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M
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/extensivepracticOOforbiala
THE
Extenfive Pra&ice
OF THE
NEW HUSBANDRY,
EXEMPLIFIED
ON DIFFERENT SORTS OF LAND, FOR A
COURSE OF YEARS j
IN WHICH
.THE VARIOUS METHODS
O F
PLOUGHING, HOEING, HARROWING,
AND MANUREING;
AND EVERY OTHER PROCESS IN
AGRICULTURE,
RECOMMENDED BY
MR. TULl, SIR DIGBY LEGARD, MR. DUFF, MR. RAN-
DALL, OF YORK; ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQJ AND
THE COMPLETE FARMER, ETC. ARE
CONSIDERED AND EXAMINED.
TO WHICH IS ADPFI)
An APPENDIX,
CONTAINING
?A1TICBHI DIRICTIONI F 0« PR AC T I JING H USB AND! Y IN T II E
BEST MANNER, AND WHF.RZ THE DRILL-PLOUGH
MAY BE HAD THAT IS Utr.D IN IT.
THE SECOND EDITION.
BY MR. iFORBES.
11
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR \V. TAYLER, N° 5, WARWICK -COURT,
WARWICK - LANE, I 786.
I PRICE FIVE SHILLINGS IK BOARDS.]
7 /m
^
i
t » 3
ENGLISH HUSBANDRY.
^LL who pra&ife the New Hujbandry,
exemplified in the following Treatife, or who
incline to make a candid Trial of it, may now
be fupplied with a Drill Plow accurately
rconftnjc~ted on the Principles improved by the
lateft Experience of the celebrated Mr. Tull.
By this Plow, all Seeds, from Beans to
Turneps and Lucerne, may now be properly
delivered in Rows of any Diftance, with re-
gularity and difpatch.
And the Instrument can at laft be obtained
at an unparalleled and unexpected low Price,
occafioned by the ingenious Conftrudtion of it
By Mr. Joseph Tyler, Cabinet-maker,
at Ntf 54, iii Wardour-ftreet, Soho.
[ iii 3
THE
EDITOR
TO THE
READER.
*~\ r1 H E publication of this little treatife
has been delayed till now, by the
death of its author Mr. Forbes.
The work was printed off under his
infpedtion ; and the following pages, that
precede it, were prepared for the prefs
by him.
A 3 The
iv THE EDITOR
The reader will perceive that the in-
, tendon of this publication was to extend
the practice of the celebrated Mr Tull's
Horfe-hoeing Hufbandry, according to
the genuine method of that gentleman^
upon his lateft improvement of it.
To obtain this end, Mr. Forbes had
alfo prepared for the prefs an accurate
edition of Mr. Tull's EfTay-, containing the
final rules he drew from the whole courfe
of his experience, and his many valuable
remarks, that lie almoft fmothered in
the polemical appendixes, &c. to which
Mr. Tull was provoked by thofe literary
vermin, that are as injurious to the agri-
culture of England, as the fly is to our
turnips. And this work will not be loft
to the public, mould a charitable difpo-
fition, to a poor widow and diftreffed
family, fufficiently prevail among the
friends to rational agriculture.
What
TO THE READER. V
What is faid in the following adver-
tifement of the internments neceiTary to
this method of Hufbandry, was in great
forwardnefs when Mr. Forbes died ; and
may be yet carried into execution, if,
from application to the publiiher, there
fhould appear to be any demand for
them. And in fuch cafe, every poflible
method mall be taken to infure juflice
to be done to the puichafers.
The laft part of the advertifement will
not indeed be fo earily fupplied. Mr.
Forbes was a gentleman of much expe-
rience and fkill in this Iluibandry ; he
was an unconceited man of integrity ;
and was actuated by no bye-views that
could interfere with his earneit, defire to
promote this Engliih method of agri-
culture, which, after long 'practice,
checked by found theory, he found to
be the belt.
A 3 Whether
vi TO THE READER.
Whether any perfon, equally to be
relied upon, can be found to do the
good fervice to our Hufbandry that Mr-
Forbes propofed, mult be left to time to
difcover. But the public may be affuredy
that no other will be prefented to them
in any connection 'with the Editor of the
prefent work.
TO
TO THE
i
RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE
EARL of MARCHMONT^
THIS
TREATISE
ON THE NEW
HUSBANDRY
IS, WITH GREAT RESPECT, INSCRIBED
BY HIS LORDSHIP'S
MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
II V
. .
■
I
'
[ k ]
INTRODUCTION.
SOME late Writers on Agriculture
having raifed objections to the New
Hufbandry ; it was thought necefTary, and
the molt agreeable method, to fatisfy
the publick of the great utility of this
Hufbandry, to produce from authors of
credit their extenfive experience and
fuccefsful practice of this culture for a
long feries of years ; which it is pre-
fumed will fully prove, that its principles
are founded in nature, and that the ge-
neral practice thereof will be a national
benefit.
ABSTRACT
C si 3
ABSTRACT
O F
THE, CONTENTS.
THE different methods of cultivating
land in the Old and New Hus-
bandry for corn.— The food of plants;
different opinions concerning it. Plants
receive it principally by their roots,
and from the earth ; but common earth
is not that food ; it is communicated
to the earth from the atmofphere, in
proportion to the quality of the foil. —
The firft hints of the New Hufbandry
taken from the Vineyards in Languedoe,
by Mr. TulL, the firft inventor of the
drill-plough, and new fyftem of vege-
tation.— His fuccefs in the culture of
wheat upon ordinary land, without ma-
nure, for thirteen years, by means of
deejp
xii ABSTRACT OF
deep hoeing. The caufes of this effect. — -
Not neceffary for farmers to know fhe
nature of the vegetable food ; but very
ufeful for them to know, that it is de-
rived from the atmofphere. — The dif-
ferent methods of hoeing, and the in-
ftruments adapted to each defcribed. —
Hoeing with a plough fuperior to all
others, and the reafons. — Objections to
this hufbandry confidered and anfwered ;
particularly thofe made by Mr. Harrifon,
and the author of the Farmer's Kalendar.
—The ufe -of manure in the Old Hufban-
dry admitted, and to many hoed crops ;
but not neceffary for wheat and other
corn, proved from Mr. TulFs fuccefs,
and from the fuccefs of feveral eminent
cultivators in Britain, who have praCtifed
this hufbandry extenflvely, and upon
various forts of land, from eight or nine
to near thirty years. — The profit of this
beyond the Common Hufbandry fhewn.
— Dung and manures of great ufe, when
applied properly ; otherwife very pre-
judicial to the farmer. A finking in-
flance of this given. — Land well horfe-
hoed
THE CONTENTS. xiii
hoed requires no reft. Greater crops of
turnips obtained thereby, than by hand-
hoeing, (hewn by an accurate compari^
fo.i. — The Alternate Hufbandry defcri-
bed, and (hewn to be much inferior to the
New Hufbandry, with refpect to profit. —
The Hoeing Hufbandry of univerfal ufe,
applicable to plants in general, and in
all climates, exemplified in the culture
of the fugar-cane ; may be pradtifed
to great advantage, where little or no
manure can be had, either on light
land, or very ftiong land, of difficult
culture in the Old ilufbandry. — The
fuperior advantages of the New Huf-
bandry, in feveral refpects, to the far-
mer, and to the publick.. — Other ex-
amples given of the comparative advan-
tages of the Old and New Hufbandry ;
and the New proved to be the molt
profitable, from a feries of crops of eight
years continuance; and the New (hewn
to be the leaft expenfive. — The New
proved to be the mod advantageous, from
a companion with the molt improved
culture in the Old Hufbandry in Suf-
folk,
i
xiv ABSTRACT, &c.
folk, near Scarborough, and in Switzer-
land. Some miftakes in the praitife or
the New, in England, pointed out ; and
remarkably in Ireland. — A very late
and valuable author, a favourer of the
New Hufbandry. ■ Some obfervations
upon his method, and the inftruments
he recommends, with improvements. —
Many remarkable experiments made in
France and Italy, which confirm the
principles of the New Hufbandry ; but,
throughout this effay, are fully proved
by practical examples in Britain, from
perfons of undoubted credit and charac-
ter, of very extenfive prac~tife on various
forts of land, and for a courfe of years.
— And the objections of fome modern
authors, anfwered ; and fhewn to be
erroneous and inconclulive.
ADVER-
[ XV ]
ADVERTISEMENT.
WHEREAS many perfons, defiling
to practife the New Hufbandry,
have been difcouraged from attempting
it, for want of the proper inftruments ;
the author of this treatife hath under-
taken to furnifh the inftruments for that
Hufbandry, upon an improved conftruo
tion, and at the loweft prices ; and, to
prevent impofition, all that are genuine
will be ftamped with his name ; and a
note, figned by him, will be fent with
fuch inftruments only as fhall have been
examined and approved of by him. As
foon as the firft of thefe inftruments is
ready (which will be in a few weeks),
public notice thereof will be given in the
Daily Advertifer, and in the St. James's
Chronicle.
If the purchafers of thefe inftruments
fhall find any difficulty in ufing them,
pr of praclifing the New Hufbandry in
any other refpect, and pleafe to com-
municate the fame by letter, with their
addreft
xvi ADVER T/I:S E M E N T.
addrefs, to the publimer hereof, the
author will anfwer their letters, endea-
vour to explain the difficulties that may
'.arife, and, for the benefit of the pub-
lic, will publifh the fame occafionallyy
together with fudi valuable and authen-
o
tic experiments in Agriculture, as his
correspondents lliall favour him With, as
foon as they amount to a fmall volume.
sept.n, i777. Francis Forbes.
the;
t » T
OF T HE
NEW HUSBANDRY,
AND
The Importance of it to Britain*
TH E New Hufbandry is an improvement
of the Old : but the tillage is performed
in a different manner, and at different times.
In the Old Hufbandry, the tillage, viz, the
ploughing and harrowing, is done firft : the
ploughing, to open the land ; and the har-
rowing, to make it fine, and get out the weeds.
Dung, or other manure, is then fpread upon
the land, which is ploughed-in ; and then the
feed, as of wheat, or other corn, is fown by
hand, broad-caft, which is covered by the
plough or harrow. Nothing more is ufually
done till harveft, except weeding, when the
weeds are grown up pretty large. Dung pro-
motes the growth of weeds j and though many
B of
% THE PRACTICE OF THE
of the large weeds are pulled up, the others
remain, run to feed, and fill the land with
weeds ; and thefe, together with thofe that
were pulled up, and a large quantity of feed-
corn, very much impoverifh the land. To
fupport thefe, and keep the foil open for the
roots to fpread in it, dung is added to the til-
lage : but, as the land receives no more tillage
while the crop is growing, from feed- time to
harveft, which for wheat is from Septem-
ber to Auguft, or^ about ten months, and
more in very light land, the land during that
time becomes ftale and hard, particularly
flxong land ; for the tillage, to open the land,
makes it lighter and more porous than it was
naturally ; but no fooner is the tillage finimed,
than the earth begins to fettle and fubfide,
and continues to do fo till it recovers its na-
tural fpecific gravity, and it then becomes as
clofe and confolidated as it was before any til-
lage was beftowed upon it. This gradually
xonfines the tender roots of the plants, fo
that they cannot fpread and extend fo much
as in open and porous ground ; and by this
means many of the plants have not fufricient
nourishment ; many of them are thereby
ftinted, and not a few are ftarved, and die ;
as is plainly feen in all crops of wheat fown
broad- caft, with a large proportion of feed.
Thefe inconveniencies are prevented by the
New Hufbandry. The land is made very
clean from weeik at firft, by planting fingle
rows
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. J
rows of large plants, upon ridges, between
four and five feet broad, as of turnips, beans,
&c. Thefe are horfe-hoed alternately, by
ploughing away the earth from the rows of
plants, firfr. from one fide ; and after returning
the earth to the row, plough the earth away
from the other fide, and thus alternately ;
allowing a proper fpace of time between
each hoeing, viz. till the weeds begin to grow,
and fo as never to fuffer the earth of the in-
tervals to grow hard or ftale, and always to
hoe when the earth is dry, and will break
and crumble into fmall parts, called pulve-
rizing. Thefe hoeings, being repeated, will
deftroy the weeds in the intervals ; and the
weeds next to and in the rows are likewife
eradicated, by pulling them down with a hand
hoe, and weeding the rows by hand. In
this manner the land may be made clean ;
and till it is fo, thefe crops of turnips or beans
mould be repeated, which will be no lofs to
the owner : for they will not only pay all ex-
pences, but will alio produce a clear profit;
and are therefore preferable to fallowing, un-
lefs the land is uncommonly foul.
The land, being thus made clean, will alfo
be in fine tilth ; fo that once ploughing it
will be fumcient to form new ridges, of about
four feet nine inches wide, upon the former
intervals, and then the middle of the ridges
will confift of fine tilled mould, upon which
two rows of wheat are to be drilled, nearly
B 2 twa
4 THE PRACTICE OF THE
two inches deep, with about three pecks of
feed to the acre. This is the largeft quantity
ufually drilled ; and the fmallelr. quantity
about two pecks to an acre, when (own early
and in very good land. In this method land
is drilled with wheat to be horfe-hoed, the
partitions to be hand-hoed, and the rows to
be hand weeded ; that the land may be kept
clean, and no weeds fufTered to run to feed,
or to grow large, which fhould be carefully
prevented. The land thus cultivated will be
kept clean ; nor can i: grow hard and ftale,
as- in the Old Hufbandry ; for it is to be re-
peatedly hoed in the intervals with the hoe-
plough, and the partition between the double
rows, which are ten inches aiunder, are hoed
and kept clean with the hand-hoe ; by thefe
operations, the land is kept loofe and open,
and in an high ftate of pulverization, all the
time the crop is growing j which fo encou-
rages the plants to fpread their roots, to form
new ones, and furnilhes them with fuch abun-
dant nourilhment, that they tiller or branch
greatly ; produce larger ears and fuller grain
than one commonly produced from wheat
fown broad call: with three times the quantity
of feed ; and, what is of great value, the
hoed wheat crops, if the hoeing is well per-
formed, require no dung or other manure ;
which is not only a faving of the principal
expence of broad-call: wheat, but alfo enables
. the owner to conquer the weeds, as none are
brought
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 5
brought to heed wheat among dung or other
manure.
It is found by experience that the deep or
horfe-hoeing enriches the land, not only to
produce a {ingle crop of wheat (which is all
that is commonly obtained of fown wheat);
but to fo great a degree, that a fecond third,
and a iucceflion of wheat crops, are obtained
by this culture, for as many years iucceflively
upon the lame land, as the owner thinks proper
to cultivate it in this manner by the hoe-
plough, and that without manure. This is an
uncommon circumftance ; for conftant fuccef-
(ive crops of wheat cannot be obtained in the
common hulbaudry, even with the affittance of
manure ; nor is it ulual for farmers to iow land
with wheat even two years iucceflively,
though manured.
Land is impoverished, in fome degree, by
every crop taken from it, whether of wheat
or other corn; which all farmers allow, and
are feniible of, and they endeavour to reftore
the land, and recover its loft fertility, by til-
lage, fallowing, and manure. They do not
apprehend that tillage and fallowing alone
will recover it, and heic no manure is ufed;
whence then is the land recruited with vege-
table nourilhmcnt, as in this cafe, that it is
able to bear crops of wheat, year after year?
And this not only w.thout being impove-
rished ; but, on the contrary, land of mo-
derate fertility is found to become more fer-
B a tilt
6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
tile by this tillage, well performed* though
it bears a crop every year. This is totally
different from the effects of the common
Hufbandry ; though the land in that Huf-
bandry has the afhttance of manure, and the
hoed wheat crops have no fuch afliftance.
This recruiting of the foil is not the confe-
quence of tillage and hoeing ; thele do in-
deed break, divide, and pulverize the foil ;
but breaking, dividing, and pulverizing, are
mere mechanical operations ; they add no
new matter to the land, and are therefore fo
far of themfelves from enriching land, that
they only prepare it for the roots of plants
to run and extend in it the more freely, which,
inftead of enriching the land, only prepares it
to be more readily exhaufted of its fertility,
for the more pabulum, or the more nutritious
aliment, the roots draw from the land, the
poorer the land becomes, and the lefs flock of
nourifhment is left in it, to fupport the next
crop. Tillage therefore, ploughing, har-
rowing, and hoeing, add nothing to the fer-
tility of land ; they only prepare and open
the land, for the roots to run, extend, and
multiply in it ; this helps to nourifh the
plants, yet does not add to the fertility of the
land, but only prepares it to be the more
quickly exhaufted of the vegetable nourifh-
ment.
. I have infifted upon this the more particu-
larly, becaufe farmers do not ufually attribute
3 their
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. J
their land recovering its fertility to any thing
but dung and manure; and thole late authors,
who mean to decry the New Hufbandry, do
not appear to comprehend the true practice of
it, nor the principles upon which it is found-
ed ; as we (hall have occafion to fhew, and to
prove that its principles are founded in na-
ture.
The operations of nature are not the ob-
jects of our fenfes ; they are too abftrufe and
fubtle to be difcovered by us : for which rea-
fon, we know not certainly what is the vege-
table food, or that matter which intimately
joins, and unites with, the fubftance of
plants, and whereby they are enlarged and
nourished. Several learned and ingenious
men have endeavoured to difcover this, but
hitherto without fuccefs; and they differ
much in opinion. So that, if this were ne-
ceflary to be known, it does not appear that
farmers, or any cultivators of land, could
attain to any certain principles of vegetation :
and, what is ftill of further importance,
we are not certain whether the knowledge of
the foud of plants would enable us to derive
any practical advantages from it.
It appears from experiments, that the leaves
of plants imbibe air and moifture ; and with
thefe, other kinds of matter ; but the prin-
cipal fource of the vegetable food is univer-
ially allowed to be derived from the earth,
whence plants receive their nourishment
B 4 chiefly
8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
chiefly by means of their roots, and princi-
pally by their fibrous or fmall roots ; for they
are feen, by good microfcopes, to be fpongy
or porous on their furface. The vegetable
food enters at thefe pores, and, by a wonder-
ful mechanifm, is thence conveyed to the fe-
veral parts of the plant.
If the earth were denfe and folid, the roots
of plants could not penetrate into it, to col-
lect nourifhment : but all earth confifts of
parts of various' fizes, from dones and gravel,
to fine fand and an impalpable powder. This
is feen by diflblving earth in water, in a tall
glafs; wherein the earth, when broken,
mixed and dhTolved in water, will fettle,
the larged and weightied parts defcending
fird, and the reft in order, according to their
feveral refpective gravities; the fined and
lighted parts fubfiding laft of all, and fettling
at top. This fubdance that fettles at top is
very vifible in grofs ; but the parts of it next
the top are fo exceedingly minute, that their
figure and confidence cannot be didinguiihed
by the naked eye, and the fined of them not
even by the affiftance of the greated magni-
fiers. It is eaiy to obtain this fined part, by
. taking it off the top of the glafs ; or it may be
obtained feparate, by warning over, in the
manner performed by colourmen.
All forts of land have in them fbme of this
fine matter in different proportions. Gravelly
foils have but little of it; fandy foils have
more
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 9
more (except (heer, ftiarp fands, which con-
tain none of it, or very little): but rich
loams, and rich clays, contain the largeft
proportion. This matter, fo far as it can be
traced by the eye or microfcopes, appears to
be fand, and probably it is all fand; for fucli
of it as is too fine to be denominated fo with
certainty, has the fame colour and appear-
ance as that part of it that is feen to be fand.
There are other means of difcovering the na-
ture and qualities of the rlneft part of this
matter : and it is recommended to the curious
to examine it further.
The furface of fmall bodies is larger than
the furface of bodies that are greater, in pro-
portion to their relpe&ive folidities ; and
when the furfaces of the lmaller bodies are
joined, they touch in more points than the
larger, and therefore cohere more ftrongly.
Hence clayey foils have a ftronger cohelion
than loams whofe parts are larger; and, for
the fame reafon, loams cohere more ftrongly
than fands or- gravels. Pure clays, having
neither (tones nor coarfe fand in them, co-
here very ftrongly, are of difficult tillage,
and require great ftrcngth of cattle ; whereas
fands having larger parts, and touching ill
few points, are loofe and eafily tilled ; fomc
of them tilled as eafjly by one horle as ftrong
clays are by three or four. A loam that con-
fifts of a juft proportion of large and fmall
parts,
10 THE PRACTICE OF THE
parts, is flexible, fuitable to all forts of
plants, and profitable to cultivate.
The roots of plants are of different degrees
of ftrength. Beans and oats penetrate into
clofe ftrong land, better than barley ; and
tap-rooted plants pufh their tap-roots deep in
the ground ; but their lateral or fide roots, as
of carrots, are (lender and weak ; yet are the
carrots or tap-roots nourifhed by the .weak
lateral roots ; for when the weak lateral roots
are able to penetrate and extend, as in light
fandy foils, the tap-roots alfo grow ftrong
and penetrate deep into the ground ; but in
ftrong foils, where the lateral roots are con-
fined by the hard, clofe earth, and they can-
not collect much nourishment, the tap-roots
alfo fuffer, and are unable to penetrate deep
into the ground. If carrots are in ftrong
land, their lateral roots cannot extend and
collecl: nourifhment for the plant, which then
declines ; but if the ftrong land is lightened,
and kept open by good hoeing, not only the
weak, lateral roots are at liberty to range for
food, but the carrots, or tap-roots, are there-
by fo much ftrengtheued, that they penetrate
into the earth below, even though it remains
-hard, and deeper than it is opened by the
plough.
Jt appears, in this and in many other cafes,
that plants receive their nourishment princi-
pally by means of their fibrous or fmall roots;
but whence are the roots fupplied with this
nourifh-
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. II
nourimment ? Many farmers and others think,
that the earth is recruited of the vegetable
nourishment by manures: but what recruits
the land that is not manured, and yet conti-
nues to bear annual crops of wheat ; and not
only wheat, but all other horfe-hoed crops ;
as of barley, or other corn ; and that may be
had every year fucceflively, without manure ?
Annual crops of peafe, beans, tares, and
other plants may be continued without manure;
and fo large plants, as vines are thus cultivated,
and annually produce large quantities of grapes,
without any manure at all: the low vineyards
in France and Italy, which produce the beft
wines, are not manured, nor have any other
afliftance but the hoeings given by the
plough. This is therefore the great point to
be confidered, the difcovery of which will
explain the true fyftem of vegetation, and the
principal foundation of the New Hulbandry.
Some have fuppofed, that roots feed upon
the fine particles of earth : but this cannot be
admitted ; for by much the greater part of
land confifts of ftones, gravel, and fand ;
which are all too grofs and folid to nourim
plants, or to enter the extremely minute pores
of roots : or, if plants could be nourifhed by
fine earth, the proportion of it is fo fmall, in
moft forts of land, that if a quantity of it,
furficient to nourim the plants, was carried off
by every crop of corn and weeds, they would
carry off fuch large quantities, and carrots,
parfnips, cabbages, potatoes, and other large
plants,
12 THE PRACTICE OF THE
phnts, ib many tons every year, that the
richeft land would be foon exhaufted of all its
fine parts, and, if carried away by the crops,
could never be recruited again, but the land
would be exhaufted of all its fertile parts,
and would remain for ever after emaciated
and totallv barren ; which is coutrarv to ex-
perience ; for the lands that were noted for
their fertility and depth one or two centuries
ago are known to continue the fame to this
day; they have ftill the fame depth of ftaple,
and the fame remarkable fertility, that they
had in former times ; whereas, had every crop
for a feries of ages, or only for one or two
centuries, carried off part of their fertile
earth, they muft long ago have been totally
exhaufted of their fertility. We muft there-
• fore endeavour to difcover elfe where the ge-
nuine fource of the vegetable nourifhment, by
which fuch weighty crops are obtained every
year, without diminifhing the lb .1.
The earth is furrounded by a fluid body,
commonly called the air, but more properly
the atmofphere, which confifcs of all kinds of
matter, of air, water, ialts, oil, fire, and
earths of every kind ; for all the volatile
parts that arife from the fea, from lakes,
rivers, and other waters, or mo.ft places ; all
the exhalations from the earth, from hills,
vallies, caverns, < mines, or other dry places
that are lighter than air, afcend into it, float,
r.nd mix there: the perforation likewife from
trees
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 13
trees and all plants, from living animal bo-
dies, and thole in a (late of putrefaction or
diflolution by fire or other agents ; all thefe,
and every kind of volatile matter lighter
than air, afcend into it, and compofe that
fluid body called the atmofphere. In this body
are contained the molt active parts of matter,
and the principles, or elements, of all natural
bodies. This fluid body furrounds the earth's
furface, and, being conftantly in contact
with the earth, muft have very great influence
upon it ; and in fact we fee it has fo ; for heat
and cold, drought and moifture, dews or rain,
fnow and froft, do all proceed from the fun
and atmofphere ; they direct the feafons and
temperature of the air and earth, and are the
great caufcs of its fertility, or of its barren-
net's. .
