AGRICULTURE is the art of afflicting the earth, by means of culture, manure, &c. to bring forth plants in greater quantity, and likewise of a larger size and better quality, than it would produce without these affections.

Agriculture is an art of such consequence to mankind, that their very existence, especially in a state of society, depends upon it. A compendious view, therefore, of every material discovery that hath hitherto been made in this art, must be useful both to the farmer and philosopher.

To accomplish this end with the greater perspicuity, the subject shall be divided into two parts. Under the first, Vegetation, and the Structure of Plants, shall be considered. The second will contain the various Operations upon the Soil, in order to prepare it for the reception and nourishment of plants.

For the ease of the reader, each of these parts shall be subdivided into a number of sections.

PART I.

Of Vegetation, and the Structure of Plants.

The vegetation and economy of plants is one of those subjects in which our knowledge is extremely circumscribed. Many hypotheses have been invented; as many have been, or may easily be, refuted. Hypotheses in matters that evidently exceed our powers do much hurt: But they are likewise of some use. They incite to further inquiries; and these inquiries are carried on with greater spirit, because they are intended for the purpose of confuting. It is true this spirit is not the most friendly to impartial observation; but it makes us more indefatigable in our researches.

Retailing theories is no part of our plan. A total inattention to the structure and economy of plants is the chief reason of the small progress that has been made in the principles of vegetation, and of the instability and fluctuation of our theories concerning it.

To recall the attention of philosophers and cultivators, to the only source from which any solid theory can ever be formed on this subject, we shall give a short description of the structure of plants, beginning with the seed, and tracing its progress and evolution to a state of maturity.

Sect. I. Of Seeds.

The seeds of plants are of various figures and sizes. Most of them are divided into two lobes; though some, as those of the cress-kind, have six; and others, as the grains of corn, are not divided, but entire.

But, as the essential properties of all seeds are the same, when considered with regard to the principles of vegetation, our particular descriptions shall be limited to one seed, viz. the great garden-bean. Neither is the choice of this seed altogether arbitrary; for, after it begins to vegetate, its parts are more conspicuous than many others, and consequently better calculated for investigation.

This seed is covered with two coats or membranes. The outer coat is extremely thin, and full of pores; but may be easily separated from the inner one, (which is much thicker), after the bean has been boiled, or lain a few days in the soil. At the thick end of the bean, there is a small hole visible to the naked eye, immediately over the radicle or future root, that it may have a free passage into the soil. Plate IV. fig. 1. A. When these coats are taken off, the body of the seed appears, which is divided into two smooth portions or lobes. The smoothness of the lobes is owing to a thin film or cuticle with which they are covered.

At the basis of the bean is placed the radicle or future root, Plate IV. fig. 3. A. The trunk of the radicle, just as it enters into the body of the seed, divides into two capital branches, one of which is inserted into each lobe, and sends off smaller ones in all directions through the whole substance of the lobes, Plate IV. fig. 7. A A. These ramifications become so extremely minute towards the edges of the lobes, that they require the finest glasses to render them visible. To these ramifications Grew and Malpighius have given the name of seminal root; because, by means of it, the radicle and plume, before they are expanded, derive their principal nourishment.

The plume, bud, or germ, Plate IV. fig. 3, is inclosed in two small corresponding cavities in each lobe. Its colour and consistence is much the same with those of the radicle, of which it is only a continuation; but having a quite contrary direction: For the radicle descends into the earth, and divides into a great number of smaller branches or filaments; but the plume ascends into the open air, and unfolds itself into all the beautiful variety of stem, branches, leaves, flowers, fruit, &c. The plume in corn shoots from the smaller end of the grain, and, among maltsters, goes by the name of acrospire.

The next thing to be taken notice of is the substance, or parenchymatous part of the lobes. This is not a mere concreted juice, but is curiously organized, and consists of a vast number of small bladders resembling those in the pith of trees, Plate IV. fig. 4.

Besides the coats, cuticle, and parenchymatous parts, there is a substance perfectly distinct from these, distributed in different proportions through the radicle, plume, and lobes. This inner substance appears very plainly in a transverse section of the radicle or plume. Towards the extremity of the radicle, it is one entire trunk; but higher up, it divides into three branches; the middle one runs directly up to the plume, and the other two pass into the lobes on each side, and spread out into a great variety of small branches through the whole body of the lobes, Plate IV. fig. 7. This substance is very properly termed the seminal root: for when the seed is sown, the moisture is first absorbed by the outer coats, which are everywhere furnished with sap and air-vesicles; from these it is conveyed to the cuticle; from the cuticle it proceeds to the pulpy part of the lobes; when it has got thus far, it is taken up by the mouths of the small branches of the seminal root, and passes from one branch into another, till it is all collected into the main trunk, which communicates both with the plume and radicle, the two principal involved organs of the future plant. After this the sap, or vegetable food, runs in two opposite directions; part of it ascends into the plume, and promotes the growth and expansion of that organ; and part of it descends into the radicle, for nourishing and evolving the root and its various filaments. Thus the plume and radicle continue their progress in opposite directions, till the plant arrives at maturity.

It is here worth remarking, that every plant is really composed of two roots, both of which are contained in the seed. The plume and radicle, when the seed is first deposited in the earth, derive their nourishment from the seminal root; but, afterwards, when the radicle begins to shoot out its filaments, and to absorb some moisture, not, however, in a sufficient quantity to supply the exigencies of the plume, the two lobes, or main body of the seed, rise along with the plume, assume the appearance of two leaves, resembling the lobes of the seed in size and shape, but having no resemblance to those of the plume, for which reason they have got the name of dissimilar leaves.

These dissimilar leaves defend the young plume from the injuries of the weather, and at the same time, by absorbing dew, air, &c., assist the tender radicle in nourishing the plume, with which they have still a connection by means of the seminal root above described. But, when the radicle or second root has descended deep enough into the earth, and has acquired a sufficient number of filaments or branches for absorbing as much aliment as is proper for the growth of the plume; then the seminal, or dissimilar leaves, their utility being entirely superseded, begin to decay and fall off.

Plate IV. Fig. 1. A, The foramen, or hole in the bean through which the radicle shoots into the soil.

Fig. 2. A transverse section of the bean; the dots being the branches of the seminal root.

Fig. 3. A, The radicle. B, The plume or bud.

Fig. 4. A, A longitudinal section of one of the lobes of the bean a little magnified, to show the small bladders of which the pulpy or parenchymatous part is composed.

Fig. 5, 6. A, A transverse section of the radicle. B, A transverse section of the plume, showing the organs or vessels of the seminal root.

Fig. 7. A, A view of the seminal root branched out upon the lobes.

Fig. 8. The appearance of the radicle, plume, and seminal root, when a little further advanced in growth.

Having thus briefly described the seed, and traced its evolution into three principal organic parts, viz. the plume, radicle, and seminal leaves, we shall next take an anatomical view of the root, trunk, leaves, &c. Sect. II. Of the Root.

In examining the root of plants, the first thing that presents itself is the skin, which is of various colours in different plants. Every root, after it has arrived at a certain age, has a double skin. The first is coeval with the other parts, and exists in the seed; but afterwards there is a ring sent off from the bark, and forms a second skin; e.g., in the root of the dandelion, towards the end of May, the original or outer skin appears shrivelled, and is easily separated from the new one, which is fresher, and adheres more firmly to the bark. Perennial plants are supplied in this manner with a new skin every year; the outer one always falls off in the autumn or winter, and a new one is formed from the bark in the succeeding spring. The skin has numerous cells or vessels, and is a continuation of the parenchymatous part of the radicle. However, it does not consist solely of parenchyma; for the microscope shows that there are many tubular lignous vessels interposed through it.

When the skin is removed, the true cortical substance or bark appears, which is also a continuation of the parenchymatous part of the radicle, but greatly augmented. The bark is of very different sizes. In most trees, it is exceeding thin in proportion to the wood and pith. On the other hand, in carrots, it is almost one half of the semi-diameter of the root; and, in dandelion, it is nearly twice as thick as the woody part.

1. The Bark is composed of two substances; the parenchyma, or pulp, which is the principal part; and a few woody fibres. The parenchyma is exceedingly porous, and has a great resemblance to a sponge; for it shrivels considerably when dried, and dilates to its former dimensions when infused in water. These pores or vessels are not pervious so as to communicate with each other, but consist of distinct little cells or bladders, scarcely visible without the assistance of the microscope. In all roots, these cells are constantly filled with a thin watery liquor. They are generally of a spherical figure; though in some roots, as the buglofs and dandelion, they are oblong. In many roots, as the horseradish, peony, asparagus, potatoe, &c., the parenchyma is of one uniform structure. But in others it is more diversified, and puts on the shape of rays running from the centre towards the circumference of the bark. These rays sometimes run quite through the bark, as in lovage; and sometimes advance towards the middle of it, as in melilot and most of the leguminous and umbelliferous plants. These rays generally stand at an equal distance from each other in the same plant; but the distance varies greatly in different plants. Neither are they of equal sizes: In carrot they are exceedingly small, and scarcely discernible; in melilot and chervil, they are thicker. They are likewise more numerous in some plants than in others. Sometimes they are of the same thickness from one edge of the bark to the other; and some grow wider as they approach towards the skin. The vessels with which these rays are amply furnished, are supposed to be air-vessels, because they are always found to be dry, and not so transparent as the vessels which evidently contain the sap.

In all roots, there are lignous vessels dispersed in different proportions through the parenchyma of the bark. These lignous vessels run longitudinally through the bark in the form of small threads, which are tubular, as is evident from the rising of the sap in them when a root is cut transversely. These lignous sap-vessels do not run in direct lines through the bark, but, at small distances, incline towards one another in such a manner, that they appear to the naked eye to be inoculated; but the microscope discovers them to be only contiguous, and brazed together by the parenchyma. These braces or connections are very various both in size and number in different roots; but in all plants they are most numerous towards the inner edge of the bark. Neither are these vessels single tubes, but, like the nerves in animals, are bundles of twenty or thirty small contiguous cylindrical tubes, which uniformly run from the extremity of the root, without sending off any branches, or suffering any change in their size or shape.

In some roots, as parsnip, especially in the ring next the inner extremity of the bark, these vessels contain a kind of lymph, which is sweeter than the sap contained in the bladders of the parenchyma. From this circumstance they have got the name of lymph-ducts.

These lymph-ducts sometimes yield a mucilaginous lymph, as in the comfrey; and sometimes a white milky glutinous lymph, as in the angelica, fennel, burdock, scorzonera, dandelion, &c. The lymph-ducts are supposed to be the vessels from which the gums and balsams are secreted. The lymph of fennel, when exposed to the air, turns into a clear transparent balsam; and that of the scorzonera, dandelion, &c., condenses into a gum.

The situation of the vessels is various. In some plants, they stand in a ring or circle at the inner edge of the bark, as in asparagus; in others, they appear in lines, or rays, as in horseradish; in the parsnip, and several other plants, they are most conspicuous toward the outer edge of the bark; and in the dandelion, they are disposed in the form of concentric circles.

2. The Wood of roots is that part which appears after the bark is taken off, and is firmer and less porous than the bark or pith. It consists of two distinct substances, viz., the pulpy, or parenchymatous, and the lignous. The wood is connected to the bark by large portions of the bark inserted into it. These insertions are mostly in the form of rays, tending to the centre of the pith, which are easily discernible by the eye in a transverse section of most roots. These insertions, like the bark, consist of many vessels, mostly of a round or oval figure.

The lignous vessels are generally disposed in collateral rows running longitudinally through the root. Some of these contain air, and others sap. The air-vessels are so called, because they contain no liquor. These air-vessels are distinguished by being whiter than the others.

3. The Pith is the central part of the root. Some roots have no pith, as the stramonium, nicotiana, &c.; others have little or none at the extremities of the roots, but have a considerable quantity of it near the top. The pith, like every other part of a plant, is derived from from the seed: But in some it is more immediately derived from the bark. For the insertions of the bark running in betwixt the rays of the wood, meet in the centre, and constitute the pith. It is owing to this circumstance, that among roots which have no pith in their lower parts, they are amply provided with it towards the top, as in columbine, lovage, &c.

The bladders of the pith are of very different sizes, and generally of a circular figure. Their position is more uniform than in the bark. Their sides are not mere films, but a composition of small fibres or threads; which gives the pith, when viewed with a microscope, the appearance of a piece of fine gauze, or net-work.

We shall conclude the description of roots, with observing, that their whole substance is nothing but a congeries of tubes and fibres, adapted by nature for the absorption of nourishment, and of course the extension and augmentation of their parts.

Plate IV. Fig. 9. A transverse section of the root of wormwood, as it appears to the naked eye.

Fig. 10. A section of fig. 9, magnified.

A A, The skin, with its vessels. B B B B, The bark. The round holes, C C C, &c., are the lymph-ducts of the bark. All the other holes are little cells and sap-vessels. D D D, Parenchymatous insertions from the bark, with the cells, &c. E E E E, The rays of the wood, in which the holes are the air-vessels.

N. B. This root has no pith.

Sect. III. Of the Trunk, Stalk, or Stem.

In describing the trunks of plants, it is necessary to premise, that whatever is said with regard to them, applies equally to the branches.

The trunk, like the root, consists of three parts, viz., the bark, wood, and pith. These parts, though substantially the same in the trunk as in the root, are in many cases very different in their texture and appearance.

1. The skin of the bark is composed of very minute bladders, interspersed with longitudinal woody fibres, as in the nettle, thistle, and most herbs. The outside of the skin is visibly porous in some plants, particularly the cane.

The principal body of the bark is composed of pulp or parenchyma, and innumerable vessels much larger than those of the skin. The texture of the pulpy part, tho' the same substance with the parenchyma in roots, yet seldom appears in the form of rays running towards the pith; and when these rays do appear, they do not extend above half way to the circumference. The vessels of the bark are very differently situated, and destined for various purposes in different plants. For example, in the bark of the Pine, the innermost are lymph-ducts, and exceedingly small; the outmost are gum or resiniferous vessels, destined for the secretion of turpentine; and are so large, as to be distinctly visible to the naked eye.

2. The Wood lies betwixt the bark and pith, and consists of two parts, viz., a parenchymatous, and lignous. In all trees, the parenchymatous part of the wood, though much diversified as to size and consistence, is uniformly disposed in diametrical rays, or insertions running betwixt similar rays of the lignous part.

The true wood is nothing but a congeries of old dried lymph-ducts. Between the bark and the wood a new ring of these ducts is formed every year, which gradually looses its softness as the cold season approaches, and, towards the middle of winter, is condensed into a solid ring of wood. These annual rings, which are distinctly visible in most trees when cut through, serve as natural marks to distinguish their age, Plate V. fig. 1, 2. The rings of one year are sometimes larger, sometimes less, than those of another, probably owing to the favourable or unfavourable effects of the season.

3. The Pith, though of a different texture, is exactly of the same substance with the parenchyma of the bark, and the insertions of the wood. The quantity of pith is various in different plants. Instead of being increased every year like the wood, it is annually diminished, its vessels drying up, and assuming the appearance and structure of wood; in so much that in old trees there is scarce such a thing as pith to be discerned.

A ring of sap-vessels are usually placed at the outer edge of the pith, next the wood. In the pine, fig, and walnut, they are very large. The parenchyma of the pith, is composed of small cells or bladders, of the same kind with those of the bark, only of a larger size. The general figure of these bladders is circular; though in some plants, as the thistle, and borage, they are angular. Though the pith is originally one connected chain of bladders; yet as the plant grows old, they shrivel, and open in different directions. In the walnut, after a certain age, it appears in the form of a regular transverse hollow division. In some plants, it is altogether wanting; in others, as the fenchus, nettle, &c., there is only a transverse partition of it at every joint. Many other varieties might be mentioned; but these must be left to the observation of the reader.

Plate V. Fig. 1. A transverse section of a branch of alfa, as it appears to the eye.

Fig. 2. The same section magnified.

A A, The bark. B B B, An arched ring of sap-vessels next the skin. C C C, The parenchyma of the bark with its cells, and another arched ring of sap-vessels. D D, A circular line of lymph-ducts immediately below the above arched ring. E E, The wood. F, The first year's growth. G, The second. H, The H, The third year's growth. I I I, The true wood. K K, The great air-vessels. L L, The lesser ones. M M M, The parenchymatous insertions of the bark represented by the white rays. N, O, The pith, with its bladders or cells.

Sect. IV. Of the Leaves.

The leaves of plants consist of the same substance with that of the trunk. They are full of nerves, or woody portions, running in all directions, and branching out into innumerable small threads, interwoven with the Parenchyma like fine lace or gauze.

The skin of the leaf, like that of an animal, is full of pores, which both serve for perspiration, and for the absorption of dews, air, &c. These pores, or orifices, differ both in shape and magnitude in different plants, which is the cause of that variety of texture or grain peculiar to every plant.

