LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
G ARDEN-FARMING%
r-ro TIIE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECTATOR:1 Sit,—In your paper of October 11th, you smile most graciously on"a contented farmer," and good-naturedly pat him on the back ; and well you may, for in these sunless days, he is indeed a rara (Tele. I almost envy the felicity the author of "Farm- ing for Pleasure and Profit" must feel, at your approval of his successful efforts to extract from the soil a satisfactory return for his outlay and intelligent culture. There is just a spice of incredulity in one or two of your remarks, which makes me hesitate in asking you to find a corner in the Spectator for what I have to say, although, in an extraordinary manner, it confirms this observation of yours,—" It is certain that the nearer we can approach to gardening in the culture of our arable lauds, the greater will be their productiveness," I have long held this opinion, and ninny an effort have I made to bring a few acres of stubborn and imperfectly drained clay to this approximate condition.
From time to time I try experiments, and here is my last.. In April, I purchased of Major Hallett, of Brighton, two bushels of his "Pedigree Barley," and carefully selecting sonic of the plumpest grains, I proceeded to dibble them into a plot of ground in my kitchen-garden. Holes about two inches deep and nine inches apart were made down six rows, each twenty feet long and a foot apart; one grain only was dropped into the holes of three rows, and two grains only into the remaining holes. As the season advanced, it was evident that here and there a single grain had perished, but there were no gaps in the two-grained portion ; all of them tillered in a very surprising way; the growth was vigorous and the colour splendid, and in spite of the untoward weather, this crop astonished all who saw it (and a good many of my neighbours and friends did see it). Incredible as it may seem, there sprang up from most of these holes forty, fifty, sixty, and in one or two instances eighty reed-like stalks, from five to six feet high. It was impossible to compass them with the two hands ; the ears were bold and promising, having from thirty to fifty grains in each. Now, if no adverse circumstances had occurred, I believe I should have had, on an average, from one thousand to sixteen hundred grains from one grain.
Unfortunately, late iu the summer, there came :a violent storm of wind and rain,— " Saepe °Liam immensnm coelo venit agmen aquarnm," —and my beautiful barley was partially blown down. This disaster was inconceivably mortifying, for I could have taken precautions to prop it up, if my confidence in the strength of the stalk to resist the power of the wind had not been too great. Just after this I left home for some weeks, and the whole thing was neglected, and left to the prey of the birds, so I am unable to say what the yield might have been. However, one thing is clear, that if a single grain can, under favourable circumstances, produce anything like the number I have mentioned, the ordi- nary mode of sowing must not only be very wasteful, but positively detrimental. The conviction that valuable lessons are to be learned from experiments of this kind, must be my apology for this lengthy communication.—I am, Sir, &c., JAMES HUNTER. Kineton Lodge, Kineton, Warwick, October 20th.
P.S.—I enclose two ears as specimens. I have had some better, and some inferior.
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