Rain and dews contain the vegetable nou-
riihment in confiderable quantities; and it is
. by them introduced and depofited in the foil.
If the foil be loofe and porous, they intro-
duce it to a confiderable depth, as in light
fandy land ; but (tiff loams and clays being
much more clofe and compact, the rain and
dews do not eafily penetrate into them, or but
to a fmall depth ; for which reafon, fuch
clofe lands are enriched by them near the fur-
face only.
This is feen in land that has lain fome time
at reft, whereof the furface, called the ftaple,
is of a fomewhat darker colour, and richer
than
14 THE PRACTICE OF THE
than the earth that lies deeper; for which
reafon, gardeners, when making compofts,
chufe for that purpofe, the furface of com-
mons or paftures, which they find to be the
richeft part of thefe foils. The dark colour
of the ftaple is from the influence of the
atmofphere, to which the furface of the land
is moft expofed, and is always richer than the
earth below; even though the lower earth
be naturally of the fame, or of a better qua-
lity than the ftaple. But if this under-earth
is brought up to the furface, and expofed to
the atmofphere, it will in time be impreg-
nated by the atmofphere, and become as rich
as the ftaple. It will, however, require time
to become as rich as the ftaple, more or lefs,
as it is more or lefs ftrong or light, and per-
vious to the atmofphere ; for, as before ob-
served, ftrong, clofe earth is not fo eafily pe-
netrated, by the rains, dews, and other in-
fluences of the atmofphere ; nor do they go
{o deep in them, nor in fo fhort a time, as
they do in lighter foils, that are more open,
and more eafily penetrated by the dews, rain,
heat and cold, drought and moifture, of the
atmofphere.
Hence it appears, that the richnefs of land
does not confift in the nature and qualities
of the foil itfelf, but in fomething extraneous
that adheres to it, that is communicated to it
by the atmofphere, and that it may be di-
verted of by the roots of plants ; for it feems
to
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 1$
to adhere elofely to the particles of the foil,
anil is not eafilv feparated from them by any
other means than by the roots of plants : all
land enriched by the atmofphere continues fo,
in different ftates; if laid down to pafture in
a rich itate, it will be found rich, when broken
up for arable, years afterwards : but, after
it is brokm up, it is foon impoverished by a
few crops taken from it ; unlefs care is taken,
that it be at the fame time recruited with new
vegetable food.
That the vegetable food is fomething dis-
tinct from the earth, not natural to it, but
adventitious, is derived elfewhere, and capable
of adhering to it, or of being detached from
it, in a greater or lefs degreee, has been ob-
ferved by fome hufbandmen, whereof we have
a remarkable inftance in Mr. Lifle*s Hulban-
dry ; who, fpeaking of the fertility of land
being abated by cropping it, fays, that this is
perceivable by the colour and appearance of
the land. " For,*' fays he, " this vegetable
•' balfam, though fo difficult to fay wherein
•* it confifts, yet, it may be averred, is as eafily
"** feen as underftood: for, though almoft as
«« fubtle as a phantom, yet its marks are
" clearly difcovered by the diligent hulband-
*« man, converfant about arable land. We
«c can eafily perceive, by the different colour
•• of our land (as it turns up under the
« plough), whether it has borne one, two,
" three, or four crops ; and how, in propor-
«« tion,
l6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
46 tion, the virtue is gone out of it. And as
m fenfible are we, by its reft, and lying to
44 pafture, how, with its vigour, it renews alfo
44 its colour. We do not better fee and know
44 when the plumb or grape is covered with,
" or has loft, its bloomy hue, than we know
44 by the colour the fertility of our foil :
44 which colour arifes from the principles be-
M fore intimated, of dung, air, fire, earth,
44 &c. mingled together; which, by often
44 fowing, are abforbed into the corn in too
44 liberal a manner, to be renewed by a daily
44 recruit from thofe elements."
This obfervation of Mr. Lille's is agreeable
to what is faid above; that the fertility of
land is not any thing permanent in it, but is
fluctuating, fubject to be carried away by the
crops, and reftored to it again by the atmo-
fphere. Mr. Lifle attributes that partly to
dung ; but we (hall (hew hereafter, that
thefe changes happen in land from the atmo-
fphere only, and where no dung or other ma-
nure is ufed.
It is further obfervable, that land is enriched
by the atmofphere in proportion to the na-
ture and quality of the finer parts of it : for
all land is not equally enriched, though
equally expofed to the atmofphere. The
fheer, (harp fands, in many places, appear to
be incapable of attracting or receiving the ve-
getable food ; for they continue barren for
ages, though conftantly expofed to the atmo-
fphere,
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. IJ
fphere, as do alfo the miffing fands in Nor-
folk and other places : for no feed or plant
will vegetate in thefe finds, nor in chalk, and
fome other calcareous earths, not even in
thofe hills of chalk that have for ages lain
expofed to the atmofphere, and though the
chalk confifts of exceeding fine parts.
The co'mmon method of preparing land for
wheat is by fallowing and drefling it with
dung or other manure, and, as before ob-
ferved, after the feed is fbwn and harrowed
in, nothing more is ufually done to it till har-
veft, unlefs the land be foul ; and then the
wheat is weeded in the fummer. The quan-
tity of feed fown is from two and a half to
about three bufhels ; the crop is uncertain ;
fome years from thirty to forty bufhels per
acre, upon good land ; and in others, not
above half that quantity.
Another method of cultivating wheat was
introduced by Mr. Tull; who, going abroad
on account of his health, was fome years in
Italy and the fouth of France. He was a cu-
rious obferver of their agriculture, particularly
of the low vineyards in Languedoc. They
plant their vines there in ftraight lines, about
four feet diftant, and frequently plough be-
tween them ; which deftroys the weeds, and
keeps the land in tilth. With this culture
the vines produced good crops annually, unlefs
the tillage happened to be omitted ; for then
the vines languifhed, and produced but little
C wood,
l8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
wood, difcoloured leaves, and fmall bunches
of poor {tinted grapes : but foon after the tillage
was renewed, the vines recovered, and yielded
large clutters of grapes, and good crops, as
they had done before. Thefe vines are low,
their heads juft above ground, and their head*
and roots being fo near together, they found
that dunging the vineyards in that hot cli-
mate, in order to obtain larger crops, gave
the wine a bad tafte ; and therefore the only
culture they beftowed was tilling the land be-
tween them with the plough, a practice that had
been continued there for ages j and which the
natives faw without making any reflections
upon it: but Mr. Tull faw it in a different
liglv, and as a law of nature, leading to a
general fyftem of vegetation, that was appli-
cable in other countries, and upon other
plants. He was a lover of agriculture, had
before praclifed it upon a farm he had in Ox-
fordfhire; particularly upon fainfoin, which
he had much improved : for the cultom before
that was to fow feven or eight bulhelsof feed
upon an acre of land ; but he there in-
vented a drill-plough, which fowed his land
with one or two pecks of fainfoin feed; and
produced better crops than were commonly
raifed from eight bufhels ; and with this drill-
plough he likewife fowed wheat in equidiflant
rows, a foot afunder, and hand- hoed it ; and
by this method, obtained better crops than
common, and at a lefs expence. Some who
appear defirous of depreciating Mr. Tull,
have
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 19
have pretended, that he was not the firft in-
ventor of the drill-plough, and that it was
firft invented, fome fay in Spain, fome in
Germany, and fome in England, and for this
they quote the Spanifh Sembrader, Mr. Wor-
lidge's drill-plough, Platte's fetting-fticks,
and fome others, all which were only propo-
fals ; and a method that feemed defirable to
fave feed : but there is no proof of any other
inftrument that really performed this at large
in the fields ; and what is of (till more con-
fequence', the great merit of Mr. TulFs huf-
bandry does not confift in the drill-plough,
though a very ingenious invention, but in the
new method of culture introduced by him, as
will plainly be (hewn hereafter.
Having recovered his health, he returned to
England, and fettled upon a farm he had near
Hungerford in Berkshire, called Proiperous
Farm, where he began his horfe-hoeing, or
New Husbandry, upon turneps and potatoes ;
which fucceeded fo well, that he extended it
to wheat, upon part of a field, which he
made very clean from weeds, and drilled it
with wheat ; but finding, that ridges were
preferable, he laid his land up into fix feet
ridges, and drilled two, three, or four rows
upon each ridge, feven inches diftant : fo that
between the rows of each ridge, there was a
fpace or interval left, of about four feet, to
be deep hoed with a plough, and the parti,
tions between the rows were cultivated with
the hand-hoe. This fucceeded fo well, that
C 2 he
20 THE PRACTICE OF THE
he had good crops, fbme years four or five
quarters upon an acre, from three pecks of
feed, which was the greateft quantity he
ufually drilled upon an acre. The neigh-
bouring farmers were furprized, to fee fuch
crops raifed from fo fmall a quantity of feed,
and from only about a fifth or fixth part of the
land fowed ; and dill more fo, that the fame
land produced fuch crops every year, without
fallow, reft, or manure : but as they did not
underftand the principles of this culture, few
of them attempted it : they are in general
averfe to innovations in Hufbandry, and were
fo particularly in this cafe, as it was fo different
from the Hufbandry they had been accuf-
tomed to.
Mr. Tull however proceeded in this Huf-
bandry, and extended his wheat crops gra-
dually from a part of a field, to one hundred
and twenty acres.
In the mean time, feveral noblemen and
gentlemen came, and viewed thefe wheat
crops; and being convinced, that extending
this Hufbandry would be very advantageous
to the public, they periuaded Mr. Tull to
publifh his method of culture j which he at
laft complied with, and printed it, firfr. a Spe-
cimen in 1 73 1, and an EfTay on the Horfe-
hoeing Hufbandry in the year 1733. He
continued to cultivate wheat, in this manner,
with fuccefs, for thirteen years ; and in that
time made feveral improvements in his me-
thod
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 21
thod of cultivating wheat ; which, together
with anfwers to the objections, which he tin-
derftood had been made to his Hufbandry,
he publifhed at different times, to the year
1739, which was about two years before his
death : after which his Hufbandry was very
little practifed in England. The farmers did
not come into it -, and being alfo difliked by
the fte wards and bailiffs of fome noblemen
and gentlemen, who had engaged in it, very
few continued to prattife it, after Mr. Tull's
deceafe.
But his EfTay, or Method of Hufbandry,
publifhed in 1733, being tranflated into French,
M. du Hamel, a curious gentleman in France,
began to try experiments in this Hufbandry ;
and he, and feveral of his correfpondents,
being much furprized at the effect of horfe-
hoeing wheat, they extended that culture to
feveral other plants, which likewife fuc-
ceded ; and their experiments fully confirm
the principles of the New Hufbandry. Mr.
Du Hamel collected and publifhed thefe expe-
riments in French, and Mr. Mills tranflated
them into Englifh, which have induced many
perfbns in Britain to try this Hufbandry ; and
fome of them have praclifed it exteniively in
the fields, and for many years. As I had op-
portunity of knowing fome of thefe, and to
be well informed of other!:, by correfponding
with the perfons who made them, I have in-
C 3 ferted
22 THE PRACTICE OF THE
ferted fome of them, which are very valua-
ble, in the following pages.
Many, who had neglected to pra&ife the
New Hufbandry from Mr. Tull's own fuccefs,
were prevailed with to engage in it upon the
recommendation of thefe foreign gentlemen ;
and it is now making confiderable progrefs
among farmers, in the culture of beans, peafe,
and cabbages, and in fome meafure of wheat;
but not much in the way of horiehocing
wheat, which, though the mod profitable, is
more difficult to perform well, than it is to
drill and hand-hoe it. But they have found
little difficulty in applying the horfe-hoeing
culture to cabbages, particularly in the north
of England ; which indeed is ib neceflary to
thefe plants, that, unlefs they are fo culti-
vated, they would not anfvver to cultivate them
atal 1, for feeding cattle.
To have a juft notion of the benefits
of hoeing, it mould be obferved, that land
brought into fine tilth by the plough, as foon
as the ploughing is fmifhed, it begins to fettle,
and continues to do fo, as we have obferved,
till it becomes as clofe and confolidated as it
was before it was ploughed : by which means ;
many of the roots of plants growing in fuch
ground are confined and unable to extend and
ipread in it, to collect nourtmment for them.
To prevent this in fome meafure, the land is
dunged, and the dung, by fermenting in the
foil, contributes to keep it open longer than it
would
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 23
would continue fo by the ploughing only ;
but this is attended with an inconveniency to
the wheat, which is fo much forced by the
dung, that it grows too luxuariant in its in-
fancy, and occafions it to be rank, and apt to
lodge ; but having no new fupply of nourifh-
ment, it is then apt to be blighted, and pro-
duce a fmall crop of thin blighted corn. —
Wheat is only a fmall grafly plant for five
months, or more, after it is fown; in all which
time the earth is fubfiding, and the virtue of
the dung abating : fo that afterwards, as the
plants grow large, produce ears, and the
corn advances to maturity, it (lands in need of
more nourifhment than it did at firft, but is
in fa£t fupplied with lefs ; the confequence of
which is, that many of the plants die for
. want of proper nourifhment, and the reft are
dwarfed or ftinted : for it may be feen, while
it is in bloflbm, that the ears of Lammas
wheat are formed by nature to produce each
iixty, feventy, or more grains; yet the largeft
ears of broad-caft Lammas wheat do not
ufually produce more than forty grains of
wheat, aud, at an average, not half that
number j as has been found, by examining a
quantity of wheat in the ear before it was
thrafhed.
The New Hufbandry for wheat differs from
the Old in feveral refpefts : Firft, with re-
fpe& to dung, of which none is ufed in the
New Husbandry for that crop, but the earth
C 4 i
24 THE PRACTICE OF THE
is not furTered to fettle : for the ridges on which
the wheat is drilled, are hoed before winter,
as foon as the uheat has three or four blades,
by ploughing a furrow from each fide of the
ridge, within two or three inches of the
wheat, which remain fo till the fpring, till the
wheat begins to fpindle, and then the plough is
run along in the fame furrows that were made
before winter; the plough now going deeper,
and nearer to the rows of wheat, in order to
plough away the earth hardened in the win-
ter, that would now obftruct the roots of the
wheat from extending in the intervals. The
earth is then ploughed up in ridges, and this
has a fudden and vifible effect on the wheat ;
caufing it to grow luxuriantly, and of a
healthy dark-green colour. The wheat is
likewife now hand hoed between the rows,
and the two narrow flips of earth on the out-
lides of the wheat, which were left there by the
hoe- plough. In this fituation the land re-
mains, till the weeds begin to advance ; and
then the earth, in the intervals, is again
ploughed up to the rows, and the hand-hoe
made uie of between them; the rows are like-
wife hand- weeded, if neceffary. If the wheat
{lands fair, it is again hoed with the hoe-
plough, to and from the rows ; and if any
earth remains in the furrow between the
ridges, it is turned up to them with the hoe-
plough at two furrows; or with a double-
mold board-plough, which performs it at one
furrow,
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 25
furrow , and leaves a clear, open trench be-
tween the ridges. Thus the wheat has in all
at leaft fix hoeings, and one of them mould
be when the wheat begins to blofTom, and
another mould be done juft after it has
done bloilbming : for by thefe hoeings, the
wheat is made to blow ftrong, and to fill the
grain with flour. All the hoeings mould be
performed when the earth is dry. — Mr. Tull
directs fo many hoeings, in his Book of Huf-
bandry publimed in 1733, being then his
practice; but afterwards he altered his ridges,
making them narrower, and then found four
horfe-hoeings were fufficient.
He drilled his wheat for fome years upon
fix-feet ridges, and three rows upon each
ridge : but the hoe-plough coming near the
two outfide rows, they were improved fo
much more thereby, than the middle row
was by hand - hoeing, that they were al-
ways remarkably more vigorous, taller, and
fuller of corn, than the middle row. In or-
der to make the middle row equal to each of
the outfide ones, he raifed his ridges higher
in the middle, whereby the middle row had a
greater depth of mould to fpread its roots in ;
and then it was equal to the others. But he
fufpected this was no advantage, and that the
outfide rows, being deprived of the earth that
was added to the middle, the produce of them
was leflened more than was gained by the
middle rows, and upon trial he found it was
fo;
26 THE PRACTICE OF THE
fo; which determined him to leave out the
middle rows entirely, and to drill only two
rows upon a ridge. He then reduced his
ridges from fix feet to four feet and eight or
nine inches broad, and drilled two rows upon
each ridge, ten inches diftant. In this way,
the intervals between the double rows, to be
hand-hoed, were near four feet wide ; which
is the proper room for a hoe-plough. In this
method, he had better crops than before, and
recommends it as the beft. And his fervants
being now experienced in managing the hoe-
plough, he found f that four horfe-hoeings
were fufficient for a crop of wheat ; efpe-
ciallv as he could now hand-hoe the ten-inch
partitions deeper than the former feven-inch
ones. — After harvefr, all the preparation necef-
fary for a new crop is, to plough up the earth
in ridges upon the former intervals ; which is
eafiiy done, commonly at four furrows, or
v.x at moft. This is one whole ploughing,
and the four horfe-hoeings are equal to ano-
ther ploughing, or two common ploughings
in all to an acre of wheat.
It mayfeem very extraordinary, that a good
t rop of wheat can be raifed upon ordinary
land by fo fmaU a quantity of tillage ; and that
good fuccefTive crops of wheat can be raifed
by 'tillage alone, without any dung or ma-
nure, and without fallowing, or reft: feveral
circumftances concur to produce this effect,
the principal of which are the following :
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 2j
1. In common broad-caft fowing, the land
is feldom made fo clean from weeds as it
ouglit; nor can a broad-call: crop be kept fo
clean as a hoed one ; for which reafon, the
land fown broad-caft is much more exhaufted
of the vegetable food : weeds, being natives of
the foil, grow vigoroufly, and rob the corn
of much nourifhment, efpecially fuch of them
as run to feed ; which the weeds in hoed crops
are not fuffered to do, nor ever to grow large,
much lefs run to feed, where the hoeings and
weedings in the New Hufbandry are performed
as they ought.
2. The land fown broad-caft is alfo ex-
haufted by four or five times the number of
wheat plants more than the drilled ; upon
one is fown ten or twelve pecks of feed, and
ou the other is drilled three pecks; or, on
good land fown early, but two pecks : thefe
lupemumerary wheat plants, and many weeds,
greatly impoverifh the land, in the common
Hufbandry. — The land, it is true, is prepared
by fallowing and manure ; but, this being
done before the feed is fown, much of the
effect of them is fpent upon the wheat, while
the plants are young and fmall ; but they
have no frefh fupply of nourilhment when
they grow large and want it moil. This is
an unfavourable circumftance to fown wheat,
but the drilled is under a quite different ma-
nagement: for,
3. The
28 THE PRACTICE OF THE
3. The drilled wheat, while young, re-
quires only a fmall (hare of nourifhment. It
iubfifts then upon the vegetable food, remain-
ing in the foil after harveft, with what it
receives from the firfl horfe-hoeing. This
opens a furrow clofe to the rows of wheat in
autumn, whereby they are kept dry in winter,
which is of confequence to wheat. Ploughing
the earth then from the rows, deftroys the
weeds in the intervals ; and by turning and
expofing a large new furface, to the influ-
ences of the atmofphere, the land receives a
new flock of vegetable food. This is an im-
portant circumitance, and peculiar to the New
Hufbandry. The furface of the land at reft,
as before obferved, is made fertile, by ex-
pofure to the atmofphere ; but land that is
turned up by the plough, being open and in
tilth, is much more eafily penetrated by the
atmofphere than hard, ftale, land at reft ;
and is quickly impregnated with the vege-
table aliment, in the winter, by rain and froft,
and in fpring and fummer by the fun and
dews (for well hoed- land is as fine as garden
mould), which in the hot weather fall plen-
tifully in the night, and are imbibed by the
tine ipongy foil, as deep as the plough goes,
which is deeper than the fun exhales them in
the ddy. Whether the dews are attracted to
the finer parts of the foil, and communicated
from thence to the roots, or whether the
nutritious matter enters the earth, made
, porous
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 29
porous by the hoeings, and is ahforbed im-
mediately by the roots, may be doubtful; but
certain it is, that the earth, by the hoeing and
expofure, is greatly enriched, to fuch a de-
gree, as to give fufficient nourishment to the :
wheat ; for the repeated annual crops of it
have no other fupply of nourishment.
Thick fown wheat, that has the benefit of
good tillage and manure, is apt to run too
much to ft raw, and though it grows high, I
has frequently but fmall ears. Whereas
wheat well hoed does not grow fo tall, but
tillers or branches much, from five to ten
or fifteen items riling from one grain, and
from fome to a greater number ; the ears are
alfo almoft' twice the length of fown wheat,
and the grain much larger. The advantage
of the New Husbandry over the old, dues iiot
however con lift in the largenefs of the crops
of wheat (for they are frequently not greater' *'
nor fo great as the fown crops), but in the
expence ; the expence of a hoed-crop being
commonly no more than about an eighth, and
Sometimes no more than a tenth part of the
expence of a fown crop, upon the fame
land.
I have been particular in defcribing the
culture of wheat in the New Husbandry; Dot
only becaufc it is a valuable one to the
farmer, but becaule it requires more Skill to
cultivate it well, than any other crop of corn.
Mr. Tull took great paitu to bring it to
perfection.
30 THE PRACTICE OF THE
perfection. And whoever can cultivate a crop
of wheat well, in this Hufbandry, will
not find much difficulty in raifing other
crops.
The old Hufbandry not being ufually con-
ducted upon fcientific principles, and the
New being founded upon them, has been
maue an objection to it j becaufc the objectors
fuppoie, that common farmers cannot under-
ftand the nature of the food of plants, and in
what manner they are nourifhed by it : but
thoie who make fuch objections do not feem
to undei fraud the New Hufbandry, wherein it
is not necefl'ary for farmers to be acquainted
with thefe philoiophical points. The curious,
it is true, have endeavoured to determine
them; but the operations of nature* are not
the objects of our fenies, and are too abftrufe
to be difcovered by the mod acute philo-
fbphers, who differ in opinion concerning the
vegetable food or aliment, and in what man-
ner plants are nourifhed by it : but the prin-
cipal points neceilary to be known are, whence
that food is derived, and by what means it
may be obtained. Thefe are intelligible to
farmers; they may know, that the air or at-
mofphere has an influence upon the furface
! of land that is expofed to it; that the air,
fun, rain, dews, and froit, enrich land;
that the more earth is broken, opened, and
expofed, to receive thefe, the richer it wilL
be; and that the roots of plants will receive
the
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 3 1
the more nourimment from it; particularly
if the means of obtaining and communicating
that nourimment to them, is continued during
the time of their growth as it is found to be
by hoeing, and more efpecially by deep or
horfe-hoeing : this will be obvious to every
farmer : for thefe effects are extremely ob-
vious to every practifer;of this Hufbandry, who
gives his land due tillage, hoeing, and ex-
posure. There are feveral methods of hoeing,
performed by different initruments, and that
have different effects. The firil is the hand-
hoeing, which is pracYifed by all gardeners,
and now known to mod: farmers. It is very
ufeful to cut down weeds; but does not go
deep in the ground ; and for that reafon the
effect of it is but Superficial ; particularly tho
Dutch hoe, which cuts off the tops of the
weeds very near the furface, and this hoeing
is called fcuffing. — 2. The hoe drawn by
horfes, fome of them intended only to kill the
weeds, cutting the tops of them clofe to the
furface, as the (him or Ikim of Kent ; which
is a hoe made of a plate of iron, the fore part
of which is made lbarp to cut the weeds.
This and other plate hoes cut much in the
lame manner as the Dutch hoe ; they fcuffle
the furface of the ground, but more expe-
ditioufly and cheaper, being drawn by a horfe.
— Some are made to go deeper in the ground,
as the nidgct; which has three triangular
fmail hoes fixed in a frame: thefe go deeper
iq
4
32 THE PRACTICE OF THE
in the ground than the fhim, and ferve to de-
ftroy the weeds and to break and pulverize the
foil fome inches deep ; and in that refpect are
more beneficial than the plate hoes. — Others
are made to go deeper in the land, in the
manner of harrow tines ; thefe pull out weeds,
and ftir the ground deeper than the nidged ;
but do not kill the weeds fo effectually as the
plate hoes — One of the Gentlemen abroad,
the very ingenious M. De Chateauvieux, who
pracYifed the New Hufbandry, invented a long
triangular hoe, larger than thofe in the nidget,
which ftirs the ground deeper, but goes wholly
under ground, and raifes the mould as it paffes
along ; and as fbon as it has palled, the mould
finks down again, where it was before. This
inftrument he named the Cultivator.— -Thefe
and other inftruments, drawn by one or two
horfes, are by fome called horfe breaks, culti-
vators, and horfe hoes. But the horfe hoe is
properly a plough ; and hoeing with a plough,
is properly the New Hufbandry, and ihould
be fo named to diftinguifh that hufbandry from
all other methods of tillage.