The pulpy or parenchymatous part, consists of very minute fibres, wound up into small cells or bladders. These cells are of various sizes in the same leaf.

All leaves, of whatever figure, have a marginal fibre, by which all the rest are bounded. The particular shape of this fibre determines the figure of the leaf.

The vessels of leaves have the appearance of inosculation; but, when examined by the microscope, they are found only to be interwoven, or laid along each other.

What is called air-vessels, or those which carry no sap, are visible even to the naked eye in some leaves. When a leaf is slowly broke, they appear like small woolly fibres, connected to both ends of the broken piece.

Plate VI. Fig. 1. The appearance of the air-vessels to the eye, in a vine leaf drawn gently afunder. Fig. 2. A small piece cut off that leaf. Fig. 3. The same piece magnified, in which the vessels have the appearance of a screw. Fig. 4. The appearance of these vessels as they exist in the leaf before they are stretched out.

Sect. V. Of the Flower.

It is needless here to mention any thing of the texture, or of the vessels, &c. of flowers, as they are pretty similar to those of the leaf. It would also be foreign to our present purpose, to take any notice of the characters and distinctions of flowers. These belong to the science of Botany, to which the reader is referred.

There is one curious fact, however, which must not be omitted, viz. That every flower is perfectly formed in all its parts many months before it appears outwardly; that is, the flowers which appear this year, are not, properly speaking, the flowers of this year, but of the last. For example, mezereon generally flowers in January; but these flowers were completely formed in the month of August preceding. Of this fact any one may satisfy himself by separating the coats of a tulip root about the beginning of September; and he will find that the two innermost form a kind of cell, in the centre of which stands the young flower, which is not to make its appearance till the following April or May.

Plate VI. Fig. 5. Exhibits a view of the tulip-root when dissected in September, with the young flower towards the bottom.

Sect. VI. Of the Fruit.

In describing the structure of fruits, a few examples shall be taken from such as are most generally known.

1. A Pear, besides the skin, which is a production of the skin of the bark, consists of a double parenchyma or pulp, sap, and air-vessels, calculary, and acetary.

The outer parenchyma is the same substance continued from the bark, only its bladders are larger and more succulent.

It is everywhere interspersed with small globules or grains, and the bladders respect these grains as a kind of centres, every grain being the centre of a number of bladders. The sap and air-vessels in this pulp are extremely small.

Next the core is the inner pulp or parenchyma, which consists of bladders of the same kind with the outer, only larger and more oblong, corresponding to those of the pulp, from which it seems to be derived. This inner pulp is much fouler than the other, and has none of the small grains interspersed through it; and hence it has got the name of acetary.

Between the acetary and outer pulp, the globules or grains begin to grow larger, and gradually unite into a hard stony body, especially towards the corculum, or stool of the fruit; and from this circumstance it has been called the calculary.

These grains are not derived from any of the organic parts of the tree, but seem rather to be a kind of concretions precipitated from the sap, similar to the precipitations from wine, urine, and other liquors.

The core is a roundish cavity in the centre of the pear, lined with a hard woody membrane, in which the seed is inclosed. At the bottom of the core there is a small duct or canal, which runs up to the top of the pear; this canal allows the air to get into the core, for the purpose of drying and ripening the seeds.

Plate VII. Fig. 1. A transverse section of a pear, as it appears to the naked eye. A, The skin, and a ring of sap-vessels B, The outer parenchyma, or pulp, pulp, with its vessels, and lignous fibres interspersed.

**Plate VII. Fig. 1. C**, The inner parenchyma, or acetary, with its vessels, which are larger than the outer one.

D, The core and feeds.

Fig. 2. A piece cut off fig. 1.

Fig. 3. Is fig. 2, magnified.

A A A, The small grains or globules with the vessels radiated from them.

Fig. 4. A longitudinal section of the pear, shewing a different view of the same parts with those of fig. 1.

A, The channel, or duct, which runs from the top of the pear to the bottom of the core.

---

2. In a Lemon, the parenchyma appears in three different forms. The parenchyma of the rind is of a coarse texture, being composed of thick fibres, woven into large bladders. Those nearest the surface contain the essential oil of the fruit, which bursts into a flame when the skin is squeezed over a candle. From this outmost parenchyma nine or ten insertions or lamellae are produced, which run between as many portions of the pulp, and unite into one body in the centre of the fruit, which corresponds to the pith in trunks or roots. At the bottom and top of the lemon, this pith evidently joins with the rind, without the intervention of any lamellae. This circumstance shows, that the pith and bark are actually connected in the trunk and roots of plants, though it is difficult to demonstrate the connection, on account of the closeness of their texture, and the minuteness of their fibres. Many vessels are dispersed through the whole of this parenchyma; but the largest ones stand on the inner edge of the rind, and the outer edge of the pith, just at the two extremities of each lamella.

The second kind of parenchyma is placed between the rind and the pith, is divided into distinct bodies by the lamellae; and each of these bodies forms a large bag.

These bags contain a third parenchyma, which is a cluster of smaller bags, distinct and unconnected with each other, having a small stalk by which they are fixed to the large bag. Within each of these small bags are many hundreds of bladders, composed of extremely minute fibres. These bladders contain the acid juice of the lemon.

From this short sketch of the structure and composition of vegetables, both the farmer and philosopher may draw very useful and important conclusions. Some of them will perhaps be taken notice of in the course of this treatise.

---

**Plate V. Fig. 3.** A longitudinal section of a lemon.

A A A, The rind with the vessels that contain the essential oil.

B B, The substance corresponding to the pith, formed by the union of the lamellae, or insertions.

C C, Its continuation and connection with the rind, independent of the insertions.

Fig. 4. A transverse section of the lemon.

B B B, &c. The nine pulpy bags, or second parenchyma, placed between the rind and the pith; and the cluster of small bags, which contain the acid juice, inclosed in the large ones.

C C, The large vessels that surround the pith.

D D, Two of the large bags laid open, shewing the seeds, and their connection with the lamellae or membranes which form the large bags.

---

**Sect. VII. Of the nature and motion of the Sap.**

The vessels in the roots of plants absorb moisture from the earth, and convey it to the trunk, branches, leaves, &c. This juice, when it first enters into the root, is crude; but as it ascends into the other parts of the plant, it undergoes several changes, by means of the different configurations of the vessels peculiar to each part. Thus the leaves, flowers, fruit, and seed, have all something peculiar in the structure and arrangement of their vessels, which produces considerable changes in the nature of the sap. It is not known how these changes are produced; but how the stomachs of animals make chyle from animal and vegetable substances, or how urine, saliva, bile, &c., is secreted from the common mass of blood, is as little known. The sap likewise moves in a lateral or horizontal direction.

Philosophers are greatly divided about what they call the circulation of the sap. Some contend, that it returns to the root betwixt the bark and wood. But Hales, who has made many accurate experiments on the subject, has shown, that it does not circulate, but ascends and descends in the same vessels; that it ascends in hot weather, and descends in cold, like the spirits in a thermometer.

Vegetables begin to absorb sap about the beginning of Spring, and soon after shoot out their buds, leaves, and flowers.

When plants are in a state of vegetation, especially in hot weather, there is a great deal of superfluous sap absorbed; but the superfluous parts are carried off by transpiration. Every part of a plant transpires; but the greatest quantity passes by the leaves.

Some have assigned the transpiration of plants, as the cause of the motion of the sap. It is undoubtedly one cause of this motion; because, if the transpiration be stopped, at a time when all the vessels are full, the motion of the sap must stop of course. But then there is a previous and principal cause, viz. that power in the vessels, fels, whatever it is, that first puts the sap in motion, before any transpiration has commenced.

Heat, moisture, and air, are the three chief circumstances that promote the ascent of the sap. Hence nothing is more favourable to vegetation than warm weather accompanied with rain; on the other hand, cold dry weather is its greatest enemy. In a wet, cold season, everything rots; and in hot dry weather every thing is parched. But the circumstances most favourable to vegetation are cloudy, hot weather, inclinable to thunder, succeeded by plentiful rains.

**Sect. VIII. Of the Food of Plants.**

It is thought to be an important question in agriculture, whether the several kinds of plants require the same, or different nourishment.

Upon a superficial view of this question, it would appear very improbable, that the same matter could nourish such a variety of plants, differing so essentially in smell, taste, figure, &c. Much, however, may depend upon the internal structure and arrangement of the vessels. One thing is certain, that if the vessels in any plant be uncommonly small, parts will be rejected by that plant which would be absorbed by one whose vessels are larger. Nay, changes may be made in the crude homogeneous nourishment, by a small difference in the figure or action of the vessels.

It is given out as a fact, by writers on this subject, that one plant will starve another, by robbing it of its nourishment. This does not seem to affect either side of the question; for it may starve its neighbour, either by extending its roots, and requiring a greater quantity of nourishment than the other; or it may absorb the peculiar food which is necessary for the growth of the other plant. In either case, the plant is deprived of a proper quantity of nourishment.

It is likewise proposed as a difficulty, Why a poisonous plant and its antidote will grow in the same soil, and very near each other. This argument is of the same nature with the former. It may be owing either to these plants imbibing different juices from the earth, or to peculiarities in the structure and action of their vessels. These, and many other ambiguous facts, have been advanced on both sides of this question, which we shall not spend time in enumerating.

The argument drawn from grafted plants, seems more direct and decisive. A stalk of a lemon, grafted on a branch of an orange-tree, grew, ripened its fruit, and preserved the figure and all the other qualities belonging to a lemon. This plainly indicates, that the organization of the lemon had given a different modification to the juices of the orange, through the intervention of which it received its nourishment.

It is also certain, that the different parts of the same plant have frequently various smells, tastes, &c. although the nourishment derived from the root must be the same. This is an evidence, that the different structure of parts in the same plants is capable of producing very sensible changes in the nature and quality of the sap.

Repeated experiments show, that many plants of very opposite qualities, and even trees, have been nourished and brought to maturity by the purest water alone.

It is observed, on the other hand, that different plants require different soils. This is certainly true: But what then? Does not this difference in soil rather depend upon the greater or lesser quantity, than any peculiar quality in the food? Thyme grows best in a dry soil; but it will grow equally well in earth carried from a marsh to the top of a mountain.

The roots of plants are fitted to absorb every fluid that comes within their reach. They have been found by experiment to imbibe fluids that actually poison them. From this circumstance it may be fairly concluded, that they have not, like animals, the sagacity of choosing the food that is most proper for nourishing them, and rejecting that which is either noxious or less nourishing.

Mr Dickson, author of an excellent treatise on agriculture, published in 1765, has endeavoured to fix the particular ingredients that enter into the composition of the food of vegetables. He contends, that neither earth, water, air, oil, nor salt, can be called the food of plants; but he thinks that it consists of a combination of all these substances. His arguments in support of this theory are chiefly drawn from the chemical analysis, which shows, that all these substances may be extorted from vegetables by the force of fire; and from a consideration that a due admixture of these substances (or such things as contain them) is favourable, and even necessary, to vegetation.

His last argument is good: But whoever attempts to discover the properties of plants, or the ingredients of their food, from a chemical analysis, will probably never do much service to the science of agriculture. Fire and a retort is capable of torturing either animals or vegetables into forms and qualities which never existed either in these bodies, or in their food.

We shall conclude this section with observing, that the farmer, in nourishing his plants, should be directed entirely by experience. If he knows, that putrid animal and vegetable substances, that lime, foot, marle, &c. when applied with judgment, assist the growth of his plants, and augment his crop, it is of little consequence whether he be acquainted with their chemical analysis, or the particular mode of their operation. We do not mean that he should continue obstinately in the old beaten track, as it is called; but rather that he should try whether he can by any means improve upon the old method, and that his practice should be directed according to the success of these trials. PART II.

Of the various Operations upon the Soil, in order to prepare it for the Reception and Nourishment of Plants.

Sect. I. Of Manures.

Every substance which promotes the growth of plants is denominated a manure.

As to the operation of manures, some maintain, that they give to the earth an additional quantity of the vegetable food; others, that they are of no other use than to divide the soil, and therefore that tillage may be substituted in their place. This last opinion was embraced by Mr Tull, and is the fundamental principle in his horse-hoeing husbandry. A minute division of the soil will do a great deal; but the experience of all ages shows that it will do much more by the addition of manure.

In Scotland, it is the universal practice to dung lands, that are in constant tillage, at least once in five years; and it consists with observation, that the ground is considerably enriched the first year, but that the crops gradually decline till the virtues of the dung are entirely exhausted.

Some manures lose their virtue by being long exposed to the air. If dung be kept after it is sufficiently rotted, the most valuable part of it will evaporate. Others, as lime and marles, are of an opposite nature: the longer they are exposed to the air, their utility to the land is improved. From this circumstance it is probable, that marles and lime attract something from the air which renders them more favourable to vegetation.

There is a great variety of substances which, when laid upon land, act as manures. But the most usual manures in this country are dung, lime, marles, ashes, foot, sea-weed, shells, &c.

Of Dung.

Dung is properly the excrement of animals; but what commonly goes by that name, is a mixture of excrements, putrefied vegetable and animal substances. If dunghills be kept after they are sufficiently rotted, the oily and more volatile parts, which are the best ingredients, fly off. They should likewise be placed in a dry situation, and raised high at the sides, to prevent these parts from being carried off by water; for much water prevents the uniform putrefaction of dunghills of this mixed kind.

To promote a proper putrefaction, the dung should not be laid in small heaps, but spread thick upon the dunghill; for by this means the fermentation commences sooner, the natural sap is preserved, and the dung is prevented from being burnt, or fire-fanged, as it is termed by farmers. Dung, when burnt in this manner, is dry, white, and useless as a manure. It is agreed, that dunghills ought to be covered, to prevent the exhalation of vegetable food. But the difficulty is, how to execute it. Some propose a thin layer of earth for this purpose; others, that a pit should be dug, built with flags at the side, and covered with a roof. The former would answer very well, were it not for the additions that are constantly making to dunghills; and the latter is so expensive, that few people will chuse to make trial of it. When dung comes from the stable or byre, it is mixed with straw; which absorbs the moisture, and prevents it from exhaling till the straw itself putrefies. When in this situation, if it be laid thick upon the top of the dunghill, there being but a small surface exposed to the air, the juices will be tolerably well preserved.

As dung thus loses its best qualities by being exposed to the sun and weather, it ought to be plowed in as soon as possible, after being laid upon land. If sufficiently putrefied, it should be plowed in with a shallow furrow, as its juices are washed down by the rain: It should likewise be spread very equally; for when large pieces lie scattered up and down, they become a nidus to insects and vermin.

Of Lime.

Lime being of an alkaline nature, attracts acids; hence it is supposed to communicate to the soil a power of attracting the vegetable food from the air. Lime is a heavy substance, and penetrates deep into the soil; it sometimes even sinks below the reach of the plow. By fermenting with acids, it breaks down and divides the soil into small particles, and makes it soft, mellow, and evidently in a state of fermentation. It likewise dissolves oils, and all animal and vegetable substances, and converts them into vegetable food. This quality renders it peculiarly useful in destroying root-weeds.

These being the general properties of lime, it is supposed to have a twofold operation upon land. When a large quantity is used, especially after being long exposed to the air, it promotes vegetation by giving a kind of stimulus to the soil, and making it exert itself. This operation of lime is not merely hypothetical; for experience shows, that land thoroughly limed may be reduced to a poorer condition by cropping, than if it had nor been limed at all. It is even possible to reduce limed land to a caput mortuum; and the more frequently and the better the land is plowed, it is the sooner reduced to this state.

Lime also enriches land, by augmenting the vegetable aliment. When intended for this purpose, only a small quantity should be employed; as a small quantity of lime is sufficient to impregnate a large quantity of earth; and and to communicate to it as high a degree of an absorbing quality as it is capable of receiving.

These different operations of lime is confirmed by experience, and agreeable to the practice in those parts of Scotland where lime is most used. When employed for the purpose of improving barren lands, it is laid on in large quantities, to give a stimulus to the soil, and make it exert all its vigour; and when applied to land already improved, it is used in small quantities, and repeated once every third or fourth year, to prevent too great an exertion, and impoverishing the land, by exhausting too much of the vegetable food.

The lands in Scotland capable of the greatest improvement by lime, are the out-field and muir lands. The out-field land is generally kept three years in tillage, and carries three crops of oats; it is then allowed to rest six years, and after that is brought again into tillage. This method of cultivating out-field land is found, by calculation, to be sufficiently able to bear the expense, and allow a reasonable profit to the farmer, besides the improvement the lands derive from the lime.

In England, lime is sometimes used as a top-dressing for wheat. The method is this: They sow their wheat without laying on any manure; and in the beginning of February, for every acre of land, they take 20 bushels of unslaked lime, and 4 bushels of sand, or brick-rubbish. Towards the end of the month, the lime is slaked and mixed with the sand: In the last week of the month, this is scattered by way of top-dressing over the green wheat; and as rain generally succeeds, it is soon washed down to the roots of the plant, and gives them a vigour and strength of growth that is astonishing to people who have never seen this method practised. But, if the weather inclines to be dry, the quantity of sand must be doubled, to prevent the plants from being burnt by the corrosive quality of the lime.

