To multiply the increase of Corn of any kind / To prevent the smut in wheat / To prepare seed to be sown on poor and sandy lands

Extract from a small French Work, now

  circulating in America, under the Ti-

  tle of Agronome; or, The Farmer's

  Pocket Dictionary.

To multiply the increase of Corn of any 

kind.

TAKE of the dung of the cow,

goat, sheep, and pigeon, and

of salt-petre, each one pound; put

them all into two or three gallons of 

 

water, and let them stand covered

several days; strain the liquid thro'

a sieve or coarse cloth, and let your 

seed corn moisten therein for eight

hours; take it out, and put it into a 

convenient corner of your granary;

stir it well and often during several

hours after. This recipe is adapted 

to 160 pounds weight of corn.

ANOTHER.

Put 20 pounds of lime into a bar-

rel, and pour on it ten gallons of

rain or river water; then put 120

pounds of corn into a basket, and

let it remain eight hours; take it

out, and plunge it into another ves-

sel, in which there is a quantity of

water, and wherein you have previ-

ously dissolved three pounds of com-

mon salt or salt-petre. 

To prevent the Smut in Wheat.

Moisten it well with a liquor com-

posed of lime water, in which ashes,

common salt, and pigeon dung have 

been infused several hours. A light

solution of alum and verdigrise has

also been used for this purpose.

To prepare seed to be sown on poor and 

sandy lands.

Take 12 or 13 pounds of sheep's 

dung, which you will boil, dregs and 

all, in a good deal of water, Dissolve

three or four pounds of salt-petre,

and infuse in this pickle for eight

hours a bushel of new wheat, &c.

Dry it in an airy place, not much ex-

posed to the sun. Repeat this ope-

ration several times, and sow your

grain thinly.

   The author of the book from which

these receipts are extracted, asserts,

"That from experience, it is known

"that every grain of the prepared

"seed produces 7 or 8 stalks at

"least, and each of those stalks

"produces ears of more than fifty

grains of corn in each." He also 

informs, "that more than 60 stalks

"have been counted on one shoot."

He continues--

"I. Grain thus prepared starts

sooner than when sown in the usual methods.

_____

"II.  The birds are not so fond of

feeding on it.

"III.  It grows thick and large,

but ought to be sown thinner than 

usual."