The inftrument made ufe of for horfe hoe-
ing, is a plough, by fome made with (hafts,
but this is not neceffary. The fwing plough,
called the Rotheram, or patent plough; or the
common fwing plough, made ufe of in Middle-
fex, Surry, and fome other counties near
London, are proper for horfe hoeing. A fmall
fwing plough, without wheels, and having a
notched
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 23
notched bridle, at the fore-end of the beam,
to make the plough go more or lefs deep, and
to give more or lefs land, viz. to caufe the
plough to go more or lefs to the right or left, is
the inftrument proper for horfe-hoeing. This
plough is familiar to ploughmen in feveral
counties, (and the common fwing-ploughs
will do for this purpofe, fo as they are not too
clumfy), and provided the earth-boards, &c.
ftand a few inches higher than common, is
convenient in trench-hoeing, viz. when the
plough is drawn twice in the fame furrow, to
make it deeper ; for then a high earth or
mould-board turns all the earth fairly over to
the right, and prevents any or moft of it
from running back towards the left fide.—
The turning of the furrow expofes a new and
double furface to the immediate action of the
atmofphere : this is neceflary, that thefe fur-
faces may receive the inriching influences
thereof, the air, fun, dews, rain, &c. as deep
as the hoe-plough goes ; which, in trench-
hoeing, is to the depth of two common fur-
rows, and greatly enriches the land through
the whole fubitance of it ; the furface being
changed at every horfe-hoeing* — Thefe ad-
vantages of depth and expolure are peculiar to
this method of hoeing, which is properly the
horfe-hoeing, or New Hufbandry ; no other
method of hoeing is of equal advantage to
the crop, or to the land. They are only fo
D far
34 THE PRACTICE OF THE
far beneficial, as they approach nearer to the
horfe-hoeing.
Another inftrument made ufe of in the New
Hufbandry is, a double mould-board or earth-
board plough, with which furrows between
the ridges are deepened at lad, and which
clears the earth out of thefe furrows, throws
it all up to the ridges, and leaves a clear, deep
trench or furrow between the ridges ; this it
does at one draught or furrow, that would
require two furrows of the hoe-plough. The
earth-boards of this plough fhould be made
pretty high, that they may throw all the
earth up to the ridges on each fide : and it
would be convenient to make the two mould-
boards moveable, to be fet wider or narrower
one from the other, becaufe the ridges are
not always equally diftant ; and, by means of
the mould-boards being moveable, the earth
may be thrown up higher or lower upon the
ridges. This plough may have two fmall
fins, one on each fide of the fhare, and is
ufeful in the Common Hufbandry, to open fur-
rows in level ground, into which beans or po-
tatoes are to be dropped, and afterwards co-
vered with a harrow or hand hoe. Thefe two
ploughs being ufeful in the Common Hufban-
dry, and not peculiar to the New, are not
.properly chargeable to the New alone. — The
only inftrument of confequence, peculiar to
I the New Hufbandry, is the drill-plough,
whereof Mr. Tull's is the befl yet commonly
ufedj
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 35
ufed ; and is alfo cheap, if the feed-boxes are
made of hard wood. A very fhort ftone-
roller, plain or fluted, is alfo fometimes very
ufeful to be drawn along between the ridges
in flrong land, to break the clods there in
very dry weather ; which it will do verv ex-
peditioufly, reduce them to powder, and make
the earth fine, and in order to be turned up
to the ridges. Such a roller may be drawn in
a frame with (hafts, by which it is drawn by
one horfe.
Though the New Hufbandry promifes many
advantages to the judicious praclifers of it,
and to the public, it has not efcaped the cen-
fures of the prejudiced; but it has been cen-
fured chiefly by thofe who were not prac-
tifers, or did not perfectly underftand it. Of
thefe I (hail mention only a few late inftances.
Mr. Harrifon, author of the Farmer's Com-
plete Guide, recommends the Old Hufbandry
in general, and condemns the New. He has
borrowed a great deal from Mr. Young, who
recommends it for beans, and gives the fol-
lowing example of it. — Three half-acres of
the fame land were fown with tick-beans,
broad-caft, each with one bufhel of beans;
and one of thefe half- acres was twice hand-
hoed. The other half-acre was laid up in
five-feet ridges, drilled with three pecks of
beans, three rows of feed, at a foot diftance,
upon each ridge. Thefe had three hand-
hoeings, and were four times horle* hoed.
D 2 The
36 THE PRACTICE OF THE
BufheU. Peeks.
The broad-caft half-acre, not hoed, produced, 4 1
The half-acre, ditto, hand-hoed, produced 8 1
The half-acre, drilled and horfe-hoed, produced 13 2
We have here an inftance, that the New
Hufbandry is not generally known in Eng-
land, even by curious farmers. Mr. Tull
drilled fix feet ridges with three rows of
wheat ; but upon narrower ridges he drilled
but two rows, at ten inches diftance. It was
therefroe very improper to drill three rows
upon five ridges, of fuch large plants as beans.
The two partitions between the rows, of one
foot each, which was hand-hoed, took two
feet breadth of the ridge, in the deepeft part
of it; and only three feet, viz. a foot and an
half on each fide of the ridge, remained to
be horfe-hoed, being the fhalloweft part of the
ridge. The middle rows were not likely to
receive much benefit by horfe-hoeing fuch
fmall quantities of earth on the (hallow out-
fides of the ridges ; and had little more affifl-
ance than what it received from hand-hoeing,
which undoubtedly leflened the crop.— To
have feen the full effect of horfe-hoeing, there
fhould not have been a middle row upon fuch
narrow ridges. When Mr. Tull fowed three
rows of wheat upon fix-feet ridges, the
middle rows were remarkably fhorter and
poorer than the outfide rows, though the par-
titions
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 37
titions between the rows were but feven
inches each, and the hoe-plough came five
inches nearer to the middle rows of wheat
on each of them, than it did to the middle
rows of the beans 5 which fhews the impro-
priety of drilling three rows upon five-feet
ridges. — Here Mr. Young adds, " that, on a
" general furvey of experiments, carried much
*« further than the foregoing, it appears that
H the face of the matter is not altered, but
" ftill bears the fame complexion, with re-
•« gard to the different methods of lowing
•• abovementioned. In a courfe of no lefs
«' than nine experiments, the drilled beans
M have been found, after the payment of all
•f expences, to be fuperior to the broad-caft
«' by full two pounds and three (hillings per
<« acre, befides the difference of the land being
«« left in fo much better heart by the latter
" than the former. The fuperiority of the
" drill culture, as a preparation for wheat or
" barley, 1 do not think can be eftimated at
" lefs than fifteen millings per acre. Here is
•• a fuperiority of near three pounds an acre,
" in favour of drilling. Is it not evident,
•■ that this, in a large piece of ground of clay
« or loam, will amount to fome hundreds of
«* pounds per annum?"
Several other experiments are related by
Mr. Harrifon, alfo from Mr. Young, intended
to (hew, that in other crops, the Old Hufban-
dry is much fuperior to the New. It would
D 3 be
*8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
be unfair to fupprefs the evidence arifing from
experiments, as they are our fureft guides, in
determining the merits of every mode of huf-
bandry ; and no perfon, who impartially en-
quires after truth, will decline to allow the full
force of fuch evidence. But it is neceflary
that the experiments be related particularly,
which is not done here, except in one in-
ftance of a comparative experiment of both
forts of hufbandry, and continued for four
years, viz. 1764 to 1767, both incluiive,
which we fhall confider.
The Broad-cast Husbandry.
Expences. Produ&s.
1. s. d.
1764 Turnips 2 17 o
1765 Barley 2 5 11
1766 Clover 1 17 11
1767 Wheat 2 ii 10
912 8
Average 282
1. s. d. 1. s. d.
28 Tons 1 1 1 4 Lefs 164
33 Bufhels 4 19 o Profit 2 13 x
3 T011S19C.6 12 o Profit 4 14 i
20 Bufhels £140 Profit 322
18 16 4
4 14 I
10 9 4
2 12 1
Products.
* ■
The Horse-hoeing Husbandry.
Expences.
1. s. d.
1764 Fallow 1
1765 Wheat/ 5 *3 2
1766 Wheat 3 14 7
1767 Wheat 3 17 10
Average
»3 5 7
364
h s.
d.
26 Bufhels
Profit
* 3
4
13 Bufhels
9 Bufhels
Profit
Lofs
0 3
1 3
5
10
48 Bufhels
42 Bufhels
Profit
0 2
0 0
1 1
It
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 39
It was formerly the general cuftom tt> fal-
low land, intended for wheat, every third or,
fourth year, and in many places it is fo (till :
but of late years feveral farmers fubftitute a
hoed-crop of turnips or beans, or a crop of
clover, inftead of a fallow ; and by that
means they get a crop in the fallow year, and
fave the expence of fallowing. This is a va-
luable improvement in the Old Hufbandry ;
and with this improved Hufbandry the horfe-
hoed wheat crops are here compared. In a
comparifon of two methods of Hufbandry,
the trial that is to determine the merit of each
mould be fair and equal, which here it is not ;
a crop of turnips, obtained the fallow year, is
allowed by all to be profitable to the farmer;
and, if fo, mould not the New Hufbandry
have that benefit as well as the Old ? But in-
ftead of this, the Old Hufbandry has here the
advantage of a crop of turnips the firft. year,
and the New Hufbandry is charged with the
expence of a fallow, or has no advantage that
year. It is true, the crop of turnips is charged
as a lofing one, and would be really fb to ap-
pearance fome years, when the farmer is ob-
liged to give the turnip- land two or three
ploughings, harrowings, and feed, extraordi-
nary, on account of the turnips being repeatedly
deftroyed by the fly : but in the years when
that accident happens, and that the expence and
rent exceed the value of the turnips, they
are not even in fuch years unprofitable, be-
D 4 caufe
40 THE PRACTICE OF THE
caufe the repeated ploughings and harrowings
for the turnips improves the land and follow-
ing crops. We are not indeed informed of
par iculars, and from what circumftance' it
happened that this turnip-crop was a lofing
one ; which mould not have been omitted.
There is the fame objection to the other ar-
ticles, which, had they been related particu-
larly, the reafons of the ill fuccefs of the
Kew Hufbandry would have been feen ; for I
{hall produce feveral unexceptionable examples
of the fuccefs of the New Hufbandry, and
the great profit of fucceffive hoed crops of
wheat, for many years, on large tracts of dif-
ferent forts of land.
But even in the general manner, in which
thele horfe-hoed crops of wheat are ftated, it
will be very apparent to thofe who underftand
the New Hufbandry, that they were not culti-?
vated in the proper manner, according to that
Hufbandry. — For here the expences of the
fecond and third crops of wheat (wherein no
fallow is concerned J one of them is charged
at 3 1. 14 s. 7 d. and the other at 3 1. 17 s. 10 d.
which are much beyond the real expence of
horfe-hoed wheat crops, whereof the tillage
and feed is not above fourteen or 6fteen mil-
lings per acre, and of all expences, harveft-
home, they do not commonly exceed feventeen
millings per acre. Now, if the rent of this
land was fo high as eighteen (hillings per
acre, and that was included in this charge, the
expence
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 41
expence might then amount to 1 1. 15 s. but
this is not fo much as is charged here by
near two pound per acre. What then are we
to think of this experiment, brought to deter-
mine the merit of the New Hufbandryj
where, inftead of about 1 1. 15 s. per acre,
which is the higheft expence it would really
coft, it is charged at 3 1. 14 s. 7 d. ?
Another remarkable circumftance in this
experiment is, the decline of the drilled wheat
crops ; which the firft year was twenty-fix,
the fecond thirteen, and the third but nine
bufhels per acre. This, as will be fhewn
hereafter, is very different from the crops of
the cultivators, experienced in this hufbandry,
which are greater than the firft of thefe, and
do not decline as they did here ; but, on the
contrary, the laft crops at the end of twenty '
years are as good, and frequently better, than
at firft : for this culture duly performed im-
proves the land without manure, though it
produces every year a good crop of wheat.
Probably thefe drilled wheat crops were ma-
naged no better than the bean crops above-
mentioned were; three rows upon five-feet
ridges, and horfe-hoed only four times : but
there mould not be more than two rows of
wheat upon each ridge, with a partition of
about ten inches, and the ridges four feet
eight or nine inches. Experience has proved
four horfe-hoeings fufficient to obtain good
fucceffive crops from ordinary land thus laid
out
42 THE PRACTICE OF THE
out and cultivated. How this land was laid
out and cultivated, we are not told, which
fhould not have been omitted in the defcrip-
tion of experiments that were to decide the
merit of any mode of Hufbandry.— When
the experimenter found that the crop declined*
he (hould have given the land five or fix borfe-
hoeings, as the author of this Hufbandry di-
rects, which would have improved the land :
and. he fhould have beftowed' fome manure
upon it, as a hand- drafting in the fpring. But
here it will be faid, that the author difclaims
the ufe of manure for the horfe-hoed wheat ;
which has often been faid by thofe who are
prejudiced againft this Hufbandry. But the
fact is otherwife, the author directs fbme ma-
nure to beufed for drilled wheat in fuch cafes.
As in the preface to his Hufbandry, p. 4*
tj There may," fays he, " be fuch wet
f clayey land, which the plough cannot pul-
" verize without help of the ferment of dung.
U And in any fort of land, when it is fuf-
85 pected that the earth of the partitions was
<c not well ordered in the fummer, the belt
" remedy is, to ftrew a fmall quantity of
" malt-dufr, or other fine manure, upon the
** rows, about the month of February ; this
" will ftrengthen the plants, and enable them
*'. to fend their roots into the interval the ear-
*e lier in the fpring." This appears to have
been wholly omitted ; and likewife to give the
land any more than four horfe*hoeings, though
four
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 43
four was the number given, when only two
rows of wheat were drilled on each ridge ;
but, when three rows were drilled upon each,
it was the author's practice to horfe-hoe his
wheat fix times ; and he directs, that wheat
fown in that manner mould be hoed fo often,
or in proportion to its poverty. — And there-
fore, inftead of concluding with Mr. Harri-
fon, p. 406, that this experiment is decifive in
favour of the Old Hufbandry ; we may con-
clude with certainty, that it was not an expe-
riment in the New Hufbandry, but in a me-
thod different from it, in feveral eflential cir-
cumftances : and therefore proves nothing, but
the experimenter's ignorance of the New
Hulbandry.
We have feen, that Mr. Hatrifon acquiefced
in the experiment upon beans (though badly
performed), though in favour of the New
Hufbandry. If the principles upon which the
culture of beans fucceeded are right, why
mould not the fame culture fucceed when ap-
plied to wheat and other plants. He makes
no reflection upon this ; but, as others have
done, proceeds to condemn the New Huf-
bandry, though unacquainted with it, and
without any experience of it : for it does not
appear that he has made any trial of it him-
felf.
It is obfervable in fome modern writers of
agriculture, who depretiate the New Hufban-
dry, that they do not found their arguments
upon
44 THE PRACTICE OF THE
upon their own experience, and a practice of
that Hufbandry for a feries of years, and on
any confiderable extent of land of different
forts; which without doubt is neceflary, to
form a true judgement of the merit of any
Hufbandry ; but being prejudiced againft this,
they are eafily confirmed in their prejudices,
and endeavour to perfuade others, by referring
to fuch fmall detached trials as are too fuper-
ficial to convince any who are unprejudiced,
efpecially in a matter of fuch confequence,
that fo greatly concerns the public. Very
different from this was the conduct: of the in-
genious author of the New Hufbandry ; he
difcovered, in the culture of the vines, what
the cultivators of them had not perceived for
ages, but did not endeavour to fupport his
opinion by fmall detached experiments ; but,;
finding his ideas confirmed by trials upon tur-
nips and potatoes, he began trying the fame
upon wheat; part of a field at firft, and by
degrees extended the fame to great part of his
farm, till he had annually from a hundred to
one hundred and twenty acres of horfe-hoed
wheat; he applied the fame culture to fuch
other plants as fuited his land, barley, peafe,
and fainfoin. He publifhed his Hufbandry at
laft, at the follicitation of many who faw his
fuccefs ; and he was a gentleman of fuch ac-
knowledged probity, that thofe who were pre-
judiced againft his PJufbandry did not prefume
to queftion his veracity. It is therefore very
unfair
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 45
unfair of thofe who pretend to determine upon
the merit of this Hufbandry, that they take
no notice of his extenfive and fuccefsful prac-
tice of it for many years ; but refer their
readers to a few fmall trials, improperly con-
ducted, and which prove nothing, but that
the experimenters were unacquainted with the
principles and the approved practice of this
culture.
The fame ignorance or inattention is obfer-
vable, with regard to the experiments in this
Hufbandry made abroad by M. Duhamel and
many of his ingenious correfpondents ; who,
purfuing Mr. Tull's directions, found them
fucceed in a manner that much fuprized them;
and their experiments have long lince been
publifhed in Englifh. They iucceeded re-
markably in the culture of wheat, and other
corn j alfo of lucerne, fainfoin, turnips, car-
rots, and other garden-plants, lettuce, afpara-
gus, &c. of hemp likewife ; and remarkably
in the culture of vines, much beyond what
they attained to from the method of culture
for vines common in that country. Is it not
therefore very extraordinary, that fome in-
conclufive trial upon a few perches of wheat
fhould be referred to as of confequence, and
not the leaft notice taken of thofe extenfive
ones, upon fuch a variety of plants, whereof
fome only are here mentioned, and in general
fucceeded, as the experimenters declare, much
beyond
46 THE PRACTICE OF TtitE
beyond their expectations, though they ex-
pected much from the author's own fuccefs,
related in his eflay ?
A late anonymous writer, the author of the
Farmer's Kalendar, has endeavoured to mew,
that the principal or only benefit of tillage*
and hoeing, is to deftroy weeds ; and that
manures are the farmer's only dependence
to enrich and improve his land.
This he exprefles in the introduction to his
work as follows.
44 About fifty years ago, a celebrated Eng-
M lijhman^ Mr. Tu/I9 made many experiments,
44 in anew method of culture, the great defign
44 of which was, to let afide the ufe of manures.
" To this day he has had many followers.
44 With the gentlemen that purfue his fyltem,
M tillage alone is neceflary, — the plough is all
" in all ; and nothing is to be dunged or
44 otherwife drefled, but meadows or paftures.
14 Were fuch ideas to become general, it is
44 inconceivable how much mifchief they
44 would occafion : for there cannot be more
44 falfe principles, than thofe whereon they are
44 built. Throughout thefe meets, care is
44 taken, to keep clear of fuch errors ; the
44 great importance of manures is duly attended
14 to, and the farmer well inftru&ed how to
*4 raife as much as poiiible himfelf. This
44 point of Hufbandry can never be too much
44 attended to, nor can any have been more
44 neglected, by the generality of writers :
c 44 indeed
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 47
" indeed except by one or two (who it rauft be
" owned have treated it in a very mafterly
u manner) they have not thought it worthy
" their attention."
In difquifitions on controverted points,
thofe efpccially of importance, every writer
mould adhere ftrictly to facts, or fpeak cau*
tioufly where he is not certain of them. Mr*
Tull publiftied his Hufbandry in the year
1733, wherein he does not fet afide the ufe of
manures, but in particular circumftances, and
in the culture of particular plants ; neither
does he, or his followers, limit the ufe of
dung and other dreffings, to meadows and
paftures only. He cultivated chiefly wheat
and turnips in the horfe-hoeing way; and he
manured his turnips, and recommends that
practice to others : but to {hew particularly
that this author has mifreprefented his fyflem,
I (hall recite the account he gives of it in his
own words.
Page 19. " But though dung be, upon
c* thefe and other accounts, injurious to
«' the garden [giving the roots, &c a bad
" tafte] yet a confiderable quantity of it
44 is fo neceflary to molt cornfields, that,
'• without it, little good can be done by the
" Old Hufbandry. Duu^ is not injurious to
M the. fields, being there in lefs proportion*
•* And fuch plants as cabbages, turnips,
" carrots, and potatoes, when they are de-
u figned only for fattening of cattle, will not
" be
48 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" be injured by dung, tillage, and hoeing all
H together ; which will make the crops the
«« greater, and the cattle will like them never
" the worfe.
M Common tillage alone is not fufficient
M for many forts of corn, efpecially wheat,
" which is the king of grains. Very few
" fields can have the conveniency of a fuffi-
" cient fupply of dung, to enable them to
«• produce half the wheat thefe will do near
«« cities where they have plenty of it : the
*' crop of twenty acres will fcarce make dung
«« fufficient for one acre, in the common way
" of laying it on. Under the name of dung,
" we may alfo underftand whatever ferments
" with the earth, except fire, fuch as green
• vegetables covered in the ground, &c.
«« Dung without tillage can do very little;
" with fome tillage doth fomething; with
" much tillage pulverizes the foil, in lefs
" time than tillage alone can do : but the
«« tillage alone, with more time, can pul-
«* verize as well."
Page 211. M Though dung is fo neceffary in
" the old Virgilian raftering, w\&fat erit Huf-
«c bandry ; yet to moft forts of land, ufed in
4< the old and new pulverizing Hu(bandry, it
«' is not neceffary ; as it appears by mine,
« and by the experience of all farmers, who,
*< being emancipated from Virgilian prin-
" ciples, have made proper trials. They find,
" as well as I, that dung may be fupplied,
•« by
<(
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 49
" by an encreafe of tillage. But I never
44 have (aid any thing againft: the ufe of dung
" in the corn fields, except where it cannot
"be procured at all; or when the whole
"expence of it is likely to exceed the profit.
" It is probable, that in fome places, dung
44 may be had at a lefs price, than the encreafe
M of tillage neceflary to fupply the quantity of
44 dung required. That dung may be ufeful
" when properly applied, I believe was never
denied by any author.
The Virgilian Hu (ban dry [of burning
4f the land, &c] being (hewn, its oppofite is,
44 not to pulverize land by fire, nor put trull
44 in dung and harrows, to fupply the place of
44 the plough; but, on the contrary, to give
44 to every lort of land, proper and fufficient
" tillage (the pooreft requiring mod), and to
44 ufe only what dung we have, or can rea-
44 lonably get, in the propcreft manner, is
44 that Hufbandry which I call Antivirgilian,
44 of which my horfe-hoeing icheme is a
44 fpecies."
He fays likewife, in the preface to his efTuy,
written fix years after he began the horie-
hoeing of wheat: 41 The particular fchemc
"of railing conlUnt annu d crops of wheat,
4* without dung or fallow, is as yet onlv upon
14 probition : but bv the fix crops I have h*d
44 in that iiianner, I fee nothing again It thtur
44 being continued. This, it is true, requires
44 greater care in the management, than any
E 44 other
50 THE PRACTICE OF THE
«« other branch of the Hufbandry: but hd
«« who can do this without dung or fallow,
M may eafily do it, with one or both of them.
" And there may be fuch wet clayey land,
" which the plough cannot well pulverize,
«« without help of the ferment of dung. And
M in any fort of land, where it is fufpecled
" that the earth of the partitions was not well
" ordered in the fummer, the beft remedy is
*' to ftrow a fmall quantity of malt dull:, or
«4 other fine manure, upon the rows, about
«' the month of February. This will ftrengthen
M the plants, and enable them to fend their
M roots into the intervals the earlier in the
M fpring."
Here we fee, that Mr. Toll does not fet
afide the ufe of manures. He agrees that dung
is beneficial for crops of turneps, cabbages,
carrots, potatoes, and fuch vegetables as are
cultivated for cattle ; that dung is abfolutely
neceifary for corn and other crops in the old
Hufbandry ; and that dung and ether manures
are to be ufed, where they can be had at a lefs
expence than the tillage proper for hoed
crops. From thefe paflages and others in his
book, it is evident, that he does not fay, as
the above-mentioned author afTerts, " that
44 nothing is to be dunged, or otherwife
*' drcfled, but meadows or pa(lures.rr His
principal crop was wheat, for which he faid
dung was not necefiary, in the hoeing
culture ;
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 5I
culture j and this he faid upon good grounds*
as will afterwards be (hewn.
The above author, in feveral places, en-
deavours to eftablim an opinion, that the
only ufe of fallowing is to deftroy weeds;
that the land is thereby pulverized, but not
benefited by the atmofpherc. This he par-
ticularly infills upon, p. 294, as follows :
ipeaking of fallowing, he faysj
" The autumnal tillage is abfolutely re-
" quilite, for the mere work of killing weeds,
44 without recurring to the attraction of any
44 beneficial particles from the air* The latter:
44 effect may appear very equivocal to a com-
44 mon farmer, never ufed to confider things
♦4 deeper than firft appearances. Unhappily
44 this is a part of Hufbandry, on which we
*4 can only fpeak from idea, and not in the
81 lead from experiment. Of all the volumes
44 that have been published on Hufbandry,
'* none gives one a clear proof, of the ac-
" quifition of manure from the atmofphere.
