Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/153

D I B ttending it to a lucrative pur- Nor w is it attempted on a r scale, till an industrious far- mer, in the vicinity of Norwich, began to dibble- on less than an acre of land. The success rif this experiment induced others to fol- low his example, and notwithstand- the ridicule they incurred tor ingular a practice, crops were not only larger, but likewise so much superior to those of others, that dibbling has become the practice of every in- Iturisl in Norfolk, ice it has spread into several other counties. From a conclusive experiment made by the Rev. H. J. Close, of Trimley, near Ipswich, in the years 1783-4, it appears that drilling, or dibbling, greatly exceeds the broad- cast husbandry (see vol. i. pp. 359 and foi.), on the best cultivated soils ; and, besides the increased p oduce of grain, many other advan- ta es arise trom the former method. For instance, it employs a greater number of labourers, especially women and children that cannot be serviceable in the common mode of culture. Mr. Close em- ployed the following frame for settinsr wheat : TT77TT7 DIE [133 This implement is two feet two inches wide, and provided with se- ven tines ; but Mr. C. has since experienced that a frame of simi- lar width, withjSve tines only, is preferable to one of seven. The- lands on which this method may be practised with the greatest advantage, are either those after a clover-sfubble, or where trefoil and grass- seed were sown in the spring before the last. These, after the usual manuring, are once turned over by the plough in an extended flag or turf, at ten inches wide, and the wheat is set in the manner already described. By this mode, three pecks of grain are sufficient for an acre 3 which, being immediate- ly buried, is equally secured against the depredations of vermin, or the power of frost. The regular man- ner in which it rises, affords the best opportunity of keeping it clear from noxious plants, by weeding or hand-hoeing. Dibbling is peculiarly beneficial when corn is dear; and, if the sea- son be favourable, may be practised with great benefit, both to the public and the farmer : as it saves six pecks of seed-wheat per acre 3 and, if ge- nerally adopted, would of itself af- ford bread for more than half a million of people. It should, how- ever, be observed, that in seasons when corn is sold at a low price, or the autumn unfavourable to the practice, it cannot be practised with advantage. Thus, in light lands, a very dry season prevents dibbling, because the holes will be filled up as soon as the instrument is with- drawn. In like manner, on strong and stiff clays, if it be very wet, the seeds in the holes cannot be properly covered by the bush- harrow. These two extremes, however, seldom happen 3 nor do K 3 ' thry