History.

Mago, a famous general of the Carthaginians, is said to have written no less than 28 books on the subject; which Columella tells us were translated into Latin by the express order of the Roman senate. We are informed by the ancient writers, that Ceres was born in Sicily, where she first invented the arts of tillage and of sowing corn. For this essential service, she was, agreeably to the superstition of those ages, deified, and worshipped as the goddess of plenty. The truth of this is, that in the time of Ceres, the island, through her endeavours and the industry of the people, became very fruitful in corn; and agriculture was there esteemed so honourable an employment, that even their kings did not disdain to practise it with their own hands.

But time, which at first gave birth to arts, often caused them to be forgotten when they were removed from the place of their origin. The descendants of Noah, who settled in Europe, doubtless carried their knowledge of agriculture with them into the regions which they successively occupied. But those who took possession of Greece were such an uncivilized race, that they fed on roots, herbs, and acorns, after the manner of beasts. Pelasgus had taught them the culture of the oak, and the use of acorns as food; for which service, we are told, divine honours were paid him by the people.

The Athenians, who were the first people that acquired any tincture of politeness, taught the use of corn to the rest of the Greeks. They also instructed them how to cultivate the ground, and to prepare it for the reception of the seed. This art, we are told, was taught them by Triptolemus. The Greeks soon perceived that bread was more wholesome, and its taste more delicate, than that of acorns and the wild roots of the fields; accordingly they thanked the gods for such an unexpected and beneficial present, and honoured their benefactor.

As the arts of cultivation increased, and the blessings they afforded became generally experienced, the people soon preferred them to whatever the ravages of conquest, and the cruel depredations of savage life, could procure. And accordingly we find, that the Athenian kings, thinking it more glorious to govern a small state wisely, than to aggrandize themselves, and enlarge the extent of their dominions by foreign conquests, withdrew their subjects from war, and mostly employed them in cultivating the earth. Thus, by continued application, they brought agriculture to a considerable degree of perfection, and soon reduced it to an art.

Hesiod was the first we know of among the Greeks who wrote on this interesting subject. According to the custom of the Oriental authors, he wrote in poetry, and embellished his poem with luxuriant description and sublime imagery. He calls his poem Weeks and Days, because agriculture requires exact observations on times and seasons.

Xenophon has also, in his Oeconomics, remarked, that agriculture is the nursing mother of the arts. For, says he, "where agriculture succeeds prosperously, there the arts thrive; but where the earth necessarily lies uncultivated, there the other arts are destroyed."

Other eminent Greek writers upon agriculture were, Democritus of Abdera, Socrates, Archytas, Tarentinus, Aristotle, and Theophrastus, from whom the art received considerable improvements.

The ancient Romans esteemed agriculture so honourable an employment, that the most illustrious senators of the empire, in the intervals of public concerns, applied themselves to this profession; and such was the simplicity of those ages, that they assumed no appearance of magnificence and splendor, or of majesty, but when they appeared in public. At their return from the toils of war, the taking of cities, and the subduing of hostile nations, their greatest generals were impatient till they were again employed in the arts of cultivation.

Regulus, when in Africa, requested of the senate to be recalled, lest his farm might suffer, for want of proper cultivation, in his absence; and the senate wrote him an answer, that it should be taken care of at the public expense, while he continued to lead their armies.

Cato the censor, after having governed extensive provinces, and subdued many warlike nations, did not think it below his dignity to write a Treatise on Agriculture. This work (as we are told by Servius) he dedicated to his own son, it being the first Latin treatise written on this important subject; and it has been handed down to us in all its purity, in the manner that Cato wrote it.

Varro composed a treatise on the same subject, and on a more regular plan. This work is embellished with all the Greek and Latin erudition of that learned author, who died 28 years before the commencement of the Christian era. Virgil, who lived about the same time, has, in his Georgics, adorned this subject with the language of the Muses, and finely illustrated the precepts and rules of husbandry left by Hesiod, Mago, and Varro.

Columella, who flourished in the reign of the emperor Claudius, wrote 12 books on husbandry, replete with important instruction.

From this period to that of the reign of Constantine Paganatus, husbandry continued in a declining state; but that wise emperor caused a large collection of the most useful precepts relating to agriculture to be extracted from the best writers, and published them under the title of Geoponics. It has been asserted, that he made this collection with his own hand; and the truth of the assertion is not improbable, as it is well known, that after he had conquered the Saracens and the Arabians, he not only practised and encouraged, but studied the arts of peace, fixing his principal attention on agriculture, as their best foundation.

After the death of Constantine, however, the increasing attention of the people to commerce, and the ignorance and gross superstition of the ages which succeeded, seems to have rendered agriculture an almost neglected science. The irruptions of the northern nations soon abolished any improved system. These innumerable and enterprising barbarians, who overran all Europe, were originally shepherds or hunters, like the present Tartars and the savages of America. They contented themselves with possessing those vast deserts made by their own ravages, without labour or trouble, cultivating only a very small spot near their habitations; and in this trifling husbandry only the meanest slaves were employed: so that the art itself, which formerly was thought worthy of the study of kings, was now looked upon as mean and ignoble; a prejudice which is scarcely effaced at present, or at least very lately.

During this period, therefore, we find no vigour of any thing tolerably written on the subject. No new attempts were made to revive it, or to improve it, till the year 1478, when Crefcenzo published an excellent performance on the subject at Florence. This roused the slumbering attention of his countrymen, several of whom soon followed his example. Among these, Tatti, Steffano Augustino Gallo, Saniovino, Lauro, and Tarello, deserve particular notice.

At what time agriculture was introduced into Britain, is uncertain. When Julius Caesar first invaded this island, it was not wholly unknown. That conqueror was of opinion, that agriculture was first introduced by some of those colonies from Gaul which had settled in the southern parts of Britain, about 100 years before the Roman invasion.*

It is not to be expected that we can now be acquainted with many of the practices of these ancient husbandmen. It appears, however, that they were not unacquainted with the use of manures, particularly marle. This we have on the authority of Pliny†, who tells us, that it was peculiar to the people of Gaul and of Britain; that its effects continued 80 years; and that no man was ever known to marle his field twice, &c.—It is highly probable, too, that lime was at this time also used as a manure in Britain, it being certainly made use of in Gaul for this purpose at the time of Julius Caesar's invasion.

The establishment of the Romans in Britain produced great improvements in agriculture, inasmuch that prodigious quantities of corn were annually exported from the island; but when the Roman power began to decline, this, like all the other arts, declined also, and was almost totally destroyed by the departure of that people. The unhappy Britons were now exposed to frequent incursions of the Scots and Picts, who destroyed the fruits of their labours, and interrupted them in the exercise of their art. After the arrival of the Saxons in the year 449, they were involved in such long wars, and underwent so many calamities, that the husbandmen gradually lost much of their skill, and were at last driven from those parts of their country which were most proper for cultivation.

After the Britons retired into Wales, though it appears from the laws made relative to this art, that agriculture was thought worthy of the attention of the legislature, yet their instruments appear to have been very unartful. It was enacted that no man should undertake to guide a plough who could not make one; and that the driver should make the ropes of twisted willows, with which it was drawn. It was usual for six or eight persons to form themselves into a society for fitting out one of these ploughs, providing it with oxen and every thing necessary for ploughing; and many minute and curious laws were made for the regulation of such societies. If any person laid dung on a field with the consent of the proprietor, he was by law allowed the use of that land for one year. If the dung was carried out in a cart in great abundance, he was to have the use of the land for three years. Whoever cut down a wood, and converted the ground into arable, with the consent of the owner, was to have the use of it for five years. If any one folded his cattle, for one year, upon a piece of ground belonging to another, with the owner's consent, he was allowed the use of that field for four years.

Thus, though the Britons had in a great measure lost the knowledge of agriculture, they appear to have been very affiduous in giving encouragement to such as would attempt a revival of it; but, among the Anglo-Saxons, things were not at present in so good a state. These reticent and haughty warriors, having contracted a dislike and contempt for agriculture, were at pains to enact laws to prevent its being followed by any other than women and slaves. When they first arrived in Britain, they had no occasion for this art, being supplied by the natives with all the necessaries of life. After the commencement of hostilities, the Saxons subsisted chiefly by plunder; but having driven out or extirpated most of the ancient Britons, and divided their lands among themselves, they found themselves in danger of starving, there being now no enemy to plunder; and therefore they were obliged to apply to agriculture.

The Saxon princes and great men, who, in the division of the lands, had received the greatest shares, are said to have subdivided their estates into two parts, which were called the in-lands and the out-lands. The in-lands were those which lay most contiguous to the mansion-house of their owner, which he kept in his own possession, and cultivated by his slaves, under the direction of a bailiff, for the purpose of raising provisions for the family. The out-lands were those at a greater distance from the house, and were let to the ceolts, or farmers of those times, at very moderate rents. By the laws of Ina king of the west Saxons, who reigned in the end of the seventh and beginning of the eighth century, a farm consisting of ten hides, or plough-lands, was to pay the following rent: "Ten casks of honey; three hundred loaves of bread; twelve casks of strong ale; thirty casks of small ale; two oxen; ten wedders; ten geese; twenty hens; ten cheese; one cask of butter; five salmon; twenty pounds of forage; and one hundred eels." From this low rent, the imperfection of agriculture at that time is easily discoverable; but it is still more so from the low prices at which land was then sold. In the ancient history of the church of Ely, published by Dr Gale, there are accounts of many purchases of lands by Ædewold the founder of that church, and by other benefactors, in the reign of Edgar the Peaceable, in the tenth century. By a comparison of these accounts it appears, that the ordinary price of an acre of the best land in that part of England, in those times, was no more than 16 Saxon pennies, or about four shillings of our money; a very trifling price, even in comparison with that of other commodities at the same time: for, by comparing other accounts, it appears, that four sheep were then equal in value to an acre of the best land, and one horse of the same value with three acres. The frequent and deplorable famines which afflicted England about this time, are further instances of the wretched state of agriculture. In 1043, a quarter of wheat fold... for 60 Saxon pennies (15 of our shillings), and at that time equal in value to seven or eight pounds of our money now.

The invasion of the Normans, in 1066, contributed very much to the improvement of agriculture; for, by that event, many thousands of husbandmen from Flanders, France, and Normandy, settled in Britain, obtained estates or farms, and cultivated them after the manner of their country. The implements of husbandry, used at this time, were of the same kind with those employed at present; but some of them were less perfect in their construction. The plough, for example, had but one flint or handle, which the ploughman guided with one hand, having in his other hand an instrument which served both for cleaning and mending the plough, as well as for breaking the clods. The Norman plough had two wheels; and in the light soil of Normandy was commonly drawn by one or two oxen; but, in England, a greater number was often necessary. In Wales, the person who conducted the oxen in the plough walked backwards. Their carts, harrows, scythes, sickles, and flails, from the figures of them still remaining, appear to have been nearly of the same construction with those that are now used. In Wales, they did not use a sickle for reaping their corns, but an instrument like the blade of a knife, with a wooden handle at each end.—Their chief manure, next to dung, seems still to have been marl. Summer fallowing of lands designed for wheat, and ploughing them several times, appear to have been frequent practices of the English farmers in this period.

We are, after all, very much in the dark with respect to the state and progress of agriculture in Great Britain previous to the fourteenth century. That it was pretty generally practised, especially in the eastern, south, and midland parts of England, is certain; but of the mode, and the success, we are left almost totally ignorant. In the latter end of the fifteenth century, however, it seems to have been cultivated as a science, and received very great improvement.

At this time our countryman, Fitzherbert, Judge of the Common-Pleas, shone forth with distinguished eminence in the practical parts of husbandry. He appears to have been the first Englishman who studied the nature of soils, and the laws of vegetation, with philosophical attention. On these he formed a theory confirmed by experiments, and rendered the study pleasing as well as profitable, by realizing the principles of the ancients, to the honour and advantage of his country. Accordingly, he published two treatises on this subject: the first, entitled *The Book of Husbandry*, appeared in 1534; and the second, called *The Book of Surveying and Improvements*, in 1539. These books, being written at a time when philosophy and science were but just emerging from that gloom in which they had long been buried, were doubtless replete with many errors; but they contained the rudiments of true knowledge, and revived the study and love of an art, the advantages of which were obvious to men of the least reflection. We therefore find that Fitzherbert's books on Agriculture soon raised a spirit of emulation in his countrymen, and many treatises of the same kind successively appeared, which time has however deprived us of, or at least they are become so very scarce as only to be found in the libraries of the curious.

About the year 1600, France made some considerable efforts to revive the arts of husbandry, as appears from several large works, particularly *Les Moyens de devenir Riche*; and the *Caféopolite*, by Bernard de Palissy, a poor porter, who seems to have been placed by fortune in a station for which nature never intended him; *Le Théâtre d'Agriculture*, by Deferres; and *L'Agriculture et Maison Rustique*, by Mefirs Etienne, Liebault, &c.

Nearly in the same period, the practice of husbandry became more prevalent among this people and the Flemings than the publishing of books on the subject. Their intention seemed to be that of carrying on a private lucrative employment, without infringing their neighbours'. Whoever therefore became desirous of copying their method of agriculture, was obliged to visit that country, and make his own remarks on their practice.

The principle idea they had of husbandry was, by keeping the lands clean and in fine tilth, to make a farm resemble a garden as nearly as possible.

Such an excellent principle, at first setting out, led them of course to undertake the culture of small farms only, which they kept free from weeds, continually turning the ground, and manuring it plentifully and judiciously. When they had by this method brought the soil to a proper degree of cleanliness, health, and sweetness, they chiefly cultivated the more delicate grasses, as the surest means of obtaining a certain profit upon a small estate, without the expense of keeping many draught horses and servants. A few years' experience was sufficient to convince them, that ten acres of the best vegetables for feeding cattle, properly cultivated, would maintain a larger stock of grazing animals than forty acres of common farm grass on land badly cultivated. They also found, that the best vegetables for this purpose were lucerne, sainfoin, trefoil of most kinds, field turnips, &c.

The grand political secret of their husbandry, therefore, consisted in letting farms on improvement. They are said also to have discovered nine sorts of manure; but what they all were, we are not particularly informed. We find, however, that marl was one of them; the use and virtues of which appear also to have been well known in this kingdom two hundred years ago, although it was afterwards much neglected. They were the first people among the moderns who ploughed in green crops for the sake of fertilizing the soil; and who confined their sheep at night in large sheds built on purpose, the floors of which were covered with sand or virgin earth, &c., which the shepherd carted away each morning to the compost dunghill.

In England, during the civil wars, though the operations and improvements in husbandry suffered some temporary checks, there flourished several excellent writers on the subject, and the art itself received considerable encouragement. Sir Hugh Platt was one of the most ingenious husbandmen of the age in which he lived; yet so great was his modesty, that all his works, except his Paradise of Flora, seem to be posthumous. He held a correspondence with most of the lovers and patrons of agriculture and gardening in England; and such was the justice and modesty of his temper, that he always named the author of every discovery communicated to him. Perhaps no man in any age discovered, or at least brought into use, so many new kinds of manure. This will be evident to those who read his account of the compost and covered dung-hills, and his judicious observations on the fertilizing qualities lodged in salt, street-dirt, and the fullage of streets in great cities, clay, fuller's earth, moorish earths, dung-hills made in layers, fern, hair, calcination of all vegetables, malt-dust, willow-tree earth, soaper's ashes, urine, marle, and broken pilchards.

Gabriel Platten may be said to have been an original genius in husbandry. He began his observations at an earlier period, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and continued them down to the Commonwealth. But notwithstanding the great merit of this writer, and the essential service he had rendered his country by his writings, the public ungratefully suffered him to starve and perish in the streets of London; nor had he a shirt on his back when he died.

Samuel Hartlib, a celebrated writer on agriculture in the last century, was highly esteemed and beloved by Milton, and other great men of his time. In the preface to his work intitled His Legacy, he laments that no public director of husbandry was established in England by authority; and that we had not adopted the Flemish method of letting farms upon improvement. This remark of Hartlib's procured him a pension of £100 a-year from Cromwell; and the writer afterwards, the better to fulfil the intention of his benefactor, procured Dr Beattie's excellent annotation on the Legacy, with other valuable papers from his numerous correspondents.

The time in which Hartlib flourished seems to have been an era when the English husbandry rose to great perfection, compared with that of former ages; for the preceding wars had impoverished the country gentlemen, and of course made them industrious. They found the cultivation of their own lands to be the most profitable station they could fill. But this wise turn was not of long continuance. At the Restoration, they generally became infected with that intoxication and love of pleasure which succeeded. All their industry and knowledge were exchanged for neglect and dissipation; and husbandry descended almost entirely into the hands of common farmers.

Evelyn was the first writer who inspired his countrymen with a desire of reviving the study of agriculture; and he was followed by the famous Jethro Tull. The former, by his admirable treatises on earth and on planting; and the latter, by showing the superior advantages of the drill-husbandry, excited numbers to bring their theory to the test of fair experiment.

Many valuable and capital improvements have, since that period, been made in English husbandry; and these great men have been succeeded by a variety of writers, many of whom have done essential service, by enlightening the minds of their countrymen, and exciting them to emulation.

About the middle of the last century, Ireland began to make a considerable figure in the art of husbandry. It must indeed be confessed, that the Irish had very strong prejudices in favour of a wretched method of agriculture, till Blyth opened their eyes by his excellent writings. Since that time, a spirit of improvement has more or less been promoted, and in many instances carried on with great zeal, by the nobility, clergy, and gentry of that kingdom. In proof of this, it will be sufficient to observe, that the Transactions of the Dublin Society for encouraging Husbandry are now cited by all foreigners in their memoirs relating to that subject. And the observations of that discerning and judicious writer, Arthur Young, Esq.; in his late Tour through that kingdom, show, that in many respects improvements there have of late years made a progress nearly as rapid as in England.

After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, most of the nations of Europe, by a sort of tacit consent, applied themselves to the study of agriculture, and continued to do so, more or less, amidst the universal confusion that succeeded.

The French found, by repeated experience, that they could never maintain a long war, or procure a tolerable peace, unless they could raise corn enough to support themselves in such a manner as not to be obliged to harsh terms on the one hand, or to perish by famine on the other. This occasioned the King to give public encouragement to agriculture, and even to be present at the making of several experiments. The great, and the rich of various ranks and stations, followed his example; and even the ladies were candidates for a share of fame in this public-spirited and commendable undertaking.

During the hurry and distresses of France in the war of 1756, considerable attention was paid to agriculture. Prize-questions were annually proposed in their rural academies, particularly those of Lyons and Bordeaux; and many judicious observations were made by the Society for improving agriculture in Brittany.

Since the conclusion of that war in 1760, matters have been carried on there with great vigour. The university of Amiens made various proposals for the advancement of husbandry; and the Marquis de Tourbillon (a writer who proceeded chiefly on experience) had the principal direction of a Geographical society established at Tours.

The society at Rouen also deserves notice; nor have the King and his ministers thought it unworthy their attention. There are at present about fifteen societies existing in France, established by royal approbation, for the promoting of agriculture; and these have twenty co-operating societies belonging to them.

About this time vigorous exertions began to be made in Russia to introduce the most approved system of husbandry which had taken place in other parts of Europe. The present Empress has sent several gentlemen into Britain and other countries to study agriculture, and is giving it all possible encouragement in her own dominions.

The art of agriculture has also been for near 30 years publicly taught in the Swedish, Danish, and German universities, where the professors may render effectual service to their respective countries, if they understand the practical as well as the speculative part, and can converse with as much advantage with the farmer as with Virgil and Columella.

Even Italy has not been totally inactive. The Neapolitans of this age have condescended to recur to the first rudiments of revived husbandry, and begun to study anew the Agricultural System of Crecenzio, first published in 1478. The people of Bergamo have pursued sued the same plan, and given a new edition of the Ricordo d'Agricultura de Tarello, first published in 1577. The dutchy of Tuscany have imbibed the same spirit for improvement. A private gentleman, above 40 years since, left his whole fortune to endow an academy of agriculture. The first ecclesiastic in the dutchy is president of this society, and many of the chief nobility are members.

His Sardinian Majesty has also sent persons to learn the different modes of practice in foreign countries; and made some spirited attempts to establish a better method of agriculture among his subjects.

In Poland, also, M. De Bielukia, grand marshal of the crown, has made many successful attempts to introduce the new husbandry among his countrymen; and procured the best instruments for that purpose from France, England, and other parts of Europe.

The Hollanders are the only people now in Europe who seem to look upon agriculture with indifference. Except the single collateral influence of draining their fens and marshes, they have scarcely paid any attention to it; and even this seems to have proceeded more from the motive of self-preservation than any love of, or disposition to, husbandry.

In the year 1759, a few ingenious and public-spirited men at Berne in Switzerland established a society for the advancement of agriculture and rural economics. In that society were many men of great weight in the republic, and most of them persons of a true cast for making improvements in husbandry, being enabled to join the practice with the theory.

Nor must we here omit to mention, that the justly celebrated Linnaeus and his disciples have performed great things in the north of Europe, particularly in discovering new kinds of profitable and well-tasted food for cattle. About the same time, Sweden bestowed successful labours on a soil which had before been looked upon as cold, barren, and incapable of melioration. Of this the Stockholm Memoirs will be a lasting monument.

Denmark, and many of the courts in Germany, followed the same example. Woollen manufactures were encouraged, and his Danish Majesty sent three persons into Arabia Felix to make remarks, and bring over such plants and trees as would be useful in husbandry, building, and rural affairs.

The duchy of Würtemberg, also, a country by no means unfertile, but even friendly to corn and pasture, has contributed its assistance towards the improvement of agriculture, having more than 30 years since published 14 economical relations at Stuttgart.

Neither must we forget the very assiduous attention of the learned in Leipzig and Hanover to this important object. During the rage and devastation of a long war, they cultivated the arts of peace; witness the Journal d'Agriculture printed at Leipzig, and the Recueils d'Hanover printed in that city.

Even Spain, constitutionally and habitually inactive on such occasions, in spite of all their natural indolence, and the prejudices of bigotry, invited Linnaeus, with the offer of a large pension, to superintend a college founded for the purpose of making new enquiries into the history of Nature and the art of agriculture.

Among the Japanese, agriculture is in great repute; and among the Chinese it is distinguished and encouraged by the court beyond all other sciences. The Emperor of China yearly, at the beginning of spring, goes to plough in person, attended by all the princes and grandees of the empire. The ceremony is performed with great solemnity; and is accompanied with a sacrifice, which the emperor, as high-priest, offers to Chang-Ti, to ensure a plentiful crop in favour of his people.

But, without any improper partiality to our own country, we are fully justified in affirming, that Britain alone exceeds all modern nations in husbandry; and from the spirit which for the last twenty years has animated many of our nobility and gentry, to become the liberal patrons of improvement, there is reason to hope that this most useful of arts will, in a few years, be carried to a greater pitch of perfection than it has ever yet attained in any age or country.—The Royal Society, the Bath Society, and the Society of Arts, &c., in particular, have been singularly useful in this respect; and the other associations, which are now established in many parts of the kingdom, co-operate with them in forwarding their laudable design.

It is not, however, to the exertion of public societies, excellent and honourable as they are, that all our modern improvements in agriculture owe their origin. To the natural genius of the people have been added the theory and practice of all nations in ancient and modern times. This accumulated mass of knowledge has been arranged, divided, and subdivided; and after passing the test of practical experiments, the essential and most valuable parts of it have been preserved, improved, and amply diffused in the works of Lord Kames, Mr Young, Stillingfleet, Dr Hunter, Anderson, Dickson, Ellis, Randal, Lisle, Marshal, Mortimer, Duhamel, Bradley, Kent, Mills, and a few other writers upon this great art of rendering mankind happy, wealthy, and powerful.

**Part I. Theory of Agriculture.**

In an art so extensively useful to mankind, and which has been so universally practised since the creation of the world, it is natural to expect the most exact and perfect theory. But in this we are totally disappointed.

One reason of this want of a distinct theory of agriculture is, the ignorance of what is properly the food of vegetables; for as the art of agriculture confines principally in supplying them with a proper quantity of food, in the most favourable circumstances, it is evident, we might proceed upon a much surer foundation if we could ascertain what their proper nourishment is, than we can do without this knowledge.

The reason of the great differences regarding the practice, probably, is the difficulty of making experiments in agriculture. It is not in this art as in Mechanics, Chemistry, &c., where an experiment can be made in an hour, or a day or two at farthest: an experiment in agriculture cannot be properly made in less than several years. Some favourable unobserved circumstances, quite foreign to the experiment itself, may concur to produce plentiful crops for a year or two; and thus the farmer may be induced to publish his fancied improvements; which failing in the hands of others, or perhaps even in his own on a repetition of the experiment, the new improvements are totally neglected, and things continue in their old way. Were he, however, capable of seeing and handling the food of vegetables, as well as he can do that of a horse or an ox, and procuring it in any imaginable quantity, it is plain, that he would be able to cause vegetables grow in their utmost luxuriancy, or, if we may be allowed the expression, fatten them, with as great certainty as he can fatten a horse or an ox, when he hath plenty of proper food to give them.—To ascertain what this food is, therefore, must be a step towards the perfection of agriculture; and to this we shall contribute our endeavour.

Sect. I. Of the proper Food of Plants.

We shall not here spend time in refuting the theories of those who imagined the vegetable food to consist of oily and saline substances. A more probable supposition has been, That Water and Air are the proper vegetable food, to which alone they owe their increase in bulk and weight.—That plants cannot be supported without both these, is very certain; but we know, that air is a compound fluid; and water is never without some impurities, so may also be considered as a compound.—Is it then the aqueous, the earthy, the acid, or the phlogistic part of the air, which nourishes plants? In like manner, is it the pure elementary part of water which nourishes them? or does it contribute to their growth only by the heterogeneous substances which it contains?

From Dr Priestley's experiments on different kinds of air, it appears that the purest kind of that fluid is not the fittest for the purposes of vegetation. On the contrary, vegetables flourished in a surprising degree when confined in a small quantity of air made perfectly noxious by the putrid effluvia of animal bodies.—Hence it appears probable, that such effluvia, or, in other words, the essence of corrupted matter, constitute at least one species of vegetable food; and when vegetables are put into such circumstances that the steams of putrefying bodies can have access to them, we are sure they will thrive the better.

The Doctor also found, that by agitating putrid air in water, part of which was exposed to the atmosphere, the water acquired a very putrid noxious smell; which shows, that water, as well as air, is capable of absorbing those effluvia which are found proper food for vegetables. We cannot help concluding, therefore, that in the continual ascent of water in vapour, and its descent again in rain, which is a much more effectual agitation than could be made by Dr Priestley, the water must be very intimately combined with the phlogistic or putrid effluvia which are contained in the air. To this union we are led strongly to suspect that rain-water owes its fertilizing qualities; for the purest spring waters, though most wholesome for animals, are not found to be fitted for promoting the growth of vegetables.—As, therefore, vegetables evidently receive nourishment both by their leaves and roots, and increase remarkably in bulk by absorbing the putrid effluvia from the air; and as they likewise increase in bulk by admitting water to their roots, and more so when the water contains much of that kind of effluvium than when it contains less; so we would conclude, that the nourishment received by the roots of plants is of the same kind with that received by their leaves; and that this food may be given them in greater plenty than they naturally receive it, by impregnating the air which surrounds them, or the water which moistens them, with a greater quantity of putrid matter than what they contain in a natural state.

Sect. II. The foregoing Theory confirmed from considerations on the nature of vegetable Mould, and the different kinds of Manure found proper for fertilizing the Soil.

Though plants will grow on any kind of earth, and all kinds of flourish vigorously, if plentifully supplied with water; equally productive kinds of soil are found much more proper for furnishing them with nourishment than others.—We rising vegetables, indeed, allow the inferences to be quite forgettable, which some would draw from experiments on plants set in mere sand, &c.; viz. that the earth is of no other use to vegetation than to afford a proper support to the plant, that it be not easily moved out of its place; because the experiments made on single vegetables are always performed in or very near houses, where the air is by no means so pure as in the open fields, and consequently where they have an opportunity of receiving as much nourishment from the air as may compensate the want of what they would have derived from the earth if planted in a rich soil. Lord Kames, in the Gentleman Farmer, mentions an experiment wherein a pea was planted on some cotton spread on water, in a phial. It sprung, and puffed roots through the cotton into the water. The plant grew vigorously, and, at the time of his writing the experiment, carried large pods full of ripe seed.—From this experiment, or others of a similar kind, however, a farmer would not be thought to act very judiciously, who should conclude that nothing more was requisite to produce a plentiful crop, than to keep his fields constantly soaking with water, and apply his labour only for that purpose, without regarding either tillage, manure, or the difference of soils. Experience has abundantly shown, that by certain operations performed on the earth itself, it is rendered much more capable of supplying vegetables with plenty of nourishment than if such operations were omitted; and that some kinds of soils cannot without certain additions be rendered so fit for this purpose as others; and this is what constitutes the difference between a rich and a poor soil.

That species of earth which is capable of supporting the vegetable kingdom with nourishment in the vegetable greatest plenty, is found best in well cultivated gardens. It is not, however, even in these, found in perfect purity; being constantly mixed with greater or lesser proportions of sand, small stones, &c. It can be had by itself, and entirely separated from all other substances, only by suffering vegetable or animal bodies to putrefy. By undergoing this operation, they are at last resolved into a kind of earth, which appears perfectly the same, from whatever substance it is produced. Of this earth Dr Lewis gives us the following characters. It is indissoluble. Theory. dissoluble in acids, somewhat tenacious when moistened with water, friable when dry, and acquires no additional hardness in the fire.—The chemistry of nature, and that of art, however, are so very dissimilar, that an account of the chemical properties of this earth can be but of very little service to the practice of agriculture; however, to those above mentioned we may add, that when it is distilled with a violent fire, a volatile alkaline spirit, and fetid oil, similar to those of hawthorn or other animal substances, are obtained.

As the volatile alkali is known to be produced in great plenty by distilling putrid substances either animal or vegetable, the obtaining an alkaline spirit from this kind of earth is a strong argument of its being much impregnated with the putrid effluvia, which we have already mentioned as the proper vegetable food contained in the air and water. Indeed, considering that this kind of earth is produced by putrefaction, it is next to an impossibility that it should not be impregnated with putrid fleams, as much as earth can be; and if the earth which is most impregnated with these fleams is found to afford the greatest quantity of nourishment to vegetables, we have from thence an additional proof that they live on the putrid matter emitted from dead animals and vegetables like themselves.

That we may be the more assured of this, it must be considered, that the earth, which undoubtedly is the great source of nourishment to vegetables, is capable of absorbing putrid effluvia more powerfully, or at least in much greater quantity, before it is saturated, than either the air or water. The practice of burying dead bodies is an undeniable proof of this. They are laid but a small depth under ground; yet the abominable stench emitted by the carcase is retained in the earth, so that it never penetrates in such a manner as to be offensive. That earth may be saturated with this putrid matter, as well as air or water, is very certain; and, in case of such a saturation, no doubt either of these will take up the superfluous quantity, and become noxious; but unless the earth is fully saturated, both of them will deposit part of what they themselves contain in the earth, and by that means become more salutary than they were before.

That earth is capable of attracting putrid effluvia from the air, perhaps, may not be so readily granted; and indeed we know of no experiment whereby it can be shown that putrid air is made salutary by having any kind of earth agitated in it; but if we consider the exceeding great salubrity of the air in the country, and the healthiness of those who follow the plough or are employed in digging the ground, we must at least allow, that when the ground is turned up, it communicates no kind of noxious quality to the air; which it would certainly do, if it emitted a putrid effluvium.

So far from this, the smell of moist earth is always agreeable and wholesome; and here we have the satisfaction to find our theory somewhat confirmed by the celebrated Baron van Swieten, late physician to the emperors of Hungary.

"Physicians," says he, "usually advise their patients to rufification, not only that they may enjoy a pure and freely circulating air; but that, as their strength increases, they may, disengaged from all care, exercise their body by the lighter labours of agriculture, and other country amusements.

"There may perhaps be another cause why rufification will be of benefit in consumptions. It is well known, that, after some days drought, on the falling of rain that moistens the earth, there arises a grateful smell, which we all are sensible of; and this is commonly attributed to the vegetables, which before appeared, but now refreshed by rain, perspire more copiously. But Beaumur observed, that a like fragrancy is also perceptible after rain when the corn has been cut down in the fields, where there only remains dry stubble; and examining the matter more particularly, he found that dry earth is without smell, but as soon as it is moistened to the degree of having the consistence of softish pap, it then diffuses a strong smell; but if more water is added, the smell is diminished, nay even quite dissipated. Neither does it seem an easy matter to exhaust that power of producing smells which the earth is possessed of. Every day, during a fortnight, he made cakes of moistened earth; and having dried and wetted them over again, he could not perceive that the earth was less fragrant after all these repeated experiments, if it was again wetted. He further observed, that this fragrancy does not diffuse itself to anything at a great distance, without being much diminished, and soon entirely gone.—It has been observed, that this expiration of the earth ceases if thunder and storms soon follow; while they continue, it begins to return; and when over, the same fragrancy of the earth for some hours affects the smell of a man as he walks along over a considerable tract of ground. There is no one, I believe, but has sometimes made this observation; and hence the earth, when moistened to a certain degree, seems to exhale fragrant odours, and indeed various in various places, as we are sensible of from their diversity. They are for the most part of a salubrious quality; as some persons quite faint and languid in the summer-heats perceive themselves wonderfully refreshed, whilst, after rain, they snuff up the fragrant odour. In some places those effluvia are perhaps bad, and may be the causes of diseases."

This property of emitting a fragrant smell is likewise taken notice of by Dr Home in his Principles of Agriculture and Vegetation. Some physicians have prescribed a bath of earth for the cure of consumptive patients; and Dr Solano de Luque was of opinion, that the earth had the property of absorbing contagious miasmata into it; but whether it can absorb these miasmata from living bodies or not, it certainly can absorb them from dead ones; for a piece of putrid meat will be much sweetened by lying for a short time in the ground.

From all this we cannot indeed infer, that putrid air is sweetened by mere earth; but we discover what transmutation is perhaps more important, namely, that though earth is the common receptacle of all putrid matters both animal and vegetable, there is a change made on them when in it, which cannot be made either by air or water. Thus, if the carcase of a small animal is left to putrefy in the air, it becomes exceedingly offensive, and continues so from first to last. The same thing happens if it is left to putrefy in water. But, in earth, the case is quite different. After the carcase is consumed, the earth which has imbibed all the putrid fleams, instead of exhaling an offensive odour, diffuses an agreeable one; and thus we may see that it is endowed with a power no less remarkable than that of attraction. traction or repulsion, and which we may distinguish by the name of transmutation. With regard to water, the case is more evident; for the most putrid water will be sweetened by percolation through earth, or even running in a channel for some time on its surface; but if it contains any impurities of the saline kind, they will not be separated, or at least in very small quantity.

The existence of such a power as that of transmutation we will be obliged to own, whatever we imagine the vegetable food to consist of; for it is impossible to solve the phenomena of vegetation by attractions and repulsions. If we suppose the vegetable food to be salt, let us attract and repel salt as we will, it remains salt from first to last. Let us suppose it water, the case is the same; and, by mere attraction, nothing but masses of salt, or pools of water, could be produced. The case is the same on our own hypothesis; for, supposing plants composed of the putrid effluvia of others, and of dead animals, if nature was endowed with no other power than attraction or repulsion, the vegetable would necessarily be a corrupted mass like that of which it was composed.—This power, as we have already seen, resides only in the earth, and in the vegetables themselves; air and water can indeed act as powerful solvents, but cannot transform or compound.

We must next consider the nature of those different operations, which, from time immemorial, have been performed on the earth, in order to cause it produce the greatest crops of vegetables. If all of these shall be found conspiring to one general purpose, then the shortest and most easy method of attaining that purpose is undoubtedly the most proper to be practised in agriculture, whether it hath been as yet put in execution or not. These are,

1. Frequent ploughing, or fallowing. The immediate consequences of this is to expose different quantities of the soil to the action of the air and sun, which will not fail to exert their solvent powers upon it. In consequence of this action, the earth is partly reduced to powder; many of the roots of vegetables, with which it always abounds, are dissolved and putrefied; and the earth produced from them mixes with the rest, as well as the effluvia they emit during their dissolution. The earth soon begins again to exert its prolific powers, and a crop of vegetables is produced. By a repetition of the ploughing, these are turned with their roots upwards, are exposed to the solvent powers of the air and light; in consequence of which they die, are putrefied, and more of the native soil is reduced to powder, and mixed with them. By a frequent repetition of this process, the soil becomes vastly more tender, and approaches to the nature of garden-mould, and its fertility is considerably increased.

Lord Kames is of opinion, that the reason of the fertility of any soil being increased by fallowing, is, that its capacity of retaining water is increased. But this cannot be admitted; for so far from being more disposed to retain water by its pulverisation, the soil is evidently more disposed to part with it, either by evaporation, or by suffering the moisture to percolate through it. In this respect it is far inferior to clay; for though dry garden-mould absorbs water much more quickly than clay, it also dries much sooner, and thus all the advantage is lost.

To those who reckon the food of vegetables to consist of oils or salts, the operation of fallowing ground must appear an useless one, as it can tend neither to oils and produce oils nor salts, but to destroy them. As its salts not the utility, however, cannot be denied, the favourers of true vegetation theory imagine, that the ground, by repeated operations of this kind, is fitted for attracting the nitrous salts from the air; but it is found, that these salts cannot be attracted by earth, or any other substance, even when exposed for a great length of time to the air with a view to produce salt-petre; which gives a strong suspicion against their existence; and even if nitre is mixed with the soil, it is found to be detrimental, and will kill or poison plants instead of nourishing them.

2. Overflowing the ground with water.—This is Overflowing found prodigiously to increase the fertility of any soil, with water. It is well known how much Egypt owes to the annual overflowing of the Nile; and even in this country the overflowing of any ground is found to be attended with great advantage. This is practised by Mr Bakewell of Leicestershire, famous for his improvements in the breed of cattle; and he finds it fully to answer an annual manuring of any other sort. It is also recommended by Mr Anderson of Monkshill, in his Essays on Agriculture.

The fertilizing quality of water will easily be accounted for on the same principles. When grown vegetables are covered with water, their growth, however vigorous before, is immediately stopt, unless they be of the aquatic kind; they die, are dissolved, and putrefied; in which case, their finer parts are undoubtedly absorbed by the earth; and thus the floating, as it is called, of fields with water, answers the purpose of fallowing, with very little trouble. This is not all; for stagnating water always deposits a sediment, which mixing with the dissolved parts of the vegetables all over the field, forms an excellent manure; and when the water is allowed to run off, the heat of the sun soon brings the highest degree of putrefaction on the dead vegetables; the effluvia of which, mixing with the mud deposited from the water, makes it exceedingly rich.

Upon the supposition of oily and saline food for vegetables, this operation must certainly be prejudicial; cannot be for nothing can so effectually deprive any substance of the vegetable salt as steeping it in water. Neither will water either be food, deposit oil from itself, or suffer it to mix with the ground if accidentally brought to it; nay, though a field were previously impregnated with oil, upon overflowing it with water great part of the oil would be separated, and rise to the top; so that, in either case, this operation could not fail to impoverish land rather than enrich it; and as vegetables are found to be supplied with food in plenty by an operation which must undoubtedly tend to take away both oils and salts from them, we cannot help thinking this a demonstration, that their food is composed neither of oil nor salt.

3. Manuring, or mixing the soil with different substances.—We shall here confine ourselves to those which and their operations are of undoubted efficacy, and have their credit established by long experience. These are, 1. lime, chalk, marle, shells, or other earths, called by the chemists calcareous earths; 2. foot; 3. ashes; 4. dung of different kinds.—(1.) Lime, chalk, marle, and shells, are all found to be of the same nature. The marle differs from the rest, only in having a mixture of clay along Theory along with its calcareous part. These contain neither salt nor oil of any kind; they readily imbibe water, and as readily part with it. Quicklime, indeed, retains water very obliquely: but such lime as is laid upon the ground soon returns to the same state in which it originally was; and powdered limestone is found to answer as well for the purposes of manure as that which has been burnt; so that here we may consider them all as substances of the same class.—If any of these substances are mixed with dead animal or vegetable bodies, they remarkably quicken their dissolution and corruption, as appears from Sir John Pringle's experiments on putrefaction. When mixed with the soil, therefore, they must undoubtedly exert their powers on such substances as they find there, in the same manner as they do on others; that is, they must hasten their dissolution and putrefaction, and give the pure vegetable mould an opportunity of absorbing their putrid steams, and consequently of being fertilized by it in the same manner as by putrid substances of any kind.

(2.) Those who contend for oily and saline principles in the vegetable food, avail themselves of the usefulness of foot as a manure; which is not only oily of itself, but affords a great quantity of volatile salt, along with some neutral sal-ammoniac. It must be remembered, however, that not an atom either of volatile salt or sal-ammoniac can be extracted from foot without a considerable heat, which no soil can give, nor could any vegetable bear. Neither doth its oil appear without a great degree of heat: and though it feels somewhat unctuous to the touch, this is but a mere deception; for no true oil, capable of floating on water, can be obtained from foot without distillation. It is impossible, therefore, that foot can act upon the soil either as an oily or a saline substance; how far it is capable of dissolution by putrefaction, or being otherwise converted into an earth, hath not yet been determined by experiments; but as it yields, on distillation, the same principles which are obtained from animal or putrefied vegetable substances, it is probable that foot enriches the ground in the same manner that they do.

(3.) The use of ashes in manure is likewise urged as an argument for the food of vegetables being of a saline nature; as it is known, that the common alkaline salts are procured by lixiviating the ashes of wood and other vegetables. Experience, however, shows us, that ashes are no less fit for manure after the salt is extracted from them than before. Indeed, if there be any difference, it is in favour of the washed ashes. The alkali itself, though in Sir John Pringle's experiments it was found to be antiseptic, or a resifter of putrefaction, is nevertheless a powerful disfavourer; and as it must soon lose its alkaline properties when mixed with the earth, in consequence of the universal existence of the vitriolic acid, those substances which it has dissolved will be more disposed to putrefaction than before, and consequently tend to fertilize the ground in the manner we have already described. The washed ashes are septic, or promoters of putrefaction, and consequently act in the same manner as chalk or limestone.

(4.) All kinds of dung are so much disposed to putrefaction, that it is difficult to imagine any other way in which they can be serviceable to vegetation than by their putrid effluvia.—People indeed may dream of imaginary salts in dung; but if they knew or considered the difficulty of procuring salt of any kind from dung, they would probably alter their sentiments. The volatile salts procured from this as well as other animal matters, are mere creatures of the fire: putrid urine produces them indeed without heat, but scarce any other animal substance. Nevertheless, other putrid substances will fertilize the ground as well as urine, and therefore must act in some other way than by their salts. Though Dr Priestley's experiments had never been made, we could have formed no other rational supposition concerning the manner in which putrid substances fertilize the earth, than what we have already done; but as he has shown that vegetables are prodigiously increased in bulk by the mere contact of these putrid items, where no saline substances could have access to them, we cannot help thinking this a decisive experiment concerning the manner in which the ground is fertilized by manuring with dung or other putrid substances.

We shall conclude this part of the subject with an account of some experiments concerning the effects of fatty substances on the growth of vegetables. The following are related by Lord Kames, in his Gentleman Farmer.—"A number of Jerusalem artichokes were set in pots filled with pure sand. One plant was kept as a standard, being nourished with water only. Other plants of the same kind were nourished with water in which salt of tartar, a fixed alkali, was dissolved. These grew more vigorously than the standard plant; but, by reiterated waterings, there came to be such an accumulation of the fixed alkali among the sand, as to make the plants decay, and at last to die. Some plants were nourished with water in which sal-ammoniac, a volatile alkali, was dissolved. These grew also well for some time; but, like the former, were destroyed by frequent reiterations of it. Weak lime-water promoted the growth of its plants more than common water. But water completely saturated with quicklime, proved more noxious than that which contained a fixed alkali, though less than that which contained a solution of volatile alkali.—Urine promoted, for a long time, the growth of its plants; and the most putrid appeared to have the strongest effect; but at last it totally destroyed them. Water impregnated with putrid animal and vegetable substances, did more effectually promote the growth of its plants than any other solution; and in every stage of the process appeared to be salutary."

With regard to other saline substances, there are not many experiments which can be depended upon concerning their qualities as a manure. Mr Anderson relates an experiment made with common salt; the success of which, we apprehend, may justly enough be taken as a specimen of what is to be expected from manures of a similar kind.—He marked out a circle of six feet diameter in the middle of a grass-field, which he distinguished by driving a stake in its centre. All over this circle he sowed common salt, which, about the stake, lay near an inch thick on the ground. In this state he left it to the operations of nature. The grass sprung up as usual, neither better nor worse about the stake than in the rest of the field, and the place where the circle was could be distinguished only by the stake, which was left there for some years.

Upon these experiments we need make very few observations. They are so much in favour of our theory, that they seem made on purpose to confirm it. The fixed fixed alkali employed in Lord Kames's experiments would first exert its solvent powers on such heterogeneous substances as it met with among the sand; for no sand can be supposed to be perfectly free of these. As long as it exerted its strength on these only, the plant would thrive, for the reasons we have already mentioned; but having exhausted the small quantity of substances contained in the sand, it would next attack the plant itself, which consequently would decay and die. The same effects would necessarily follow in a greater degree from strong lime-water which contains lime in its caustic state; for this is a more powerful solvent than fixed alkali itself, and would not fail to destroy everything it touched; nor is it at all improbable that the plant would seem to grow vigorously by the dissolution of part of its own roots, more nourishment being by this means given to those which remained found.—Volatile alkali is likewise a powerful solvent; but, by reason of its volatility, would exert its caustic power on the plant sooner than either lime or fixed alkali; and accordingly it seems to have been the most destructive of anything that was tried. It seems owing to this, that putrid urine at last destroyed the plants whose growth it so long promoted; while water impregnated with other putrid matters, which yield no volatile alkali without heat, proved always salutary.

From all this, we may draw the following general conclusion, viz. That the principal end which a farmer ought to keep in view, is to impregnate his ground as much as possible, with substances which either actually contain putrid matter, or which are in their own nature septic, or promoters of putrefaction. To impregnate the air with putrid effluvia is impossible; and tho' it could be done, would be highly dangerous; for however salutary such effluvia may be to vegetables, nothing can be more fatal to mankind. The putrid substances, therefore, can only be used by mixing them with the earth; and in whatever manner they can be most perfectly, and in the greatest quantity, mixed with the soil, there the best crops may be expected.

**Sect. III. Of the different Soils, and the Manures most proper for each.**

According to the theory we have just now laid down, the richest soil must be that which contains the greatest quantity of putrid matter, either animal or vegetable; and such is the earth into which animal and vegetable substances resolve themselves. Was this earth to be had in perfection, it is evident it could not stand in need of manure of any kind, or be in the least enriched by it; for containing an immense quantity of putrid matter, it would freely communicate it to the vegetables planted in it, which would grow in the most luxuriant manner, without requiring any other care than that of keeping them constantly supplied with water. If we suppose the crop left upon the ground to putrefy and mix with the earth as before, the soil will contain the same quantity of putrid matter the second year that it did the first, and be equally prolific; but if the crop is removed to another place, and nothing is brought back to enrich the ground in its stead, it is evident, that it will contain less of the true vegetable food the second year than it did the first, and consequently be less prolific. For some time, however, the difference will not be perceptible; and people who are in possession of such ground may imagine that they enjoy a soil which will be perpetually fertile; but long experience has taught us, that the richest soils will at last be exhausted by repeated cropping without manure, as according to our theory they ought to be.

Where the ground has been suffered to remain uncultivated for many ages, producing all that time succulent plants which are easily putrefied, and trees, the leaves of which likewise contribute to enrich the ground by their falling off and mixing with it, the soil will in a manner be totally made up of pure vegetable earth, and be the richest, when cultivated, that can be imagined. This was the case with the lands of America. They had remained uncultivated perhaps since the creation, and were endowed with an extraordinary degree of fertility; nevertheless we are assured by one who went to America in order to purchase lands there, that such grounds as had been long cultivated, were so much exhausted, as to be much worse than the generality of cultivated grounds in this country. Here, then, we have an example of one species of poor soil; namely, one that has been formerly very rich, but has been deprived, by repeated workings, of the greatest part of the vegetable food it contained. The farmer who is in possession of such ground, would no doubt willingly restore it to its former state; the present question is, What must be done in order to obtain this end? We have mentioned several kinds of manures which long practice has recommended as serviceable for improving ground; we shall suppose the farmer tries lime, or chalk; for, as we have already seen, their operations upon the soil must be precisely the same. This substance, being of a septic nature, will act upon such parts of the soil as are not putrefied, or but imperfectly so; in consequence of which, the farmer will reap a better crop than formerly. The septic nature of the lime is not altered by any length of time. In ploughing the ground, the lime is more and more perfectly mixed with it, and gradually exerts its power on every putreficible matter it touches. As long as any matter of this kind remains, the farmer will reap good crops; but when the putreficible matter is all exhausted, the ground then becomes perfectly barren; and the caustic qualities of the lime are most unjustly blamed for burning the ground, and reducing it to a caput mortuum; while it is plain, the lime has only done its office, and made the soil yield all that it was capable of yielding.

When ground has been long uncultivated, producing all the time plants, not succulent, but such as are very poor soil difficultly dissolved, and in a manner incapable of putrefaction; there the soil will be excessively barren, and by lime yield very scanty crops, tho' cultivated with the greatest care. Of this kind are those lands covered with heath, which are found to be the most barren of any, and the most difficulty brought to yield good crops. In this case lime will be as serviceable, as it was detrimental in the other; for by its septic qualities, it will continually reduce more and more of the soil to a putrid state; and thus there will be a constant succession of better and better crops, by the continued use of lime when the quantity first laid on has exerted all its force. By a continued use of this manure, the ground will be gradually brought nearer and nearer to the nature of garden-mould; and, no doubt, by proper care, might be made made as good as any; but it will be as great a mistake to imagine, that, by the use of lime, this kind of soil may be rendered perpetually fertile, as to think that the other was naturally so; for though lime enriches this soil, it does so, not by adding vegetable food to it, but by preparing what it already contains; and when all is properly prepared, it must as certainly be exhausted as in the other case.