44 The benefit of fallowing is no clear proof;
u becaule it is never experienced exclusively
44 of killing weeds ; and unlefs fuch effects
44 were known diftinctly, one cannot with
" any precilion attribute a certain degree to
44 each. As experiment has not and probably
44 will not prove this important point, it re-
44 mains for the difquilition of reafon alone,
44 which may adopt whatever ideas appear
M raoft juft to individuals. There are many
E 2 •« argu-
52 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" arguments to be produced, to (hew, that
" the great benefit of fallowing, at whatever
** feafon, is the deftrucYion of weeds, and mere
" pulverization, without any reference to fup-
" pofed acquiiitions from the air : a ftrong
" one is the equality of crops that fucceed
«* complete fallows and other crops : the
" latter, if lufficient care has been taken to
M deftroy the weeds, are generally as good as
" fuch as follow compleat fummer fallows.
*' Wheat, for inftance, after beans well hand-
" hoed, is as good : after peafe, if a great
" crop, the lame, without any hand-hoeing at
«.« all; after clover alio, in which the land is
«' bound, and matted together with roots :
" and the great fertilitv of new-broken-up
.*■ grafs lands, mould look, as if the very con -
*; trary ftate to fallowed lands was moft be-
<< neficial. Many writers talk of the benefit
" of thick (hade, and the putrid fermentation
" of thick and luxuriant crops. It may be
i( all very true; but furely the whole is
" founded on principles extremely different
*' from the acquilition of aerial benefit by
*- fallowing ! I know of none in which they
" agree, but the killing of weeds.
" The acquifition of nitre, lay fome, is well
" known to be greatly effected, by land being
" ploughed on to the ridge in winter ; and
" nitre,, fay others, is the principle of vege-
f* tation. This fact, of nitre being fo very
" beneficial, feems rather to be a deduction of
• " realbn,
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 53
4< reafon, than an experimental proof. Salt-
ct petre, in every application, has often been
" proved rather poitonous than beneficial.
" Why, therefore, mould we iuppofe it of
" fuch confequence in the air? I am by no
" means ajjerting the contrary ; but only ex-
" preffing doubts of thofe maxims, which do
N not ieem to have had experiment for their
*« foundation. Let us, for thefe various rea-
" Ions, be contented with recommending au-
" tumnal ploughing to the hufbandman, on
44 principles that he can underftand, and
•• efie&s which are vifible to him, pulveriza-
44 tion, and the killing of weeds : and not
44 perlbade them to the practice, for reafons,
44 which are Greek and Hebrew to them."
Here the author has piven the fum of his
objections to the New Huibandry, relative to
the effects of the atmofphere. " Of all the
44 volumes, fays he, that have been publifhed
44 on Huibandry, none gives one a clear proot
" of the acquifition of manure from the at-
44 mofphere." This is a very extraordinary
aflertion. It is founded upon what lie laid
before, N Unhappily, this is a part of Huf-
*« bandry, on which we can only fpeak from
w idea, and not intheleait from experiment."
But how docs this confiit with what lie faid in
the introduction, " that a celebrated Englilh-
44 man, Mr. Tull, made many experiments, in
M a new method of culture, the great dclign
•• of which was to fee afide the uie of
E 3 " manure?
2»»
54 THE PRACTICE OF THE
* manure?" But was not his defign likewife-
to prove by thefe experiments, the acquifition
of manure from the atmofpherc ? and how
then can this author fay, tnat we cannot in
the Jeafr fpeak of this part of Hufbandry from
experiment? is not this a very ditingenuous
manner of treating the author of thefe ex-
periments, and the fubjed, he and others
have fince treated upon : and have not
they, published their experiments, to prove,
that the earth is fertilized by the atmofphere ?
and that they have proved it, we mail demon-.
{Irate. This author recommends to the far*
mer, «' autumnal ploughing, on principles
ff that he can underftand, and effects which
«« are vifible to him, pulverization, and the
*< killing of weeds." What is the farmer to
underftand by pulverization? He knows that
ploughing breaks or pulverizes the land ; it is
a mechanical action, that adds nothing to the
foil, adds no new matter to it : on the con-
trary, by opening the foil, it is made more
pervious to the roots of plants to exhauft it ;
confequently, the more land is ploughed and
fallowed, the more it is liable to be im-
poveriihed by the- next crop. How then is
the land to recover its fertility? This author
telb the farmer, that this is to be done by •
dung and manure; but he alledges, that Mr,
.TullY dwilgn was to fet afide the ufe of
manure ; ihould he not have informed the
farmer, what fuccefs he had in this deiign ?
That
7
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. $5
That he cultivated wheat without manure,
for thirteen years ; that he railed fucceffive
crops of wheat, every year during that time,
upon very ordinary land ; that he obtai.ed
good crops, of four quarters and upwards,
without manure, and without impoverishing
his land ; and that many perfons abroad had
pra£tifed his method with fuccefs ? How will
the author excufe his concealing this from the
farmer? It is a matter of great importance in
Husbandry, and merits the particular atten-
tion of every cultivator of 1 nd.
Mr. Tull, the author of the New Huf-
band.y, cultivated a part of his eftate near
. Hmigerford in Berkmire, and there introduced
the method cf horfe-hoeing, which he prac-
tifed chiefly upon wheat and turnips. His
land was in general a light, poor foil, which
he dcfcribes as follows, p. 227, and 263,
f* The bulk of the land belonging to this
" farm is, on the louth fide, for near a mile
" in length, always called Bitham Hil/s, and
" are, for the moll part, declining grounds,
m a fort of graciles c/hi, being all on a chalk.
" In dry weather the whole liaple looks of a
♦; white colour ; it is full of fmall flints, and
** fmaller chalk (tones. Below theie hills is
M a bottom, where are fome grounds, upon a
M chalk alfo, but had not then [when his
M Effay was publifhed] been uf.d in hoeing,
" having lain with faint fom thirteen or fotir-
" teen years. On the weft ude, all the laud
E 4 «* is
$6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
.«« is called Eaft Hills, being on the eaft of the
" farms to which they all formerly belonged.
"On the norrh-weft fide, is a high field,
M called Cook's Hill, and is the only field of my
" farm that is not upon a chalk. It is a
■■" very wet fpewy foil, of very little value,
" until I made it dry, by ploughing crofs the
f* defcent of the hill. This foil is all too
" light, and too (hallow, to produce a tole-
" rable crop of beans. This farm was made
" out of the fkirts of others. Great part of
" the land was formerly a meep clown ; and
f* w hi hi- the whole was kept in the Virgilian
*.{ management (ufual for iuch land), it had
" the full reputation of poverty. The highefr.
" part of it ufed to be fown (as I am well
<* informed) with oats once in two or three
" years, upon the back fonce ploughing],
** and if the iummer proved dry, the crop
" was not worth the expence of that once
'* ploughing. The generality of farmers,
*' were then of opinion, that it this mould be
6- thoroughly tilled and pulverized, it would
<c become fo light, that the wind would blow
'" the ftaple away; but the contrary happened,
" for it being ploughed free times inftead' of
'* once, it produced, good barley and other
44 corn, and never has returned to its former
" degree of lightnefs fince ; and this was
" above fifty years ago. And now tillage
i6 and foreign grailes are come into falhion,
" iucloied lands, that do not rot fheep (as
" not
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 57
f not one foot of mine is wet enough, or rich
f* enough to do) are become of greater value
" than formerly.
" My farm was termed a barley farm, not
" from the good crops of barley it produced,
" but becaule the land, being almoft all hilly,
" was thought too light for wheat. In a dry
" fummer, the barley crop failed for want of
M moifture, and of more pulverization, and
" was not worth half theexpence.
" Land is feldom too duy for wheat; and
" this dry foil, in the hoeing culture, brings
«' very good crops of wheat, which is the
" reafon I have now no barley except what
*'• is iovvn on the level ; as it always mud be
?• for planting faint foin and clover amongft
" h; were it not for that purpole, I mould
" plant no barley at all."
Upon this unpromiting foil for wheat, Mr.
Tull began his horfe-hoeing Hufbandry ; firft
upon one field, and afterwards upon the reft
of his land, ftill encreating the quantity, till
at laft he had one hundred and twenty
acres, drilled with wheat, and horfe-hoed ;
and part of thefe was annually under wheat
crop^, in fuccerlion tor thirteen years, with-
out reft, change of crops, fallow, dung, or any
kind of manure, during that time; and the
land notwithftanding was not impoverifhed,
but improving.
This he takes notice of in feveral places,
particularly in the thirteenth year, p. 273,
' 1 where
58 THE PRACTICE OF THE
where he fays, '« My field, whereon is now
" the thirteenth crop of wheat, has (hewn,
" that the rows may fuccefsfully ftand upon
M any part of the ground. The ridges of this
«6 field were, for the twelfth crop, changed
** from fix feet to four feet eight inches : in
" order for this alteration, the ridges were
«: ploughed down, and the whole field was
«' ploughed crofs-ways of the ridges, for
«' making them level ; and then the next
w ridges were laid out the fame way as the
M former, but one foot four inches narrower,
tf and the double rows drilled on their tops ;
•«< whereby of confequence there muft be fome
*« rows (landing on every part of the ground,
«' both on the former partitions, and on every
*' part of the intervals. Notwithftanding
" this, there was no manner of difference in
*c the goodnefs of the rows, and the whole
■" field was in every part of it equal, and the
" beft, I believe, that ever grew on it. It
f< has now the thirteenth crop, likely to bS
** very good, k though the land was not
«< ploughed crofsways.
M The crop of the fix fcore acres of wheat,
" that was growing at the time of publifhing
" my addenda, was much greater than the
" crop the year before it, and would have
" produced more grain in proportion, if the
M heavens had been as propitious : but the
«' heavy rains that fell, when the firlt planted
M was in bloflbm, diminifhed the filling of
•■ the
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 59
•' the ear, and its grain ; yet not fo much as
" of moil: fown wheat, efpecially of the very
M early fown, which generally efcapes the
*< beft in this common calamity. The burn*
" baked wheat being always early fown, I am
" informed, had next to no grain in it ; and
" this is the raoft expenfive fort of Hufbandry,
*' the tenants pay iuch exorbitant fines for
" the liberty of ploughing this land."
From thefe experiments, and the fuccefs of
horfe-hoed wheat upon the author's whole
farm, we mud conclude, that land is enriched
from the atmofphere : for it is evident, that
this land had no other affiftance ; and yety
though poor, or very ordinary land, con-
tinued year after year, without intermiffion,
to produce good crops of wheat, that are ac*
knowledged to be exhaufting crops ; fo ex-
haufting, that no good farmers will venture
to fow wheat on the lame land, for only two
years fucceffively, without manure ; nor with
manure, unlefs the land has an intermediate
fallow, or a change of fome meliorating crop :
fo that horfe-hoeing appears here to be fupe~
rior to manure.
This fertility can be attributed to nothing
elfe but the atmofphere, and to this Mr. Tull
does attribute it : for, fays he, p. 63. " If it
" (hould be demanded, from whence the foil
'• can be fupplied with vegetable matter, to
*c anfwer what is carried off, by thefe conftant
•• crops of wheat, that the land be not con-
" fumed
60 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" fumed by them ; the foil, in this our cafe,
'*« cannot be fupplied in fubuance, but from
" the atmofphere"— and then he proceeds to
'fhew, that this fupply is from rain, dews,
&c.
After a thirteen years experience of horfe-
hoeing wheat, Mr. Tuli concludes ; « the
" fame fixfcore acres, that was wheat the laft
" year, is planted with wheat now, and is
" all of it as ftrong, and likely for a good
" crop, as in any of the former years ; though
"there is but about one acre of it dunged.
" The whole is the freed from weeds before
" hoeing, that ever was feen, and the fown
•* wheat of the neighbourhood the fulltft
*' of them.
" I can fhew at this inftant, one of the ex-
" periments I have recommended, which
u though it be on lefs than two perches of
M ground ; yet rauft convince every man who
" has feen it (and doth not renounce the evi-
" dence of his reafon and fenies) that pulve-
<c rization by inftruments can vailly exceed
w the benefit of common manure.
" It is to iuch experiments, that I leave the
*' progrefs of my horfe-hoeing Huibandry ;
" afluring the publick, that in all my practice,
" which is now thirteen years, 1 have never
" met with one inftance, that gives me the
* leait fufpicion of the truth of the prin-
" aples 1 have advanced ; and that, I believe,
f they have nothing to fear from enemies,
" but
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 6l
" but the fa he relation of facts, or fallacious
" arguments."
About two years before Mr. Tull wrote
this, he was deiired to take an exact account
of the product of a fingle acre of hand-hoed
wheat, and of an acre in the middle of a field
of twentv-nVc acres of horfe-hoed wheat, in
order to know the different quantities pro-'
duce by them.
" The firft was in [a common field, and
" planted upon the level, with the fame drill
" that planted the other, whereby there was a
*■ fpace of ten inches between two rows, and
*' a fpace of eighteen inches between thofe
" and the next row : fo that each row had
** fourteen inches of furface for the roots
" to (pread in. It was hand-hoed very well.
** The land hath not been dunged in any
" manner iince the year 1719. This crop
" was reaped very low, and threshed out im-
<c mediately. It produced eleven bufhcls and
M a half: the meafure of the lain! being rifry-
u two perches, the product is at the rate of
" thirty-fix bufhels and fix gallons to an acre.
" It is lituate next the ditch of a meadow,
" and ia all the land 1 have In the common
" field. The lands adjoining to it, of the
" lame good n els, were judge! bv all gentle-
«« men and farmers who viewed them nor to
" have above haft" the wheat on them, that
" this had, perch tor rereh; and vet there
" was no difference in the management , except
•« this
6a The ^katice ot the
*' this being regularly planted, and hand*
44 hoed, without dung, and the other fowed
" at random, and dunged (as they always are
44 once in three years): the fallowing and
" ploughings of both were the fame. Mine
*' was laid by feveral of the farmers of the
*f place to be the beft land of wheat in the
44 parifh.
44 This indeed ought to be allowed, that
" mine being moftly white cone wheat, and
*' the adjoining lands of clean Iammas, might
44 make fome part of the difference ; but there
44 being fome of the fame fort of lammas
*4 amongff. this cone, it was obferved to be as
44 high as the cone, and the ears of it to be
<4 of double the bignefs of thofe in the conti-
44 guous fown lands.
44 As to the acre of horfe-hoed wheat, it
44 was mcafured eight perches broad, and
44 twenty long, which is equal to fixty-fix
44 feet in breadth, and fix hundred and fixty
44 in length, this being the ftatute meaiure of
*4 an acre, and we ufe no other for land in
44 this country.
44 This acre being laid by itfelf, was, after
44 fome time threfhed, and yielded twenty-
44 nine bufhels and fix gallons of clean
44 wheat.
" Before it was threfhed, it was fomewhat
M diminifhed by cows that found a hole betxixt
** the boards of the barn, and pulled out fome
" of it ; and poultry eat more of it ; but the
44 moft
- NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 63
*' moft extraordinary wafte was made by bad
" reapers, to whofe lot this acre fell. They
" cut it fo high that many of the ears, which
*' by their great weight bended down very
M low, were cut off and fell on the ground,
" and were there left much thicker than is
*' ufu-al. This wafte was greater than any I
" had ever feen: fo that, I believe, if it had been
44 as well reaped as moft of the reft of my
*« wheat was, there would have been thirty-
«' two bufhels received from this acre.
'« The difference of the appearance of the
•« hand-hoed and of the horfe-hoed, whilft
«* they were (landing, was fo great as to de-
*« ceive many who law them, and to induce
«' many to imagine, that the product of the
" former, would be double to that of the
** latter ; though it was really little more than
•' an eighth part greater.
*« The horfe-hoed (hews the whole interval
" empty until the grain is almoft full, which
«« is a great advantage to the crop : becau(e,
«' unlets the air did freely enter therein, to
<■ ftrengthen the lower parts of the ftalk,
" they would not be able to fupport fuch pro-
* digious ears (fome containing an hundred
*' and twelve large grains a-piece) from fall-
'* lilg oq the ground.
M When the grains are full, the cars turn
*' their upper ends downwards, and are all
** feen in the intervals, and nothing but draw
4< on the rows: this reverfe pofture of the
ears
64 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" cars defends them from the injuries of wet
" weather* when ripe : for the rain is carried
** off by their beard and chaff, which like tiles
" protect the grain from being difcoloured,
" as fown wheat always is by much rain,
" when ripe.
t* This difference was fully (hewn laft har-
** veil:, when all my wheat was in the fame
" pofture : none of the ears reached the
" ground, but fome reached within a foot,
" others within half a vard of it, and fome
" not fo low. None of the draws were
" broken by the weight of thefe large ears 5
<c they only bended round at the height of
V about a yard, or higher, in a manner that I
«• never faw in any other wheat but the
" horfe-hoed. In thefe intervals, notwith-
*' {landing this bending pofture of the ears,
" one may walk backwards and forwards,
4i without doing any damage : for the ears,
*,' when thruft out of their places, will, by
•* their fpring, return to them again, like
" twigs in a coppice.
" If a field of fuch wheat, for want of a
** good change of feed, or by any other caufe,
** mould be lmutty, the fmurty ears will ltand
** upright over the rows, and may, at the
" expence of -about a (hilling an acre, be cut
«' off with fciflars by women and children,
" which is the only perfect cure for that ma-
" lady, when it happens -, and the damage is
" nothing but this fmall expence, and the lofs
•« of
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 65
« of the ears cut off; which, though they
44 mould be but the fortieth part of the crop
" (as they are feldom more), would fpoil it :
44 but, being thus taken out, leave the remain-
" der generally large -bodied, and as fine as
44 that which hath no fmut amongft it ; ex-
41 cept that it is not fit for feed. — -There is
44 not this convenience either in fown or
u hand-hoed wheat.
44 As to the different profit of the hand-
" hoed and the horfe-hoed crops, it will, upon
44 examination, appear to be contrary to the
" opinion of the vulgar. The foil of the
44 hand-hoed being, at leaft:, as good as of the
** other ; let us fuppofe them equal, and alfo
4C the expence to be equal, though, in gene-
44 ral, that of the horfe-hoed is the leaft.
44 The hand- hoed was planted on a fallow,
44 but the other had a good crop of wheat the
44 preceding year, drilled in double rows, and
44 the year before that had a crop of barley,
44 drilled in treble rows; the ridges always of
4< the fame breadth. All thefe crops were
•I horfe-hoed: but in the year before the firfr.
*« of thefe, the field had a crop of fown black
11 oats: fo that there were four fucceflive
** crops, without any fallow or dung; and
" there is now growing a fifth crop, being
«' wheat, likely to be much greater than any
" of the precedent, if the year prove as fa-
" vourable : therefore, here being two crops
44 of wheat for one, the profit of the horfe-
F " hoed
66 THE PRACTICE OF THE
n hoed is almoft double to that of the hand-
" hoed. — And as the hand-hoed has but one
44 wheat crop in three years, and one barley
44 crop, which is commonly fcarce half the va-
" lue of a wheat crop ; and the expence in
M three years being in feed, tillage, &c. as
ft much as of the three wheat crops, the pro-
" fit of the horfe-hoed will be more than
44 double that of the hand-hoed.
44 And this, I think, is a ftrong proof of
44 the efficacy of deep hoeing, which, with-
44 out a fallow, can (as in this cafe) caufe
44 one double row to produce as much wheat,
" as two double rows of the mallow-hoed
46 did, with a fallow, in an equal quantity of
" ground: which could not be, unlefs each
" row of the lefler number did produce more
44 or greater ears, or both, than each row of
44 the larger number. Neither could this be,
44 if the roots did not take the greater part of
44 their nourifhment from the pulverized in-
" tervats ; conficlering that the rows that had
<s no fallows muifc, \yithout the deep pulve-
46 rization, have produced much fewer and
44 lefler ears than an equal number of rows
44 that had the benefit of a fallow
44 Vain therefore is the opinion of thofe,
44 who fay the roots of wheat do not reach
44 further than two or three inches from the
«4 ftalks : for if they did not, thefe horfe-hoed
44 rows could have very little or no nourifh-
" ment from the pulverifation of the inter-
44 vals
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 6j
" vals not entering into them ; and then muft
'« have produced lefs than an equal number of
" rows of the hand-hoed (that had a fallow)
" did, inftead of almoft twice as much."
In the year following, he writes, p. 274*
" My fingle land of fifty-two perches in the
«« common field, mentioned in my Addenda^
" brought the laft harvefl a crop of barley
" (in the opinion of all who viewed it) dou-
" ble to the land, of the fame goodnefs, coh-
" tiguous to it, at the end and fide of it.
«' This fhews, that the benefit of pulverifa-
44 tion of one good hand -hoeing, performed
" half a year after planting the wheat, toge-
44 ther with the lefs exhauftion of half the
" feed, and no weeds, vaftly exceeded the
44 ufe of dunging for the wheat on the con-
M tiguous land, there being no other difFer-
•« cnce."
[This example of horfe-hoed wheat fhews,
not only the great advantage of that culture
beyond the common couiTe of Hufbandry,
with fallowing ; but likewife its fuperiority
to the Modern Improved Hufbandry of fallow
crops, as turnips, cabbages, &c. irfftead of a
fallow: for while the land is yielding a iallow
crop, it would, by horie-hoeing, produce a
crop of wheat, which is of more value than
any of the common fallow crops, including
the expence of the dung or manure bellowed
upon them.]
F 2 Mr.
68 THE PRACTICE OF THE
Mr. Tull proceeds to give Come account of
the reft of his horfe-hoed wheat, whereof the
produces are not ftated by meafure, as of the
acre above-mentioned ; but, as he computed
them, his hoed wheat that year, amounting
to an hundred and fix acres, yielded nearly
two thoufand one hundred and fixteen bufhels,
or about twenty bufhels per acre : which
confidering the quality of the land, and cir-
cumftances of it when drilled, may be rec-
koned a good crop : for he relates, that being
advanced in years, and in an ill flate of
health, he intended to have let his farm, and
had agreed with a tenant, and therefore omit-
ted to prepare a considerable part of his land for
drilling with wheat : and the tenant difappoint-
ing him, he was obliged to plant it with fum-
mer-corn, which put him out of his courfe of
Hu{bandry, and was an injury to the land.
44 It is true," fays he, " I was at great
44 lofs by giving attention to that tenant ; but
44 I was delirous of being out of all bulinefs,
4< my infirmities increafing upon me." And
this to fuch a degree, that, as he takes notice
elfewhere, he was frequently confined within-
doors, and fometimes to his bed. — And ano-
ther circumftance was, that his Huibandry
was managed altogether by day-fervants.
Thefe circumftances, together with the infe-
rior quality of his land, being confidered, are
much in favour of the New Hubandry,
which, under fuch unfavourable circumftances,
could
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 6g
could fucceed, fo as every year to produce
profitable crops ; and no other means ufed to
obtain them but hoeing, and once ploughing
the land.
The eftablimed reputation of this gentle-
man, for candour and veracity, leaves no room
to doubt the truth of thefe experiments, which
were alfo often infpe&ed by many noblemen
and gentlemen. Thefe might have been fuf-
ficient to fatisfy the author of the Farmer's
Kalendar, that the principles of the New
Hufbandry are not falfe, as he aflerts ; and
that the general practice of it would not be
mifchievous, as he fancies ; but very much
the reverfe. It is not, however, neceffary to
refer wholly to thefe experiments, for many
have been fince made abroad with the fame
fuccefs, and publifhed by M. Duhamel and his
correfpondents. Alfo that eminent cultivator,
Sir Digby Legard, practifed this Hufbandry
upon the very poor wolds near Scarborough,
where he raifed barley and wheat upon feven
acres of land, in the method of drilling and
horfe-hoeing for eight years fucceffively, raif-
ing crops of barley and wheat every year,
without manure, upon fo light a foil, that
one horfe was fufficient for the hoeing. Sir
Digby, in a letter to the London Society of
Arts, relates the particulars of this culture,
which he recommends, as fuperior to the
Common Huibandry; and particularly takes
notice that his land was improved by it, and
F 3 pro-
JO THE PRACTICE OF THE
produced much better crops the laft four years
than it did at firft : though in all that time it
was neither refled nor manured.
Another gentleman in Berk/hire, the Rev.
Mr, £hane9 in a letter he wrote fome years
fince, fays, «' 1 had the pleafure of being ac-
f? quainted with Mr. Tul/, and made him two
" vifits at Profferous, and took an experienced
" farmer with me ; where I faw fome excel-
" lent crops, and fome very poor ones, on his
" own, and on other people's land ; and
" was convinced the poor crops were not ow-
" ing to his Hufbandry, but to the native po-
" verty of the country ; being a light, poor,
M fhallow, chalky foil, fituated near the top
" of the HampJhire-hillS) and very little land
M there is proper for. wheat; and he advifes
*{ practitioners, not to attempt to cultivate
*' wheat upon iuch poor land.