Of Marles.

The general characters by which marle is best distinguished, are these: It attracts and ferments with acids, and does not bake in the fire like potter's earth, which distinguishes it sufficiently from clay; upon being exposed for some time to the air and weather, it dissolves like quick-lime, and falls into a fine powder; when dry, it is friable and unctuous like lead-ore; when wet, it is soft and slippery to the touch; whereas virgin-earth is rough and gritty.

There are a great variety of marles; but they are generally reduced to three kinds: The clay, the stone, and the shell marle.

The clay and stone marles are nearly of the same nature; but the shell-marle differs from both.

Of Clay and Stone Marles.

Though plants will not grow in these marles, when pure; yet, when mixed with soil, they become an excellent manure.

Stone and clay marles are possessed of much the same qualities with lime, and consequently act nearly in the same manner upon the soil. They communicate to the soil a power of attracting the vegetable food from the air, dissolve the vegetable food, and prepare it for entering the roots of plants. They likewise attract oils so strongly, that they are frequently used for extracting greasy spots out of cloth; they are therefore supposed to attract oil from the air and earth, which is the chief ingredient in the nourishment of plants.

Both the clay and stone marles are long of dissolving. Large pieces of the stone-marle are sometimes found undissolved many years after it has been laid on the land. This renders it necessary to lay on a large quantity of them, lest their effects should not at first appear.

As marle may be used with safety in greater quantity than lime, it must communicate to the soil a stronger power of attracting the vegetable food, and consequently it ought always to be preferred. Marle is likewise preferable to lime in this respect, that it is longer of dissolving; and therefore the land will continue to carry better crops for several years longer after it has been marled. However, if the soil be soft and spungy, the marle, like lime, will sink below the reach of the plough, and prevent those advantages which might naturally be expected from it.

Though marle is preferable to lime as a manure; yet it must be considered, that their operation upon the earth is the same; consequently, when marled land has been exhausted with crops, it cannot receive much benefit from an immediate application of marle a second time; for the same reason, it can receive as little advantage from lime: Dung therefore, as it contains a great proportion of the vegetable food, which lime and marles diminish, is the most proper manure for marled or limed lands exhausted with crops.

What was said with regard to the application of lime, in smaller or larger quantities, to barren lands and lands in good order, may be said with equal propriety with regard to stone and clay marles.

Of Shell-marle.

This marle is of a different nature from the stone and clay marles. It does not dissolve with water, but absorbs and swells with it like a sponge: It attracts acids more forcibly. But the principal difference between the shell-marle and the other marles consists in this, that the shell-marle contains a great quantity of oil.

This marle is therefore supposed to promote vegetation, by increasing the food of plants, by communicating to the soil a power of attracting this food from the air, by dividing the soil into small particles, and by preparing the vegetable food for being absorbed by their roots.

As shell-marle does not exhaust land like lime and the other marles, it may be repeated as often as the husbandman pleases. Its effects are likewise more sudden.

Of Ashes.

The ashes of vegetables contain a large quantity of alkaline salt: Hence they attract acids more strongly than any other substances. The operation of ashes upon the soil must therefore be of the same nature with that of lime, only it is more violent and sudden, and consequently it is sooner over. This is confirmed by experience. After land has been manured with ashes, the first crop is commonly very luxuriant; but a second crop almost entirely exhausts the land. Hence ashes should be laid on in small quantities, and should not be applied to land exhausted by lime or marl; neither should they be repeated, or followed by these manures.

Burnt turf is generally recommended as a manure. Turfs are chiefly composed of vegetables; their ashes, therefore, must be of the same nature with those of wood or any other vegetable substance. It is found by experience, that the burning of turfs turns out to advantage in proportion to the number of roots they contain; and therefore land, with a tough sward of grass, is most proper to be improved in this manner.

In burning turf, the heaps must be covered in such a manner as to prevent the flame from breaking out; otherwise the most useful part of the ashes will fly off.

To prevent burnt land from being exhausted, one or two crops only should be taken, and then the land ought to be laid out in grass. Its fertility will be greatly increased, if a little dung be added after the first crop.

Of Soot.

Soot contains oil, salt, and earth. It promotes vegetation in the same manner as dung or shell-marl. Soot is generally applied in the Spring as a top-dressing to winter corn or grass. The effects of soot used in this way are so sudden, that they evidently appear after the first rain. But its virtues are commonly exhausted by a single crop. However, when the effects of soot are over, the soil is not exhausted, as by ashes or lime; it may therefore be repeated as often as the farmer thinks proper; or it may be followed with advantage by ashes, lime, or marl.

Of Sea-weed.

All plants that grow upon rocks, within reach of the sea, are good manures. These are frequently loosened and driven ashore by the tide. They are of a soft pulpy nature, and soon putrefy.

Sea-weeds promote vegetation in the same manner as dung or soot; but their effects are not so lasting as dung. However, they are preferable to dung in this respect, that they do not produce so many weeds.

They may be applied to land in any situation, and are peculiarly proper for land that is exhausted by lime or ashes. When their effects cease, the land is not injured, and any kind of manure may be used after them.

The oftener sea-weeds are applied, the land becomes the richer. This is confirmed by experience. The lands near the shores, where the weeds have been long used as manures, are among the richest in Scotland, and have been kept almost constantly in tillage.

Of Shells.

Beds of shells are to be met with in many places, but particularly near the sea-shore.

These shells ferment with acids, and, like other animal-substances, contain oil, salt, and earth. Their operation is supposed to be of the same kind with that of shell-marl: But, as they take a long time to dissolve, their effects must be slower and weaker: They ought therefore to be applied in large quantities, otherwise their operation will be hardly perceptible.

Shells exhaust the land, but not near so much as lime or ashes; it is therefore improper to use them immediately after these manures.

When shells are found below the surface of the ground, as they generally are, they should be exposed to the air for some time before they are ploughed in: This not only assists their fermentation, but promotes their putrefaction.

Of Vegetables in an entire State, or sown for Manure.

It is a practice in many places, particularly in England, to sow turnip, peas, buck-wheat, &c., and to plough them down for manuring the land.

This practice is thought by some people to be attended with no advantage; because the plants, when ploughed down, can convey no more food to the soil than they take from it. But it ought to be considered, that some of the plants employed in this manner push their roots below the reach of the plough, and suck up the food to the surface; the seed that is sown likewise contains a great proportion of vegetable food; besides what the plants, when growing, may derive from the air, &c. From these circumstances it may be inferred, that they actually return more nourishment to the soil than they extract from it. The covering of the surface is also an advantage: Every farmer knows, that when the soil has been covered for a considerable time by a strong crop of peas, or any other corn laid down, the soil, though naturally hard and stiff, becomes soft, mellow, and free.

Of Water.

Rain-water contains a considerable quantity of vegetable food. When it falls upon land that has a descent, by running off, it must carry along with it some of the finest particles of the soil and the vegetable food contained in them. If this water, then, is let in upon a field, and allowed to settle, the land will receive from it not only the vegetable food contained in the water itself, but likewise what is contained in the particles of earth carried off from the higher grounds.

This method of manuring can only be used in fields which lie on the sides of rivers, or such as can be easily drained. In practising it, the water must not be allowed to run off violently, otherwise it does more hurt than good. Land in grass is most proper for this kind of manuring. manuring. The firmness of the surface prevents any of the soil from being carried off when the water is draining, and the grass intangles the mud, &c., and hinders them from going along with the water.

This operation should be performed in the spring. In that season grass-lands suffer least from being overgrown.

Sect. III. Of Soils with Respect to Manures.

Soils are very different in their natures, and composed of very different ingredients. Some soils contain more, and others less, of the food necessary for the nourishment of plants. It is necessary to inquire into these differences, in order to discover what manures are most proper for each kind.

The soils most common in Scotland are the black loamy, the clay, the sandy, and the mossy. Of these there are many varieties, according to the different proportions of that particular kind of earth from which they are denominated. Some soils are even so blended, that it is difficult to determine what kind of earth most prevails in them.

Of the black Loamy Soil.

Pure loam seems to be nothing else but the earth of putrefied vegetables, accumulated by the successive decay of natural or artificial crops. In cultivated lands, dung and other manure greatly increase the quantity of the loam.

The principal qualities of loam are these: When allowed to rest, it acquires a degree of cohesion, but never becomes so hard and tough as clay; When turned up and exposed to the air, it becomes free and open, and easily crumbles down; When dry, it readily admits water, and swells and retains it like shell-marle; however, it only retains a proper quantity, and allows the rest to run off. It also contains oil, ferments with acids, and is of an absorbent nature.

There is no soil altogether pure; but that soil which has loam in its composition possesses in some degree all the qualities of loam; and these qualities are unquestionably the most proper for nourishing plants.

Its oils and fats afford food to the plants; the absorbent quality of which it is possessed, also attracts vegetable food from the air; its friability, and fermenting with acids, give an easy passage to the roots to acquire this food.

Experience, the only sure guide in subjects of this kind, shows that a loamy soil is most fruitful. Some soils, when well limed or dugged, may bear as great crops as the loamy soil; but then they require a supply much sooner. The loamy soil has likewise another advantage over every other: It does not suffer so much from drought or rain, as clay and sandy soils.

All land called in-field land has a certain quantity of loam in its composition, probably owing to the dung which is laid from time to time upon it. This is the only distinction betwixt out-field and in-field land.

The soil which contains a great proportion of loam, requires very little manure. It may be kept constantly in good heart by proper tillage and good management.

The common loamy soil requires manure, and no kind of manure is improper for it; dung, however, is unquestionably the best. Lime, unless managed with care, is in danger of hurting a loamy soil by exhausting it.

Of the Clay-Soil.

The richest kind of clay-soil is that which consists of clay and loam. To discover the nature of this soil, it is necessary to know the qualities of clay.

Clay is a very solid body, and its parts adhere firmly together: It does not easily admit water, but is capable of containing a great quantity, swells but little, and does not easily part with it. When dry, clay is very hard, and becomes the harder the more suddenly it is dried. In the process of drying, it contracts unequally, and breaks out into rents or fissures where the cohesion is weakest. It ferments with acids, but has no oil in its composition.

From a flight view of these qualities it appears, that a clay-soil is not so well adapted for the nourishment of plants as the loamy: it is more subject to receive injuries from drought or rain. In a rainy season, as it is adverse to part with the water after it once admits it, the roots of plants will be much weakened or destroyed by being long soaked in the water. On the other hand, in a very dry season, it becomes so hard, that the roots cannot penetrate deep enough to search for food.

These observations are fully confirmed by experience. For it is well known to the husbandman, that the produce of clay-soils are extremely uncertain, as they are liable to be destroyed by dry or wet seasons. These soils labour under another disadvantage; as they repel water, especially when it falls in small quantities, they reap no benefit from dews or slight showers.

The clay-soil is said to contain vegetable food, but does not allow it to be easily dissolved: and hence lime, marles, or ashes, are the most proper manures for it, as they divide it into small particles. These manures likewise communicate to it a greater power of absorption; and therefore they will enable it both to receive and transmit water more readily, and of course make it less subject to be injured by the weather. Clay-soils, when mixed with loam, are very rich; but, when mixed with sand or till, they are very poor. Poor clay-soils require such manures as contain the greatest quantity of vegetable food; therefore dung, shell-marle, sea-weed, &c. are the best manures for them.

Of the Sandy Soil.

There are two kinds of sand that enter into the composition of soils; the one consists of small particles of flint, the other of broken shells. The sandy-soil which is composed of flinty particles, easily receives and transmits water; and consequently is not capable of containing a sufficient quantity for promoting the growth of plants: Its particles do not adhere, and is therefore unable to support plants that have few roots and grow high. Besides, it is susceptible of greater heat from the sun than any other soil, which is apt to parch the plants. As this soil contains no oil, it must be very defective in vegetable food; and, as it has no absorbent quality, it will receive but a small supply from the air.

From the qualities of this soil, the manures most proper for it are easily discovered. Clay will make it firmer, and enable it to retain the water; but clay contains little vegetable food. Dung will supply it with the food of plants; but will not render it firm, or make it retain water. Mofs will help it to retain water, and supply it with vegetable food; but will not make it firmer. A mixture of clay and dung, or of clay and mofs, seems therefore to be the most proper manure for this soil.

The qualities of a sandy soil composed of broken shells, are nearly the same with those of the former kind. The only differences are, that it ferments with acids, contains oil, and is capable of being dissolved. Hence this soil must have a larger quantity of vegetable food, and must also receive a greater supply from the air. A mixture of dung and clay, or of mofs and clay, is likewise the most proper manure for this soil: But if any substance could be found that could reduce the particles of the shells to a state of putrefaction, it would be preferable to anything hitherto known for improving a soil of this kind.

Of the Mofly Soil.

Moss principally consists either of live or at least uncorrupted vegetables. It must therefore have salt and oil in its composition. It does not easily putrefy, and prevents other bodies from putrefying. It swells with water like a sponge, and does not easily part with it.

To render the mossy soil fit for nourishing plants, the vegetables in it must be reduced to a state of putrefaction. This will not only supply it with vegetable food, but likewise render it firmer, and make it more easily part with water. Hence those manures which ferment most violently with acids, as the clay and stone marles, seem to be the most proper for this soil. These marles will not only raise a violent fermentation, but fill up the pores, and make the soil more solid. When the moss is deep, or has not a solid bottom, lime is improper, because it will soon penetrate beyond the reach of the plough; but, if it has a solid bottom, lime will answer very well.

It is improper to sow upon this soil till the fermentation raised by the manure is completely finished; for the violence of the fermentation sometimes throws the seeds, and even the roots, out of the ground.

Frequent ploughings make the mossy soil run much into weeds; and from this circumstance, the practice of ploughing it but seldom is found to answer better.

Sect. IV. Of the Impediments to Vegetation.

1. Weeds, as an Impediment to Vegetation.

Every vegetable that grows in a field, different from the particular plant that is intended to be cultivated, may be called a weed.

Weeds injure the plants we desire to cultivate, by robbing them of part of their nourishment, and by preventing the spreading of their roots. Some weeds, as quickening grass, extend and interweave their roots in such a manner that it is difficult to pulverize the soil by tillage. It is therefore of great importance to the farmer to know how weeds may be destroyed. Weeds are generally divided into three classes, viz. those that are propagated by the seed; those that are propagated by the roots; and shrubs.

Of destroying Weeds that are propagated by Seed.

Weeds are very different in their natures. Some, if prevented from vegetating, die in a few years by lying moist in the earth; others will lie many years in this situation, without losing the power of vegetating.

The first kind may be destroyed, by turning the land infested with them into grass for five or six years; and both kinds may be rooted out by allowing them to vegetate, and then tearing up the young plants before they begin to flower.

In order to promote the vegetation of the weeds that are intended to be destroyed, the land ought to be well ploughed; if a little dung, or other manure, be applied, the crop of weeds will be increased, and their destruction will be rendered more general.

Several weeds, as the thistle, dandelion, rag-weed, &c. are furnished with a kind of down, by which they float in the air, and are carried to great distances by the wind. Farmers should be as careful to root out all weeds of this kind from the roots of hedges, banks of fences, &c. as from their arable land; for although they may have the appearance of being inoffensive in that situation, they are transported from thence in great quantities by the wind into the adjacent fields.

There is another great source of weeds, but too little attended to by farmers. It is a general practice, to throw the seeds that are separated from the corn in winnowing upon the dung-hill; and by this means they are carried out with the dung, and again thrown upon the land.

Of destroying Weeds that are propagated by the Root.

There are many different kinds of weeds propagated by the roots. Some of them infest land that is in tillage, and others land that is in grass.

Those that infest land in tillage may be destroyed by turning it into grass for some years. This is the most effectual effective means of rooting out quicken-grafts, and other root-weeds of the same nature. If the soil be hard and stiff, it is the sooner cleared of weeds by being laid out in grafts; But a soft spongy soil requires to be in grafts six or seven years before the weeds are destroyed.

Those weeds that infest lands in grafts, are easiest destroyed by turning the land into tillage. Neither is it necessary to continue it long in this situation; for the weeds commonly disappear after the first ploughing.

But as, in some cases, it may be inconvenient to turn a field infested with weeds from tillage into grafts, or from grafts into tillage, it is necessary to consider whether the same may not be accomplished, without altering the situation of the land.

When land is in tillage, the weeds may be destroyed by frequently stirring and turning it over in dry weather; for when the weeds are displaced, the drought prevents them from taking root again.

Land cannot be made too fine, nor the surface too smooth, when it is intended to be freed of seed-weeds; because by that the greatest number are brought to vegetate: But, when intended to be freed of root-weeds, the rougher the surface, the weeds are the more easily destroyed; because the drought has the easier access to their roots.

