following extracts, with some additional notes from other writers on German agriculture, and my own experience and observation.

The wheat cultivated along the Rhine is the ordinary winter wheat, of a yellow color, without beard; there is another kind raised with a beard of a brown color, which is considered not as profitable, as it yields less grain and more straw.

On the Rhine, especially in Alsace, wheat is planted after tobacco, hemp, beans, Indian corn, potatoes, cabbage, poppy, turnips, clover, and in fallow, though this is very rarely the case.

Tobacco is considered the best preparatory crop for wheat; it is estimated that it yields one-seventh more after tobacco than after any other crop, which arises first from the great quantity and superior quality of manure which is used for the tobacco crops, and secondly, from the careful and separated labor which is given to tobacco. Even if it should happen that the tobacco crop was taken late from the field, the wheat crop succeeds adinirably well.

Hemp is considered another excellent crop, after which wheat succeeds well, principally when the manure is stronger for hemp than for tobacco. It is an established fact that hemp leaves the soil perfectly free from weeds,

even without giving it any labor whatever. I believe that the wheat crop after hemp is not so much esteemed in regard to the yield of straw. The farmers pretend to have observed, that after cabbage, wheat yields less straw; others say that 120 sheaves, in such a case, yield as much grain as 150 from crops after tobacco.

The naked fallow is considered yet the best preparation for a heavy argillaceous soil.

In cases where there is not sufficient quantity of manure, the farmers are forced to fallow the land. It is estimated that the crop yields at least one hectolitre of wheat more to an arpent of twenty ares.f

Beans are considered, throughout the valley of the Rhine, an excellent preparation for wheat, but it is believed that wheat yields less after beans than after tobacco, hemp, or poppy, and of inferior quality, which accounts for the fact, that in some parts beans are put in a summer field, after which another fallow crop succeeds before wheat is sown again.

After Indian corn, the grain is full and of fine appearance, yet it yields only one-half the quantity of straw that it yields after other crops, but I found places where wheat, after maize, yielded amply in grain and straw, and other places, again, where Indian corn is considered the worst preparatory crop for all sorts of grain.

Similar facts, just as contradictory, have been furnished to me in regard to clover. Sometimes it is considered the best crop to precede wheat, and in other places, of middling order; but experience has settled that question so far, that no where can a good crop of wheat be raised after a poor crop of clover. But every one agrees that wheat yields more straw after clover than after any other kind of preparation. The same thing happens with wheat after turnips-it is richer in straw than in grain.

In some places, wheat after poppy is thought highly of, and is preferred to wheat after clover or beans.

After madder, wheat succeeds well, even in a sandy soil, provided the land is rich. I have seen many rotations of similar kinds in Alsace; but I never saw wheat sown after another crop of grain; it is sown sometimes, though rarely.

Potatoes are considered a good preparatory crop for wheat; it falls a little short of fallow wheat, but is less liable to lay down.

One ploughing after tobacco, one after beans, three after Indian corn, and one or two after hemp, are considered sufficient for the preparation of wheat crops.

After a vigorous and well stocked clover crop, one ploughing is thought sufficient; but when it is thin, having spots filled with weeds, two or three ploughings are generally given; when the clover crop was good, no manure is put on; but when the contrary, some is considered necessary to ensure a fair wheat crop. It is customary in this region, to let the third growth of clover come up as high as time will permit, and then plough it under. When two ploughings are given, the clover is turned under with a shallow furrow; the second furrow is made much deeper; when there is time, a third furrow is always preferred; the last two are made much deeper than the first.

A hectolitre is equal to 100 litres-the litre is 0.22 parts of the British imperial gallon. An are is equal to 100 square metres-the metre is 39.37 inches. An arpent is six-sevenths.

of an acre.

It has been found that wheat yields more straw after one ploughing, but that it yields more grain after it has received three ploughings.

At Wesselingen, wheat is sown in a peculiar manner, which is worth mentioning. A part of the seed wheat is sown upon the first furrow given to clover, then ploughed very superficially, after that the rest of the seed wheat is sown, and harrowed in with heavy harrows: the farmers of that district say that they obtain an excellent wheat crop. This mode is new to me. It may answer for light soil very well, which has not adhesion enough for a wheat crop when managed in the ordinary way.