" In my opinion Mr. Tull's principles are
" founded in truth, and on the certain laws of
ff nature. Being convinced of the reafonable-
" nefs and truth of his principles, I have
" practited his horfe-hoeing Hufbandry above
" twenty years, on the fame land, with fuc-
" cehive crops of wheat, with but few inter-
" miffions, and can fee no reafon to queftion
*{ the truth of his principles.
" My foil is not the beft wheat-land, nor
«* rightly adapted to the Tullian Hufbandry,
" becaufe we fuffer greatly by the extremes
" both of wet and dry feafons ; fometimes our
i " land
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. Jl
44 land being bound up as hard as iron, not to
44 be touched with a plough ; and fometimes
" all in a pap, not to be trod upon. Fre-
" quent avocations of my men and horfes to
" other bufinefs, indocility of fervants, and
" averfenefs of ruftics to be put out of their
44 old tract, have fometimes occasioned neg-
44 lects in catching critical feafons for horfc-
" hoeing ; and confequently my land became
44 foul and out of tillage, which was the reafon
44 of my intermitting my annual crops, in
44 order to clean the land and reftore the tiU
" lage, which happened about three times
" fince I began; and in the intermiffion I
44 once gave the field a fummer fallow,
" ploughing acrofs the lands, to lay them out
44 in a new manner ; at other times, I planted
44 part with peafe, and part with vetches,
44 Part of a field near my houfe has tafted
«' no dung, or other manure, fince I began, for
<4 experiment's fake ; the other part was fre-
quently dunged, and the whole field other-
4 wife cultivated alike ; but the difference of
" the crops at harveft was fcarce diicernible.
" My fervants, who knew the place, thought
" they could perceive the odds; but it would
" be very difficult for a llranger to find it
" out.
" In general my Tulltan crops (which are
11 large and upon various fields) have been
44 nearly equal to the iown crops of my neigh-
" bours in the different years. I plant about
F 4 " three
it
J2 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" three pecks of wheat on a ftatute acre, and
" receive from two to four quarters return.
" The farmers in the old way ufually plant
" about ten or twelve pecks on an acre, and
" receive in return no more than I do, com-
" munibus annis"
Another and very ingenious practifer of this
hufbandry, William Craik, Efq. near Dum-
fries in Scotland, has practifed the new huf-
bandry many years, and thus defcribes his
land: " My foil is ftiff and very moift; that
" is, in the bottom below the ftaple, is a hard
" and almoft impenetrable till, impervious to
M water, which of confequence keeps the top
" poachy, and therefore am obliged to drain
" every field with covered drains filled with
" ftone. Add to this, that our climate is ex-
" tremely watery, fo that both foil and climate
*' are againft me, especially in the New Huf-
f* bandry.
" About feven years ago, I began to drill
" wheat in double rows, on ridges five feet
*' two inches broad ; but have now reduced
*' them to four feet ten inches on the laft-
*' taken-in fields ; which fize I find anfwers
" every purpofe beft for double rows of
" wheat; and fingle rows for turnips and po-
€t tatoes. I continue the double rows of
" wheat ; and drill a little (hort of a Win-
" chefter bumel to the Scots flatute acre
" [one and a quarter Englifh]. My return
*' upon the average is about twenty-five
" of
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. J$
" of faid bufhels, fince I firft began ; and the
" total expence, harveft-home, is about a
" guinea, feed included. But the return
u would confiderably exceed this, were it not
" for fome parts in every field, that have
** every year quite failed : in fome occasioned
" by a vein of fandy, gravelly foil, that runs
" acrofs two of my fields ; and in all others,
" from the old ridges being very high raifed
" by the former farmers, and at the fame
" time very broad and crooked, which obliged
" me to level the whole ; the confequence of
** which is, that the tops of the old ridges
" continue barren for feveral years, to my
" great lofs. I was for fome time in hopes,
" that frequent cultivation and expofure to
" the air would in time remedy this defect :
" but, finding little alteration in thefe parts,
" I am now applying proper dreflings, fuited
" to the different foils, which I have already
" found will anfwer the purpofe, and make a
" very fenfible difference in my profits.
" When the crop is off, the ridges are
" ploughed up, and formed anew, then
" fmoothed by the drill-harrows, and drilled
M with the drill-plough. When the wheat
" has got three or four leaves, I horfe-hoe
" from the rows, agreeable to Mr. Tull. In
«* the fpring, I always deepen the fame fur-
" rows, made before winter ; after which it
" lies till the wheat begins to fpindle, when
" I horfe-hoe back the earth, fo as to earth up
" the
74 TH£ PRACTICE OF THE
44 the plants two or three inches, to ftrengtheii
" or iecure them. In this operation a flip of
" earth remains untouched in the middle, of
44 what was ploughed firff. from the rows ;
44 and as a new furface is expofed by the laft
44 hoeing, I leave that flip untouched for
" fome time, to receive the advantage of ex-
44 pofure, and till the weeds come, when I
44 plough up this flip with the double-mould -
44 board-plough, which covers the weeds, and
44 leaves a wide, deep, and clean trench. If
44 the wheat frauds fair, fo as to admit the
44 horfe-hoe, which with me is feldom the
44 cafe, 1 hoe a fmall furrow back from the
" rows, and return it with the double-mould-
44 board-plough : but do not think this necef-
44 iary, if the former operations are properly
44 executed.
*{ Though my foil i.sftifFand heavy, I only
44 ufe tv\o horles to the iingle hoe, and three
44 to the double-mould board hoe. The iingle
44 hoe horfe hoes two and a half Scots acres
" per day, and the double-mould board five ;
44 the firit, having a full bout to each ridge,
44 the other only half a bout. I have tried to
44 hoe with oxen, but found they did not
4t anfwer in my wet ioil ; and now only ufe
44 horles, as they poach the land lei's.
4C I have now [in 1766] the feventh crop
" of drilled wheat growing on my firit acre
44 (which I choie as near the average of my
*k foil as I could), and it at prefent promifes to
" be
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. J$
n be the beft. This acre confifts of twenty-
" two ridges, nine of which were, three years
" ago, ftrongly drefled with dung; that fide
u being lighter than the other, and generally
" failed : fince dreiiing, that part has proved
" better, but ftill interior to the undunged
«* fide. This acre, as well as all my fields,
«' was drefled at firft with fhells, and bore four
" broad-caft crops, immediately preceding the
" drilled crops.
<l I have only, this year, thirty Scots acres
" in drilled wheat ; the wet feed time lafl:
" year, having prevented my drilling a ten
" acre field, now in turnips and potatoes: for
" I dare not touch my foil with the plough,
m when wet.
" The field with the fixth crop of drilled
" wheat, and which had five broad cafr. crops
«< previous to thefe, hath at prefent as full a
€l crop as can Hand upon it; except where
" the fandy vein comes in. The field with
«* the fifth crop is inferior to it, though equally
* good foil. In general, where the foil was
'* originally tolerable, and exclusive of the
" particular acidents 1 have mentioned, I can-
" not perceive hitherto any decline in the
** crops, even thefe that have not received any
" drcfling with dung; but how long this will
" goon, time only can determine.
*' 1 always horfe-hoe from tha rows, whe-
" ther double or fingle, at one bout, half a
" bout to each fide ; and could return this
«' bout,
76 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" bout, with the double mould board, at half
" a bout, which was for fome time my
" practice : but now find it more profitable,
" firft to return the bout by another bout
•« of the fingle hoe, which expofes a large
«« new furfacej and then, when the weeds
" are up, clean up with the double mould
" board. But at the fecond hoeing from the
" rows, which is after the grain is got into
" ear, I only take two fmall furrows, viz. one
«* from each fide ; thefe I return at once, with
*c the double mould board.
" I have ufed the white lammas wheat, the
" Kentijh red; the Zealand, from Ho/land; the
" white and grey cone 5 and this year, a fmall
*« quantity of Smyrna wheat, Spica multiplier
41 Yet I find none of them can refift the vio-
" lent ftorms of wind and rain of our climate.
*' Both the cones ftand the beft ; but our
tl millers have not art enough to grind them ;
" on which account our bakers are fhy to
" buy. I have moftly fown for the horfe-
" hoe, the grey cone. A part of my laft
" year's crop went to the IJle of Man, to Ram-
"fay, and was fo large a grain, that our
" bakers objected to it on that account.
" My crop this year confifts of the grey
44 cone, the red Kentifh, and the white 1am-
** mas, fome of each in the fame field, on
*' purpofe to fee which flood beft ; and now
*f find, the red Kentifh has fufFered moft ;
<6 and that the white lammas, of a kind I had
" from
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. JJ
«' from London, ftands equally well with the
m grey cone ; which has determined me to
" fow it moftly for the enfuing crop.
" My drilled wheat is generally, by the time
" it gets into bloffom, To laid over, though not
" broke, that I can neither horfe-hoe, hand-
«• hoe, or hand-weed. So that a fecond crop
" of weeds never fails to fpring up time enough
" to ripen their feed, before the crop is cut :
* and this, with me, is the great and invinci-
" ble objection to a fucceflion of wheat crops
" in this way ; at leaft in my foil, and this
" climate. What I propofe, to remedy this,
" is, to take a crop of horfe-hoed turnips,
" next a horfe-hoed crop of beans ; next
" two or three crops of horfe-hoed wheat;
" and then return to the turnips. In this
" way, I am fure to extirpate the weeds,
" during the turnip and bean crops, and have
" reafon to expect my wheat mall be a full
•* crop, after thefe meliorating ones.
" If the drilled wheat flood fair, it would
M be cut down at one half the expence of
" broad-caft, at leaft : for, even when laid
" over, and very much disordered, I do it for
* two-thirds of the expence of the other.
m Were it not for the parts that fail in my
" fields, my horfe-hoed crops would exceed
" four quarters. Laft year, on half an acre
m Scots, I had twenty-two JVincheftcrs [thirty-
w five bulhels per Englijh acre], but this was
" all equally good.'*
Br
78 THE PRACTICE OF THE
By this gentleman's ftate of his fncceffive
wheat crops, it is evident, that his land was
not impoverifhed by them, hut improving; as
appears by his kit crops, though it had no
manure. — And though his tolerable good land
was fo much enriched by the horfe-hoeing and
expofure, that it produced as good crops every
year, as are commonly obtained in the Old
Hufbandry, with the affiftance of manure; yet
it is remarkable, that the influences of the at-
mofphere did not penetrate deep enough into
the old ridges to enrich them ; but, by open-
ing the land by horfe-hoeing, and at the fame
time frequently changing and expofing the fur-
face, that was fufficiently impregnated with
the vegetable aliment, to produce every year a
good crop of wheat.
Thefe drilled crops were remarkably profit-
able. The whole expence of the culture and
feed, harveft-home, at one guinea, is about fe-
venteen millings per Englim acre ; and there-
fore, when wheat is only five (hillings per
bufhel, leis than four bumels of wheat pays
the whole expence of the feed and tillage of
an acre : and if the tillage and rent together
mould amount to forty fhiilings an acre, eight
bumels pays all the expence of a horfe-hoed
crop of wheat ; and all the crop above eight
bumels per acre is clear profit. — The profit of
the Old Husbandry does not come near this,
though the crops fhould be as great or greater:
the fallows, or fallow crops, not equal in va-
lue to wheat, fo much reduce the farmer's
profit,
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 79
profit, that he cannot equal the Drill-Huf-
bandry with his corn crops, nor unlefs he
fubftitutes the potatoe, cabbage, and carrot
Hufbandry, inftead of barley, oats, and prafe.
The reader may perceive how different thefe
examples of exteniive practice are, from the
trifling, inconclufive experiments upon a few
perches of ground, referred to by the authors
above-mentioned; whereinneither the nature of
the land is mentioned, nor the manner of per-
forming the culture is (hewn; and yet we are
referred to thefe inaccurate and plainly-unfkii-
ful attempts to imitate this Hufbandry, as
conclufive, in determining the merits of two
different methods of Hu{bandry ; than which
nothing can be more trifling and inconclu-
five ; efpecially as it is evident, that thefe ex- '
periments were made by perfons who were
ignorant of the New Hufbandry, or per-
formed without fkill or accuracy, and even
contrary to the real practice of this Hufban-
dry : the reader therefore of thefe pretended
experiments need not be furprized to find the
event of them fo entirely different and contra-
dictory to the genuine practice of the fkilrul
cultivators here quoted: who have fully proved
upon their lands at large, and for a continued
courfe of many years, that the New is much
more profitable than the Common Husban-
dry; whereof one of the gentlemen, Mr.
Craik, can fully juftity what has been here
laid of his foccefs upon land not the bell
adapted
8o n THE PRACTICE OF THE
adapted to this Hufbandry, and in a climate
very unfavourable to conftant and fucceffive
crops of wheat upon the fame land. — This
excellent cultivator fucceeds alfo in horfe-
hoeing beans ; turnips alfo in Angle rows,
upon his ridges near five feet broad, in order
to clean his land perfectly from weeds. — Po-
tatoes likewife in fingle rows upon the ridges,
which, by horfe-hoeing, produces him greater
crops, than is obtained there in the Common
Hufbandry. He cultivates alfo fome other
crops in the horfe-hoeing method with fuc-
cefs ; and even Lucerne for years pair, which
produces four cuttings in every fummer, upon
his cold moift land. All his crops thrive with
him, and have done fo for many years;
though both foil and climate are againft him ;
an evident demonftration of the excellency of
the New Hufbandry ; as its failing in the above
trifling experiments is of their unfkilful ma-
nagement.
Since writing the above, I have perufed a
late Treatife of Hufbandry, entitled The Com"
plete Englijh Farmer, faid in the title-page to
be written by a Friend of the late Mr. Jethro
Tull, Author of the Horfe-hoeing Hufbandry.
The author of this is faid to be a gentleman-
farmer, who refided formerly near Hunger-
ford in Berkfhire, and fince that in Kent. He
appears to be well acquainted with the Com-
mon Hufbandry ; and it might beexpe&ed,
from the title of his book, that he was alfo well
informed
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. £l
informed of the New, being a near neighbour
and friend of Mr. Tull. But it feems, by his
defcription of the New Hufbandry, that he
knows only the rlrft priactice, which Mr.
Tull exploded, and fays nothing of the altera-
tions and important improvements made by
Mr. Tull, and which he has recommended in
the additional parts of his work, the Supple-
ment, Addenda, and Conclufion. As thefe
were publifhed long fince, and the Complete
Englim Farmer's book not till the year 177 1,
his readers, who, from the title, may expeft
a fatisfa&ory account of the New Hufban-
dry, will be much difappointed ; and who-
ever (hall be perfuaded, by reading this trea-
tife, to attempt it, will be mifled. But it is
prefumed very few, if any, will, from his
account, which tends to difcourage begin-
ners ; and he raifes feveral objections to that
HuuSandry ; whereof fome of the principal
are the following. In his Preface, p. 15." In
" the horfe-hoeing culture," fays he, " though
fi the expence of labour may be lefs, the
M wafte of land is out of all proportion
" greater [than id the Common Hufban-
" dry! ; for there only four inches out of
" Jeventy-two are planted, the remaining
" fixty-eight are left for the introduction of
*« the hoe -plough. And will any one lay,
•* that in the nature of things four inches can
•' be made to produce as much grain asjeven*
44 ty-twc, provided the whole feventy-two
G •■ arc
82 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" are all In the fame heart before planting ?
" From my own experience, I am inclined to
" conclude they will not."
This objection refers to Mr. Tull's method
of drilling wheat upon fix-feet ridges (or fe-
venty-two inches), and two rows upon each
ridge ; which two rows, the author fuppofes,
occupied four inches j and then he afks, will
any one fay, that in the nature of things four
inches can be made to produce as much grain
as feventy-two; feventy-two he means, or the
land all fown as thick as it is ufually done.
The anfwer is, yes; the four inches can be
made to produce as much as the feventy-two
commonly does ; and for ■ this we have this
author's own authority: for he acquaints his
readers, p. 213, when fpeaking of the alter-
nate Hufbandry, " that Mr. Tull had often
" upon two rows in lix-feet lands, at the rate
V of five quarters of wheat on an acre."
This is a great crop, much greater than Js
commonly obtained by farmers, who cover all
the ground with plants. But covering all the
ground is no fure way to obtain a full crop :
for plants do not produce mod feed when
they ftand thick upon the ground, but in pro-
portion to the room and nourimment their
roots have in it, which the author feems not
to have confidered ; nor to have known, that
Mr. Tull had left off drilling wheat upon fix-
feet ridges. He alfo reckons the horfe-hoeings
of wheat as ib many whole plough ings,
though
5
N£W HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 8j
though a hoeing is only two furrows, and a
whole ploughing four or fix furrows; and
though only half the number of the fame
horfes is neceffary for hoeing as for ploughing
the fame land.
This author recommends the Common
Hufbandry ; but, in eflimating the profits of
it, he fays, that a farmer who takes five hun-
dred acres of land, whereof two hundred
acres are to be always corn, fhould be poffefled
of a fum to begin with of fifteen hundred
pounds; and p. 62, H that the beginner muft
" not flatter himfelf, that lefs than fifteen
" hundred pounds will be fufficient." Yet
he tells him, p. 204, " that fifty pounds a
" year laid by in clear profit is nearly as
" much as a farmer can annually accomplish,
*« who rents two hundred pounds a year."
If this is all the profit he is to expect, there is
little encouragement for a farmer to lay out
his money in the Common Hufbandry : for
this is eight pence an acre clear profit, for all
his labour and hazard ; and from his arable
land, meadows, and part u res ; alfo from his
fheep, cattle, dairy, hogs, &c. It is but
three and one-third per cent, for his money ;
which he might employ to much greater ad-
vantage in other bufinefs, and at common in-
terefl at four or five per cent. Very different
from this is the New Hufbandry, which does
not require near fo large a capital, and, as we
have feen above, that land of moderate ferti-
G 2 lity
84 THE PRACTICE OP THE
lity produces profitable crops of wheat, Mr.
Tull's twenty bufhels per acre ; Mr. Craik's
twenty-five bufhels per acre, at the expence of
only a guinea, for expences of feed, culture,
and carriage home ; and the author of Rural
Improvements has juftly obferved, that there
is a profit from only eight bufhels of wheat
per acre : So that an hundred acres of wheat
in the hoeing Huibandry is really more pro-
fitable than a farm of five hundred acres in
the Common Huibandry.
It will be unnecenary to take notice of all
the objections made to the New Hufbandry,
by the author of the Complete Englifh Far-
mer ; and may be fufficient to acquaint the
reader, that Mr. Tull began his hoeing culture
for wheat upon level ground at firfl, drilling
two, three, or four rows, at feven or eight
inches diftance ; and, leaving a fpace of about
four feet, drilled two, three, or four rows
more as at firfl ; the narrow diftances between
the rows, called Partitions, was hand-hoed,
and the wide or four- feet fpaces, called Inter-
vals, was horfe-hoed ; viz. was tilled with a
plough, while the crop was growing. But
finding upon trial, that drilling upon fix-feet
ridges, two, three, or four rows upon each,
the ridges were eafier horfe-hoed, and pro-
duced better crops, he left off drilling wheat
upon level ground, and drilled only two or
three rows upon each ridge. The method of
drilling thee rows he continued for fome
years,
UEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. $£
years, and then horfe-hoed his intervals ufually
fix times, and the partitions were once or
twice hand-hoed, according to the weeds, and
ftate of the Jand. But in this way, the mid-
dle row was greatly inferior to the outfide
rows ; and then he endeavoured to make it
equal to them, by deepening the foil in the
middle of the ridge; to do this, the ridges
were raifed higher in the middle; but the two
outfide rows being deprived of fo much mould
thrown to the middle of the ridge, though
the produce of the middle row was encreaied,
the outfide rows were diminished in a greater
proportion. This obfervation induced him to
leave off" entirely the middle rows, and to
drill only a doubk row ten inches diftant, upon
ridges of about four feet and eight inches
broad ; by this method, the intervals to be
hand-hoed were nearly of the fame breadth
as before, were only four times hoed,
and in a different manner, and the rows in
the partitions, being wider, could be deeper
hand-hoed. This was his laft and belt, me-
thod of cultivating wheat, and as fuch he re-
commends it. I have here taken notice of
this particularly ; becaule none have excelled
him in the culture of wheat, but ieveral have
fallen (hort of him. The gentlemen abroad
did fo, becaufe they followed Mr. Tull's firft
method ; his improvements not being then
publiflied, and t ran dated into French, as his
Eflay was; and feveral modern authors in
England appear to be unacquainted with the
G 3 latter
86 THE PRACTICE OF THE
latter parts of this Hufbandry ; among thefe
the author of the Complete Englifh Farmer,
by which he has done it a real injury ; as it
may be expected, that one who calls himfelf a
friend to Mr. Tull would have given an ac-
count of his Hufbandry to be depended upon ;
and therefore it is hoped that, if his book
comes to a fecond edition, he will do juitioe
to his friend, and acquaint the public of his
lateft and improved practice.
When the tranfactions of the patriotic So-
ciety of Arts were publifhed, by Robert Dof-
fie, Efq; he takes notice in his firft Volume,
p. 72, *< That when the Society endeavoured
N to procure information and trials requifite
" to the deciding the -important queftion, re-
\* fpecting the comparative utility and advan-
M tages of the Drill and Broad-cajl Hufban-
" dry: the public had," p. 78, " very little
«' ground, when the Society took that mat-
" ter up, of known experiments and calcu-
<< lations, on which to form a judgement,
if how far it was worthy the notice of thofe,
<« who are ready to adopt feafible improve-
" ments in Hufbandry." So imperfectly were
the merits of the Hoeing Hufbandry then ge-
nerally known ; and Mr. Doffie fpeaks doubt-
fully of them.
But, after the Society had received the ac-
counts fent them of this Hufbandry, by Sir
Digby Legard and Mr. Lowther, Mr. Doffie
obferves, p. 386. " Thefe facts furnifh very
*' con-
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 87
" conclufive reafons for believing, that what
44 can be cultivated conftantly, without ma-
44 nure, even on land not very well fuited to
44 it, with greater profit than the common
44 crops in the broad-caft, with the aid of fal-
44 low and manure. But this profit would
44 neceflarily be found to be much greater
" on land that is properly fuited to that grain.
44 — If we take the fame view of the actual
44 produce in the experiments of the barley
H cultivated in the drill- way, for which this
44 land was proper, the facts mew the real
44 profits equal to thofe we have deduced here
44 with refpect to wheat by conclusions."
Some of the other experiments recited in
this treatifc, of long fucceflive crops of wheat,
on various forts of land, fuperior to any re-
lated by Mr. Doflie, abundantly confirm the
merits of this Hufbandry in the culture of
wheat. To which, if the improvement of
many other crops be added, no doubt can re-
main of the fuperiority of the New Huf-
bandry.
Thefe examples of horfe-hoed crops may
be fufficient to fhew, that land is fertilized by
the atmofphcre, contrary to what the author
of the Farmer's Kalendar fays, «« that of all
44 the volumes that have been publifhed on
44 Hufbandry, none gives one a clear proof of
44 the acquifition of manure from the atmn-
44 fphere." This may be admitted in general,
of the authors who have wrote upon the Old
G 4 ' Huf-
88 THE PRACTICE OF THE
Hufbandry; as the acquifitions from the at-
mofphere were unknown to them, or very
imperfectly underftood, till Mr. Tuil explain-
ed, and proved it ; and therefore this author
was not likely to find it proved in their works;
but, as he quotes Mr. Tull, he cannot be ex-
cufed in advancing this, fo oppofite to the
principles of the New Hufbandry, fully ex-
plained and proved by him, as well as by fe-
veral foreign authors, whofe works have been
published many years ago. But, fays he,
" the benefit of fallowing is no clear proof,
M becaufe it is never experienced exclufively, of
" killing weeds ; and unlefs fuch effects were
" known dijlinftly », one cannot with any pre-
" cijion attribute a certain ctegree to each."
And becaufe we cannot know thefe effects
di/iinclly and with precijion, the author would
perfuade us, that therefore the atmofphere has
no effecl: at all, in enriching land ; but that
the benefit of fallowing, is wholly owing to
killing the weeds — But, in a courfe of tillage,
the injury done by weeds is, at an average,
nearly the fame one year as another ; and if,
as farmers in general allow, fallowing is bene-
ficial to land, that mud: arife in part from
the atmofphere, and is certainly fo in the New
Hufbandry, for there no weeds are fufFered to
grow, or nearly the fame one year as another ;
and yet is the fertility fo much encreafed by
Jioeing and expofure, as to nourifli a crop of
wheat everv year, equally as wjth manure- —
h But
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 89
" But as, fays he, experiment has not, and
•' probably will not prove this important point,
<* it remains for the difquitition of reafou
u alone." This author appears to be a prac-
tical huihandman, and makes many good ob-
fervations upon hulhandry ; but his partiality
to the common lyftems, and over-rating the
value of manure, has led him into an indefen-
fible partiality to it. Dung with him is every-
thing. On the culture of madder, he fays,
p. 34.1, " the article of manure is the foul of
** this culture; the plant delights to grow in
" a dunghill, fo that you need not fear over-
" doing it ; perhaps one hundred loads an acre,
*' of black rotten dung, may be found the
" proper quantity for the firft crop of madder.