If graft-lands be infested with weeds, and it is inconvenient to turn them into tillage, the only way of destroying the weeds, is to cut them frequently, or pull them up by the roots.

Some lands, after being in grafts a few years, are liable to be over-run with fog: In this case, rolling, by making the surface firmer, will be of great use in destroying the fog. This weed, as well as others, may be destroyed by depriving it of air. This may be done by covering the surface with a crop of peas, potatoes, or other plants that lie thick on the surface. A deep trenching will, in some cases, answer the same intention.

Of Destroying Shrubs, as Furze, Broom, Bramble, &c.

1. FURZE.

The common method of destroying furze (or whins) is by grubbing them out with a hoe. But it is impossible to root them out so completely as to prevent their sprouting again, especially if the land be continued in grafts. The most effectual method, therefore, is to bring the land into tillage immediately after the whins have been grubbed up. As long as it continues in tillage, no whins will appear; but if turned into grafts, they grow as numerous as ever.

To prevent this return of whins, the young plants that appear after the land is turned into grafts, should be pulled up by the roots. Unless they are very thick, this is neither troublesome nor expensive: When the ground is moist, it may be performed by young boys. If any of them rise afterwards, which is commonly the case, the same operation must be repeated every season till the land is completely cleared of them.

There is another scheme of management which in a few years will effectually destroy whins. It is certain that the seeds of whins will not vegetate unless they are allowed to lie in the earth undisturbed for a considerable time. As long as land is left in tillage, although there be many whin-seeds in it, yet they never vegetate. Whin-plants do not even appear till two years after the land has been allowed to rest, or has been turned into grafts. Now, if a scheme of management be followed, by which the land is turned from tillage into grafts, and from grafts into tillage, the whins by degrees will be wholly eradicated.

It was observed above, that before lands infested with whins can be improved, the whins must be grubbed up. This operation is both tedious and expensive. The following method of rooting them out by the plough is more expeditious, less expensive, and has been tried with success.

This work must be performed by a strong Scotch plough, with a well redd beam. As it requires great force to tear up the roots, six horses should be yoked in pairs. Two drivers are likewise necessary, to prevent the horses from stepping aside. As the whins in rising are apt to entangle or choke the beam, another man is also necessary to push them off with a pitch-fork. A plough yoked and attended in this manner, will plow down whins near three feet high, with roots above four feet long, and an inch in diameter. This operation should be performed in the winter, when the land is well soaked with rain.

After the land has been ploughed in this manner, it should be allowed to lie till summer, when the whins torn up by the plough may be burned, the land harrowed, and the roots gathered. Afterwards the land may be dressed according to the judgment of the farmer; only the second ploughing should be across, that any roots which have been left may be torn up.

But when the whins are so strong that it is impossible to plough them down, they may be burned; and if the land be allowed to lie a few years after, it may be ploughed without much difficulty.

2. BROOM.

Broom is not so bushy, and does not cover the surface so much as whins; and therefore land infested with it is more easily cleared. Though the methods recommended for destroying whins will most effectually destroy broom, a more simple and less expensive one will sufficiently answer the purpose.

If broom, especially when it is old, be cut so low as to take away all the leaves, it will never spring again. A kind of scythe has lately been invented, by which broom may be cut in this manner with great expedition. If this method be observed, it is unnecessary to bring land from grafts into tillage in order to clear it of broom.

3. BRAMBLE.

This plant is of a very different nature from whin or broom. The root sinks deep into the earth, and spreads very wide. Though cut in the winter, it rises and comes to such perfection as to carry fruit in the summer. It is therefore a difficult matter to clear land of bramble, especially when it is stony; for the bramble pushes and intertwines its roots among the stones, which renders it necessary to dig out the stones before it can be sufficiently rooted up by ploughing or tearing. However, digging out the stones, and ploughing the land in such a manner as is most proper for cutting and tearing up the roots of bramble, may be the more safely recommended, as they at the same time serve many other useful purposes.

2. Of Water, as an Impediment to Vegetation.

Some plants require a greater, and some a lesser proportion of water in their food. The plants usually cultivated in our fields are of the latter kind, and are easily injured by an over-proportion of water. Hence, water may be considered as an impediment to vegetation; and it becomes necessary to consider the most proper methods of conveying it off the land.

Of draining Land.

Some lands are wet from their situation, being exposed to overflowings from higher grounds, and having no proper descent to allow the water to run off.

The bottom of some land is of such a nature as to force out, in springs, the water that runs below the surface. Springs sometimes break out, because the channels, in which they run, reach the surface; and sometimes because they are interrupted in their course, which makes them force their way above ground.

The wetness of land is sometimes occasioned by violent and frequent rains; and sometimes all these causes may concur in rendering land wet.

Land that is wet from its situation may be drained in this manner: Although the wet land be too low, as to render it difficult to carry off the water; yet the water may be intercepted by a drain, before it reaches the low ground.

Land, wet by springs, lies generally in a sloping direction, which makes it the more easy to drain. When the water runs near the surface, before it breaks out, it may be intercepted by a drain drawn across the declivity, a little above the place where it first makes its appearance. But, if the channel lies deep, the drain should be drawn directly across where it springs up.

But, when the wetness of the land is owing to the climate, or a rainy season, the water cannot be interrupted by drains; however, obstructions may be removed, so as to allow the water to run off as quickly as possible. To drain land in this situation, it is necessary to lay it up in ridges properly placed, and to cut small drains across these ridges, communicating with each other, and with the furrows. By this method all the furrows between the ridges become drains; the water, as it falls upon the ridges, immediately makes its way to the furrows; and, if it meets with an interruption in any of them, it is conveyed by the drains across the ridges into some other furrow, along which it is carried off the field.

There are two kinds of drains, viz. open drains, and hollow drains. Hollow drains differ from open ones, in being filled with loose stones, covered with turf, brushwood, or straw, and a layer of earth thick enough to allow a plough to go easily through above. These hollow drains are attended with two advantages; no land is lost by them, and they are no impediment in ploughing.

Open drains, however, are in most cases preferable to hollow ones: They alone are capable of intercepting overflows from higher grounds, and for carrying off water that falls in rain. The water in these cases being always on the surface, will run freely over hollow drains, especially when situated on a declivity. But hollow drains may be used with advantage in land wet by springs; because nothing more is required than to continue the channels of the water below ground, and not allow it to break out, till it arrives at a place where it can do no harm.

It will not be improper here to mention, that some soils retain water much longer than others, and consequently are more liable to be damaged by water. Soils that have a large proportion of clay, or of moss, are of this kind. As these soils naturally retain water like a sponge, casting drains, and laying the land up in ridges, will not convey it away. To drain such lands, their nature, and power of retaining water, must be changed by culture.

The clay-soil can only be drained by frequent stirring, and the application of such manures as raise a fermentation. These operations open the pores of the soil, and thereby afford a free passage to the water.

The mossy soil, on the other hand, is too open and porous, but is possessed of an absorbing quality, by which it retains the water. To drain this soil, it is necessary to condense it, and, if possible, to destroy its quality of retaining water. Frequent stirrings, and such manures as raise a fermentation, and tend to putrefy the moss, are said to render it firm and solid, and thereby both prevent it from receiving so large a quantity of water, and destroy the quality of retaining it.

Of draining Marshes.

The soil of marshes, being composed of dissolved vegetables, dust blown in by the winds, and earth washed down from the high grounds with which they are generally surrounded, is light and spongy, but very rich and valuable when drained.

In draining a marsh, all the stagnating water should be first carried off by a large open drain, with a sufficient fall, and as deep as the bottom of the marsh. When the stagnating water is conveyed away, the earth by degrees will subside, and become solid; and some land will thus be gained on each side: The bottom likewise soon becomes firm enough to allow the drain to be gradually carried forward through the middle of the marsh. If the springs, which supply the water, rise near the middle of the marsh, this principal drain, with a few branches on each side, where the springs are largest or most numerous, will be sufficient. But, if the springs be irregularly dispersed through the whole marsh, as is frequently the case, side-drains parallel to the principal one will be necessary to intercept the water that comes from the higher grounds and supplies the springs. Cross drains, communicating with the parallel and principal drains, are likewise necessary; and should all be kept open till the soil hath fully subsided, and become firm; then the side-drains and cross-drains may be converted into hollow-drains, in the manner above described. But the principal drain, especially if the marsh be extensive, should always remain open.

**Sect. V. Of Tillage.**

*Tillage* is the operation of breaking the soil into small particles, by stirring and turning it over, laying it up in ridges, &c. In this part of agriculture, it is necessary to be acquainted with the different tools proper for nourishing plants; the instruments best adapted for stirring and turning them over; and the construction and manner of using these instruments.

Soils, with respect to tillage, may be divided into stiff and light, wet and dry, deep and shallow. This division is the more proper on this account, that the method of performing the operation of tillage has always a reference to one or more of these qualities of soil, and to no other.

The instruments employed in tillage are various; as the plough, the harrow, the roller, &c., which are again greatly diversified by differences arising from their construction and particular uses.

1. **Of the Scots Plough.**

In Scotland, this plough is still the most common and the most generally understood. If properly made, it is the best plough for answering all purposes, when only one is used; though others are, perhaps, more proper for some particular purposes.

The parts of which this plough is composed are, the head, the beam, the sheath, the wrest, the mold-board, the two handles, the two rungs, the sock, and the coulter; the two last are made of iron, and all the rest of wood.

The Head, Plate VIII. fig. 1, is designed for opening the ground below. The length of the head from A to B is about twenty inches, and the breadth from A to D about five inches; C is the point upon which the sock is driven, and the length from B to C is about six inches; a is the mortise into which the larger handle is fixed; and b is the mortise into which the sheath is fixed.

The head is that part of the plough which goes in the ground; therefore the shorter and narrower it is, the friction will be the less, and the plough more easily drawn; but the longer the head is, the plough goes more steadily, and is not so easily put out of its direction by any obstructions that occur. Twenty inches is considered as a mean length; and five inches as the most convenient breadth.

The Sheath, fig. 2. E, is driven into the mortise, fig. 1. b, and thus fixed to the head A B. It is not perpendicular to the head, but placed obliquely, so as to make the angle formed by the lines A B and E B about 60 degrees. The sheath is about 13 inches long, besides what is driven into the mortise b; about three inches broad, and one inch thick.

The sheath is fixed to the mold-board, as in fig. 11. E, in the same manner as the wrest is fixed to the head in fig. 7.

The Mold-board is designed to turn over the earth of the furrow made by the plough; and it is obvious, that, according to the position of the sheath, the mold-board will turn over the earth of the furrow more or less suddenly. Besides, when it forms a less angle with the head than 60 degrees, the plough is in great danger of being choked, as the farmers term it.

The Larger Handle, fig. 3. F A, is fixed to the head, by driving it into the mortise a, fig. 1. It is placed in the same plane with the head; and its length from A F is about five feet four inches, and its diameter at the place where it is fixed to the beam is about two inches and a half, and tapers a little to the top F. About ten inches from A, there is a curve in the handle, which, when F is raised to its proper height, makes the lower part of it nearly parallel to the sheath E B. This curve is designed to strengthen the handle. The proper position of the handle is, when the top F is about three feet two inches higher than the bottom of the head A B.

The longer the handles, the plough is the more easily managed, because the levers are more distant from the centre of motion. The higher the top of the handles, the plough is more easily raised out of the ground, provided they be no higher than the lower part of a man's breast.

The Beam, fig. 4, is fixed to the larger handle and the sheath, all of which are placed in the same plane with the head. The length of it, from H to I, is about six feet; its diameter is about four inches. When the plough is in the ground, the beam should be just high enough not to be incommoded by anything on the surface.

The position of the beam depends on the number of cattle in the plough. When two horses are yoked, the beam should be placed in such a manner as to make the perpendicular distance between the bolt-hole of the beam and the plane of the head about 21 inches; when four horses are yoked, two abreast, this distance should only be about 18 inches.

The Sock, fig. 5. B P, is fixed to the end of the head, and is about two feet long. In fitting the sock to the head, the point ought to be turned a little to the land or left side; because otherwise, it is apt to come out of the land altogether. When turned to the left, it likewise takes off more land; when turned upwards, the plough goes shallow; and when downwards, it goes deeper.

The Coulter, fig. 6, is fixed to the beam, and is about two feet ten inches long, two inches and a half broad, sharp at the point and before, and thick on the back, like a knife. It is fixed and directed by wedges, so as to make the point of it equal to, or rather a little before before the point of the sock, and upon a line with the left side of the head. This oblique position enables it to throw roots, &c., out of the land, which requires less force than cutting or pushing them forward.

The WREST, fig. 7. BD, is fixed to the head, and is about 26 inches long, two broad, and one thick. It is fixed to the head at B, in such a manner as to make the angle contained between the lines AB and BD about 25 degrees. The wrest is seldom or never placed in the same plane with the head, but gradually raised from the place where it is fixed to it; that is, from B to K, as in fig. 8. The position of the wrest determines the nature of the furrow. When the wrest is wide and low set, the furrow is wide; and when it is narrow and high set, the furrow is narrow.

Fig. 9 represents the two HANDLES, fixed together by the two rungs. The larger handle has been already described; the lesser one is a few inches shorter, and does not require to be quite so strong. The distance of the handles at the little rung depends on the position of the wrest. Their distance at M and P is about two feet six inches. The lesser handle is fixed to the mold-board at M, fig. 10, and to the wrest KB, at L.

Fig. 11 represents the plough complete, by joining together figures 6, and 10, in the sheath EB. The wrest KB is supposed to make an angle with the head AB, as in fig. 7, and the handles joined together, as in fig. 9.

After having given such a particular description of all the parts and proportions of the Scots plough, it will easily appear how it separates, raises, and turns over the earth of the furrow. If it had no coulter, the earth would open above the middle of the sock, and in a line before the sheath; but as the coulter opens the earth in a line with the left side of the head, if the soil has any cohesion, the earth of the furrow will be wholly raised from the left side, and as the sock moves forward, will be thrown on the right side of the sheath, and by the casting out of the mold-board, or the raising of the wrest, will be turned over.

This plough, though the best general one, is not altogether perfect. As the sock is high in the middle, and round on the sides, and as the point of it is in a line with the middle of the head, a great force is necessary to raise the earth of the furrow. Besides, as the sheath is nearly in a line with the point of the sock, and to the right of the left side of the head, the earth of the furrow, as it is raised, must strike against the sheath, and a part of it, instead of being turned wholly to the right, will fall to the left side. These defects make the plough heavy to draw; and, besides, this position of the sheath renders the Scots plough improper for hoeing, as the earth that falls to the left buries the young plants in the rows.

To remedy the defects arising from the sock, it should be made straight on the land-side, so as to be in a line with the land or left side of the head; and straight also below, so as to be in a line with the under side of the head, sloping on the furrow or left side; and likewise on the upper side from the point, so as to make it, at the root, about seven inches broad, and three inches thick; at the same time sloping all the way from the land to the furrow, so as to form the furrow-side into a sharp edge. It is obvious, that this sock will meet with less resistance than the common one, will raise the earth of the furrow wholly from the left side, and turn it as it is raised.

To remedy the defect arising from the sheath, it should be brought a little nearer the larger handle, and another sheath should be fixed a little before it, to the left or land-side of the head and beam; to this sheath the mold-board should be fixed. If this be done, the earth of the furrow, as it is raised, will be raised by the mold-board only, and wholly turned to the right.

The BRIDLE, or MUZZLE, is another article belonging to the plough. It is fixed to the end of the beam, and the cattle are yoked by it. The muzzle commonly used is a curved piece of iron, fixed to the beam by a bolt through it. In fig. 12. ABC is the muzzle, AC the bolt by which it is fixed to the beam; D is the swingle-tree, or cross-tree, to which the traces are fixed; and B is a hook, or cleek, as it is commonly called, which joins the muzzle and swingle-tree.

Some use another kind of muzzle, fig. 13. ABCD. It is fixed to the beam by two bolts, and has notches by which the cleek of the swingle-tree may be fixed either to the right or the left of the beam. There are also different holes for the hind-bolt to pass through, by which the draught may be fixed either above or below the beam. AD is the fore-bolt upon which the muzzle turns; on BC are four notches, betwixt any two of which the cleek of the swingle-tree may be fixed. When the cleek is fixed at B, the plough is turned towards the firm land, and takes off a broader furrow; and when fixed at C, it is turned towards the ploughed land, and takes off a narrower furrow. E and F are the holes on each side through which the hindmost bolt passes. When the bolt is put through the highest two, these holes being thereby brought to the middle of the beam, the fore-part of the muzzle is raised above the beam, and the plough is made to go deeper; and when put through the lowest two, the fore-part of the muzzle is sunk below the beam, and the plough is made to go shallower. This muzzle may be constructed as to have the same play with the common one. Fig. 16. A is the end of the beam; B a plate of iron sunk into it, and, with a similar one in the other side, is riveted into it by bolts; C is the muzzle fixed to these plates of iron by the bolt D, which bolt may be put through any of the holes EE. From the construction of this muzzle it is plain, that it has the same play with the common one, and that by it the land of the plough may be altered at pleasure.