Here, then, we have examples of two kinds of poor soils; one of which is totally destroyed, the other greatly improved, by lime, and which therefore require very different manures; lime being more proper for the last than dung; while dung, being more proper to restore an exhausted soil than lime, ought only to be used for the first. Besides dunging land which has been exhausted by long cropping, it is of great service to let it lie fallow for some time; for to this it owed its original fertility; and what gave the fertility originally, cannot fail to restore it in some degree.

By attending to the distinction between the reasons for the poverty of the two soils just now mentioned, we will always be able to judge with certainty in what cases lime is to be used, and when dung is proper. The mere poverty of a soil is not a criterion whereby we can judge; we must consider what hath made it poor. If it is naturally so, we may almost infallibly conclude, that it will become better by being manured with lime. If it is artificially poor, or exhausted by continual cropping, we may conclude that lime will entirely destroy it.—We apprehend, that it is this natural kind of poverty only which Mr Anderson says, in his Essays on Agriculture, may be remedied by lime; for we can scarcely think that experience would direct any person to put lime upon land already exhausted. His words are,

"Calcareous matters act as powerfully upon land that is naturally poor, as upon land that is more richly impregnated with those substances that tend to produce a luxuriant vegetation."

Writers on agriculture have long been in the custom of dividing manures into two classes, viz. Enriching manures, or those that tended directly to render the soil more prolific, however sterile it may be; among the foremost of which was dung: Exciting manures, or those that were supposed to have a tendency to render the soil more prolific, merely by acting upon those enriching manures that had been formerly in the soil, and giving them a new stimulus, so as to enable them to operate anew upon that soil which they had formerly fertilized. In which class of stimulating manures, lime was always allowed to hold the foremost place.

In consequence of this theory, it would follow, that lime could only be of use as a manure when applied to rich soils—and when applied to poor soils, would produce hardly any, or even perhaps hurtful effects.

"I will frankly acknowledge, that I myself was so far imposed upon by the beauty of this theory, as to be hurried along with the general current of mankind, in the firm persuasion of the truth of this observation, and for many years did not sufficiently advert to those facts that were daily occurring to contradict this theory.—I am now, however, firmly convinced, from repeated observations, that lime, and other calcareous manures, produce a much greater proportional improvement upon poor soils than such as are richer.—And that lime alone, upon a poor soil, will, in many cases, produce a much greater and more lasting degree of fertility than dung alone."

Thus far Mr Anderson's experience is exactly conformable to the theory we have laid down, and what ought to happen according to our principles. He mentions, however, some facts which seem very strongly to militate against it; and indeed he himself seems to proceed upon a theory altogether different.

"Calcareous matter alone (says he) is not capable of rearing plants to perfection;—mould is necessary to be mixed with it in certain proportions, before it can form a proper soil. It remains, however, to be determined, what is the due proportion of these ingredients for forming a proper soil.

"We know that neither chalk, nor marl, nor lime, can be made to nourish plants alone; and soils are sometimes found that abound with the two first of these to a faulty degree. But the proportion of calcareous matter in these is so much larger than could ever be produced by art, where the soil was naturally destitute of these substances, that there seems to be no danger of erring on that side. Probably it would be much easier to correct the defects of those soils in which calcareous matters superabound, by driving earth upon them as a manure, than is generally imagined; as a very small proportion of it sometimes affords a very perfect soil. I shall illustrate my meaning by a few examples.

"Near Sandfide, in the county of Caithness, there is a pretty extensive plain on the sea-coast, endowed with a most singular degree of fertility. In all seasons it produces a most luxuriant herbage, although it never got any manure since the creation; and has been for time immemorial subjected to the following course of crops.

1. Bear, after once ploughing from grass, usually a good crop. 2. Bear, after once ploughing, a better crop than the first. 3. Bear, after once ploughing, a crop equal to the first. 4. 5. and 6. Natural grass, as close and rich as could be imagined, might be cut, if the possessor so inclined, and would yield an extraordinary crop of hay each year.

After this the same course of cropping is renewed. The soil that admits of this singular mode of farming, appears to be a pure incoherent sand, destitute of the smallest particle of vegetable mould; but, upon examination, it is found to consist almost entirely of broken shells: the fine mould here bears such a small proportion to the calcareous matter, as to be scarcely perceptible, and yet it forms the most fertile soil that ever I yet met with.

"I have seen many other links (downs) upon the sea-shore, which produced the most luxuriant herbage, and the closest and sweetest pile of grass, where they consisted of flinty sand; which, without doubt, derive their extraordinary fertility from that cause.

"A very remarkable plain is found in the island of Jir-eye, one of the Hebrides. It has been long employed as a common; so that it has never been disturbed by the plough, and affords annually the most luxuriant crop of herbage, consisting of white clover, and other..." other valuable pasture-grounds, that can be met with anywhere. The soil consists of a very pure shelly sand.

"From these examples, I think it is evident, that a very small proportion of vegetable mould is sufficient to render calcareous matter a very rich soil. Perhaps, however, a larger proportion may be necessary when it is mixed with clay than with sand; as poor chalky soils seem to be of the nature of that composition.

To these examples brought by Mr. Anderson, we may add some of the same kind mentioned by Lord Kames. His lordship having endeavoured to establish the theory of water being the only food of plants, though he himself frequently deviates from that theory, yet thinks it possible, upon such a principle, to make a soil perpetually fertile.

"To recruit (says he) with vegetable food, a soil impoverished by cropping, has hitherto been held the only object of agriculture. But here opens a grander object, worthy to employ our keenest industry, that of making a soil perpetually fertile. Such soils actually exist; and why should it be thought, that imitation here is above the reach of art? Many are the instances of nature being imitated with success. Let us not despair, while any hope remains; for invention never was exercised upon a subject of greater utility. The attempt may suggest proper experiments: it may open new views: and if we fail in equalling nature, may we not, however, hope to approach it? A soil perpetually fertile must be endowed with a power to retain moisture sufficient for its plants; and at the same time must be of a nature that does not harden by moisture. Calcareous earth promises to answer both ends: it prevents a soil from being hardened by water; and it may probably also invigorate its retentive quality. A field that got a sufficient dose of clay-marl, carried above 30 successive rich crops, without either dung or fallow. Doth not a soil so meliorated draw near to one perpetually fertile? Near the east side of Fife, the coast for a mile inward is covered with sea-sand, a foot deep or so; which is extremely fertile, by a mixture of sea-shells reduced to powder by attrition. The powdered shells, being the same with shell-marl, make the land retentive of moisture; and yet no quantity of moisture will unite the sand into a solid body. A soil so mixed, seems to be not far distant from one perpetually fertile. These, it is true, are but faint essays; but what will not perseverance accomplish in a good cause?"

Having thus, in a manner, positively determined with Mr. Anderson, that no dose of calcareous matter can possibly be too great, we cannot help owning ourselves surprized on finding his Lordship expressing himself as follows: "An over-dose of shell-marl, laid perhaps an inch, and an inch and a half, or two inches thick, produces, for a time, large crops; but at last it renders the soil a caput mortuum, capable of neither corn nor grass; of which there are too many instances in Scotland; the same probably would follow from an over-dose of clay-marl, lime-marl, or pounded limestone."—To account for this, he is obliged to make a supposition directly contrary to his former one; namely, that calcareous matter renders the soil incapable of retaining water. This phenomenon, however, we think is solved upon the principles above laid down, in a satisfactory manner, and without the least inconsistency.

As to rendering soils perpetually fertile, we cannot help thinking the attempt altogether chimerical and vain. There is not one example in nature of a soil perpetually fertile, where it has no supply but from the air, and the rain which falls upon it. The above cited examples can by no means be admitted as proofs soils change of perpetual fertility. We know, that the grass on the rich banks of a river is much more luxuriant than what grows at a distance: the reason is, that the water is attracted by the earth, and communicates its fertilizing qualities to it; but was the river to be dried up, the grass would soon become like the rest. Why should not the ocean have the same power of fertilizing plains near its shores, that rivers have of fertilizing small spots near their banks? We see, however, that it hath not; for the sea-shores are generally sandy and barren. The reason of this is, that the waters of the ocean contain a quantity of loose acid*; and this acid is poisonous to plants; but abstracting this acid part, we hesitate not to affirm, that sea-water is more fertilizing than river-water. It is impossible to know how far the waters of the ocean penetrate under ground through a sandy soil. Where they meet with nothing to absorb their acid, there the ground is quite barren; but in passing through an immense quantity of broken shells, the calcareous matter, we are very certain, will absorb all the acid; and thus the soil will be continually benefited by its vicinity to the ocean. All the above fields, therefore, are evidently supplied with nourishment from the ocean; for if the salt-water has sufficient efficacy to render fields which are in its neighbourhood barren, why should it not render them fertile when the cause of barrenness is removed from its waters?

After all, the field in Caithness, mentioned by Mr. Anderson, seems to have been perpetually fertile only in grass; for though the second year it carried a better crop of bear than it did the first, yet the third year the crop was worse than the second, and only equal to the first. Had it been ploughed a fourth time, the crop would probably have been worse than the first. Ground is not near so much exhausted by grass as corn, even though the crop be cut, and carried off; and still less, if it only feeds cattle, and is manured by their dung; which appears to have been the case with this field.

Lord Kames, indeed, mentions fields in Scotland, that, past memory, have carried successive crops of wheat, peas, barley, oats, without a fallow, and without a manure; and particularizes one on the river Carron, of nine or ten acres, which had carried 103 crops of oats without intermission, and without manure: but as we are not acquainted with any such fields, nor know anything about their particular situation, we can form no judgment concerning them.

Besides the two kinds of soils above mentioned, there clay and sand are others, the principal ingredient of which is clay or sandy soils. The first of these is apt to be hardened by the heat of the sun, so that the vegetables can scarcely penetrate it in such a manner as to receive proper nourishment. The second, if it is not situated so as to receive a great deal of moisture, is very apt to be parched up in summer, and the crop destroyed; nor has it sufficient adhesion to support plants that have few roots and grow high. From these opposite qualities, it is evident, that these two soils would be a proper manure for one another; the clay would give a sufficient degree of firmness to the sand, and the sand would break the too great tenacity of the clay. According to Dr Home's experiments, however, sand is the worst manure for clay that can be used. He recommends marl most. To reduce clay-ground as near as possible to the form of pure vegetable mould, it must first be pulverized. This is most effectually performed by ploughing and harrowing; but care must be taken not to plough it whilst too wet, otherwise it will concret into hard clods which can scarcely be broken. After it is pulverized, however, some means must be taken to keep it from concreting again into the same hard masses as before. According to Lord Kames, though clay, after pulverization, will concrete into as hard a mass as before, if mixed with water; yet if mixed with dung-hill juice, it will not concret any more. Lime also breaks its tenacity, and is very useful as a manure for this kind of soil.

The conclusion we wish the practical farmer to draw from our theory is, That there is a certain limit to the fertility of the earth, both as to duration and degree, at any particular time; that the nearer any soil approaches to the nature of pure garden-mould, the nearer it is to the most perfect degree of fertility; but that there are no hopes of keeping it perpetually in such a state, or in any degree of approximation to it, but by constant and regular manuring with dung. Lime, chalk, marl, &c. may be proper to bring it near to this state, but are absolutely unfit to keep it continually so. They may indeed for several years produce large crops; but the more they increase the fertility for some years, the sooner will they bring on an absolute barrenness; while regular manuring with plenty of dung will always ensure the keeping up the soil in good condition, without any occasion for fallow. What we have said concerning the use of lime, &c., applies likewise to the practice of frequent ploughing, though in a less degree. This tends to meliorate ground that is naturally poor, by giving an opportunity to the vegetable parts to putrefy; but when that is done, it tends to exhaust, though not so much as lime. A judicious farmer will constantly strive to keep his lands always in good condition, rather than to make them suddenly much better; lest a few years should convince him that he was in reality doing almost irreparable mischief, while he fancied himself making improvements. As for the ridiculous notions of stimulating the ground by saline manures, we hope they will never enter the brain of any rational practitioner of agriculture.

Sect. IV. Of the different kinds of Vegetables proper to be raised with a view to the Melioration of Soil.

The methods of meliorating soils, which we have mentioned above, consisting of tedious and laborious operations that yield no return at first, it is natural for a farmer to wish for some method of meliorating his ground, and reaping crops at the same time. One very considerable step towards the melioration of ground is, its pulverization. This is accomplished by repeated ploughings (a), as already mentioned; especially if performed in autumn, that the ground may be exposed to the winter's frost; but these ploughings yield no crop as long as the field is not sown. By planting in the field, however, those vegetables whose roots swell to a considerable bulk, the ground must constantly be acted upon by the swelling of their roots in all directions; and thus the growing of the crop itself may be equal, or superior, in efficacy to several ploughings, at the same time that the farmer enjoys the benefit of it. The plant most remarkable for the swelling of its roots is the potato; and by none is the ground meliorated more, or even so much. They are not, however, equally proper for all soils. In clay they do not thrive, nor are palatable; but in hard gravelly or sandy soils, they grow to a large size, and are of an excellent quality. Turnips likewise contribute to meliorate the ground, by the swelling of their roots, though not so much as potatoes. They have this advantage, however, that they will thrive in almost any soil. In clay ground, peas and beans thrive exceedingly well, and therefore are proper in this kind of soil as a preparatory for other kinds of grain. These push their roots deep into the ground, and cover it with their leaves more than other crops; so that the sun has not so much access as when it is covered with other kinds of grain. Wherever any of these kinds of vegetables are raised, it is observable, that more or less blackness is communicated to the soil; an evident sign of its melioration; this being the colour of the true vegetable mould, or loamy soil, as it is called.

Besides the above-mentioned plants, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, and all those vegetables which sink their roots deep in the ground, answer the same purpose of loosening and pulverizing the earth; but as they will not thrive but on ground already well cultivated, they cannot be raised to any advantage for the purpose of meliorating a poor soil.

It hath been customary in many places, particularly in England, to sow turnip, peas, buck-wheat, &c., and then to plough them down for manuring the land. This being similar to that operation of nature by which the renders the uncultivated soils so exceedingly fertile, cannot fail of being attended with singular advantages; and might be looked upon as preferable even to driving dung on the land to fatten it, was it not attended with the entire loss of a crop for that year.

Sect. V. Of Destroying Weeds.

What we have already said regarding the cultivation of the soil, respects only the fitting it for producing all kinds of vegetables indiscriminately. Experience, however, shows, that the ground is naturally much more disposed to produce and nourish some kinds of vegetables than others; and those which the earth seems most to delight in, are commonly such as are of very little use to man; but if neglected, will increase to such a degree, as entirely to destroy the plants intended to be raised, or at least hinder them from coming to perfection, by depriving them of nourishment. The clearing the ground of weeds, therefore, is an article no less necessary in agriculture, than the disposing it to produce vegetables of any kind in plenty.

(a) This, however, must be understood with some limitation; for it appears from experience, that many light and thin soils receive detriment rather than advantage from frequent ploughings; particularly in summer, when the sun exhales the nutritive particles in great abundance. The weeds may be divided, according to the time of their duration, into annual, or such as spring from a feed, and die the same year; and perennial, that is, such as are propagated by the roots, and last for a number of years. The first kind are the least noxious, and most easily destroyed. For this purpose it will be sufficient to let them spring up till near the time of ripening their seed, and then plough them down before it comes to maturity. It is also of service to destroy such weeds as grow in borders, or neglected corners, and frequently scatter their seeds to a great distance; such as the thistle, dandelion, rag-weed, &c., for these are sufficient to propagate their species through a deal of ground; as their seeds are carried about with the wind to very considerable distances. A farmer ought also to take care, that the small seeds of weeds, separated from corn in winnowing, be not thrown again upon the ground; for this certainly happens when they are thrown upon a dunghill; because, being the natural offspring of the earth, they are not easily destroyed. The best method of preventing any mischief from this cause, would be to burn them.

Perennial weeds cannot be effectually destroyed, but by removing the roots from the ground, which is often a matter of some difficulty. Many of these roots strike so deep in the ground, that they can scarcely be got out. The only method that can be depended upon in this case, is frequent ploughing, to render the ground as tender as possible; and harrowing with a particular kind of harrow, which shall hereafter be described, in order to collect these pernicious roots. When collected, they ought to be dried and burnt, as the only effectual method of infusing their doing no further mischief.

There is a particular species of weed, peculiar only to grass-lands, of a soft spongy nature, called fog, which it is found very difficult to exterminate. Where the land can be conveniently tilled, this weed may be destroyed by covering it with a crop of peas, potatoes, &c., or, piling a heavy roller over the ground will be of great service; for fog owes its origin to too great a laxity of the soil, and will not grow upon firm ground.

Besides these kinds of weeds which are of an herbaceous nature, there are others which are woody, and grow to a very considerable size; such as broom, furze, or whins, and thorns. Broom is an evergreen shrub, that thrives best in sandy soil; and there it grows to vigorously, as scarce to admit any grass under it. It propagates by seed which grows in pods; and these, when fully ripe, break with violence, scattering the seeds all around. Thus, a field which is overgrown with broom, besides the old plants, always contains an infinite number of young ones; so that though the old plants die when cut over, a fresh crop constantly springs up. It may, however, be destroyed by frequent ploughing and harrowing, in the same manner as other perennial weeds are; for it does not for some time carry any seed, and the frequent ploughing encourages the vegetation of all those that are already in the ground, which cannot fail of being destroyed by frequent repetitions of the operation. Another method of destroying broom, is by pasturing the field where it grows with sheep. A few of the old bushes may be left as a shelter, and these will be in a good measure prevented from spreading by the cropping of the sheep. These animals are very fond of broom, and greedily devour every young shoot; so that if any remain after the first year, there will not be a vestige the second. If this method of extirpating broom is equally effectual with that of frequent ploughing, it is certainly much more profitable, as there is no food more nourishing to sheep than young broom. Broom, however, is said to have a singular effect upon sheep: it makes them drunk so effectually, that when heated with a little driving, they tumble over, and lie without motion.

The whin is a fine evergreen shrub, carrying a sweet-smelling flower all the year round. It propagates both by seed and by its roots, which spread sometimes to the distance of 10 or 12 feet; and hence, when once established, it is with difficulty extirpated. The best method is to set fire to the whins in frosty weather; for fruit has the effect to wither whins, and make them burn readily. The stumps must then be cut over with a hatchet; and when the ground is well softened by rain, it may be ploughed up, and the roots taken out by a harrow adapted to that purpose. If the field is soon laid down to grass, the whins will again spring up in great abundance, from the seeds, and small parts of the roots left in the ground. In this case, pasturing with sheep is an effectual remedy; as they are no less fond of young whins than of young broom; and if there are a sufficient number, they will not leave a single plant above ground. But if grass is not immediately wanted, the most effectual method of clearing a field of whins, is by reiterated ploughings.

The thorn, or bramble, spreads its roots very wide, and at the same time sinks them deep in the earth. Though cut in the winter, it rises, and comes to such perfection as to carry fruit in summer. It can only be extirpated by ploughing up the ground, and collecting the roots.

Sect. VI. Of the most proper kinds of Vegetables to be raised for the purposes of feeding Cattle.

Though this must be an article of the utmost consequence to every farmer, we do not find that it has been much considered. Mr Anderson seems to have been the first writer on agriculture who hath properly attended to this subject; and what he hath wrote upon it, is rather a catalogue of defiderata, than any thing else: and indeed the defiderata on this subject are so many and so great, that we must acknowledge ourselves very unable to fill them up.—To attain to a competent knowledge in this respect, the following things must be taken into consideration. (1.) The wholeomeness of the food required for cattle, with regard to health and strength, suitable for or fattening. (2.) The quantity that any extent of cattle ground is capable of yielding. (3.) The quantity necessary to feed the different kinds of cattle. (4.) The labour of cultivation; and, (5.) The soil they require to bring them to perfection, and the effect they have upon it.

With regard to the wholeomeness, it is plain, that as the natural food of wild cattle is the green succulent plants they meet with all the year round, food of this kind, could it be had, must be preferable to hay; and accordingly we find that cattle will always prefer succulent vegetables where they can get them. To find plants of this kind, and having proper qualities in other respects, we must search among those which continue green all the year round, or come to their greatest perfection in the winter-time.—Of these, cabbages bid fair for holding the first place; both as being very succulent, and a very large quantity of them growing upon a small space of ground. In Mr Young’s Six Months Tour, we have an account of the produce of cabbages in many different places, and on a variety of soils. The produce by Mr Crow at Keplin, on a clay soil, was, on an average of five years, 35 tons per acre; by Mr Smelt at the Leafes, on a sandy gravel, 18 tons per acre; by Mr Scroop at Danby, on an average of six years, 37 tons per acre; and the general average of all the accounts given by Mr Young, is 36 tons per acre.

Cabbages, however, have the great inconvenience of sometimes imparting a disagreeable flavour to the milk of cows fed with them, and even to the flesh of other cattle. This, it is said, may be prevented by carefully picking off the decayed and withered leaves; and very probably this is the case; for no vegetable inclines more to putrefaction than this; and therefore particular care ought to be taken to pull off all the leaves that have any symptoms of decay. Dr Priestley found that air was rendered noxious by a cabbage-leaf remaining in it for one night, though the leaf did not show any symptom of putrefaction.—For milk-cows, probably the cabbages might be rendered more proper food by boiling them.

The culture of the turnip-rooted cabbage has lately been much practised, and greatly recommended, particularly for the purpose of a late spring feed; and seems indeed to be a most important article in the farming economy, as will be shown in its proper place.

Turnips likewise produce very bulky crops, though far inferior to those of cabbages. According to Mr Young’s calculation, the finest soil does not produce above five tons of turnips per acre; which is indeed a very great disproportion: but possibly such a quantity of turnips may not be consumed by cattle as of cabbages; an ox, of 80 stone weight, eat 210 lb. of cabbages in 24 hours, besides seven pound of hay.

Carrots are found to be an excellent food for cattle of all kinds, and are greatly relished by them. In a rich land, according to Mr Young’s account, the produce of this root was 200 bushels per acre. A finer soil, it was 640 bushels per acre. A lean hog was fattened by carrots in ten days time: he ate 196 lb.; and his fat was very fine, white, firm, and did not boil away in the dressing. They were preferred to turnips by the cattle; which having tasted the carrots, soon became so fond of them, as difficulty to be made to eat the turnips at all. It is probable, indeed, that carrots will make a more wholesome food for cattle than either cabbages or turnips, as they are strongly antiseptic; infomuch as to be used in poultices for correcting the fancies of cancers. It is probably owing to this, that the milk of cows fed on carrots is never found to have any bad taste. Six horses kept on them through the winter without oats, performed their work as usual, and looked equally well. This may be looked upon as a proof of their salubrity as a food; and it certainly can be no detriment to a farmer to be so much versant in medical matters, as to know the impropriety of giving putrefied food to his cattle. It is well known, what a prodigious difference there is in the health of the human species when fed on putrid meats, in comparison of what they enjoy when supplied with food of a contrary nature; and why may there not be a difference in the health of beasts, as well as of men, when in similar circumstances?—It is also very probable, that as carrots are more solid than cabbages or turnips, they will go much farther in feeding cattle than either of them. The above-mentioned example of the hog seems some kind of confirmation of this; he being fed, for ten days together, with 21 lb. less weight of carrots than what an ox devoured of cabbages and hay in one day. There is a great disproportion, it must be owned, between the bulk of an ox and that of a hog; but we can scarce think that an ox will eat as much at a time as ten hogs. At Parlington in Yorkshire, 20 work-horses, four bullocks, and six milk-cows, were fed on the carrots that grew on three acres, from the end of September till the beginning of May; and the animals never tasted any other food but a little hay. The milk was excellent, and 30 hogs were fattened upon what was left by the other cattle.

Potatoes likewise appear to be a very palatable food for all kinds of cattle; and not only oxen, hogs, &c., are easily fed by them, but even poultry. The cheapness of potatoes compared with other kinds of food for cattle, cannot well be known, as, besides the advantage of the crop, they improve the ground more than any other known vegetable. According to a correspondent of the Bath Society*, “roasting pork is never so moist and delicate as when fed with potatoes, and killed from the barn-doors without any confinement. For bacon and hams, two bushels of pea-meal should be well incorporated with four bushels of boiled potatoes, which quantity will fat a hog of twelve stone (fourteen pounds to the stone). Cows are particularly fond of them: half a bushel at night, and the same proportion in the morning, with a small quantity of hay, is sufficient to keep three cows in full milk; they will yield as much and as sweet butter as the best grass. In fattening cattle, I allow them all they will eat: a beast of about 35 stone will require a bushel per day, but will fatten one-third sooner than on turnips. The potatoes should be clean washed, and not given until they are dry. They do not require boiling for any purpose but fattening hogs for bacon, or poultry; the latter eat them greedily. I prefer the champion potato to any fort I ever cultivated. They do not answer so well for horses and colts as I expected (at least they have not with me), though some other gentlemen have approved of them as substitutes for oats.”

The above-mentioned vegetables have all of them the property of meliorating, rather than exhausting the soil; and this is certainly a very valuable qualification: but carrots and cabbages will not thrive except in soils that are already well cultivated; while potatoes and turnips may be used as the first crops of a soil with great advantage. In this respect, they are greatly superior to the others; as it may be disagreeable to take up the best grounds of a farm with plants designed only for food to cattle.

Buck-wheat (*Polygonum sagittatum*) has been lately recommended as an useful article in the present as wheat, well as other respects. It has been chiefly applied to the feeding... feeding of hogs, and esteemed equal in value to barley; it is much more easily ground than barley, as a malt-mill will ground it completely. Horses are very fond of the grain; poultry of all sorts are speedily fattened by it; and the blossoms of the plant affords food for bees at a very opportune season of the year, when the meadows and trees are mostly stripped of their flowers. Probably the grain may hereafter be even found a material article in distillation, should a sufficient quantity be raised with that view. From the success of some experiments detailed in the Bath Society Papers, and for which a premium was bestowed, it has been inferred, that this article ought in numerous cases to supersede the practice of summer-fallowing.

Whins have lately been recommended as a very proper food for cattle, especially horses; and are recommended by Mr. Anderson in a particular manner. They have this advantage, that they require no culture, and grow on the worst soil; but they are troublesome to cut, and require to be bruised in a mill constructed for this purpose; neither is the ground at all meliorated by letting whins grow upon it for any length of time. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, however, as whins continue green all the year round, and when bruised will afford an excellent succulent food, which seems possessed of strongly invigorating qualities, they may be looked upon as the cheapest winter-food that can possibly be given to cattle. According to the calculations of Mr. Eddison of Gateford, a single acre, well cropped with whins, will winter five horses: at three or four years growth, the whole crop should be taken, cut close to the ground, and carried to the mill; in which the whins are to be bruised, and then given to the horses. Four acres ought to be planted, that one may be used each year, at the proper age to be cut; and he reckons the labour of one man sufficient for providing food to this number of horses. He says they all prefer the whins to hay, or even to corn.

The herb called burnet hath likewise been recommended as proper food for cattle, on account of its being an evergreen; and further recommended, by growing almost as fast in winter as in summer. Of this herb, however, we have very various accounts. In a letter addressed by Sir James Caldwell, F.R.S., to the Dublin Society, the culture of this plant is strongly recommended on the authority of one Bartholomew Rocque, farmer at Wallham-Green, a village about three miles south-west of London.

What gave occasion to the recommendation of this plant, was, that about the year 1760, Mr. Wych, chairman of the committee of Agriculture of the London Society for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce, came to Rocque (who was become very eminent by the premiums he had received from the society), and told him, he had been thinking, that as there are many animals which subsist wholly upon the fruits of the earth, there must certainly be some plant or herb fit for them that naturally vegetates in winter; otherwise we must believe the Creator, infinitely wise and good, to have made creatures without providing for their subsistence; and that if there had been no such plants or herbs, many species of animals would have perished before we took them out of the hands of nature, and provided for them dry meat at a season, when, indigenous plants having been indiscriminately excluded, under the name of weeds, from cultivated fields and places set apart for natural grass, green or fresh meat was no longer to be found.

Rocque allowed the force of this reasoning; but said, the knowledge of a grass, or artificial pasture, that would vegetate in winter, and produce green fodder for cattle, was lost; at least, that he knew of no such plant.—Mr. Wych, however, knowing how very great the advantage would be of discovering a green fodder for winter and early in the spring, wrote to Bern, and also to some considerable places in Sweden, stating the same argument, and asking the same question. His answers to these letters were the same that had been given by Rocque. They owned there must be such plant, but declared they did not know it.

Mr. Wych then applied again to Rocque; and desired him to search for the plant so much desired, and so certainly existing. Rocque set about this search with great avidity; and finding that a pimpernel, called burnet, was of very speedy growth, and grew near as fast in winter as in summer, he took a handful of it and carried it into his stable, where there were five horses; every one of which ate of it with the greatest eagerness, snatching it even without first smelling it. Upon the success of this experiment he went to London, and bought all the burnet-feed he could get, amounting to no more than eight pounds, it having been only used in salads; and he paid for it at the rate of 4s. a pound. Six of the eight pounds of seed he sowed upon half an acre of ground, in March, in the year 1761, with a quarter of a peck of spring-wheat, both by hand. The feed being very bad, it came up but thin. However, he sowed the other two pounds in the beginning of June, upon about six rood of ground: this he mowed in the beginning of August; and at Michaelmas he planted off the plants on about 20 rood of ground, giving each plant a foot every way, and taking care not to bury the heart. These plants bore two crops of feed the year following; the first about the middle of June, the second about the middle of September; but the June crop was the best. The year after, it grew very rank, and produced two crops of feed, both very good. As it ought not to be cut after September, he let it stand till the next year; when it sheltered itself, and grew very well during all the winter, except when there was a hard frost; and even during the frost it continued green, though it was not perceived to grow. In the March following it covered the ground very well, and was fit to receive cattle.

If the winter is not remarkably severe, the burnet, though cut in September, will be 18 inches long in March; and it may be fed from the beginning of February till May: if the cattle are taken off in May, there will be a good crop of feed in the beginning of July. Five weeks after the cattle are taken off, it may be removed, if that is preferred to its standing for feed; it grows at the rate of an inch a day, and is made into hay like other grasses. It may be mown three times in one summer, and should be cut just before it begins to flower. Six rood of ground has produced 1150 pounds at the first cutting of the third year after it was sowed; and, in autumn 1763, Rocque sold no less than 300 bushels of the feed.

According to Rocque, the soil in which burnet flourishes best, is a dry gravel; the longest drought never hurts. hurts it: and Sir James Caldwell asserts, that he saw a very vigorous and exuberant plant of this kind, growing from between two bricks in a wall in Rocque's ground, without any communication with the soil; for he had cut away all the fibres of the root that had stretched downward, and penetrated the earth, long before.

Burnet was found equally fit for feeding cows, sheep, and horses; but the sheep must not be suffered to crop it too close. Though no seed was left among the hay, yet it proved nourishing food; and Rocque kept a horse upon nothing else, who, at the time of writing the account, was in good heart, and looked well. He affirmed also, that it cured horses of the distemper called the gout, and that by its means he cured one which was thought incurable; but says, it is only the first crop which has this effect.

This is the substance of Sir James Caldwell's letter to the Dublin Society, at least as to what regards the culture of burnet; and it might reasonably be expected, that a plant, whose use was recommended to the public with so much parade, would soon have come into universal esteem. We were surprised, therefore, on looking into Mr Miller's Dictionary, to find the following words, under the article Poterium:—"This plant has of late been recommended by persons of little skill, to be sown as a winter pabulum for cattle: but whoever will give themselves the trouble to examine the grounds where it naturally grows, will find the plants left uneaten by the cattle, when the grass about them has been cropped to the roots; besides, in wet winters, and in strong land, the plants are of short duration, and therefore very unfit for that purpose: nor is the produce sufficient to tempt any person of skill to engage in its culture; therefore I wish those persons to make trial of it in small quantities, before they embark largely in these new schemes?"—Mr Anderson, too, in his Essays on Agriculture, mentions the produce of burnet being so small, as not to be worth cultivating.

Upon the authority of Mr Rocque, likewise, the white beet is recommended as a most excellent food for cows; that it vegetates during the whole winter, consequently is very forward in the spring; and that the most profitable way of feeding cows is, to mow this herb, and give it to them green all the summer. It grew in Rocque's garden, during a very great drought, no less than four feet high, from the 30th of May to the 3d of July; which is no more than one month and four days. In summer it grows more than an inch a day, and is best sown in March: a bushel is enough for an acre, and will not cost more than ten shillings. It thrives best in a rich, deep, light soil: the stalks are very thick and succulent; the cows should therefore eat them green.

Another species of beet (Beta cicla), the Mangel Wurzel, or Root of Scarcity, as it has been called, has been lately extolled as food both for man and cattle; but, after all, seems only to deserve attention in the latter view. It is a biennial plant; the root is large and fleshy, sometimes a foot in diameter. It rises above the ground several inches, is thickest at the top, tapering gradually downward. The roots are of various colours, white, yellow, and red; but these last are always of a much paler colour than beetroots. It is good fodder for cows, and does not communicate any taste to the milk. It produces great abundance of leaves in summer, which may be cut three or four times without injuring the plant. The leaves are more palatable to cattle than most other garden plants, and are found to be very wholesome. The farmers in those parts of Germany where it is chiefly cultivated, we are told, prefer this species of beet, for feeding cattle, to cabbages, principally because they are not so liable to be hurt by worms or insects; but they think they are not so nourishing as turnips, potatoes, or carrots, and that cattle are not nearly so soon fattened by this root as by carrots, parsnips, or cabbages. It has even been asserted, that this root affords less nourishment than any of those that have been commonly employed for feeding cattle. This does not correspond with the pompous accounts with which the public has been entertained. Upon the whole, however, it is a plant which seems to deserve the attention of our farmers; as on some soils, and in particular circumstances, it may prove a very useful article for the above purposes.

In Mr Anderson's essays, we find it recommended to make trial of some kinds of grasses, which probably are not only answer for fresh fodder during the winter, but might also be cut for hay in summer. This is particularly the case with that species called sheep's fescue grass. "I had," says he, "a small patch of this grass in winter 1773; which, having been cut in the month of August or September preceding, was saved from that period, and had advanced before winter to the length of five or six inches; forming the closest pile that could be imagined. And although we had about six weeks of very intense frost, with snow; and about other six weeks, immediately succeeding that, of exceeding keen frost every night, with frequent thaws in the day-time, without any snow, during which time almost every green thing was destroyed; yet this little patch continued all along to retain as fine a verdure as any meadow in the month of May; hardly a point of a leaf having been withered by the uncommon severity of the weather. And as this grass begins to vegetate very early in the spring, I leave the reader to judge what might be the value of a field of grass of this kind in these circumstances."

Of another kind of grass, called purple fescue, Mr Anderson gives the following character. "It retained its verdure much better than rye-grass during the winter-season; but it had more of its points killed by the weather than the former. It likewise rises in the spring, at least as early as rye-grass."

This ingenious farmer has also made experiments on the culture of these and several other kinds of grasses; which being very well worthy of attention, we shall here insert.

1. Purple fescue-grass. "Although this grass is very often found in old pastures, yet as it has but few flower-stalks, and as it is greedily eaten by all domestic animals, these are seldom suffered to appear; so that it usually remains there unperceived. But it seems to be better able to endure the peculiar acrimony of the dung of dogs than almost any other plant; and is therefore often to be met with in dog-hills, as I call the little hills by road-sides where dogs usually pass and dung; and as it is allowed to grow there undisturbed, the farmer may have an opportunity of examining the plant, and becoming acquainted with its appearance.

"The leaves are long and small, and appear to be roundish," roundish, something like a wire; but, upon examination, they are found not to be tubulated like a reed or rush; the sides of the leaf being only folded together from the middle rib, exactly like the strong bent-grafs on the sea-shore. The flower-stalk is small, and branches out in the head, a little resembling the wild-oat; only the grains are much smaller, and the ear does not spread full open, but lies bending a little to one side. The stalks are often spotted with reddish freckles, and the tops of the roots are usually tinged with the same colour; from whence it has probably obtained its distinctive name of Festuca rubra, or red (purple) fescue.

"It is often to be met with in old garden-walks; and, as its leaves advance very quickly after cutting, it may usually be discovered above the other grasses, about a week or fortnight after the walks are cut. Nor do they seem to advance only at one season, and then stop and decay, like the rye-grass; but continue to advance during the whole of the summer, even where they are not cut; so that they sometimes attain a very great length. Last season, (1774,) I measured a leaf of this grass, that sprung up in a neglected corner, which was four feet and four inches in length, although not thicker than a small wire. It is unnecessary to add, that these leaves naturally trail upon the ground, unless where they meet with some accidental support; and that if any quantity of it is suffered to grow for a whole season, without being eaten down or cut, the roots of the leaves are almost rotted, by the overshadowing of the tops of the other leaves, before the end of the season.

"This is the appearance and condition of the plant in its native situation: as it is seldom that it is discovered but in pretty old pastures, and as in that state it carries only a very few seed-stalks, it was with some difficulty that I could collect a small handful of the seed, which I carefully sowed in a small patch of garden-mould, to try if it could be easily-cultivated. It came up as quickly as any other kind of grass, but was at first as small as hairs: the leaves, however, advanced at pace; and were, before autumn, when the grain with which they had been sown was cut down, about 16 or 18 inches in length: but having been sown very thin, it was necessary to pick out some other kinds of grass that came up amongst it, lest it might have been choked by them. Early next spring it advanced with prodigious vigour, and the tufts that were formed from every seed became exceeding large; so that it quickly filled the whole ground. But now the leaves were almost as broad as those of common rye-grass, and the two sides only inclined a little towards one another from the mid-rib, without any appearance of roundness. In due time a great many seed-stalks sprung out, which attained very nearly to the height of four feet, and produced seeds in abundance; which may be as easily saved as those of common rye-grass.

"The prodigious difference between this plant in its native and cultivated state amazed me; but it was with a good deal of satisfaction that I found there would be no difficulty of procuring seeds from it, which I had much doubted of at first. It would seem, that nature hath endowed this plant with a strong generative power during its youth, which it gradually loses as it advances in age (for the difference perceived in this case could not be attributed to the richness of the soil); and that, on the contrary, when it was old, the leaves advanced with an additional vigour, in proportion to the declining strength of the flower-stalks: for the leaves of the young plant seldom exceed two feet, whereas numbers of the old leaves were near four feet in length.

"From these peculiarities in the growth of this plant, it would seem to promise to be of great use to the farmer; as he could reap from a field of it, for the first two or three years, as great a weight of hay as he could obtain from any of the culmiferous grasses (those bearing a long jointed stalk); and, if he meant afterwards to pasture it, he would suffer no inconveniences from the flower-stalks; and the succulent leaves that continue to vegetate during the whole summer, would at all times furnish his cattle with abundance of wholesome food. It has also been remarked, that this grass rises early in the spring as rye grass; and continues green for the greatest part of winter, which the other does not. It is moreover an abiding plant, as it seems never to wear out of the ground where it has once been established. On all which accounts, it appears to me highly to merit the attention of the farmer; and well deserves to have its several qualities, and the culture that best agrees with it, ascertained by accurate experiments.

2. "Sheep's fescue grass," or Festuca ovina, is much sheep-favoured by the Swedish naturalists for its singular value as the feeding-grass for sheep; this animal being represented as fonder of it than of any other grass, and fattening upon it more quickly than on any other kind of food whatever. And indeed, the general appearance of the plant, and its peculiar manner of growth, seems very much to favour the accounts that have been given us of it.

"This plant is of the same family with the former, and agrees with it in several respects; although they may be easily distinguished from one another. Its leaves, like the former, in its natural state, are always rounded, but much smaller; being little bigger than large horse-hairs, or swine's-bristles, and seldom exceed six or seven inches in length. But these spring out of the root in tufts, so close upon one another, that they resemble, in this respect, a close hair-brush more than anything else I know: so that it would seem naturally adapted to form that thick short pile of grass in which sheep are known chiefly to delight. Its flower-stalks are numerous, and sometimes attain the height of two feet; but are more usually about 12 or 15 inches high.

"Upon gathering the seeds of this plant, and sowing them as the former, it was found that they sprang up as quickly as any other kind of grass; but the leaves cultivated, are at first no bigger than a human hair. From each side springs up one or two of these hair-like filaments, that in a short time send out new off-setts, so as quickly to form a sort of tuft, which grows larger and larger, till it at length attains a very large size, or till all the intervals are closed up, and then it forms the closest pile of grass that it is possible to imagine. In April and May it pushed forth an innumerable quantity of flower-stalks, that afforded an immense quantity of hay; it being so close throughout, that the scythe could scarcely penetrate it. This was allowed to stand till the seeds ripened; but the bottom of the stalks were quite blanched, and almost rotted for want of air before that time." This was the appearance that it made the first year after it was sowed; but I have reason to think, that, after a few years, it likewise produces fewer feed-stalks, and a greater quantity of leaves than at first. But however that may be, it is certain, that if there are eaten down in the spring, it does not, like rye-grass, persist in a continued tendency to run to seed; but is at once determined to push forth a quantity of leaves without almost any stalks at all; and as all domestic animals, but more especially sheep, are extremely fond of this grass, if they have liberty to pasture where it grows, they bite it so close as never to suffer almost a single feed-stalk to escape them; so that the botanist will often search in vain for it, when he is treading upon it with his feet. The best way to discover it in any pasture, is to search for it in winter, when the tufts of it may be easily distinguished from every other kind of grass, by their extraordinary closeness, and the deep green colour of the leaves.

It seems to grow in almost any soil; although it is imagined that it would flourish best in a light sandy soil, as it can evidently live with less moisture than almost any other kind of grass; being often seen to remain in the soils that have been employed in coping for stone-dykes, after all the other grasses that grew in them have disappeared. It is likewise found in poor barren soils, where hardly any other plant can be made to grow at all; and on the surface of dry worn-out peat-mosses, where no moisture remains sufficient to support any other plant whatever; but in neither of these situations does it thrive; as it is there only a weak and unflinty plant, very unlike what it is when it has the good fortune to be established upon a good soil; although it is seldom met with in this last state than in the former.

I will not here repeat what has been already said about the particular property that this plant possesses of continuing all winter; nor point out the benefits that the farmer may reap from this valuable quality.—He need not, however, expect to find any verdure in winter on such plants as grow upon the looser mossy soil above-mentioned; for, as the frost in winter always hoves up the surface of this soil, the roots of the plants are so lacerated thereby, as to make it, for some time in the spring, to all appearance dead. Nor will he often perceive much verdure in winter upon those plants that grow upon poor hungry soils, which cannot afford abundant nourishment to keep them in a proper state of vegetation at all times; but such plants as grow on earthen dykes, which usually begin to vegetate with vigour when the autumnal rains come on, for the most part retain their verdure at that season almost as well as if they were in good garden-mould.

I have been very particular in regard to this plant, because, in as far as my observations have yet gone, it promises on many accounts to make a most valuable acquisition to the farmer, and therefore justly demands a very particular share of his attention.”

3. The Holcus lanatus, or creeping soft-grass of Hudson.—This is considered by our author as one of the most valuable kinds of meadow-grasses; its pile being exceedingly close, soft, and succulent. It delights much in moisture, and is seldom found on dry ground, unless the soil is exceeding rich. It is often found on those patches near springs, over which the water frequently flows; and may be known by the uncommon softness and succulence of the blade, the lively light green colour of the leaves, and the matted intertexture of its roots. But notwithstanding the softness of its first leaves, when the feed-stalks advance, they are rough to the touch, so that the plant then assumes a very different appearance from what we would have expected. The ear is branched out into a great number of fine ramifications somewhat like the oat, but much smaller.—This kind of grass, however, would not be easily cultivated, on account of a kind of soft membrane that makes the seeds adhere to the stalk, and to one another, after they are separated from it, as if they were intermixed with cobweb, so that it is difficult to get them separated from the stalk, or to spread readily in sowing. It spreads, however, so fast by its running roots, that a small quantity sowed very thin, would be sufficient to stock a large field in a short time.

These are the kinds of grasses, properly so called, which have not as yet been cultivated, that Mr Anderson thinks the most likely to be of value; but, besides these, he recommends the following, of the pea tribe.

1. Milk-vetch, liquorice-vetch, or milkwort. This plant, in some respects, very much resembles the common white clover; from the top of the root a great number of shoots come out in the spring, spreading along the surface of the ground every way around it; from which arise a great many clusters of bright yellow flowers, exactly resembling those of the common broom. These are succeeded by hard round pods, filled with small kidney-shaped seeds. From a supposed resemblance of a cluster of these pods to the fingers of an open hand, the plant has been sometimes called ladies-fingers. By others it is called crow-toes, from a fancied resemblance of the pods to the toes of a bird. Others, from the appearance of the blossom, and the part where the plant is found, have called it fool, improperly fell-broom. It is found plentifully almost everywhere in old grass-fields; but as every species of domestic animals eat it, almost in preference to any other plant, it is seldom allowed to come to the flower in pasture-grounds, unless where they have been accidentally saved from the cattle for some time; so that it is only about the borders of corn-fields, or the sides of inclosures to which cattle have not access, that we have an opportunity of observing it. As it has been imagined that the cows which feed on these pastures, where this plant abounds, yield a quantity of rich milk, the plant has, from that circumstance, obtained its most proper English name of milk-vetch.

One of the greatest recommendations of this plant is, that it grows in poor barren ground, where almost qualities, no other plant can live. It has been observed in ground too poor, that even heath, or ling (Erica communis), would scarcely grow; and upon bare obdurate clays, where no other plant could be made to vegetate; inasmuch that the surface remained entirely uncovered, unless where a plant of this kind chanced to be established; yet even in these unfavourable circumstances, it flourished with an uncommon degree of luxuriance, and yielded as tender and succulent, though not such abundant shoots, as if reared in the richest manured fields. In dry barren sands, also, where almost no other plant could be made to live, it has been found to send out such a number of healthy shoots all round, as Theory, to cover the earth with the closest and most beautiful carpet that can be desired.

The stalks of the milk-vetch are weak and slender, so that they spread upon the surface of the ground, unless they are supported by some other vegetable. In ordinary soils they do not grow to a great length, nor produce many flowers; but in richer fields the stalks grow to a much greater length, branch out a good deal, but carry few or no flowers or seeds. From these qualities our author did not attempt at first to cultivate it with any other view than that of pasture; and, with this intention, sowed it with his ordinary hay seeds, expecting no material benefit from it till he desisted from cutting his field. In this, however, he was agreeably disappointed; the milk-vetch growing, the first season, as tall as his greatest clover, and forming exceeding fine hay; being scarce distinguishable from lucerne, but by the slenderness of the stalk, and proportional smallness of the leaf.

Another recommendation to this plant is, that it is perennial. It is several years after it is sown before it attains to its full perfection; but, when once established, it probably remains for a great number of years in full vigour, and produces annually a great quantity of fodder. In autumn 1773, Mr Anderson cut the stalk from an old plant that grew on a very indifferent soil; and after having thoroughly dried it, he found that it weighed 14 ounces and a half.

The stalks of this plant die down entirely in winter, and do not come up in the spring till the same time that clover begins to advance; nor does it advance very fast, even in summer, when once cut down or eaten over; so that it seems much inferior to the above-mentioned grasses; but might be of use to cover the worst parts of a farm, on which no other vegetable could thrive.

2. The common yellow vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis) or everlasting tare, grows with great luxuriance in stiff clay soils, and continues to yield annually a great weight of fodder, of the very best quality, for any length of time. This is equally fit for pasture, or hay; and grows with equal vigour in the end of summer as in the beginning of it; so would admit being pastured upon in the spring, till the middle, or even the end of May, without endangering the loss of the crop of hay. This is an advantage which no other plant except clover possesses; but clover is equally unfit for early pasture or for hay. Sain-foin is the only plant whose qualities approach to it in this respect, and the yellow vetchling will grow in such soils as are utterly unfit for producing sain-foin.—It is also a perennial plant, and increases so fast by its running roots, that a small quantity of the seed would produce a sufficient number of plants to fill a whole field in a very short time. If a small patch of good ground is sown with the seeds of this plant in rows, about a foot distance from one another, and the intervals kept clear of weeds for that season, the roots will spread so much as to fill up the whole patch next year; when the stalks may be cut for green fodder or hay. And if that patch were dug over in the spring following, and the roots taken out, it would furnish a great quantity of plants, which might be planted at two or three feet distance from one another, where they would probably overspread the whole field in a short time.

3. The common blue tare seems more likely than the former to produce a more nourishing kind of hay, as it abounds much more in seeds; but as the stalks come up more thinly from the root, and branch more above, it does not appear to be so well adapted for a pasture-grass as the other. The leaves of this plant are much smaller, and more divided, than those of the other; the stalks are likewise smaller, and grow to a much greater length. Though it produces a great quantity of seeds, yet the small birds are so fond of them, that, unless the field was carefully guarded, few of them would be allowed to ripen.

4. The Vicia sepium, purple everlasting, or bush-vetch. Bush-vetch.

Our author gives the preference to this plant beyond all others of the same tribe for pasture. The roots of it spread on every side a little below the surface of the ground, from which, in the spring, many stems arise quite close by one another; and as these have a broad tufted top covered with many leaves, it forms as close a pile as could be desired. It grows very quickly after being cut or cropped, but does not arrive at any great height; so that it seems more proper for pasture than making hay; although, upon a good soil, it will grow sufficiently high for that purpose; but the stalks grow so close upon one another, that there is great danger of having it rotted at the root, if the season should prove damp. It seems to thrive best in a clay soil.

Besides these, there are a variety of others of the same everlasting class, which he thinks might be useful to the farmer's pea. The common garden everlasting pea, cultivated as a flowering-plant, he conjectures, would yield a prodigious weight of hay upon an acre; as it grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, having very strong stalks, that could support themselves without rotting till they attained a great height.