«' And for the fecond crop, the earth being
«« dug three feet deep, it will be abfolutely
" neceffary to mix in with it from fifty to
" one hundred loads of rotten farm-yard dung,
*' a year and half old, that has been twice or
" thrice turned over ; this will enrich and
" mellow it in a furprifing manner ;*' and fb
indeed it ought, for this is a furpriring quan-
tity. He directs almoft as much for liquorice,
and great quantities for fome other crops. But
this author mould have known, that much
dung is an injury to madder, debating the co-
lour of the dye. And that the liquorice raifed
near London is much inferior to that in other
parts of England, only becaufe the liquorice
grounds about London are dunged too much.
With
GO THE PRACTICE OF THE
With regard to what this author advances,
that experiment has not, and probably will
not prove, the acquifition of fertility, or (as
he calls it) manure from the atmofphere ; the
above experiments have not only proved it,
but he might have eafily fatisfied himfelf of
the truth of it, by a fmall experiment of fome
plants, of wheat, &c. upon a few perches of
ground; and by well cultivating them, and
keeping the ground perfectly clean from weeds,
he might have difcovered, whether the benefit
of a fallow a.^fes merely, as he fuppofes, from
killing of weeds.
But, to anfwer this objection fully, I (hall
recite an experiment made by the very inge-
nious M. de Chateauvieux. " Repeated ex-
* perience, fays he, the effects of which have
* constantly been the fame, have taught me,
f and I can fafely affirm, that extremely bad
6 lands, which could not fb much as yield a
* crop that would pay the expence of tilling
1 them, have been rendered good and fertile,
' merely by ploughing, and without the af-
' fiftance of any manure. This is a ftriking
* truth ; it was that firft determined me to
* praclife the New Hufbandry ; and therefore
1 it was of confequence tome to be certain of
' it. To this end, I was refolved to make a
1 trial on a fmall fpot of ground, which I knew
1 to be incapable to produce any thing. Some
1 years before I had dug away the earth three
' feet deep, from a fpace of 6o fquare toifes
" [about
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 91
*' [about eight Englifti perches] ; nothing re-
" mained in it but^a clofe white clay, fit for
" potters ufe. This fpot, thus circumftanced,
" ieemed to me a proper one for my experi-
" ment. As the fpace was too fmall for the
" plough to work in, I made ufe of the fpade
" and hoe : it was made into beds, which
" were afterwards fowed with wheat, and the
" fpaces between them frequently ftirred.
*' The firft year my plants were very poor, and
'* branched only into two, three, or four ftalks
" apiece ; the fecond year they did much
M better ; and the third year they were as large
M and as fine as any my garden could have pro-
♦' duced. This fpot continues to produce
M equally well.
** We have here a remarkable inftance of
" what may be done, by fufficiently pulve-
H rifing the earth : that which I am fpeaking
" of, is now like mould ; and, which is very
*' remarkable, it has loft its former white
•* colour, and is now black : let us but allow
" the lame with any of our bad lands, and per-
" fevere in ploughing and ftirring them a fuf-
'* ficient time, and the fuccefs will not
" be doubtful." This one fmall experiment
is a fufficient anfwer to the objection of the
above author.
But fo ready is he to recommend dung on
every occafion, that, fpeaking of manuring
grafs-lands, he fays, p. 284. " It is difficult
♦' to over-manure arable lands, but very eafily
M done
92 THE PRACTICE OF THE
•« done with grafs." A maxim this, the re-
verfe of the practice of the beft farmers, ef-
pccialiy of arable lands cropped with corn.
The following letter from an Eflex farmer
will (hew this very clearly. [i
44 It is now upwards of feven years, that I
44 have been tenant of a considerable farm in
44 Effex ; but as there are fome particular cir-
•1 cumftances attending this farm, I mufl beg
«4 leave to fay a few words on the fubject.
46 The foil, which is for the moil: part a
44 mellow loam, or what is in general called
H a good wheat foil, was in very good heart,
«« and not impoverilhed ; yet the laft tenant
♦' broke on this farm, and the landlord loft
" by him near two years rent : for his crops
«' of wheat were continually damaged by
«« fmut, let him take what care he would of
M the feed, and were befides often laid ; and
" the land got very foul, though he was not
" fparing of his fallows,
" On the contrary, iince I 'have occupied
" this land, it has borne large crops of good
•* found wheat, with very little fmutty corn;
" and barley, oats, peafe, beans, and other
" things in proportion. What will appear
*' (till. more furprizing is, that I do not lay on
«' half fo much dung as he did.
" It will now perhaps be neceflary to ex-
" plain this feeming paradox. At no great
44 diftance from the farm lives the land-
*4 lord, who is a man of fortune, and drives
" a fet
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 93
" a fet of horfes. This gentleman keeps no
" land in his own hands, fo that he was
* for many years obliged to buy all the
" ftraw ufed for the litter of his (tables,
" which amounted to a very confiderable
" quantity: however, when the laft tenant
" of this farm came to it, having been a fer-
" vant in the family, he offered to fupply the
" fquire with ftraw for his ftables, provided
" he might have all the dung except what the
" gardener had occafion for. The fquire
" thought this a good propofal, and the far-
" mer imagined he had the beft of the bar-
" gain j fo the matter was foon fettled.
«* Now, you are to underftand, that the
«' fquire kept, befides feven coach -horfes, a
" ftable of hunters, a number of road-horfes,
" and a pack of hounds ; fo that there was
" on his premifes, in a year, an incredible
" quantity of rich dung.
" The farmer imagined he was now in a
" fair way of making his fortune ; for his
" father had taught him, that the man who
" can command dung, is always fure of large
" crops : but this did not. prove truea in the
" prefent cafe.
" To proceed, my predeceflbr went on
" ploughing his land, got his fallows in good
4« order, drefled them largely with dung, and
" always fowed them with wheat.
" His crops of this noble grain, however,
" by no means anfwered his expectations: his
M wheat
Q4 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" wheat conftantly looked well and promif-
" ing, in winter and the early part of the
" fpring of the year ; but as it advanced, it
" grew rank j and at harvefl, was either run
«< all to ftraw, and was befides very fmutty ;
" or elfe, if a heavy fhower of rain happened
" to fall, it was lodged, matted, and grew.
«« This was, indeed, a very mortifying cir-
" cumftance, but our farmer could find no
" remedy for it. He feveral times, without
U fuccefs, tried folding fome fheep on his
« wheat : but this part of Hufbandry, for
" want of (kill, he managed fo badly, that
« he loft two entire crops : for he had fcarcely
" the return of his feed at harveft. This
«« could never hold long ; fo that, in the end,
" he was, as I faid before, broke and ruined.
" This man never could be perfuaded, that
" any part of his lofs was to be attributed to
« the dung he laid on his land ; though he con-?
« ftantly manured it with horfe-dung, before
" it was half-rotten ; and without any mix-
" ture, to allay its great heat. This kept
" the foil in a conftant ftate of fermentation,
«e and flocked it with weeds ; infomuch, that
« when I took pofleflion of the farm, fome of
<« the foil was abfolutely mouldy, and flunk
" again, it was fo rank.
" I will now inform you of my mothod
" ofmanagement, that you may be able to judge
" how far I was benefited by the errors of my
" predeceflbr.
«• I found
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 95
" I found fixty acres of fallow, ready for
*« (owing with wheat: thefe, as the land
" was rank, I fowed with the winter tare ;
" which I knew by experience would choak
" the weeds, and abate the ranknefs of the
" foil. In fome parts, where the foil was
" not fo rank, I ploughed-in the tares, in or-
" der to fow wheat over them. In other
" parts, I fuffered the tare to ftand for a crop ;
" which however was not confiderable, they
" ran fo much to ftraw or haulm.
" When the tares were off, I got the land
" inftantly in order, and fowed the whole
" with wheat, of which I had a better and
" cleaner crop, than had been known upon
* the land for upwards of feven years before ;
" this all my neighbours acknowleged. How-
M ever, it was neither clean enough, nor
" confiderable enough, to fatisfy me. Some
u of your readers may perhaps wonder, what
" I did with my tares, as but few are fold at
*c the country markets : but I mud inform
" them, that I live within ten miles of a
V fea-port town, whither I fent them at va-
M rious times, in order to their being carried
" by fea to London.
•• I am to obferve to you, that I continued
" the agreement, of giving the fquire ftraw
" for his dung : but I made ufe of it very
" different from my predeceflbr.
" I make it a rule, never to manure for
" wheat, or fow wheat on a fallow. I do
«« not
96 THE PRATICE OP THE
" not indeed allow many fallows on my land;
" and when I do, I generally fow my fallow
« with barley, to which I allow four or five
" ploughings. This commonly yields me a
" large return, and I have a good crop of
" wheat after it.
*« This, however, is not my general me-
" thod : for I am very fond of the Hoeing
" Hufbandry ; to pra&ife which in fome de-
«' gree, is the only infallible way of keeping
«* land clean. To begin then with my me-
" thod; I never lay any dung alone on my
" land, let it be ever fo rotten; but as foon
" as I get any long dung from the fquire's, I
• carry it to my compoft-heap, where it is
" mixed in alternate layers, or beds, with
" frefh virgin-earth (if I can get it), lime or
«« chalk, lime-rubbifh, fcourings of ditches
" and ponds, turf, leaves of trees, and all
" the dung and offal of my family, of the
" hog-yard, the poultry-yard, and the dog-
* kennel. As to my pigeons dung, I always
'" preferve it to mix with foot, and ufe the
•* mixture as a top-dreffing for my wheat,
€< whenever it happens to be too backward in
" the fpring.
" But to return to my compoft : I have al-
«« ways feveral diftinct heaps of different
«' ages, and I fbmetimes leave it three years
" before I ufe it; and never lay on any under
*' three years old.
46 When I have got a plot of ground in or-
*' der, I give it a thorough-good dreffing of
44 this
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. Qy
*« this compofr, which I immediately plough
" in. I then fow it with fome crop that re-
U quires hoeing, fuch as horfe-beans, broad-
" beans, or white or grey peafe. During the
" whole fummer, I take care to keep thefe
4t crops very clean, by hoeing, efpecially if
" the feafon is rainy ; and I am particularly
« cautious in preventing any of the weeds
" from perfecting the feeds.
" When my hoeing-crop, which generally
" more than pays me all my expences, is off
" the land, 1 immediately get it into as fine
«' tilth as I poflibly can, by repeated plough-
'« ings; and then fow it, either with wheat
" or barley, whichever is likely to pay me
" bed : for, little as fome of your readers may
<{ think of it, barley, when it is fown on
" good land, well prepared, is very frequently
" as profitable as a crop of wheat.
*' By thus lowing my wheat, after a hoe-
" ing crop with dung, 1 have always a good
" return of clean corn, often five quarters on
«« an acre; and my land will ftill be in heart
«« enough, to give me a reafonable crop of
" oats; after which, without any fallow,
M comes my hoeing crop, &c.
" When I fow barley after the hoeing
u crop, I fuffer wheat to follow it; and then it
" is that, if 1 find it neceiTary, I give the
" wheat in the fpring a top-drefling of loot,
** mixed with pigecns dung.
H I fome-
98 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" I fometimes allow only fix pecks of
" feed-wheat to an acre : this is when I fow
" over it, in the fpring of the year, eighteen
" bufhels of broad-clover-feed ; which I har-
" row in with a pair of very light harrows,
" and it does not in the leaft damage my
" wheat-plants. I leave the clover only two
" years on the land : for the fecond year after
u I have mown the firft crop for hay, I fuffer
M the fecond to grow very rank (having
" given my land a flight dreffing from my
" compoft dung - hill the preceding year)
u which I plough in, and over it fow wheat,
c< to be harrowed in at once ploughing.
" Thefe crops of wheat are fmaller in
" quantity than any others I get; but the
*■ grain is finer, plumper, brighter, and hea-
" vier, generally felling for more at market,
" as being always very clean, and clear from
" feeds of weeds.
" In my method of farming, fome parti-
" culars are to bef noted. In the firft place,
** as my crops fucceeded one the other very
" quick, I am under a neceflity of having1 all
" my ftubble extirpated, before I give the
" land the firft ploughing after the crop is off.
" If it is a wheat or bean ftubble, I generally
" have it all pulled up by hand by women
M and children 5 barley and oat-ftubbles I
" have torn up by a pair of loaded drags, and
" afterwards gathered into heaps, and carted
*« to the compoft heap. This I do to prevent
" the
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 99
H the (kibble from being buried by the plough'
?< and from growing mouldy in the land •
" from which mouldinefs, I have great reafo1*
M to think, fmut proceeds.
" Another thing to be noticed is, that I al-
" low lefs feed to my land than moft of my
" neighbours; my quantity being'from feven
M to nine pecks of wheat, from nine to twelve
" of barley, and about twelve of oats, to an
" acre of land : but it is always to be pre-
V fumed, that the feed I fow is good. If
" any farmer mould imagine, that thefe
" quantities are too fmall, let him fuppofe
" every wheat-plant to occupy a fpace of fix
«< inches fquare, which is fmall enough ; let
." him then calculate, how many fuch fpaces
" there are in a fquare acre. When he has
" done this, let him proceed to count how many
" grains of wheat there are in a pint, which
<4 multiply by the number of pints in nine
" pecks, and he will find, by the refult, that
" I, in fact, allow too much feed."
In the third volume of the Mufcum
Rufticum, p. 151. an old Norfolk - farmer
gives a very ienfible account of his manager
ment of wheat crops, refpedling the feeding
down wheat in the fpring, with meep '?
and then concludes, as follows ;
" We mud not always judge the farmer's
" profits by the produce of" h'.s land, which
/' Jfome of your readers may think odd; but
100 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" I will make it appear by an example from
" my own practice.
" In the year 1743, I had two fields of
" twenty acres each in wheat ; one of which
" yielded me at harveft, at the rate of four
" quarters an acre throughout ; the other
" yielded me only twenty bumels, one acre
" with another : yet I got more by the laft
" than the firft. The cafe was thus : falling
" fhort of dung, I was obliged to buy ; but
" it was fo dear, that I only bought enough
" for the firft field, giving the other two
" ploughings extraordinary, inftead of ma-
" nuring it ; and thefe ploughings I reckon
«c at a mere trifle, as my horles would other-
" wife have flood .ftill."
The importance of manures in the com-
mon practice of farming is known, and gene-
rally acknowledged : but of late, fome writers
on Agriculture have contended forfuch an uni-
verfal ufe of them, as feems to refolve this
art to the fingle point of collecting and apply-
ing immenfe quantities of dung to their arable
land. They endeavour to perfuade their rea-
ders in the ftile of the above EfTex farmer's
father, " that the man who can command
■* dung, is always fure of large crops." A
very fallacious rule, if adhered to literally ;
though of great ufe, when applied with judge-
ment : as appears by the different fuccefs of
thofe two farmers on the fame land. A dii-
ti notion ought to be made in the culture of
plants
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. IOI
plants for feeding cattle : for them dung and
manures are particularly ufeful, becaufe they
promote a great luxuariancy in thefe plants,
which is much for the farmer's profit : but a
luxuriancy in wheat, and other corn, is fb far
from being beneficial, that it is often hurtful,
producing much draw, and but little good
corn ; fuch grofs crops are alfo the mod liable
to diftempers, and to be blighted and lodged.
This may be faid in general of all plants cul-
tivated for feed; and may be obferved alfo in
gardens. I have cultivated radifhes in a rich
foil, which have grown remarkably large,
have fpread greatly, and continued all the lea-
fbn to produce many bloflbms and pods, but
not one ripe feed.
The above Norfolk farmer's two fields of
wheat (hews the difference of profit of tillage
and manure. One that produced but twenty
bufhels of wheat pef acre, was more pro-
fitable to him, than thirty-two bufhels per
acre produced by the other. The ditference
in the two crops, being twelve bufhels per
acre, was in a great meafure owing to the
dung, whereof the other field had none. But
farmers mould confider, not only the crops,
hut the expence attending them. The two
ploughings extraordinary might coftabout eight
or ten (hillings, or the value of two bufheh
of wheat, which being thdufted from the
other greater crop, there remains ten bufliel-;
H 3 .to
id2 THE PRACTICE OF THE
to obtain which, coft the farmer about 2 1. 10s.
per acre, or upwards.
It is indeed remarkable, that two common
plough ings fhould, in point of profit, exceed
a dunging, and is a ftrong argument in favour
of tillage, and of the New Husbandry : for
in that method, the tillage is performed in a
manner more advantageous toN the crop, and
alfo much cheaper, than common ploughing.
The common reckoning of the price of
dung per acre, is from three or four to five
pounds : but the dung does not advance the
crop to that value beyond a drilled and horfe-
hoed crop ; as appears from what has been
fhewn above of the hoed crops. And it has
been alfo (hewn, that horfe-hoed crops of
wheat may be, and actually have been, re-
peated many years, without intermiffion, and
without manure.
In the old method of farming in Eng-
land, a fallow once in three or four years
was thought neceffary, and by moft farmers
is thought fo itill. But of late years it has
been found by the more curious, that fallow-
ing is not neceflary ; and that land may be
kept in heart by a change of crops only, and
without fallowing. This faves the expence
of rent and fallow every third or fourth year,
and is undoubtedly a great improvement in
Hufbandry. Yet the Hoeing Hufbandry is
luperior even to this new mode of culture,
wherein the farmer's aim is to obtain a crop
cf
ttEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. IO3
of wheat every third year, or, at mod, every
fecond year; wheat being univerfally by them
efteemed to be their principal and moft profit-
able crop, to obtain which is the chief intent
of fallowing; and the intermediate crops of
beans, peafe, &c. are allowed to be inferior
to wheat. But in the New Husbandry, the
farmer obtains a crop of wheat every year :
or, if he has a mind to change fometimes
for any other crop, or is obliged to do fo, as
Mr. Craik does, from a peculiarity of foil or
climate ; he can do it to as great advantage as
the common farmer, or more fo ; hoed crops
being generally more profitable than the broacl-
caft.
Upon the whole, the reader .may perceive,
how groundlefs is the aflertion of the author
of the Farmer's Kalendar, that " were fuch
" ideas (as thofe of the New Hufbandry)
" to become general, it is inconceivable how
'« much mifchief they would occafion ; and
" that there cannot be more falfe principles,
" than thofe whereon they are built :" which
before any author had prefumed to affert, he
ought to have underftood them, and to have
diiproved them by a fair trial ; or acquainted
his readers, where they were difproved by per-
fons of character : but this was not in his
power to do. Thefe principles are founded
upon truth and nature ; they have been proved
by the moil accurate experiments, and by ex-
H 4 tenfive
104 THE PRACTICE OF THE
tenfive practice, on various forts of land, and
cannot be dilproved by negative arguments.
Though the horfe-hoed wheat crops are
very profitable, farmers are not adviled to go
largely into that Hufbandry at firfr, bccauie
it requires more fkill and attention in the ma-
nagement, than other crops that do net conti-
nue fo long upon the ground : for which rea-
fon the farmer fhould begin it at firft upon a
fmall quantity of land ; and encreafe it, upon
further experience.
Mr. Tull at firft drilled three or four rows
upon fix-feet ridges, afterwards two rows only
upon narrower ridges, as mentioned above.
But the molt perfect culture in this Hufban-
dry, is of Jingle rows upon ridges : for where
there are two or more rows upon a ridge, the
partitions between the rows cannot receive the
full benefit of the hqrfe-hoeing, and are cul-
tivated only with hand-hoes; and it is diffi-
cult to get the weeds clean out of the rows.
It feems to have been for thefe reafons, tbat
the very ingenious author of this Hufbandry
began, towards the latter end of his practice,
to try the culture of (ingle rows of wheat
upon ridges; which he t nought might an-
fwer, if fingle rows of Smyrna wheat were
drilled upon ridges three feet and eight inches
broad. This wneat has one large middle ear,
with fmaller ears growing out from the bot-
tom of the middle ear, and all round it ; he
was promifed fome of this wheat, but d.fap-
poiuted ;
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 105
pointed ; and he thought the white and grey
cone (the forts he commonly cultivated with
the horfe-hoe) were not large enough to he
drilled upon ridges in (ingle rows ; and, I be-
lieve, has not been tried in this manner ; but
there is another method, that has been tried
with fuccefs, which the farmer may pra&ife
with fafety, till he is well acquainted with
horie-hoeing double rows upon ridges. This
is, to drill his wheat in tingle equidiftant
rows, of two feet or thirty inches afunder,
with about two pecks of feed per acre, if fown
early. The thirty-inch fpaces mould be cul-
tivated with a fmall fwing-plough, (in the
manner the ridges are hoed) the firft hoeing
before winter, taking care that the plants of
young wheat are not covered with the mould
falling upon them. In this way, the wheat
mould not be hoed on both fides of the rows
at once, for that would leave them too much
expofed ; as the plough fhould go within two
or three inches of the wheat : but the rows
fhould be hoed alternately, one of the fpaces
in autumn, and the next to it in the fpring ;
and in this manner during the growth of the
wheat. If the land is fo itrong, that it would
get ftale and hard before the fpring-hoeing,
the wheat may be hoed alternately in au-
tumn, on both fides, which is done by re-
turning the earth hoed from one fide, imme-
diately, or footi after it was hoed from the
wheat; and then hoe the other tide, which
may
l66 THE PRACTICE OF THE
may lie open during the winter, to carry off
the rain-water, and keep the wheat dry till
fpring. The laft hoeings in fummer mould
earth the rows up on both fides* which will
help to ftrengthen and fupport the wheat. In
this way, there is little occafion of hand-
hoeing, except for the narrow flips left by
the hoe-plough next the wheat, and the rows
are eafily cleaned of weeds. — Great crops
have been obtained in this method of cul-
ture, where the rows were but two feet dif-
tant : but if they are drilled at the diftance
of two feet and an half, the fpaces may be
deeper hoed, which will be more advan-*
tageous to the crop and the land : though
the two- feet rows are very profitable* and
will probably be at firft preferred by farmers.
It is proper to prepare land well, that is
intended for wheat ; and, if the land will
bear to be deep-ploughed, the crop will be the
more plentiful. This is a circumflance not
fufficiently attended to by many farmers ; and
fome writers have been fo ignorant, as to re-
commend (hallow ploughings, as of four or
five inches : but plants are nourifhed by their
roots, and the more good well-tilled earth
they have to fpread in, the more vigorous
the plants will grow, and the greater crop
they will produce. Many inftances might be
given of this .; but it may be fufficieiit here to
take notice, that, in cultivating madder, very
little or no manure is ufed, but the land is
dug
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I07
dug three or four feet deep : the land is em-
ployed in the preparation and crop of madder
three or four years ; and then it is dug up,
and well-broken, to get out all the madder-
roots, and this digging is alfo about four feet
deep : the fame land is not ufually replanted
with madder immediately, but with wheat or
other crops for four years or more; not
being thought proper for madder, till it has
been planted with corn, or other crops, for
feveral years. Wheat ufually fucceeds mad-
der, but the land is iiot drelfed with dung, or
any manure, for wheat j yet it is found, that
after fuch deep digging, if the feafon is at all
favourable, they are fure of a great crop of
wheat ; and that the benefit of fuch digging
continues for feveral fucceeding crops.
The crop of wheat, cultivated as above,
is reaped at a lefs expence than the broad-caft,
and, being perfectly clean from weeds, is foon
in order to be carried home,, which is no
fmall advantage in a catching harvefr.