Of the Plough with the curved Mold-board.

The mold-board of the Scots plough is not quite straight, but is cut out above, and more and more so as it approaches the lesser handle.

Ploughs with a curved mold-board commonly have no wrest, the mold-board serving for both. The under-part of it, which serves in place of the wrest, becomes parallel to the plane of the head as it approaches the handle; and sometimes, after it has passed the handle, is made to turn inwards; and the fore-part of it, which is straight below, is more and more curved the further up it comes, resembling the bow of a ship.

If one mold-board be preferable to another, it must be either because it throws the earth of the furrow more properly, or makes the plough more easily drawn. Now, the use of the mold-board is to raise the earth, turn it over, and, if it be taken off narrow, to shift it a little to the right hand. The common mold-board, when right made, performs all these operations gradually. But the curved mold-board, as it is cast out above in the fore-part, prevents the furrow from rising, and turns it over suddenly. In land that easily breaks in pieces, the common mold-board has the advantage, because it raises the earth of the furrow higher than the other, and leaves it more loose and open. But the curved mold-board is preferable in land that is not easily broke, for, by turning over the earth suddenly, it is apter to tear it asunder.

The plough is more easily drawn by the common mold-board, as it has less friction than the curved one.

Of the Plough with the feathered Sock.

The difference between the feathered and the common sock will be best understood by comparing their figures. Fig. 14. is the common sock, and fig. 15. the feathered one.

From the construction of the feathered sock, it is obvious, that it must meet with greater resistance than the common sock. However, when the plough takes off the earth of the furrow broader than that part of the sock which goes upon the head, it is more easily drawn than the plough with the common sock; for the earth which the common sock leaves to be opened by the wreft, is more easily opened by the feather of the other sock. In lea, the feathered sock makes the plough go more easily, because the roots of the grats, which go beyond the reach of the plough, are more easily cut by the feather than they can be torn asunder by the common sock. The feathered sock is also of great use in cutting and destroying root-weeds. The common sock, however, answers much better in strong land.

It is proper here to add, that in fitting the feathered sock to the head, the point of it should be turned a little from the land, or a little to the right hand.

Of the Wheeled Plough.

The Scots wheeled plough is formed by adding wheels to the old Scots plough, and giving it a curved mold-board, or feathered sock, according to the inclination of the farmer. The advantage or disadvantage of the wheels is therefore the only thing to be considered in this place.

The following are the principal advantages of wheels to a plough of this kind. Wheels regulate the plough; they make it go to a certain depth, take off the earth of the furrow of a determinate breadth, and make the plough very easy to manage. Wheels likewise make it easy for the ploughman to keep the ridges straight, which it is difficult to do without them.

The disadvantages attending a wheeled plough are nearly equal to its advantages. It has too much machinery, which is an inconvenience in any instrument. It is improper for ploughing ridges across. It is also very inconvenient for ploughing narrow ridges; for it must be frequently altered in ploughing out a ridge. The wheel that goes in the furrow being higher than the other, when both wheels are going upon the surface, the beam must be changed from its ordinary position, and placed in such a manner as to keep the plough even, and to make it go a little deeper than ordinary. When a furrow is made for the wheel to go in, the beam must be altered again to its ordinary position; and when the ridge is near finished, so that both wheels are going in furrows, the position of the beam must be changed, to keep the plough even, and to prevent it from going too deep.

Of the Four-coulted Plough.

In England, this plough is said to be used with success. But after repeated trials by those who attempted to use it in Scotland, they have been obliged to give it up.

So many coulters in the ground at once must meet with many obstacles, which will give different directions to the plough, according to the different parts of the coulters to which the resistance is applied. Besides, it is difficult to place the planes of the coulters exactly parallel to each other; and if this be not done, they will be continually acting upon the plough in different directions. When this plough is employed for breaking up grass-grounds, which is the chief design of it, the oblique position of the coulters is apt to raise the turf in such a manner as to entangle it betwixt them, and thereby entirely stop the plough.

This plough should always be made with wheels for regulating its direction; the planes of the coulters should be exactly parallel to each other: The first coulter must be set almost perpendicular, and should not go above two inches deep; the second should slope a little, and go somewhat deeper than the first, and so on to the last.

Soft meadow-land, free from stones, is best adapted to the nature of this plough.

Of the Iron Plough.

This plough is formed upon the model of the old Scots plough; only the several parts of it are shorter, and the head and sock are of one piece like the English plough-share.

This plough is lighter, and consequently more easily drawn than any other plough used in Scotland; and, as it is shorter, the friction is also diminished. Neither is the earth so apt to stick to it, and clog it while going. But these are only seeming advantages; for the lightness and shortness of it render it extremely subject to change its direction upon meeting with the least obstruction. Soft land, land, with few stones, therefore, is the only land in which it can be employed with advantage.

The iron-plough is subject to another inconvenience. When any thing goes wrong, it cannot be rectified on the field, but must be carried to the smithy, which is often at a considerable distance.

Of yoking Cattle in Ploughs.

It is not easy to determine whether horses or oxen, or both together, are most proper for drawing ploughs; because, in this country, such a determination depends on circumstances almost as various as the number and situation of farms in it. If, indeed, real labour alone was sufficient to determine this point, oxen would be preferred; because they will stand to the draught, and overcome a resistance which horses would yield to. We shall therefore confine this head to the manner of yoking cattle, without regard to the kind of cattle employed.

The chief question on this subject is, Whether cattle should be yoked in pairs, or in a line before one another?

The most common way of yoking cattle is in pairs. Though this, upon the whole, be the best method, yet it is subject to some disadvantages. In ploughing the furrows between the ridges, the cattle go upon the ploughed land, and tread it down with their feet, which is peculiarly hurtful to wet land: When there is but as much of the ridge unploughed as the cattle have hardly room to go upon, they frequently give the plough a wrong direction by going into the opposite furrow; or, which is still worse, they are apt to juggle the furrow-cattle upon the ploughed land.

To remove these inconveniences, yoking the cattle in a line has been recommended. But this method has been attended with greater inconveniences than those it is intended to remedy. When yoked in this manner, they go all in the furrow, which makes it necessary to give the plough more land than ordinary, either by means of the stock or muzzle; and consequently makes the draught too heavy. Besides, when cattle are yoked in a line, it gives some of them an opportunity of throwing the chief burden upon the others. There is still another inconvenience attends this method. When the cattle are all in a line, the whole force is applied to the direction of the traces of the hindmost horse; and consequently it cannot have such an effect on the plough as when a part of it is in a more horizontal direction.

Each of these methods, however, may be used with advantage in certain circumstances; yoking in pairs, as it is certainly the strongest draught, should be preferred in ploughing stiff land. On the other hand, yoking in a line answers best in wet land, which is liable to be much hurt by the treading of the cattle.

Of Ploughing.

Ploughing is the action of the plough in stirring and turning over the soil. By opening the soil and enlarging the surface, it gives it an opportunity of extracting the vegetable food from the air; and consequently increases the food of plants. Ploughing likewise dissolves and reduces to a state of putrefaction the dung, oils, and vegetable substances that happen to be mixed with the soil, and prepares them for entering the roots of plants. When properly managed, ploughing destroys weeds, and drains the land when too wet. Hence, ploughing is one of the most important operations in agriculture, and therefore merits the greatest attention.

When ploughing is designed to enrich the land, or increase the food of plants, the surface cannot be made too uneven; because the more of it is by this means exposed to the influence of the air.

But when the intention of ploughing is to destroy feed-weeds, the surface cannot be made too smooth, nor the mould too much broken; because, by this management, their vegetation is promoted, and consequently they may be more completely destroyed by ploughing them in.

Again, if you plough with a view to remove wetness, the land must be laid up in high ridges; for the greater the number of furrows, and the higher the ridges, the water is more expeditiously carried off.

Thus the manner of ploughing must always depend on the object in view. It frequently happens indeed, that two or more of these objects require our attention in ploughing the same piece of land. But the methods above mentioned are perfectly consistent with each, and may be combined so as to answer any intention that may occur.

In ploughing, there are some general rules to be observed, whatever be the object in view. Thus, land should never be ploughed when it is wet, because the intention of it will be frustrated, whatever may be the nature of the soil. A stiff soil, when ploughed wet, dries suddenly, and becomes hard. If a light soil be ploughed wet, the water hinders it from being reduced to small enough particles. Besides these disadvantages, the labour becomes very severe on the cattle, and the land is much hurt by their treading.

With regard to ploughing lee, or opening up grass-grounds, the common practice in Scotland is to plough it as shallow and narrow as possible, and to set the turf upon its edge. After this single furrow, the land is fown, and if it be good, a profitable crop may be expected; and the turf will be completely rotten before next season.

On the contrary, in breaking up of barren land, it should be ploughed deep, and the turf turned on its back.

Of Ridges.

It was formerly observed, that ploughing in ridges removes wetness, enlarges the surface, and consequently affords more space for the plants to extract nourishment from the soil.

When the soil is wet, the ridges ought to be narrow, and steep; because, by this means, the number of drains is increased, and the water finds its way more easily into the furrows. They should likewise be raised high in the middle. middle or crown; for the higher they are raised, the more is the surface enlarged. However, if the soil be shallow, the ridges should not be raised high, as they deprive the furrows of soil.

But, in low flat-lying ground, the ridges should be made flat, in order to raise the furrows; for, in some cases, the higher the furrows are raised, it is the more easy to find a fall for carrying off the water. Flat ridges are also capable of being sown with greater exactness.

It is impracticable to give any general rule for laying out ridges. In some situations, narrow ridges are preferable to broad ones; in others, flat ridges are better than steep ones, &c. In laying out of ridges, therefore, every person must be determined in this point by the nature and situation of the soil, and the advantages or disadvantages of the different kinds of ridges.

But, whatever be the nature or situation of the soil, the ridges should always be made straight. In ploughing crooked ridges, the cattle must often go in a different direction from the plough, and are obliged to take short turnings, which hurt the land by the treading of the cattle. Besides, when the ridges are crooked, the fall for the water is diminished. In all soils too, the ridges should be made of the same breadth throughout, and equal to one another. When they are unequal, it is difficult to sow them with exactness, or to alter them when necessary; and the plough must often turn in the middle of the ridge, which hurts the land by the trampling of the cattle.

Of the Position of the Ridges.

It is a matter of some consequence to know how ridges should be placed, so as best to answer the situation of the land.

In lands that have a slope, the ridges are commonly placed in a straight line from the top to the bottom of the declivity. When the declivity is gentle, this position is very proper, as it drains the land of water. But when the declivity is great, this position allows the soil to be washed away by the rain; and the quantity of soil carried off will always be in proportion to the violence with which the current runs. Hence, in a soil situated in this manner, the ridges should be placed across the declivity, to prevent the soil from being carried down by the water. Making the ridges very narrow will, in a good measure, answer the same purpose; however, it is not so proper as placing them across the declivity.

When land is very dry, croft ridges are also of great use; for they retain the water, and prevent the soil from being washed away.

Of Ploughing in Ridges.

There are three different ways of ploughing in ridges, viz. gathering, casting, and cleaving.

By gathering, the crown and furrows of the ridge are kept in the same position in which they were before: the plough begins in the crown, and plows out the ridge, turning the earth towards the crown, where it first enters. Every ridge is ploughed by itself; or the halves of two contiguous ridges may be ploughed together. By this method, as the earth on each side is turned upon the crown, and thrown up out of the furrows, the ridge must be raised higher.

By casting, the crowns and furrows are likewise kept in their former position: The ridges are ploughed in pairs: The plough may enter in the furrow betwixt the ridges, and plough out the ridges, turning the earth towards the furrow where it entered; or, the plough may enter in the furrow on the right-side of the two ridges, then turn to the one on the left, and plough out the ridges, turning the earth to these furrows, and from the furrow that is betwixt them. By this method of ploughing, the ridges are kept of the same height in the crown, and one of the furrows made a little higher, and the other a little lower than before.

Cleaving is the reverse of gathering. The plough enters in the furrow on the right-side of the ridge, turns to the furrow on the left-side, and ploughs out the ridge, turning the earth from the crown towards the furrows. Every ridge is ploughed by itself, or the halves of two contiguous ridges may be ploughed together. If the ridge be raised in the crown, this method of ploughing makes it flatter, by throwing some of it into the furrows.

There is another method of ploughing used in some places, called ribbing. This method is performed by making furrows about two feet distant from each other. One half of the surface is untouched by the plough; and the other half, which the plough turns up in making the furrows, is thrown on the top of what remains last. The land may be ploughed in this manner either without regard to ridges, or the plough may be made to enter and turn, as in gathering, casting, or cleaving. This kind of ploughing is seldom practised, but in the beginning of winter, and upon land to be sown with barley, after two additional clean ploughings. Although some modern improvers have condemned ribbing, it certainly has its uses: It keeps the land dry; the rain that falls is confined to the furrows, from whence it is easily carried off; it promotes the rotting of the stubble, and exposes a greater part of the soil to the influence of the air.

Of Harrows.

The harrow is an instrument employed for smoothing the surface after the land is ploughed. One horse is sufficient to draw the harrow commonly used in Scotland. Sometimes two of them go abreast, and sometimes three. When the surface is very rough, two are reckoned sufficient for the attention of one person: But when three can be used, they make better work, and are nearly equal to two pair.

There are several kinds of harrows used in Scotland. The common one is so well known that it needs no description.

When the land is rough, the harrows are apt to start, and get a-top of each other. To prevent this, some fix pieces of crooked timber to the out-side bulls that are contiguous to one another, which, by stretching a little over, over, keep the harrows in their proper place. Others couple the harrows in such a manner as to allow them to go before and fall back of each other, and at the same time turn upon a hinge.

When stiff land is ploughed wet, it rises in large pieces, which, when dry, become so hard, that the common harrows make no impression on them. To reduce this kind of land, a large harrow, called a break, has been contrived. The break-harrow is sometimes made of the same figure with the common harrow, and sometimes in a triangular form. Both kinds are made heavier or lighter according to the nature of the soil for which they are intended. Some of them are so heavy as to require six or eight cattle to draw them. But the heaviest kind are very improper for land infested with large salt stones; because their weight hinders them from starting over the stones; and therefore they are often in danger of being torn asunder by the cattle.

There is another harrow, which, though little used, will be found to be very useful in many cases. It is of the same form with the common harrow, but much broader. The bulls are at a greater distance, and consequently the teeth thinner placed; the teeth are longer than those of the common harrow, but very little thicker; and those in the fore-part slope forward. It is made of such a weight as to be easily drawn by a couple of horses. This harrow goes deeper, opens land better, covers the seed deeper, and is more proper for tearing up roots than the common harrow.

The French harrow is of a triangular form, with a joint near the angle, to which the draught is fixed. It has two handles, by which it is either made to go deep or shallow, as occasion requires. Its principal use is to level steep ridges, which it does most effectually. It is drawn across the ridges: When, at the crown of the ridge, by pressing on the handles, the harrow sinks down, and carries earth along with it to the furrows; and, when at the furrows, by lifting up the handles, the harrow is brought out of the ground, and leaves the earth behind. This operation, however, is extremely improper, unless the land be in a very dry situation, and not liable to be damaged by water.

Of Harrowing.

Harrowing smooths the surface, destroys weeds, and covers the seed after it is sown.

When the intention of harrowing is to destroy root-weeds, the harrows should be drawn across the ridges. However, if such weeds are not fully torn up, the harrowing, by filling up the hollows, and defending the roots from the drought, rather promotes their growth. For this reason, harrowing is improper for destroying root-weeds, excepting after a spring-fallow, when the land is soon after to be ploughed for seed.

But the smoother the surface is made, and the more the mold is broke, the vegetation of the seed-weeds is the more effectually promoted, and of course they are the more liable to be destroyed by harrowing. If the season be favourable, the land may be harrowed several times, and as many crops of weeds destroyed.

A light spungy soil can hardly get too much harrowing; for the more it is harrowed, it becomes the firmer. But if the soil be stiff, the less harrowing it gets, the better, provided the purposes proposed can be answered.

The common method of harrowing after the seed is sown, is first along the ridges, then across, and then along again. When the ridges are flat, they may be harrowed either along or across; and the work may be begun or ended either way. But when the ridges are steep, it is improper to begin by harrowing across, because too much of the seed will be drawn into the furrows.

Of the Roller.

The roller is intended for smoothing the surface, and making the land firmer. Rollers are sometimes made of stone, sometimes of wood, and sometimes of iron: but the only essential difference of rollers lies in their weight. As rollers, in different circumstances, require to be lighter and heavier, they are generally constructed so that their weight can either be augmented or diminished.

