these manures, that when it
came into ear, it was allowed by all who saw it to be the best in
the neighbourhood; but the heavy rains of July caused it to lodge
in the best part of the field, and there it was attacked by rust,
and the sample was very indifferent. In addition to this drawback,
there being very little wheat grown in the neighbourhood of the
town, and this being much earlier than any of the other fields,
was attacked by the birds as soon as the grain was formed in the
ear. Notwithstanding all the efforts made to prevent them, they
continued feeding upon it until it was cut; and it is a very
moderate estimate of the damage, to say that they destroyed one-
fourth of the crop throughout the field. That part of the field
covered with manure (No. 1) being the earliest, suffered most.
There were patches of several square yards where there did not
appear to be a single grain left; and wherever the birds took a
grain from the middle of the ear, when in the milky state, the
grains on each side of it appeared to grow no more, but shrivelled
up in the ear.

I have little doubt that in this portion of the field one-third of
the crop was destroyed. All this seems to reduce the experiment to
little more than guess-work; and it will, probably, be very
difficult to persuade those who did not see the field when it was
cut, to credit this report of the devastation made by the birds;
even when they are told that Clitheroe is a town of 7,000
inhabitants, and probably as many sparrows, and that apparently
they were all assembled to feed in this field; and they became so
accustomed to the good living they found there, that even when our
neighbours' wheat was fit to eat, they continued to favour this
field with their visits in preference to going elsewhere. I
estimate the damage on No. 1 at one-third, No. 2 at one-fourth,
No. 3 at one-fifth; this was later than the others, and suffered
more from rust than birds.

The following are the results:--From 3,060 yards manured with No.
1, there were obtained 1,042 lbs. of wheat, or 27 1/2 bushels of
60 lbs. each to the statute acre; if we add one-half to this, as
we assume that one-third was destroyed by the birds, it will give
41 1/4 bushels to the statute acre. The weight of straw from this
portion was 188 stones 5 lbs., 14 lbs. to the stone. From 2,856
yards manured with No. 2, 962 lbs. of wheat were obtained, and 155
stones 9 lbs. of straw; this is equal to 27 1/4 bushels per ac