Good Hufbandmen begin plowing, their
land early in autumn, to prepare it for the
next crop, for which three plowings are often
necefftry, fometimes more ; but the firmer,
who underdands the Hoeing Hufbandry, will
not lole five or fix months, and be at that ex-
pence, merely as a preparation for a crop next
fummer. lie may have a crop in winter, which
will defray the expellee of winter-fallow-
ing, and bring him fome protit befides.
i Land
108 THE PRACTICE OF THE
Land is not impoverished by a crop, if that
crop is well horfe-hoed, as we have (hewn of
wheat crops ; and as wheat crops, thus culti-
vated, do not require manure, the faimer may
fpare fome manure for a winter crop. — As
fuppofe his land, in the prefent cafe, is itrong,
it may be ploughed as foon as the wheat is
carried off, laid up into five-feet ridges, and
immediately planted with a double row of
cole-feed plants upon each ridge, the rows a
foot afunder, the land being firft well drefled
with dung or compoft. The plants being
thus difpoled, there will be a fpace or interval
between the double rows, of four feet wide,
which is a proper diftance to give room for
the hoe-plough; and thefe cole-feed plants,
well horfe-hoed and hand- hoed in the par-
tition between the rows, will come forward
apace, and produce a conflderable quantity of
good feeding for large cattle and (heep to the
beginning of February, about which time
the land mould be cleared of all the cols-leed
plants, and immediately planted, five feet
each ridge, with a double row of beans, to be
horfe-hoed. Once ploughing of the ridges is a
iufficient preparation for the beans: for it is an
advantage peculiar to the New Hufbandry, that
one crop may immediately fucceed another,
without further preparation or expence than
ploughing once for a new crop. 1 have pro-
pofed to plant cole-feed, as Auguit is a proper
ti.ne to tranfplant them for a crop ; a id tiiey
ate
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I0£
are very good feeding for cattle, and fo hardy
as very rarely to be injured by froft : If the
farmer is ntuated near a great town, the green
curled favoys, or cabbage plants, &c. for fale,
may be ftill more profitable to him. — The
beans, well hoed, will yield a larger and
more profitable crop than in the common
way of planting them ; and as foon as they
are cut, the land may be ploughed down level
and drilled with wheat, to be cultivated as be-
fore.— In this method of cultivating wheat,
very good crops will be obtained, but the
land is not fo much improved as it is by the
horfe-hoeing of wheat upon ridges ; and for
that reafon it will not be advifeable to attempt
raiting fucceflive crops of wheat every year
in this method of drilling it upon the level,
as may be done upon ridges. Yet in this
way the farmer will find it much more profi-
table than the Old Hufbandry, and the mod
approved courfe of crops in that Hufbandry,
viz. turnips, barley, clover, and wheat ; for in
this courle the farmer can have but one crop
of wheat in four years, whereas in the hoeing
method juft mentioned he has two crops of
wheat in four years, better crops than he com-
monly obtains in the Old Hufbandry, and at a
lefs cxpcnce, befubsthe advantage of the win-
ter crop of cole-feed for his cattle. — And
when he is io expert in the hoeing, as to un-
dertake the culture of wheat in the beft horfe-
hoeing method as defcribed above, he may
have
IIO THE PRACTICE OF THE
have a crop of wheat every year upon the
fame land, to much greater profit than any
courfe of crops in the Old Hufbandry, as we
have (hewn above. — If the land is not very
ftrong, inftead of beans, the farmer may raife
a crop of carroty or potatoes after the wheat,
and thus have wheat and potatoes, or wheat
and carrots, alternately.
Having fhewn that wheat and beans are
cultivated to greater profit in the New than
in the Old Hufbandry, I (hall proceed to fome
other crops, and prove the advantage of hoe-
ing, by a fair comparifon of both at large.
We have an example of this in the culture of
turnips by Mr. Wynn Baker, near Dublin,
which, in his report to the Dublin Society, he
relates as follows. He prepared land for fe-
veral different crops, whereof part was tur-
nips ; this was five times ploughed, and laid
in five-feet ridges. Compoft was laid in the
furrows between the ridges, which were at
the laft ploughing turned back upon the com-
poft, and a fingle row of turnip-feed was drily
led upon the middle of each ridge over the
manure. Half an acre was ploughed fix
times, drefied with the fame compoft as the
ridges (but with double the proportion that
was given to the land in ridges), and he fowed
it with turnip-feed, broad caft ; at the fame
time the ridges were drilled, viz. the 14th of
tf The
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED, III
44 The half acre before mentioned," fays
Mr. Baker, " I manured with at lead double
44 the proportion of compoft that was allowed
44 to the other part of the fallow, as it was
" flat, and it was necefiary to manure every
" part of it, being intended for turnips, to
" be fowl) in the promifcuous way, or broad.
44 caft.: to this piece of ground I gave a fixth
44 ploughing, as it could not have the benefit
** of the horfehoe, when cropped ; and there-
44 fore I thought it neceflary to reduce it as
« fine as poflible, in order to give the broad-
44 caft crop of turnips every advantage I
44 could. — My turnips fhould have been iown.
44 at lead three weeks earlier ; but the iramo-
44 derate and continual rains of the preceding
" winter involved me fb much with my fpring
" fowing, that I could not accomplifh my
" turnip-fowing earlier. When the drilled
44 turnips were about three inches high, I
44 thinned them by hand, as being much
'*' preferable and more expeditious than any
" initrumcnt, intending to have them fingled
•« out to about one foot afunder in the rows ;
u but, it being fo new a work, the women
«* could not be brought to do it effectually at
44 once, they apprehending that the whole
4£ crop would be loft, and arguing that they
<c were fure there was already too much
44 ground allowed to one rovj : under thefe
** circumftanccs, I could not get this work
4> /done cjuiie to my mind this year; as I had,
4< befides
112 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" befides this field, two others fown in the
" fame way, amounting in all to about
«* twelve acres. — Thefe turnips were horfe-
" hoed upon the 17th of Auguft, for the firft
" time, by taking off, at one furrow of the
" plough, only one tide of each ridge, clofe
«! to the plants ; thus they remained till the
" 25th, when I run the plough in the fame
" furrow ; by which, with the firft furrow,
" I ploughed about twenty-one inches deep.
" This being finifhed, I immediately returned
** the earth back to the plants ; this afforded
" them frefh nouriihment ; and, in order to
" give rheir roots time to penetrate this frefh
46 earth (which by the horfehoeing was be-
*< come very fine mould), I let them remain
" in this ftate till the 12th of September,
44 when I horfehoed them again, by taking off
** the other fide of every ridge, and on the
" 20th deepened the furrow in the fame man-
" ner as the former, and immediately returned
44 back the mould to the plants, and on the
44 1 8th of October threw up a fmall furrow
" on each fide of every ridge, which finifhed
" the culture of thefe crops, and reftored the
" ridges to the form in which they were
" when the plants were put out upon them."
— This is his defcription of horfehoeing the
cabbages he had planted in the fame field ;
and he refers to that account for the turnips,
which, he fays, were horfehoed in the fame
manner, and nearly at the fame times, as
thefe
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. IIJ
thefe cabbages, •« with this difference only*
5s that I deepened the furrows of but a few
f* ridges of the turnips in another fit Id ly a
u fecond ploughing in the fame furrow,
" which I did not find to benefit the turnips
*« much ; for, if the ground is well prepared
" before the fowing, the depth of one furrow
" will 'be enough for the turnips, provided
V that be deep and bold.
" Thinning the turnips in drills by hand
f* coft me eight-pence an acre ; weeding
" them coft me four-pence; and the repeated
" horfe-hoeings about fourteen pence an acre
** for workmen's wages, exclusive of the
" horfes ; of which I generally ufed two,
,€ except in very hot days, and then I found
«* three were neceflary. — The broad-cad tur-
M nips were carefully thinned by hand, when
" they were about two inches high, which
" the women did with more courage than
" they did the drills ; and fome time after-
M wards I hoed them Qnce, and weeded them
" twice. Thinning them by hand colt me
" four (hillings. Hoeing them afterwards
«c coft eight (hillings, and weeding them coft
" me two (hillings and four pence. They
M were fcarcely half an acre ; this expence
u being therefore doubled, they coft me a^t
,«' the rate of twenty-eight (hillings and eight-
" pence an acre, over and above the ' cxtraor.*
V dinary ploughing and double proportion of
.',' manure. In truth, this crop greatly e.v-
1 " cccde4
114 THE PRCATICE OF THE
** ceeded my expectations, being by far the
H bell: I ever had in the broad-caft way ; but
'* I attribute their fuccefs wholly to the thin-
•l ning them by hand ; for two, three, four,
" and often five more turnips will be fo united
" and interwoven, that it would be impoffible
** for the moil: dextrous hoer to feparate
" them; whereas the ringers and thumb will
" preferve the mafter plant, whilft the others
«* are moft conveniently drawn from it by the
" other hand of the perfon employed. Add
" to this, that there is no labour in which we
M are more liable to be deceived than in tur-
«• nip- hoeing.
" December the 1 7th I meafured out three
" fquare perches of the beft of the broad-caft
" turnips, and alfo three fquare perches of the
" drilled ; and the produce was as follows :
C. q. lb. T. c. q. lb.
" Three perches of the drilled weighed 17 i 11, which 7
" hptr Acre - J47
" is per Acre
i
43 S 3
" In favour of the drilled 3 16 3 14
" Thus we fee, that, notwithstanding the
*« extraordinary proportion of manure, and the
U extraordinary ploughing, which was af-
" forded to the broad-caft turnips, the drilled
* r crop, with intervals of five feet, produced
" the greateft quantity upon an a re.
" It now remains to defcribe the nature
" and quality of the land. The land lies
** upon
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. II*
* upon a lime-ftone quarry, which is very
" near the furface ; and is nat jrally a (Irong
«« and ftubborn foil, with an infinite number
" of loofe lime-ftones in it. With dry
H winds, or a parching fun, the ground
«* unites, and is as hard as bricks; moderately
" wet, it is reducible by inftruments ; but
" when thorough wet, it runs together; and
" is like brick-clay, when rem ered. This, I
«' repeat it, is the natural quality of the
" land, and is what the writers would call
" a barren, grey, ftiff earth, but is not quite
" a cUy. I have found repeated tillage, when
H the land is in a proper ftate of moifture,
" will reduce it, and divert it of its natural
M adhefion. Tillage and manure together
" render it capable of producing any thing ;
" as I believe fuch agents will do upon any
" land, provided it can be kept moderately
" dry. The fields which 1 had under turnips
" and cabbages have been in appearance all
" the fummer a fine loam, and really bore the
*' complexion of very fine land, abftra&ed
u from the rich appearance of the crops.'* —
Upon this accurate experiment, we may make
the following remarks.
I. He acknowledges a partiality fhewn to the
broad-caft turnips, in bellowing upon them a
double quantity of manure, and an extraordi-
nary ploughing, which doubtlels made that
crop confiderably greater than it would have
1 2 been
Il6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
been with only the fame tillage and propor-
tion of manure.
2. Ridges four feet broad are fufficient for
turnips for feeding cattle, as was experienced
by Mr. Tull, and by others fince. Upon
four-feet ridges the crop would have been
greater than upon thofe of five feet, in the
proportion of five to four; and the crop would
have been 58 tons, 7 c. 21 lb. viz. 2 tons, 13 c.
1 qr. 1 1 lb. more fuperiority per acre than
computed by Mr. Baker.
3. The expence of the broad-caft was
much greater than of the* drill, for the broad-
caft coll: 1 1. 8 s. 8 d. per plantation acre, and
the drilled coft but 4s. 2d. per acre, reckon-
ing the horfes at one (hilling a day each,
which is a good price there : fo that the ex-
pence of cultivating the broad-caft turnips was
above fix times as much as for the drilled.
This difference is very great, and would
amount to a large fum in cultivating turnips ex-
tenfively. — The drawing up and carriage of the
broad-caft cofts alfo more than the other; and
if not drawn all clean up, what is left in the
ground will grow, and damage the next crop,
efpecially if that is barley.
4. The land where the broad-caft turnips
grow becomes hard and ftale, and will re-
quire feveral poughings to bring it into fine
tilth for another crop : whereas land that has
been harfe-hoed is in fine tilth, while the
crop of turnips are growing upon it (as Mr,
Baker
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. II^
feaker takes notice the cabbage-ground was,
with the fame tillage) ; and therefore this
land required only once ploughing of the
ridges to prepare it for the next crop ; and
ridges are alfo ploughed with lefs labour, and
at fewer furrows, than the fame extent of land
that lies level.
5. Land lying in ridges is not only ploughed
and prepared for a fucceeding crop in a fhorter
time, and at a lefs expence, than land that
lies flat ; but the earth of the horfe-hoed
ridges is likewife much richer, though it
produced a larger crop than the level ground
ipwn broad-cait. For the land that is ploughed
deep, turned, and a new furface expofed to
the air at every horfe-hoeing, is receiving
new fupplies of the pabulum, aliment, or food
of plants, all the time it is thus cultivated ;
and the level ground, not cultivated with the
hoe-plough, is lofing the vegetable aliment
all that time. If the fucceeding crop requires
ridges of the fame breadth, all the cultivator
has to do is, to plough back the ridges upon
the prefent furrows, and then the middle of
the new ridges will be compofed of fine earth,
well pulverized by the former horfe-hoeings,
and impregnated with nutritious alimest re-
ceived from the atmofphere.
6. We fee, in the prefect cafe, that the
horfe-hoeing makes a great faving of manure ;
half only of what is given to broad-caft tur-
nips was made ufc of here j and, in fomc
I 3 crops,
Il8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
crops, as wheat, no manure is neceflary; hoe-»
ing alone is fufficient to nouriih the growing
cro , and to enrich the j land for the fucceed-
ing one. — Many other examples might be
fiven of the enriching effects of deep hoeing ;
ut theie may be fufficient as a fpecimen.
There is a method of culture lately prac-
tifed and recommended: which is, in fome
meafure, upon the principles of the New
Hufbandry, and faid to be fuperior to it. The
invention of this method has been attributed
to Dr. Hunter of York, and to Mr. Melvill
of Lincolnfhire. I know not which of theie
gentlemen introduced it, but the latter de-
scribes it as follows :
** It will be almoft unnecefTary to obferve,
44 that weak arable lands have been reflored
«4 by means of a fallow, which the judicious
«« hufbandman makes more or lefs frequent,
*« in proportion to the poverty of the foil.
44 Upon the high wolds in this country, and
«' in Yorkfhire, where the foil is poor and
44 thin, oats and barley are principally culti-
44 vated. The ufual Hufbandry is one crop
4C and a fallow ; and in fome places, where
44 there is a greater poverty of foil, they take
44 one crop, and then let the land reft for
** fome years, to recover itfelf. This laft is
44 fomething like the Hufbandry of the wild
* Arabs.
44 Being greatly diffatisfied with the above
tf rnanner of cultivation, I employed myfelf
*' igmc
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. II9
" fome years ago in forming another, which
" might be more confident with the laws of
<c vegetation, as well as oeconomical Huf-
** bandry. The fyftem that I have adopted is
" as follows, viz.
" Inftead of having the land laid out in
" broad ridges, I order them to be made only
" nine feet wide. When the feed-time comes,
" I fow every other land broad-caft, and har-
" row-in the grain in the ufual manner.
u The intermediate fpaces, which I mall call
m the fallow-lands, are ploughed two or
" three times, at proper ieafons, by a light
«• plough, drawn by one horfe, in order to
" make a clean fallow for the fucceeding crop.
" Upon thefe lands the feed is fown as before.
• The ftubble, in turn, becomes the fallow,
" and is treated accordingly. In this alter-
" nate way, I manage my weak arable lands,
" and I have the fatisfa&ion to find, that
u very little manure is required ; which is a
" moil agreeable circumftance, as fuch lands
" are generally remote from a large town. I
" dare venture to fay, that the fame field,
'• managed in this alternate way for two
4< years, will be found to produce one-third
** more corn, than when cultivated in the
" ufual manner, by a crop and a fallow, and,
*' at the fame time, be attended with much
u lefs expence to the owner.
•' This ieeming contradiction will be rea-
" dily removed, when we reflect, that vege-
I 4 " tables,
*20 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" tables, no more than animals, can continue
" Jong in a ftate of health, without the free
«« ei.n/ment of air. In a large field, when
" the weather is calm, the air remains in a
" ftate of ftagnation ; whereby the perfpira-
" tion of the plants is permitted to remain
" too long upon the ears of corn. Hence
" many inconveniences arife to the crop. Oil
«« the contrary, in the Alternate Hufbandry,
M the air is conftantly in motion; theinterme-
" diate fallows ferve as funnels to carry it off,
" and along with it all (uperfluous moifture.
" In confequence of this freedom of air,
" upon which I lay a great ftreis, the ears of
" corn are always obferved to be well fed, and
*f the ftalks firm and ftrong. When by fe-
" vere weather the corn happens to be laid,
" it is thrown upon a clean fallow, where it
*c has no chance of being bound down by
" weeds. It is confequently fooner raifed by
" the current of air v\hich is conftantly pat
" fing along the fallows.
4 i uruips, or, when the foil is deep and
" fandy, a few carrots or potatoes, may be
" placed upon the intermediate lands. But I
** ha\e always found it beft, to keep them as
" pciircl fallows. Every thing that grows
" t kes fomt thing from the foil ; and as cur
" land is luppofed to be poor, and not fup-
«f ported with much manure, we ought not
" to fufler the fmalleft vegetable to take root
ct upon it.
" It the farmer chufes, he may vary his
41 crops;
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 121
u crops ; but I am of opinion* and I fpeak
H from fome experience, that the fame grain
" may be cultivated as long as he pleafe?
" upon lands managed in the manner that I
" have recommended. In confequence of
*' this happy difpofition of the foil, every
M kind of grain may be fuited to the land moft
M proper for it. I do not confine the Alter-
" nate Hufbandry to oats and barley; I have
" fuccefsfully followed it upon good wheat-
" land ; and, if the farmer attends to his bu-
" finefs, he will find his wheat-crops greatly
" to exceed his expectations. Near twenty'
" bufhels of wheat may be got annually fr m
" one acre oi land cultivated in this alternate
" way, and with little expence of manure.
M I acknowledge, that many of theie ad-
" vantages are in common with the Drill
" Hufbandry; but I flatter mvfelf, that there
*' are others, which that ingenious lyftem
" does not enjoy.
" I know it will be objected, that, in this
11 manner, the fallows will be loft to the
*' fheep during the lummer months. 1 an-
" fwer, fo much the better; if poffible, the
*' fallows fhould not be permitted to bear
" a fingle kaf. The farmer ought to find
" other ways to fupport his ihecp; and, if he
" is an intelligent man, he will readily do it.
*' It is an odd kind of Hufoandry, when the
" fields bear corn one year tor the owner, and
** the next, weeds for his lheop.
" When
122 THE PRACTICE OF THE
<« When firft I pra&ifed the alternate Cul-
" ture, I was apprehenfive that the pigeons
" and crows would prove my greater! enemies,
" by fettling upon the fallow-lands, and pulling
" down the ears of coin. I have now the
*' pleafure to aflure the public, that, after
" fome years experience, I find my lands no
u more liable to thofe depredations than the
" neighbouring ones.
" The lands cultivated in this way, being
-*< clear of weeds, require confequently but
" little manure. They are always in excel-
** lent tilth ; and as their furface is frequently
" changed, they have every opportunity of
*f drinking up the nutritious matter of the at-
*,« mofphere.
M I have the fatisfaction to find, that in-
«* clofures are begun upon the Lincolnfhire
*' and Yorkfhire wolds; in confequence of
" which, a greater quantity of corn will be
** produced for a few years than formerly.
H To thofe gentlemen whofe eftates lie in
ff thofe countries, or in fimilar ones, I beg
<6 leave to recommend the Alternate Hufban-
M dry. I dare venture to fay, that, in point of
f* profit and convenience, it will be found
f* greatly fuperior to the Drill Hufbandry.
" The implements ufed are thofe of the coun-
** try; and the mode of cultivation is within
,«' the capacity of the meaneit ploughman."
Though
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I2J
Though the Alternate Huibandry is a cheap
method of culture, Mr. Melvill is much mis-
taken in fuppofing it to be much more pro-
fitable than the Drill-Hufbandry ; as will ap-
pear from a fair companion. Premising, that
more than twice ploughiug is neceffary in fal-
lowing, to keep down the weeds, which con-
tinue growing ievenor eight months, in which
time a fallow mould be ploughed, at leaft, four
times ; and ploughing with one horfe is quite
infufficient to plough the land to a proper
depth : but, to give this Hufbandry every ad-
vantage, we (hall charge no more to it for
thefe than he has ftated. Some manure he
acknowledges is neceffary in the Alternate
Hulbandry, but not how much. A common
drefling with dung, to be carried lome dif-
tance, as in this cafe, coits for the dung, car-
riage to the land, and fpreading, from three
to five pounds an acre ; and admitting it can
be done here at the lowed rate, three pounds
rer acre, and alfo that a quarter drefling is
enough for this land, theexpence of manure, at
the loweft, will amount to fifteen (hillings an
acre. Let us fuppole the field to be culti-
vated meafures twenty acres. In the Alter-
nate Hu(bandry, half or ten acres is fallow,
and the other half or ten acres produces a crop
of wheat every year. The expence in the
Alternate HufiSandry is, for rent of twenty
acres, at fuppofe only five (hillings an acre,
five pounds j twice ploughing the fallow, at
only
124 THE PRACTICE OF THE
only three (hillings an acre, is, for ten acres,
thirty (hillings. And feed-wheat for the other
ten acres, twenty-five bufhels, at five (hil-
lings per buftiel, is 61. 5 s. Reaping the
wheat, five (hillings per acre, 2 1. 10 s. In
all, 15 1. 5 s. The crop is twenty bufhels an
acre, which is two hundred bufhels on the ten
acres, at 5 s. per bu(hel, is 5c 1. from which
deducting the rent and expences, 15I. 5 s*
there remains 34 1. 15 s. clear profit on the
twenty acres. In the Drill- Husbandry, the
whole twenty acres produces every year a
crop of wheat ; and the land being deep
horfe-hoed, and no weeds, will produce twenty
buftiels of wheat per acre at leaft, Or as much
as it does with the (hallow ploughing in the
Alternate Hufbandry ; and fo much Mr.
TulFs ordinary land did produce, on a me-
dium of about ninety acres ; and his meafure
was the common meafure of that country,
viz. nine gallons to the bulhel; fo that his
crop was about twenty-two bufhels and a half
per acre, Winchefter meafure ; though his
land that year was not in the beft order, on
account of his being difappointed of a tenant^
as was taken notice of above. Now we have
(hewn, that eight bufliels of wheat paid all
Mr. Craik's expences of cultivating an acre of
his land, viz. of a^Scotch acre, which is an
acre and a quarter Englifh ; and, if fo much is
reckoned here per acre, there will remain a
profit
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 125
profit of twelve bufhels per acre, or two hun-
dred and forty bufhels upon the twenty acres,
at five (hillings per bufhel, or 60 1. pound
profit upon the twenty acres, by the Drill
Hulbandry ; and if every article was ftated at
the full extent, the profit on the Drill would
be double to that of the Alternate Hufbandry.
The Alternate Hulbandry, as here ftated,
is, without doubt, a very cheap method of
culture, and is founded on a practice fomewhat
fimilar to that mentioned by Mr. Tull, in his
chapter of tillage, p. 21. " It is of late,"
fays he, '* fully proved, by the experience of
" many farmers, that two or three additional
" ploughings will fupply the place of dung,
f* even in the Old Hufbandry, if they be
" performed at proper feafons; and the hiring
<c price of three ploughings, after land has
" been thrice ploughed before, is but twelve
" (hillings ; whereas a dunging will coft three
" pounds. This was accidentally difcovered
f* in my neighbourhood by the practice of a
" poor farmer, who, when he had prepared
" his land for barley, and could not- procure
" feed to low it, ploughed it on till wheat feed-
«« time, and (by means of luch additional
" ploughing) without dung had fo good a
" crop of wheat, that it was judged to be
" worth more than the inheritance of the land
" it grew on."
This paflage is quoted by Mr. Maxwell,
jn his Treatile of the Tranfi&ions of the
Edin-
126 tnn PRACTICE OF THE
Edinburgh Society; to which he adds, that a
tenant to Sir John Paterfon, near Edinburgh,
being in like manner unable to provide feed
for his land in the lpring, kept on ploughing it
till autumn, and lowed it with wheat ; and had
fb great a crop, that he was encouraged to
coniinue the lame method of culture upon
great part of his farm; which iucceeded fo
well, and his circumftances were thereby fo
much improved, that in fome years he could
have purchased the farm. — Thefe are preg-
nant inflances of the great advantage of til-
lage, without dung ; and juftify the retorting,
upon the author of the Farmer's Kalendar,
what he fays of the New Hufbandry, and
high encomium of dung beyond tillage, " Were
u fuch ideas to become general, it is incon-
" ceivable how much mifchief they would
" occafion : for there cannot be more fa lie
m principles, than thofe whereon they are
" built."
The examples here given may be fufficient
to (hew, that the Ne w Huibandry isapplicable to
many different plants ; and it is no lefs certain,
that it is io in different climates. It fucceeds
when applied to the vines in France and Italy,
it has done fo in fome of the northern colo-
nies in America, where they cultivate a great
deal of maize or Indian corn, by hand-hoe-
ing ; but a perfon there, having a mind to
try hoeing fome of it with a plough, though
not performed in the beft manner, the fuccefs
was
4 .
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I27
was fo great, that fome farmers who faw it
were fo much {truck with it, that they imme-
diately attempted to cultivate it in that me-
thod, and continue there to do fo. — In Ja*
maica likewife, and fome other of the Weft-
India Iflands, they are extremely attentive to
provide great quantities of manure for their
fugar-canes ; fo that they keep there a great
number of cattle, for the fole purpofe of pro-
viding dung for their fugar- plantations. They
likewife employ great numbers of negroes to
hand-hoe them ; yet, notwithftanding, thefe
are all far inferior to horfe-hoeing, an example
of which is related by Mr. Miller, in his Dic-
tionary, under the article Saccharum.