The common roller, in turning, is very severe upon the cattle, for it does not move on its axis, but is dragged along the surface. To remove this inconvenience, a roller has lately been constructed with a division in the middle, as if two rollers were joined together. In turning, both parts of this roller move round their axis, the one forward, and the other back.

Of Rolling.

Rolling is practised with advantage, both on land lying in grass, and in tillage. It presses down molehills, smooths the surface, and makes pasture-grounds stool, and grow thicker.

Rolling upon land in tillage, not only smooths the surface, but breaks clods that the harrow cannot reduce. In a light soil, the roller should be applied immediately after the seed is sown; it is peculiarly useful to this kind of soil, by condensing and making it firmer.

Of Sowing.

It is remarked by farmers, that the corn which is earliest sown is in general loomest ripe. However, as this operation depends on the nature of the weather, and a number of other circumstances, no precise time can be fixed for performing it.

The practice of sowing wheat, oats, barley, &c. at different times of the year, seems not to depend so much on the different natures of these grains, as on the inconveniences which would attend the sowing them all at the same time. It may however be observed, that wheat, the only grain in this country which is sown before winter, should be sown as early as possible, that its roots and leaves may be put forth before the frost comes on.

The most common method of sowing is by the hand. This method requires great skill and address in the sower; for, at the same time that he gives his arm a circular motion, to cast the seed with strength, he must open his hand hand gradually, that it may not fall in a heap, but be properly scattered and spread. It is remarkable, that good fowers, by the force of habit, take their handful out of the sheet so very exactly, that they will sow any quantity of seed on an acre, according as it is designed to be thinner or thicker. But this dexterity in a few fowers, is itself an objection to the method of sowing by the hand; because long practice and observation are necessary to make a good fower: This remark is too well justified by experience; for good fowers are extremely rare, and, in some places of the country, hardly to be got. Besides, in sowing by the hand, especially when the land is uneven, the seed rebounds on the clods, falls into the cavities, and often the greatest part of it is collected in the furrows.

Different plants require to be sown at different depths. The same seeds, however, may be laid deeper in light than in strong soils. Wheat requires to be placed two inches and a half or three inches below the surface: And it may be laid down as a general maxim in sowing, that small seeds should always be placed nearer the surface than such as are larger. Besides the unequal distribution of the seed when sown by the hand, too large a quantity of it may be used; for, as it is placed at different depths, that which is too deep never comes up, and that which lies on the surface, which may be observed on the best harrowed land, is eaten up by the birds. When seed is sown thin, and placed at equal distances by a drill, a lesser quantity of it, by leaving room to spread and branch out, will produce even a better crop than a larger quantity sown irregularly by the hand. The fact has been confirmed by repeated experiments both in our own country and in France.

Sect. VI. Of the Culture of Particular Plants.

Of the Culture of Wheat.

Though wheat be the most valuable grain that is cultivated in Scotland, there are many places where it cannot be sown with advantage; for it requires not only a rich soil, but a warm climate.

The English writers mention about 13 or 14 different kinds of wheat; but in Scotland we seldom use more than two, viz. the white and the red wheat. The last is reckoned the most hardy plant, and succeeds in some soils and climates where the white kind fails. Bearded wheat is used in some places. This is likewise a hardy plant, and is not so apt to lodge, or to be shaken out by the wind, as the other kinds. It succeeds very well in wet land, and the grain produces a great quantity of flour.

The white wheat most commonly used in Scotland, is not a particular species, but a mixture of all the species cultivated in England. This mixture is probably occasioned by want of care in providing ourselves with foreign seed. It is found by experience, that, in this country at least, wheat degenerates; for which reason a fresh supply is every year brought from the English granaries, which generally consists of a mixture of all the kinds. Now it is at least very probable, that these different kinds of wheat require different soils; and therefore the farmer should endeavour to provide himself annually with a quantity of unmixed wheat, of such kinds as are found to succeed best in Scotland.

Wheat is commonly sown either upon land that has been summer-fallowed, or after a crop of peas. In the latter case, the seed cannot be sown till October; but in the former, it is generally sown in August. However, in Scotland, we sow wheat from the beginning of August till the middle of November. Some have tried sowing wheat in the spring; but the plants were neither so vigorous, nor the grain so large, as those that were sown in autumn. The sowing of oats in autumn has likewise been tried; but, though the crop was bulky, the quantity of grain was not in proportion. Upon the whole, the month of October seems to be the most proper time for sowing wheat; when it is either earlier or later, it is subject to a number of dangers.

The quantity usually sown upon a Scots acre, is from three to five firlots, Linlithgow measure, which is the measure always meant in this treatise. The proper quantity, however, must always depend upon the situation of the land: in proportion as it is clean and rich, a smaller quantity of seed is requisite; and in proportion as it is poor and full of weeds, a larger quantity becomes necessary.

A wet bed is most proper for wheat-seed. In the month of August, or even the beginning of September, it is dangerous to sow, if there be not as much moisture in the land as to make the seed vegetate, especially if the seed has been steeped in brine, and dried with lime. But though the danger be great in sowing when the land is very dry, yet the best situation of land for receiving seed is when it contains no more moisture than is sufficient to make the seed vegetate.

When wheat-land is light, or well reduced by fallowing, the seed should be ploughed in, or the land allowed to lie some time after it is ploughed before the wheat be sown. By this the land acquires a degree of firmness before the harrows go upon it, and the feet of the cattle are prevented from pressing the seed too deep into it.

Wheat-land should be ploughed so as to raise the ridges higher in the crown than is necessary on other occasions, in order to prevent it from being damaged by water: If the ridges are made narrower than ordinary, the same end will be served, because the water finds its way more easily to the furrows. Hence the old practice in Scotland, of cleaving for peas, and gathering for wheat, was well founded.

When the wheat is sown, and the land harrowed, the field should be carefully water-furrowed; and if there be ridges at the ends for the ploughs to turn upon in ploughing, a water-furrow should likewise be drawn betwixt them and the ridges, and the communication betwixt these and the furrows opened up. Of the Culture of Rye.

Rye is a winter-grain, and thrives very well on land that is improper for wheat. As there is hardly a good market for this grain in Scotland, it is but little cultivated. In some places, the land is prepared for it by a fallow, and good crops are reaped in this way. It may be sown in October, November, or early in the spring. It may be sown after pease or barley; but it is improper to sow it after wheat or oats, as this would encourage the growth of root-weeds, and greatly exhaust the land.

Rye is sometimes sown as a grass-feed. If it be sown with this view in September, upon a well-prepared fallow, it will afford good feeding for sheep in March and April; and after it is cut down, the land may be ploughed, and sown with barley. This practice, however, will not answer in wet land.

Of the Culture of Barley.

There are four kinds of barley used in Scotland, the common barley, the Lincolnshire barley, the Highland barley, more commonly called rough bear, and the Thanet.

These different kinds are sown at different seasons. The Lincolnshire barley may be sown any time during the winter, or in the spring; the common barley and Thanet may be sown in April, the beginning of May, or even later; and the rough bear may be sown in May, or the beginning of June: but the precise time of sowing must be determined by the weather and the situation of the land. When the season is favourable, the land free from weeds, and not too wet, Lincolnshire barley may be sown in February, and the other kinds sooner than the periods above mentioned.

When barley is sown in winter, or early in the spring, the land ought to be ploughed some time before; but when sown late in the spring, or in the beginning of summer, it ought to be sown immediately after it is ploughed. In winter, or early in the spring, land is in no danger of becoming too dry; but in summer, land is very liable to become too dry for the purposes of vegetation. The farmer should therefore endeavour to have all his seed sown before the season be too far advanced.

The quantity of barley sown on an acre is from two to four furlots. When the land is clean and rich, two furlots are sufficient; but when it is infested with weeds, a larger quantity is necessary.

Barley has tender roots, and is not able to push them far in quest of food; it is therefore necessary to bring land destined for barley into good tilth, and to enrich it either by manures or frequent ploughings. Barley is often sown upon land that has been fallowed, or after a crop of pease. In some places it is sown after a crop of oats; and sometimes it is repeated for two or three years successively upon the same land.

When barley is to be sown upon fallow, in stiff land not much infested with annual weeds, it should be dressed in November in the same manner as for wheat; so that Lincolnshire barley may be sown, if the winter be favourable, or spring barley upon the winter-furrow, if the season proves unfavourable. But when barley is to be sown after wheat, pease, or oats, the land should be ploughed as soon after harvest as possible, and laid up in such a manner as to be best exposed to the air and frost, and to secure it against damage from rain. To answer these purposes, barley-land is sometimes ribbed at this season: But ribbing is only a small quantity of the soil; and therefore it is better to gather it into narrow ridges of four or five furrows each, and to make proper drains for carrying off the water. As the first ploughing for barley-land is designed to cover the stubble, increase the vegetable food, and keep the land dry, it need not be very deep, but ought to be as broad as possible, provided it be clean ploughed.

If it be proposed to dung barley-land, the dung may be laid on during the winter-frost, and ploughed in as soon as the land is in proper condition. When the dunging is delayed till immediately before the last ploughing, or feed-furrow, the land, especially if it be of a stiff nature, is in danger of being battered so as to rise in large clods when ploughed.

In steering, the ploughing should be as deep as the plough can go, and the soil allows: For by deep ploughing at this season, part of the earth that has been exposed to the air through the winter, and part of it turned up by the ordinary ploughing, are mixed together for the nourishment of the crop. In steering, the furrows should not be so broad as in the former ploughing; on the contrary, the narrower they are the better. Cross-ploughing is very proper at this season, if the land be so dry as to allow it.

After steering, the land should be well harrowed. It makes the weeds spring, retains the sap, and, if the land be tolerably dry, takes out the roots of the quickening-grass. But, if the land be in no danger of losing the sap, the harrowing may be delayed for some time after it is ploughed; for by this method a greater number of weeds are destroyed.

Though, in general, frequent ploughings are beneficial, yet ploughing when the land is wet is destructive. When the spring is wet, the barley-land in many places is not in a proper condition to be sown. In this case, the steering-furrow must be omitted, and the land should get the feed-furrow as soon as it is in a proper condition.

When barley is to be sown a second time upon the same land, without any other crop intervening, two ploughings are sufficient.

As our summers in Scotland are sometimes very wet, barley-land should be water-furrowed, and dressed up in the same manner as wheat-land.

Of the Culture of Oats.

The oat is a very hardy plant, and its roots are strong, which enables it to procure food where many other plants would starve; and hence the practice of giving less culture to oats than to any other grain.

There are three kinds of oats used in Scotland, the white, the black, and the grey. The white is the most common, common; and used in all the low countries; the black is the hardest, and is used in the cold hilly countries; and the grey is often sown with succulents upon light gravel or sand. The white is again divided into two kinds, called cold seed and hot seed. There is scarcely any difference in appearance between these; but the hot seed ripens eight or ten days before the cold. Experience must determine which of them ought to be chosen for seed.

Though the oat be a hardy plant, and does not easily degenerate, yet the changing of seed is universally allowed to be a good practice. This change should always be made from a warm soil to a cold, and from a cold to a warm.

Oats are often sown upon grass-ground newly broken up, or, which is the same thing, upon land once ploughed. They are likewise often sown after barley, sometimes after wheat, sometimes upon fallow, and sometimes they are repeated for several years successively upon the same land.

In ploughing land for oats, when the land is soft and mellow, the plough should go as shallow as possible; and the earth of the furrows should be set upon its edges, to allow the harrows to have the greater impression in tearing it. But when the land is stiff, or the turf very tough, it is necessary to plough deeper, and to turn the turf fully over, so that the harrows may raise a kind of mold upon its back to fill up the hollows, and to nourish the seeds. When oats are to be sown upon land, the land ought to be ploughed early in winter, that it may receive the greater benefit from the air and frost.

It is usual to lime land intended for oats. This is a very good custom; for lime promotes the corruption of the grass-roots, by which the land is sooner reduced. It is likewise common to spread the lime upon the land some time before the land is ploughed; this is also very proper; for the lime is entangled in the sward, and is not apt to penetrate too deep.

Oats are generally sown after barley; and the land is ploughed as soon as the wheat-seed is made, and the barley-land has got the first furrow. The stiff land, and land in danger of being damaged by wetness, should be first ploughed, to give the one the benefit of the winter-frost, and to put the other out of danger. It is likewise an advantage to light and dry land to be ploughed early in the season, as it makes the stubble rot sooner, and exposes the soil longer to the air.

It was formerly observed, that oats are sometimes sown upon fallow. In the hilly countries, they often follow the land that has been in lea for some years; and they find that this practice does better than giving it only one ploughing in the winter before the seed is sown. In the low countries, this practice of following for oats is found to succeed very well. The fallow for oats should be managed through the summer in the same manner as if for barley or wheat. Before winter, it ought to get the last furrow, and be laid up in proper ridges, to preserve it dry during the winter.

Oats may be sown in any of the winter-months, or in the month of March. Some people have sown oats so early as the beginning of November, and have had good crops. But, if the land be properly laid up in winter, it is better to delay the sowing till March.

The quantity of oats generally sown upon an acre, is from four to five sirlots; and should always get a dry bed.

Of the Culture of Pease.

The pea is a grain very different from any of those already mentioned. A crop of it is not so valuable, though it is much used in some places for bread.

The straw of pease is reckoned better for feeding horses than the straw of any other grain. A crop of pease does not require such a quantity of nourishment as a crop of any of the other grains mentioned above. When the crop is good, the straw covers the ground, and destroys all the small weeds by depriving them of a free communication with the air. Pease likewise minutely divide the particles of the soil; besides, they push their roots much deeper than any of the white grains, and extract part of their nourishment from below the reach of the plough.

There are two kinds of pease cultivated in Scotland, the white and the grey. The white is most common, and consists generally of a mixture of several kinds. All of these kinds seem to be species of the pea cultivated in our gardens. The grey pea seems to be a species of the vetch or tare. This is the hardiest plant of the two, and thrives on soils where the white pea does not succeed.

The straw of the grey pease, and the pease themselves, are better for horses than those of the white. The farmer should therefore cultivate this pea where the other does not thrive, although the value of the grain be inferior.

The white pea, like the oats, is divided into hot seed and cold seed. The sowing of the hot seed may be delayed three weeks after the cold seed is sown, and yet the pease will come as soon to maturity.

The time of sowing is from the first of February to the end of April. The early sown pease have the best chance to produce a crop of corn, and the late sown to produce a crop of straw. However, when the land is clean and in good heart, the pease may be sown early; because, on such land, a good crop both of corn and straw may be expected. But if the land be foul or wet, the sowing of pease should be delayed, as long as possible; because on such land the crop is more precarious, and the failing of a crop of pease gives such encouragement to weeds, as to endanger the following crops likewise. In such a case, to prevent the bad consequences that may follow, the crop should be ploughed in; for when a bad crop of pease is allowed to stand, it does more harm to the land than all the value of the crop.

The quantity of pease sown upon an acre, is from 4 to 5½ sirlots. If the intention of sowing pease be to obtain straw, and enrich the land, they should be thick sown; because in that case they have a better chance to destroy the weeds, and to cover the surface. But when the principal design is to have a crop of corn, they should be thinner sown; for, when thin sown, they have more air, and fill better.

Pease are commonly sown after oats or barley, and sometimes sometimes after wheat. Seldom more than one ploughing is given to peas, and they are usually sown immediately after it. The reason of this practice is, that the seed may be better covered; for the sooner that any grain is sown after ploughing, it is always the deeper covered. If rain falls soon after peas are sown, it makes them swell and come above ground, and then they are in danger of splitting, and of being destroyed by vermin.

Sometimes peas are sown and ploughed in. This answers very well in light land, particularly after a crop of barley, the culture of which opens the soil.

Land designed for peas is generally cloven. This is a good practice when the ridges are steep, as all of them were formerly. As wheat or barley are commonly sown after peas, the land must be ploughed before winter. Gathering is the most proper way of ploughing before winter, and this follows best after cleaving. But if the ridges be not high, casting is the best method of ploughing for peas; or, if the ridges be flat and narrow, the land may be ploughed in the ordinary way, reversing the former ploughing, and turning the furrows into the crowns. Though peas are generally the lowest-priced grain, yet sometimes they rise to a great price, when the prices of other grains are moderate. This makes the saving of seed an article of great importance. By sowing in drills, one furlot will serve for an acre as completely as four in the broad cast-way: But the advantages of drilling fall to be considered afterwards.

Of the Culture of Beans.

What has been said with regard to the culture of peas, may be applied to beans. However, it is necessary to observe, that the bean pushes its roots further down than the pea; and therefore requires a deeper soil. The lands in Scotland, where beans are most commonly sown, and where they succeed best, are deep and wet clays.

In some lands, the crops of beans are very great, and almost as valuable as any grain. There is no crop succeeds better in the drill-husbandry than a crop of beans.

Of the Culture of Rye-grass.