One other plant, hitherto unnoticed, is recommended by our author to the attention of the farmer; it is millefolium, the common yarrow, (Achillea millefolium), or hundred-leaved grass. Concerning this plant, he remarks, that, in almost every fine old pasture, a great proportion of the growing vegetables with which the field is covered, consists of it; but the animals which feed there are so fond of the yarrow, as never to allow one feed-stalk of it to come to perfection. Hence these feed-stalks are never found but in neglected corners, or by the sides of roads; and are so disagreeable to cattle, that they are never tasted; and thus it has been erroneously thought that the whole plant was refused by them.—The leaves of this plant have a great tendency to grow very thick upon one another, and are therefore peculiarly adapted for pastureage. It arrives at its greatest perfection in rich fields that are naturally fit for producing a large and succulent crop of grass. It grows also upon clays; and is among the first plants that strike root in any barren clay that has been lately dug from any considerable depth; so that this plant, and thistles, are usually the first that appear on the banks of deep ditches formed in a clayey soil. All animals delight to eat it; but, from the dry aromatic taste it possesses, it would seem peculiarly favourable to the constitution of sheep. It seems altogether unfit for hay.

Besides these plants, which are natives of our own country, there are others, which, though natives of a foreign climate, are found to thrive very well in Britain; and have been raised with such success by individuals, individuals, as highly to merit the attention of every farmer. Among these the first place is claimed by lucerne.

This is the plant called medica by the ancients, because it came originally from Media, and on the culture of which they bestowed such great care and pains. It hath a perennial root, and annual stalks, which, in good soil, rise to three feet, or sometimes more in height; its leaves grow at a joint like those of clover; the flowers which appear in June, are purple, and its pods of a faveol-like shape, containing seeds which ripen in September. All sorts of domestic cattle are fond of this plant, especially when allowed to eat it green, and black cattle may be fed very well with the hay made from it; but an excess of this food is said to be very dangerous.

Lucerne has the property of growing very quickly after it is cut down, in so much that Mr Rocque has mowed it five times in a season, and Mr Anderson affirms he has cut it no less than six times. It is, however, not very easily cultivated; in consequence of which it sometimes does not succeed; and as it dies entirely in the winter, it is perhaps inferior to the fescue grasses already mentioned, which, tho' despised and neglected, might probably yield as rich a crop as lucerne, without any danger of a miscarriage.

Another grass was brought from Virginia, where it is a native, and sown by Rocque in 1763. This grass is called Timothy, from its being brought from New-York to Carolina by one Timothy Hanson. It grows best in a wet soil; but will thrive in almost any. If it is sown in August, it will be fit for cutting in the latter end of May or beginning of June. Horses are very fond of it, and will leave lucerne to eat it. It is also preferred by black cattle and sheep; for a square piece of land having been divided into four equal parts, and one part sown with lucerne, another with fain-foin, a third with clover, and the fourth with timothy, some horses, black cattle, and sheep, were turned into it, when the plants were all in a condition for pasturage; and the timothy was eaten quite bare, before the clover, lucern, or fain-foin, was touched.

One valuable property of this grass is, that its roots are so strong and interwoven with one another, that they render the wettest and softest land, on which a horse could not find footing, firm enough to bear the heaviest cart. With the view of improving boggy lands, therefore, so as to prevent their being poached with the feet of cattle, Mr Anderson recommends the cultivation of this kind of grass, from which he has little expectation in other respects.

Sect. VII. Of the Diseases of Plants.

These are divided by Tournefort into the following classes. 1. Those which arise from too great an abundance of juice; 2. From having too little; 3. From its bad qualities; 4. From its unequal distribution; and 5. From external accidents.

Too great an abundance of juices causes at first a prodigious luxuriant growth of the vegetable; so that it does not come to the requisite perfection in a due time. Wheat is subject, in some climates, to a disease of this kind; it vegetates excessively, without ever carrying ripe grain; and the same disease may be artificially produced in any grain, by planting it in too rich a soil. Too much rain is apt likewise to do the same. When a vegetable is supplied too abundantly with juices, it is very apt to rot; one part of it overshadowing another in such a manner as to prevent the access of fresh air; upon which putrefaction soon ensues, as has been already observed with regard to the fescue grasses.

In grass, or any herbaceous plant, where the leaves are only wanted, this over luxuriancy cannot be called grain; a disease, but is a very desirable property; but in any kind of grain, it is quite otherwise. Dr Home, in his Principles of Agriculture and Vegetation, classifies the smut in grain among the diseases arising from this cause. He is of opinion, that too great an abundance of juices in a vegetable will produce diseases similar to those occasioned by repletion in animal-bodies; viz. stagnations, corruptions, varices, carbuncles, &c. along with the too great luxuriancy we have just now mentioned, which he expresses by "too great an abundance of water-shoots." Hence he is induced to clas the smut among diseases arising from this cause; it being a corruption happening most in rainy seasons, and to weak grain.—Like other contagious diseases, he tells us, the smut may be communicated from the infected to healthy grain. As a preventative, he recommends steeping the grain in a strong pickle of sea-salt. Besides the effect which this has upon the grain itself, it is useful for separating the good from the bad; the best seed falling to the bottom, and the faulty swimming on the top of the liquor.—For the same purpose, a ley of wood-ashes and quicklime is recommended by some; and, by others, a solution of saltpetre or copperas; after which the grain is to be dried with flaked lime, or dry turf ashes. This solution, however, we can by no means recommend, as it seems most likely to kill the grain entirely.

According to Dr Home, dung is a preventative of Diseases arising from too great moisture; in confirmation of which, he relates the following experiment. "Two acres of poor ground, which had never got any manure, were fallowed with a design to be sown with wheat; but the scheme being altered, some dung was laid on a small part of it, and the whole fallowed, after it had got five furrows, with barley. A great quantity of rain fell. The barley on that part which was dunned was very good; but what was on the rest of the field turned yellow after the rains, and when ripe was not worth the reaping."

The want of nourishment in plants may be easily known by their decay; in which case, the only remedy is to supply them with food, according to the methods we have already directed, or to remove from their neighbourhood such other plants as may draw off the nourishment from those we wish to cultivate.—In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1728, Mr Du Hamel mentions a disease, which he calls le mort, that attacks saffron in the spring. It is owing to another plant, a species of trefoil, fixing some violet-coloured threads, which are its roots, to the roots of the saffron, and sucking out its juice. This disease is prevented by digging a trench, which saves all the unaffected.

The bad qualities, or unequal distributions, of the vegetables juices of plants, are the occasion of so few of the diseases destroyed to which vegetables in this country are subject, that we forbear to mention them at present. Most of the diseases of our plants are owing to external accidents, particularly to the depredations of insects.—The insects by which the greatest devastations are committed in this country are, snails, caterpillars, grubs, and flies. The snails and caterpillars feed on the leaves and young shoots;

Theory.

Insects destroyed by lime-water.

Shoots; by which means they often totally destroy the vegetable. Where the plants are of easy access, these vermin may be destroyed by sprinkling the vegetable with lime-water; for quick-lime is a mortal poison to creatures of this kind, and throws them into the greatest agonies the moment they are touched with it. On trees, however, where this method cannot so well be followed, fumigation is the most proper; and, for this purpose, nothing is better than the smoke of vegetables not perfectly dry. In some cases the eggs of these destroying creatures may be observed, and ought without doubt immediately to be taken away. On the fruit trees, as apples, pears, medlars, on some forest-trees, the oak and dwarf-maple especially, and the white and black thorn in hedges, a kind of little tufts are to be observed, resembling, at first sight, withered leaves twisted, by a cobweb, about the uppermost twigs or branches. These contain a vast number of little black eggs, that in the spring produce swarms of caterpillars which devour every thing. To prevent this, all the twigs on which these cobwebs appear should be taken off and burnt as soon as possible. This ought to be done before the end of March, that none of the eggs be allowed sufficient time for hatching.

The grubs are a kind of worms which destroy the corn by feeding upon its roots; they are transformed every fourth year into the beetles called cock-chaffers, may-bugs, &c. They are very destructive when in their vermicular state, and cannot then be destroyed because they go deep in the ground. When become beetles, they conceal themselves under the leaves of trees, where they seem asleep till near sunset, when they take their flight. It is only now that they can be destroyed, and that by a very laborious method; namely, by spreading pack-sheets below the trees in the daytime when the beetles are in their torpid state, then shaking them off and burning them. Some time ago, they made such devastations in the county of Norfolk, that several farmers were entirely ruined by them; one gathered 80 bushels of these insects from the trees which grew on his farm. It is said that, in 1574, there fell such a multitude of these insects into the river Severn, that they stopped and clogged the wheels of the water-mills.

Turnip-fly.

Turnips, when young, are apt to be totally destroyed by a multitude of little black flies, from thence called the turnip-fly. As a preventative of these, some advise the seed to be mixed with brimstone; but this is improper, as brimstone is found to be poisonous to vegetables. The best method seems to be the fumigation of the fields with smoke of half-dried vegetables. For this purpose weeds will answer as well as any. This fumigation must no doubt be often repeated, in order to drive away the innumerable multitudes of these insects which are capable of destroying a large field of turnip.

Some have supposed that the fly is either engendered in new dung, or enticed by it; and have therefore advised the manure to be laid on in the autumn preceding, by which it loses all its noxious qualities, while its nutritive ones are retained, notwithstanding these might be supposed liable in some degree to be exhaled by the sun. This method is said to have been ascertained by experiments; and it is added, that another material advantage accruing from autumn manuring for turnips is, that all the seeds contained in the dung, and which of course are carried on the land with it, vegetables almost immediately, are mostly killed by the severity of the winter, and the few that remain seldom avoid destruction from the plough-share.

The following method of sowing has also been recommended as a preventative of the fly:—“About midsummer, take the first opportunity when it rains, gainst the turnip-fly. Or there is an apparent certainty of rain approaching, to sow your turnip seed; if about the full moon, the better. In this case, neither harrow, brush, nor roll, after sowing. The natural heat of the ground at that season, and the consequent fermentation occasioned by copious rain, will give an astonishingly quick vegetation to the seed, which in a few days will be up and out of all danger from the fly. At all events, sow not till it rains; it is better to wait a month, or even longer, for rain, than to sow (merely for the sake of sowing about the usual time) when the ground is parched with heat. By the scorching of the sun, the oil and vegetative quality of the seed are exhausted; and the few weak plants that come up will be destroyed by the fly before they can attain strength to put forth their rough leaves. The fly infests the ground abundantly in dry hot weather, but do no injury in rain. The falling rain will sufficiently wash the turnip-seed into the ground without harrowing it in; which, instead of merely covering, too often buries this small seed at so great a depth, as never afterwards to get above ground.”

The following remedies are also recommended as having often proved successful:—A small quantity of foot down over the land at their first appearance. Branches of elder with the leaves bruised, drawn in a gate over them. Musk mixed with the seed before it is sown. And sulphur burnt under it, after moistening it with water in which tobacco has been steeped.

But flowers on the plants as soon as they appear above ground, are esteemed the best preservatives. They enfeeble and kill the fly, and halften the plants into the rough leaf, in which state they are out of danger.

The sweet smell of the turnip has been thought to attract the fly; upon which supposition, the remedy appeared to consist in overpowering that smell by one which is strong, fetid, and disagreeable. Hence it has been recommended, that upon an acre of turnips sown in the usual way, a peck or more of dry foot be thrown after the ground is finished, and in as regular a way as he sows the seed.

Some time ago an insect, called the corn-butterfly, Corn butterfly.

Prevented by fumigation, &c.

Theory. The curled disease in potatoes has long been a subject of investigation and experiment among farmers; and the knowledge of its cause and cure seems yet to remain a desideratum. The Agriculture Society at Manchester, a few years ago, offered a premium for discovering by actual experiment the cause of the disease in question; and a great variety of letters were, in consequence, addressed to them upon the subject.—As these contain many interesting observations both on the disease itself and the best methods hitherto adopted for preventing it, the following abstract of them may not improperly be introduced in this place.

I. According to the writer of the first letter, this disease is caused by an insect produced by frost or bad keeping before setting; and the newest kinds, such as have been raised within these nine or ten years, are most apt to curl, because they will not stand to be kept in winter and spring before setting, as the old kinds will. In autumn 1776, he got up a bed of potatoes to lay by in winter, leaving plenty in the ground as regular as possible; and, before the severity of winter came on, covered part of the bed with straw and peat-haulm, and left the other part of the bed uncovered. That part of the bed which was covered was quite free from curled ones; but the uncovered part produced a great many curled, owing, as the writer says, to frost and severity of the weather.

II. This writer had about a quarter of an acre of potatoes, well manured with cow and horse dung, and took the greatest care in picking the fine smooth-skinned potatoes for sets; yet nine out of ten parts were curled. He attributes the cause of this disease to a white grub or insect, which he found near the root, about half an inch long, with eight or ten legs, its head brown and hard; as upon examining a number of the curled roots, he found them all bitten, chiefly from the surface to the root, which of course stopped the progress of the sap, and threw the leaf into a curl. The uncurled roots were not bitten. He tried a few experiments as follow:—First, he put foot to the insects in the rows for two days; and after that, he put lime to them for the same time, but they still kept lively; next he put a little salt, which destroyed them in a few hours. From which he infers, that if coarse salt were put into the ground at the time the land is preparing for potatoes, it would effectually cure this distemper.

III. In this letter, the cause of the disease is attributed to the method of earthing the stems while in cultivation; and the branch, striking root into the new earthed-up soil, it is said, produces potatoes of such a nature as the year following to cause the disease complained of.

To prevent the disease, it is recommended to take the sets from those potatoes that have not bred any from the branch covered; or otherwise, to dig the part the sets are to be raised from.

IV. According to this writer, the disorder proceeds from potatoes being set in old-tilled or worn-out ground; for though those potatoes may look tolerably well, yet their sets will most, if not all, produce curled potatoes. Hence he is convinced, that no sets ought to be used from old-tilled or couch-grass land; and that, in order to have good sets, they should be procured from land that was purposely fallowed for them; from fresh ley land, where they are not curled; or from ley land that was burnt last spring. He directs to plant them on virgin mould, and the potatoes will have no curled ones amongst them; and to keep them for winter, from any other kind.

To avoid the uncertainty of getting good sets, he recommends crabs to be gathered from potatoes growing this year on fresh land free from curl, and the next spring to sow them on fresh ley land; and continue to plant their sets on fresh ley land yearly, which he is convinced will prevent the curl.

All the good potatoes he saw this year, either on fresh ley land or on old-tilled land, were raised from sets that grew upon fresh ley land last year; and where he has seen curled potatoes, he found, upon inquiry, the potato-sets grew upon old-tilled and worn-out land last year. He gives as a general reason for the disorder, that the land is often cropped than it had used to be, much more corn being now raised than formerly.

V. In 1772, this writer planted some potatoes by accident full nine inches deep; when taken up, many of the plants were rotted, and a few curled. He kept the whole produce for seed, and planted two acres with it in 1773, not quite six inches deep. The crop was amazingly great; and he did not observe any curled plants among them. In 1774, many of these were planted in different soils; yet they were so infected with the curled disease, that not one in twenty escaped. In 1775, the complaint of this disease became general. In 1776, it occurred to him that the good crop of 1773 was owing to the accidental deep setting of 1772; and that the reason why the same seed became curled in 1774, was their being set too near the surface in 1773; and attributes the disease to the practice of ebb-setting. In 1777, he took some potatoes from a crop that was curled the year before, and after cutting the sets, left them in a dry room for a month. Half were planted in ground dug fourteen days before; the other half, having been steeped in a brine made of whitster's ashes for two hours, were also planted in the same land at the same time. The steeped ones came up ten days before the others, and hardly any missed or were curled. The unsteeped ones generally failed, and those few that came up were mostly curled.

He therefore advised as a remedy, 1. That the potatoes intended for next year's sets be planted nine inches deep. 2. That they remain in the ground as long as the season will permit. 3. That these sets be well defended from frost till the beginning of March. 4. That the sets be cut a fortnight before planting. 5. That they be steeped, as above, two hours in brine or ley. 6. That the dung be put over the sets. And 7. That fresh sets be got every year from sandy soils near the coast, or on the shore.

P. S. At planting, the hard dry sets should be cast aside, for they will probably be curled. Curled potatoes always proceed from sets which do not rot or putrefy in the ground.

VI. This writer had five drills of the old red potatoes, and four of the winter whites, growing at the same time in the same field. The drills were prepared exactly... exactly alike. Among the red not one was curled; the winter whites were nearly all curled. He says he has found by experience, that the red never curl.

VII. Two of the writer's neighbours had their sets out of one heap of potatoes. They both set with the plough, the one early, and the other late in the season. Most of those early set proved curled, and most of those set late smooth; the latter on clay land.

A few roods of land were also planted with small potatoes, which had lain spread on a chamber floor all the winter and spring, till the middle of May. They were soft and withered; they proved smooth and a good crop. Middle-sized potatoes, withered and soft, which had been kept in a large dry cellar, and the sprouts of which had been broken off three times, produced also a smooth good crop.

Hence he was led to think a superfluity of sap, occasioned by the seed being unripe, might cause the disease. To be satisfied in this, he asked the farmer whether he had set any of the same potatoes this year, and what was the nature of his land? He told him "he had; that they had been set on his farm fourteen years, without ever curling; that his soil was a poor whitish sand, of little depth; that he let those he designed for keeping grow till they were fully ripe."

Hence he concludes, the only sure way to prevent the curl is, to let potatoes intended for seed stand till they are fully ripe, and to keep them dry all winter.

VIII. This writer set a quantity of the red potatoes, without having a curled one amongst them. His method is, when the sets are cut, to pick out such as are reddish in the inside. On digging them up at Michaelmas, he mixes none of the curled seed among the others. The curled are easily distinguished, by their stalks withering two months before the rest of the crop.

The cause of the curled disease he attributes to potatoes being of late years produced from seed instead of roots, as formerly. Such will not stand good more than two or three years, use what method you please. Last spring, he set the old red and white russets, and had not a curled potato amongst them.

On the lime-stone land about Denbigh, in North Wales, they have no curled potatoes. If this be owing to the nature of that land, perhaps lime might prevent the disease.

IX. According to this writer, all sorts of grain wear out and turn wild if sown too long on the same land; the same will hold good in all sorts of pulse, peas, beans, and (as he conceives) potatoes. It generally happens, that those who have most curled potatoes plant very small sets.

Eleven years ago he bought a parcel of fresh sets, of the golden-dun kind, and has used them without change to the present year, without any being curled. This he principally attributes to his having always planted good large sets.

About four years since, he thought of changing his sets, as his potatoes were too smooth, too round, and much diminished in size. But the curl at that time beginning to be very alarming, he continued his sets till part of his crop miffing last year, he was obliged to buy new sets this spring, which, being small, were curled like other peoples.

He allows, that the curl has frequently happened to persons who have used large potatoes for sets; for, as all roots are not equally affected, some curled ones may be mixed with the rest.

To prevent the evil, cut your sets from clear and middle-sized potatoes, gathered from places as clear of the curl as possible; preserve them as usual till spring. If any are harder, or growth more in cutting than usual, cast them aside. He would also recommend the raising a fresh fort from the crab produced on the forts least affected, which in Lancashire are the long-dans.

X. Set potatoes with the sprouts broke off, and they will (says the writer of this letter) be curled ones; if set with the sprouts on, they will not be curled. Again, take a potato which is sprit, and cut a set off with two sights; break one sprit off, and let the other stay on, and set it; the former will be curled, and the latter will not.

When you have holed your potatoes, take them out before they are sprit, and lay them dry until you have set or sown them, and you will have no curled potatoes.

XI. This writer was at the expense of procuring sets at fifty miles distance, and where this disease was not known. The first year's trial was successful; the year following he procured sets from the same place, but one-fifth of his crop was infected. By way of experiment, he planted sets from roots which had been infected the year before, and some of these produced healthy plants, free from all infection.

As every effect must have a cause, he supposed it might be some insect, which, living on the leaves, gave them that curled and sickly appearance, as is the case in the leaves of many shrubs and trees. But whether the insect is lodged in the old sets, and to be destroyed at the time of planting, or proceeding from some external cause, can only be destroyed afterwards, he is not yet certain, although he has made the following experiments.

On a piece of ground that had not been dug for 20 years, he planted four rows of sets, which he knew to be perfectly clear; the drills were two feet distant, the sets one foot distant in each drill. He then planted on the same ground four rows with sets from curled potatoes, at equal distances; in each row were about 20 sets.

Lot 1st, the curled state. N° 1. Without manure, N° 3. In foot, 2. In salt, 4. In quicklime.

Lot 2d, the clear sets. N° 1. Without manure, N° 3. In foot, 2. In salt, 4. In quicklime.

Those planted in salt and foot in both lots were destroyed. In lot 1, n° 1, and 4, all curled. Lot 2, n° 1, and 4, quite clear.

This experiment was made on a supposition that the insect lodged in the set, and must be destroyed on planting. But of that he is not fully satisfied. He repeated salt, foot, and quicklime, on the branches of several curled potatoes. Salt destroyed all he touched with it. Lime and foot had, he thought, a partial effect on the plants. After some time, they appeared almost as healthy as the rest. Thus, although he had done little towards the cure, he flatters himself he has pointed. pointed out the cause, the insects on the curled plants being not only very numerous, but visible to the naked eye.

XII. This writer ascribes the cause of the disease to the frosts, and bad keeping in winter and spring before setting. They are liable to be damaged by frosts after they are set, but this may be prevented by covering. If it be asked, why frosts did not injure them formerly? he answers, it is only the new kinds which are apt to curl. To this may be added, that less care is now taken of the seed than formerly. To prevent the latter, let them remain in the ground covered with haulm or litter, till the time they are wanted for setting; and, in case no frost touches them afterwards, they will be free from the disease.

XIII. This writer says, the red potato was generally planted as the winter-white and the Lincolnshire kidney are now. The first, being a later potato, did not sprout so early as the others. The white sprout very early, and therefore should first be moved out of the place where they have been preserved in the winter. Instead of that, they are often let remain till their roots and sprouts are matted together. On separating them, these sprouts are generally rubbed off, and they are laid by till the ground is ready; during which interval they sprout a second time; but these second sprouts, being weak and languid, will shrink, sicken, and die; and the fruit at the roots will be small, hard, ill-shaped, and of a brown colour.

Now, if putting off the sprouts once or more, before the sets are put in the ground, be the cause (as he verily believes it is) of the curled disease, an easy remedy is at hand. When the potatoes intended for sets are dug up, lay them in a well-affected dry as possible; in such a situation they will not sprout so soon. The best time for removing most sorts, is the first fine day after the 24th of February. Cut them into sets as soon as possible, and let them remain covered with dry sand till the ground is prepared, which should be a winter fallow. Lay the sets in without breaking off any of the sprouts, for the second will not be so vigorous. This accounts for one sprout out of three from the same set being curled. The two sets not curled rose from two later eyes, and were first sprouts. The sprout curled was a second, the first having been rubbed off.

XIV. This writer says, that last spring one of his neighbours cut and set, in the usual way of drilling, some loads of the largest potatoes he could procure; and more than half of them proved curled. Being a few sets short of the quantity wanted, he planted some very small potatoes which he had laid by for the pigs. These being fully ripe and solid, there was not a curled plant among them. He apprehends, the others being curled was owing to their not being fully ripe. A crop of potatoes, set this year in rows on ground that had borne a crop of them last year, were mostly curled; but many plants came up from seed left in the ground last season, and there was not a curled one among them.

XV. Of late years, this writer says, great improvements have been made in setting potatoes and cutting the sets. The ground is dressed cleaner and dugged stronger. Many people, in drilling, wrap up the sets entirely in the dung; by which means, though their potatoes are larger, the disease seems to be encreased. They also cut their sets out of the richest and largest potatoes, which is perhaps another cause of this evil. In cold countries, where they set their own seed, which has grown on poor land, with less dung, they have no curled plants. On the contrary, when they bought rich and large potatoes for seed, they have been curled in great quantities. He believes, the richness and largeness of the seed to be the cause of the evil; for he does not remember to have seen a curled stem which did not spring from a set of a large potato.

XVI. This writer apprehends the curled disease in potatoes to proceed from a defect in the planta seminalis, or feed-plant; and from comparing curled ones with others, there appeared to be a want of, or inability in, the powers of expanding or unfolding the parts of the former; which, from this defect, forms shrivelled, starved, curled stems. On examining some of the sets at the time of getting the crop, he found them hard and undecayed; so hard, indeed, that some of them would not be soft with long boiling. This led him to think, that some manures might have the same effect on them as tanners' ooze has on leather, and so harden them, that the embryo plant could not come forth with ease; but a closer examination taught him otherwise, and that that they grow equally in all manures.

Some have thought that the fermentation is occasioned by too great quantities being heaped together; but the writer has seen an instance, wherein a single potato, preserved by itself, when sets, produced stems of the curled kind. He thinks the most consistent and rational opinion is, that the disease is occasioned by the potatoes being taken from the ground before the stamen, or miniature-plant, is properly matured and ripened.

For let it be observed, that the potato, being a native of a warmer climate, has there more sun, and a longer continuance in the ground, than in its present exotic state; consequently, it has not the same natural causes here to mature the feed-plant as in its native state. We ought, therefore, to give all the opportunities our climate will admit for nature to complete her work, and fit the stamen for the next state of vegetation, especially in those intended for seed. But if the potato be taken up before the feed-plant be fully matured, or the air and sap-vessels have acquired a proper degree of firmness or hardness, it must, when thus robbed of further nutrition, shrivel up; and when the vessels, in this immature state, come to act again in the second state of vegetation, they may produce plants which are curled.

If it be asked, why are they more common now than formerly? he answers, that before the present mode of setting them took place, people covered them, while in the ground, with straw, to protect them from frosts.

If it be asked, why one set produces both curled and smooth stems? he answers, we suppose every eye to contain a planta seminalis; that all the embryos, or feed-plants, contained in one potato, are nourished by one root; that, as in ears of corn, some of these feed-plants may be nourished before others.

One of his neighbours, last year, set two rows of potatoes, potatoes, which proving all curled, he did not take them up; and this year there is not a curled one among them. Such potatoes, therefore, as are designed for seed, should be preserved as long in the ground as possible.

XVII. This writer advises such sets to be planted as grow in moss-land; and, he says, there will not be a single curled one the first year. This is affirmed by the inhabitants of two townships, where they grow amazing quantities.—A medical gentleman sowed last year two bushels of sets from one of the above places, and had not one curled; but on sowing them again this year, he had a few.

Notwithstanding there seems to be a diversity of opinions in the above writers, occasioned by the different appearances of their crops, and the seemingly contrary effects of the means used to prevent or cure the disease, we conceive that the following general propositions may be fairly drawn from the whole.

1. That some kinds of potatoes are (except paribus) much more liable to be affected by the disease than the rest; and that the old-red, the golden-dun, and the long-dun, are the most free from it.—2. That the disease is occasioned by one or more of the following causes, either singly or combined: 1st, By frost, either before or after the sets are planted; 2d, From planting sets out of large unripe potatoes; 3d, From planting too near the surface, and in old worn-out ground; 4th, From the first shoots of the sets being broken off before planting; by which means there is an incapacity in the plant to send forth others sufficiently vigorous to expand so fully as they ought.—3. That the most successful methods of preventing the disease, are cutting the sets from smooth middle-sized potatoes, that were fully ripe, and had been kept dry after they were taken out of the ground; and without rubbing off their first shoots, planting them pretty deep in fresh earth, with a mixture of quicklime, or on lime-stone land.

A correspondent of the Bath Society is convinced that, whatever may be its cause, the fault itself is inherent in the feed; and has communicated the following method of avoiding it: “I made a hot-bed in the following manner; (which method I have used ever since) I laid horse-dung, &c. (as is generally used in making hot-beds) about 18 inches thick; over which I spread a layer of fine rich mould about four or five inches thick: upon the top of this mould I laid, in different divisions, a certain number of potatoes of various sorts, some of my own growth, and others bought from different parts, and covered these lightly over with more mould; they soon came up. I then observed which was freest from the blight or curl; for if there were not more than one defective in forty or fifty, I concluded I might set of that sort with safety. This method I have now practised near twelve years, and never lost my crop or any part thereof worth mentioning; whilst my neighbours, who followed the old method, were frequently disappointed in their crops; and to the best of my knowledge, all those of my neighbours who have of late been prevailed to take the trouble of using the same means as myself, have never failed of success to their utmost wishes in one instance; nor do I ever think it will fail, if duly attended to; the fault being some hidden cause in the feed unknown at present, and I believe incurable by any means, at least which have yet come to my knowledge. My reason for planting my hot-beds so soon is, that if the frost hinders the first experiment, or they all prove bad, I may have time to make a second or third if necessary, with different sorts of feed, before the proper season arrives for planting in the fields and grounds appointed for the great and general crop.”

PART II. PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.

SECT. I. Instruments of Husbandry.

The instruments employed in agriculture are various; as the plough, the harrow, the roller, &c., which are again greatly diversified by various constructions adapted to particular uses.

1. Of Ploughs.

The plough constructed in the following manner is still the most common and the most generally understood in Scotland; and, if properly made, is the best for answering all purposes, when only one is used; though others are, perhaps, more proper for some particular occupations.

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

The Head, is designed for opening the ground below. The length of the head from A to B is about 20 inches, and the breadth from A to D about five inches; C is the point upon which the fock 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, E, is driven into the mortise b, and Fig. 2, 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 (fig. 1); about three inches broad, and one inch thick.

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

The Mould-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 mould-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, FA, 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, 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 incommodeed 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, BP, is fixed to the end of the head, and is about two feet long. In fitting the fock 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, 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 the point of the fock, 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 Wreft, 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 wreft 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 wreft determines the nature of the furrow. When the wreft 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 already been 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 wreft. Their distance at M and P is about two feet six inches. The lesser handle is fixed to the mould board at M, fig. 10, and to the wreft K B, at L.

Fig. 11, represents the plough complete, by joining together figures 6. and 10. in the sheath E B. The wreft B K is hopped to make an angle with the head A B 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 flock, 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 flock moves forward, will be thrown on the right side of the sheath, and by the cutting out of the mould-board, or the raising of the wreft, will be turned over.

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. A B C is the muzzle, A C 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, A B C D. 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 thro', by which the draught may be fixed either above or below the beam. A D is the fore-bolt upon which the muzzle turns; on B C 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 of a narrower furrow. E and F are the holes on each side thro' which the hindmost bolt passes. When the bolt is put thro' 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. 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 E E. 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 all forms, that of the Scotch plough is the fit-Properties teft for breaking up stiff and rough land, especially of the Scots where stones abound; and no less fit for strong clay lands hardened by drought. The length of its head gives it a firm hold of the ground; its weight prevents it from being thrown out by stones; the length of the handles gives the ploughman great command to direct its motion; But in tender soil it is improper, because it adds greatly to the expense of ploughing, without any counterbalancing benefit. The length of the head and mould-board increases the friction, and consequently it requires a greater number of oxen or horses than are necessary in a shorter plough. There is another particular in its form, that refits the draught: the mould-board makes an angle with the fock, instead of making a line with it gently curving backward. There is an objection against it no less solid, that it does not stir the ground perfectly; the hinder part of the wreft rises a foot above the sole of the head; and the earth that lies immediately below that hinder part, is left unstirred. This is ribbing land below the surface, similar to what is done by ignorant farmers on the surface.

These defects must be submitted to in a soil that requires a strong heavy plough; but may be avoided in a cultivated soil by a plough differently constructed. Of all the ploughs fitted for a cultivated soil free of stones, that introduced into Scotland about 20 years ago, by James Small in Blackadder Mount, Berwickshire, is the best. It is now in great request; and with reason, as it avoids all the defects of the Scots plough. The shortness of its head and of its mould-board lessen the friction greatly: from the point of the fock to the back part of the head it is only 30 inches; and the whole length, from the point of the beam to the end of the handles, between eight and nine feet. The fock and mould-board make one line gently curving; and consequently gather no earth. Instead of a wreft, the under edge of the mould-board is in one plain with the sole of the head; which makes a wide furrow, without leaving any part unstirred. It is termed the chain-plough, because it is drawn by an iron chain fixed to the back part of the beam immediately before the coulter. This has two advantages: first, by means of a muzzle, it makes the plough go deep, or shallow; and, next, it stresses the beam less than if fixed to the point, and therefore a slenderer beam is sufficient.

This plough may well be considered as a capital improvement; not only by saving expense, but by making better work. It is proper for loams; for carse-clays; and, in general, for every sort of tender soil free of stones. It is even proper for opening up pasture-ground, where the soil has been formerly well cultivated.

A spiked fock is used in the Scotch plough. The difference between it and the feathered fock will be best understood by comparing their figures. Fig. 14. is the common fock, and fig. 15. the feathered one.

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

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

If we look back 30 years, ploughs of different constructions did not enter even into a dream. The Scotch, of farmers' plough was universally used, and no other was known but a few. There was no less ignorance as to the number of cattle years ago, necessary for this plough. In the south of Scotland, five oxen and two horses were universal; and in the north, ten oxen, sometimes twelve. The first attempt to lessen the number of oxen was in Berwickshire. The low part of that county abounds with stone, clay, and marl, the most substantial of all manures, which had been long used by one or two gentlemen. About 25 years ago it acquired reputation, and spread rapidly. As two horses and two oxen were employed in every marl-cart; the farmer, in summer-fallowing, and in preparing land for marl, was confined to four oxen and two horses. And as that manure afforded plenty of succulent straw for oxen, the farmer was surprized to find that four oxen did better now than fix formerly. Marling, however, a laborious work, proceeded slowly, till people were taught by a noted farmer in that country, what industry can perform by means of power properly applied. It was reckoned a mighty task to marl five or six acres in a year. That gentleman, by plenty of red clover for his working-cattle, accomplished the marling 50 acres in a summer, once 54. Having so much occasion for oxen, he tried with success two oxen and two horses in a plough; and that practice became general in Berwickshire.

Now here appears with lustre the advantage of the Advantage chain-plough. The great friction occasioned in the Scotch plough by a long head, and by the angle it tinctually makes with the mould-board, necessarily requires two lustrated oxen and two horses, whatever the soil be. The friction is so much less in the chain-plough, that two good horses are found sufficient in every soil that is proper for it. Besides, the reducing the draught to a couple of horses has another advantage, that of rendering a driver unnecessary. This saving on every plough, where two horses and two oxen were formerly used, will, by the strictest computation, be L 15 Sterling yearly; and where four horses were used, no less than L 20 Sterling. There is now scarce to be seen in the low country of Berwickshire a plough with more than two horses; which undoubtedly in time will become general. We know but of one further improvement, that of using two oxen instead of two horses. That draught has been employed with success in several places; and the saving is so great, that it must force its way everywhere. It may be confidently affirmed, no soil stirred in a proper season, can ever require more than two horses and two oxen in a plough, even supposing the stiffest clay. In all other soils, two good horses, or two good oxen abreast, may be relied on for every operation of the chain-plough.

A chain-plough of a smaller size than ordinary, drawn... A small single-horse plough recommended for various purposes.

A still smaller plough of the same kind may be recommended for a kitchen-garden. It can be reduced to the smallest size, by being made of iron; and where the land is properly dressed for a kitchen-garden, an iron plough of the smallest size drawn by a horse will save much spade-work.—In Scotland, thirty years ago, a kitchen-garden was an article of luxury merely, because at that time there could be no cheaper food than oatmeal. At present, the farmer maintains his servants at double expense, as the price of oatmeal is doubled; and yet he has no notion of a kitchen-garden more than he had thirty years ago. He never thinks, that living partly on cabbage, kail, turnip, carrot, would save much oatmeal: nor does he ever think, that change of food is more wholesome, than vegetables alone, or oatmeal alone. We need not recommend potatoes, which in scanty crops of corn have proved a great blessing: without them, the labouring poor would frequently have been reduced to a starving condition. Would the farmer but cultivate his kitchen-garden with as much industry as he bestows on his potato crop, he needed never fear want; and he can cultivate it with the iron plough at a very small expense. It may be held by a boy of 12 or 13; and would be a proper education for a ploughman. But it is the landlord who ought to give a beginning to the improvement. A very small expense would inclose an acre for a kitchen-garden to each of his tenants; and it would excite their industry, to below an iron plough on those who do belch.

Nor is this the only case where a single-horse plough may be profitably employed. It is sufficient for seed-furrowing barley, where the land is light and well-dressed. It may be used in the second or third ploughing of fallow, to encourage annual weeds, which are destroyed in subsequent ploughings.

The Rotherham plough is a machine of very simple construction, and easily worked. AB is the beam, CD the fleath, EBD the main handle, FR the smaller handle, GH the coulter, KI the foak or share, NP the bridle, S the fly-band, and ML a piece of wood in place of a head. The whole of this plough should be made of ash or elm; the irons should be steeled and well-tempered; and that part of the plough which is underground in tillage should be covered with plates of iron. The difference between this and the common plough seems to consist in the bridle at the end of the beam, by which the ploughman can give the plough more or less land by notches at N, or make it cut deeper or shallower by the holes at P; in the coulter or share, which are so made and set as to cut off the new furrow without tearing; and in the mould-board, which is so shaped at first to raise a little, and then gradually turn over the new cut furrow with very little resistance. But the greatest advantage attending it, is its being so easy of draught, that it will do double the work of any common plough.

The Paring plough is an instrument used in several parts of England for paring off the surface of the ground, in order to its being burnt. Mr Bradley has given the following description of a very simple instrument of this kind: From A to A (fig. 15.) is the plough-beam, about seven feet long, mortised and pinned into the plough-block B, which is of clean timber without knots. Plate VI. C C are the sheaths or standards, made flat on the inside, to close equally with the paring plate, and fastened to it with a bolt and key on each side, as at D. E is the paring plate of iron laid with steel, about four inches wide, and from 12 to 18 inches long. This plate must be made to close on the sides, which are bolted to the standards as well as at the bottom part. F F are two iron braces to keep the standards from giving way: these standards must be mortised near their outsides and through the block. G G are the plough handles, which must be fixed slope-ways between the beam and the standards. The pin-holes in the beam, the use of which is to make this plough cut more or less deep, by fixing the wheels nearer to or farther from the paring plate, should not be above two inches asunder.

Fig. 1 represents the four-coulted plough of Mr The Four-Tull. Its beam is ten feet four inches long, whereas that of the common plough is but eight. The beam is straight in the common plough, but in this it is straight only from a to b, and thence arched; so that the line let down perpendicularly from the corner at a, to the even surface on which the plough stands, would be 11½ inches; and if another line were let down from the turning of the beam at b to the same surface, it would be one foot eight inches and a half; and a third line let down to the surface from the bottom of the beam at that part which bears upon the pillow, will show the beam to be two feet ten inches high in that part. At the distance of three feet two inches from the end of the beam a, at the plough-tail, the first coulter, or that next the share, is let through; and at 13 inches from this, a second coulter is let through; a third at the same distance from that; and, finally, the fourth at the same distance from the third, that is, 13 inches; and from a to b is seven feet.

The crookedness of the upper part of the beam of this plough is contrived to avoid the too great length of the three foremost coulters, which would be too much if the beam was straight all the way; and they would be apt to bend and be displaced, unless they were very heavy and clumsy. Ash is the best wood to make the beam of, it being sufficiently strong, and yet light. The fleath in this plough is to be seven inches broad. The fixing of the share in this, as well as in the common plough, is the nicest part, and requires the utmost art of the maker; for the well-going of the plough wholly depends upon the placing this. Supposing the axis of the beam, and the left side of the share, to be both horizontal, they must never be set parallel to each other; for if they are, the tail of the share bearing against the trench as much as the point, would cause the point to incline to the right hand, and it would be carried out of the ground into the furrow. If the point of the share should be set so, that its side should make an angle on the right side of the axis of the beam, this inconvenience would be much greater; and if its point should incline much to the left, and make too large an angle on that side with the axis of the beam, the plough would run quite to the left hand; and if the holder, to prevent its running quite out of the ground, turns the upper part of his plough towards the left hand, the pin of the share will rise up, and cut the furrow diagonally, leaving it half unploughed. To avoid this and several other inconveniences, the straight side of the share must make an angle upon the left side of the beam; but that must be so very acute a one, that the tail of the share may only press against the side of the trench than the point does. This angle is shown by the pricked lines at the bottom of fig. 9, where ef is supposed to be the axis of the beam let down to the surface, and gf parallel to the left side of the share; and it is the subtenue eg that determines the inclination which the point of the share must have towards the left hand. This subtenue, says Mr Tull, at the fore-end of an eight-feet beam, should never be more than one inch and a half, and whether the beam be long or short, the subtenue must be the same.

The great thing to be taken care of, is the placing the four coulters; which must be so set, that the four imaginary places described by their four edges, as the plough moves forward, may be all parallel to each other, or very nearly so; for if any one of them should be very much inclined to, or should recede much from either of the other, then they would not enter the ground together. In order to place them thus, the beam must be carefully pierced in a proper manner. The second coulter-hole must be two inches and a half more on the right hand than the first, the third must be as much more to the right of the second, and the fourth the same measure to the right hand of the third; and this two inches and a half must be carefully measured from the centre of one hole to the centre of the other. Each of these holes is a mortise of an inch and quarter wide, and is three inches and a half long at the top, and three inches at the bottom. The two opposite sides of this hole are parallel to the top and bottom, but the back is oblique, and determines the obliquity of the standing of the coulter, which is wedged tight up to the poll. The coulter is two feet eight inches long before it is worn; the handle takes up sixteen inches of this length, and is allowed thus long, that the coulter may be driven down as the point wears away. As to the wheels, the left hand wheel is 20 inches diameter, and that on the right hand two feet three inches, and the distance at which they are set from each other is two feet 5½ inches.

2. The Patent Sward-cutter.

The different parts of this instrument are represented by No 1, 2, 3, of fig. 6. A, A, &c. a square frame 3 feet 4 inches from the fore to the hind part, by 4 feet 3 inches, the breadth of the machine within side; the timber (when of fir) 4 inches square, placed on two wheels B. B. 3 feet diameter, a little more or less (the old fore-wheels of a chaise may answer the purpose), to support the hind part of the machine.

C. C. &c. are fix strong pieces of wood, called bulls, 3 feet long, 5 inches and a half broad, the thickness 6 inches at E. and tapering to 3 inches at F. Into these bulls are fixed the cutting wheels, which are iron, 1¾ inches diameter, ¼ths of an inch thick at the centre, about an inch diameter for piercing holes to fix the iron axles in; from that they are to be of such thickness, as allow the edges to be well fleeced. The wheels are fixed by two bolts going through the bulls, with eyes on one end for the axles of the wheels to run in, and nuts and screws on the other to make them very firm by funk in the bulls, to prevent their interfering with the weights L. L. &c. resting on them.

G. G. &c. are hollow pieces of wood, called thorlets, each 3½ inches long, which inclose the bolt M. M. and keep the bulls C. C. &c. at their proper distances, but may be made longer or shorter at pleasure, according as the fward requires to be cut in larger or smaller pieces. They are in two pieces bound together, and jointed by a strap of leather or cord, which allows them to be readily changed when the cutting wheels require to be kept at more or less distance.

The iron bolt M. M. goes through two pieces of wood or iron P. P. 7 inches long, clear of the wood, supported by iron stays fixed to the frame, and thro' all the bulls. It requires to be strong, as the draught of the horses terminate there.

H. H. No 2. and 3. a cylinder or segment of wood, 7 inches diameter, called a rocking tree, which goes across the frame, and moves on the pivots fixed into it, one at each end, supported by an iron bolt or piece of wood mortised into the frame, 8 inches high, as appears in No 2. and 3. to which 6 chains or ropes are fixed by hooks, at different distances, as you want your cuts, 9, 8, 7, or 6 inches from one another, and are joined to the end of each bull in which the cutting wheels run; so that when the rocking tree is turned about by the lever I. fixed in the middle of it, all the bulls, with their cutting wheels, are raised out of the ground at once, as in No 3. by which means the machine may be turned, or moved from place to place with great ease, without any danger of straining the wheels.

L. L. L. &c. No 1. 2. 3. are weights of freestone, 26 inches long and 6 inches broad; the under one 4 inches thick, the upper one 3 inches thick; weighing about 64 lb. the under, and 48 the upper; each of them having two holes, through which iron spikes, firmly fixed in the bulls, pass, in order to keep them steady.

When the ground is easily cut, the under stone may answer; when more difficult, the other stone may be added; so that every wheel may have 7 stone-weight upon it, which has been found sufficient for the stiffest land and toughest fward the machine has ever been tried on. Cast iron weights will answer fully better, but are more expensive.

The lever I. No 2. 3. which ought to be 5 feet long, must have a sliding rope on it; fixed to the back part of the frame; so that when the cutting wheels are all taken out of the ground three or four inches, by the rocking tree's being turned partly round by the lever, the rope may be fixed to it by a loop over the pin R. No 3. (it ought to be placed 3 feet 4 inches from the extremity of the lever I.) Thus all the cutting wheels are kept out of the ground till the machine is turned; and then by moving the loop off the pin, it slips back towards the frame, and the lever is gently let back to its place, as in No 2. by which the cutting wheels are put into their former posture, by the weights fixed on the bulls in which they run. The levers may be made of good tough ash. P. P. N° 1. a small bolt of iron, with a hook on one end of it (one is sufficient), to strengthen the bolt M. M. to be hooked on the centre of it, and joined to the frame by a nut and screw.

The grooves in which the cutting wheels run, may be covered below at the hinder part with a plate of thin black iron, 6 inches long, 3 inches broad, having a slit in it where the wheels run, to prevent (if found necessary) any grats, weeds, or small stones, from filling the grooves, and clogging the wheels.

To the frame N° 1. are fixed (for a double-horse fward-cutter) three shafts, as in a waggon, of such length, strength, and distance from one another, as any workman may think proper.

For a single-horse fward-cutter (which has only four cutting wheels), a pair of shafts are used, and may make the two sides of the frame without any joinings. The width of the frame, in proportion to the double-horse fward-cutter, is as four to six.

It is recommended for a double-horse fward-cutter to have eight bulls and wheels, in order that when it is used to reduce hard clody summer-fallow, or land for barley, before the last furrow, or even after it, the whole weight (42 stone) employed in cutting the stiffest land and toughest fward, may be applied to the 8 bulls then at 6 inches from one another. The 64 lb. weights to be applied to six of the bulls, and two of the 48 lb. weights to each of the additional bulls, which is a sufficient weight for the purpose, and will effectually prevent a clod of more than six inches breadth from escaping being broke to pieces.

In the same manner, a single-horse fward-cutter may have five bulls for the above-mentioned purpose; the 28 stone belonging to it divided thus: The 64 lb. weights to four of the bulls, and two of the 48 lb. weights to each of the additional bulls.

That the machine may come as cheap as possible to the public, the inventor is of opinion, that the expense of the two wheels and the iron axle (which is considerable) may be saved, by joining strongly to the frame at S. N° 3. a piece of wood with a little curve at the extremity of it, resembling the foot of a fledge, formerly much used in Scotland to carry in the corn from the field; the part of it resting on the ground being kept 18 inches (the half diameter of the wheels) from the frame, by a strong support of wood.

As the two outer bulls next the frame are apt to get under it, so as to prevent the cutting wheels from being taken out of the ground, a thin slip of iron fixed to the inside of the frame, nearly opposite to the back end of the bulls, of convenient length, will be found necessary.

The original intention of this machine was to prepare old grass-ground for the plough, by cutting it across the ridges, in the beginning of or during winter, when the ground is soft, in order to answer all the purposes that Mr Tull proposed by his four-coulter plough above described, and so strongly recommended by him for bringing into tillth grass-ground that has been long left. This the fward-cutter has been found to do much more effectually and expeditiously: For Mr Tull's machine cuts the fward in the same direction with the plough; and is liable, from every obstruction any of the coulters meet with, to be thrown out of its work altogether, or the instrument broken: to which the fward-cutter, consisting of four, six, or more cutting wheels, is never liable, from these being entirely independent of one another, cutting the ground across the ridges before ploughing, and rendering that operation easier to two horses than it would be to three, without its being cut. The furrow being cut across, falls finely from the plough in squares of any size required not under six inches, in place of long slips of tough fward seldom and imperfectly broke by the four-coultered plough.

This instrument is very fit for preparing ground for burnbathing, as it will save much hand-labour.

It may be properly used in cross-cutting clover of one or two years standing, to prepare the ground for wheat, if the land is stiff and moist enough.

It may be applied to cutting and cross-cutting pasture-ground, intended to have manure of any kind put upon it to meliorate the grass. In this it will far exceed the scarificator mentioned in one of Mr Young's tours; as that instrument is liable, as well as the four-coultered plough, to be thrown out of its work when meeting with a stone or other interruption. This the fward-cutter is proof against, which is looked on as its greatest excellence.

In preparing for barley, the fward-cutter excels a roller of any kind in reducing the large hard clods in clay land, occasioned by a sudden drought, after its being ploughed too wet; and it is likewise very proper for reducing such clay land when under a summer-fallow. In this operation, the fward-cutter is greatly to be preferred to the cutting-roller, likewise mentioned by Mr Young in one of his tours; for the wheels of the latter being all dependent one on another, when one is thrown out by a stone, three or four must share the same fate. Besides, the cutting-roller has but seven wheels in six feet; whereas the fward-cutter has six in four feet three inches, at nine inches dilatant; and, if necessary, may have them so near as six inches.

After old grass-ground is cut across with the fward-cutter and ploughed, it has a very uncommon and worklike appearance, from each square turned over by the plough being raised up an inch or two at the side last moved by the earth-board; so that the field, when finished, is all prettily waved, and resembles a piece of water when blown on by a gentle breeze. By this means a very great deal of the land's surface is exposed to the frost and other influences of the air, which cannot fail to have a good effect on it.

Two horses are sufficient for the draught of a double-horse fward-cutter, and one horse for a single-horse one. One man manages the machine and drives the horses. He begins his operation by first measuring off 20 or 30 paces from the machine, less or more as he inclines, and there fixes a pole. He then cuts the field across, as near at right angles with the ridges as he can. When the cutting wheels are past the last furrow about a yard or so, and the machine is upon the outmost ridge of the field on which it must turn, he must stop the horses; then take hold of the lever L. No 2. and by pulling it to him he raises the cutting wheels out of the ground, which are kept so by the loop of the rope being put over the pin R. in the lever L. No 3. till the machine is turned and brought to its proper place, which is done by measuring off the same distance formerly merly done on the opposite side of the field. When the cutting wheels are exactly over the outmost furrow, then, on the horses being flopped, the rope is slung off the pin R, and the lever returned to its former place, as represented No. 2, which allows the weights L, L, &c., to force the cutting wheels into the ground again. He then goes on till the interval between the first and second stroke of the machine is all cut. In this manner the field is to be finished, after which you may begin to plough when you please. (N.B. There must be a pole at each side of the field.)