The usual periods of sowing wheat on the Rhine, and in the southern part of Germany, is a week before, and about three weeks after Michaelmas, (September 29.) Wheat early put in the ground yields fine crops, but the only inconvenience is, that the weeds spread too fast.; later, the wheat does not succeed well, it takes a long time to ripen. There exists a proverb among the Alsaciens, which says, "When wheat sown in the beginning of November (Toussain) succeeds, a father should never tell it to his children."

On the Danube is the best wheat country; wheat is sown sometimes very late, and considered safe if it only shows itself before the snow covers the soil; it grows under the snow, and when spring sets in, sometimes scarcely a plant can be seen. There exists another proverb: "When you have to look for your spring with pointed sticks, you are sure to fill your barn."

In countries where the winters are very irregular, sometimes without snow, early sowing is recommeded to give the plant the necessary force to withstand the influence of the continual changes.

After hemp and tobacco, wheat comes up very soon. Upon clover, wheat must be sown two or three weeks earlier, or it is considered likely to fail. The farmers throughout Germany pay great attention to the selection of their seed wheat; they know that with poor grain the common diseases of wheat crops are increased. The common diseases of wheat in Germany are mildew, blasting, blight and smut. Mildew is supposed to be produced from-a sudden change of temperature, a cold shower of rain after a hot midday sun. Rust is considered a higher degree of mildew. Elsner thinks that wheat crops which are planted upon a turned clover stubble, are more liable to be affected by rust, because such crops are later in spring; but when they have once started, they grow so rapidly and luxurious, as to make the plant more delicate, and consequently more liable to the changes of temperature and disease. The causes of these various diseases are not yet understood; all the proposed remedies have been tried without a sure effectthe only and best preventive is a careful preparation of the soil, sound and perfect seed. Wheat a year old is considered the best. Fresh manure is also thought another cause of these evils.

The average quantity of seed wheat is estimated by Thäer at two hundred and forty-two litres per hectare.*

In France, two hundred litres are generally calculated per hectare; and an old French proverb says, "Mieux vaut semer aru que menu"--better sow too much than too little.

The soil and its fertility regulates the quantity of seed; in the rich bottom lands of the Danube, wheat is always sown thinner than in the less fertile or suitable soil of other districts.

*The hectare is equal to 10,000 square metres, or 2.471 acres.

After clover one-third more seed wheat is used than after manured fallow or tobacco.

On the Rhine, especially in Alsace, a part of the seed is ploughed in, sometimes one-third, sometimes one-half, and the rest is sown upon the field after ploughing, and is harrowed in; in other parts, where the soil is of a heavier nature, it is harrowed in altogether.

The wheat ploughed under in that way is thought to stand better the winter and the winds, and in a well prepared soil it is considered the best method; but when the soil has not obtained the necessary work, it is though. better to harrow the grain in.

Upon light soil it is generally ploughed under, and yields very well, at a depth of three inches. Sheep and horses are driven sometimes upon wheat fields, to feed upon them. This has a similar effect to that of topping. They are only brought upon the wheat field in the autumn or during the winter. In Alsace they bring in sometimes the sheep and horses in the beginning of May, which is rather a dangerous operation. Cows are never permitted to enjoy this privilege.

The grain is considered to be ready for cutting when the kernel has acquired a certain consistency, and when the farinaceous substance is entirely developed, it is cut even if the grain is yet somewhat soft, (grain too much ripened is thought less fine in appearance, and of less good quality,) and left upon the field to ripen.

In Bavaria, wheat is cut with sickles, and only about half way from the ground, the ears laid upon the high stubble and left to ripen, which has many advantages. In the first place, it requires less room in the barn: secondly, there is less danger of its sprouting in the field if rainy weather should happen to continue for some time; thirdly the work of gathering and bringing from the field goes on more rapid, as there is at least onethird of straw less to be brought home: fourthly, threshing, which is done every where with flails, is done better and quicker.