Rye-grass is the most common of all the artificial grasses cultivated in Scotland, and not the least valuable. It is a fibrous-rooted plant, and binds the soil; this circumstance has led many to think, that it greatly impoverishes land. However, the culture of this grass is attended with several peculiar advantages. It destroys weeds, particularly the quickening-grass, and grows upon soils which will not answer for any of the other artificial grasses. A shallow, wet, spungy soil, or one which has a mixture of moss in it, is unfit for clover of every kind; but experience shows, that rye-grass, when unmixed with clover, will succeed upon any of these soils.

Rye-grass is usually sown along with a crop of barley or oats. When sown along with barley, the field should be rolled, or well harrowed, to preserve the sap at the dry season of the barley-feed. This precaution is not so necessary, when the rye-grass is sown along with oats; because the land on which oats are sown is generally firmer, the sowing season is earlier, and consequently not so liable to be too dry.

This grass seldom hurts the crop of corn. On the contrary, when the soil is loose and open, it makes it firm, and prevents the corn from lodging.

Though the common method is to sow rye-grass with corn, yet, when the land is poor, it is better to sow it by itself, and still better to summer-fallow, and sow it in autumn. But, as the land by fallowing is made open and loose, and as the ploughing and sowing are near the rainy season, cattle ought not to be allowed to pasture upon it during the winter, except in the time of hard frosts. Even when sown in the spring, the farmer should not allow much pasturing on it, especially in wet weather. But, if sown by itself, cattle may safely pasture upon it in the winter, as the roots, having nothing to obstruct their progress, penetrate deeper, and spread wider, than when any other grain grows along with it. This practice, however, can only be followed with safety in very clean land; otherwise weeds are apt to rise along with it, and prevent the surface from being covered; which, of course will keep the soil open.

Rye-grass is sometimes sown for hay, and sometimes for pasture. When for hay, from two to four furlots are commonly sown upon an acre.

Rye-grass rises very early in the spring, and, if the soil be dry and warm, affords good pasture all the winter. It is very hardy, stands the frost, and, if continued in pasture, does not wear out in many years. The best way of managing it is, to eat it down in the spring and beginning of summer, and then to let it rest till autumn. When allowed to get up in summer, it runs to seed, and becomes disagreeable to the cattle. Besides, by this method of managing rye-grass, a good crop may be expected in autumn.

When properly managed, rye-grass makes very good hay; and there is such a demand for the feed, that the farmer is often tempted to let it stand till the feed is perfected, and then to thresh it. When this is done, the hay can never be good; because the sap is exhausted, the stalk becomes dry and withered, and affords little nourishment to cattle. The hay ought therefore to be always cut before the feed ripens. This practice not only makes the best hay, but is likewise of great advantage to the land; for, when plants are allowed to perfect their seeds, the land is much more exhausted, than when they are cut before that period.

Of the Culture of Clover.

Though clover be used for the same purposes as rye-grass, it is, however, a plant of a very different nature. It has a large tap-root, which penetrates the soil perpendicularly downward, and opens the earth and makes it free; The roots of clover cannot penetrate the soil, unless it be free and open. Hence, a dry, open, deep soil, free from quickening-grass, is the most proper for this plant.

There are several kinds of clover cultivated in Scotland, land, distinguished by the colour of their flowers, viz., the red, the white, and the yellow. The red is the largest plant, has the strongest stalk, and broadest leaves. The yellow sometimes grows tall, but the stalk is small. The white is the smallest plant, and is sometimes called hop-clover, from the resemblance its flowers bears to those of the hop.

Both the seasons and methods of sowing clover are various. Most of the English writers recommend the autumn. It has frequently been tried, at this season, in Scotland without success. When sown in spring, it answers much better in this country.

The common way of sowing clover, both in Scotland and England, is along with wheat, oats, or barley, in the spring. This method is sometimes attended with disadvantages. The clover sometimes hurts the corn, and the corn the clover. However, these disadvantages are probably more than over-balanced by the corn's protecting the clover from drought when very young, which it is much exposed to, especially when sown in the spring.

As the lodging of corn destroys all plants that are below; to prevent this, the corn sown along with clover ought to be sown thin, and the land made very clean of weeds.

Sometimes, in a wet season, the clover gets a-top of the corn, and destroys the crop. This seldom happens when it is sown with barley or wheat; because it is much later in the season when sown with barley than when sown with oats, and therefore is not so far advanced at harvest; and the wheat is advanced so far before the clover-feed is sown, that the clover can never get the better of it. To prevent the clover, then, from hurting the corn, it may be sown early in the season with wheat, or late in the season with barley. The Thanet barley, from the strength of its roots and stalk, is not so apt to lodge as the common barley; and, of course, it is the most proper kind to be sown along with clover. But, as all kinds of barley are more apt to lodge than oats, and as the season for sowing oats is more proper for sowing clover than the season for sowing barley, the farmer, when it is equally convenient for him, should prefer the sowing of clover with oats.

When clover is sown with barley or oats, after the grains are sown, and the land harrowed, the clover-feed is thin sown, and then the land is again harrowed or rolled. When the clover is sown with a crop of wheat, the clover is sown in the spring, and afterwards the wheat is rolled. It is common to sow clover-feed without any preparation given to the land; but it is better to harrow it before sowing. The harrowing does no harm to the wheat, and it makes the roller cover the seed more effectually. Clover-feed may be sown in the same manner amongst oats or early-sown barley. Some time after the corn has come up, the land may be harrowed, and the clover sown. If the weather be dry, the different parts of the operation should succeed one another as quickly as possible. The harrows should be immediately followed by the plow, and the plow by the roller, to prevent the drought from penetrating too deep.

The English writers differ widely as to the quantity of clover-feed proper to be sown on an acre. However, the farmers in Scotland, who sow clover with oats or barley, find, that from 10 to 16 lb. of red, or from 12 to 18 lb. of white clover on the acre, produces a very good crop.

Clover, like rye-grass, is sometimes sown for hay, sometimes for pasture, and sometimes for both. The red clover is the most proper for hay, the white for pasture; and, when both are intended, a mixture of the two answers best. When red clover is sown without being mixed with any other kind, the farmer ought to bring his land into tillage again in two or three years: For, after the second year, a crop of this kind of clover is of little value.

When white clover is sown by itself, the farmer must not expect a crop of hay; for it seldom rises to such a height as to produce a good crop: But, to balance this, the field may be kept long in pasture, as this clover continues till worn out by the natural grasses of the soil.

When a mixture of the two are sown, some crops of hay may be taken, and then the land may be allowed to lie some years longer for pasture. The red clover affords the crops of hay; and the white remains till the natural grasses rise. In this case, there is commonly sown upon the acre, from 8 to 12 lb. of red clover, and from 6 to 8 of white. But these proportions may be varied according to the judgment of the farmer.

In Scotland, seldom more than one crop of hay in the season succeeds. The second crop is commonly so late, that it is very difficult to get the hay properly made. It may therefore be palured on, or cut green for cattle. When clover is cut green for cattle, it is a proper way to feed them upon a field that needs dung. This method is preferable to feeding them in stalls; it saves the expense of carrying out the dung, and procures to the land the benefit of the urine, which is a very rich manure.

Before concluding this article, it must be observed, that red clover, while green, is dangerous to black cattle and sheep, when first given them, especially if wet with dew or rain. They ought therefore to be allowed it only sparingly at first, and brought to it by degrees. After being accustomed to it for a few days, the danger is over, and they may be allowed to use as much of it as they please.

Of the Culture of Clover mixed with Rye-grass.

Red clover makes the best green forage for cattle. An acre of it will maintain more cattle than three or four acres of common grass: But then it is not so proper for hay. Clover-hay is very troublesome in making, and is not reckoned so good for feeding as some other kinds of hay. It likewise hurts the land, by encouraging the growth of quickening-grass. To remedy these disadvantages, it is common to sow rye-grass along with it. Clover, when mixed with rye-grass, is easier made into hay; the hay itself is much better; and the rye-grass, by covering the surface, prevents the growth of the quickening-grass. The quantity sown upon the acre in this way is from 8 to 12 lb. of clover, and from 1 to 3 firlots of rye-grass. Of the Culture of St-Foin.

The writers on agriculture reckon this grass preferable to clover in many respects: They say, that it produces a larger crop; that it does not hurt cattle when eaten green; that it makes better hay; that it continues four times longer in the ground; and that it will grow on land that will bear no other crop. These are great advantages: But, as we have so little of that kind of grass in Scotland, it cannot be expected that any directions can be given concerning the manner of cultivating it, founded upon experience. We must therefore confine ourselves to such facts as are mentioned by authors of the best credit.

St-foin has a very long tap-root, which is able to pierce very hard earth. The roots grow very large, and the larger they are, they penetrate to the greater depth; and hence it may be concluded, that this grass, when it thrives well, receives a great part of its nourishment from below the staple of the soil: of course, a deep dry soil is best for the culture of St-foin. When plants draw their nourishment from that part of the soil that is near the surface, it is not of much consequence whether their number be great or small. But the case is very different when the plants receive their food, not only near, but also deep below the surface. Besides, plants that shoot their roots deep are often supplied with moisture, when those near the surface are parched with drought.

To render the plants of St-foin vigorous, it is necessary that they be sown thin. The best method of doing this is by a drill; because, when sown in this manner, not only the weeds, but also the supernumerary plants, can easily be removed. It is several years before St-foin comes to its full strength; and the number of plants sufficient to stock a field, while in this imperfect state, will make but a poor crop for the first year or two. It is therefore necessary that it be sown in such a manner as to make it easy to take up plants in such numbers, and in such order, as always to leave in the field the proper number in their proper places. This can only be done with propriety, by sowing the plants in rows by a drill. Supposing a field to be drilled in rows at ten inches distance, the partitions may be hand-hoed, and the rows dressed in such a manner as to leave a proper number of plants. In this situation the field may remain two years; then one fourth of the rows may be taken out in pairs, in such a manner as to make the beds of fifty inches, with five rows in each, and intervals of thirty inches, which may be ploughed. Next year, another fourth of the rows may be taken out in the same manner, so as to leave double rows with partitions of ten inches, and intervals of thirty: All of which may be hoed at once or alternately, as it may be found most convenient.

The great quantity of this grass which the writers on this subject assure us may be raised upon an acre, and the excellency and great value of the hay made of it, should induce farmers to make a complete trial of it, and even to use the spade in place of the hoe, or hoe-plough, if necessary.

The plants taken up from a field of St-foin may be set in another field; and if the transplanting of this grass succeeds as well as the transplanting of lucern has done with Mr Lunin de Chateauvieux, the trouble and expense will be sufficiently recompensed by the largeness of the crops. In transplanting, it is necessary to cut off great part of the long tap-root: this will prevent it from striking very deep into the soil, and make it push out large roots in a flopping direction from the cut end of the tap-root. St-foin managed in this manner, will thrive even on shallow land that has a wet bottom, provided it be not overstocked with plants.

Whoever inclines to try the culture of this grass in Scotland, should take great pains in preparing the land, and making it as free from weeds as possible.

Of the Culture of Lucern.

The writers on agriculture, ancient as well as modern, bestow the highest encomiums upon this grass, as affording excellent hay, and producing very large crops. Lucern remains at least ten or twelve years in the ground, and produces about eight tons of hay upon the Scots acre. There is but little of it cultivated in Scotland. However, it has been tried in several parts of this country; and it is found, that, when the seed is good, it comes up very well, and stands the winter-frost. But the chief thing that prevented this grass from being more used in this country, is the difficulty of keeping the soil open, and free from weeds. In a few years the surface becomes too hard, and the turf too strong, that it destroys the lucern before the plants have arrived at their greatest perfection: so that we cannot hope to cultivate lucern with success, unless we fall upon some method of destroying the natural grass, and prevent the surface from becoming hard and impenetrable. This cannot be done effectually by any other means than horse-hoeing. This method was first proposed by Mr Tull, and afterwards practised successfully by M. de Chateauvieux near Geneva. It may be of use therefore to give a view of that gentleman's method of cultivating lucern.

He does not mention anything particular as to the manner of preparing the land; but only observes in general, that no pains should be spared in preparing it. He tried the sowing of lucern both in rows upon the beds where it was intended to stand, and likewise the sowing it in a nursery, and afterwards transplanting it into the beds prepared for it. He prefers transplanting; because, when transplanted, part of the tap-root is cut off, and the plant shoots out a number of lateral branches from the cut part of the root, which makes it spread its roots nearer the surface, and consequently renders it more easily cultivated: besides, this circumstance adapts it to a shallow soil, in which, if left in its natural state, it would not grow.

The transplanting of lucern is attended with many advantages. The land may be prepared in the summer for receiving the plants from the nursery in autumn; by which means the field must be in a much better situation than if the seed had been sown upon it in the spring. By transplanting, the rows can be made more regular, and the intended distances more exactly observed; and consequently quently the hoeing can be performed more perfectly, and with less expense. M. Chateauneuf likewise tried the lucern in single beds three feet wide, with single rows; in beds three feet nine inches wide, with double rows; and in beds four feet three inches wide, with triple rows. The plants in the single rows were six inches asunder, and those in the double and triple rows were about eight or nine inches. In a course of three years he found, that a single row produced more than a triple row of the same length. The plants of lucern, when cultivated by transplantation, should be at least six inches asunder, to allow them room for extending their crowns.

He further observes, that the beds or ridges ought to be raised in the middle; that a small trench, two or three inches deep, should be drawn in the middle; and that the plants ought to be set in this trench, covered with earth up to the neck. He says, that if the lucern be sown in spring, and in a warm soil, it will be ready for transplanting in September; that, if the weather be too hot and dry, the transplanting should be delayed till October; and that, if the weather be unfavourable during both these months, this operation must be delayed till spring. He further directs, that the plants should be carefully taken out of the nursery, so as not to damage the roots; that the roots be left only about six or seven inches long; that the green tops be cut off within about two inches of the crown; that they be put into water as soon as taken up, there to remain till they are planted; and that they should be planted with a planting-stick, in the same manner as cabbages.

He does not give particular directions as to the times of horse-hoeing; but only says in general, that the intervals should be stirred once in the month during the whole time that the lucern is in a growing state. He likewise observes, that great care ought to be taken not to suffer any weeds to grow among the plants, at least for the first two or three years; and for this purpose, that the rows, as well as the edges of the intervals where the plough cannot go, should be weeded by the hand.

Of the Culture of Potatoes.

The potatoe is one of the most useful roots that are cultivated in this country, and is raised in a very different manner from any of the other roots. It has a number of eyes in it, each of which produce a separate plant. The largest potatoes are the best for feed; because, when cut according to the eyes, and properly sown, the plants are not in danger of crowding each other. The plant sends out roots in every direction to a considerable distance, and upon these the potatoes are formed.

There are several kinds both of the white and red potatoes. They succeed best in a light dry soil; and though there be but a small mixture of loam in it, if tolerably rich and properly cultivated, it seldom fails to produce a good crop. But a good crop is not to be expected from a stiff wet soil, unless it be laid up in ridges so as to make it dry, and a considerable quantity of dung laid on to render it open.

When the crop of potatoes is the chief point in view, the land should have a ploughing before winter, especially if the soil be not very free and open. If dung be necessary, the proper time for laying it on is before this ploughing. When the potatoes are to be planted, which may be done any time in March or beginning of April, the land must again be ploughed in narrow furrows, and the potatoes dropped into every second furrow. But if the land be open and very loose, they may be dropped into every furrow; and as the plough opens the furrow for the second row, it buries the first row at a proper depth. The furrow should not be very deep; and two horses are sufficient. It is better in this case to make the horses go abreast than in a line; because, as one of them only goes in the furrow, the potatoes are not so liable to be hurt or displaced. This method of planting them by the plough is greatly preferable to the dibble or planting-stick.

When a small quantity is intended to be cultivated, they may be planted with the spade. A small cross-trench or furrow should be opened with the spade at the end of the ridge. Into this furrow drop the potatoes at proper distances; and, in making the next furrow, the roots laid in the first will be covered in the same manner as is done by the plough.

According to the distance of the rows made by the plough, the distance of the plants in the rows should be regulated: One plant in a square foot is sufficient to allow them to be properly heeded. When planted in every second furrow ploughed narrow, the rows will be about 12 or 14 inches asunder. The plants may be placed at the same distance in the rows.

It is unnecessary to harrow the land after the potatoes are planted: This operation may be delayed till the weeds appear, which gives the farmer an opportunity of destroying them without any additional labour. Tho' potatoes be planted early in the spring, or even before winter, they do not come up till May. Before that time the weeds are far advanced; and, if they be not destroyed by the harrows, the land must be hoed. Indeed, the goodness of the crop depends so much upon preventing the weeds from coming to any height, that it is necessary to hoe potatoes frequently. If the rows be wide, a kind of breast-hoe may be used to throw the earth a little on each side, by which it will be raised about the plants.