It is of no consequence whether the land to be faward-cut is in crooked ridges or straight, in flat ridges or in very high raised ones. Be the surface ever so uneven, the cutting wheels, being all independent of one another, are forced by their weights into every furrow or hollow.

One faward-cutter will cut as much in one day as six ploughs will plough.

The land may lie several months in winter after being faward-cut, when there is no vegetation to make the cuts grow together again before it is ploughed; but the sooner it is ploughed after cutting the better, that it may have the benefit of all the winter's frosts, which makes it harrow better at seed-time.

When the ground is harrowed, the harrows ought to go with the waves which appear after ploughing, not against them, as by that means they are less apt to tear up the furrows all cut into squares. This, however, need only be attended to the two first times of harrowing, as they are called.

Any common wright and smith may make the instrument. It is very strong, very simple, and easily managed and moved from place to place; and, if put under cover, will last many years.

It was invented some time ago by the Honourable Robert Sandilands; and is represented in the Plate as it has been lately improved by him, the price being at the same time reduced from £15 or £16 to £5 or £6.

3. The Brake.

The brake is a large and weighty harrow, the purpose of which is to reduce a stubborn soil, where an ordinary harrow makes little impression. It consists of four square bulls, each side five inches, and six feet and a half in length. The teeth are 17 inches long, bending forward like a coulter. Four of them are inserted into each bull, fixed above with a screw-nut, having 12 inches free below, with a heel close to the under part of the bull, to prevent it from being pushed back by stones. The nut above makes it easy to be taken out for sharpening. This brake requires four horses or four oxen. One of a lesser size will not fully answer the purpose: one of a larger size will require six oxen; in which case the work may be performed at less expense with the plough.

This instrument may be applied to great advantage in the following circumstances. In the following strong clay that requires frequent ploughings, a braking between every ploughing will pulverize the soil, and render the subsequent ploughings more easy. In the month of March or April, when strong ground is ploughed for barley, especially if bound with couch-grass, a cross-brake is preferable to a cross-ploughing, and is done at half the expense. When ground is ploughed from the state of nature, and after a competent time is cross-ploughed, the brake is applied with great success, immediately after the cross-ploughing, to reduce the whole to proper tilth.

Let it be observed, that a brake with a greater number of teeth than above-mentioned, is improper for ground that is bound together by the roots of plants, which is always the case of ground new broken up from its natural state. The brake is soon choked, and can do no execution till freed from the earth it holds. A less number of teeth would be deficient in pulverizing the soil.

4. The Harrow.

Harrow are commonly considered as of no use but to cover the seed; but they have another use scarce less essential, which is to prepare land for the seed. This is an article of importance for producing a good crop. But how imperfectly either of these purposes is performed by the common harrow, will appear from the following account of it.

The harrow commonly used is of different forms. The first we shall mention has two bulls, four feet long and 18 inches aunder, with four wooden teeth in each common. A second has three bulls and 12 wooden teeth. A third has four bulls, and 20 teeth of wood or iron, 10, 11, or 12 inches aunder. Now, in fine mould, the last may be sufficient for covering the seed; but none of them are sufficient to prepare for the seed any ground that requires subduing. The only tolerable form is that with iron teeth; and the bare description of its imperfections will show the necessity of a more perfect form. In the first place, this harrow is by far too light for ground new taken up from the state of nature, for clays hardened with spring-drought, or for other stubborn soils: it floats on the surface; and after frequent returns in the same tract, nothing is done effectually. In the next place, the teeth are too thick set, by which the harrow is apt to be choked, especially where the earth is bound with roots, which is commonly the case. At the same time, the lightness and number of teeth keep the harrow upon the surface, and prevent one of its capital purposes, that of dividing the soil. Nor will fewer teeth answer for covering the seed properly. In the third place, the teeth are too short for reducing a coarse soil to proper tilth; and yet it would be in vain to make them longer, because the harrow is too light for going deep into the ground. Further, the common harrows are so ill constructed, as to ride at every turn one upon another. Much time is lost in disengaging them. Lastly, it is equally unfit for extirpating weeds. The ground is frequently found bound with couch-grass, as to make the furrow-slice stand upright, as when old lea is ploughed: notwithstanding much labour, the grass-roots keep the field, and gain the victory.

A little reflection, even without experience, will make it evident, that the same harrows, whatever be the form, can never answer all the different purposes of harrowing, nor can operate equally in all different soils, rough or smooth, firm or loose. The following, therefore, have been recommended; which are of three different... Part II.

Practice. Several forms, adapted for different purposes. They are all of the same weight, drawn each by two horses. Birch is the best wood for them, because it is cheap, and not apt to split. The first is composed of four bulls, each four feet ten inches long, three and a quarter inches broad, and three and a half deep; the interval between the bulls is three-fourths inches; so that the breadth of the whole harrow is four feet. The bulls are connected by four sheths, which go through each bull, and are fixed by timber-nails driven through both. In each bull five teeth are inserted, ten inches free under the bull, and ten inches afunder. They are of the same form with those of the brake, and inserted into the wood in the same manner. Each of these teeth is three pounds weight; and where the harrow is made of birch, the weight of the whole is six stone fourteen pounds, Dutch. An erect bridle is fixed at a corner of the harrow, three inches high, with four notches for drawing higher or lower. To this bridie a double tree is fixed for two horses drawing abreast, as in a plough. And to strengthen the harrow, a flat rod of iron is nailed upon the harrow from corner to corner in the line of the draught.

The second harrow consists of two parts, connected together by a crank or hinge in the middle, and two chains of equal length, one at each end, which keep the two parts always parallel, and at the same distance from each other. The crank is so contrived, as to allow the two parts to ply to the ground like two unconnected harrows; but neither of them to rise above the other, more than if they were a single harrow without a joint. In a word, they may form an angle downward, but not upward. Thus they have the effect of two harrows in curved ground, and of one weighty harrow in a plain. This harrow is composed of six bulls, each four feet long, three inches broad, and three and a half deep. The interval between the bulls nine and a half inches; which makes the breadth of the whole harrow, including the length of the crank, to be five feet five inches. Each bull has five teeth, nine inches free under the wood, and ten inches afunder. The weight of each tooth is two pounds; the rest as in the former.

The third consists also of two parts, connected together like that last mentioned. It has eight bulls, each four feet long, two and a half inches broad, and three deep. The interval between the bulls is eight inches; and the breadth of the whole harrow, including the length of the crank, is six feet four inches. In each bull are inserted five teeth, seven inches free under the wood, and ten and a half inches afunder, each tooth weighing one pound. The rest as in the two former harrows.

These harrows are a considerable improvement. They ply to curved ground like two unconnected harrows; and when drawn in one plain, they are in effect one harrow of double weight, which makes the teeth pierce deep into the ground. The imperfection of common harrows, mentioned above, will suggest the advantages of the set of harrows here recommended. The first is proper for harrowing land that has long lain after ploughing, as where oats are sown on a winter-furrow, and in general for harrowing stiff land: it pierces deep into the soil by its long teeth, and divides it minutely. The second is intended for covering the seed: its long teeth lays the seed deeper than the common harrow can do; which is no slight advantage. By placing the seed considerably under the surface, the young plants are, on the one hand, protected from too much heat, and, on the other, have sufficiency of moisture. At the same time, the seed is so well covered that none of it is lost. Seed slightly covered by the common harrows wants moisture, and is burnt up by the sun; beside, that a proportion of it is left upon the surface uncovered. The third harrow supplies what may be deficient in the second, by smoothing the surface, and covering the seed more accurately. The three harrows make the ground finer and finer, as heckles do lint; or, to use a different comparison, the first harrow makes the bed, the second lays the seed in it, the third smooths the cloaths. They have another advantage not inferior to any mentioned: they mix manure with the soil more intimately than can be done by common harrows; and upon such intimate mixture depends greatly the effect of manure, as has already been explained. To conclude, these harrows are contrived to answer an established principle in agriculture, That fertility depends greatly on pulverizing the soil, and on an intimate mixture of manure with it, whether dung, lime, marl, or any other.

The Chain and Screw Harrow. Fig. 8. is the plan Plate V. of a harrow also invented by Mr Sandilands, and to which he has given the name of the chain and screw harrow. Its properties are, that if your ridges be high, and you wish to harrow them from one end to the other, by lengthening the chain (which the screw commands), the harrow, when drawn along, forms an angle downwards, and misses none of the curve of the ridge, so far as it extends (which may be nine feet, the distance from A to B. The extent, in the contrary direction, is five feet five inches). When the crowns of the ridges have got what is thought sufficient harrowing lengthwise, you shorten the chain by the screw, which forms an angle upwards: the harrow is then drawn by the horses, one on each side of the furrow; which completely harrows it, and the sides of the ridge, if 18 feet broad.

When you want to harrow even ground or high ridges across with the screw, you can bring the harrow to be horizontal, so as to work as a solid harrow without a joint.

The teeth are formed and fixed in the common manner, square, not in the fashion of coulters; and are nine or ten inches below the wood, and of such strength as it is thought the land requires. The teeth cut, or rather tear, the ground at every four inches without variation, though seemingly placed irregularly; and this without any risk of choking, except sometimes at the extreme angles, where the teeth are necessarily near each other; but which may be cleaned with the greatest ease, by raising them a little from the ground. The figures 1, 2, &c. point out where the 12 teeth on each side of the harrow are placed.

Where a strong brake-harrow is not necessary, by making the teeth shorter and lighter, you may have 48 teeth, which will tear the ground at every two inches, cover the seed well, and make a fine mould.

It is recommended, that harrows for every purpose, and of any size, be made on the above principle; by which no tooth can ever follow the track of another, and all of them will be kept constantly acting.

5. The Roller.

The roller is an instrument of capital use in husbandry, though scarcely known in ordinary practice; and, where introduced, it is commonly so slight as to have very little effect.

Rollers are of different kinds; stone, cast-iron, wood. Each of these has its advantages. We would recommend the last, constructed in the following manner. Take the body of a tree, six feet ten inches long, the larger the better, made as near a perfect cylinder as possible. Surround this cylinder with three rows of fillies, one row in the middle, and one at each end. Line these fillies with planks of wood equally long with the roller, and so narrow as to ply into a circle. Bind them fast together with iron rings. Beech-wood is the best, being hard and tough. The roller thus mounted, ought to have a diameter of three-feet ten inches. It has a double pair of shafts for two horses abreast. These are sufficient in level ground; in ground not level, four horses may be necessary. The roller without the shafts ought to weigh 200 stone Dutch; and the large diameter makes this great weight easy to be drawn.

Rolling wheat in the month of April is an important article in loose soil; as the winter-rains pressing down the soil leave many roots in the air. Barley ought to be rolled immediately after the seed is sown; especially where grass-seeds are sown with it. The best time for rolling a gravelly soil, is as soon as the mould is so dry as to bear the roller without clinging to it. A clay soil ought neither to be tilled, harrowed, nor rolled, till the field be perfectly dry. And as rolling a clay soil is chiefly intended for smoothing the surface, a dry season may be patiently waited for, even till the crop be three inches high. There is the greater reason for this precaution, because much rain immediately after rolling is apt to cake the surface when drought follows. Oats in a light soil may be rolled immediately after the seed is sown, unless the ground be so wet as to cling to the roller. In a clay soil, delay rolling till the grain be above ground. The proper time for sowing grass-seeds in an oat-field, is when the grain is three inches high; and rolling should immediately succeed, whatever the soil be. Flax ought to be rolled immediately after sowing. This should never be neglected; for it makes the seed push equally, and prevents after-growth; the bad effect of which is visible in every step of the process for dressing flax. The first year's crop of sown grasses ought to be rolled as early the next spring as the ground will bear the horses. It fixes all the roots precisely as in the case of wheat. Rolling the second and third crops in loose soil is an useful work; though not so essential as rolling the first crop.

In the first place, rolling renders a loose soil more compact and solid; which encourages the growth of plants, by making the earth clap close to every part of every root. Nor need we be afraid of rendering the soil too compact; for no roller that can be drawn by two or four horses will have that effect. In the next place, rolling keeps in the moisture, and hinders drought to penetrate. This effect is of great moment. In a dry season, it may make the difference of a good crop, or no crop, especially where the soil is light. In the third place, the rolling grass-seeds, beside the foregoing advantages, facilitates the mowing for hay; and it is to be hoped, that the advantage of this practice will lead farmers to sow their corn also, which will increase the quantity of straw both for food and for the dunghill.

There is a small roller for breaking clods in land intended for barley. The common way is, to break clods with a maul; which requires many hands, and is a laborious work. This roller performs the work more effectually, and at much less expense: let a harrowing precede, which will break the clods a little; and after lying a day, or a day and a half, to dry, this roller will dissolve them into powder. This however does not forfeit the use of the great roller after all the other articles are finished, in order to make the soil compact, and to keep out the summer-drought. A stone roller four feet long, and fifteen inches diameter, drawn by one horse, is sufficient to break clods that are easily dissolved by pressure. The use of this roller in preparing land for barley is gaining ground daily, even among ordinary tenants, who have become sensible both of the expense and toil of using wooden mells. But in a clay soil, the clods are sometimes too firm, or too tough, to be subdued by so light a machine. In that case, a roller of the same size, but of a different construction, is necessary. It ought to be surrounded with circles of iron, six inches aunder, and seven inches deep; which will cut even the most stubborn clods, and reduce them to powder. Let not this instrument be considered as a finical refinement. In a stiff clay, it may make the difference of a plentiful or scanty crop.

6. The Fallow-cleansing Machine.

This was invented by Mr Aaron Ogden, a smith at Ashton-under-Line, near Manchester in Lancashire, cleansing it is intended for cleansing fallows from weeds, &c. machine, which exhaust the riches of the soil. A, A, is the frame; Plate VI. B, the first roller; C, the second ditto; in which last are two cranks to move the arms D, D, which work the rake up the directors fixed on the plank E. The under side of the lower ends or shares of the directors are sharp, to cut the clods and let them come on the upper side. Each alternate heel of the share is longer than the intermediate one, that they may not have more than one-half to cut at once. At the back of the plank E are two screws to let it loose, that the directors may be set higher or lower. The shares are to penetrate the ground two or three inches, to raise the quicks till the rake I, I, fetches them into the cart H, where a man must be ready with a muck-hook to clear them backward when gathered. In the rake I are two teeth for every space of the directors, that stones, &c. may be gathered without damage. K, K, are two staples, by which the machine is drawn; under them at b are two hooks, placed low to raise the machine in turning, by the help of the traces; and the axle-tree of the cart should be fixed upon a pin, that it may turn like a waggon. F, F, are the triggers to throw the rake behind the roots. The long teeth at G, G, are to cleanse the roller C. I, I, is the rake which gathers up the weeds into into the cart H, and is drawn above the trigger F by the working of the arms D, expressed by the dotted lines at d, d, i, i, i. The triggers F, of which there is one on each side, move on the pivots a; so that when the points b, of the rake I, have been drawn up by the directors E to the part marked e, the trigger, giving way, permits the rake to pass; but immediately falling, the rake returns along the upper surface of the trigger marked e, e, and of course falls on the weeds when it comes to the end, a little beyond the pivot a.

The reader will observe, that the boarding is taken away on one side, in the Plate, in order to give a more perfect view of the inner parts of the machine; and in fact it would perhaps be better if all the boarding, marked L, L, L, was taken away, and frame-work put in its stead. The cart H might undoubtedly also be made lighter. The wheels M, M, appear in the Plate to be made of solid wood; but there is no necessity they should be so. At N is another view of the roller C, by which the disposition of the spikes may be easily comprehended. Suppose the circle O, described by the end of the roller N, to be divided by four straight lines into eight equal segments, as represented at P. Let the same be done at the other end of the roller, and parallel lines be drawn from one corresponding point to the other the length of the roller; mark the points with figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; afterwards draw oblique lines, as from 1, at the end of O, to 2, at the other end, and from 2 to 3, &c., on these oblique lines the spikes are to be fixed at equal distances, in eight circles, described on the circumference of the roller. The spikes of the small roller B are fixed in the same manner, except that the diameter being smaller, there are only six instead of eight rows.

R is another view of the directors, with the plank E on which they are fixed; and S is a section of a part of the plank, with one of the directors as fixed, in which may be seen the heel m, from whence to the point of the flare n is a sharp cutting edge. See the same letters in figure R. At T is one of the long teeth to be seen at G; it is bent towards the roller C, which it serves to cleanse. When the end of the rake b, after rising above e, is pushed, by the motion of the arms D, D, along the upper part e, e, of the trigger F, and comes to the end beyond a; as it falls, the part of the arm marked o rests in the notch p, till it is again raised by the motion of the roller C with the rake. The roller C is to be one foot diameter, the spikes nine inches long, that they may go through the furrow (if the soil should be loose) into the hard earth, the more effectually to work the rake, which otherwise might be so overcharged as to cause the roller to drag without turning. In the rake-ends b there should be pivots, with rollers or pullers on, to go in the groove, to take off the friction; and they would likewise take the triggers more surely as the rake comes back. The rake should also be hung so far backwards, that when it is fallen the arms of it may lie in the same plane or parallel with the directors, on which it comes up (which will require the frame to be two inches longer in the model). This will cause the rake to fall heavier, and drive the teeth into the roots, and bring them up without fluttering. These teeth must be made of steel, very fine, and so long as to reach down to the plank on which the directors are fixed, that is to say, six inches long (the directors are also to be made six inches broad above the plank). The rake-head should also fall a little before the crank is at its extremity, which will cause the rake to push forward to let the teeth come into the roots. The rake-teeth must drop in the same plane with the roller and wheel, or on the surface of the earth. No more space should be given from the roller C to the long teeth at G G than that the rake may just miss the spikes of the roller C and fall on the places before mentioned. As the first roller B was intended to cleanse the second C more than for any other use, it may be omitted when the machine is made in large, as Mr Ogden has lately found that the long teeth at G G answer the end alone, and this renders the machine about a fifth part shorter; Now, to suit any sort of earth, there should be to each machine three planks, with directors at different spaces, to use occasionally; in the first, the spaces between the directors should be eight inches wide, in the second six, and the third four. This will answer the same end as having so many machines.

As there may be some objections to the rake not leaving the roots when it has brought them up, Mr Ogden has several methods of cleaning it; but as he would make it as simple as possible, he chooses to let it be without them at present; but suppose it should bring some roots back again with it, it will probably lose them before it gets back to the extremity; whence they will lie light, and be of but little detriment to the others coming up. Mr Ogden would have the first machine made four feet six inches wide, the teeth divided into equal spaces, the outsides into half spaces.

7. The new-invented Patent Universal Sowing Machine.

This machine, whether made to be worked by hand, drawn by a horse, or fixed to a plough, and used with sowing it, is extremely simple in the construction, and not liable to be put out of order; as there is but one movement to direct the whole, nor does it require any skill in working. It will sow wheat, barley, oats, rye, clover, cole-seed, hemp, flax, canary, rape, turnip, besides a great variety of other kinds of grain and seeds broad-cast, with an accuracy hitherto unknown. It is equally useful in the new husbandry, particularly when fixed to a plough; it will then drill a more extensive variety of grain, pulse, and seed (through every gradation, with regard to quantity), and deliver each kind with greater regularity than any drill-plough whatever. When used in this manner, it will likewise be found of the utmost service to farmers who are partial to the old husbandry, as, among many other very valuable and peculiar properties, it will not only sow in the broad-cast way with a most singular exactness, but save the expense of a feedman; the seed being sown (either over or under furrow at pleasure), and the land ploughed, at the same operation.

Perhaps a fair and decisive experiment for ascertaining the superior advantage of broad-casting or drilling any particular crop, was never before so practicable; as the seed may now be put in with the utmost degree of regularity, in both methods of culture, by the same machine; machine; consequently, the seed will be sown in both cases with equal accuracy, without which it is impossible to make a just decision.

The excellence of this machine consists in spreading any given quantity of seed over any given number of acres, with a mathematical exactness, which cannot be done by hand; by which a great saving may be made in feeding the ground, as well as benefiting the expected crop.

There has always been a difficulty in sowing turnip seed with any degree of exactness, both from the minuteness of the seed, and the smallness of the quantity required to be sown on an acre. Here the machine has a manifest advantage, as it may be set to sow the least quantity ever required on an acre; and with an accuracy the best seedman can never attain to.

It will also sow clover, cole, flax, and every other kind of small seed, with the utmost degree of regularity.

It will likewise broad-cast beans, peas, and tares, or drill them with the greatest exactness, particularly when constructed to be used with a plough.

Another advantage attending the use of this machine is, that the wind can have no effect on the falling of the seed.

Of the Machine when made to be used without a Plough, and to be drawn by a Horse.—It may in this case be made of different lengths at the desire of the purchaser. The upper part AAAA, contains the hoppers from which the grain or seed descends into the spouts. The several spouts all rest upon a bar, which hangs and plays freely by two diagonal supporters BB; a trigger fixed to this bar bears a catch wheel: this being fixed on the axle, occasions a regular and continual motion, or jogging of the spouts, quicker or slower in proportion to the pace the person sowing with it drives; and of course, if he quickens his pace, the bar will receive a greater number of strokes from the catch wheel, and the grain or seed will feed the faster. If he drives slower, by receiving fewer strokes, the contrary must take place. In going along the side of a hill, the strength of the stroke is corrected by a spring which acts with more or less power, in proportion as the machine is more or less from a horizontal position, and counteracts the difference of gravity in the bar, so that it presses, in all situations, with a proper force against the catch wheel. This spring is unnecessary if the land be pretty level. At the bottom of the machine is placed an apron or shelf in a sloping position, and the corn or seed, by falling thereon from the spouts above, is scattered about in every direction under the machine, and covers the ground in a most regular and uniform manner.

To sow the corn or seed in drills, there are moveable spouts, (see fig. 10.) which are fixed on, or taken off at pleasure, to direct the feed from the upper spout to the bottom of the furrow.

The machine is regulated for sowing any particular quantity of seed on an acre by a brass slider, A, fig. 7, fixed by screws against a brass bridge on each of the spouts. The machine is prevented from feeding while turning at the ends, by only removing the lever, E, fig. 2, out of the channel G, to another at H, on the right hand of it, which carries back the bar from the catch-wheel, and occasions the motion of the spouts to cease, and at the same time brings them upon a level by the action of the diagonal supporters; so that no Practice. corn or seed can fall from them.

The machine in this form is particularly useful for broad-casting clover upon barley or wheat; or for sowing any other kind of seed, where it is necessary that the land should first be harrowed exceedingly fine and even.

Manner of using the Machine, when drawn by a Horse.—Place the machine about two feet from the ends of the furrows where you intend it shall begin to sow. Fill the hoppers with seed, and drive it forwards with the outside wheel in the first furrow. When you are at the end of the length, at the opposite side of the field, lift the lever E, fig. 2, into the channel H, and the machine will instantly stop sowing. Drive it on about two feet, and then turn. Fill the hoppers again if necessary; then remove the lever back again into the channel G, and in returning, let the outside wheel of the machine go one furrow within the track which was made by it, in passing from the opposite end; as for example, if the wheel passed down the eighth furrow from the outside of the field, let it return in the seventh; and in every following length let the outside wheel always run one furrow within the track made by the same wheel: because the breadth sown is about nine inches less than the distance between the wheels.

Let the machine be kept in a perpendicular situation. If the farmer wishes to sow more or less seed on any one part of the field than the other, it is only raising the handles a little higher, or sinking them a little lower than usual, and it will occasion a sufficient alteration; and should the last turn be less in breadth than the machine, those spouts which are not wanted may be taken up from the bar, and prevented from feeding, by turning the knob above them.

Also, when the land required to be sown has what is called a vent, that is, when the sides of the field run in an oblique line to the furrows, which by this means are unequal in length; the spouts must be taken up or let down in succession by turning the knobs; so that part of the machine, where they are placed, arrives at the ends of the furrows. This is done while the machine is going forwards.

If the land be tolerably level, the machine may be fixed by the screw in the front, and the machine may then be used by any common harrow boy.

Method of regulating the Machine.—In each spout is fixed a bridge, (see fig. 7,) with an aperture in it, B, for the grain or seed to pass through. This aperture is enlarged or contracted by a slider, A, which passes over it; and when properly fixed for the quantity of seed designed to be sown on an acre, is fastened by means of two strong screws firmly against the bridge. This is made use of in sowing all kinds of seed, where it is required to sow from one bushel upwards on an acre. To sow one, two, three gallons, or any of the intermediate quantities, as of clover, cole-feed, &c. the brass plate, fig. 6, is placed between the bridge and the slider, with the largest aperture B downwards, which aperture is enlarged or contracted by the slider as before. To sow turnips, the same plate is placed between the bridge and the slider, with its smallest aperture A downwards, and the hollow part about the same aperture inwards.

Fig. 8. is a view of the regulator, by which the apertures Practice. apertures in the several spouts are all set exactly alike, with the utmost care, to make them feed equally. The extreme height of the largest aperture is equal to the breadth \( AB \), and the breadth at \( C \) is equal to the height of the smallest aperture used, viz. that for turnips. The side \( AC \), is divided into 60 equal parts, and on it moves the slider or horse \( D \); which being placed at any particular degree, according to the quantity of seed required to be sown on an acre, is fixed upon it, by a screw on the side of the slider or horse. When this is done, the end of the regulator is put through the aperture in the bridge or plate (whichever is intended to be used), and the slider against the bridge in the spout, raised by it, till it stops against the horse on the regulator; then the slider is fastened against the bridge firmly by the two screws; care being taken at the same time that it stands nearly square.

By this means the spouts (being all fixed in the same manner) will feed equally.

It is easy to conceive that the size of the apertures, and consequently the quantity of seed to be sown on an acre, may be regulated with a far greater accuracy than is required in common practice.

The spouts may be regulated with the utmost nicety, in five minutes, to sow each particular seed, for the whole season. But a little practice will enable any person, who possesses but a very moderate capacity, to make the spouts feed equally, even without using the regulator (\( A \)).

Of the Machine, when made to be used by Hand.—The difference of the machine in this case is, that it is made lighter, with but three spouts, without shafts, and is driven forwards by the handles. It hath also a bolt in front, which being pushed in by the thumb, releases the machine; so that it can then easily be placed in a perpendicular position. This alteration is necessary to keep the handles of a convenient height, in sowing up and down a hill, where the slope is considerable; and is done while the machine is turning at the end of the length. The method of regulating and using it is the same as when made to be drawn by a horse.

Of the Machine, when constructed to be used with a Plough.—This is, without doubt, the most useful application of the machine; and it can be fixed without difficulty to any kind of plough, in the same manner as to that represented in fig. 1.

The advantages arising from the use of it are great and numerous; for, beside the increase in the crop, which will be insured by the seeds being broad-cast with a mathematical nicety, a large proportion of seed (the value of which alone, in a few months, will amount to more than the price of the machine) and the seedman's labour will be saved. The seed may likewise be sown either under or over furrow; or one cast each way, as is practised by some farmers. The seed also, being cast by the machine upon the fresh ploughed land, may be immediately harrowed in, before the mould has lost any part of its moisture; which in a dry season will greatly promote the crop. In drilling any kind of grain, pulse, or seed, it possesses every property that can be wished for in the best drill-plough, nor will it (as most of them do) bruise the seed, or feed irregularly. The construction of the machine is the same as the large ones, except being made with one hopper and spout instead of several, and the apron moveable instead of being fixed, as may be seen by inspecting fig. 4. The only alteration necessary to make the machine broad-cast or drill is, in the former case to place the apron \( B \), fig. 1, at the bottom of the machine, upon the hooks \( FF \), sloping either towards the furrows or the unploughed land, according as it is intended to sow the seed, either over or under furrow. Whenever the apron is required to be shifted, it is done in less than a second of time; as it only requires to be moved up or down with the hand, when a catch fixes it.

To prepare it for drilling, instead of the apron, place the long spout, fig. 10, upon the brackets, on the front of the machine, by the ears \( AA \), to receive the seed from the upper spout, and fasten the lower end of it, by a small cord, to that hook upon which the apron is hung for broad-casting, which is next the plough (see fig. 3); the seed will then be directed by the long spout, to the centre of the furrow, near the heel of the plough. The spring for correcting the strength of the stroke, is necessary only when they are required to go along the side of a considerable declivity. The machine, when fixed to a plough, does not require the smallest degree of skill in using, as nothing is necessary but to keep the hopper filled, which will contain a sufficient quantity of seed to go upwards of 140 rods, before it will want re-filling, when three bushels and a half are sown on an acre. The accuracy with which it will broad-cast, may in some measure be conceived, by considering that the seed regularly descends upon the apron or shelf, and is from thence scattered upon the ground, in quantity exactly proportioned to the speed of the plough; also that each cast spreads to the third furrow; and by this means fills up the last. In this manner it is continually filling up till the whole field is completely covered; so that it is impossible to leave the smallest space without its proper quantity of seed.

When the plough is wanted for any other purpose,

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(A) Proper directions are given with each machine for using it, as also for fixing the sliders to sow any particular quantity of corn or seed on an acre, so as to enable any person to set the spouts.

The prices of the machine (exclusive of the packing cases) are as follow. If constructed to be used with a single furrow plough; the wheel, with the axle and cheeks teed, strap, regulator, brass-plates for broad-casting or drilling turnips, lucerne, tares, wheat, barley, &c. &c. &c. and every article necessary for fixing it included, three guineas and a half. If made with a spring (for sowing on the side of a hill, where the slope is considerable), but which is very rarely necessary, five shillings more. If made to be fixed to any double-furrow plough, four guineas and a half.

The large machine, fig. 2, when made to broad-cast seven furrows at a time and to be drawn by a horse, eight guineas and a half. If constructed to sow five furrows at a time, and to be used by hand, six guineas. There are also five shillings more if made with a spring. the machine, with the wheel at the heel of the plough for giving it motion, can be removed or replaced at any time in five minutes.

Fig. 11 represents the machine fixed to a double-furrow creasing plough, and prepared for drilling. As this plough may not be generally known, it will not be improper to observe, that it is chiefly used for creasing the land with furrows (after it has been once ploughed and harrowed); which method is necessary when the seed is to be sown broad-cast upon land that has been a clover-lay, &c., because, if the seed be thrown upon the rough furrows, a considerable part of it will fall between them, and be unavoidably lost, by laying too deep buried in the earth. This mode answers extremely well, and partakes of both methods of culture; the seed, though sown broad-cast, falling chiefly into the furrows.

The machine is very useful for sowing in this manner; as the seed is broad-cast, with an inconceivable regularity, at the time the land is creased. The advantages it likewise possesses for drilling all sorts of grain or seed with this plough, are too evident to need mentioning.

The machine, when constructed to be used with a double-furrow plough, is made with two upper and two long spouts for drilling, two aprons for broad-casting, and with a double hopper; but in other respects the same as when intended for a single furrow plough: it is used in all cases with the greatest ease imaginable.

The interval between the points of the two shares of a creasing plough is usually ten inches; the beam about nine feet long; and the whole made of a light construction.

Plate VII A more particular explanation of the figures.—Fig. 1. The machine fixed to a Kentish turn wreath plough. A, The machine. B, The apron upon which the feed falls and rebounds upon the land, in broad-casting. C, Lid to cover the hopper. D, Wheel at the heel of the plough. E, Strap. FF, Hooks, upon which the apron turns by a pivot on each side. G, Stay, to keep the machine steady. H, Lever, to prevent it from sowing.

Fig. 2. The machine constructed to be drawn by a horse. AAAA, The hoppers. BB, The diagonal supporters. CCCC, The upper spouts. D, The apron or shelf upon which the feed falls from the upper spouts. E, The lever, which carries back the bar, and prevents the machine from sowing. FF, Staples upon the handles, through which the reins pass, for the man who conducts the machine, to direct the horse by. I, Screw, to fix the machine occasionally. N.B. The knobs (by turning which each particular spout may be taken from off the bar, and thereby prevented from feeding) are over each upper spout; but, to prevent confusion, are not lettered in the Plate.

Fig. 3. Is the same machine with that in fig. 1. The dotted lines, expressing the situation of the long spout, when the apron is removed, and the machine adapted for drilling.

Fig. 4. Also the same machine, with the front laid open to show the inside. A, The catch-wheel fixed upon the axle. BB, The axle upon which the machine hangs between the handles of the plough. C, The pulley, by which the strap from the wheel at the heel of the plough turns the catch-wheel. D, The bar, upon which the upper spout rests, suspended by the diagonal supporters EE, bearing against the catch-wheel by the trigger F, and thereby kept in motion while the plough is going. G, The apron in a sloping position, upon which the corn or seed falls from the upper spout, and is scattered by rebounding upon the land. It turns upon pivots, and by this means throws the seed either towards the right hand or left at pleasure.

Fig. 5. The upper spout.

Fig. 6. The plate which is placed between the bridge and the slider, for sowing small seeds. The aperture A being downwards for sowing turnips; the larger one B downwards for sowing clover, &c.

Fig. 7. The bridge, fixed in the upper spouts. A, The slider, which contracts or enlarges the different apertures. B, The aperture in the bridge, through which the seed passes, when sowing any quantity from one bushel upwards on an acre.

Fig. 8. The regulator, made of brass. D, The slider or horse which moves upon it, and is fixed at any particular degree by a screw in its side.

Fig. 9. Represents the movement in the machine fig. 2. AAAA, Cleats, between which the upper spouts rest. BB, The diagonal supporters, by which the bar with the upper spouts hang. C, The catch-wheel. DD, The axle. E, The trigger upon the bar, which bears against the catch-wheel. FF, Stays from the back of the machine, by which the bar plays.

Fig. 10, The long spout. AA, The ears by which it hangs.

Sect. II. Preparing Land for Cropping.

I. Obstructions to Cropping.

In preparing land for cropping, the first thing that obstructs occurs, is to consider the obstructions to regular ploughing. The most formidable of these, are stones lying above or below the surface, which are an impediment to a plough, as rocks are to a ship. Stones above the surface may be avoided by the ploughman, though not without loss of ground; but stones below the surface are commonly not discovered till the plough be shattered to pieces, and perhaps a day's work lost. The clearing land of stones is therefore necessary to prevent mischief. And to encourage the operation, it is attended with much actual profit. In the first place, the stones are useful for fences: when large they must be blown, and commonly fall into parts proper for building. And as the blowing, when gunpowder is furnished, does not exceed a halfpenny for each inch that is bored, these stones come generally cheaper than to dig as many out of the quarry. In the next place, as the soil round a large stone is commonly the best in the field, it is purchased at a low rate by taking out the stone. Nor is this a trifle; for not only is the ground lost that is occupied by a large stone, but also a considerable space round it, to which the plough has not access without danger. A third advantage is greater than all the rest; which is, that the ploughing can be carried on with much expedition, when there is no apprehension of stones: in stony land, the plough must proceed to flow, as not to perform half of its work.

To clear land of stones, is in many instances an undertaking Another obstruction is wet ground. Water may improve gravelly or sandy soils; but it forms (a) a clay soil, and converts low ground into a morass, unfit for any purpose that can interest the husbandman.

A great deal has been written upon different methods of draining land, mostly too expensive as to be scarce fit for the landlord, not to mention the tenant.

One way of draining without expense when land is to be inclosed with hedge and ditch, is to direct the ditches so as to carry off the water. But this method is not always practicable, even where the divisions lie convenient for it. If the run of water be considerable, it will destroy the ditches, and lay open the fences, especially where the soil is loose or sandy.

If ditches will not answer, hollow drains are sometimes made, and sometimes open drains, which must be made so deep as to command the water. The former is filled up with loose stones, with brushwood, or with any other porous matter that permits the water to pass. The latter is left open, and not filled up. To make the former effectual, the ground must have such a slope as to give the water a brisk course. To execute them in level ground is a gross error: the passages are soon stopped up with sand and sediment, and the work is rendered useless. This inconvenience takes place in open drains; but they are subject to other inconveniences: They are always filling up, to make a yearly reparation necessary; and they obstruct both ploughing and pasturing.

The following is the best in all views. It is an open drain made with the plough, cleaving the space intended for the drain over and over, till the furrow be made of a sufficient depth for carrying off the water. The slope on either side may, by repeated ploughings, be made so gentle as to give no obstruction either to the plough or to the harrow. There is no occasion for a spade, unless to smooth the sides of the drain, and to remove accidental obstructions in the bottom. The advantages of this drain are manifold. It is executed at much less expense than either of the former; and it is perpetual, as it can never be obstructed. In level ground, it is true, grass may grow at the bottom of the drain; but to clear off the grass once in four or five years, will restore it to its original perfection. A hollow drain may be proper between the spring-head and the main drain, where the distance is not great; but in every other case the drain recommended is the best.

Where a level field is infested with water from higher ground, the water ought to be intercepted by a ditch carried along the foot of the high ground, and terminating in some capital drain.

The only way to clear a field of water that is hollow in the middle, is to carry it off by some drain still lower. This is commonly the case of a morass fed with water from higher ground, and kept on the surface by a clay bottom.

A clay soil of any thickness is never pestered with springs; but it is pestered with rain, which settles on the surface as in a cup. The only remedy is high narrow ridges, well rounded. And to clear the furrows, the furrow of the foot-ridge ought to be considerably lower, in order to carry off the water cleverly. It cannot be made too low, as nothing hurts clay soil more than the stagnation of water on it; witness the hollows at the end of crooked ridges, which are absolutely barren. Some gravelly soils have a clay bottom; which is a substantial benefit to a field when in grass, as it retains moisture. But when in tillage, ridges are necessary to prevent rain from settling at the bottom; and this is the only case where a gravelly soil ought to be ridged.

Clay soils that have little or no level, have sometimes a gravelly bottom. For discharging the water, the best method is, at the end of every ridge to pierce down to the gravel, which will absorb the water. But if the furrow of the foot-ridge be low enough to receive all the water, it will be more expeditious to make a few holes in that furrow. In some cases, a field may be drained, by filling up the hollows with earth taken from higher ground. But as this method is expensive, it will only be taken where no other method answers. Where a field happens to be partly wet, partly dry, there ought to be a separation by a middle ridge, if it can be done conveniently; and the dry part may be ploughed while the other is drying.

The low part of Berwickshire is generally a brick clay, extremely wet and poachy during winter. This in a good measure may be prevented by proper inclosing, as there is not a field but can be drained into lower ground all the way down to the river Tweed. But as this would lessen the quantity of rain in a dry climate, such as is all the east side of Britain, it may admit of some doubt whether the remedy would not be as bad as the disease. (See the article Draining.)

2. Bringing into culture, Land from the state of nature.

To improve a moor, let it be opened in winter when it is wet; which has one convenience, that the plough ground cannot be employed at any other work. In spring, after frost is over, a slight harrowing will fill up the leams with mould, to keep out the air, and rot the sod. In that state let it lie the following summer and winter, which will rot the sod more than if laid open to the air by ploughing. Next April, let it be cross-ploughed, braked, and harrowed, till it be sufficiently pulverized. Let the manure laid upon it, whether lime or dung, be intimately mixed with the soil by repeated harrowings. This will make a fine bed for turnip-feed if sown broadcast. But if drills be intended, the method must

(a) By this expression it is not meant that the ground really becomes acid, but only that it becomes unfit for the purposes of vegetation. The natural products of such a soil are rushes and sour grasses; which last appears in the furrows, but seldom in the crown of the ridge; is dry and tattered like a chip of wood; and feels rough when stroked backwards. be followed that is directed afterward in treating more directly of the culture of turnip.

A successful turnip-crop, fed on the ground with sheep, is a fine preparation for laying down a field with grass-seeds. It is an improvement upon this method, to take two or three successive crops of turnip, which will require no dung for the second and following crops. This will thicken the soil, and enrich it greatly.

The best way of improving swampy ground after draining, is paring and burning. But where the ground is dry, and the soil so thin as that the surface cannot be pared, the best way of bringing it into tilth from the state of nature, as mentioned above, is to plough it with a feathered fork, laying the grassy surface under. After the new surface is mellowed with frost, fill up all the seams by harrowing across the field, which by excluding the air will effectually rot the sod. In this state let it lie summer and winter. In the beginning of May after, a cross-ploughing will reduce all to small square pieces, which must be pulverized with the brake, and make it ready for a May or June crop. If these square pieces be allowed to lie long in the sap without breaking, they will become tough and not be easily reduced.

3. Forming Ridges.

The first thing that occurs on this head, is to consider what grounds ought to be formed into ridges, and what ought to be tilled with a flat surface. Dry soils, which suffer by lack of moisture, ought to be tilled flat, which tends to retain moisture. And the method for such tillage, is to go round and round from the circumference to the centre, or from the centre to the circumference. This method is advantageous in point of expedition, as the whole is finished without once turning the plough. At the same time, every inch of the soil is moved, instead of leaving either the crown or the furrow unmoved, as is commonly done in tilling ridges. Clay soil, which suffers by water standing on it, ought to be laid as dry as possible by proper ridges. A loamy soil is the middle between the two mentioned. It ought to be tilled flat in a dry country, especially if it incline to the soil first mentioned. In a moist country, it ought to be formed into ridges, high or low according to the degree of moisture and tendency to clay.

In grounds that require ridging, an error prevails, that ridges cannot be raised too high. High ridges labour under several disadvantages. The soil is heaped upon the crown, leaving the furrows bare; the crown is too dry, and the furrows too wet; the crop, which is always best on the crown, is more readily shaken with the wind, than where the whole crop is of an equal height; the half of the ridge is always covered from the sun, a disadvantage which is far from being slight in a cold climate. High ridges labour under another disadvantage in ground that has no more level than barely sufficient to carry off water; they sink the furrows below the level of the ground; and consequently retain water at the end of every ridge. The furrows ought never to be sunk below the level of the ground. Water will more effectually be carried off by lessening the ridges both in height and breadth; a narrow ridge, the crown of which is but 18 inches higher than the furrow, has a greater slope than a very broad ridge where the difference is three or four feet.

Next, of forming ridges where the ground hangs considerably. Ridges may be too steep as well as too horizontal; and if to the ridges be given all the steepness of a field, a heavy shower may do irreparable mischief. To prevent such mischief, the ridges ought to be so directed across the field, as to have a gentle slope for carrying off water slowly, and no more. In that respect, a hanging field has greatly the advantage of one that is nearly horizontal; because in the latter, there is no opportunity of a choice in forming the ridges. A hill is of all the best adapted for directing the ridges properly. If the soil be gravelly, it may be ploughed round and round, beginning at the bottom and ascending gradually to the top in a spiral line. This method of ploughing a hill, requires no more force than ploughing on a level; and at the same time removes the great inconvenience of a gravelly hill, that rains go off too quickly; for the rain is retained in every furrow. If the soil be such as to require ridges, they may be directed to any slope that is proper.

In order to form a field into ridges, that has not been formerly cultivated, the rules mentioned are easily put in execution. But what if ridges be already formed, that are either crooked or too high? After seeing the advantage of forming a field into ridges, people were naturally led into an error, that the higher the better. But what could tempt them to make their ridges crooked? Certainly this method did not originate from design; but from the laziness of the driver suffering the cattle to turn too hastily, instead of making them finish the ridge without turning. There is more than one disadvantage in this slovenly practice. First, the water is kept in by the curve at the end of every ridge, and pours the ground. Next, as a plough has the least friction possible in a straight line, the friction must be increased in a curve, the back part of the mouldboard pressing hard on the one hand, and the coulter pressing hard on the other. In the third place, the plough moving in a straight line, has the greatest command in laying the earth over. But where the straight line of the plough is applied to the curvature of a ridge in order to heighten it by gathering, the earth moved by the plough is continually falling back, in spite of the most skilful ploughman.

The inconveniences of ridges high and crooked are so many, that one would be tempted to apply a remedy at any risk. And yet, if the soil be clay, it would not be advisable for a tenant to apply the remedy upon a lease shorter than two nineteen years. In a dry gravelly soil, the work is nor difficult nor hazardous. When the ridges are cleaved two or three years successively in the course of cropping, the operation ought to be concluded in one summer. The earth, by reiterated ploughings, should be accumulated upon the furrows, so as to raise them higher than the crowns; they cannot be raised too high, for the accumulated earth will subside by its own weight. Cross-ploughing once or twice, will reduce the ground to a flat surface, and give opportunity to form ridges at will. The same method brings down ridges in clay soil; only let care be taken to carry on the work with expedition; because cause a hearty shower, before the new ridges are formed, would soak the ground in water, and make the farmer suspend his work for the remainder of that year at least. In a strong clay, we would not venture to alter the ridges, unless it can be done to perfection in one season.

"The difficulty of performing this operation properly with the common implements of husbandry, and the obvious benefit that accrues to the farmer from having his fields level, has produced many new inventions of ploughs, harrows, drags, &c., calculated for specially reducing the fields to that state; none of which have as yet been found fully to answer the purpose for which they were intended, as they all indiscriminately carry the earth that was on the high places into those that were lower; which, although it may, in some cases, render the surface of the ground tolerably smooth and level, is usually attended with inconveniences far greater, for a considerable length of time, than that which it was intended to remove.

"For experience sufficiently shows, that even the best vegetable mould, if buried for any length of time so far beneath the surface as to be deprived of the benign influences of the atmosphere, loses its vis vitæ, if I may be allowed that expression; becomes an inert, lifeless mass, little fitted for nourishing vegetables; and constitutes a foil very improper for the purposes of the farmer. It therefore behoves him, as much as in him lies, to preserve, on every part of his fields, an equal covering of that vegetable mould that has long been uppermost, and rendered fertile by the meliorating influence of the atmosphere. But, if he suddenly levels his high ridges by any of these mechanical contrivances, he of necessity buries all the good mould that was on the top of the ridges in the old furrows; by which he greatly impoverishes one part of his field, while he too much enriches another; insomuch that it is a matter of great difficulty, for many years thereafter, to get the field brought to an equal degree of fertility in different places; which makes it impossible for the farmer to get an equal crop over the whole of his field by any management whatever: and he has the mortification frequently, by this means, to see the one half of his crop rotted by an over-luxuriance, while other parts of it are weak and sickly, or one part ripe and ready for reaping, while the other is not properly filled; so that it were, on many occasions, better for him to have his whole field reduced at once to the same degree of poorness as the poorest of it, than have it in this state. An almost impracticable degree of attention in spreading the manures may indeed in some measure get the better of this; but it is so difficult to perform this properly, that I have frequently seen fields that had been thus levelled, in which, after thirty years of continued culture and repeated dressings, the marks of the old ridges could be distinctly traced when the corn was growing, 'altho' the surface was so level that no traces of them could be perceived when the corn was off the ground.

"But this is a degree of perfection in levelling that cannot be usually attained by following this mode of practice; and, therefore, is but seldom seen. For all that can be expected to be done by any levelling machine, is to render the surface perfectly smooth and even in every part, at the time that the operation is performed: but as, in this case, the old hollows are suddenly filled up with loose mould to a great depth, while the earth below the surface upon the heights of the old ridges remain firm and compact, the new-raised earth after a short time subsides very much, while the other parts of the field do not sink at all; so that in a short time the old furrows come to be again below the level of the other parts of the field, and the water of course is suffered in some degree to stagnate upon them; in so much that, in a few years, it becomes necessary once more to repeat the same levelling process, and thus renew the damage that the farmer sustains by this pernicious operation.

"On these accounts, if the farmer has not a long lease, it will be found in general to be much his interest not to leave the ridges as he found them, rather than to attempt to alter their direction: and, if he attends with due caution to moderate the height of these old ridges, he may reap very good crops, although perhaps at a somewhat greater expense of labour than he would have been put to upon the same field, if it had been reduced to a proper level surface, and divided into straight and parallel ridges.

"But, where a man is secure of possessing his ground for any considerable length of time, the advantages that he will reap from having level and well laid-out fields, are so considerable as to be worth purchasing, if it should even be at a considerable expense. But the loss that is sustained at the beginning, by this mechanical mode of levelling ridges, if they are of considerable height, is so very great, that it is perhaps doubtful if any future advantages can ever fully compensate it. I would therefore advise, that all this levelling apparatus should be laid aside; and the following more efficacious practice be substituted in its stead: A practice that I have long followed with success, and can safely recommend as the very best that has yet come to my knowledge.

"If the ridges have been raised to a very great height, as a preparation for the ensuing operations, they may be first cloven, or scalded out, as it is called in different places; that is, ploughed so as to lay the earth on each ridge from the middle towards the furrows. But, if they are only of a moderate degree of height, this operation may be omitted. When you mean to proceed to level the ground, let a number of men be collected, with spades, more or fewer as the nature of the ground requires, and then set a plough to draw a furrow directly across the ridges of the whole field intended to be levelled. Divide this line into as many parts as you have labourers, allotting to each one ridge or two, or more or less, according to their number, height, and other circumstances. Let each of the labourers have orders, as soon as the plough has passed that part assigned him, to begin to dig in the bottom of the furrow that the plough has just made, about the middle of the side of the old ridge, keeping his face towards the old furrow, working backwards till he comes to the height of the ridge, and then turn towards the other furrow, and repeat the same on the other side of the ridge, always throwing the earth that he digs up into the deep old furrow between the ridges, ges, that is directly before him; taking care not to dig deep where he first begins, but to go deeper and deeper as he advances to the height of the ridge, so as to leave the bottom of the trench he thus makes across the ridge entirely level, or as nearly so as possible. And when he has finished that part of the furrow allotted to him that the plough has made in going, let him then go and finish in the same manner his own portion of the furrow that the plough makes in returning. In this manner, each man performs his own task through the whole field, gradually raising the old furrows as the old heights are depressed. And, if an attentive overseer is at hand, to see that the whole is equally well done, and that each furrow is raised to a greater height than the middle of the old ridges, so as to allow for the subsiding of that loose earth, the operation will be entirely finished at once, and never again need to be repeated.