Some give it a top dressing with soap boiler's ashes, during the fall, others one with long manure.

Different modes are practised on the Rhine, and beyond that river, in the treatment of wheat crops in the spring. Harrowing is very common. After a few days fine weather, when the soil has sufficiently dried up and the wheat begins to show itself, the crop is well harrowed with heavy iron harrows. Weeding is generally done by women.

When the wheat crop grows very luxuriantly, the farmers, in order to prevent its laying, top the crop, that is, the leaves are cut off with sickles or scythes, without touching what they call the heart of the plant, the stem grows stouter and prevents it from laying; but this is a long tedious operation and an expensive one.

It is always performed in fine mild weather, but never when there is a strong north or north-west wind blowing, as this turns the crop yellow. The stubble remains on the field until the crops are all secured, and then it is mowed and stacked in the field, or near the barn.

Sometimes when there is less need for straw, the cattle are driven in the stubble to feed upon the grass between it, it is trodden down in that way, and before winter sets in it is brought together with rakes and stacked.

Wheat is considered one of the surest crops, as it very seldom entirely fails, provided the land has been properly prepared for it.

The opinions are divided in regard to the effect of steeping grain to pre

vent disease. Many have found it highly useful. A Mr. Sender, of Rotenburg, employed, for nearly twenty years, seed wheat a year old, which he steeped in a ley made of leech ashes and quick lime, and his fields were free from brand all that period; but after he left off using new wheat instead of a year old, the evil returned at once, and in 1836, it caused an enormous

loss.

He obtained, he states, a recipe to prepare a steep, which is used very extensively in Poland, consisting of glauber salt, ashes and quick lime. Sixteen Berlin scheffel,* requires one-eighth of a Prussian cwt. of glauber salt, one scheffel of lime and the ley of one scheffel of ashes; with this solution the wheat was moistened, and well mixed, and left for twenty-four hours in a heap. The effect was astonishing-there was not the least appearance of brand on the whole field except at a corner where the prepared wheat gave out, which suffered again from brand.

This led me to the conclusion, says he, that the seat of the evil is in the grain, which carries with it to the ground the eggs of an insect which affect the plant, and consequently destroys the development of the ear, I examined many wheat plants, affected in this way, and which were carefully taken up with the root; on examination I found, that just above the roots they were eaten through all round, and discovered, in the inside of the culmus, (halm,) a black worm, with a thick, horn-like skin, tapering at each end to a point, which might also explain why wheat a year old is less liable to produce brand, the eggs of the insect having lost during a year's keeping, their vitality. Schwertz mentions an interesting fact in regard to the effects of steeping. A farmer mentioned to him that he used lime and the drainings of the dunghill, and after twenty-four hours prepared in that way he applied it, but it was never free from blast. In 1794, said the farmer, "I prepared my sced wheat as usual, but I was prevented from , sowing it till after the third day, when the grain began already to sprout, and to my astonishment the crop was free from blast. It is now twentytwo years that I have followed the same method and I have found only onesingle ear which was attacked by that destructive disease."

The celebrated naturalist, Dr. Martius, of Munich, described it as a kind of fungus which adheres to the grain and spreads gradually over the plant and disturbs its vital functions and causes all the different diseases known under different names. Dr. Martius recommends steeping the seeds, as the best and only means of destroying the fungus, which lose not their vitality, even after keeping the grain for years.

The change of grain for seed is practised throughout Germany, and it is considered very important to obtain it always from a soil which is well adapted for wheat, &c.

Spelt.-Dinkel or spelt, as the Germans call this kind of wheat, has been more extensively planted at earlier periods in Germany, than at present; it is one of the oldest kinds of grain which seems to have been known to the Egyptians. It is principally cultivated on the upper Rhine, in Franconia, Wurtemberg, Baden and Switzerland: there are two kinds used, one with a smooth kernel, the other a rough one; the cars like the wheat, have beard or are without it. Schwertz thinks, that wheat or spelt, without a beard, when sown upon a poor field badly prepared, have ears with beard, and The red spelt is considered the best kind.

vice versa.

*A Berlin scheffel is 1.479 of an English bushel.