When two or three plants are in one piece, as often happens in light land, they should be cleaned with the hand at the root, and only one stalk left to each plant. This not only gives air to the roots, but also prevents much of the nourishment from going into the stalks.

When the husk that contains the feed, or the apple, as it is commonly called, is completely formed, the stalks may be cut down and given to cows. Milk-cows have been tried with this food; they eat it very freely, and it gives no bad flavour to the milk.

The time of taking up potatoes is commonly regulated by the market. But, if nothing be in view but the largeness of the crop, they ought to stand till October, or as long as they can be conveniently taken up before the frost sets in. The most expeditious method of taking them up is by the plough: Eight or nine persons to attend attend the plough are sufficient. After the field is once ploughed, it ought to be harrowed, by which some of the potatoes will be raised; and, when these are gathered, it should be ploughed a second time.

Of the Culture of Turnips:

Turnips have been long cultivated in England, and, in some places, are esteemed one of the most valuable crops that can be raised. The trials made in Scotland have been very successful, which gives great encouragement to proceed.

The goodness of the crop depends more on the openness of the soil than its richness. Land newly broken up is particularly proper for turnips. Though this kind of land be naturally poor, yet, with the assistance of a little dung, it seldom fails to produce an excellent crop. The land intended for turnips should be ploughed and laid up in ridges before winter, that it may have the benefit of the frost. This winter-ploughing, however, is unnecessary when the land is dry and light: The spring is early enough for this kind of land. It may get a second ploughing in the end of May, and a third in the middle or end of June, when the seed is to be sown. Though three ploughings are here mentioned, no particular number is intended; for the land ought to be ploughed over and over, till it be thoroughly pulverized. If dung be used, it should be well rotted, and laid on before the last ploughing.

Turnip-feed is usually sown by the hand; and about half a pound is sufficient for an acre. It should be mixed with sand, that it may be scattered the more equally. But sowing by a drill is better than sowing by the hand, as, in this way, the plants can be more easily hoed, and thinned. Turnips should be hoed as soon as the plants can be easily distinguished; for they grow quickly, and, if they meet with any obstruction from weeds, they are apt to become sickly; and, when this happens, they can never be recovered so as to produce a good crop.

Turnips may be cultivated with great success by the new husbandry. They have been tried in single, double, and triple rows, and, in alleys, from four to six feet wide, according to the situation of the land. The poorer the land is, or the more difficult to be reduced, the alleys ought to be the wider. After the ridges are formed, the turnip should be drilled upon the crowns; and, as soon as they come up, and are past all danger from the fly, they should be horse-hoed.

The turnip is proper food, either for sheep or black cattle. When the land is dry and needs manure, the sheep may be folded on it: But the fold must be removed every day; for it is improper to allow them to eat more at once than they can consume in that time. When the land is wet, or very rich, the turnip may be pulled, and the sheep fed with them on another field that needs manure. But, when designed for black cattle, they must be pulled up and given them, either in stalls or in another field, as the farmer shall find most convenient.

Of the Culture of Carrot:

The carrot is but rarely cultivated in our fields: Indeed, the present market does not encourage the cultivation of this plant. But they have lately been found to be excellent food for horses; they eat them greedily, and are well fed by them. Carrots are not difficult to raise; a very small field is sufficient, and the trial may easily be made by any farmer, at a very small expense.

The best crops of carrots, in our gardens, are produced by trenching. When the soil is hard below, though it be well dugged, it does not produce a good crop. Whenever the roots reach the hard soil, they become forked, i.e., the roots divide, which prevents them from growing large. Trenching makes the earth deep, and, by throwing what was on the surface into the bottom of the trench, lays good soil below for the roots to extend themselves into. Something like this must be done in our fields before we can expect a good crop.

M. de Chateauneuf tried to raise a crop of carrots by the horse-hoeing husbandry, and was very successful. He sowed them in beds six feet broad, on the 4th of May. He stirred the alleys with the spade on the 15th and 27th of July, and a third time on the 6th of September. They were dug up on the 8th of November, measured from 18 to 25 inches in length, and from two to four in diameter, and weighed from 25 to 33 ounces.

Land that has a hard bottom of clay or till is improper; and it is vain to expect that such land can be prepared for carrots by the plough, without great trouble and expense. But, when land has a soft bottom, a good crop of carrots may be raised at a small expense by horse-hoeing.

As the seed, in this country, must be sown in March, the land should get a ploughing before winter, and be laid out in beds or ridges of the breadth proposed when the carrots are to be sown; the furrows between these ridges should be made as deep as possible, because it is upon these furrows that the rows of carrots are to be sown. A second ploughing in winter should reverse the first, and turn the furrows into crowns; and, before the carrots are sown, one bout of the plough may raise the crown of the ridge still higher. Upon these crowns the seed must be sown out of the hand, into a small trench, drawn as straight as possible, and covered with a rake.

When the weeds first appear, the remaining part of the ridges may be ploughed out, turning the earth to the rows, and taking care not to go so near as to cover the plants. Before the seed is sown, which is some time in March, instead of ploughing the whole ridge, the plough should only go once about on the crown, to prevent the bad effects of too much moisture.

As soon as the plants can be easily distinguished, they should be hand-hoed, and thinned where they stand too thick; and after this the alleys must be regularly hoed, as directed in the culture of turnips.

It is natural to expect, that carrots raised in this way should be freer from worms, and much better every way, way, than those raised in our gardens, except such as are sown upon newly trenched ground.

**Sect. VI. Principles and Advantages of the New Husbandry.**

The general principles of the new husbandry may be reduced to two, viz., the promoting the growth of plants by hoeing, and the sowing of seed; both of which are equally profitable to the farmer.

But, before illustrating these principles and advantages, it will be necessary to describe the instruments that are commonly used in cultivating land by this new method.

Plate IX. fig. 1. is a marking plough. The principal use of this plough is to straighten and regulate the ridges. The first line is traced by the eye, by means of three poles, placed in a straight line. The plough draws the first furrow in the direction of this line; and, at the same time, with the tooth A, fixed in the block of wood near the end of the cross-poll or slider B B, marks the breadth of the ridge at the distance intended. The ploughman next traces the second line or rut made by the tooth, and draws a small furrow along it; and continues in this manner till the whole field is laid out in straight and equidistant ridges.

—Fig. 2. is a plough for breaking up lees, or turning up the bottom of land when greatly exhausted. By its construction, the width and depth of the furrows can be regulated to a greater certainty than by any other hitherto known in this country. Its appearance is heavy; but two horses are sufficient to plough with it in ordinary free land; and only four are necessary in the stiffest clay-foils. This plough is likewise easily held and tempered. A, is the sword fixed in the sizers B, which runs through a mortise at the end of the beam E, and regulates the depth of the furrow, by raising or depressing the beam; it is fixed by putting the pin D, through the beam and sword, and is moveable at E.

—Fig. 3. is a jointed break harrow with 24 teeth shaped like coulters, and standing at about an angle of 80 degrees. By this instrument the land is finely pulverised, and prepared for receiving the seed from the drill. It requires four horses in stiff, and two in open land. This harrow is likewise used for levelling the ridges; this is done by pressing it down by the handles where the ridge is high, and raising it up when low.

—Fig. 4. is an angular weeding harrow, which may follow the break when necessary. The seven hindmost teeth should stand at a more acute angle than the rest, in order to collect the weeds, which the holder can drop at pleasure, by raising the hinder part, which is fixed to the body of the harrow by two joints.

—Fig. 5. is a pair of harrows with shafts. This harrow is used for covering the seed in the drills, the horse going in the furrow.

—Fig. 6. is a drill-plough, constructed in such a manner as to sow at once two rows of beans, peas, or wheat. This machine is easily wrought by two horses. A, is the happier for containing the seed; B, circular boxes for receiving the seed from the happier; C C, two square boxes which receive the seed from small holes in the circular boxes, as they turn round; and last of all, the seed is dropped into the drills through holes in the square boxes, behind the coulters D. The cylinder E follows, which, together with the wheel F, regulates the depth of the coulters, and covers the seed; the harrow G comes behind all, and covers the seed more completely. H H, two sliders, which, when drawn out, prevent the seed from falling into the boxes; and, I, is a ketch which holds the rungs, and prevents the boxes from turning, and losing seed at the ends of the ridges.

—Fig. 7. is a single hoe-plough of a very simple construction, by which the earth, in the intervals, is stirred and laid up, on both sides, to the roots of the plants, and, at the same time, the weeds are destroyed. A A the mold-boards, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure, according as the farmer wants to throw the earth higher or lower upon the roots.

**Advantages of Horse-hoeing.**

The advantages of tillage before sowing have already been pointed out. In this place we must confine ourselves to the utility of tillage after sowing. This kind of tillage is most generally known by the name of horse-hoeing.

Land sowed with wheat, however well it may be cultivated in autumn, sinks in the winter; the particles get nearer together, and the weeds rise; so that in spring, the land is nearly in the same situation as if it never had been ploughed. This, however, is the season when it should branch and grow with most vigour; and consequently stands most in need of ploughing or hoeing, to destroy the weeds, to supply the roots with fresh earth, and, by dividing anew the particles of the soil, to allow the roots to extend and collect nourishment.

It is well known, that, in gardens, plants grow with double vigour after being hoed or transplanted. If plants growing in arable land could be managed with ease and safety in this manner, it is natural to expect, that their growth would be promoted accordingly. Experience shows, that this is not only practicable, but attended with many advantages.

In the operation of hoeing wheat, though some of the roots be moved or broke, the plants receive no injury; for this very circumstance makes them send forth a greater number of roots than formerly, which enlarge their pasture, and consequently augment their growth.

Sickly wheat has often recovered its vigour after a good hoeing, especially when performed in weather not very hot or dry.

Wheat, and such grain as is sown before winter, requires hoeing more than oats, barley, or other grain sown in the spring; for, if the land has been well ploughed before the sowing of spring-corn, it neither has time to harden nor to produce many weeds, not having been exposed to the winter's snow and rain. Of Sowing.

As, in the practice of the new husbandry, plants grow with greater vigour than by the old method, the land should be sowed thinner. It is this principle of the new husbandry that has been chiefly objected to; for, upon observing the land occupied by a small number of plants, people are apt to look upon all the vacant space as lost. But this prejudice will soon be removed, when it is considered, that, in the best land cultivated in the common method, and sown very thick, each feed produces but one or two ears; that, in the same land sown thinner, every feed produces two or three ears; and that a single feed sometimes produces eighteen or twenty ears.

In the common method, as there are many more plants than can find sufficient nourishment, and as it is impossible to assist them by hoeing, numbers die before they attain maturity, the greatest part remain sickly and drooping; and thus part of the seed is lost. On the contrary, in the new method, all the plants have as much food as they require; and as they are, from time to time, assisted by hoeing, they become so vigorous as to equal in their production the numerous, but sickly plants cultivated in the common method.

Of Hoeing.

The new husbandry is absolutely impracticable in lands that are not easily ploughed. Attempting to cultivate land according to this husbandry, without attending to this circumstance, that it is practicable in no land, excepting such as have already been brought into good tilth by the old method, has gone far to make it contemptible in many places.

When a field is in good tilth, it should be sowed so thin as to leave sufficient room for the plants to extend their roots. After being well ploughed and harrowed, it must be divided into rows, at the distance of 30 inches from one another. On the sides of each of these rows, two rows of wheat must be sowed six inches distant from each other. By this means there will be an interval of two feet wide betwixt the rows, and every plant will have room enough to extend its roots, and to supply it with food. The intervals will likewise be sufficient for allowing the earth to be hoed or tilled without injuring the plants in the rows.

The first hoeing, which should be given before the winter, is intended to drain away the wet, and to dispose the earth to be mellowed by the frosts. These two ends will be answered by drawing two small furrows at a little distance from the rows, and throwing the earth taken from the furrows into the middle of the intervals. This first hoeing should be given when the wheat is in leaf.

The second hoeing, which is intended to make the plants branch, should be given after the hard frosts are over. To do this with advantage, after stirring the earth a little, near the rows, the earth which was thrown in the middle of the intervals should be turned back into the furrows. This earth, having been mellowed by the winter, supplies the plants with excellent food, and makes the roots extend.

The third hoeing, which is intended to invigorate the stalk, should be given when the ears of the corn begin to show themselves. This hoeing may, however, be very slight.

But the last hoeing is of the greatest importance, as it enlarges the grain, and makes the ears fill at their extremities. This hoeing should be given when the wheat is in bloom; a furrow must be drawn in the middle of the interval, and the earth thrown to the right and left on the foot of the plants. This supports the plants, prevents them from being laid, and prepares the ground for the next sowing, as the seed is then to be put in the middle of the ground that formed the intervals.

By this succulenta tillage, or hoeing, good crops will be obtained, provided the weather is not very unfavourable.

But as strong, vigorous plants are longer before they arrive at maturity, corn raised in the new way is later in ripening than any other, and must therefore be sown earlier.

In order to prepare the intervals for sowing again, some well-rotted dung may be laid in the deep furrows made in the middle of the intervals; and this dung must be covered with the earth that was before thrown towards the rows of wheat. But, if the land does not require mending, the deep furrow is filled without any dung. This operation should be performed immediately after harvest, that there may be time to give the land a slight stirring before the rows are sowed; which should occupy the middle of the space which formed the intervals during the last crop. The intervals of the second year take up the space occupied by the stubble of the first.

Supposing dung to be necessary, which is denied by many, a very small quantity is sufficient; a single layer, put in the bottom of each furrow, will be enough.

Summary of the Operations necessary in executing the New Husbandry with the Plough.

1. It is indispensably necessary that the farmer be provided with a drill and hoe-plough. 2. The new husbandry may be begun either with the winter or spring corn. 3. The land must be prepared by four good ploughings, given at different times, from the beginning of April to the middle of September. 4. These ploughings must be done in dry weather, to prevent the earth from kneading. 5. The land must be harrowed in the same manner as if it were sowed in the common way. 6. The rows of wheat should be sowed very straight. 7. When the field is not very large, a line must be strained across it, by which a rill may be traced with a hoe for the horse that draws the drill to go in; and, when the rows are sown, fifty inches must be left betwixt each rill. But, when the field is large, stakes at five feet distance from each other, must be placed at the two ends. The workman must then trace a small furrow, with a plough that has no mold-board, for the horse to go in that draws the drill, directing himself with his eye by the stakes.

8. The sowing should be finished about the end of September, or beginning of October.

9. The furrows must be traced the long way of the land, that as little ground as possible may be lost in headlands.

10. The rows, if it can be done, should run down the slope of the land, that the water may get the easier off.

11. The seed-wheat must be plunged into a tub of lime-water, and stirred, that the light corn may come to the surface and be skimmed off.

12. The seed must next be spread on a floor, and frequently stirred, till it is dry enough to run through the valves of the hopper of the drill.

13. To prevent smut, the seed may be put into a lye of ashes and lime.

14. After the hoppers of the drill are filled, the horse must go slowly along the furrow that was traced. That a proper quantity of seed may be sown, the aperture of the hopper must be suited to the size of the grain.

15. As the drill is seldom well managed at first, the field should be examined after the corn has come up, and the deficiencies supplied.

16. Stiff lands that retain the wet, must be stirred or hoed in October. This should be done by opening a furrow in the middle of the intervals, and afterwards filling it up by a furrow drawn on each side, which will raise the earth in the middle of the intervals, and leave two small furrows next the rows, for draining off the water, which is very hurtful to wheat in winter.

17. The next stirring must be given about the end of March, with a light plough. In this stirring, the furrows made to drain the rows must be filled up by earth from the middle of the intervals.

18. Some time in May, the rows must be evened, which, though troublesome at first, soon becomes easy, as the weeds are soon kept under by tillage.

19. In June, just before the wheat is in bloom, another stirring must be given with the plough. A deep furrow must be made in the middle of the intervals, and the earth thrown upon the sides of the rows.

20. When the wheat is ripe, particular care must be taken in reaping it, to trample as little as possible on the ploughed land.

21. Soon after the wheat is carried off the field, the intervals must be turned up with the plough, to prepare them for the seed. The great furrow in the middle must not only be filled, but the earth raised as much as possible in the middle of the intervals.

22. In September, the land must be again sowed with a drill, as above directed.

23. In October, the stubble must be turned in for forming the new intervals; and the same management must be observed as directed in the first year.

We pretend not to determine whether the old or new husbandry be preferable in every country.

With regard to this point, the climate, the situation of particular land, skill and dexterity in managing the machinery, the comparative expense in raising crops, and many other circumstances, must be accurately attended to before a determination can be given. One observation, however, may be made in favour of the new husbandry:—Though the particular modes of cultivating land by it are perhaps too limited to be universally adopted; yet it has been of great use in raising suspicions concerning the old method, and in turning the views of philosophers and farmers towards improving in general. Many real improvements in agriculture have been the consequences of these suspicions; and as this spirit of inquiry remains in full vigour, particularly in our own country, a solid foundation is laid for expecting still further improvements in this useful art.