"In performing this operation, it will always be proper to make the ridges, formed for the purpose of levelling, which go across the old ridges, as broad as possible; because the deep trench that is thus made in each of the furrows are an impediment in the future operations, as well as the height that is accumulated in the middle of each of these ridges; so that the fewer there are of these, the better it is. The farmer, therefore, will do well to advert to this in time, and begin by forming a ridge by always turning the plough to the right hand, till it becomes of such a breadth as makes it very inconvenient to turn longer in that manner; and then, at the distance of twice the breadth of this new-formed ridge from the middle of it, mark off a furrow for the middle of another ridge, turning round it to the right hand, in the same manner as was done in the former, till it becomes of the same breadth with it; and then, turning to the left hand, plough out the interval that was left between the two new-formed ridges. By this mode of ploughing, each ridge may be made of 40, or 50 or 60 yards in breadth, without any great inconvenience; for although some time will be lost in turning at the ends of these broad ridges, yet, as this operation is only to be once performed in this manner, the advantage that is reaped by having few open furrows, is more than sufficient to counterbalance it. And, in order to moderate the height that would be formed in the middle of each of these great ridges, it will always be proper to mark out the ridges, and draw the furrow that is to be the middle of each some days before you collect your labourers to level the field; that you may, without any hurry or loss of labour, clear out a good trench through the middle of each of the old ridges; as the plough at this time going and returning nearly in the same track, prevents the labourers from working properly without this precaution.

"If these rules are attended to, your field will be at once reduced to a proper level, and the rich earth that formed the surface of the old ridges be still kept upon the surface of your field; so that the only loss that the possessor of such ground can sustain by this operation, is merely the expense of performing it."

He afterwards makes a calculation of the different expenses of levelling by the plough and by the spade, in which he finds the latter by far the cheapest method.

Let it be a rule, to direct the ridges north and south, if the ground will permit. In this direction, the recollection of east and west sides of the ridges, dividing the sun equally between them, will ripen at the same time.

It is a great advantage in agriculture, to form ridges narrow enough to narrow, and so low, as to admit the crowns and furrows to be changed alternately every crop. The soil advantage nearest the surface is the best; and by such ploughing, it is always kept near the surface, and never buried. In high ridges, the soil is accumulated at the crown and the furrows left bare. Such alteration of crown and furrow, is easy where the ridges are no more but seven or eight feet broad. This mode of ploughing answers perfectly well in sandy and gravelly soils, and even in loam; but it is not safe in clay soil. In that soil, the ridges ought to be 12 feet wide, and 20 inches high; to be preserved always in the same form by casting, that is, by ploughing two ridges together, beginning at the furrow that separates them, and ploughing round and round till the two ridges be finished. By this method, the separating furrow is raised a little higher than the furrows that bound the two ridges. But at the next ploughing, that inequality is corrected, by beginning at the bounding furrows, and going round and round till the ploughing of the two ridges be completed at the separating furrow.

4. Clearing Ground of Weeds.

For this purpose a new instrument, termed a cleaning harrow, has been introduced by Lord Kames, and is strongly recommended (b). It is one entire piece Plate V., like the first of those mentioned above, consisting of seven bulls, four feet long each, two and one-fourth inches broad, two and three-fourths deep. The bulls are united together by sheths, similar to what are mentioned above. The intervals between the bulls being three and three-fourths inches, the breadth of the whole harrow is three feet five inches. In each bull are inserted eight teeth, each nine inches free below the wood, and distant from each other six inches. The weight of each tooth is a pound, or near it. The whole is firmly bound by an iron plate from corner to corner in the line of the draught. The rest as in the harrows mentioned above. The size, however, is not invariable. The cleaning harrow ought to be larger or less according as the soil is stiff or free.

To give this instrument its full effect, stones of such a size as not to pass freely between the teeth ought to be carried off, and clods of that size ought to be broken. The ground ought to be dry, which it commonly is in the month of May.

In preparing for barley, turnip, or other summer-crop, begin with ploughing and cross-ploughing. If the ground be not sufficiently pulverized, let the great brake be applied, to be followed successively with the 1st and 2nd harrows. In stiff soil, rolling may be proper, Plate V., or twice between the acts. These operations will loosen every root, and bring some of them to the surface.

(b) In his Gentleman Farmer; to which performance the practical part of this article is materially indebted. This is the time for the 3d harrow, conducted by a boy mounted on one of the horses, who trots smartly along the field, and brings all the roots to the surface; there they are to lie for a day or two, till perfectly dry. If any stones or clods remain, they must be carried off in a cart. And now succeeds the operation of the cleaning harrow. It is drawn by a single horse, directed by reins, which the man at the opposite corner puts over his head, in order to have both hands free. In this corner is fixed a rope, with which the man from time to time raises the harrow from the ground, to let the weeds drop. For the sake of expedition, the weeds ought to be dropped in a straight line across the field, whether the harrow be full or not; and seldom is a field so dirty but that the harrow may go 30 yards before the teeth are filled. The weeds will thus be laid in parallel rows, like those of hay raked together for drying. A harrow may be drawn swiftly along the rows, in order to flake out all the dust; and then the weeds may be carried clean off the field in carts. But we are not yet done with these weeds; instead of burning, which is the ordinary practice, they may be converted into useful manure, by laying them in a heap with a mixture of hot dung to begin fermentation. At first view, this way of cleaning land will appear useless; but upon trial, neither the labour nor expense will be found immoderate. At any rate, the labour and expense ought not to be grudged; for if a field be once thoroughly cleaned, the seeds must be very few, or the farmer very indolent, to make it necessary to renew the operation in less than 20 years. In the worst seedbeds, a few years pasture is always under command; which effectually destroys triennial plants, such as thistles and couch-grass.

5. On the Nature of different kinds of Soils, and the Plants proper to each.

1. Clay, which is in general the stiffest of all soils, and contains an unctuous quality. But under the term clay, earths of different sorts and colours are included. One kind is so obstinate, that scarcely anything will subdue it; another is so hungry and poor, that it absorbs whatever is applied, and turns it into its own quality. Some clays are softer than others, and the fittest are the best; some are more soft and slippery. But all of them retain water poured on their surfaces, where it stagnates, and chills the plants, without sinking into the soil. The closeness of clay prevents the roots and fibres of plants from spreading in search of nourishment. The blue, the red, and the white clay, if strong, are unfavourable to vegetation. The stony and looser sort are less so; but none of them are worth anything till their texture is loosened by a mixture of other substances, and opened, as to admit the influence of the sun, the air, and frosts. Among the manures recommended for clay, sand is of all others to be preferred; and sea-sand the best of all where it can be obtained: This most effectually breaks the cohesion.

The reason for preferring sea-sand is, that it is not formed wholly (as most other sands are) of small stones; but contains a great deal of calcareous matter in it, such as, shells grated and broken to pieces by the tide; and also of salts. The smaller the sand is the more easily it penetrates the clay; but it abides less time in it than the larger.

The next best sand is that washed down by rains on gravelly soils. Those which are dry and light are the worst. Small gritty gravel has also been recommended by the best writers on agriculture for these soils; and in many instances we have found them to answer the purpose.

Shell marle, ashes, and all animal and vegetable substances, are very good manures for clay; but they have been found most beneficial when sand is mixed with them. Lime has been often used, but the writer of this section would not recommend it, for he never found any advantage from it singly, when applied to clays.

The crops most suitable for such lands are, wheat, beans, cabbages, and rye-grass. Clover seldom succeeds, nor indeed any plants whose roots require depth, and a wide spread in the earth.

2. Chalk. Chalky soils are generally dry and warm, and if there be a tolerable depth of mould, fruitful; producing great crops of barley, rye, peas, vetches, clover, trefoil, burnet, and particularly fainf foin. The latter plant flourishes in a chalky soil better than any other. But if the surface of mould be very thin, this soil requires good manuring with clay, marle, loam, or dung. As these lands are dry, they may be sown earlier than others.

When your barley is three inches high, throw in 10 lb. of clover, or 15 lb. of trefoil, and roll it well. The next summer mow the crop for hay; feed off the aftermath with sheep; and in winter give it a top-dressing of dung. This will produce a crop the second spring, which should be cut for hay. As soon as this crop is carried off, plough up the land, and in the beginning of September sow three bushels of rye per acre, either to feed off with sheep in the spring or to stand for harvest. If you feed it off, sow winter vetches in August or September, and make them into hay the following summer. Then get the land into as fine tilth as possible, and sow it with fainf foin, which, with a little manure once in two or three years, will remain and produce good crops for 20 years together.

3. Light poor land, which seldom produces good crops of anything till well manured. After it is well ploughed, sow three bushels of buckwheat per acre, in April or May: When in bloom, let your cattle in a few days to eat off the best, and tread the other down; this done, plough in what remains immediately. This will soon ferment and rot in the ground; then lay it fine, and sow three bushels of rye per acre. If this can be got off early enough, sow turnips; if not, winter vetches to cut for hay. Then get it in good tilth and sow turnip-rooted cabbages, in rows three feet apart. This plant seldom fails, if it has sufficient room, and the intervals be well horse-hoed; and you will find it the best spring-feed for sheep when turnips are over.

The horse-hoeing will clean and prepare the land for fainf foin; for the sowing of which April is reckoned the best season. The usual way is to sow it broad-cast, four bushels to an acre; but the writer prefers sowing it in drills two feet asunder; for then it may be horse-hoed, and half the seed will be sufficient. The horse-hoeing will not only clean the crop, but earth up the plants, and render them more luxuriant and lasting.

If you sow it broad-cast, give it a top-dressing in December or January, of rotten dung or ashes, or, which is still better, of both mixed up in compost.

From various trials, it is found that taking only one crop in a year, and feeding the after-growth, is better than to mow it twice. Cut it as soon as it is in full bloom, if the weather will permit. The hay will be the sweeter, and the strength of the plants less impaired, than if it stands till the feed is formed.

4. Light rich land, being the most easy to cultivate to advantage, and capable of bearing most kinds of grain, pulse, and herbage, little need be said upon it. One thing however is very proper to be observed, that such lands are the best adapted to the drill husbandry, especially where machines are used, which require shallow furrows to be made for the reception of the seed. This, if not prone to couch-grass, is the best of all soils for lucerne; which, if sown in two feet drills, and kept clean, will yield an astonishing quantity of the most excellent herbage. But lucerne will never be cultivated to advantage where couch-grass and weeds are very plentiful; nor in the broad-cast method, even where they are not so; because horse-hoeing is essential to the vigorous growth of this plant.

5. Coarse rough land. Plough deep in autumn; when it has lain two weeks, cross-plough it, and let it lie rough through the winter. In March give it another good ploughing; drag, rake, and harrow it well, to get out the rubbish, and sow four bushels of black oats per acre if the soil be wet, and white oats if dry. When about four inches high, roll them well after a shower: This will break the clods; and the fine mould falling among the roots of the plants will promote their growth greatly.

Some few clover and rye grass among the oats, but this appears to be bad husbandry. If you design it for clover, sow it single, and let a coat of dung be laid on in December. The snow and rain will then dilute its salts and oil, and carry them down among the roots of the plants. This is far better than mixing the crops on such land, for the oats will exhaust the soil too much that the clover will be impoverished. The following summer you will have a good crop of clover, which cut once, and feed the after-growth. In the winter plough it in, and let it lie till February: Then plough and harrow it well; and in March, if the soil be moist, plant beans in drills of three feet, to admit the horse-hoe freely. When you horse-hoe them a second time, sow a row of turnips in each interval, and they will succeed very well. But if the land be strong enough for sowing wheat, as soon as the beans are off, the turnips may be omitted.

Sect. III. Culture of particular Plants.

The articles hitherto insisted on, are all of them preparatory to the capital object of a farm, that of raising plants for the nourishment of man, and of other animals. There are of two kinds; culmiferous and leguminous; differing widely from each other. Wheat, rye, barley, oats, rye-grass, are of the first kind; of the other kind are, peas, beans, clover, cabbage, and many others.

Culmiferous plants, says Bonnet, have three sets of culmiferous roots. The first issue from the seed, and push to the roots plants surface an upright stem; another set issue from a knot in that stem; and a third from another knot, nearer the surface. Hence the advantage of laying feed so deep in the ground as to afford space for all the sets.

Leguminous plants form their roots differently. Leguminous plants, peas, beans, cabbage, have store of small roots, all issuing from the seed, like the undermost set of culmiferous roots; and they have no other roots. A potato and a turnip have bulbous roots. Red clover has a strong tap-root. The difference between culmiferous and leguminous plants with respect to the effects they produce in the soil, will be insisted on afterward, in the section concerning rotation of crops. As the present section is confined to the propagation of plants, it falls naturally to be divided into three articles; first, Plants cultivated for fruit; second, Plants cultivated for roots; third, Plants cultivated for leaves.

I. Plants Cultivated for Fruit.

1. Wheat and Rye.

Any time from the middle of April to the middle following of May, the fallowing for wheat may commence. The moment should be chosen, when the ground, beginning to dry, has yet some remaining softness: in that condition, the soil divides easily by the plough, and falls into small parts. This is an essential article, deserving the strictest attention of the farmer. Ground ploughed too wet, rises, as we say, whole-surf, as when pasture-ground is ploughed: where ploughed too dry, it rises in great lumps, which are not reduced by subsequent ploughings; not to mention, that it requires double force to plough ground too dry, and that the plough is often broken to pieces. When the ground is in proper order, the farmer can have no excuse for delaying a single minute. This first course of fallow must, it is true, yield to the barley-feed; but as the barley-feed is commonly over the first week of May, or sooner, the season must be unfavourable if the fallow cannot be reached by the middle of May.

As clay soil requires high ridges, these ought to be cleaved at the first ploughing, beginning at the furrow, and ending at the crown. This ploughing ought to be as deep as the soil will admit: and water-furrowing ought instantly to follow; for if rain happen before water-furrowing, it stagnates in the furrow, necessarily delays the second ploughing till that part of the ridge be dry, and prevents the furrow from being mellowed and roasted by the sun. If this first ploughing be well executed, annual weeds will rise in plenty.

About the first week of June, the great brake will loosen and reduce the soil, encourage a second crop of annuals, and raise to the surface the roots of weeds moved by the plough. Give the weeds time to spring, which may be in two or three weeks. Then proceed to the second ploughing about the beginning of July; which must be cross the ridges, in order to reach all the slips of the former ploughing. By cross-ploughing the furrows will be filled up, and water-furrowing be still more necessary than before. Employ the brake again about the 10th of August, to destroy the annuals. that have sprung since the last stirring. The destruction of weeds is a capital article in fallowing; yet so blind are people to their interest, that nothing is more common than a fallow field covered with charlock and wild mustard, all in flower, and 10 or 12 inches high. The field having now received two harrowings and two breakings, is prepared for manure, whether lime or dung, which without delay ought to be incorporated with the soil by a repeated harrowing and gathering furrow. This ought to be about the beginning of September, and as soon after as you please the seed may be sown.

As in ploughing a clay soil it is of importance to prevent poaching, the hinting furrows ought to be done with two horses in a line. If four ploughs be employed in the same field, to one of them may be allotted the care of finishing the hinting furrows.

Loam, being a medium between sand and clay, is of all soils the fittest for culture, and the least subject to chances. It does not hold water like clay; and when wet, it dries sooner. At the same time, it is more retentive than sand of that degree of moisture which promotes vegetation. On the other hand, it is more subject to couch-grass than clay, and to other weeds; to destroy which, fallowing is still more necessary than in clay.

Beginning the fallow about the first of May, or as soon as barley-feed is over, take as deep a furrow as the soil will admit. Where the ridges are so low and narrow as that the crown and furrow can be changed alternately, there is little or no occasion for water furrowing. Where the ridges are so high as to make it proper to cleave them, water-furrowing is proper. The second ploughing may be at the distance of five weeks. Two crops of annuals may be got in the interim, the first by the brake and the next by the harrow; and by the same means eight crops may be got in the season. The ground must be cleared of couch-grass and knot-grass roots, by the cleaning harrow described above. The time for this operation is immediately before the manure is laid on. The ground at that time being in its looest state, parts with its grass roots more freely than at any other time. After the manure is spread, and incorporated with the soil by braking or harrowing, the seed may be sown under furrow, if the ground hang so as easily to carry off the moisture. To leave it rough without harrowing has two advantages; it is not apt to cake with moisture, and the inequalities make a sort of shelter to the young plants against frosts. But if it lie flat, it ought to be smoothed with a slight harrow after the seed is sown, which will facilitate the course of the rain from the crown to the furrow.

A sandy soil is too loose for wheat. The only chance for a crop is after red clover, the roots of which bind the soil; and the instructions above given for loam are applicable here. Rye is a crop much fitter for sandy soil than wheat; and, like wheat, it is generally sown after a summer-fallow.

Lastly, Sow wheat as soon in the month of October as the ground is ready. When sown a month more early, it is too forward in the spring, and apt to be hurt by frosts; when sown a month later, it has not time to root before frost comes on, and frost spews it out of the ground.

Setting of wheat, a method which is reckoned one of the greatest improvements in husbandry that has taken place this century. It seems to have been first suggested by planting grains in a garden from mere curiosity, by persons who had no thought or opportunity of extending it to a lucrative purpose. Nor was it attempted on a larger scale, till a little farmer near Norwich began it about 17 years since, upon less than an acre of land. For two or three years only a few followed his example; and these were generally the wheat; butt of their neighbours meritment for adopting so singular a practice. They had, however, considerably better corn and larger crops than their neighbours; this, together with the saving in seed, engaged more to follow them; while some ingenious persons, observing its great advantage, recommended and published its utility in the Norwich papers. These recommendations had their effect. The curiosity and inquiry of the Norfolk farmers (particularly round Norwich) were excited, and they found sufficient reason to make general experiments. Among the rest was one of the largest occupiers of lands in this county, who set 57 acres in one year. His success, from the visible superiority of his crop, both in quantity and quality, was so great, that the following autumn he set 300 acres, and has continued the practice ever since. This noble experiment established the practice, and was the means of introducing it generally among the intelligent farmers in a very large district of land, improvement in agriculture.

The lands on which this method is particularly prosperous, are either after a clover stubble, or on which trefoil and grass-seed were sown the spring before the last. These grounds, after the usual manuring, are Method once turned over by the plough in an extended flag or turf, at ten inches wide; along which a man, who is called a dibbler, with two setting-irons, somewhat bigger than ram-rods, but considerably bigger at the lower end, and pointed at the extremity, steps backwards along the turf and makes the holes about four inches asunder every way, and an inch deep. Into these holes the droppers (women, boys, and girls) drop two grains, which is quite sufficient. After this, a gate bushed with thorns is drawn by one horse over the land, and closes up the holes. By this mode, three pecks of grain is sufficient for an acre; and being immediately buried, it is equally removed from vermin or the power of frosts. The regularity of its rising gives the best opportunity of keeping it clear from weeds, by weeding or hand-hoeing.

Wheat-fetting is a method peculiarly beneficial when peculiar corn is dear; and, if the season be favourable, may advantages, be practised with great benefit to the farmer. Sir Thomas Beevor of Hothel-Hall in Norfolk, found the produce to be two bushels per acre more than from the wheat which is sown; but having much less small corn intermixed with it, the sample is better, and always fetches a higher price, to the amount generally of two shillings per quarter. This method, too, saves to the farmer and to the public six pecks of feed-wheat in every acre; which, if nationally adopted, would of itself afford bread for more than half a million of people.

Add to these considerations, the great support given to the poor by this second harvest, as it may be called, which enables them to discharge their rents and maintain their families without having recourse to the parish.—The expense of setting by hand is now reduced to about six shillings per acre; which, in good weather, may be done by one dibbler, attended by three droppers, in two days. This is five shillings per day; of which, if the dibbler gives to the children sixpence each, he will have himself three shillings and sixpence for his day’s work, which is much more than he can possibly earn by any other labour so easy to himself. But put the case, that the man has a wife who dabbles with him, and two or three of his own children to drop to him, you see his gains will then be prodigious, and enough to ensure a plenty of candidates for that work, even in the least populous parts of the country.

It is, however, to be observed with regard to this method, that in seasons when feed-corn is very cheap, or the autumn particularly unfavourable to the practice, it must certainly be lessened. In light lands, for instance, a very dry time prevents dibbling; as the holes made with the instruments will be filled up again by the mould as fast as the instrument is withdrawn. So, again, in a very wet season, on strong and stiff clays, the seeds in the holes cannot be well and properly covered by the bushes drawn over them. But these extremes of dry and wet do not often happen, nor do they affect lands of a moderately consistent texture, or both light and heavy soils at the same time, so that the general practice is in fact never greatly impeded by them.

Propagating of wheat by dividing and transplanting its roots. In the Philosophical Transactions for 1768, we meet with a very extraordinary experiment, of which the following is an abstract. On the 20th of June 1766, Mr C. Miller sowed some grains of the common red wheat; and on the 8th of August a single plant was taken up and separated into 18 parts, and each part planted separately. These plants having pushed out several side-shoots, by about the middle of September some of them were then taken up and divided, and the rest of them between that time and the middle of October. This second division produced 67 plants. These plants remained through the winter, and another division of them, made between the middle of March and the 12th of April, produced 500 plants. They were then divided no further, but permitted to remain. The plants were in general stronger than any of the wheat in the fields. Some of them produced upwards of 100 ears from a single root. Many of the ears measured seven inches in length, and contained between 60 and 70 grains.

The whole number of ears which, by the process above mentioned, were produced from one grain of wheat, was 21,109, which yielded three pecks and three quarters of clear corn, the weight of which was 47 lb. 7 ounces; and from a calculation made by counting the number of grains in an ounce, the whole number of grains was about 576,840.

By this account we find, that there was only one general division of the plants made in the spring. Had a second been made, Mr Miller thinks the number of plants would have amounted to 2000 instead of 500, and the produce thereby much enlarged.

The ground was a light blackish soil, upon a gravelly bottom; and, consequently, a bad soil for wheat. One half of the ground was well dunged, the other half had no manure. There was, however, not any difference discoverable in the vigour, or growth, or produce, of the plants.

It must be evident, that the expense and labour of setting in the above manner by the hand, will render it impracticable upon a large scale so as to be productive of any utility. A correspondent of the Bath Society, therefore (Robert Bogle, Esq. of Daldowin, near Glasgow), with a view to extend the practice, has proposed the use of the harrow and roller until some better implements be invented. This method occurred to him from attending to the practice usual proposed by farmers on certain occasions, of harrowing their fields after the grain is sprung up. Upon investigating the principles upon which these practices are founded, he found them confined merely to that of pulverising the earth, without any attention to Mr Miller’s doctrine. They said, “that after very heavy rains, and then excessive dry weather, the surface of their lands were apt to be caked, the tender fibres of the young roots were thereby prevented from pushing, and of course the vegetation was greatly obstructed; in such instances, they found very great benefit from harrowing and rolling.”

These principles he acknowledges to be well founded, so far as relates to pulverising; but contends, that the benefit arising from harrowing and rolling is not derived from pulverising entirely, but also from subdividing and enabling the plants to tiller (as it is termed). “The harrow (he observes) certainly breaks the incrustation on the surface, and the roller crumbles the clods; but it is also obvious, that the harrow removes a great many of the plants from their original stations; and that if the corn has begun to tiller at the time it is used, the roots will be, in many instances, subdivided, and then the application of my system of divisibility comes into play. The roller then serves to plant the roots which have been torn up by the harrow.”

But on this the Society observe, that the teeth of a harrow are too large to divide roots so small and tenacious as are those of grain; and whenever such roots (however tillered) stand in the line any tooth makes, they will, if small, be only turned on one side by the earth yielding to their lateral pressure, or, if large, the whole root will probably be drawn out of the ground. The principal uses, therefore, derived from harrowing and rolling these crops are, opening the soil between the plants, earthing them up, breaking the clods, and cloiling the earth about their roots.

In a subsequent letter, Mr Bogle, without contesting these points, further urges the scheme of propagating wheat by dividing and transplanting its roots. “I have conversed (says he) much with many practical farmers, who all admit that my plan has the appearance not only of being practical, but advantageous. I have also seen in the ninth number of Mr Young’s Annals of Agriculture, the account of an experiment which strongly corroborates my theory. It was made by the Rev. Mr Pike of Edmonton. From this, and other experiments... experiments which have been made under my own eye, I foresee clearly, that the system is practicable, and will certainly be productive of great benefit, should it become general. Besides the saving of nine-tenths of feed in the land sown broad-cast, other very important advantages will attend the setting out of wheat from a feed-bed, such as an early crop; the certainty of good crops; rendering a summer fallow unnecessary; saving dung; and having your wheat perfectly free from weeds without either hand or horse-hoeing. Five hundred plants in April produced almost a bushel of grain. My gardener says, he can set one thousand plants in a day, which is confirmed by the opinion of two other gardeners. Mr Miller found no difference in the produce of what was planted on lands that had dung, and on what had none, except where the land was improper for wheat at all.

On this letter we have the following note by the society: "Mr Bogle will see, by the society's premium-book this year, that by having offered several premiums for experiments of the kind he so earnestly recommends, we wish to have his theory brought to the test of practice. Our reason for this, as well as for printing Mr B's letter, was rather to excite decisive trials by ingenious persons, than from any expectation of the practice ever becoming a general one. General, indeed, it never can be. A sufficient number of hands could not be found to do it. Unkindly seasons at the time of transplanting and dividing the roots would frequently endanger and injure, if not destroy the crops. But admitting the mode generally practicable, we very much doubt whether all the advantages he has enumerated would be derived from this mode of culture. Why should dividing and transplanting the roots of wheat cause the crop to be early, or afford a certainty of its being a good one? We cannot think that less manure is necessary in this method, than either in drilling or broad-cast; nor can we by any means admit, that such crops would be perfectly free from weeds without either hand or horse-hoeing." We readily agree with Mr Bogle, that by this mode of culture on a general scale, an immense quantity of seed-corn would be annually saved to the nation; and in this, we believe, the advantage, were it practicable, would principally consist.

Upon the same subject, and that of harrowing all kinds of corn, we are informed, Mr Bogle afterwards communicated to the Society his thoughts more at large, together with authentic accounts which were made at his instance, and which were attended with very great success. These, however, were received too late for publication in the last (3d) volume of their papers. But the Society, conceiving his system may be attended with considerable advantages if brought into general practice, have given, at the end of the volume, a few of his leading principles. Mr Bogle states, 1. That he has known many instances of very great crops having been obtained by harrowing fields of corn after they were sprouted; and therefore recommends the practice very warmly.

2. That he has also received an authentic account of one instance where the same good effects were produced by ploughing the field.

3. On the system of transplanting, he states, that a very great proportion of the seed will be saved, as a farmer may have a nursery, or small patch of plants, from which his fields may be supplied; he calculates that one acre will yield plants sufficient for 100 acres.

4. That a very great increase of crops may be obtained by this method, probably a double crop, nay perhaps a triple quantity of what is reaped either by drilling, or by the broad-cast husbandry.

5. That a great part of the labour may be performed by infirm men and women, and also by children, who are at present supported by the parish charity; and that of course the poor's rates may be considerably reduced.

6. That the expense will not exceed from 20s. to 30s. per acre, if the work be performed by able-bodied men and women; but that it will be much lower, if that proportion of the work which may be done by employing young boys and girls should be allotted to them.

7. That in general he has found the distance of nine inches every way a very proper distance for setting out the plants at; but recommends them to be tried at other spaces, such as six, eight, or even 12 inches.

8. That he conceives an earlier crop may be obtained in this manner than can be obtained by any other mode of cultivation.

9. That a clean crop may also be procured in this way, because if the land be ploughed immediately before the plants are set out, the corn will spring much quicker from the plants than the weeds will do from their seeds, and the corn will thereby bear down the growth of the weeds.

10. That such lands as are overflowed in the winter and spring, and are of course unfit for sowing with wheat in the autumn, may be rendered fit for crops of wheat by planting them in the spring, or even in the summer.

11. That he has known instances of wheat being transplanted in September, October, November, February, March, April, and even as late as the middle of May, which have all answered very well.

12. That he has known an early kind of wheat sown as late as the middle of May, which has ripened in very good time; and from that circumstance he conceives, if the plants should be taken from that early kind, the season of transplanting might be prolonged at least till the 1st of July, perhaps even later.

13. That he has reason to think wheat, oats, and barley, are not annuals, but are perennials, provided they are eaten down by cattle and sheep, or are kept low by the scythe or sickle; and are prevented from spindling or coming to the ear.

14. That one very prevalent motive with him in prosecuting this plan, is, that he is of opinion it may enable Government to devise means of supporting the vagrant poor, both old and young, who are now to be met with everywhere, both in towns and in the country, and who are at present a burden on the community: but if such employment could be struck out for them, a comfortable subsistence might be provided for them by means of their own labour and industry; and not only save the public and private charitable contributions, but may also render that class of people useful and profitable subjects; instead of their remaining in a useless, wretched, and perhaps a profligate and vicious course of life.

Lastly, Mr Bogle has hinted at a secondary object which he has in view, from this mode of cultivation, which he apprehends may in time, with a small degree of attention, prove extremely advantageous to agriculture.—It is, that in the first place, the real and intrinsic value of different kinds of grain may be more accurately ascertained by making a comparison of it with a few plants of each kind set out at the same time, than can be done when sown in drills or broadcast; and when the most valuable kinds of wheat, oats, or barley, are discovered, he states, that in a very short time (not exceeding four or five years) a sufficient quantity of that valuable kind may be procured to supply the kingdom with seed from a single grain of each kind; for he calculates, that 47,000 grains of wheat may be produced by divinity in two years and three months.

Upon these propositions the Society observes, “That although Mr Bogle appears to be too sanguine in his expectations of seeing his plan realized in general practice, it certainly merits the attention of Gentlemen Farmers. We wish them to make fair experiments, and report their success. Every grand improvement has been, and ever will be, progressive. They must necessarily originate with gentlemen; and thence the circle is extended by almost imperceptible degrees over provinces and countries. At all events, Mr Bogle is justly intitled to the thanks of the Society, and of the public, for the great attention he has paid to the subject.”

2. OATS.

As winter-ploughing enters into the culture of oats, we must remind the reader of the effect of frost upon tilled land. Providence has neglected no region intended for the habitation of man. If in warm climates the soil is meliorated by the sun, it is not less meliorated by frost in cold climates. Frost acts upon water, by expanding it into a larger space. Frost has no effect upon dry earth; witness sand, upon which it makes no impression. But upon wet earth it acts most vigorously: it expands the moisture, which requiring more space puts every particle of the earth out of its place, and separates them from each other. In that view, frost may be considered as a plough superior to any that is made, or can be made, by the hand of man: its action reaches the minutest particles; and, by dividing and separating them, it renders the soil loose and friable. This operation is the most remarkable in tilled land, which gives free access to frost. With respect to clay-foil in particular, there is no rule in husbandry more essential than to open it before winter in hopes of frost. It is even advisable in a clay-foil to leave the stubble rank; which, when ploughed before winter, keeps the clay loose, and admits the frost into every creanny.

To apply this doctrine, it is dangerous to plough clay-foil when wet; because water is a cement for clay, and binds it so as to render it unfit for vegetation. It is, however, less dangerous to plough wet clay before winter than after. A succeeding frost corrects the bad effects of such ploughing; a succeeding drought increases them.

The common method is, to sow oats on new-ploughed land in the month of March, as soon as the ground is tolerably dry. If it continue wet all the month of March, it is too late to venture them after. It is much better to summer-fallow, and to sow wheat in the autumn. But the preferable method, especially in clay-foil, is to turn over the field after harvest, and to lay it open to the influences of frost and air, which lessen the tenacity of clay, and reduce it to a fine mould. The surface-foil by this means is finely mellowed for reception of the feed; and it would be a pity to bury it by a second ploughing before sowing. In general, the bulk of clay-foils are rich; and skilful ploughing without dung, will probably give a better crop, than unskilful ploughing with dung.

Hitherto of natural clays. We must add a word of care-clays which are artificial, whether left by the sea, or swept down from higher grounds by rain. The method commonly used of dressing care-clay for oats, is, not to stir it till the ground be dry in the spring, which seldom happens before the first of March, and the seed is sown as soon after as the ground is sufficiently dry for its reception. Frost has a stronger effect on such clays than on natural clay. And if the field be laid open before winter, it is rendered so loose by frost as to be soon drenched in water. The particles at the same time are so small, as that the first drought in spring makes the surface cake or crust. The difficulty of reducing this crust into mould for covering the oat-feed, has led farmers to delay ploughing till the month of March. But we are taught by experience, that this foil ploughed before winter, is sooner dry than when the ploughing is delayed till spring; and as early sowing is a great advantage, the objection of the superficial crustling is easily removed by the first harrow above described, which will produce abundance of mould for covering the seed. The ploughing before winter not only procures early sowing, but has another advantage: the surface-foil that had been mellowed during winter by the sun, frost, and wind, is kept above.

The dressing a loamy foil for oats differs little from dressing a clay foil, except in the following particular, that being less hurt by rain, it requires not high ridges, and therefore ought to be ploughed crown and furrow alternately.

Where there is both clay and loam in a farm, it is obvious from what is said above, that the ploughing of the clay after harvest ought first to be dispatched. If both cannot be overtaken that season, the loam may be delayed till the spring with less hurt.

Next of a gravelly foil; which is the reverse of clay, as it never suffers but from want of moisture. Such a foil ought to have no ridges; but be ploughed circularly from the centre to the circumference, or from the circumference to the centre. It ought to be tilled after harvest: and the first dry weather in spring ought to be laid hold of to sow, harrow, and roll; which will preserve it in sap.

The culture of oats is the simplest of all. That grain is probably a native of Britain: it will grow on the worst foil with very little preparation. For that reason, before turnip was introduced, it was always the first crop upon land broken up from the state of nature.

Upon such land, may it not be a good method, to build upon the crown of every ridge, in the form of a wall, all the surface-earth, one fold above another, as in a fold for sheep? After standing in this form all the summer and winter, let the walls be thrown down, and the ground prepared for oats. This will secure secure one or two good crops; after which the land may be dugged for a crop of barley and grass-seeds. This method may answer in a farm where manure is scanty.

3. Barley.

This is a culmiferous plant that requires a mellow soil. Upon that account, extraordinary care is requisite where it is to be sown in clay. The land ought to be stirred immediately after the foregoing crop is removed, which lays it open to be mellowed with the frost and air. In that view, a peculiar sort of ploughing has been introduced, termed ribbing; by which the greatest quantity of surface possible is exposed to the air and frost. The obvious objection to this method is, that half of the ridge is left unmoved. And to obviate that objection, the following method is offered, which moves the whole soil, and at the same time exposes the same quantity of surface to the frost and air. As soon as the former crop is off the field, let the ridges be gathered with as deep a furrow as the soil will admit, beginning at the crown and ending at the furrows. This ploughing loosens the whole soil, giving free access to the air and frost. Soon after, begin a second ploughing in the following manner. Let the field be divided by parallel lines across the ridges, with intervals of 30 feet or so. Plough once round an interval, beginning at the edges, and turning the earth toward the middle of the interval; which covers a foot or so of the ground formerly ploughed. Within that foot plough another round similar to the former; and after that, other rounds, till the whole interval be finished, ending at the middle. Instead of beginning at the edges, and ploughing toward the middle, it will have the same effect to begin at the middle and to plough toward the edges. Plough the other intervals in the same manner. As by this operation the furrows of the ridges will be pretty much filled up, let them be cleared and water-furrowed without delay. By this method, the field will be left waving like a plot in a kitchen-garden, ridged up for winter. In this form, the field is kept perfectly dry; for beside the capital furrows that separate the ridges, every ridge has a number of cross furrows that carry the rain instantly to the capital furrows. In hanging grounds retentive of moisture, the parallel lines above mentioned ought not to be perpendicular to the furrows of the ridges, but to be directed a little downward, in order to carry rain-water the more hastily to these furrows. If the ground be clean, it may lie in that state winter and spring, till the time of seed-furrowing. If weeds happen to rise, they must be destroyed by ploughing, or braking, or both; for there cannot be worse husbandry, than to put seed into dirty ground.

This method resembles common ribbing in appearance, but is very different in reality. As the common ribbing is not preceded by a gathering furrow, the half of the field is left untilled, compact as when the former crop was removed, impervious in a great measure to air or frost. The common ribbing at the same time lodges the rain-water on every ridge, preventing it from descending to the furrows; which is hurtful in all soils, and poisonous in a clay soil. The stitching here described, or ribbing, if you please to call it so, prevents these noxious effects. By the two ploughings the whole soil is opened, admitting freely air and frost; and the multitude of furrows lays the surface perfectly dry, giving an early opportunity for the barley-feed. But further, as to the advantage of this method: When it is proper to sow the seed, all is laid flat with the brake, which is an easy operation upon soil that is dry and pulverized; and the feed-furrow which succeeds, is so shallow as to bury little or none of the surface-earth; whereas the stirring for barley is commonly done with the deepest furrow; and consequently buries all the surface-soil that was mellowed by the frostment of air. Nor is this method more expensive; because feed in the common ribbing must always be followed with a dry feeding-furrow, which is saved in the method recommended. Nay, it is less expensive; for after common ribbing, which keeps in the rain water, the ground is commonly fouled, as to make the stirring a laborious work.

It is well known that barley is less valuable when it does not ripen equally; and that barley which comes up speedily in a bulky soil, must gain a great advantage over seed-weeds. Therefore, first take out about one-third of the contents of the sacks of seed barley or bear, to allow for the swelling of the grain. Lay the sacks with the grain to steep in clean water; let it be covered with it for at least 24 hours. When the ground is so dry as at present, and no likelihood of rain for 10 days, it is better to lie 36 hours. Sow the grain wet from steeping, without any addition of powdered quick-lime, which, though often recommended in print, can only poison the seed, suck up part of its useful moisture, and burn the hands of the fower. The seed will scatter well, as clean water has no tenacity; only the fewer must put in a fourth or a third more seed in bulk than usual of dry grain, as the grain is swelled in that proportion: harrow it in as quickly as possible after it is sown; and though not necessary, give it the benefit of fresh furrows, if convenient. You may expect it up in a fortnight at farthest.

The following experiment by a correspondent of the Bath Society being considered as a very interesting one, is here subjoined:

"The last spring (1783) being remarkably dry, I soaked my seed-barley in the black water taken from a reservoir which constantly receives the draining of my feed-barley, dung-heap and stables. As the light corn floated on the top, I skimmed it off, and let the rest stand 24 hours. On taking it from the water, I mixed the seed grain with a sufficient quantity of fitted wood-ashes, to make it spread regularly, and sowed three fields with it. I began sowing the 16th, and finished the 23rd of April. The produce was 60 bushels per acre, of good clean barley, without any small or green corn, or weeds at harvest. No person in this country had better grain.

I sowed also several other fields with the same seed dry, and without any preparation; but the crop, like those of my neighbours, was very poor; not more than twenty bushels per acre, and much mixed with green corn and weeds when harvested. I also sowed some of the seed dry on one ridge in each of my former fields, but the produce was very poor in comparison of the other parts of the field."

Where the land is in good order, and free of weeds, April April is the month for sowing barley. Every day is proper, from the first to the last.

The dressing loamy soil and light soil for barley, is the same with that described; only that to plough dry is not altogether so essential as in dressing clay-loam. Loam or sand may be stirred a little moist; better, however, delay a week or two, than to stir a loam when moist. Clay must never be ploughed moist, even tho' the season should escape altogether. But this will seldom be necessary; for not in one year of 20 will it happen, but that clay is dry enough for ploughing some time in May. Frost may correct clay ploughed wet after harvest; but ploughed wet in the spring, it unites into a hard mass, not to be dissolved but by very hard labour.

On the cultivation of this grain we have the following observations by a Norfolk farmer.

The best soil, he observes, is that which is dry and healthy, rather light than stiff, but yet of sufficient tenacity and strength to retain the moisture. On this kind of land the grain is always the best bodied and coloured, the nimblest in the hand, and has the thinnest rind. These are qualities which recommend it most to the maltster. If the land is poor, it should be dry and warm; and when so, it will often bear better corn than richer land in a cold and wet situation.

In the choice of your seed, it is needful to observe, that the best is of a pale lively colour, and brightish cast, without any deep redness or black tinge at the tail. If the rind be a little shrivelled, it is the better; for that slight shrivelling proves it to have a thin skin, and to have sweated in the mow. The necessity of a change of seed by not sowing two years together what grew on the same soil, is not in any part of husbandry more evident than in the culture of this grain, which, if not frequently changed, will grow coarser and coarser every succeeding year.

It has generally been thought that seed-barley would be benefited by steeping; but liming it has, in many instances, been found prejudicial. Sprinkling a little foot with the water in which it is steeped has been of great service, as it will secure the seed from insects. In a very dry seed-time, barley that has been wetted for malting, and begins to sprout, will come up sooner, and produce as good a crop as any other.

If you sow after a fallow, plough three times at least. At the first ploughing, lay your land up in small ridges, and let it remain so during the winter, for the frost to mellow it; the second ploughing should be the beginning of February. In March split the ridges, and lay the land as flat as possible, at the same time harrowing it fine. But in strong wet lands (if you have no other for barley) lay it round, and make deep furrows to receive the water.

"I have often (continues he), taken the following method with success: On lands tolerably manured, I sow clover with my barley, which I reaped at harvest; and fed the clover all the following winter, and from spring to July, when I followed it till the following spring, and then sowed it with barley and clover as before. Repeating this method every year I had very large crops, but would not recommend this practice on poor light land.

"We sow on our lightest lands in April, on our moist lands in May; finding that those lands which are the most subject to weeds produce the best crops when sown late.

"The common method is to sow the barley-feed broad-cast at two sowings; the first harrowed in once, the second twice; the usual allowance from three to four bushels per acre. But if farmers could be prevailed on to alter this practice, they would soon find their account in it. Were only half the quantity sown equally, the produce would be greater, and the corn less liable to lodge: For when corn stands very close, the stalks are drawn up weak; and on that account are less capable of resisting the force of winds, or supporting themselves under heavy rains.

"From our great success in setting and drilling wheat, some of our farmers tried these methods with barley; but did not find it answer their expectations, except on very rich land.

"I have myself had 80 stalks on one root of barley, which all produced good and long ears, and the grain was better than any other; but the method is too expensive for general practice. In poor land, sow thin, or your crop will be worth little. Farmers who do not reason on the matter, will be of a different opinion; but the fact is indubitable."

When the barley is sowed and harrowed in, he advises that the land be rolled after the first shower of rain, to break the clods. This will close the earth about the roots, which will be a great advantage to it in dry weather.

When the barley has been up three weeks or a month, it is a very good way to roll it again with a heavy roller, which will prevent the sun and air from penetrating the ground to the injury of the roots. This rolling, before it branches out, will also cause it to tiller into a greater number of stalks; so that if the plants be thin, the ground will be thereby filled, and the stalks strengthened.

If the blade grows too rank, as it sometimes will in a warm wet spring, mowing is a much better method than feeding it down with sheep; because the scythe takes off only the rank tops, but the sheep being fond of the sweet end of the stalk next the root, will often bite so close as to injure its future growth.

4. Buck-wheat.

The uses of this plant have been mentioned in the Culture of preceding part, n° 46. It delights in a mellow sandy soil; but succeeds well in any dry loose healthy, wheat, and moderately so in a free loamy stone-brahm. A stiff clay is its aversion, and it is entirely labour lost to sow it in wet poachy ground. The proper season for sowing is from the last week of May or the beginning of June. It has been sown, however, so early as the beginning of April, and so late as the 22d of July, by way of experiment; but the latter was rather extreme to be chosen, and the former was in danger from frosts. In an experiment upon a small piece of ground, the grain of two different crops was brought to maturity in the summer 1787.—After spring feedings, a crop of turnip-rooted cabbage, or vetches, there will be sufficient time to sow the land with buck-wheat. Probably, in hot dry summers, a crop of vetches might even be mown for hay early enough to introduce a crop of this grain after it.

In the year 1780, about seven acres of a sandy soil A very rough piece of land, at that time just inclosed.

The vegetation appeared in five or six days, as is constantly the case be the weather wet or dry. The growth was so rapid, that the fern, with which this land greatly abounded, was completely kept under. About the middle of September the crop was mown, but by reason of a great deal of rain about that time, it was not secured until the beginning of October; hence a loss of great part of the grain by shedding, as well as some eaten by birds. However, there were saved about 24 Winchester bushels per acre; and, notwithstanding its long exposure to the weather, received no sort of damage, only perhaps that the finest and most perfect grain was the first to fall from the plant. The ground after this had almost the appearance of a fallow, and was immediately ploughed.

When it had lain a moderate time to meliorate, and to receive the influences of the atmosphere, it was harrowed, sown with Lammas wheat, and ploughed in under furrow, in a contrary direction to the first ploughing. Thus a piece of land, which in the month of April was altogether in a state of nature, in the following November was seen under a promising crop of what is well styled the king of grain, and this without the aid of manure, or of any very great degree of tillage. Nor was the harvest by any means deficient; for several persons conversant in such things estimated the produce from 26 to 30 bushels per acre. As soon as the wheat crop was taken off, the ground had one ploughing, and on the first of September following was sown with turnip-seed. The turnips were not large, but of an herbage so abundant as in the following spring to support 120 ewes with their lambs, which were fed on it by folding four weeks. After this it was manured with a composition of rotten dung and natural earth, about 20 cart loads per acre, and planted with potatoes. The crop sold for L. 138, besides a considerable number used in the family, and a quantity reserved with which ten acres were planted the following season. The ensuing autumn it was again sown with wheat, and produced an excellent crop. In the spring of 1784, it was manured and planted with potatoes, as in the preceding instance; the crop (though tolerably good) by no means equal to the former, producing about 100 sacks per acre only. In spring 1785, the land was now for a third time under a crop of wheat, it being intended to try how far this mode of alternate cropping, one year with potatoes and another with wheat, may be carried.

From the success of the preceding and other experiments, by Nehemiah Bartley, Esq; of Bristol, as detailed in the Bath Society Papers, it would seem, that the culture of this plant ought in many cases to be adopted instead of a summer-fallowing; for the crop produced appears not only to be so much clear gain in respect to such practice, but also affords a considerable quantity of straw for fodder and manure; beside that a summer-fallowing is far from being so advantageous a preparation for a succeeding crop.

5. Beans.

The proper soil for beans is a deep and moist clay. Culture of beans was lately introduced into Scotland a method of sowing beans with a drill-plough, and horse-hoeing the intervals; which, beside affording a good crop, is a dressing to the ground. But as that method is far from being general, we keep in the common track.

As this grain is early sown, the ground intended for it should be ploughed before winter, to give access to the frosts and air; beneficial in all soils, and necessary in a clay soil. Take the first opportunity after January when the ground is dry, to loosen the soil with the harrow first described, till a mould be brought upon it. Sow the seed, and cover it with the second harrow. The third will smooth the surface, and cover the seed equally. These harrows make the very best figure in sowing beans; which ought to be laid deep in the ground, not less than six inches. In clay soil, the common harrows are altogether insufficient. The soil, which has rested long after ploughing, is rendered compact and solid; the common harrows skim the surface; the seed is not covered; and the first hearty shower of rain lays it above ground. Where the farmer overtakes not the ploughing after harvest, and is reduced to plough immediately before sowing, the plough answers the purpose of the first harrow; and the other two will complete the work. But the labour of the first harrow is ill saved; as the ploughing before winter is a fine preparation, not only for beans, but for grain of every kind. If the ground ploughed before winter happen by superfluity of moisture to cake, the first harrow going along the ridges, and crooking them, will loosen the surface, and give access to the air for drying. As soon as the ground is dry, sow without delaying a moment. If rain happen in the interim, there is no remedy but patience till a dry day or two come.

Clayey-clay, ploughed before winter, seldom fails to cake. Upon that account, a second ploughing is necessary before sowing; which ought to be performed with an ebb furrow, in order to keep the frosts-mould as near the surface as possible. To cover the seed with the plow is expressed by the phrase to sow under furrow. The clods raised in this ploughing are a sort of shelter to the young plants in the chilly spring-months.

The foregoing method will answer for loam. And as for a sandy or gravelly soil, it is altogether improper for beans.

Though we cannot approve the horse-hoeing of beans, with the intervals that are commonly allotted for turnip, yet we would strongly recommend the drilling them at the distance of 10 or 12 inches, and keeping the intervals clean of weeds. This may be done by hand-hoeing, taking opportunity at the same time to lay fresh soil to the roots of the plants. But as this is an expensive operation, and hands are not always to be got, a narrow plough, drawn by a single horse, might be used, with a mould-board on each side to scatter the earth. earth upon the roots of the plants. This is a cheap and expedient method; it keeps the ground clean; and nourishes the plants with fresh soil.

As beans delight in a moist soil, and have no end of growing in a moist season, they cover the ground totally when sown broadcast, keep in the dew, and exclude the sun and air; the plants grow to a great height; but carry little seed, and that little not well ripened. This displays the advantage of drilling; which gives free access to the sun and air, dries the ground, and affords plenty of ripe seed.

6. Pease.

Pease are of two kinds; the white, and the gray. The cultivation of the latter only belongs to this place.

There are two species of the gray kind, distinguished by their time of ripening. One ripens soon, and for that reason is termed hot seed; the other, which is slower in ripening, is termed cold seed.

Pease, a leguminous crop, is proper to intervene between two culmiferous crops; lest for the profit of a pease-crop, than for meliorating the ground. Pease, however, in a dry season, will produce five or seven bolls each acre; but, in an ordinary season, they seldom reach above two, or two and a half. Hence, in a moist climate, which all the west of Britain is, red clover seems a more beneficial crop than pease; as it makes as good winter-food as pease, and can be cut green thrice during summer.

A field intended for cold seed ought to be ploughed in October or November; and in February, as soon as the ground is dry, the seed ought to be sown on the winter-furrow. A field intended for hot seed ought to be ploughed in March or April, immediately before sowing. But if infested with weeds, it ought to be also ploughed in October or November.

Pease laid a foot below the surface will vegetate; but the most approved depth is six inches in light soil, and four inches in clay soil; for which reason, they ought to be sown under furrow when the ploughing is delayed till spring. Of all grain, beans excepted, they are the least in danger of being buried.

Pease differ from beans, in loving a dry soil and a dry season. Horse-hoeing would be a great benefit, could it be performed to any advantage; but pease grow expeditiously, and soon fall over and cover the ground, which bars ploughing. Horse-hoeing has little effect when the plants are new sprung; and when they are advanced to be benefited by that culture, their length prevents it. Fast growing at the same time is the cause of their carrying so little seed; the seed is buried among the leaves; and the sun cannot penetrate to make it grow and ripen. The only practicable remedy to obtain grain, is thin sowing; but thick sowing produces more straw, and mellows the ground more. Half a boll for an English acre may be reckoned thin sowing; three firths, thick sowing.

Notwithstanding what is said above, Mr Hunter, a noted farmer in Berwickshire, began some time ago to sow his pease in drills; and never failed to have great crops of corn as well as straw. He sowed double rows at a foot interval, and two feet and an half between the double rows, which admit horse-hoeing. By that method, he had also good crops of beans on light land.

N° 8.

Pease and beans mixed are often sown together, in order to catch different seasons. In a moist season, the beans make a good crop; in a dry season, the pease.

The growth of plants is commonly checked by drought in the month of July; but promoted by rain in August. In July, grass is parched; in August, it recovers verdure. Where pease are so far advanced in the dry season as that the seed begins to form, their growth is indeed checked, but the seed continues to fill. If only in the blossom at that season, their growth is checked a little; but they become vigorous again in August, and continue growing without filling till stopped by frost. Hence it is, that cold seed, which is early sown, has the best chance to produce corn; hot seed, which is late sown, has the best chance to produce straw.

The following method is practised in Norfolk, for sowing pease upon a dry light soil, immediately opened from pasture. The ground is pared with a plough extremely thin, and every sod is laid exactly on its back. In every sod a double row of holes is made. A pea drop in every hole lodges in the flay'd ground immediately below the sod, thrusts its roots horizontally, and has sufficient moisture. This method enabled Norfolk farmers, in the barren year 1740, to furnish white pease at 12s. per boll.

II. Plants cultivated for Roots. [See also Art. III.]

I. Turnip.

Turnip delights in a gravelly soil; and there it can be raised to the greatest perfection, and with the least hazard of miscarriage. At the same time, there is no soil but will bear turnip when well prepared.

No person ever deserved better of a country, than he who first cultivated turnip in the field. No plant is better fitted for the climate of Britain, no plant prospers better in the coldest part of it, and no plant contributes more to fertility. In a word, there has not for two centuries been introduced into Britain a more valuable improvement.

Of all roots, turnip requires the finest mould; and to that end, of all harrows frost is the best. In order to give access to frost, the land ought to be prepared by ribbing after harvest, as above directed in preparing land for barley. If the field be not subject to annuals, it may lie in that state till the end of May; otherwise the weeds must be destroyed by a braking about the middle of April; and again in May, if weeds rise. The first week of June, plough the field with a shallow furrow. Lime it if requisite, and harrow the lime into the soil. Draw single furrows with intervals of three feet, and lay dung in the furrows. Cover the dung sufficiently, by going round it with the plough, and forming the three-feet spaces into ridges. The dung comes thus to lie below the crown of every ridge.

The season of sowing must be regulated by the time season intended for feeding. Where intended for feeding in November, December, January, and February, the sowing feed ought to be sown from the 1st to the 20th of June. Where the feeding is intended to be carried on to March, April, and May, the seed must not be sown till the end of July. Turnip sown earlier than above directed, flowers that very summer, and runs fast to feed; which renders it in a good measure unfit for food. Practice. food. If sown much later, it does not apple, and there is no food but from the leaves.

Though by a drill-plough the seed may be sown of any thickness, the safest way is to sow thick. Thin sowing is liable to many accidents, which are far from being counterbalanced by the expense that is saved in thinning. Thick-sowing can bear the ravage of the black fly, and leave a sufficient crop behind. It is a protection against drought, gives the plants a rapid progress, and establishes them in the ground before it is necessary to thin them.

The sowing turnip broadcast is universal in England, and common in Scotland, though a barbarous practice. The eminent advantage of turnip is, that beside a profitable crop, it makes a most complete fallow; and the latter cannot be obtained but by horse-hoeing. Upon that account, the sowing turnip in rows at three feet distance is recommended. Wider rows answer no profitable end, straiter rows afford not room for a horse to walk in. When the turnip is about four inches high, annual weeds will appear. Go round every interval with the slightest furrow possible, at the distance of two inches from each row, moving the earth from the rows toward the middle of the interval. A thin plate of iron must be fixed on the left side of the plough, to prevent the earth from falling back and burying the turnip. Next, let women be employed to weed the rows with their fingers; which is better, and cheaper done, than with the hand-hoe. The hand-hoe, beside, is apt to disturb the roots of the turnip that are to stand, and to leave them open to drought by removing the earth from them. The standing turnip are to be at the distance of twelve inches from each other; a greater distance makes them swell too much; a less distance affords them not sufficient room. A woman soon comes to be expert in finger-weeding. The following hint may be necessary to a learner. To secure the turnip that is to stand, let her cover it with the left hand; and with the right pull up the turnip on both sides. After thus freeing the standing turnip, she may safely use both hands. Let the field remain in this state till the appearance of new annuals make a second ploughing necessary; which must be in the same furrow with the former, but a little deeper. As in this ploughing the iron plate is to be removed, part of the loose earth will fall back on the roots of the plants; the rest will fill the middle of the interval, and bury every weed. When weeds begin again to appear, then is the time for a third ploughing in an opposite direction, which lays the earth to the roots of the plants. This ploughing may be about the middle of August; after which, weeds rise very faintly. If they do rise, another ploughing will clear the ground of them. Weeds that at this time rise in the row, may be cleared with a hand-hoe, which can do little mischief among plants distant twelve inches from each other. It is certain, however, that it may be done cheaper with the hand (a). And after the leaves of turnips in a row meet together, the hand is the only instrument that can be applied for weeding.

In swampy ground, the surface of which is best reduced by paring and burning, the seed may be sown in rows with intervals of a foot. To save time, a drill-plough may be used that lays three or four rows at once. Hand-hoeing is proper for such ground; because the soil under the burnt stratum is commonly full of roots, which digest and rot better under ground than when brought to the surface by the plough. In the mean time, while these are digesting, the ailes will secure a good crop.

In cultivating turnips to advantage, great care should be taken to procure good, bright, nimble, and well-dried seed, and of the best kinds.

The Norfolk farmers generally raise the oval white, the large green-topped, and the red or purple-topped kinds, which from long experience they have found to be the most profitable.

The roots of the green-topped will grow to a large size, and continue good much longer than others. The red or purple-topped will also grow large, and continue good to the beginning of February; but the roots become hard and stringy sooner than the former.

The green-topped growing more above ground, is in more danger of sustaining injury from severe frosts than the red or purple, which are more than half covered by the soil; but it is the softest and sweetest, when grown large, of any kind. We have seen them brought to table a foot in diameter, and equally good as garden turnips.

Turnips delight in a light soil, consisting of sand and loam mixed; for when the soil is rich and heavy, although the crop may be as great in weight, they will be rank, and run to flower earlier in spring.

Turnip-feed, like that of grain, will not do well without frequent changing. The Norfolk feed is sent tons with to most parts of the kingdom, and even to Ireland, but regard to after two years it degenerates; so that those who wish to have turnips in perfection should procure it fresh every year from Norwich, and they will find their account in so doing. For from its known reputation, many of the London seedmen sell, under that character, feed raised in the vicinity of the metropolis, which is much inferior in quality.

When the plants have got five leaves, they should be hoed, and set out at least six inches apart. A month afterward, or earlier if it be a wet season, a second hoeing should take place, and the plants be left at least fourteen inches distant from each other, especially if intended for feeding cattle; for where the plants are left thicker, they will be proportionally smaller, unless the land is very rich indeed.

Some of the best Norfolk farmers sow turnips in drills three feet asunder, and at a second hoeing leave culture in them a foot a part in the rows. By this means the trouble and expense of hoeing is much lessened, and the crop of equal weight as when sown in the common

(a) Children under thirteen may be employed to weed turnip with the fingers. We have seen them go on in that work with alacrity; and a small premium will have a good effect. For boys and girls above thirteen, a hand-hoe adapted to their size is an excellent instrument: it strengthens the arms amazingly. In driving the plough, the legs only are exercised; but as the arms are chiefly employed in husbandry, they ought to be prepared beforehand by gentle exercise. mon method. The intervals may easily be cleared of weeds by the horse-hoe.

Great quantities of turnips are raised in Norfolk every year for feeding black cattle, which turn to great advantage.

It is well known, that an acre of land contains 4840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet; suppose then that every square foot contains one turnip, and that they weigh only two pounds each on an average, here will be a mass of food excellent in kind, of 46 tons per acre, often worth from four to five guineas, and sometimes more.

Extraordinary crops of barley frequently succeed turnips, especially when fed off the land. In feeding them off, the cattle should not be suffered to run over too much of the ground at once, for in that case they will tread down and spoil twice as many as they eat. In Norfolk, they are confined by herds to as much as is sufficient for them for one day. By this mode the crop is eaten clean, the soil is equally trodden, which if light, is of much service, and equally manured by the cattle.

A notion prevails in many places, that mutton fattened with turnips is thereby rendered rank and ill-tasted; but this is a vulgar error. The best mutton in Norfolk (and few counties have better) is all fed with turnips. It is rank pastures, and marshy lands, that produce rank mutton.

If the land be wet and springy, the best method is to draw and carry off your turnips to some dry pasture; for the treading of the cattle will not only injure the crop, but render the land so stiff, that you must be at an additional expense in ploughing.

To preserve turnips for late spring feed, the best method, and which has been tried with success by some of the best English farmers, is, To stack them up in dry straw; a load of which is sufficient to preserve 40 tons of turnips. The method is easy, and as follows:

After drawing your turnips in February, cut off the tops and tap roots, (which may be given to sheep), and let them lay a few days in the field, as no weather will then hurt them.

Then, on a layer of straw next the ground, place a layer of turnips two feet thick; and then another layer of straw, and so on alternately, till you have brought the heap to a point. Care must be taken to turn up the edges of the layers of straw, to prevent the turnips from rolling out; cover the top well with long straw, and it will serve as a thatch for the whole.

In this method, as the straw imbibes the moisture exhaled from the roots, all vegetation will be prevented, and the turnips will be nearly as good in May as when first drawn from the field. If straw be scarce, old haulm or flubble will answer the same purpose.

But to prevent this trouble and expense, perhaps farmers in all counties would find it most to their interest to adopt the method used by our neighbours the Norfolk farmers, which is, to continue fowing turnips to the latter end of August; by which means their late crops remain good in the field till the latter end of April, and often till the middle of May.

The advantages of having turnips good till the spring feed is generally ready, are so obvious and so great, that many of the most intelligent farmers (although at first prejudiced against the practice) are now come into it, and find their account in so doing.

2. Potatoes.

The choice of soil is not of greater importance in any other plant than in a potato. This plant in clay culture, foil, or in rank black loam lying low without ventilation, never makes palatable food. In a gravelly or sandy soil, exposed to the sun and to free air, it thrives to perfection, and has a good relish. But a rank black loam, though improper to raise potatoes for the table, produces them in great plenty; and the product is, as already observed, a palatable food for horned cattle, hogs, and poultry.

The spade is a proper instrument for raising a small quantity, or for preparing corners or other places inaccessible to the plough; but for raising potatoes in quantities, the plough is the only instrument.

As two great advantages of a drilled crop are, to destroy weeds, and to have a fallow at the same time with the crop, no judicious farmer will think of raising potatoes in any other way. In September or October, as soon as that year's crop is removed, let the field have a roofing furrow, a crofs-baking next, and then be cleared of weeds by the cleaning harrow. Form it into three-feet ridges, in that state to lie till April, which is the proper time for planting potatoes. Crofs-bake it, to raise the furrows a little. Then lay well-digested horse-dung along the furrows, upon which lay the roots at eight inches distance. Cover up these roots with the plough, going once round every row. This makes a warm bed for the potatoes; hot dung below, and a loose covering above, that admits every ray of the sun. As soon as the plants appear above ground, go round every row a second time with the plough, which will lay upon the plants an additional inch or two of mould, and at the same time bury all the annuals; and this will complete the ploughing of the ridges. When the potatoes are six inches high, the plough, with the deepest furrow, must go twice along the middle of each interval in opposite directions, laying earth first to one row, and next to the other. And to perform this work, a plough with a double mould-board will be more expeditious. But as the earth cannot be laid close to the roots by the plough, the spade must succeed, with which four inches of the plants must be covered, leaving little more but the tops above ground; and this operation will at the same time bury all the weeds that have sprung since the former ploughing. What weeds arise after must be pulled up with the hand. A hoe is never to be used here; it cannot go so deep as to destroy the weeds without cutting the fibres of the plants; and if it skim the surface, it only cuts off the heads of the weeds, and does not prevent their pushing again.

In the Bath Society Papers, we have the following particular practical observations on the culture and use of potatoes, given as the result of various experiments made for five years successively on that valuable root, the growth of which cannot be too much encouraged.

When the potato crop has been the only object in view, the following method is the most eligible.

The land being well pulverized by two or three good harrowings and ploughings, is then manured with 15 or 20 cart-loads of dung per acre, before it receives its last Practice. last earth. Then it is thrown on to what the Suffolk farmers call the *Trench balk*, which is narrow and deep ridge-work, about 15 inches from the centre of one ridge to the centre of the other. Women and children drop the sets in the bottom of every furrow 15 inches apart; men follow, and cover them with large hoes, a foot in width, pulling the mould down so as to bury the sets five inches deep; they must receive two or three hand-hoeings, and be kept free from weeds; always observing to draw the earth as much as possible to the stems of the young plants. By repeated trials, the first or second week in April is found the most advantageous time for planting.

In the end of September or the beginning of October, when the haulm becomes withered, they should be ploughed up with a strong double-breasted plough. The workman must be cautioned to set his plough very deep, that he may strike below all the potatoes, to avoid damaging the crop. The women who pick them up, if not carefully attended to, will leave many in the ground, which will prove detrimental to any succeeding corn, whether wheat or barley. To avoid which inconvenience, let the land be harrowed, and turn the straw in to glean the few that may be left by their negligence.

By this method, the sets will be 15 square inches from each other; it will take 18 bushels to plant an acre; and the produce, if on a good mixed loamy soil, will amount to 300 bushels.

If the potatoes are grown as a preparation for wheat, it is preferable to have the rows two feet two inches from each other, hand-hoeing only the space from plant to plant in each row; then turning a small furrow from the inside of each row by a common light plough, and afterwards with a double-breasted plough with one horse, split the ridge formed by the first ploughing thoroughly to clean the intervals. This work should not be done too deep the first time, to avoid burying the tender plants; but the last earth should be ploughed as deep as possible; and the clover the mould is thrown to the stems of the plants, the more advantageous it will prove. Thus 15 bushels will plant an acre, and the produce will be about 300 bushels; but the land, by the summer ploughings, will be prepared to receive feed-wheat immediately, and almost ensure a plentiful crop.

The potato-sets should be cut a week before planting, with one or two eyes to each, and the pieces not very small; two bushels of fresh flaked lime should be sown over the surface of the land as soon as planted, which will effectually prevent the attacks of the grub.

The expense attending an acre of potatoes well cultivated in the first method, supposing the rent 20 shillings, tithe and town charges rather high (as in Suffolk), taking up, and every thing included, will be about six pounds. In the last method, it would be somewhat reduced.

"When prejudices for old customs are subdued (adds the author), I hope to see the potato admitted in the constant course of crops by every spirited husbandman. The most beneficial effects will, I am certain, accrue from such a system. The advantages in my neighbourhood are apparent; I cultivated and fed my own children upon them, and my poorer neighbours sensibly followed the example. A great proportion of every cottager's garden is now occupied by this root, and it forms a principal part of their diet. Potatoes are cheap and excellent substitutes for peas in soups and broths, allowing double the quantity.

Although it is nearly a transcript of the directions given by a very ingenious author, yet I shall take the liberty of inserting a receipt for making a potato-soup, which I have weekly distributed amongst the poor to their great relief.

| Item | Cost | |-----------------------------|------| | An ox's head | 2s | | Two pecks of potatoes | 6s | | Quarter of a peck of onions | 3s | | Three quarters of a pound of salt | 1s | | An ounce and a half of pepper | 3s |

Total 3 10

Ninety pints of water to be boiled with the above ingredients on a slow fire until reduced to 60, which require one peck of coals, value threepence. I have added the expense of every article according to their prices with me, that gentlemen may nearly perceive at how easy a rate they can feed 60 of their poor neighbours. I find from experience, a pint of this soup, with a small piece of the meat, is sufficient to satisfy a hearty working man with a good meal. If vegetables are plentiful, some of every sort may be added, with a few sweet herbs.

"I hope my inserting the above, will not be esteemed improper; though somewhat deviating from the culture of potatoes, it may possibly be a means of rendering them more extensively useful."

A premium having been offered by the aforementioned Society for the cultivation of potatoes by farmers, &c., whose rent does not exceed 40l. per annum, the following methods were communicated, by which those who have only a small spot of ground may obtain a plentiful crop.

First, then, the earth should be dug 12 inches deep, if the soil will allow of it; after this, a hole should be cultivating opened about six inches deep, horse-dung, or long litter should be put therein about three inches thick; this hole should not be more than 12 inches in diameter; upon this dung or litter, a potato should be planted whole, upon which a little more dung should be thrown, and then earth must be put thereon. In like manner the whole plot of ground must be planted, taking care that each potato be at least 16 inches apart; and when the young shoots make their appearance, they should have fresh mould drawn round them with a hoe; and if the tender shoots are covered, it will prevent the frost from injuring them; they should again be earthed when the shoots make a second appearance, but not be covered, as in all probability the season will then be less severe. A plentiful supply of mould should be given them, and the person who performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the hillock that is raised round it; as the lighter the earth is, the more room the potato will have to expand. From a single root thus planted, very near 40 pounds weight of large potatoes were obtained, and from almost every other root upon the same plot of ground from 15 to 20 pounds weight; and except the soil be stoney or gravelly, 10 pounds or half a peck of potatoes may almost always be obtained from each root, by purfuing... the foregoing method. But note, cuttings or small sets will not do for this purpose.

The second method will suit the indolent, or those who have not time to dig their ground, and that is, where weeds much abound and have not been cleared in the winter, a trench may be opened in a straight line the whole length of the ground, and about six inches deep; in this trench the potatoes should be planted about ten inches apart; cuttings or small potatoes will do for this method. When they are laid in the trench, the weeds that are on the surface may be pared off on each side about ten inches from it, and be turned upon the plants; another trench should then be dug, and the mould that comes out of it turned carefully on the weeds. It must not be forgot, that each trench should be regularly dug, that the potatoes may be throughout the plot ten or twelve inches from each other. This slovenly method will in general raise more potatoes than can be produced by digging the ground twice, and dibbling in the plants; and the reason is, that the weeds lighten the soil, and give the roots room to expand. They should be twice hoed, and earthed up in rows. And here note, that if cut potatoes are to be planted, every cutting should have two eyes, for though fewer sets will be obtained, there will be a greater certainty of a crop, as one eye often fails or is destroyed by grubs in the earth.

Where a crop of potatoes fail in part (as will sometimes be the case in a dry season), amends may still be made by laying a little dung upon the knots of the straw or haulm of those potatoes that do appear, and covering them with mould; each knot or joint thus ordered will, if the weather prove wet afterwards, produce more potatoes than the original roots.

From the smallest potatoes planted whole, from four to five pounds at a root were obtained, and some of the single potatoes weighed near two pounds. These were dug in as before-mentioned, in trenches where the ground was covered with weeds, and the soil was a stiff loamy clay.

A good crop may be obtained by laying potatoes upon turf at about ten or eleven inches apart, and upon beds of about six feet wide; on each side of which a trench should be opened about three feet wide, and the turf that comes from thence should be laid with the grassy side downwards upon the potatoes; a spit of mould should next be taken from the trenches, and be spread over the turf; and in like manner the whole plot of ground that is designed to be planted must be treated. And remark, that when the young shoots appear, another spit of mould from the trenches should be thrown over the beds so as to cover the shoots; this will prevent the frost from injuring them, encourage them to expand, and totally destroy the young weeds; and when the potatoes are taken up in the autumn, a careful person may turn the earth again into the trenches, so as to make the surface level; and it will be right to remark, that from the same ground a much better crop of potatoes may be obtained the following year.

For field planting, a good (if not the best) method is to dung the land, which should be once ploughed previous thereto; and when it is ploughed a second time, a careful person should drop the potato plants before the plough in every third furrow at about eight or ten inches apart. Plants that are cut with two eyes are best for this purpose. The reason for planting them at so great a distance as every third furrow, is, that when the shoots appear, a horse-hoe may go upon the two vacant furrows to keep them clean; and after they are thus hoed, they should be moulded up in ridges; and if this crop be taken up about October or November, the land will be in excellent condition to receive a crop of wheat. Lands that are full of twitch or couch-grass may be made clean by this method, as the horse-hoeing is as good as a summer-fallow; and if, when the potatoes are taken up, women and children were to pick out such filth, not any traces of it would remain; and by laying it on heaps and burning it, a quantity of ashes would be produced for manure.

After ploughing, none should ever dibble in potatoes, as the persons who dibble, plant, or hoe them, will all tread the ground; by which means it will become so bound, that the young fibres cannot expand, as has been already observed. Good crops have indeed been obtained by ploughing the land twice, and dropping the plants in every other furrow, and by hand-hoeing and earthing them up afterwards as the gardeners do peas; but this method is not equal to the other.

Vacant places in hedge-rows might be grubbed and planted with potatoes, and a good crop might be expected, as the leaves of trees, thorns, &c. are a good manure, and will surprisingly encourage their growth, and gratify the wishes of the planter; who by cultivating such places, will then make the most of his ground, and it will be in fine order to receive a crop of corn the following year.

Account of the culture, expenses, and produce of six acres Method of of potatoes, being a fair part of near seventy acres, raised culture, &c. by John Billingley, Esq.; and for which the premium for which a premium was granted him in the year 1784.

| Expenses | L. s. d. | |----------|---------| | Plowing an oat-stubble in October 1783, at 4s. per acre | 1 4 0 | | Croft-ploughing in March 1784 | 1 4 0 | | Harrowing, 2s. per acre | 0 12 0 | | 180 cart-loads of compost, 3l. per acre | 18 0 0 | | 42 sacks of feed-potatoes (each sack weighing 240 lb.) of the white sort | 10 10 0 | | Cutting the sets, 6d. per pack | 1 1 0 | | Setting on ridges eight feet wide (leaving an interval of two feet for an alley) 6d. for every 10 yards | 10 12 0 | | Hoeing, at 5s. per acre | 1 10 0 | | Digging up the two feet interval, and throwing the earth on the plants, at 10s. per acre | 3 0 0 | | Digging up the crop, at 8d. for every 20 yards in length, the breadth being 8 feet | 14 6 0 | | Labour and expense of securing in pits, wear and tear of baskets, straw, reed, spades, &c. 10s. per acre | 3 0 0 | | Rent | 6 0 0 | | Tithe | 1 10 0 | | Profit | 72 9 0 | | Total | 73 11 0 |

L. 146 0 0 The field on which the above experiment was made, was an oat-stubble in the autumn of 1783. In October it was ploughed, and left in a rough state during the winter. In April it was cross-ploughed and harrowed. On the 8th of May the field was marked out into beds or ridges eight feet wide, leaving a space of two feet wide for an alley between every two ridges. The manure (a compost of stable dung, virgin earth, and scrapings of a turnpike road) was then brought on the land, and deposited in small heaps on the centre of each ridge, in the proportion of about 30 cart-loads to each acre. A trench was then opened with a spade, breadth-way of the ridge, about four inches deep; in this trench the potato-sets were placed, at the distance of nine inches from each other; the dung was then spread in a trench on the sets, and a space or plit of 14 inches in breadth, dug in upon them. When the plants were about six inches high, they were carefully hoed, and soon after the two feet intervals between the ridges were dug, and the contents thrown around the young plants. This refreshment, added to the ample manuring previously bestowed, produced such luxuriance and rapidity of growth, that no weed could show its head.

The shortest and most certain method of taking up potatoes, is to plough once round every row at the distance of four inches, removing the earth from the plants, and gathering up with the hand all the potatoes that appear. The distance is made four inches, to prevent cutting the roots, which are seldom found above that distance from the row on each side. When the ground is thus cleared by the plough, raise the potatoes with a fork having three broad toes or claws; which is better than a spade, as it does not cut the potatoes. The potatoes thus laid above ground must be gathered with the hand. By this method scarce a potato will be left.

As potatoes are a comfortable food for the low people, it is of importance to have them all the year round. For a long time, potatoes in Scotland were confined to the kitchen-garden; and after they were planted in the field, it was not imagined at first that they could be used after the month of December. Of late years, they have been found to answer even till April; which has proved a great support to many a poor family, as they are easily cooked, and require neither kiln nor mill. But there is no cause for stopping there. It is easy to preserve them till the next crop: When taken out of the ground, lay in the corner of a barn a quantity that may serve till April, covered from frost with dry straw pressed down: bury the remainder in a hole dug in dry ground, mixed with the hulls of dried oats, sand, or the dry leaves of trees, over which build a stack of hay or corn. When the pit is opened for taking out the potatoes, the eyes of what have a tendency to push must be cut out; and this cargo will serve all the month of June. To be still more certain of making the old crop meet the new, the setting of a small quantity may be delayed till June, to be taken up at the ordinary time before frost. This cargo, having not arrived to full growth, will not be so ready to push as what are set in April.

If the old crop happen to be exhausted before the new crop is ready, the interval may be supplied by the potatoes of the new crop that lie next the surface, to be picked up with the hand; which, far from hurting the crop, will rather improve it.

3. Carrot and Parsnip.

Of all roots, a carrot requires the deepest soil. It ought at least to be a foot deep, all equally good from top to bottom. If such a soil be not in the farm, it may be made artificially by trench-ploughing, which brings to the surface what never had any communication with the sun or air. When this new soil is sufficiently improved by a crop or two with dung, it is fit for bearing carrots. Beware of dunging the year when the carrots are sown; for with fresh dung they seldom escape rotten feasts.

The only soils proper for that root, are a loam and a sandy soil.

The ground must be prepared by the deepest furrow that can be taken, the sooner after harvest the better; immediately upon the back of which, a ribbing ought to succeed, as directed for barley. At the end of March, or beginning of April, which is the time of sowing the seed, the ground must be smoothed with a brake. Sow the seed in drills, with intervals of a foot for hand-hoeing: which is no expensive operation where the crop is confined to an acre or two; but if the quantity of ground be greater, the intervals ought to be three feet, in order for horse-hoeing.

In flat ground without ridges, it may be proper to make parallel furrows with the plough, ten feet from each other, in order to carry off any redundant moisture.

At Parlington in Yorkshire, from the end of September to the first of May, 20 work-horses, four bullocks, and fix milk-cows, were fed on the carrots that grew on three acres; and these animals never tasted any other food but a little hay. The milk was excellent: and, over and above, 30 hogs were fattened upon what was left by the other beasts. We have this fact from undoubted authority.

The culture of parsnips is the same with that of carrots.

III. Plants cultivated for Leaves, or for both Leaves and Root.

There are many garden-plants of these kinds. The plants proper for the field are cabbage red and white, colewort plain and curled, turnip-rooted cabbage, and the root of scarcity.

1. Cabbage is an interesting article in husbandry. Its culture is easily raised, is subject to few diseases, resists frost cabbage, more than turnip, is palatable to cattle, and sooner fills them than turnip, carrot, or potatoes.

The season for setting cabbage depends on the use it is intended for. If intended for feeding in November, December, and January, plants procured from feed fown the end of July the preceding year must be set in March or April. If intended for feeding in March, April, and May, the plants must be set the first week. week of the preceding July, from feed sown in the end of February or beginning of March the same year. The late setting of the plants retards their growth; by which means they have a vigorous growth the following spring. And this crop makes an important link in the chain that connects winter and summer green food. Where cabbage for spring-food happens to be neglected, a few acres of rye, sown at Michaelmas, will supply the want. After the rye is consumed, there is time sufficient to prepare the ground for turnip.

And now to prepare a field for cabbage. Where the plants are to be set in March, the field must be made up after harvest, in ridges three feet wide. In that form let it lie all winter, to be mellowed with air and frost. In March, take the first opportunity, between wet and dry, to lay dung in the furrows. Cover the dung with a plough, which will convert the furrow into a crown, and consequently the crown into a furrow. Set the plants upon the dung, distant from each other three feet. Plant them so as to make a straight line across the ridges, as well as along the furrows, to which a gardener's line stretched perpendicularly across the furrows will be requisite. This will set each plant at the distance precisely of three feet from the plants that surround it. The purpose of this accuracy is to give opportunity for ploughing, not only along the ridges, but across them. This mode is attended with three signal advantages: it saves hand-hoeing; it is a more complete dressing to the soil, and it lays earth neatly round every plant.

If the soil be deep and composed of good earth, a trench-ploughing after the preceding crop will not be amiss; in which case, the time for dividing the field into three-feet ridges, as above, ought to be immediately before the dunging for the plants.

If weeds happen to rise too close to the plants as not to be reached by the plough, it will require very little labour to destroy them with a hand-hoe.

Unless the soil be much infested with annuals, twice ploughing after the plants are set will be a sufficient dressing. The first removes the earth from the plants; the next, at the distance of a month or so, lays it back.

Where the plants are to be set in July, the field must be ribbed as directed for barley. It ought to have a flight ploughing in June before the planting, in order to loosen the soil, but not so as to bury the surface-earth; after which the three feet ridges must be formed, and the other particulars carried on as directed above with respect to plants that are to be set in March.

2. As to the turnip-rooted cabbages, their importance and value seem only to have been lately ascertained. In the Bath Society Papers we have the following account of Sir Thomas Beevor's method of cultivating them; which from experience he found to be cheaper and better than any other.

"In the first or second week of June, I sow the same quantity of seed, hoe the plants at the same size, leave them at the same distance from each other, and treat them in all respects like the common turnip. In this method I have always obtained a plentiful crop of them; to ascertain the value of which I need only inform you, that on the 23rd day of April last, having then two acres left of my crop, found, and in great perfection, I divided them by fold hurdles into three parts of nearly equal dimensions. Into the first part I put 24 small bullocks of about 30 stone weight each (14 lb. to the stone), and 30 middle-sized fat wethers. Their utility, which, at the end of the first week, after they had eaten down the greater part of the leaves, and some part of the roots, I shifted into the second division, and then put 70 lean sheep into what was left of the first; these fed off the remainder of the turnips left by the fat stock; and so they were shifted through the three divisions, the lean stock following the fat as they wanted food, until the whole was consumed.

"The 24 bullocks and 30 fat wethers continued in the turnips until the 21st of May, being exactly four weeks; and the 70 lean sheep until the 29th, which is one day over four weeks; so that the two acres kept me 24 small bullocks and 110 sheep four weeks (not reckoning the overplus day of keeping the lean sheep); the value, at the rate of keeping at that season, cannot be estimated in any common year at less than 4d. a-week for each sheep, and 1s. 6d. per week for each bullock, which would amount together to the sum of L. 14 : 10 : 8 for the two acres.

"You will hardly, I conceive, think I have set the price of keeping the stock at too high a rate; it is beneath the price here in almost every spring; and in this last it would have cost double, could it have been procured; which was so far from being the case, that hundreds of sheep and lambs here were lost, and the rest greatly pinched for want of food.

"You will observe, gentlemen, that in the valuation of the crop above mentioned I have claimed no allowance for the great benefit the farmer receives by being enabled to suffer his grass to get into a forward growth, nor for the superior quality of these turnips in fattening his stock; both which circumstances must stamp a new and a great additional value upon them. But as their continuance on the land may seem to be injurious to the succeeding crop, and indeed will deprive the farmer totally of either oats or barley; so to supply that loss I have always sown buck-wheat on the first earth upon the land from which the turnips were thus fed off; allowing one bushel of feed per acre, for which I commonly receive from five to six quarters per acre in return. And that I may not throw that part of my land out of the same course of tillage with the rest, I sow my clover or other grass-seeds with the buck-wheat, in the same manner as with the oat or barley crops, and have always found as good a layer (ley) of it afterwards.

"Thus you see, that in providing a most incomparable vegetable food for cattle, in that season of the year in which the farmer is generally most distressed, and his cattle almost starved, a considerable profit may likewise be obtained, much beyond what is usually derived from his former practice, by the great produce and price of a crop raised at so easy an expense as that of buck-wheat, which, with us, sells commonly at the same price as barley, oftentimes more, and but very rarely for less.

"The land on which I have usually sown turnip-rooted cabbages is a dry mixed soil, worth 15s. per acre."

To the preceding account the Society have subjoined the following note: "Whether we regard the im- portance of the subject, or the clear and practical information which the foregoing letter conveys, it may be considered as truly interesting as any we have ever been favoured with; and therefore it is recommended in the strongest manner to farmers in general, that they adopt a mode of practice so decisively ascertained to be in a high degree judicious and profitable."

To raise the turnip-rooted cabbage for transplanting, the best method yet discovered is, to breast-plough and burn as much old pasture as may be judged necessary for the seed-bed; two perch well stocked with plants will be sufficient to plant an acre. The land should be dug as shallow as possible, turning the ashes in; and the seed should be sown the beginning of April.

The land intended for the plantation to be cultivated and dugged as for the common turnip. About Midsummer (or sooner if the weather will permit) will be a proper time for planting, which is best done in the following manner: the land to be thrown into one-bout ridges, upon the tops of which the plants are to be set, at about 18 inches distance from each other. As soon as the weeds rise, give a hand-hoeing, afterwards run the ploughs in the intervals, and fetch a furrow from each ridge, which, after laying a fortnight or three weeks, is again thrown back to the ridges; if the weeds rise again, it is necessary to give them another hand-hoeing.

If the young plants in the seed-bed should be attacked by the fly, sow wood-ashes over them when the dew is on, which will effectually prevent the ravages they would otherwise make.

3. The racine de disette, or root of scarcity, (Beta cicla) delights in a rich loamy land well dugged. It is directed to be sown in rows, or broad-cult, and as soon as the plants are of the size of a goose-quill, to be transplanted in rows of 18 inches distance, and 18 inches a part, one plant from the other: care must be taken in the sowing, to sow very thin, and to cover the seed, which lays in the ground about a month, an inch only.—In transplanting, the root is not to be shortened, but the leaves cut at the top; the plant is then to be planted with a setting-flick, so that the upper part of the root shall appear about half an inch out of the ground; this last precaution is very necessary to be attended to. These plants will strike root in twenty-four hours, and a man a little accustomed to planting, will plant with ease 1800 or 2000 a-day. In the seed-bed, the plants, like all others, must be kept clear of weeds: when they are planted out, after once hoeing, they will take care of themselves, and suffocate every kind of weed near them.

The best time to sow the seed is from the beginning of March to the middle of April: it is, however, advised to continue sowing every month until the beginning of July, in order to have a succession of plants. Both leaves and roots have been extolled as excellent both for man and beast. This plant is said not to be liable, like the turnip, to be destroyed by insects, for no insect touches it, nor is it affected by excessive drought, or the changes of seasons. Horned cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry, are exceedingly fond of it when cut small. The leaves may be gathered every 12 or 15 days; they are from 30 to 40 inches long, by 22 to 25 inches broad. This plant is excellent for milch cows, when given to them in proper proportions, as it adds much to the quality as well as quantity of their milk; but care must be taken to proportion the leaves with other green food, otherwise it would abate the milk, and fatten them too much, it being of so exceeding a fattening quality. To put all these properties beyond doubt, however, further experiments are wanting.

Sect. IV. Culture of Grafs.

The latter end of August, or the beginning of September, is the best season for sowing grafs-seeds, as there is time for the roots of the young plants to fix down fields themselves before the sharp frosts set in. It is scarce necessary to say, that moist weather is best for sowing; the earth being then warm, the seeds will vegetate immediately; but if this season prove unfavourable, they will do very well the middle of March following.

If you would have fine pasture, never sow on foul land. On the contrary, plough it well, and clear it from the roots of couch-grafs, reed, harrow, fern, broom, and all other noxious weeds. If these are suffered to remain, they will soon get above, and destroy your young grafs. Rake these up in heaps, and burn them on the land, and spread the ashes as a manure. These ploughings and harrowings should be repeated in dry weather. And if the soil be clayey and wet, make some under-drains to carry off the water, which, if suffered to remain, will not only chill the grafs, but make it sour. Before sowing, lay the land as level and fine as possible. If your grafs-seeds are clean, (which should always be the case) three bushels will be sufficient per acre. When sown, harrow it in gently, and roll it in with a wooden roller. When it comes up, fill up all the bare spots by fresh feed, which, if rolled to fix it, will soon come up, and overtake the rest.

In Norfolk they sow clover with their grafses, particularly with rye-grafs; but this should not be done except when the land is designed for grafs only three or four years, because neither of these kinds will last long in the land. Where you intend it for a continuance, it is better to mix only small white Dutch clover, or marle grafs, with your other grafs seed, and not more than eight pounds to an acre. These are abiding plants, spread close on the surface, and make the sweetest feed of any for cattle. In the following spring, root up thistles, hemlock, or any large plants that appear. The doing this while the ground is soft enough to permit your drawing them by the roots, and before they feed, will save you infinite trouble afterwards.

The common method of proceeding in laying down fields to grafs is extremely injudicious. Some sow barley with their grafses, which they suppose to be useful in feeding them, without considering how much the corn draws away the nourishment from the land.

Others take their feeds from a foul hay-rick; by which means, besides filling the land with rubbish and weeds, what they intend for dry foils may have come from moist, where it grew naturally, and vice versa. Different The consequence is, that the ground, instead of being covered with a good thick sward, is filled with grafs plants unnatural to it. The kinds of grafs most eligible for pasture-lands are, the annual-meadow, creeping, and fine bent, the fox-tails, and crested dog's-tail, the poas, the fescues, the vernal, oat- grafts, and the ray, or rye-grafts. We do not, however, approve of sowing all these kinds together; for not to mention their ripening at different times, by which means you can never cut them all in perfection and full vigour, no kind of cattle are fond of all alike.

Horses will scarcely eat hay which oxen and cows will thrive upon; sheep are particularly fond of some kinds, and refuse others. The Darnel-grafts, if not cut before several of the other kinds are ripe, becomes so hard and wiry in the stalks, that few cattle care to eat it.

Such gentlemen as wish a particular account of the above-mentioned grafts, will be amply gratified in consulting Mr Stillingfleet on this subject. He has treated it with great judgment and accuracy, and those who follow his directions in the choice of their grafts will be under no small obligation to him for the valuable information he has given them. The substance of his observations are given in the article Grasses in this Dictionary.

The grafts commonly sown for pasture, for hay, or to cut green for cattle, are red clover, white clover, yellow clover, rye-grafts, narrow-leaved plaintain commonly called ribwort, fainstoin, and lucerne.

Red clover is of all the most proper to be cut green for summer-food. It is a biennial plant when suffered to perfect its seed; but when cut green, it will last three years, and in a dry soil longer. At the same time the safest course is to let it stand but a single year: if the second year's crop happen to be scanty, it proves like a bad crop of peas, a great encourager of weeds by the shelter it affords them.

Here, as in all other crops, the goodness of seed is of importance. Choose plum seed of a purple colour, because it takes on that colour when ripe. It is red when hurt in the drying, and of a faint colour when unripe.

Red clover is luxuriant upon a rich soil, whether clay, loam, or gravel: it will grow even upon a moor, when properly cultivated. A wet soil is its only bane; for there it does not thrive.

To have red clover in perfection, weeds must be extirpated, and stones taken off. The mould ought to be made as fine as harrowing can make it; and the surface be smoothed with a light roller, if not sufficiently smooth without it. This gives opportunity for distributing the seed evenly: which must be covered by a small harrow with teeth no larger than that of a garden-rake, three inches long, and six inches under.* In harrowing, the man should walk behind with a rope in his hand fixed to the back part of the harrow, ready to disentangle it from stones, clods, turnip or cabbage-roots, which would trail the seed, and displace it.

Nature has not determined any precise depth for the seed of red clover more than of other seed. It will grow vigorously from two inches deep, and it will grow when barely covered. Half an inch may be reckoned the most advantageous position in clay soil, a whole inch in what is light or loose. It is a vulgar error, that small seed ought to be sparingly covered. Misled by that error, farmers commonly cover their clover-seed with a bushy branch of thorn; which not only covers it unequally, but leaves part on the surface to wither in the air.

The proper season for sowing red-clover, is from the middle of April to the middle of May. It will spring from the first of March to the end of August; but such liberty ought not to be taken except from necessity.

There cannot be a greater blunder in husbandry, than to be sparing of seed. Ideal writers talk of sowing an acre with four pounds. That quantity of seed, say they, will fill an acre with plants as thick as they ought to stand. This rule may be admitted where grain is the object; but it will not answer with respect to grafts. Grafts-seed cannot be sown too thick: the plants shelter one another: they retain all the dew: and they must push upward, having no room laterally. Observe the place where a sack of peas, or of other grain, has been set down for sowing: the seed dropped there accidentally grows more quickly than in the rest of the field sown thin out of hand. A young plant of clover, or of fainstoin, according to Tull, may be raised to a great size where it has room; but the field will not produce half the quantity. When red clover is sown for cutting green, there ought not to be less than 24 pounds to an acre. A field of clover is seldom too thick: the smaller a stem be, the more acceptable it is to cattle. It is often too thin; and when so, the stems tend to wood.

Red clover is commonly sown with grain; and the soil of sowing most proper grain has been found by experience to be clover with flax. The soil must be highly cultivated for flax as well as grain, as for red clover. The proper season of sowing is the same for both; the leaves of flax being very small, admit of free circulation of air; and flax being an early crop, is removed so early as to give the clover time for growing. In a rich soil it has grown to fast, as to afford a good cutting that very year. Next to flax, barley is the best companion to clover. The soil must be loose and free for barley; and so it ought to be for clover: the season of sowing is the same; and the clover is well established in the ground, before it is overtopped by the barley. At the same time, barley commonly is sooner cut than either oats or wheat. In a word, barley is rather a nurse than a stepmother to clover during its infancy. When clover is sown in spring upon wheat, the soil, which has lain five or six months without being stirred, is an improper bed for it; and the wheat, being in the vigour of growth, overtops it from the beginning. It cannot be sown along with oats, because of the hazard of frosts; and when sown as usual among the oats three inches high, it is over-topped, and never enjoys free air till the oats be cut. Add, that where oats are sown upon the winter-furrow, the soil is rendered as hard as when under wheat.—Red clover is sometimes sown by itself without other grain: but this method, beside losing a crop, is not salutary; because clover in its infant state requires shelter.

As to the quantity of grain proper to be sown with clover: In a rich soil well pulverized, a peck of barley on an English acre is all that ought to be ventured; but there is not much soil in Scotland so rich. Two Linlithgow farms make the proper quantity for an acre that produces commonly six bolls of barley; half a boll for what produces nine bolls. To those who are governed by custom, so small a quantity will be thought ridiculous. Let them only consider, that a rich soil in perfect good order, will from a single seed of barley produce 20 or 30 vigorous stems. People may flatter themselves with the remedy of cutting barley green for food, if it happen to oppress the clover. This is an excellent remedy in a field of an acre or two; but the cutting an extensive field for food must be slow; and while one part is cutting, the clover is smothered in other parts.

The culture of white clover, of yellow clover, of ribwort, of rye-grafs, is the same in general with that of red clover. We proceed to their peculiarities. Yellow clover, ribwort, rye-grafs, are all of them early plants, blooming in the end of April or beginning of May. The two latter are evergreens, and therefore excellent for winter-pasture. Rye-grafs is less hurt by frost than any of the clovers, and will thrive in a milder soil; nor in that soil is it much affected by drought. In a rich soil, it grows four feet high; even in the dry summer 1775, it rose to three feet eight inches; but it had gained that height before the drought came on. These grasses are generally sown with red clover for producing a plentiful crop. The proportion of feed is arbitrary; and there is little danger of too much. When rye-grafs is sown for procuring feed, five furlots wheat-measure may be sown on an acre; and for procuring feed of ribwort, 40 pounds may be sown.

The roots of rye-grafs spread horizontally; they bind the soil by their number; and tho' small, are yet so vigorous as to thrive in hard soil. Red clover has a large tap-root, which cannot penetrate any soil but what is open and free; and the largeness of the root makes the soil still more open and free. Rye-grafs, once a great favourite, appears to be discarded in most parts of Britain. The common practice has been, to sow it with red clover, and to cut them promiscuously the beginning of June for green food, and a little later for hay. This indeed is the proper season for cutting red clover, because at that time it begins to flower; but as at that time the feed of the rye-grafs is approaching to maturity, its growth is stopped for that year, as much as of oats or barley cut after the feed is ripe. Oats or barley cut green before the feed forms, will afford two other cuttings; which is the case of rye-grafs, of yellow clover, and of ribwort. By such management, all the profit will be drawn that these plants can afford.

When red clover is intended for feed, the ground ought to be cleared of weeds, were it for no other purpose than that the seed cannot otherwise be preserved pure: what feeds escape the plough ought to be taken out by the hand. In England, when a crop of feed is intended, the clover is always first cut for hay. This appears to be done, as in fruit-trees, to check the growth of the wood, in order to encourage the fruit. This practice will not answer in Scotland, as the seed would often be too late for ripening. It would do better to eat the clover with sheep till the middle of May, which would allow the seed to ripen. The seed is ripe when, upon rubbing it between the hands, it parts readily from the hull. Then apply the scythe, spread the crop thin, and turn it carefully. When perfectly dry, take the first opportunity of a hot day for threshing it on boards covered with a coarse sheet. Another way less subject to risk, is to stack the dry hay, and to thresh it in the end of April. After the first threshing, expose the hulls to the sun, and thresh them over and over till no feed remain. Nothing is more efficacious than a hot sun to make the hull part with its feed; in which view it may be exposed to the sun by parcels, an hour or two before the flail is applied.

White clover, intended for feed, is managed in the same manner. No plant ought to be mixed with rye-grafs that is intended for feed. In Scotland, much rye-grafs seed is hurt by transgrefging that rule. The seed is ripe when it parts easily with the hull. The yellowness of the stem is another indication of its ripeness; in which particular it resembles oats, barley, and other culmiferous plants. The best manner to manage a crop of rye-grafs for feed, is to bind it loosely in small sheaves, widening them at the bottom to make them stand erect; as is done with oats in moist weather. In that state they may stand till sufficiently dry for threshing. By this method they dry more quickly, and are less hurt by rain, than by close binding and putting the sheaves in shocks like corn. The worst way of all is to spread the rye-grafs on the moist ground, for it makes the feed malten. The sheaves, when sufficiently dry, are carried into clove carts to where they are to be threshed on a board, as mentioned above for clover. Put the straw in a rick when a hundred stone or so are threshed. Carry the threshing-board to the place where another rick is intended; and so on till the whole feed be threshed, and the straw ricked. There is necessity for clove carts to save the feed, which is apt to drop out in a hot sun; and, as observed above, a hot sun ought always to be chosen for threshing. Carry the feed in sacks to the granary or barn, there to be separated from the hulls by a fanner. Spread the feed thin upon a timber-floor, and turn it once or twice a day till perfectly dry. If suffered to take a heat, it is useless for feed.

The writers on agriculture reckon sainfoin 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.

Sainfoin 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 surface of the soil; of course, a deep dry soil is best for the culture of sainfoin. 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 sainfoin 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 sainfoin 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 sainfoin may be set in another field; and if the transplanting of this grass succeeds as well as the transplanting of lucerne has done with Mr Lunnin de Chatcauvieux, 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 sloping direction from the cut end of the tap-root. Sainfoin 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.

In England, as the roots strike deep in that chalky soil, this plant is not liable to be so much injured by drought as other grasses are, whose fibres lie horizontally, and lie near the surface. The quantity of hay produced is greater and better in quality than any other. But there is one advantage attending this grass, which renders it superior to any other; and that arises from feeding it with milk cows. The prodigious increase of milk which it makes is astonishing, being nearly double that produced by any other green food. The milk is also better, and yields more cream than any other; and the butter procured from it much better coloured and flavoured.

The following remarks by an English farmer are made from much experience and observation.

Sainfoin is much cultivated in those parts where the soil is of a chalky kind. It will always succeed well where the roots run deep; the worst soil of all for it is where there is a bed of cold wet clay, which the tender fibres cannot penetrate. This plant will make a greater increase of produce, by at least 30 times, than common grass or turf on poor land. Where it meets with chalk or stone, it will extend its roots through the cracks and chinks to a very great depth in search of nourishment. The dryness is of more consequence than the richness of land for sainfoin; although land that is both dry and rich will always produce the largest crops.

It is very commonly sown broadcast; but it is found to answer best in drills, especially if the land be made fine by repeated ploughing, rolling, and harrowing. Much depends on the depth which this seed is sown. If it be buried more than an inch deep, it will seldom grow; and if left uncovered, it will push out its roots above ground, and these will be killed by the air. March and the beginning of April are the best seasons for sowing it, as the severity of winter and the drought of summer are equally unfavourable to the young plants. A bushel of seed sown broadcast, or half that quantity in drills, if good, is sufficient for an acre. The drills should be 30 inches apart, to admit of horsehoeing between them. Much, however, depends on the goodness of the seed, which may be best judged of by the following marks.

The hulls being of a bright colour, the kernel plump, of a grey or bluish colour without, and, if cut across, greenish and fresh within; if it be thin and furrowed, and of a yellowish cast, it will seldom grow. When the plants stand single, and have room to spread, they produce the greatest quantity of herbage, and the seed ripens best. But farmers in general, from a mistaken notion of all that appears to be waste ground being unprofitable, plant them so close, that they choke and impoverish each other, and often die in a few years. Single plants run deepest and draw most nourishment; they are also easiest kept free from weeds. A single plant will often produce half a pound of hay, when dry. On rich land this plant will yield two good crops in a year, with a moderate share of culture. A good crop must not be expected the first year; but, if the plants stand not too thick, they will increase in size the second year prodigiously.

No cattle should be turned on the field the first winter after the corn is off with which it was sown, as their feet would injure the young plants. Sheep should not come on the following summer, because they would bite off the crown of the plants, and prevent their shooting again. A small quantity of foagers ashes as a top-dressing will be of great service, if laid on the first winter.

If the sainfoin be cut just before it comes into bloom, it is admirable food for horned cattle; and if cut thus early, it will yield a second crop the same season. But if it proves a wet season, it is better to let it stand till its bloom be perfected; for great care must be taken, in making it into hay, that the flowers do not drop off, as cows are very fond of them; and it requires more time than other hay in drying. Sainfoin is so excellent a fodder for horses, that they require no oats while they eat it, although they be worked hard all the time. Sheep will also be fattened with it faster than with any other food.

If the whole season for cutting proves very rainy, it is better to let the crop stand for feed, as that will amply repay the loss of the hay; because it will not only fetch a good price, but a peck of it will go as far as a peck and a half of oats for horses.

The best time of cutting the seeded sainfoin is, when the greatest part of the seed is well filled, the first blown ripe, and the last blown beginning to open. For want of this care some people have lost most of their feed by letting it stand too ripe. Seeded fainfain should always be cut in a morning or evening, when the dews render the stalks tender. If cut when the sun shines hot, much of the feed will fall out and be lost.

An acre of very ordinary land, when improved by this grass, will maintain four cows very well from the first of April to the end of November; and afford, besides, a sufficient store of hay to make the greater part of their food the four months following.

If the soil be tolerably good, a field of fainfain will last from 15 to 20 years in prime; but at the end of seven or eight years, it will be necessary to lay on a moderate coat of well-rotted dung; or, if the soil be very light and sandy, of marl. By this means the future crops, and the duration of the plants in health and vigour, will be greatly increased and prolonged. Hence it will appear, that for poor land there is nothing equal to this grass in point of advantage to the farmer.

Clover will last only two years in perfection; and often, if the soil be cold and moist, near half the plants will rot, and bald patches be found in every part of the field the second year. Besides, from our frequent rains during the month of September, many crops left for feeding are lost. But from the quantity and excellent quality of this grass (fainfain), and its ripening earlier, and continuing in vigour for much longer, much risk and certain expense is avoided, and a large annual profit accrues to the farmer.

The writers on agriculture, ancient as well as modern, bestow the highest encomiums upon lucerne as affording excellent hay, and producing very large crops. Lucerne remains at least 10 or 12 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 that country; and it is found, that, when the seed is good, it comes up very well, and stands the winter frosts. But the chief thing which prevents this grass from being more used in Scotland, is the difficulty of keeping the soil open and free from weeds. In a few years the surface becomes so hard, and the turf so strong, that it destroys the lucerne before the plants have arrived at their greatest perfection: so that lucerne can scarce be cultivated with success there, unless some method be fallen upon 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 lucerne.

He does not mention any thing 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 lucerne 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 lucerne 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 the hoeing can be performed more perfectly, and with less expense. Mr Chateauvieux likewise tried the lucerne 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 aunder, 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 lucerne, when cultivated by transplantation, should be at least six inches aunder, 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 lucerne 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 crops 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 lucerne 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.

Burnet is peculiarly adapted to poor land; besides, it proves an excellent winter-pasture when hardly burnt. Any thing else vegetates. Other advantages are, it makes good butter; it never blows or swells cattle; it is fine pasture for sheep; and will flourish well on poor, light, sandy, or stony soils, or even on dry chalk hills.

The cultivation of it is neither hazardous nor expen If the land is prepared as is generally done for turnips, there is no danger of its failing. After the first year, it will be attended with very little expense, as the flat circular spread of its leaves will keep down, or prevent the growth of weeds.

On the failure of turnips, either from the fly or the black worm, some of our farmers have sown the land with burnet, and in March following had a fine pasture for their sheep and lambs. It will perfect its feed twice in a summer; and this feed is said to be as good as oats for horses; but it is too valuable to be applied to that use.

It is sometimes sown late in the spring with oats and barley, and succeeds very well; but it is best to sow it singly in the beginning of July, when there is a prospect of rain, on a small piece of land, and in October following, transplant it in rows two feet apart, and about a foot distant in the rows. This is a proper distance, and gives opportunity for hoeing the intervals in the succeeding spring and summer.

After it is fed down with cattle, it should be harrowed clean. Some horses will not eat it freely at first, but in two or three days they are generally very fond of it. It affords rich pleasant milk, and in great plenty.

A gentlemen farmer near Maidstone some years since sowed four acres as soon as the crop of oats were got off, which was the latter end of August. He threw in 12 pounds of feed per acre, broadcast; and no rain falling until the middle of September, the plants did not appear before the latter end of that month. There was however a good crop, and in the spring he set the plants out with a turnip-hoe, leaving them about a foot distant from each other. But the drill method is preferable, as it saves more than half the seed. The land was a poor dry gravel, not worth three shillings an acre for any thing else.

The severest frost never injures this plant; and the oftener it is fed the thicker are its leaves, which spring constantly from its root.

**Sect. V. Rotation of Crops.**

No branch of husbandry requires more skill and sagacity than a proper rotation of crops, so as to keep the ground always in heart, and yet to draw out of it the greatest profit possible. Some plants rob the soil, others are gentle to it: some bind, others loosen. The nice point is, to intermix crops, so as to make the greatest profit consistently with keeping the ground in trim. In that view, the nature of the plants employed in husbandry must be accurately examined.

The difference between culmiferous and leguminous plants, is occasionally mentioned above*. With respect to the present subject, a closer inspection is necessary. Culmiferous plants, having small leaves and few in number, depend mostly on the soil for nourishment, and little on the air. During the ripening of the feed, they draw probably their whole nourishment from the soil; as the leaves by this time, being dry and withered, must have lost their power of drawing nourishment from the air. Now, as culmiferous plants are chiefly cultivated for their feed, and are not cut down till the feed be fully ripe, they may be pronounced all of them to be robbers, some more, some less. But such plants, while young, are all leaves; and in that state draw most of their nourishment from the air. Hence it is, that where cut green for food to cattle, a culmiferous crop is far from being a robber. A hay-crop accordingly, even where it consists mostly of rye-grafts, is not a robber, provided it be cut before the feed is formed; which at any rate it ought to be, if one would have hay in perfection. And the faggage, excluding the frost by covering the ground, keeps the roots warm. A leguminous plant, by its broad leaves, draws much of its nourishment from the air. A cabbage, which has very broad leaves, and a multitude of them, owes its growth more to the air than to the soil. One fact is certain, that a cabbage cut and hung up in a damp place, preserves its verdure longer than other plants. At the same time, a feed is that part of a plant which requires the most nourishment; and for that nourishment a culmiferous plant must be indebted entirely to the soil. A leguminous crop, on the contrary, when cut green for food, must be very gentle to the ground. Pease and beans are leguminous plants; but being cultivated for feed, they seem to occupy a middle station: their feed makes them more severe than other leguminous crops cut green; their leaves, which grow till reaping, make them less severe than a culmiferous plant left to ripen.

These plants are distinguished no less remarkably by the following circumstance. All the seeds of a culmiferous plant ripen at the same time. As soon as they begin to form, the plant becomes stationary, the leaves wither, the roots cease to push, and the plant when cut down is blanched and papery. The seeds of a leguminous plant are formed successively: flowers and fruit appear at the same time in different parts of the plant. This plant accordingly is continually growing, and pushing its roots. Hence the value of bean or pease straw above that of wheat or oats: the latter is withered and dry when the crop is cut; the former, green and succulent. The difference therefore, with respect to the soil, between a culmiferous and leguminous crop, is great. The latter, growing till cut down, keeps the ground in constant motion, and leaves it to the plough loose and mellow. The former gives over growing long before reaping; and the ground, by want of motion, turns compact and hard. Nor is this all. Dew falling on a culmiferous crop after the ground begins to harden, rests on the surface, and is sucked up by the next sun. Dew that falls on a leguminous crop, is shaded from the sun by the broad leaves, and sinks at leisure into the ground. The ground accordingly, after a culmiferous crop, is not only hard, but dry: after a leguminous crop, it is not only loose, but soft and uncultivated.

Of all culmiferous plants, wheat is the most severe, by the long time it occupies the ground without admitting a plough. And as the grain is heavier than that of barley or oats, it probably requires more nourishment than either. It is observed above, that as pease and beans draw part of their nourishment from the air by their green leaves while allowed to stand, they draw the less from the ground; and by their constant growing they leave it in good condition for subsequent crops. In both respects they are preferable to any culmiferous crop.

Culmiferous crops, as observed above, are not robbers when cut green; the soil, far from hardening, is kept kept in constant motion by the pushing of the roots, and is left more tender than if it had been left at rest without any bearing crop.

Bulbous-rooted plants are above all successful in dividing and pulverizing the soil. Potato-roots grow six, eight, or ten inches under the surface; and, by their size and number, they divide and pulverize the soil better than can be done by the plough; consequently, whatever be the natural colour of the soil, it is black when a potato-crop is taken up. The potato, however, with respect to its quality of dividing the soil, must yield to a carrot or parsnip; which are large roots, and pierce often to the depth of 18 inches. The turnip, by its tap-root, divides the soil more than can be done by a fibrous-rooted plant; but as its bulbous root grows mostly above ground, it divides the soil less than the potato, the carrot, or the parsnip. Red clover, in that respect, may be put in the same class with turnip.

Whether potatoes or turnip be the more gentle crop, appears a puzzling question. The former bears feed, and probably draws more nourishment from the soil than the latter, when cut green. On the other hand, potatoes divide the soil more than turnip, and leave it more loose and friable. It appears no less puzzling, to determine between cabbage and turnip; the former draws more of its nourishment from the air, the latter leaves the soil more free and open.

The result of the whole is what follows: Culmiferous plants are robbers; some more, some less; they at the same time bind the soil; some more, some less. Leguminous plants in both respects are opposite: if any of them rob the soil, it is in a very slight degree; and all of them without exception loosen the soil. A culmiferous crop, however, is generally the more profitable; but few soils can long bear the burden of such crops, unless relieved by interjected leguminous crops. These, on the other hand, without a mixture of culmiferous crops, would soon render the soil too loose.

These preliminaries will carry the farmer some length in directing a proper rotation of crops. Where dung, lime, or other manure, can be procured in plenty to recruit the soil after severe cropping, no rotation is more proper or profitable in a strong soil, than wheat, peas or beans, barley, oats, fallow. The whole farm may be brought under this rotation, except so far as hay is wanted. But as such command of manure is rare, it is of more importance to determine what should be the rotation when no manure can be procured but the dung collected in the farm. Considering that culmiferous crops are the more profitable in rich land, it would be proper to make them more frequent than the other kind. But as there are few soils in Scotland that will admit such frequent culmiferous crops without suffering, it may be laid down as a general rule, that alternate crops, culmiferous and leguminous, ought to form the rotation. Nor are there many soils that will stand good, even with this favourable rotation, unless relieved from time to time by pasturing a few years. If such extended rotation be artfully carried on, crops without end may be obtained in a tolerable good soil, without any manure but what is produced in the farm.

It is scarce necessary to be mentioned, being known to every farmer that clay answers best for wheat, moist clay for beans, loam for barley and peas, light soil for turnip, sandy soil for rye and buckwheat; and that oats thrive better in coarse soil than any other grain. Now, in directing a rotation, it is not sufficient to consider that a culmiferous crop be always succeeded by a leguminous; attention must also be given, that no crop be introduced that is unfit for the soil. Wheat, being rotation of a great binder, requires more than any other crop a crops leguminous crop to follow. But every such crop is not proper: potatoes are the greatest openers of soil; but they are improper in a wheat soil. Neither will turnip answer, because it requires a light soil. A very loose soil, after a crop of rye, requires rye-grafts to bind it, or the treading of cattle in pasturing; but to bind the soil, wheat must not be ventured; for it succeeds ill in loose soil.

Another consideration of moment in directing the rotation, is to avoid crops that encourage weeds. Peas is the fittest of all crops for succeeding to wheat, because it renders the ground loose and mellow, and the same soil agrees with both. But beware of peas, unless the soil be left by the wheat perfectly free of weeds; because peas, if not an extraordinary crop, foster weeds. Barley may be ventured after wheat, if the farmer be unwilling to lose a crop. It is indeed a robber; better, however, any crop, than run the hazard of poisoning the soil with weeds. But to prevent the necessity of barley after wheat, the land ought to be fallowed before the wheat; it cleans the ground thoroughly, and makes peas a secure crop after wheat. And after a good crop of peas, barely never fails. A horse-hoed crop of turnip is equal to a fallow for rooting out weeds; but turnip does not suit land that is proper for wheat. Cabbage does well in wheat soil; and a horse-hoed crop of cabbage, which eradicates weeds, is a good preparation for wheat to be succeeded by peas; and a crop of beans diligently hand-hoed, is in that view little inferior. As red clover requires the ground to be perfectly clean, a good crop of it ensures wheat, and next peas. In loam, a drilled crop of turnip or potatoes prepares the ground, equal to a fallow, for the same succession.

Another rule is, to avoid a frequent repetition of the same species; for to produce good crops, change of species is no less necessary than change of feed. The same species returning every second or third year, will infallibly degenerate, and be a scanty crop. This is remarkably the case of red clover. Nor will our fields bear pleasantly perpetual crops of wheat after fallow, which is the practice of some English farmers.

Hitherto of rotation in the same field. We add one rule concerning rotation in different fields; which is, to avoid crowding crops one after another in point of time; but to choose such as admit intervals sufficient for leisurely dressing, which gives opportunity to manage all with the same hands, and with the same cattle; for example, beans in January or February, peas and oats in March, barley and potatoes in April, turnip in June or July, wheat and rye in October.

For illustrating the foregoing rules, a few instances of exceptional rotations will not be thought amiss. The following is an usual rotation in Norfolk. First, tions, wheat after red clover. Secondly, barley. Third, turnip. Fourth, barley with red clover. Fifth, clover cut for hay. Sixth, a second year's crop of clover commonly commonly pastured. Dung is given to the wheat and turnip.—Against this rotation several objections lie. Barley after wheat is improper. The two crops of barley are too near together. The second crop of clover must be very bad, if pasturing be the best way of consuming it; and if bad, it is a great encourager of weeds. But the strongest objection is, that red clover repeated so frequently in the same field cannot fail to degenerate; and of this the Norfolk farmers begin to be sensible.—Salton in East Lothian is a clay soil; and the rotation there is, Wheat after fallow and dung. Second, barley after two ploughings; the one before winter, the other immediately before the seed is sown. Third, oats. Fourth, pease. Fifth, barley. Sixth, oats; and then fallow. This rotation consists chiefly of robbing crops. Pease are the only leguminous crop, which even with the fallow is not sufficient to loosen a stiff soil. But the soil is good, which in some measure hides the badness of the rotation.—About Seaton, and all the way from Preston to Gosford, the ground is still more feverishly handled; wheat after fallow and dung, barley, oats, pease, wheat, barley, oats, and then another fallow. The soil is excellent; and it ought indeed to be so, to support many rounds of such cropping.

In the parishes of Tranent, Aberlady, Dirleton, North-Berwick, and Athelstoneford, the following rotations were formerly universal, and to this day are much more frequent than any other mode.

1. After fallow with dung, wheat, barley, oats, pease and beans, barley, oats, wheat. 2. After fallow and dung, barley, oats, pease and beans, wheat, barley, oats pease, wheat. 3. After fallow and dung, wheat, oats, pease, barley, oats, wheat. 4. After fallow and dung, barley, oats, beans, wheat, pease, barley, oats.

In the several Tours of Young the itinerant farmer, are found, in the best counties of England, examples without end, of rotations no less exceptionable than many of those mentioned.

Where a field is laid down for pasture in order to be recruited, it is commonly left in that state many years; for it is the universal opinion, that the longer it lies, the richer it becomes for bearing corn. This may be true; but in order to determine the mode of cropping, the important point is, what upon the whole is the most profitable rotation; not what may produce luxuriant crops at a distant period. Upon that point, it may be affirmed, that the farmer who keeps a field in pasture beyond a certain time, loses every year considerably; and that a few luxuriant crops of corn, after 20 years of pasture, and still more after 30, will not make up the loss.

Pasture-grafs, while young, maintains many animals; and the field is greatly recruited by what they drop; it is even recruited by hay crops, provided the grafts be cut before feeding. But as old grafts yields little profit, the field ought to be taken up for corn when the pasture begins to fail; and after a few crops, it ought to be laid down again with graft-seeds. Seduced by a chimerical notion, that a field, by frequent corn-crops, is fatigued and requires rest, like a labouring man or animal, careful farmers give long rest to their fields by pasture, never adverting that it affords little profit. It ought to be their study, to improve their soil, by making it free, and also retentive of moisture. If they accomplish these ends, they need not be afraid of exhausting the soil by cropping.

Where a farmer has access to no manure but what Examples is his own production, the case under consideration, of rotations, there are various rotations of crops, all of them good though perhaps not equally so. We shall begin with two examples, one in clay, and one in free soil, each of the farms 90 acres. Six acres are to be inclosed for a kitchen-garden, in which there must be annually a crop of red clover, for summer-food to the working cattle. As there are annually 12 acres in hay, and 12 in pasture, a single plough with good cattle will be sufficient to command the remaining 60 acres.

Rotation in a clay soil.

| Year | Crop | |------|------| | 1775 | Fallow, Wheat | | 1776 | Pease | | 1777 | Barley | | 1778 | Hay | | 1779 | Oats | | 1780 | Fallow |

Rotation in a free soil.

| Year | Crop | |------|------| | 1775 | Turnip | | 1776 | Barley | | 1777 | Hay | | 1778 | Oats | | 1779 | Fallow | | 1780 | Wheat |

For the next rotation, the seventh inclosure is taken up for corn, beginning with an oat-crop, and proceeding in the order of the fourth inclosure; in place of which, the third inclosure is laid down for pasture by fowing pasture-grafs with the last crop in that inclosure, being barley. This rotation has all the advantages... This leads to the hands that are commonly engaged to cut down corn. In Scotland, the universal practice was, to provide a number of hands, in proportion to the extent of the crop, without regard to the time of ripening. By this method, the reapers were often idle for want of work; and what is much worse, they had often more work than they could overtake, and ripe fields were laid open to shaking winds. The Lowthians have long enjoyed weekly markets for reapers, where a farmer can provide himself with the number he wants; and this practice is creeping into neighbouring thires. Where there is no opportunity of such markets, neighbouring farmers ought to agree in borrowing and lending their reapers.

One should imagine, that a caution against cutting corn when wet is unnecessary; yet from the impatience of farmers to prevent shaking, no caveat is more so. Why do they not consider, that corn standing dries in half a day; when, in a close sheaf, the weather must be favourable if it dry in a month? in moist weather it will never dry.

With respect to the manner of cutting, we must premise, that barley is of all the most difficult grain to be cutting, dried for keeping. Having no hulk, rain has easy access; and it has a tendency to malt when wet. Where the ground is properly smoothed by rolling, it seems best to cut it down with the scythe. This manner being more expeditious than the sickle, removes it sooner from danger of wind; and gives a third more straw, which is a capital article for dung, where a farm is at a distance from other manure. We except only corn that has lodged; for there the sickle is more convenient than the scythe. As it ought to be dry when cut, bind it up directly; if allowed to lie any time in the swath, it is apt to be discoloured.—Barley sown with grass-seeds, red clover especially, requires a different management. Where the grass is cut along with it, the difficulty is great of getting it so dry as to be ventured in a stack. The best way is, to cut the barley with a sickle above the clover, so that nothing but clean barley is bound up. Cut with a scythe the stubble and grass; they make excellent winter-food. The same method is applicable to oats; with this only difference, that when the field is exposed to the south-west wind, it is less necessary to bind immediately after mowing. As wheat commonly grows higher than any other grain, it is difficult to manage it with the scythe; for which reason the sickle is preferred in England. Pease and beans grow so irregularly, as to make the sickle necessary.

The best way for drying pease, is to keep separate the handfuls that are cut; though in this way they wet pease easily, they dry as soon. In the common way of heap- ing pease together for composing a sheaf, they wet as easily, and dry not near so soon. With respect to beans, the top of the handful last cut, ought to be laid on the bottom of the former; which gives ready access to the wind. By this method pease and beans are ready for the stack in half the ordinary time.

A sheaf commonly is made as large as can be contained in two lengths of the corn made into a rope. To sheaves, save frequent tying, the binder presses it down with his knee, and binds it so hard as totally to exclude the air. If there be any moisture in the crop, which seldom fails, a process of fermentation and putrefaction commences in the sheaf; which is perfected in the stack, to the destruction both of corn and straw. How stupid is it, to make the size of a sheaf depend on the height of the plants! By that rule, a wheat-sheaf is commonly so weighty, as to be unmanageable by ordinary arms: it requires an effort to move it, that frequently bursts the knot, and occasions loss of grain, beside the trouble of a second tying. Sheaves ought never to be larger than can be contained in one length of the plant, cut close to the ground; without admitting any exception, if the plants be above eighteen inches high. The binder's arm can then compress the sheaf sufficiently, without need of his knee. The additional hands that this way of binding may require, are not to be regarded, compared with the advantage of drying soon. Corn thus managed may be ready for the stack in a week; it seldom in the ordinary way requires less than a fortnight, and frequently longer. Of a small sheaf compressed by the arm only, the air pervades every part; nor is it apt to be unloosed as a large sheaf, however firmly bound. We omit the gathering of sheaves into shocks, because the common method is good, which is to place the shocks directed to the south-west, in order to resist the force of the wind. Five sheaves on each side make a sufficient load; and a greater number cannot be covered with two head-sheaves.

Every article is of importance that hastens the operation in a country, like Scotland, subjected to unequal harvest-weather; for which reason, the most expeditious method should be chosen for carrying corn from the field to the stack-yard. Our carriages are generally too small or too large. A fledge is a very awkward machine: many hands are required, and little progress made. Waggon and large carts are little less dilatory, as they must stand in the yard till unloaded sheaf by sheaf. The best way is, to use long carts moveable upon the axle, so as at once to throw the whole load on the ground; which is forked up to the stack by a hand appointed for that purpose. By this method, two carts will do the work of four or five.

Building round stacks in the yard is undoubtedly preferable to housing corn. There it is shut up from the air; and it must be exceedingly dry, if it contract not a mildew, which is the first step to putrefaction. Add to this, that in the yard, a stack is preserved from rats and mice by being set on a pedestal; whereas no method has hitherto been invented for preserving corn in a house from such destructive vermin. The proper manner of building, is to make every sheaf incline downward from its top to its bottom. Where the sheaves are laid horizontally, the stack will take in rain both above and below. The best form of a stack is that of a cone placed on a cylinder; and the top of the cone should be formed with three sheaves drawn to a point. If the upper part of the cylinder be a little wider than the under, so much the better.

The delaying to cover a stack for two or three weeks, though common, is, however, exceedingly absurd; for if much rain fall in the interim, it is beyond the power of wind to dry the stack. Vegetation begins in the external parts, shuts out the air from the internal; and to prevent a total putrefaction, the stack must be thrown down, and exposed to the air, every sheaf. In order to have a stack covered the moment it is finished, straw and ropes ought to be ready; and the covering ought to be so thick as to be proof against rain.

Scotland is subject not only to floods of rain, but to high winds. Good covering guards against the former, and ropes artfully applied guards against the latter. The following is a good mode. Take a hay-rope well twisted, and surround the stack with it, two feet or so below the top. Surround the stack with another such rope immediately below the casing. Connect these two with ropes in an up-and-down position, distant from each other at the casing about five or six feet. Then surround the stack with other circular ropes parallel to the two first mentioned, giving them a twist round every one of those that lie up and down, by which the whole will be connected together in a sort of net-work. What remains is, to finish the two feet at the top of the stack. Let it be covered with bunches of straw laid regularly up and down; the under part to be put under the circular rope first mentioned, which will keep it fast, and the upper part be bound by a small rope artfully twisted, commonly called the crown of the stack. This method is preferable to the common way of laying long ropes over the top of the stack, and tying them to the belting-rope; which flattens the top, and makes it take in rain. A stack covered in the way here described, will stand two years secure both against wind and rain; a notable advantage in this variable climate.

The great aim in making hay is, to preserve as much Hay-maize as possible. All agree in this; and yet differ widely in the means of making that aim effectual. To describe all the different means would be equally tedious and unprofitable. We shall confine ourselves to two, which appear preferable to all others. A crop of rye-grass and yellow clover ought to be spread as cut. A day or two after, when the dew is evaporated, rake it into a number of parallel rows along the field, termed wind-rows, for the convenience of putting it up into small cocks. After turning the rows once again, make small cocks weighing a stone or two. At the distance of two days or so, put two cocks into one, observing always to mix the tops and bottoms together, and to take a new place for each cock, that the least damage possible may be done to the grass. Proceed in putting two cocks into one, till sufficiently dry for tramp-ricks of 100 stone each. The easiest way of erecting tramp-ricks, is to find a rick in the middle of the row of cocks that are to compose it. The cocks may be carried to the rick by two persons joining arms together. When all the cocks are thus carried to the rick within the distance of 40 yards or so, the rest of the cocks will be more expeditiously carried to the rick, by a rope wound about them and dragged by a horse. Two ropes are sufficient to secure the ricks from wind the short time they are to stand in the field. In the year 1775, 10,000 stone were put into tramp-ricks the fourth day after cutting. In a country so wet as many parts of Scotland are, expedition is of mighty consequence in the drying both of hay and corn. With respect to hay intended for horned cattle, it is by the generality held an improvement, that it be heated a little in the stack. But we violently suspect this doctrine to have been invented for excluding indolent management. An ox, it is true, will eat such hay; but it will always be found that he prefers sweet hay; and it The making hay consisting chiefly of red clover, requires more care. The season of cutting is the last week of June, when it is in full bloom; earlier it may be cut, but never later. To cut it later would indeed produce a weightier crop; but a late first cutting makes the second also late, perhaps too late for drying. At the same time, the want of weight in an early first cutting, is amply compensated by the weight of the second.

When the season is too variable for making hay of the second growth, mix straw with that growth, which will be a substantial food for cattle during winter. This is commonly done by laying strata of the straw and clover alternately in the stack. But by this method, the strata of clover, if they do not heat, turn mouldy at least, and unpalatable. The better way is, to mix them carefully with the hand before they be put into the stack. The dry straw imbibes moisture from the clover and prevents heating.

But the best method of hay-making seems to be that recommended by Mr Anderson*. "Instead," says he, "of allowing the hay to lie, as usual in most places, for some days in the swath after it is cut, and afterwards alternately putting it up into cocks and spreading it out, and tedding it in the sun, which tends greatly to bleach the hay, exhales its natural juices, and subjects it very much to the danger of getting rain, and thus runs a great risk of being good for little, I make it a general rule, if possible, never to cut hay but when the grass is quite dry; and then make the gatherers follow close upon the cutters,—putting it up immediately into small cocks about three feet high each when new put up, and of as small a diameter as they can be made to stand with; always giving each of them a slight kind of thatching, by drawing a few handfuls of the hay from the bottom of the cock all around, and laying it lightly upon the top with one of the ends hanging downwards. This is done with the utmost ease and expedition; and when it is once in that state, I consider my hay as in a great measure out of danger: for unless a violent wind should arise immediately after the cocks are put up, so as to overturn them, nothing else can hurt the hay; as I have often experienced, that no rain, however violent, ever penetrates into these cocks but for a very little way. And, if they are dry put up, they never fit together so closely as to heat; although they acquire, in a day or two, such a degree of firmness, as to be in no danger of being overturned by wind after that time, unless it blows a hurricane.

"In these cocks I allow the hay to remain, until, upon inspection, I judge that it will keep in pretty large tramp-cocks (which is usually in one or two weeks, according as the weather is more or less favourable, when two men, each with a long pronged pitch-fork, lift up one of these small cocks between them with the greatest ease, and carry them one after another to the place where the tramp-cock is to be built;(A) and in this manner they proceed over the field till the whole is finished.

"The advantages that attend this method of making hay, are, That it greatly abridges the labour; as it does not require above the one-half of the work that is necessary in the old method of turning and tedding it: That it allows the hay to continue almost as green as when it is cut, and preserves its natural juices in the greatest perfection; for, unless it be the little that is exposed to the sun and air upon the surface of the cocks, which is no more bleached than every straw of hay saved in the ordinary way, the whole is dried in the most slow and equal manner that could be desired: and, lastly, That it is thus in a great measure secured from almost the possibility of being damaged by rain. This last circumstance deserves to be much more attended to by the farmer than it usually is at present; as I have seen few who are sufficiently aware of the loss that the quality of their hay sustains by receiving a slight shower after it is cut, and before it is gathered; the generality of farmers seeming to be very well satisfied if they get in their hay without being absolutely rotted; never paying the least attention to its having been several times wetted while the hay was making. But, if these gentlemen will take the trouble at any time to compare any parcel of hay that has been made perfectly dry, with another parcel from the same field that has received a shower while in the swath, or even a copious dew, they will soon be sensible of a very manifest difference between them; nor will their horses or cattle ever commit a mistake in choosing between the two.

"Let it be particularly remarked, that in this manner of making hay, great care must be taken that it be quite dry when first put into the cocks; for, if it is in the least degree wet at that time, it will turn instantly mouldy, and fit together so as to become totally impervious to the air, and will never afterwards become dry till it is spread out to the sun. For this reason, if at any time during a course of good settled weather you should begin to cut in the morning before the dew is off the grass, keep back the gatherers till the dew is evaporated; allowing that which was first cut to lie till it is dry before it is cocked. In this case, you will almost always find that the uncut grass will dry sooner than that which has been cut when wet; and, therefore, the gatherers may always begin to put up that which is fresh cut before the other; which will usually require two or three hours to dry after the new-cut hay may be cocked. And if, at any time, in case of necessity, you should be obliged to cut your hay before it is dry, the same rule must be observed, always to allow it to remain in the swath till it is quite dry: but, as there is always a great risk of being long in getting it up,

(A) If the hay is to be carried to any considerable distance, this part of the labour may be greatly abridged, by causing the carriers take two long sticks of sufficient strength, and having laid them down by the small cocks parallel to one another, at the distance of one and a half, or two feet asunder, let them lift three or four cocks, one after another, and place them carefully above the sticks, and then carry them altogether, as if upon a hand-barrow, to the place where the large rick is to be built. up, and as it never in this case wins (A) so kindly as if it had been dry cut, the farmer ought to endeavour, if possible, in all cases, to cut his hay only when dry; even if it should cost him some additional expense to the cutters, by keeping them employed at any other work, or even allowing them to remain idle, if the weather should be variable or rainy.

"But if there is a great proportion of clover, and the weather should chance to be close and calm at the time, it may, on some occasions, be necessary to open up these cocks a little, to admit some fresh air into them; in which case, after they have stood a day or two, it may be of great use to turn these cocks and open them up a little, which ought to be done in the driest time of the day; the operator taking that part of each cock which was the top, and with it forming the base of a new one; so that the part which was most exposed to the air becomes excluded from it, and that which was undermost comes to be placed upon the top, so as to make it all dry as equally as possible.

"If the hay has not been damp when it was first put up, the cock may be immediately finished out at once; but if it is at all wet, it will be of great use to turn over only a little of the top of the cock at first, and leaving it in that state to dry a little, proceed to another, and a third, and fourth, &c. treating each in the same way; going on in that manner till you find that the inside of the first opened cock is sufficiently dried, when it will be proper to return to it, turning over a little more of it till you come to what is still damp, when you leave it and proceed to another, and so on round the whole; always returning afresh till the cocks are entirely finished: This is the best way of saving your hay, if you have been under the necessity of cutting it while damp; but it is always best to guard against this inconvenience, if possible."

In the yard, a stack of hay ought to be an oblong square, if the quantity be greater than to be easily flowed in a round stack; because a smaller surface is exposed to the air, than in a number of round stacks. For the same reason, a stack of pease ought to have the same form, the straw being more valuable than that of oats, wheat, or barley. The moment a stack is finished, it ought to be covered; because the surface-hay is much damaged by withering in dry weather, and moistening in wet weather. Let it have a pavilion-roof; for more of it can be covered with straw in that shape, than when built perpendicular at the ends. Let it be roped as directed above for corn-stacks; with this difference only, that in an oblong square the ropes must be thrown over the top, and tied to the belt-rope below. This belt-rope ought to be fixed with pins to the stack; the reason is, that the ropes thrown over the stack will bag by the sinking of the stack, and may be drawn tight by lowering the belt-rope, and fixing it in its new position with the same pins.

The stems of hops, being long and tough, make excellent ropes; and it will be a saving article, to propagate a few plants of that kind for that very end.

A stack of rye-grafs hay, a year old, and of moderate size, will weigh, each cubic yard, 11 Dutch stone.

(A) By winning hay, is meant the operation by which it is brought from the succulent state of grafts to that of a dry fodder.

Sect. VII. Manures.

The manures commonly used are dung, lime, shell-marl, clay-marl, and stone-marl. Many other substances are used; shavings of horn, for example, refuse of malt, and even old rags: but as the quantity that can be procured is inconsiderable, and as their application is simple, we shall confine no time upon them.

Dung is the chief of all manures; because a quantity of it may be collected in every farm, and because it makes the quickest return. A field sufficiently dugged will produce good crops four or five years.

Dung of animals that chew the cud, being more thoroughly putrefied than that of others, is fit to be mixed with the foil without needing to be collected into a dunghill. A horse does not chew the cud; and in horse-dung may be perceived straw or rye-grafs broken into small parts, but not dissolved: it is proper therefore that the putrefaction be completed in a dunghill. It ought to be mixed there with cool materials; so hot it is, that, in a dunghill by itself, it finges and burns instead of putrefying. The difference between the dung of a horse and of a horned animal, is visible in a pasture-field: the grafts round the former is withered; round the latter, it is ranker and more verdant than in the rest of the field. A mixture of dry and moist stuff ought to be studied: the former attracting moisture from the latter, they become equally moist.

To prevent sap from running out of a dunghill, its situation should be a little below the surface; and to prevent rain from running into it, it should be surrounded with a ring of sod. If the foil on which the dunghill stands be porous, let it be paved, to prevent the sap from sinking into the ground. If moisture happen to superabound, it may be led off by a small gutter to impregnate a quantity of rich mould laid down to receive it, which will make it equal to good dung.

Straw should be prepared for the dunghill, by being laid under cattle, and sufficiently moistened. When laid dry into a dunghill, it keeps it open, admits too much air, and prevents putrefaction.

Dung from the stable ought to be carefully spread on the dunghill, and mixed with the former dung. When left in heaps upon the dunghill, fermentation and putrefaction go on unequally.

Complete putrefaction is of importance with regard to the feed of weeds that are in the dunghill; if they remain found, they are carried out with the dung, and infect the ground. Complete putrefaction is of still greater importance by pulverizing the dung; in which condition it mixes intimately with the soil, and operates the most powerfully. In land intended for barley, undigested dung has a very bad effect: it keeps the ground open, admits drought, and prevents the seed from springing. On the other hand, when thoroughly rotted, it mixes with the soil, and enables it to retain moisture. It follows, that the properest time for dunging a field, is Part II.

Practice is in its highest pulverization; at which time the earth mixes intimately with the dung. Immediately before setting cabbage, lowing turnip, or wheat, is a good time. Dung divides and spreads the most accurately when moist. Its intimate mixture with the soil is of such importance, that hands should be employed to divide and spread any lumps that may be in it.

Dung should be spread, and ploughed into the ground without delay. When a heap lies two or three weeks, some of the moisture is imbibed into the ground, which will produce tufts of corn more vigorous than in the rest of the field. There cannot be a worse practice than to lead out dung before winter, leaving it exposed to frost and snow. The whole spirit of the dung is extracted by rain, and carried off with it. The dung divested of its sap becomes dry in spring, and incapable of being mixed with the mould. It is turned over whole by the plough, and buried in the furrow.

As dung is an article of the utmost importance in husbandry, one should imagine, that the collecting it would be a capital article with an industrious farmer. Yet an ingenious writer, observing that the Jamaicans are in this particular much more industrious than the British, ascribes the difference to the difficulty of procuring dung in Jamaica. "In England, where the long winter enables a farmer to raise what quantity he pleases, it is not collected with any degree of industry. But in Jamaica, where there is no winter, and where the heat of the sun is a great obstruction, the farmer must be indefatigable, or he will never raise any dung."

Cool interest is not alone a sufficient motive with the indolent, to be active. As dung is of great importance in husbandry, a farmer cannot be too assiduous in collecting animal and vegetable substances that will rot. One article of that kind there is, to collect which there is a double motive, and yet is neglected almost everywhere. A farm full of weeds is a nuisance to the neighbourhood: it poisons the fields around; and the professor ought to be disgraced as a pest to society. Now the cutting down every weed before the seed is formed, answers two excellent purposes. First, it encourages good crops, by keeping the ground clean. Next, these weeds mixed with other materials in a dunghill, may add considerably to the quantity of dung.

Next of lime, which is a profitable manure, and greatly so when it can be got in plenty within a moderate distance. The benefit of lime is so visible, that the use of it has become general, where the price and carriage are in any degree moderate.

However people may differ in other particulars, all agree, that the operation of lime depends on its intimate mixture with the soil; and therefore that the proper time of applying it, is when it is perfectly powdered and the soil at the same time in the highest degree of pulverization. Lime of itself is absolutely barren; and yet it enriches a barren soil. Neither of the two produces any good effect without the other: and consequently, the more intimately they are mixed, the effect must be the greater.

Hence it follows, that lime ought always to be flaked with a proper quantity of water, because by that means it is reduced the most effectually into powder. Lime left to be flaked by a moist air, or accidental rain, is seldom or never thoroughly reduced into powder; and therefore can never be intimately mixed with the soil. Sometimes an opportunity offers to bring home shell-lime before the ground is ready for it; and it is commonly thrown into a heap without cover, trusting to rain for flaking. The proper way is, to lay the shell-lime in different heaps on the ground where it is to be spread, to reduce these heaps into powder by flaking with water, and to cover the flaked lime with sod so as to defend it from rain. One however would avoid as much as possible the bringing home lime before the ground be ready for it. Where allowed to lie long in a heap, there are two bad consequences: first, lime attracts moisture, even though well covered, and runs into clots, which prevents an intimate mixture; and, next, we know, that burnt limetone, whether in shells or in powder, returns gradually into its original state of limetone; and upon that account also, is less capable of being mixed with the soil. And this is verified by a fact, that, after lying long, it is so hard bound together as to require a pick to separate the parts.

For the same reason, it is a bad practice, though common, to let spread lime lie on the surface all winter. The bad effects above mentioned take place here in part: and there is another; that rain washes the lime down to the furrows, and in a hanging field carries the whole away.

As the particles of powdered lime are both small and heavy, they quickly sink to the bottom of the furrow, if care be not taken to prevent it. In that view, it is Time of lime a rule, that lime be spread, and mixed with the soil, immediately before sowing, or along with the seed. In this manner of application, there being no occasion to move it till the ground be stirred for a new crop, it has time to incorporate with the soil, and does not readily separate from it. Thus, if turnip-feed is to be sown broadcast, the lime ought to be laid on immediately before sowing, and harrowed in with the feed. If a crop of drilled turnip or cabbage be intended, the lime ought to be spread immediately before forming in drills. With respect to wheat, the lime ought to be spread immediately before seed-furrowing. If spread more early, before the ground be sufficiently broken, it sinks to the bottom. If a light soil be prepared for barley, the lime ought to be spread after seed-furrowing, and harrowed in with the feed. In a strong soil, it sinks not so readily to the bottom; and therefore, before sowing the barley, the lime ought to be mixed with the soil by a brake. Where moor is summer-fallowed for a crop of oats next year, the lime ought to be laid on immediately before the last ploughing, and braked in as before. It has sufficient time to incorporate with the soil before the land be stirred again.

The quantity to be laid on depends on the nature of the soil. Upon a strong soil, 70 or 80 bolls of shells are not more than sufficient, reckoning four small firlots to the boll, termed wheat-measure; nor will it be an overdose to lay on 100 bolls. Between 50 and 60 may suffice upon medium soils; and upon the thin or gravelly, between 30 and 40. It is not safe to lay a much greater quantity on such soils.

It is common to lime a pasture-field immediately before ploughing. This is an unsafe practice; it is sure-fields, thrown to the bottom of the furrow, from which it is never fully gathered up. The proper time for liming a pasture field, intended to be taken up for corn, is a year at least, or two, before ploughing. It is washed in by rain among the roots of plants, and has time to incorporate with the soil.

Limestone beat small makes an excellent manure; and supplies the want of powdered lime where there is no fuel to burn the limestone. Limestone beat small has not hitherto been much used as a manure; and the proportion between it and powdered lime has not been ascertained. What follows may give some light. Three pounds of raw lime is by burning reduced to two pounds of shell-lime. Yet nothing is expelled by the fire but the air that was in the limestone: the calcareous earth remains entire. Ergo, two pounds of shell-lime contain as much calcareous earth as three pounds of raw limestone. Shell-lime of the best quality, when flaked with water, will measure out to thrice the quantity. But as limestone loses none of its bulk by being burnt into shells, it follows, that three bushels of raw limestone contain as much calcareous earth as six bushels of powdered lime; and consequently, if powdered lime possesses not some virtue above raw limestone, three bushels of the latter beat small should equal as a manure six bushels of the former.

Shell-marl, as a manure, is managed in every respect like powdered lime; with this only difference, that a fifth or a fourth part more in measure ought to be given. The reason is, that shell-marl is less weighty than lime; and that a boll of it contains less calcareous earth, which is the fruitifying part of both.

Clay and stone marls, with respect to husbandry, are the same, though in appearance different.

The goodness of marl depends on the quantity of calcareous earth in it; which has been known to amount to a half or more. It is too expensive if the quantity be less than a third or a fourth part. Good marl is the most substantial of all manures; because it improves the weakest ground to equal the best borough-acres. The low part of Berwickshire termed the Merse, abounds everywhere with this marl; and is the only county in Scotland where it is plenty.

Land ought to be cleared of weeds before marling; and it ought to be smoothed with the brake and harrow, in order that the marl may be equally spread. Marl is a fossil on which no vegetable will grow; its efficacy depends, like that of lime, on its pulverization, and intimate mixture with the soil. Toward the former, alternate drought and moisture contribute greatly, as also frosts. Therefore, after being evenly spread, it ought to lie on the surface all winter. In the month of October it may be roufed with a brake; which will bring to the surface, and expose to the air and frost, all the hard parts, and mix with the foil all that is powdered. In that respect it differs widely from dung and lime, which ought to be ploughed into the ground without delay. Oats is a hardy grain, which will answer for being the first crop after marling better than any other; and it will succeed though the marl be not thoroughly mixed with the soil. In that case, the marl ought to be ploughed in with an ebb furrow immediately before sowing, and broken thoroughly. It is ticklish to make wheat the first crop: if sown before winter, frost swells the marl, and is apt to throw the seed out of the ground; if sown in spring, it will suffer more than oats by want of due mixture.

Summer is the proper season for marling; because in that season the marl, being dry, is not only lighter, but is easily reduced to powder. Frost however is not improper for marling, especially as in frost there is little opportunity for any other work.

Marl is a heavy body, and sinks to the bottom of the furrow, if indirectly ploughed. Therefore the first crop should always have an ebb furrow. During the growing of that crop, the marl has time to incorporate with the soil, and to become a part of it; after which it does not readily separate.

Sect. VIII. Principles and Operations of the New or Horse-hoeing Husbandry.

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

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, to horse-hoeing. 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 broken, 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 sowing in 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 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 seed produces but one or two ears; that, in the same land sown thinner, every seed produces two or three ears; and that a single seed sometimes produces 18 or 21 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 sown 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 thirty 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 stalks, 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.

The best season for hoeing is two or three days after rain, or so soon after rain as the soil will quit the instrument in hoeing. Light dry soils may be hoed almost any time, but this is far from being the case with strong clay soils; the season for hoeing such is frequently short and precarious; every opportunity therefore should be carefully watched, and eagerly embraced. The two extremes of wet and dry, are great enemies to vegetation in strong clay soils. There is a period between the time of clay soils running together, so as to puddle by superfluous wet, and the time of their caking by drought, that they are as tractable as need be. This is the juncture for hoeing; and so much land as shall be thus seasonably hoed, will not cake or crust upon the surface, as it otherwise would have done, till it has been soaked or drenched again with rain; in which case the hoeing is to be repeated as soon as the soil will quit the instrument, and as often as necessary; by which time the growing crop will begin to cover the ground, so as to act as a screen to the surface of the land against the intense heat of the sun, and thereby prevent, in great measure, the bad effects of the soil's caking in dry weather.

By this succedane 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-rooted 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.

Description of the Instruments commonly used in the New Husbandry.

Fig. 1. is a marking plough. The principal use of this plough is to straighten and regulate the ridges. The described first line is traced by the eye, by means of three poles, Plate VII., 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-pole 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 final 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 fitters B, which runs thro' a mortise E, at the end of the beam C, and regulates the depth of the furrow by raising or depressing the beam; it is fixed by putting the pin D thro' the beam and sword, and is moveable at E.

Fig. 3. is a jointed brake-harrow with 24 teeth, shaped like coulters, and standing at about an angle of 80 degrees. By this instrument the land is finely pulverized, 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; which 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 brake 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 hopper containing the seed; B, circular boxes for receiving the seed from the hopper; CC, 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. HH, 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. AA the mould-boards, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure, according as the farmer wants to throw the earth higher or lower upon the roots.

Fig. 2. is a drill-rake for peas. This instrument, which is chiefly calculated for small inclosures of light grounds, is a sort of strong plough rake, with four large teeth at a, a, b, b, little incurvated. The distance from a to a, and from b to b, is nine inches. The interval between the two inner teeth, a and b, is three feet six inches, which allows sufficient room for the hole-plough to move in. To the piece of timber cc, forming the head of the rake, are fixed the handles d, and the beam e, to which the horse is fastened. When this instrument is drawn over a piece of land made thoroughly fine, and the man who holds it bears upon the handles, four furrows, f, g, h, i, will be formed, at the distances determined by the construction of the instrument. These distances may be accurately preserved, provided that the teeth a a return when the ploughman comes back, after having ploughed one turn, in two of the channels formed before, marked b b; thus all the furrows in the field will be traced with the same regularity. When the ground is thus formed into drills, the peas may be scattered by a single motion of the hand at a certain distance from one another into the channels, and then covered with the flat part of a hand-rake, and pressed down gently. This instrument is so simple, that any workman may easily make or repair it.

On 2d Plate VII. is delineated a patent drill machine, lately invented by the Reverend James Cooke of Heaton-Norris near Manchester. A, the upper part of the seed-box; B, the lower part of the same box; C, a moveable partition, with a lever, by which the grain or seed is let fall at pleasure from the upper to the lower part of the seed-box, from whence it is taken up by cups or ladles applied to the cylinder D, and dropped into the funnel E, and conveyed thereby into the furrow or drill made in the land by the coulter F, and covered by the rake or harrow G. H, a lever, by which the wheel I is lifted out of generation with the wheel K, to prevent the grain or seed being scattered upon the ground, while the machine is turning round at the end of the land, by which the harrow G is also lifted from the ground at the same time, and by the same motion, by means of the crank, and the horizontal lever b b. L, a sliding lever, with a weight upon it, by means of which, the depth of the furrows or drills, and consequently the depth that the grain or seed will be deposited in the land, may be easily ascertained. M, a screw in the coulter beam, by turning of which, the seed-box B is elevated or depressed, in order to prevent the grain or seed being crushed or bruised by the revolution of the cups or ladles. Fig. 13. a rake with iron teeth, to be applied to the under side of the rails of the machine, with staples and forew nuts at n n, by which many useful purposes are answered, viz., in accumulating cutch or hay into rows, and as a scarifier for young crops of wheat in the spring, or to be used upon a fallow; in which case, the seed-box, the ladle cylinder, the coulters, the funnels, and harrows, are all taken away.

This side view of the machine is represented, for the sake of perspicuity, with one seed-box only, one coulter, one funnel, one harrow, &c. whereas a complete machine is furnished with five coulters, five harrows, seven funnels, a seed-box in eight partitions, &c. with ladles of different sizes, for different sorts of grain and seeds.

These machines, (with five coulters fifteen guineas, with four coulters fifteen guineas) equally excel in setting or planting all sorts of grain and seeds, even carrot seed, to exactness, after the rate of from eight to ten chain acres per day, with one man, a boy, and two horses. They deposit the grain or seed in any given quantity from one peck to three bushels per acre, regularly and uniformly, and that without grinding or bruising the feed, and at any given depth, from half an inch to half a dozen inches, in rows at the distance of twelve, The person who attends the machine should put down the lever H soon enough at the end of the land, that the cups or ladles may have time to fill, before he begins to go; and at the end of the land, he must apply his right hand to the middle of the rail between the handles, by which he will keep the coulters in the ground, while he is lifting up the lever H with his left hand, to prevent the grain being scattered upon the headland, while the machine is turning round; this he will do with great ease, by continuing his right hand upon the rail between the handles, and applying his left arm under the left handle, in order to lift the coulters out of the ground while the machine is turning round.

If there be any difficulty in using the machine, it consists in driving it straight. As to the person who attends the machine, he cannot possibly commit any errors, except such as are wilful, particularly as he sees at one view the whole process of the business, viz. that the coulters make the drills of a proper depth; that the funnels continue open to convey the grain or seed into the drills; that the rakes or harrows cover the grain sufficiently; and when seed is wanting in the lower boxes B, which he cannot avoid seeing, he readily supplies them from the upper boxes A, by applying his hand, as the machine goes along, to the lever C. The lower boxes B, should not be suffered to become empty before they are supplied with seed, but should be kept nearly full, or within an inch or so of the edge of the box.

If chalk lines are made across the backs of the coulters, at such a distance from the ends as the seed should be deposited in the ground (viz. about two inches for wheat, and from two to three for spring corn), the person that attends the machine will be better able to ascertain the depth the seed should be deposited in the drills, by observing, as the machine goes along, whether the chalk lines are above or below the surface of the land; if above, a proper weight must be applied to the lever L, which will force the coulters into the ground; if below, the lever L and weight must be reversed, which will prevent their sinking too deep.

In different parts of the kingdom, lands or ridges are of different sizes; where the machine is too wide for the land, one or more funnels may occasionally be stopped with a little loose paper, and the seed received into such funnel returned at the end of the land, or sooner if required, into the upper seed-box. But for regularity and expedition, lands consisting of so many feet wide from outside to outside, as the machine contains coulters, when fixed at twelve inches distance, or twice or three times the number, &c. are best calculated for the machine. In wet soils or strong clays, lands or ridges of the width of the machine, and in dry soils, of twice the width, are recommended. For sowing of narrow high-ridged lands, the outside coulters should be let down, and the middle ones raised, so that the points of the coulters may form the same curve that the land or ridge forms. And the loose soil harrowed down into the furrows should be returned to the edges of the lands or ridges from whence it came, by a double mould-board or other plough, whether the land be wet or dry.

Clover or other lays, intended to be sown by the machine,

Practice. maelhine, should be ploughed a deep strong furrow and well harrowed, in order to level the surface, and to get as much loofe foil as possible for the coulters to work in; and when fown, if any of the seed appears in the drills uncovered by reason of the stiff texture of the foil, or toughness of the roots, a light harrow may be taken over the land, once in a place, which will effectually cover the seed, without displacing it at all in the drills. For fowing lays, a considerable weight must be applied to the lever L, to force the coulters into the ground; and a set of wrought-iron coulters, well-fitted, and made sharp at the front edge and bottom, are recommended; they will pervade the foil more readily, consequently require less draught, and expedite business more than adequate to the additional expense.

For every half acre of land intended to be fown by the machine with the seed of that very valuable root, (carrot) one bushel of saw-duft, and one pound of carrot seed, should be provided; the saw-duft should be made dry, and fitted to take out all the lumps and chips, and divided into eight equal parts or heaps; the carrot-seed should likewise be dried, and well rubbed between the hands, to take off the beards, so that it will separate readily, and being divided into eight equal parts or heaps, one part of the carrot-seed must be well mixed with one part of the saw-duft, and so on, till all the parts of carrot-seed and saw-duft are well mixed and incorporated together; in which state it may be fown very regularly in drills at twelve inches distance, by the cups or ladles No. 2. Carrot-seed resembling saw-duft very much in its size, roughness, weight, adhesion, &c. will remain mixed as above during the fowing; a ladle-full of saw-duft will, upon an average, contain three or four carrot-seeds, by which means the carrot-seed cannot be otherwise than regular in the drills. In attempting to deposit small seeds near the surface, it may happen that some of the seeds may not be covered with foil; in which case, a light roller may be drawn over the land after the seed is fown, which will not only cover the seeds, but will also, by levelling the surface, prepare the land for an earlier hoeing than could otherwise have taken place.

It has always been found troublesome, sometimes impracticable, to sow any kind of grain or seeds (even broad-cast) in a high wind. This inconvenience is entirely obviated, by placing a screen of any kind of cloth, or a sack, supported by two uprights nailed to the sides of the machine, behind the funnels, which will prevent the grain or seed being blown out of its direction in falling from the ladles into the funnels. Small pipes of tin may also be put on to the ends of the funnels, to convey the grain or seed so near the surface of the land, that the highest wind shall not be able to interrupt its descent into the drills.

Respecting the use of the machine, it is frequently remarked by some people not conversant with the properties of matter and motion, that the foil will close after the coulters, before the seed is admitted into the drills. Whereas the very contrary is the case; for the velocity of the coulters in passing through the foil, is so much greater than the velocity with which the foil closes up the drills by its own spontaneous gravity, that the incisions or drills will be constantly open for three or four inches behind the coulters; by which means, it is morally impossible (if the points of the funnels stand directly behind the coulters) that the seed with the velocity it acquires in falling through the funnels, shall not be admitted into the drills.

Fig. 12. is a new constructed simple hand-hoe, by which one man will effectually hoe two chain acres per day, earthing up the foil at the same time to the rows of corn or pulse, so as to cause roots to issue from the first joint of the stem, above the surface of the land, which otherwise would never have existed.

This hoe is worked much in the same manner as a common Dutch hoe, or scuffle, is worked in gardens. The handle is elevated or depressed, to suit the size of the person that works it, by means of an iron wedge being respectively applied to the upper or under side of the handle that goes into the socket of the hoe.

The wings or moulding plates of the hoe, which are calculated to earth up the foil to the rows of corn, so as to cause roots to issue from the first joint of the stem above the surface, which otherwise would not have existed, should never be used for the first hoeing, but should always be used for the last hoeing, and used or not used, at the option of the farmer, when any intermediate hoeing is performed.

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 fowed in the common way. 6. The rows of wheat should be fowed 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 fown, 50 inches must be left between 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 at 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 be next 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 ley of ashes and lime.

Good 14. Good old seed-wheat should be chosen in preference to new, as it is found by experience not to be so subject to smut.

15. 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.

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

17. Upon wet soils or strong clays, wheat should not be deposited more than two inches deep, on any account whatever; nor less than two inches deep on dry soils. From two to three inches is a medium depth for all spring corn. But the exact depth at which grain should be deposited in different soils, from the lightest sand to the strongest clay, is readily ascertained only by observing at what distance under the surface of the land, the secondary or coronal roots are formed in the spring.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

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

23. 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.

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

25. 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.

The following comparative view of the old and new methods of culture, was furnished for the editors of Mr Tull's Horse-hoeing Husbandry, by a gentleman who for some years practised both in a country where the soil was light and chalky, like that from which he drew his observations. It is necessary to remark, that in the new husbandry every article is slated at its full value, and the crop of each year is four bushels short of the other; though, in several years experience, it has equalled and generally exceeded those of the neighbourhood in the old way.

"An estimate of the expense and profit of 10 acres of land in 20 years."

I. In the old way.

First year, for wheat, costs £33 l. 5s. viz. First ploughing, at 6s. per acre 3 0 0 Second and third ditto, at 8s. per acre 4 0 0 Manure, 30s. per acre 15 0 0

Two harrowings, and sowing, at 2s. 6d. per acre 1 5 0 Seed, three bushels per acre, at 4s. per bushel 6 0 0 Weeding, at 2s. per acre 1 0 0 Reaping, binding, and carrying, at 6s. per acre 3 0 0

Second year, for barley, costs £11. 6s. 8d. viz. Once ploughing, at 6s. per acre 3 0 0 Harrowing and sowing, at 1s. 6d. per acre 0 15 0 Weeding, at 1s. per acre 0 10 0 Seed, four bushels per acre, at 2s. per bushel 4 0 0 Cutting, raking, and carrying, at 3s. 2d. per acre 1 11 8 Grass-seeds, at 3s. per acre 1 10 0

Third and fourth years, lying in grass, cost nothing: so that the expense of ten acres in four years comes to £44l. 11s. 8d., and in twenty years to £222 18 4

First year's produce is half a load of wheat per acre, at £1l. 35 0 0 Second year's produce is two quarters of barley per acre, at £1l. 20 0 0 Third and fourth years grass is valued at £1l. 10s. per acre 15 0 0 So that the produce of ten acres in four years is 70 0 0 And in twenty years it will be 350 0 0 Deduct the expense, and there remains clear profit on ten acres in twenty years by the old way 127 1 8

II. In the new way.

First year's extraordinary expense is, for ploughing and manuring the land, the same as in the old way £22 0 0

Ploughing Ploughing once more, at 4s. per acre - 2 0 0 Seed, nine gallons per acre, at 4s. per bushel - 2 5 0 Drilling, at 7d. per acre - 0 5 10 Hand-hoeing and weeding, at 2s. 6d. per acre - 1 5 0 Horse-hoeing six times, at 10s. per acre - 5 0 0 Reaping, binding, and carrying, at 6s. per acre - 3 0 0 The standing annual charge on ten acres is - 13 15 10

Therefore the expense on ten acres in twenty years is - 275 16 8 Add the extraordinary of the first year, and the sum is - 297 16 8 The yearly produce is at least two quarters of wheat per acre, at 1l. 8s. per quarter; which, on ten acres in twenty years, amounts to - 560 0 0 Therefore, all things paid, there remains clear profit on ten acres in twenty years by the new way - 262 3 4

Arguments in favour of the New Method.

"So that the profit on ten acres of land in twenty years, in the new way, exceeds that in the old by L. 135 : 1 : 8, and consequently is considerably more than double thereof; an ample encouragement to practise a scheme, whereby so great advantage will arise from so small a quantity of land, in the compass of a twenty-one years lease; one year being allowed, both in the old and new way, for preparing the ground.

"It ought to be observed, that Mr Tull's husbandry requires no manure at all, though we have here, to prevent objections, allowed the charge thereof for the first year; and moreover, that though the crop of wheat from the drill-plough is here put only at two quarters on an acre, yet Mr Tull himself, by actual experiment and measure, found the produce of his drilled wheat-crop amounted to almost four quarters on an acre."

It appears also from a comparative calculation of expense and profit between the drill and common husbandry, taken from Mr Baker's report to the Dublin Society of his experiments in agriculture for the year 1765, that there is a clear profit arising upon an Irish acre of land in 15 years in the drill husbandry of L. 52 : 3 : 11, and in the common husbandry of L. 27 : 19 : 2; and therefore a greater profit in the drilled acre in this time of L. 24 : 4 : 9, which amounts to L. 1 : 12 : 3½ per annum. From hence he infers, that in every 15 years the fee-simple of all the tillage-lands of the kingdom is lost to the community by the common course of tillage. In stating the accounts, from which their result is obtained, no notice is taken of fences, water-cutting the land, weeding and reaping, because these articles depend on a variety of circumstances, and will, in general, exceed in the common husbandry those incurred by the other.

Besides, the certainty of a crop is greater in this new way than in the old way of sowing; for most of the accidents attending wheat crops, are owing to their being late sown, which is necessary to the farmer in the old way; but in the horse-hoeing method the farmer may plough two furrows whereon the next crop is to stand immediately after the first crop is off. In this manner of husbandry, the land may be ploughed dry and drilled wet, without any inconvenience; and the seed is never planted under the furrow, but placed just at the depth which is most proper, that is, at about two inches; in which case it is easy to preserve it, and there is no danger of burying it. Thus the seed has all the advantage of early sowing, and none of the disadvantages that may attend it in the other way, and the crop is much more certain than by any other means that can be used.

The condition in which the land is left after the crop, is no less in favour of the horse-hoeing husbandry than all the other articles. The number of plants is the great principle of the exhausting of land. In the common husbandry, the number is vastly greater than in the drilling way, and three plants in four often come to nothing, after having exhausted the ground as much as profitable plants; and the weeds which live to the time of harvest in the common way, exhaust the land no less than so many plants of corn, often much more. The horse-hoeing method destroys all the weeds in the far greater part of the land, and leaves that part unexhausted and perfectly fresh for another crop. The wheat plants being also but a third part of the number at the utmost of those in the sowing way, the land is so much the less exhausted by them; and it is very evident from the whole, that it must be, as experience proves that it is, left in a much better condition after this than after the common husbandry.

The farmers who are against this method object, that it makes the plants too strong, and that they are more and more liable to the blacks or blights of insects for that reason; but as this allows that the hoeing can, without the use of dung, give too much nourishment, it is very plain that it can give enough; and it is the farmer's fault if he do not proportion his pains so as to have the advantage of the nourishment without the disadvantages. It is also objected, that as hoeing can make poor land rich enough to bear good crops of wheat, it may make good land too rich for it. But if this should happen, the sowing of wheat on it may be let alone a while, and in the place of it the farmer may have a crop of turnips, carrots, cabbages, and the like, which are excellent food for cattle, and cannot be over-nourished: or, if this is not chosen, the land, when thus made too rich, may soon be sufficiently impoverished by sowing corn upon it in the common old way.

The method of horse-hoeing husbandry, so strongly recommended by Mr Tull, is objected to by many on account of the largeness of the intervals which are to be left behind the rows of corn. These are required to be about five feet wide; and it is thought that such wide spaces are too much lost earth, and that the crop is to be so much the less for it. But it is to be observed, that the rows of corn separated by these intervals need not be single; they may be double, triple, or quadruple, at the pleasure of the farmer; and four rows thus standing as one will have the five foot interval but one-fourth of its bigness as to the whole quantity, and it will be but as fifteen inch intervals to plants in Practice in single rows. Corn that is sown irregularly in the common way, seems indeed to cover the ground better than that in rows; but this is a mere *deceptio visus*; for the stalks of corn are never so thick as when they come out of one plant, or as when they stand in a row; and a horse-hoed plant of corn will have 20 or 30 stalks in a piece of ground of the same quantity, where an unhoeed plant will have only two or three stalks. If these stalks of the hoed plant were separated and planted over the intervals, the whole land would be better covered than it is in the common way; and the truth is, that though these hoed fields seem to contain a much less crop than the common sown fields, yet they in reality do contain a much greater. It is only the different placing that makes the sown crop seem the larger, and even this is only while both crops are young.

The intervals are not lost ground, as is usually supposed, but when well horse-hoed they are all employed in the nourishment of the crop; the roots of the plants in the adjoining rows spreading themselves through the whole interval, and drawing such nourishment from it, that they increase accordingly. When the plants stand in the scattered way, as in common sowing, they are too close to one another; each robs its neighbours of part of their nourishment, and consequently the earth is soon exhausted, and all the plants half starved. The close standing of them also prevents the benefit of after-tilling, as the hoe cannot be brought in, nor the ground by any means stirred between them to give it a new breaking, and consequently afford them new food.

Experiments have abundantly proved, that in large grounds of wheat where the different methods have been tried, those parts where the intervals were largest have produced the greatest crops, and those where hoeing was used without dung have been much richer than those where dung was used without hoeing. If it were possible that plants could stand as thick, and thrive as well over the whole surface of the ground, as they do in the rows separated by these large intervals, the crops of corn so produced would be vastly greater than any that have been heard of; but the truth is, that plants receive their growth not according to the ground they stand on, but to the ground they can extend their roots into; and therefore a single row may contain more plants than a large interval can nourish, and therefore the same number that stand in that row, and no more than these, could be nourished, if scattered over the whole interval; and they would be much worse nourished in that way; because while the interval is void, the earth may be stirred about them, and new roots will be formed in great numbers from every one broken by the instruments, and new nourishment laid before these roots by the breaking the particles of earth, by which the plants will have supplies that they cannot have when scattered over the whole surface, because the ground is then all occupied, and cannot be moved between the plants.

All soils and all situations are not equally proper for this method of planting in rows, with large intervals and hoeing between. The lightest soils seem to be best for it, and the tough and wet clays the worst. Such grounds as lie on the sides of hills are also less proper than others for this work.

This method is not so proper in common fields, but that not in respect of the soil, but of the husbandry of the owners, who are usually in the old way, and change the species of corn, and make it necessary to follow every second, third or fourth year. Nevertheless it has been found by later experiments, that the intervals between the rows of plants, as recommended by Mr Tull, were too great, perhaps double of what they should be in the most profitable method of culture; by which means much less crops are obtained than might be produced at nearly the same expense. This has rendered the profits of the drill method much less than they would have been in a more judicious practice, and consequently, has proved a great disadvantage to it in comparison with the broad-cast. Mr Tull was led into this, partly from the want of more perfect instruments for hoeing, and of ploughs proper for drilling.

To the preceding statements, the following observations by Sir John Anstruther, published among the Select Papers of the Bath Society, may not be improperly subjoined.

The slow progress which the Drill-husbandry has Observations made in many parts of Great Britain since Mr Tull's time, he observes, has been principally owing to the want of proper drill-ploughs. Before drilling can become general, those ploughs must be simple, such as a common ploughman accustomed to use strong instruments can use without breaking, and such also as common workmen can easily make or repair. Mathematical accuracy he considers as not required for delivering the seed; for it matters very little whether there be a quarter of a peck more or less sown, if it be delivered with tolerable regularity. He therefore had a plough made, according to his own directions, by a common plough-wright, of sufficient strength for any land fit for turnips or wheat. It was tried on very rough ground unfit for sowing, in order to ascertain its strength; and it had been used for eight years without its needing any repair. It is a double drill-plough, which sows two ridges at a time, the horse going in the furrow between them, and of course does not tread upon the ground intended to be sown; which with a single drill must be the case, and does much harm by the horses feet sinking and making holes in the fine ground, which retain the water, and hurt the wheat when young.

He proceeds to observe, "That having read Mr Forbes upon the extensive practice of the new husbandry, and some other authors, who gave a more clear and distinct account of the different operations in drilling than had heretofore been given, I wished to try them, and to adapt my plough to sow the quantities therein directed. It was, however, adjusted to sow a smaller quantity, and the seed was not steeped.

"Not having ground so proper as I wished, it was drilled on the side of a field, the soil of which was light and sandy, and in such bad order, that the preceding crop was a very indifferent one. It was therefore manured with a compost dung-hill.

"After croft-ploughing and manuring, it was laid into four and a half feet ridges, then harrowed and drilled with one peck and a half of wheat on an acre and a quarter, which is nearly one peck and a fifth per English acre. It was drilled the 27th of October, and rolled after drilling. The crop was late in its appearance, and very backward in the spring." March 31st, it was horse-hoed one furrow from the rows.

April 8th, it was hand-hoed and weeded in the rows.

25th, horse-hoed again, laying a furrow back to the rows.

May 15th, hand-hoed the second time.

June 2d, horse-hoed from the rows.

June 12th, hand-hoed the third time.

July 14th, horse-hoed to the rows.

At this last hoeing, as many of the ears were beaten down into the intervals by wind and rain, a man went before the horse-hoe, and turned the ears back into their proper place.

The crop, when reaped and threshed, yielded me 36 bushels on one acre and a quarter, which is 28 bushels and three pecks per acre; and the produce from one peck and half 96 for one.

As the produce appeared so great, from land in such bad order, it was carefully measured again, and found to be right. But this increase, though great, was not so large as Mr Craik of Glasgow had without dung.

Mr Randal says, 'It is an experimented fact, that on a fine loam exquisitely prepared, 144 bushels have been produced from one acre. And, I believe, it is not known what the increase may be brought to in rich lands by high cultivation.'

Some years since, I had beans dropt alternately with potatoes, at two feet distance in the rows, which were three feet apart, and ploughed in the intervals. The land adjoining was sown with beans and peas, which were a good crop; but those sown among the potatoes a better one. I pulled one stem of the beans planted with the potatoes, which had three branches rising from the bottom, and it produced 225 beans. In all the trials of drilled beans, most of the stems had two branches, with many pods upon each. — From these and other instances, I believe it is not yet known to what increase grain may be brought by drilling, good cultivation, and manure.

Horse-hoeing is certainly preferable to close drilling or hand-hoeing; but the latter is superior to broadcast.

Horse-hoeing the full depth increases the crop, by making it tiller or branch more than it otherwise would do; and the advantage is distinctly observable every hoeing, by the colour of the grain. It prepares the ground for the next crop, at the same time that it increases the crop growing, which hand-hoeing does not, although it may destroy the weeds. Thus drilled ground is kept in a loose open state to receive the benefit of the influence of the air and weather, which broadcast has not; and it is evident, from certain experience, that crops may be drilled many years to good advantage without manure.

Suppose the crops only 70 bushels per acre, what course of broadcast crops will give 5l. an acre for the course? But suppose they are dugged the same as any ground in the most approved course, there is the greatest reason to expect as much as in the above experiment, which is 28 and three-quarters, and at 5s. per bushel amounts to 7l. 3s. 9d.

Calculations may be of service to those who wish to try drilling, and have few books to direct them.

One acre is 10 chains long, of 660 feet, or 220 yards long, and one yard broad, containing 4840 square yards. Then if the ridge is four feet six inches, this makes 14 ridges, and three feet to spare. This length of 220 yards, multiplied by 14 (the number of ridges) gives a length of yards 3080, to which add 146 for the spare three feet, and it will be 3226 yards. And as two rows are drilled on a ridge, the number of rows will be in length 6452 yards; but as a deduction of 172 yards must be made for the head ridges, suppose three yards each, &c. the whole length to be sown will be 6280 yards clear. Now a gallon (Winchester) holds about 80,000 grains. The quantity recommended to be drilled by Mr Forbes and others, being five gallons, or two-thirds of a bushel per acre, is nearly 78 grains to a yard, or 26 to a foot. But in my experiment, by this calculation, it was only about 111 grains to a foot; which is quite sufficient, if the seed be good, and it be not destroyed by vermin.

Now with regard to the quantity of land this drill-plough may sow; if a horse walks at the rate of two miles per hour, he goes 16 miles in eight hours, or 23,460 yards. As he sows two ridges at once, this is seven lengths and two-thirds per acre, or 1686 yards to sow an acre, being nearly 17 acres in a day.

Four horse-hoeings are calculated equal to two ploughings. In plain ploughing they suppose the ridge is ploughed with four furrows, or eight for twice ploughing. The four horse-hoeings are eight furrows, equal to two ploughings.

Mr Tull directs four hoeings, and Mr Forbes five. First, In November, when the plant has four blades. 2dly, In March, deep, and nearer the rows than the former; both these hoeings should be from the rows. 3dly, Hand-hoed when it begins to spindle, if the earth be crumbly, to the rows. 4thly, When it begins to blossom, from the rows, but as near to them as in the second hoeing. 5thly, When done blossoming, to ripen and fill the grain, to the rows.

The last hoeing Mr Tull does not direct, but Mr Forbes advises it, as being of essential service in filling the grain, and saving trouble in making the next feed-furrows. They advise the patent or towing-plough for horse-hoeing; and the expense is calculated by Mr Craik at one guinea per acre, reaping included.

But let us suppose the following, which are the prices in the county I live in (Fife).

| Description | L. s. d. | |--------------------------------------|---------| | Ploughing to form the ridges | 0 4 0 | | Harrowing | 0 4 | | Four hoeings, equal to two ploughings| 0 8 | | Sowing | 0 4 | | Hand-hoeing twice | 0 8 0 | | Seed, one peck and a half, at 5s. a bushel | 0 1 10 |

Whole expense per acre, L. 1 2 6

Drill-husbandry is, as a good writer has justly defined it, "the practice of a garden brought into the field." Broad-cast Every man of the least reflection must be sensible, that methods the practice of the garden is much better than that of more part of the field, only a little more expensive; but if (as is the case) this extra expense be generally much more than rapid by the superior goodness and value of drilled crops, it ought to have no weight in comparing the two modes of husbandry. In the broadcast method the land is often sown in bad tilth, and always scattered at random, sometimes by very unskilful hands. In drilling, the land must be in fine order; the seed is set in trenches drawn regularly, all of nearly an equal depth, and that depth suited to the nature of each kind of seed. These seeds are also distributed at proper distances, and by being equally and speedily covered, are protected from vermin and other injuries; so that the practice of the garden is here exactly introduced into the field.

In the broadcast method the seed falls in some places too thick, in others too thin; and being imperfectly covered, a part of it is devoured by vermin which follow the fowls; another part is left exposed to rain or frost, or to heats, which greatly injure it. When harrowed, a great part of it (small seeds especially) is buried so deep, that if the soil be wet, it perishes before it can vegetate.

Again: When thus sown, there is no meddling with the crop afterwards, because its growth is irregular. The soil cannot be broken to give it more nourishment, nor can even the weeds be destroyed without much inconvenience and injury.

But in the drill-husbandry the intervals between the rows, whether double or single, may be horse-hoed; and thereby nourishment may repeatedly be given to the plants, and the weeds almost totally destroyed.

The very same effects which digging has upon young shrubs and trees in a garden, will result from horse-hoeing in a field, whether the crop be corn or pulse: For the reason of the thing is the same in both cases, and being founded in nature and fact, cannot ever fail. In drilling, no more plants are raised on the soil than it can well support; and by dividing and breaking the ground they have the full advantage of all its fertility.

The plough prepares the land for a crop, but goes no further; for in the broadcast husbandry it cannot be used: but the crop receives greater benefit from the tillage of the land by the horse-hoe, while it is growing, than it could in the preparation. No care in tilling the land previous to sowing can prevent weeds rising with the crop; and if these weeds be not destroyed while the crop is growing, they will greatly injure it. In the broadcast husbandry this cannot be done; but in drilling, the horse-hoe will effect it easily.

And what adds to the farmer's misfortune is, that the most pernicious weeds have wings winged with down, which are carried by the wind to great distances; such are thistles, sow-thistles, colts-foot, and some others.

If the expense of horse-hoeing be objected, there are two answers which may very properly be made: The first is, that this expense is much less than that of hand-hoeing were it practicable, or of hand-weeding. The second is, that it is more than rapid by the quantity of seed saved by drilling; to say nothing of the extra quantity and goodness of the crops, which are generally self-evident.

Upon the whole: If the particular modes of cultivating land by the new husbandry should, after all, be considered as 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, a solid foundation is laid for expecting still further improvements in this useful art.

SECT. I. Instruments of Husbandry.

The instruments employed in agriculture are various; as the plough, the harrow, the roller, &c., which are again greatly diversified by various constructions adapted to particular uses.

1. Of Ploughs.

The plough constructed in the following manner is still the most common and the most generally understood in Scotland; and, if properly made, is the best for answering all purposes, when only one is used; though others are, perhaps, more proper for some particular occupations.

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

The Head, is designed for opening the ground below. The length of the head from A to B is about 20 inches, and the breadth from A to D about five inches; C is the point upon which the fock 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, E, is driven into the mortise b, and Fig. 2, 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 (fig. 1); about three inches broad, and one inch thick.

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

The Mould-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 mould-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, FA, 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, 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 incommodeed 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, BP, is fixed to the end of the head, and is about two feet long. In fitting the fock 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, 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 the point of the fock, 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 Wreft, 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 wreft 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 wreft determines the nature of the furrow. When the wreft 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 already been 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 wreft. Their distance at M and P is about two feet six inches. The lesser handle is fixed to the mould board at M, fig. 10, and to the wreft K B, at L.

Fig. 11, represents the plough complete, by joining together figures 6. and 10. in the sheath E B. The wreft B K is hopped to make an angle with the head A B 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 flock, 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 flock moves forward, will be thrown on the right side of the sheath, and by the cutting out of the mould-board, or the raising of the wreft, will be turned over.

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. A B C is the muzzle, A C 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, A B C D. 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 thro', by which the draught may be fixed either above or below the beam. A D is the fore-bolt upon which the muzzle turns; on B C 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 of a narrower furrow. E and F are the holes on each side thro' which the hindmost bolt passes. When the bolt is put thro' 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. 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 E E. 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 all forms, that of the Scotch plough is the fit-Properties teft for breaking up stiff and rough land, especially of the Scots where stones abound; and no less fit for strong clay lands hardened by drought. The length of its head gives it a firm hold of the ground; its weight prevents it from being thrown out by stones; the length of the handles gives the ploughman great command to direct its motion; But in tender soil it is improper, because it adds greatly to the expense of ploughing, without any counterbalancing benefit. The length of the head and mould-board increases the friction, and consequently it requires a greater number of oxen or horses than are necessary in a shorter plough. There is another particular in its form, that refits the draught: the mould-board makes an angle with the fock, instead of making a line with it gently curving backward. There is an objection against it no less solid, that it does not stir the ground perfectly; the hinder part of the wreft rises a foot above the sole of the head; and the earth that lies immediately below that hinder part, is left unstirred. This is ribbing land below the surface, similar to what is done by ignorant farmers on the surface.

These defects must be submitted to in a soil that requires a strong heavy plough; but may be avoided in a cultivated soil by a plough differently constructed. Of all the ploughs fitted for a cultivated soil free of stones, that introduced into Scotland about 20 years ago, by James Small in Blackadder Mount, Berwickshire, is the best. It is now in great request; and with reason, as it avoids all the defects of the Scots plough. The shortness of its head and of its mould-board lessen the friction greatly: from the point of the fock to the back part of the head it is only 30 inches; and the whole length, from the point of the beam to the end of the handles, between eight and nine feet. The fock and mould-board make one line gently curving; and consequently gather no earth. Instead of a wreft, the under edge of the mould-board is in one plain with the sole of the head; which makes a wide furrow, without leaving any part unstirred. It is termed the chain-plough, because it is drawn by an iron chain fixed to the back part of the beam immediately before the coulter. This has two advantages: first, by means of a muzzle, it makes the plough go deep, or shallow; and, next, it stresses the beam less than if fixed to the point, and therefore a slenderer beam is sufficient.

This plough may well be considered as a capital improvement; not only by saving expense, but by making better work. It is proper for loams; for carse-clays; and, in general, for every sort of tender soil free of stones. It is even proper for opening up pasture-ground, where the soil has been formerly well cultivated.

A spiked fock is used in the Scotch plough. The difference between it and the feathered fock will be best understood by comparing their figures. Fig. 14. is the common fock, and fig. 15. the feathered one.

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

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

If we look back 30 years, ploughs of different constructions did not enter even into a dream. The Scotch, of farmers' plough was universally used, and no other was known but a few. There was no less ignorance as to the number of cattle years ago, necessary for this plough. In the south of Scotland, five oxen and two horses were universal; and in the north, ten oxen, sometimes twelve. The first attempt to lessen the number of oxen was in Berwickshire. The low part of that county abounds with stone, clay, and marl, the most substantial of all manures, which had been long used by one or two gentlemen. About 25 years ago it acquired reputation, and spread rapidly. As two horses and two oxen were employed in every marl-cart; the farmer, in summer-fallowing, and in preparing land for marl, was confined to four oxen and two horses. And as that manure afforded plenty of succulent straw for oxen, the farmer was surprized to find that four oxen did better now than fix formerly. Marling, however, a laborious work, proceeded slowly, till people were taught by a noted farmer in that country, what industry can perform by means of power properly applied. It was reckoned a mighty task to marl five or six acres in a year. That gentleman, by plenty of red clover for his working-cattle, accomplished the marling 50 acres in a summer, once 54. Having so much occasion for oxen, he tried with success two oxen and two horses in a plough; and that practice became general in Berwickshire.

Now here appears with lustre the advantage of the Advantage chain-plough. The great friction occasioned in the Scotch plough by a long head, and by the angle it tinctually makes with the mould-board, necessarily requires two lustrated oxen and two horses, whatever the soil be. The friction is so much less in the chain-plough, that two good horses are found sufficient in every soil that is proper for it. Besides, the reducing the draught to a couple of horses has another advantage, that of rendering a driver unnecessary. This saving on every plough, where two horses and two oxen were formerly used, will, by the strictest computation, be L 15 Sterling yearly; and where four horses were used, no less than L 20 Sterling. There is now scarce to be seen in the low country of Berwickshire a plough with more than two horses; which undoubtedly in time will become general. We know but of one further improvement, that of using two oxen instead of two horses. That draught has been employed with success in several places; and the saving is so great, that it must force its way everywhere. It may be confidently affirmed, no soil stirred in a proper season, can ever require more than two horses and two oxen in a plough, even supposing the stiffest clay. In all other soils, two good horses, or two good oxen abreast, may be relied on for every operation of the chain-plough.

A chain-plough of a smaller size than ordinary, drawn... A small single-horse plough recommended for various purposes.

A still smaller plough of the same kind may be recommended for a kitchen-garden. It can be reduced to the smallest size, by being made of iron; and where the land is properly dressed for a kitchen-garden, an iron plough of the smallest size drawn by a horse will save much spade-work.—In Scotland, thirty years ago, a kitchen-garden was an article of luxury merely, because at that time there could be no cheaper food than oatmeal. At present, the farmer maintains his servants at double expense, as the price of oatmeal is doubled; and yet he has no notion of a kitchen-garden more than he had thirty years ago. He never thinks, that living partly on cabbage, kail, turnip, carrot, would save much oatmeal: nor does he ever think, that change of food is more wholesome, than vegetables alone, or oatmeal alone. We need not recommend potatoes, which in scanty crops of corn have proved a great blessing: without them, the labouring poor would frequently have been reduced to a starving condition. Would the farmer but cultivate his kitchen-garden with as much industry as he bestows on his potato crop, he needed never fear want; and he can cultivate it with the iron plough at a very small expense. It may be held by a boy of 12 or 13; and would be a proper education for a ploughman. But it is the landlord who ought to give a beginning to the improvement. A very small expense would inclose an acre for a kitchen-garden to each of his tenants; and it would excite their industry, to below an iron plough on those who do belch.

Nor is this the only case where a single-horse plough may be profitably employed. It is sufficient for seed-furrowing barley, where the land is light and well-dressed. It may be used in the second or third ploughing of fallow, to encourage annual weeds, which are destroyed in subsequent ploughings.

The Rotherham plough is a machine of very simple construction, and easily worked. AB is the beam, CD the fleath, EBD the main handle, FR the smaller handle, GH the coulter, KI the foak or share, NP the bridle, S the fly-band, and ML a piece of wood in place of a head. The whole of this plough should be made of ash or elm; the irons should be steeled and well-tempered; and that part of the plough which is underground in tillage should be covered with plates of iron. The difference between this and the common plough seems to consist in the bridle at the end of the beam, by which the ploughman can give the plough more or less land by notches at N, or make it cut deeper or shallower by the holes at P; in the coulter or share, which are so made and set as to cut off the new furrow without tearing; and in the mould-board, which is so shaped at first to raise a little, and then gradually turn over the new cut furrow with very little resistance. But the greatest advantage attending it, is its being so easy of draught, that it will do double the work of any common plough.

The Paring plough is an instrument used in several parts of England for paring off the surface of the ground, in order to its being burnt. Mr Bradley has given the following description of a very simple instrument of this kind: From A to A (fig. 15.) is the plough-beam, about seven feet long, mortised and pinned into the plough-block B, which is of clean timber without knots. Plate VI. C C are the sheaths or standards, made flat on the inside, to close equally with the paring plate, and fastened to it with a bolt and key on each side, as at D. E is the paring plate of iron laid with steel, about four inches wide, and from 12 to 18 inches long. This plate must be made to close on the sides, which are bolted to the standards as well as at the bottom part. F F are two iron braces to keep the standards from giving way: these standards must be mortised near their outsides and through the block. G G are the plough handles, which must be fixed slope-ways between the beam and the standards. The pin-holes in the beam, the use of which is to make this plough cut more or less deep, by fixing the wheels nearer to or farther from the paring plate, should not be above two inches asunder.

Fig. 1 represents the four-coulted plough of Mr The Four-Tull. Its beam is ten feet four inches long, whereas that of the common plough is but eight. The beam is straight in the common plough, but in this it is straight only from a to b, and thence arched; so that the line let down perpendicularly from the corner at a, to the even surface on which the plough stands, would be 11½ inches; and if another line were let down from the turning of the beam at b to the same surface, it would be one foot eight inches and a half; and a third line let down to the surface from the bottom of the beam at that part which bears upon the pillow, will show the beam to be two feet ten inches high in that part. At the distance of three feet two inches from the end of the beam a, at the plough-tail, the first coulter, or that next the share, is let through; and at 13 inches from this, a second coulter is let through; a third at the same distance from that; and, finally, the fourth at the same distance from the third, that is, 13 inches; and from a to b is seven feet.

The crookedness of the upper part of the beam of this plough is contrived to avoid the too great length of the three foremost coulters, which would be too much if the beam was straight all the way; and they would be apt to bend and be displaced, unless they were very heavy and clumsy. Ash is the best wood to make the beam of, it being sufficiently strong, and yet light. The fleath in this plough is to be seven inches broad. The fixing of the share in this, as well as in the common plough, is the nicest part, and requires the utmost art of the maker; for the well-going of the plough wholly depends upon the placing this. Supposing the axis of the beam, and the left side of the share, to be both horizontal, they must never be set parallel to each other; for if they are, the tail of the share bearing against the trench as much as the point, would cause the point to incline to the right hand, and it would be carried out of the ground into the furrow. If the point of the share should be set so, that its side should make an angle on the right side of the axis of the beam, this inconvenience would be much greater; and if its point should incline much to the left, and make too large an angle on that side with the axis of the beam, the plough would run quite to the left hand; and if the holder, to prevent its running quite out of the ground, turns the upper part of his plough towards the left hand, the pin of the share will rise up, and cut the furrow diagonally, leaving it half unploughed. To avoid this and several other inconveniences, the straight side of the share must make an angle upon the left side of the beam; but that must be so very acute a one, that the tail of the share may only press against the side of the trench than the point does. This angle is shown by the pricked lines at the bottom of fig. 9, where ef is supposed to be the axis of the beam let down to the surface, and gf parallel to the left side of the share; and it is the subtenue eg that determines the inclination which the point of the share must have towards the left hand. This subtenue, says Mr Tull, at the fore-end of an eight-feet beam, should never be more than one inch and a half, and whether the beam be long or short, the subtenue must be the same.

The great thing to be taken care of, is the placing the four coulters; which must be so set, that the four imaginary places described by their four edges, as the plough moves forward, may be all parallel to each other, or very nearly so; for if any one of them should be very much inclined to, or should recede much from either of the other, then they would not enter the ground together. In order to place them thus, the beam must be carefully pierced in a proper manner. The second coulter-hole must be two inches and a half more on the right hand than the first, the third must be as much more to the right of the second, and the fourth the same measure to the right hand of the third; and this two inches and a half must be carefully measured from the centre of one hole to the centre of the other. Each of these holes is a mortise of an inch and quarter wide, and is three inches and a half long at the top, and three inches at the bottom. The two opposite sides of this hole are parallel to the top and bottom, but the back is oblique, and determines the obliquity of the standing of the coulter, which is wedged tight up to the poll. The coulter is two feet eight inches long before it is worn; the handle takes up sixteen inches of this length, and is allowed thus long, that the coulter may be driven down as the point wears away. As to the wheels, the left hand wheel is 20 inches diameter, and that on the right hand two feet three inches, and the distance at which they are set from each other is two feet 5½ inches.

2. The Patent Sward-cutter.

The different parts of this instrument are represented by No 1, 2, 3, of fig. 6. A, A, &c. a square frame 3 feet 4 inches from the fore to the hind part, by 4 feet 3 inches, the breadth of the machine within side; the timber (when of fir) 4 inches square, placed on two wheels B. B. 3 feet diameter, a little more or less (the old fore-wheels of a chaise may answer the purpose), to support the hind part of the machine.

C. C. &c. are fix strong pieces of wood, called bulls, 3 feet long, 5 inches and a half broad, the thickness 6 inches at E. and tapering to 3 inches at F. Into these bulls are fixed the cutting wheels, which are iron, 1¾ inches diameter, ¼ths of an inch thick at the centre, about an inch diameter for piercing holes to fix the iron axles in; from that they are to be of such thickness, as allow the edges to be well fleeced. The wheels are fixed by two bolts going through the bulls, with eyes on one end for the axles of the wheels to run in, and nuts and screws on the other to make them very firm by funk in the bulls, to prevent their interfering with the weights L. L. &c. resting on them.

G. G. &c. are hollow pieces of wood, called thorlets, each 3½ inches long, which inclose the bolt M. M. and keep the bulls C. C. &c. at their proper distances, but may be made longer or shorter at pleasure, according as the fward requires to be cut in larger or smaller pieces. They are in two pieces bound together, and jointed by a strap of leather or cord, which allows them to be readily changed when the cutting wheels require to be kept at more or less distance.

The iron bolt M. M. goes through two pieces of wood or iron P. P. 7 inches long, clear of the wood, supported by iron stays fixed to the frame, and thro' all the bulls. It requires to be strong, as the draught of the horses terminate there.

H. H. No 2. and 3. a cylinder or segment of wood, 7 inches diameter, called a rocking tree, which goes across the frame, and moves on the pivots fixed into it, one at each end, supported by an iron bolt or piece of wood mortised into the frame, 8 inches high, as appears in No 2. and 3. to which 6 chains or ropes are fixed by hooks, at different distances, as you want your cuts, 9, 8, 7, or 6 inches from one another, and are joined to the end of each bull in which the cutting wheels run; so that when the rocking tree is turned about by the lever I. fixed in the middle of it, all the bulls, with their cutting wheels, are raised out of the ground at once, as in No 3. by which means the machine may be turned, or moved from place to place with great ease, without any danger of straining the wheels.

L. L. L. &c. No 1. 2. 3. are weights of freestone, 26 inches long and 6 inches broad; the under one 4 inches thick, the upper one 3 inches thick; weighing about 64 lb. the under, and 48 the upper; each of them having two holes, through which iron spikes, firmly fixed in the bulls, pass, in order to keep them steady.

When the ground is easily cut, the under stone may answer; when more difficult, the other stone may be added; so that every wheel may have 7 stone-weight upon it, which has been found sufficient for the stiffest land and toughest fward the machine has ever been tried on. Cast iron weights will answer fully better, but are more expensive.

The lever I. No 2. 3. which ought to be 5 feet long, must have a sliding rope on it; fixed to the back part of the frame; so that when the cutting wheels are all taken out of the ground three or four inches, by the rocking tree's being turned partly round by the lever, the rope may be fixed to it by a loop over the pin R. No 3. (it ought to be placed 3 feet 4 inches from the extremity of the lever I.) Thus all the cutting wheels are kept out of the ground till the machine is turned; and then by moving the loop off the pin, it slips back towards the frame, and the lever is gently let back to its place, as in No 2. by which the cutting wheels are put into their former posture, by the weights fixed on the bulls in which they run. The levers may be made of good tough ash. P. P. N° 1. a small bolt of iron, with a hook on one end of it (one is sufficient), to strengthen the bolt M. M. to be hooked on the centre of it, and joined to the frame by a nut and screw.

The grooves in which the cutting wheels run, may be covered below at the hinder part with a plate of thin black iron, 6 inches long, 3 inches broad, having a slit in it where the wheels run, to prevent (if found necessary) any grats, weeds, or small stones, from filling the grooves, and clogging the wheels.

To the frame N° 1. are fixed (for a double-horse fward-cutter) three shafts, as in a waggon, of such length, strength, and distance from one another, as any workman may think proper.

For a single-horse fward-cutter (which has only four cutting wheels), a pair of shafts are used, and may make the two sides of the frame without any joinings. The width of the frame, in proportion to the double-horse fward-cutter, is as four to six.

It is recommended for a double-horse fward-cutter to have eight bulls and wheels, in order that when it is used to reduce hard clody summer-fallow, or land for barley, before the last furrow, or even after it, the whole weight (42 stone) employed in cutting the stiffest land and toughest fward, may be applied to the 8 bulls then at 6 inches from one another. The 64 lb. weights to be applied to six of the bulls, and two of the 48 lb. weights to each of the additional bulls, which is a sufficient weight for the purpose, and will effectually prevent a clod of more than six inches breadth from escaping being broke to pieces.

In the same manner, a single-horse fward-cutter may have five bulls for the above-mentioned purpose; the 28 stone belonging to it divided thus: The 64 lb. weights to four of the bulls, and two of the 48 lb. weights to each of the additional bulls.

That the machine may come as cheap as possible to the public, the inventor is of opinion, that the expense of the two wheels and the iron axle (which is considerable) may be saved, by joining strongly to the frame at S. N° 3. a piece of wood with a little curve at the extremity of it, resembling the foot of a fledge, formerly much used in Scotland to carry in the corn from the field; the part of it resting on the ground being kept 18 inches (the half diameter of the wheels) from the frame, by a strong support of wood.

As the two outer bulls next the frame are apt to get under it, so as to prevent the cutting wheels from being taken out of the ground, a thin slip of iron fixed to the inside of the frame, nearly opposite to the back end of the bulls, of convenient length, will be found necessary.

The original intention of this machine was to prepare old grass-ground for the plough, by cutting it across the ridges, in the beginning of or during winter, when the ground is soft, in order to answer all the purposes that Mr Tull proposed by his four-coulter plough above described, and so strongly recommended by him for bringing into tillth grass-ground that has been long left. This the fward-cutter has been found to do much more effectually and expeditiously: For Mr Tull's machine cuts the fward in the same direction with the plough; and is liable, from every obstruction any of the coulters meet with, to be thrown out of its work altogether, or the instrument broken: to which the fward-cutter, consisting of four, six, or more cutting wheels, is never liable, from these being entirely independent of one another, cutting the ground across the ridges before ploughing, and rendering that operation easier to two horses than it would be to three, without its being cut. The furrow being cut across, falls finely from the plough in squares of any size required not under six inches, in place of long slips of tough fward seldom and imperfectly broke by the four-coultered plough.

This instrument is very fit for preparing ground for burnbathing, as it will save much hand-labour.

It may be properly used in cross-cutting clover of one or two years standing, to prepare the ground for wheat, if the land is stiff and moist enough.

It may be applied to cutting and cross-cutting pasture-ground, intended to have manure of any kind put upon it to meliorate the grass. In this it will far exceed the scarificator mentioned in one of Mr Young's tours; as that instrument is liable, as well as the four-coultered plough, to be thrown out of its work when meeting with a stone or other interruption. This the fward-cutter is proof against, which is looked on as its greatest excellence.

In preparing for barley, the fward-cutter excels a roller of any kind in reducing the large hard clods in clay land, occasioned by a sudden drought, after its being ploughed too wet; and it is likewise very proper for reducing such clay land when under a summer-fallow. In this operation, the fward-cutter is greatly to be preferred to the cutting-roller, likewise mentioned by Mr Young in one of his tours; for the wheels of the latter being all dependent one on another, when one is thrown out by a stone, three or four must share the same fate. Besides, the cutting-roller has but seven wheels in six feet; whereas the fward-cutter has six in four feet three inches, at nine inches dilatant; and, if necessary, may have them so near as six inches.

After old grass-ground is cut across with the fward-cutter and ploughed, it has a very uncommon and worklike appearance, from each square turned over by the plough being raised up an inch or two at the side last moved by the earth-board; so that the field, when finished, is all prettily waved, and resembles a piece of water when blown on by a gentle breeze. By this means a very great deal of the land's surface is exposed to the frost and other influences of the air, which cannot fail to have a good effect on it.

Two horses are sufficient for the draught of a double-horse fward-cutter, and one horse for a single-horse one. One man manages the machine and drives the horses. He begins his operation by first measuring off 20 or 30 paces from the machine, less or more as he inclines, and there fixes a pole. He then cuts the field across, as near at right angles with the ridges as he can. When the cutting wheels are past the last furrow about a yard or so, and the machine is upon the outmost ridge of the field on which it must turn, he must stop the horses; then take hold of the lever L. No 2. and by pulling it to him he raises the cutting wheels out of the ground, which are kept so by the loop of the rope being put over the pin R. in the lever L. No 3. till the machine is turned and brought to its proper place, which is done by measuring off the same distance formerly merly done on the opposite side of the field. When the cutting wheels are exactly over the outmost furrow, then, on the horses being flopped, the rope is slung off the pin R, and the lever returned to its former place, as represented No. 2, which allows the weights L, L, &c., to force the cutting wheels into the ground again. He then goes on till the interval between the first and second stroke of the machine is all cut. In this manner the field is to be finished, after which you may begin to plough when you please. (N.B. There must be a pole at each side of the field.)

It is of no consequence whether the land to be faward-cut is in crooked ridges or straight, in flat ridges or in very high raised ones. Be the surface ever so uneven, the cutting wheels, being all independent of one another, are forced by their weights into every furrow or hollow.

One faward-cutter will cut as much in one day as six ploughs will plough.

The land may lie several months in winter after being faward-cut, when there is no vegetation to make the cuts grow together again before it is ploughed; but the sooner it is ploughed after cutting the better, that it may have the benefit of all the winter's frosts, which makes it harrow better at seed-time.

When the ground is harrowed, the harrows ought to go with the waves which appear after ploughing, not against them, as by that means they are less apt to tear up the furrows all cut into squares. This, however, need only be attended to the two first times of harrowing, as they are called.

Any common wright and smith may make the instrument. It is very strong, very simple, and easily managed and moved from place to place; and, if put under cover, will last many years.

It was invented some time ago by the Honourable Robert Sandilands; and is represented in the Plate as it has been lately improved by him, the price being at the same time reduced from £15 or £16 to £5 or £6.

3. The Brake.

The brake is a large and weighty harrow, the purpose of which is to reduce a stubborn soil, where an ordinary harrow makes little impression. It consists of four square bulls, each side five inches, and six feet and a half in length. The teeth are 17 inches long, bending forward like a coulter. Four of them are inserted into each bull, fixed above with a screw-nut, having 12 inches free below, with a heel close to the under part of the bull, to prevent it from being pushed back by stones. The nut above makes it easy to be taken out for sharpening. This brake requires four horses or four oxen. One of a lesser size will not fully answer the purpose: one of a larger size will require six oxen; in which case the work may be performed at less expense with the plough.

This instrument may be applied to great advantage in the following circumstances. In the following strong clay that requires frequent ploughings, a braking between every ploughing will pulverize the soil, and render the subsequent ploughings more easy. In the month of March or April, when strong ground is ploughed for barley, especially if bound with couch-grass, a cross-brake is preferable to a cross-ploughing, and is done at half the expense. When ground is ploughed from the state of nature, and after a competent time is cross-ploughed, the brake is applied with great success, immediately after the cross-ploughing, to reduce the whole to proper tilth.

Let it be observed, that a brake with a greater number of teeth than above-mentioned, is improper for ground that is bound together by the roots of plants, which is always the case of ground new broken up from its natural state. The brake is soon choked, and can do no execution till freed from the earth it holds. A less number of teeth would be deficient in pulverizing the soil.

4. The Harrow.

Harrow are commonly considered as of no use but to cover the seed; but they have another use scarce less essential, which is to prepare land for the seed. This is an article of importance for producing a good crop. But how imperfectly either of these purposes is performed by the common harrow, will appear from the following account of it.

The harrow commonly used is of different forms. The first we shall mention has two bulls, four feet long and 18 inches aunder, with four wooden teeth in each common. A second has three bulls and 12 wooden teeth. A third has four bulls, and 20 teeth of wood or iron, 10, 11, or 12 inches aunder. Now, in fine mould, the last may be sufficient for covering the seed; but none of them are sufficient to prepare for the seed any ground that requires subduing. The only tolerable form is that with iron teeth; and the bare description of its imperfections will show the necessity of a more perfect form. In the first place, this harrow is by far too light for ground new taken up from the state of nature, for clays hardened with spring-drought, or for other stubborn soils: it floats on the surface; and after frequent returns in the same tract, nothing is done effectually. In the next place, the teeth are too thick set, by which the harrow is apt to be choked, especially where the earth is bound with roots, which is commonly the case. At the same time, the lightness and number of teeth keep the harrow upon the surface, and prevent one of its capital purposes, that of dividing the soil. Nor will fewer teeth answer for covering the seed properly. In the third place, the teeth are too short for reducing a coarse soil to proper tilth; and yet it would be in vain to make them longer, because the harrow is too light for going deep into the ground. Further, the common harrows are so ill constructed, as to ride at every turn one upon another. Much time is lost in disengaging them. Lastly, it is equally unfit for extirpating weeds. The ground is frequently found bound with couch-grass, as to make the furrow-slice stand upright, as when old lea is ploughed: notwithstanding much labour, the grass-roots keep the field, and gain the victory.

A little reflection, even without experience, will make it evident, that the same harrows, whatever be the form, can never answer all the different purposes of harrowing, nor can operate equally in all different soils, rough or smooth, firm or loose. The following, therefore, have been recommended; which are of three different... Part II.