44 I have," fays he, '« been aflu red, by two
44 of the mod lenfible and judicious planters
44 in America, that they have made fome ex-
44 periments of the horfe-hoeing culture for
44 their canes, which anfvvered much beyond
44 their expectations. One of thefe gentlemen
44 told me, he planted an acre in the middle
44 of a large piece of canes, in rows at five
44 feet afunder, and the hills were two feet
4< and a half diftant, and but one cutting to
44 to e.icb hill. The ground between the
44 rows was from time to time ftirred with the
44 horle-plough, to deftroy the weeds, and
44 earth the plants. With this culture, the
44 canes were double the lize of thofe in the
44 fame piece, which were cultivated in the
44 ulual way : and when the canes were cut,
44 thole
128 THE PRACTICE OF THE
H thofe which had been thus planted and ma-
" naged were ground and boiled feparately ;
c< the produce of fugar was full as great as
«* the beft acre in the fame piece, and the ex-
" pence of boiling was little more than a fixth
if part of the other ; and he fold the fugar for
" fix (hillings per hundred weight more than
" he could get for the other. Thefe
M canes are planted thin for the conveniency
<c of horfe-hoeing them ; for they are com-
M monly planted a great deal clofer,'' as Mr.
Miller takes notice. " The diftance," fays
he, H which the planters ufually allow to
«.< thejr canes, is from three to four feet, row
«* from row, and the hills are about two feet
M afunder in the rows ; in each of thefe hills
** they plant from four to feven or eight cut-
•* tings ; which is a very great fault, and is
" the caufe of mod of their blights, fo much
" complained of lately?: for, if all thefe grow,
" which is frequently the cafe, they rob each
M other of their nourishment ; and, if a dry
" feafon happens before they have acquired
«« ftrength, they are very foon (tinted in their
** growth, fo are attacked by infe&s, which
" ijpread and multiply fo greatly, as to cover
" a whole plantation in a little time; when
." this happens, the canes are feldom good
" after: therefore it would be the better way
M to root them entirely up, when they are (p
& greatly injured, for they very rarely reco-
f* ver this perfectly : for although the infecls
9f are
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I29
** are not the caufe of the difeafe, yet they
" confirm it, and caufe it to fpread."
The diftance of the rows being ufualJy but
half what was allowed in this experiment, and
from four to eight cuttings commonly planted in
each hill, and here but one cutting in each, it
appears that the planters fet about ten times the
number of canes that is neceflary or is proper
to be done in the New Hufbandry ; the great
effect of which here is very evident, that deep
hoeing with the plough caufes one plant to
produce as muchfugar, and of a much iuperior
quality, as ten plants produce in their common,
method by hand-hoeing ; and this, notwith-
ftanding the great quantities of the richcft
manure, with which they conllantly drefs
their fugar-plantations.
The Weft-India fugar-planters are at a very
great expence for Negroes, which cod: them
fifty pounds and upwards each, and an an-
nual fupply to keep up the number. A prin-
cipal part of their employment in fummer is
hand-hoeing their fugar-plantations ; which,
though very fuperficial, is all the culture ufu-
ally given them. The Negroes, for their
keeping and the number neceflary to be pur-
chafed every year, amount to an annual ex-
pence of above one third part of all the ar-
ticles in a plantation ; fo that the (hallow hoe-
ing of the canes is an exceeding high expence
to the planter, though in effect infinitely fhort
of horfe-hoeing. The firft colt and keeping
K of
1^0 THE PRACTICE OF THE
of a great number of cattle, for the fole advan-
tage of their dung, is another heavy expence.
The firft of thefe, the hand-hoeing, might be
entirely faved, the hoe- plough, where it comes,
rendering hand-hoeing altogether unneceffary;
and a much lefs quantity of dung would do
for the canes, if horfe-hoed. The expence
would be fb much reduced, and the crops of
fugar fo much advanced by this culture, that
every planter who adopts it will be a great
gainer, and, if generally pradtifed intheiflands,
would advance the profits of the planters more
than half a million fterling every year, in the
article of fugar only ; and, if extended to other
plants here, and to tobacco, maize, indigo,
wheat, and other crops von the continent, to
which this culture is adapted, the profits to
the planters and the public would be im-
menfe ; for it appears that the horfe-hoeing
Hulbandry is highly profitable to very many
plants ; and that the principles of the New
Hufbandry are not limited to any one kind of i
land, iior any one climate, but that they are
univerfal.
It was for fome time fuppofed to be only a
matter of curiofity, to raife annual fucceffive
crops of wheat upon the fame land without
manure, but it appears to be a matter of great
importance ; that the hoeing culture is foun-
ded -upon general principles ; that all plants
are much improved by hoeing, and large
plants particularly by the hoe-plough, much
bevond
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 131
beyond any other method of culture ; and at
the fame time the crops and alfo the land is
highly improved by it ; and therefore it is
hoped that, now the value of it is better known
than formerly, it will become more general
in Britain and Ireland.
It is indeed faid by fome, the New Hufban-
dry is unneceflary when the farmer has great
plenty of dung and other manure at a fmall
expence ; and it muft be acknowledged that
this is a very favourable circumftance for the
farmer ; but this does not exclude the hoeing
hufbandry, which is found to be a great benefit
to manured land and to the crops. Dung and
other manures may be laid upon land too li-
berally, as was (hewn in the inftance of the
EfTex farmer mentioned above ; and, though
it is acknowledged that greater crops are fre-
quently obtained this way in the O.'d Huf-
bandry than in the New without manure,
this does not prove that the Old is the mpft
profitable. In this cafe a feries of crops mould
betaken for a confiderable number of years to
determine this fairly. With high manuring
ten large crops may be obtained in fifteen
years; but it, may happen, and frequently does
happen, that much manure is an injury to the
crop, which might do lb much damage to the
five intermediate crops as would much reduce
the profits of the fifteen crops upon an ave-
rage. Very few of thofe who have practifed
the New Hufbandry have had land that was
K 2 good
I32 THE PRACTICE OF THE
good and favourable to that Hufoandry, as ap4
pears in the examples of it given above. Mr.
Craik's is not good land, and his climate is
very unfavorable ; yet the clear profit of his
drilled wheat is to the value of 16 or 18 bum-
els of wheat per acre; the leaft of thefe is
four pounds an acre : where is the farmer
that in the common Hufbandry gets fo much
as four pounds per acre for the average crops
of his lands that he fows once in three or four
years with wheat, and the intermediate years
with turnips, barley, and clover ? His crops
of wheat may be greater than Mr. Craik's ;
but can he obtain thefe crops at fo fmall an
expence as the value of eight bufhels of wheat,
or forty (hillings ? The more manure he lays
upon this land, the greater will be the expence
of it, and of the carriage and fpreading of it ;
and it is often uncertain, becaufe it depends
upon the feafons, whether highly manuring
of land fhall be a benefit or an injury to a
crop of wheat or other corn ; for in very dry fea-
fons much dung burns the crop, and in wet
feafons it makes the crop too luxuriant, and
then it lodges and is blighted.
In many farms, where manure is fcarce,
the farmer's principal dependence is upon his
fheep to drefs his land ; but, where there are
not extenfive downs and fheep-walks, the
farmer makes nothing of his poor land, nor
attempts to do it, for want of manure : many
hundred thoufand acres, thus neglected, let
for
.NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I33
for no more than a milling an acre ; and many
more, at not more than two millings or half a
crown an acre, that might by the New Hufban-
dry, be advanced to double and triple their pre-
fent value ; whereof we have a pregnant inftance
in the high wolds in Yorkmire near Scarbo-
rough, where the land lets at no more than a
milling an acre, and though poor, light land,
Sir Digby Legard found, by an eight years
experience, that profitable crops of barley and
wheat were to be obtained from it by the
New Hufbandry without manure: for his
crops were better than by the Old Husbandry
with manure, and he recommends the Hoeing
Hufbandry, even for that land which is fo
light that only one horfe was fufficient to
horfe-hoe it ; and by this, he obferves, it was
fo much improved, that his crops, in the laft
four years, were almoft double to thofe of the
four fir ft.
Many are afraid to hoe light dry land in
hot dry weather, being fearful that the heat
and drought would burn up their crop ; but
this is for want of knowing the benefit of
deep hoeing, of which the farmer may foon
fatisfy himfelf by the following eafy experi-
ment, viz. dig a hole in the hard dry ground,
io the dried weather, as deep as the plough
ought to reach ; beat the earth very fine, and
throw it back into the hole; after a few
nigbts dews, he will find this fine earth is
j>ecome moid to the bottom, and the hard
K 3 ground
>
134 THE PRACTICE OF THE
ground all round will continue dry. — Or till a
field in lands, make one land very fine by fre-
quent deep ploughings, and let another be
rough by infufficient tillage, alternately j
then plough the field crofs-ways, in the drieft
weather,, that has continued long dry ; he
will perceive, by the colour of the earth, that
every fine land will turn up moift, but every
rough land will be dry as powder from top to
bottom. Hence it appears, that good hoe-
ing, by opening and pulverifing the foil, lets
the dews into it, which penetrates as deep into
it, as it is well hoed ; and that the moifture
this communicated to it by deep hoeing, is not
exhaled by the fun or drought ; but that it
continues to retain flill moifture fufficient to
refrem the roots of plants that grow in it.
This great benefit is obfervable in all land
that is well and deep-hoed, and is-a lingular
advantage to all plants in dry foils peculiar
to the New Hufbandry. We find a remark-
able inftance of this related in M. Duhamel's
Hufbandry, of fome cabbages that were cuU
tiyated by deep-hoeing ; which are plants that
require much moifture : and they were kept
fo moift by this hoeing, in dry hot weather,
that they flood upright, and their leaves re-
mained juicy and crifp : but at the fame time,
fome of the fame cabbages, that grew in the
gentleman's garden who tried this experiment,
drooped in the middle of the day, notwith-
standing their being carefully watered every
day
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I35
day by his gardener. — The fame thing is ob-
ferved by Mr. Wynne Baker, who fays, that
his horie-hoed cabbages continued upright
and in health and vigour in the hotteft wea-
ther, which had a contrary effect upon the
cabbages in gardens in that neighbourhood.
This effect of horfe-hoeing is of great im-
portance in light, dry foils, caufing the crops
raifed upon them to grow vigoroufly in hot
feafons, that fcorch and burn them in the
common Hufbandry : but the farmer mould
carefully obferve, that he will not receive this
benefit by hoeing land, that is not firfl brought
into fine tilth : for a cloddy, rough foil does
not drink-in the dews like one that is fine;
and, if moiftened by rain, is foon dried again,
on a return .of drought and hot weather ;
whereas fine mould is moiftened by the dews
as deep as it is made fine, and is dried by the
fun but a few inches deep. — It is likewife a
favourable circumflance to the induftrious
hoer, that the dews are commonly molt plen-
tiful in the nights when the weather is very
dry and hot in the day-time. — Hence it ap-
pears, that the dry, wafte lands, whereof
there are many vaft tracts in the kingdom,
which are now looked upon as unprofitable,
and of very little or no value to the owner or
tenant, may, by this Hulhandry, be brought
to bear profitable crops ; and, if any of them
are fo poor, that they will not yield profitable
crops of wheat without fome manure, a very
K 4 little
I36 THE PRACTICE OP THE
little manure, with good hoeing, will caufe
them to yield wheat, or other valuable crops,
where none could before be raifed, and can-
not be obtained but by this Hufbandry. —
There are fome lands in every county, and in
-fome a great deal, that are fo remote from
great towns, and from the homelteads of
farm-houfes, that they cannot be manured ;
and where the prime coft, or the carriage
only of manure, would amount to more than
the value of the crops. In fuch fituations,
the New Hufbandry will be of infinite ufe,
and more efpecially fo, if theie wafte and un-
profitable lands were laid into fmall farms.
Some have objected to the New Hufbandry,
that it cannot be brought into general ufe, be-
caufe fome lands lie fo irregularly, that they
cannot be horfe-hoed -, which in fome in-
stances is admitted ; but all lands that can
be ploughed in the Old Hufbandry, may be
improved by cultivators, or hand-hoeing, to
more advantage than they are fown broad-caft. —
Another objection, which is of much greater
confequence, is, that clayey, wet lands can-
not be horfe-hoed at all; and, if it be true,
what a late author hath afferted, that two
parts in three of all the arable land in Eng-
land conn* ft of fuch ftrong, flubborn land,
the New Hufbandry for wheat is at once ex-
cluded from fuch land, and cannot therefore be
of general ufe. — To this it may be replied, that
thefe heavy, clayey, ftiff lands are of difficult
tillage
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I37
tillage in every mode of Hufbandry: but tha
they are more fo in the New than the Old, is
faid by thofe who are unacquainted with the
New Hufbandry ; as will be evident to them
who confider both. — For, admitting that this*
ftrong land in the Old Hufbandry is fummer-
fallowed for a wheat crop, whereby it may be
brought into tilth, and, being well dunged, is
fown with wheat in September, the crop hav-
ing no further affiftance till harveft, or the
beginning of Auguft, fuch ftrong land will in
all that time, or above ten months, become
very hard and ftale ; and a farmer who confi-
ders it in this light, as growing ftale, during
the growth of every crop, will be ready to
conclude, that it will be impracticable, or ex-
tremely difficult, to bring the land . into pro-
per order, and in .proper time, for drilling and
horfe-hoeing. — But let thofe confider, that
land cultivated in the New Hufbandry is ne-
ver fuffered to grow ftale, or out of tilth, as
in common lowing. It will not be denied,
that the land may be brought in order for the
lirfl crop of wheat to be {"own broad-caft; and
that this firfr. crop may be drilled in Septem-
ber, and the land brought into this order
upon narrow ridges. When this is done, and
the wheat has three or four blades, the earth
is not then become ih (tale, but it miy be
horfe-hoed, turning a furrow from the rows
on each fide: in the fpring the horle-hoeing
is to be repeated, the plough going in the
fame
13$ THE PRACTICE OF THE
fame furrow : and then alfo the land may be
hand-hoed in the partitions, between the two
rows of wheat ; and, as the horfe-hoeings are
to be repeated as often as the owner finds ne-
eeflary, the land in the intervals cannot be-
come ftale ; and upon that part of the land
which has been kept in fine tilth, the next
crop drilled again with wheat, or is to be
planted with a winter-crop, which (hould be
done without lofs of time, that the land may
carry a crop in winter, to be horfe-hoed ;
which may be fome of the cabbage kind, that
is moft fuitable to the farmer, for all the
plants of thefe kinds will grow well upon
iuch land. The farmer mould never allow
fuch land to lie idle and grow ftale. It will
bear conftant cropping, and the hoeing will
keep it always in heart : or it may be conve-
niently drefTed for any crop, by laying the
manure in the furrows between the ridges ;
■upon which the new ridges will Hand, and
the crops planted upon thefe ridges will ftand
over the manure as upon a hot-bed. — Land
thus cultivated, being in narrow ridges, and
the ploughing and hceings made deep, the
corn or other crops ftanding high on the tops
of the ridges will not be much liable to injury
from wet, which may be carried off by means
of the deep furrows — The land is foon pre-
pared in fpring for another crop, as of beans ;
and thefe may be fucceeded by wheat, for
which no other preparation is neceffary, but
once
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I39
once ploughing back the ridges into the inter-
vals, and upon them to drill the wheat.
A common farmer finds it very difficult to
cultivate clays, or other ftrong, ftubbornfoils,
and concludes that fuch land cannot be drilled
with wheat a fecond time, thinking it would
become hard and ftale during the growth of
the firft crop of wheat, which he finds it does
in the Common Hufbandry. But the manage-
ment of land, in the Old and New Hufban-
dry, is fo different, that the arguments drawn
from the Old are often fallacious, when ap-
plied to the New : and for this reafon, feveral
late writers have erred egregioufly, when they
pretend to condemn the New Hufbandry,
though not experienced in it. Thus clays or
very ftrong land become ftale and hard, while
a crpp of wheat is growing upon it : but, in
the New Hufbandry, land is never permitted
to lie unhoed till it becomes hard ; and the
new crop of wheat is drilled upon the laft
years intervals ; which are by deep hoeing
kept as fine as garden-mould. The only dif-
ficulty is in wet feafons, which require at-
tention.
In this method the farmer obtains every
year alternately a crop of wheat and beans,
an 1 a winter crop beiides of cabbage-plants.
— Or he may have a crop of wheat every
year in lucccflion, which will require no ma-
nure, and only about four hoeiugs: and thefe,
together with once ploughing, to form new
ridges,
4
I40 THE PRACTICE OF THE
ridges, upon which the wheat is to be drilled,
are only equal in labour to two common leyel
ploughings ; which, confidering that the hoe-
ing of lands in tilth requires but two horfes,
or only half the ftrength that is necefTary to
plough the fame land when out of tilth, is
undoubtedly a very cheap culture, and a me-
thod of obtaining good crops of wheat, at a
much lefs expence than the farmer can poffi-
bly obtain them in the Old Hunbandry : to
this is to be added the expence of dung, which
ftrong land particularly requires to ferment in
it, and help to keep the foil open in the Old
Hufbandry, but is not neceflary in the New.
If it is faid, that greater crops are produced
in the Old Husbandry than in the New, this
is admitted to be fo in fome years ; but in
others the weeds do great damage to the
broad -call: wheat ; in hot, dry feafons, much
dung is hurtful, and greatly fo in wet feafons,
making the wheat too luxuriant, to run too
much to frraw, to lodge, and be blighted ;
this muft be acknowledged being too common
in the Old Hufbandry : and therefore, to make
a fair companion, we mult take the crops at
an average -, and we have fcen, by the account
of two experienced cultivators, that the ave-
rage crops of wheat in the New Hufbandry
were as "good as the Old: this may be fairly
concluded from Mr. Craik's account of his
crops,- and Mr. Dean aflerts exprefTly, that
his were fo upon his (hong land, not with-
Handing
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 141
{landing the difficulty he fometimes found
in catching the critical feafons for hoeing :
but this difficulty was partly owing, as he in-
timates, to the circumffance of his men and
horfes being then otherwife employed : for he
received his tythes in kind, and employed his
own men and horfes to bring it home. A
fairer trial of the crops than in his cafe can-
not be expe&ed; for he had then praclifed
the New Huibandry for wheat about twenty -
fourortwenty-flveyears, and continued it to the
time of his death, for about four or five, years
more* in all about thirty years ; and this upon
feveral fields.
The wheat crops in both methods of Huf-
bandy being nearly equal, there would be no
great advantage in the New Hufbandry, if
they were alfo equal in other refpe&s, but this
is far from being the cafe : for, not to infift
at prefent upon other circumtfances, the fav-
ing of dung is alone a matter of great confe-
quence. From three to five pounds an acre
laved in a crop of wheat, is an expence that
cannot be balanced by any fuperiority that
even the greateft favourers of the Common
Huibandry have alledged: but fome may fay,
what is to be done with the dung and manure,
that farmers take fo much care to obtain, and
that they are by all advifed to provide? The
anfwer to this is obvious ; wheat and other
corn require no manure, or very little, in the
New Huibandry, but potatoes, carrots, cab-
bages,
142 THE PRACTICE OF THE
bages, and in general all plants and roots
cultivated for feeding cattle, and that are im-
proved by a luxuriant growth ; to them
both manure and hoeing are very beneficial ;
to lucerne and fainfoin, and to meadows and
paftures : for thefe and fuch crops manure is
highly ufeful, and all that the farmer can
fave from corn, and apply to thefe, will be
extremely advantageous to him.
Befides the faving in manure, there is ano- '
ther faving made by thofe who practife the
New Hufbandry ; in wheat, they fave above
two-thirds of the feed commonly fown broad-
caft, which is from eight or nine to twelve
pecks per acre ; and the quantity of feed-
wheat upon ridges to be horfe-hoed is only
from two to three pecks per acre. If the
wheat crop is drilled upon level ground, to
.be hoed with a cultivator or hand-hoe, half
the ufual quantity of feed is fufficient ; and
the faving in feed by drilling is commonly
more than half, and not lefs for other crops,
peafe, beans, barley, and oats: a faving of
only half the ufual quantity of feed is a
matter of fome confequence to the farmer,
and amounts to a very large quantity to the
public ; who are greatly interefted in promot-
ing the New Hufbandry, wherein the crops
are raifed from a much fmaller quantity of
feed than was thought practicable before this
Hufbandry was introduced.
Another
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I43
Another confiderable advantage is, the clean-
nefs of the crops from weeds : a horfe-hoed
crop of wheat, if well cultivated, has fcarce
any weeds in it at harveft, and is fit to be
carried home almoft as foon as it is reaped ;
but fown wheat, growing upon land much
dunged, is fo full of weeds at harveft, that it
cannot be carried home and houfed or flacked
fafely till the weeds are withered : the wheat
is all that time expofed to the weather and
other accidents, and does frequently receive
much damage by that delay.— Barley and oats
fufFer ftill more, particularly barley, by the
clover ufually fown with it being often da-
maged by the clover ; and in catching feafons,
the crop is fbmetimes totally loft, and the
young clover injured, and this notwithftand-
ing a great expence the farmer is put to, in
endeavouring to fave this crop : fo that, in
wet or very catching feafons, it would be
more for his interefl to mow his- barley when
in ear, which together with the clover would
make excellent fodder for his cattle ; and by
this means his extraordinary expence would
be faved, and his young clover would come
forward again apace.
When thefe and other oircumftances are
duly confidered, every experienced huiband-
man will be fenfible, that extending the New
Ilufbandry will be very advantageous to the
farmers who practife it, and immenfely fo to
ithe public : for it evidently appeers by the
examples
144 THE PRACTICE OF THE
examples we have produced of extenfive prac-
tice, on various forts of land, that it is ex-
ceedingly profitable upon them all : fo that
it cannot be doubted, that the extending of
the New Hufbandry generally will be an ad-
vantage to the public of more than one rent
of all the arable lands in the kingdom, not
only of land under wheat and other corn, but
of other crops ; for they are all improveable
by the New Hufbandry, and by- every mode of
good hoeing, particularly when performed by
horfes ; for by them ail hoeing is done in the
cheapefr and beft manner. The fuppofition,
that the New Hufbandry will be an advantage
to the public of more than one rent of all the
arable lands in Britain, thus calculated, is
very moderate : for we have {ecn by the fore-
going examples of extenfive practice, that
much more profit is obtained, where it has
been fkilfully pra&ifed on land of very differ-
ent qualities, for wheat and other corn, for a
fucceffion of years, and wherof the farmers
are moll: doubtful : but with regard to fingle
or annual crops, it is fo evident, that the
moft incredulous do not pretend to difpute it :
turnips, carrots, cabbages, potatoes, and others,
are utterly unprofitable and worthlefs, unlefs
fet out thin and hoed ; and in every fair trial,
the horfe- hoeing is found to excel every other
mode of culture. To this mould be added,
the faving of great quantities of manure,
now employed for wheat and other corn :
which
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I45
which, if applied to other crops that now
have not enough, will be a great additional
profit to the farmer, and this he will obtain
by cultivating his wheat and other corn ac-
cording to the New Hufbandry.
The foregoing inftances of the culture of
wheat, and fome others, in this Hufbandry,
it is prefumed, will be acceptable to all who are
defirous to practife it : but as there are others
mentioned only in general above, and that
have been very lately publifhed, which may
be acceptable to the reader, I fhall give an
account of fome of them here, as a confirma-
tion of the others ; to (hew that this Huf-
bandry gains ground, notwithstanding the un-
merited oppolition made to it by iuperficial
reafoners and unfkilful cultivators ; thofe, in
particular, who draw general concluiions
from fuch fmall trials as cannot be depended
upon in general practice, nor be juftly made a
flandard in any Hufbandry, efpecially by thofe
who are evidently defective in the principles
of cultivation : for this reafon, the above ex-
periments were given, not detached experi-
ments, but the continued practice of the New
Hufbandry at large, and in a variety of foils ;
which carry an evidence with them, not to be
denied, or fet afide, by the partial deductions
that are drawn from fmall or lingle experi-
ments, made by biaffed relators, and who
omit circumftances that ought to be particu-
larly related.
L I mentioned
%4& TH? FHACTICE OF THE
I mentioned in general, and from memory
Only, Sir Digby I^gard's pra&ice of the New
puibandry ; but this gentleman having grea*
experience in Husbandry* and his letters to the
Loudon Society containing fo many valuable ob-*
fervations, that, though too long to be all here
inserted* an abstract of fome principal matters
in his letters to the Society of Arts, will wifch-r
out doubt be acceptable to the reader.
In his letter dated from Ganton near Mai-
ton, Yorkfhire, Jan. 24, 1767, he writes^
** About nine years ago, I was induced to be-
4i gin experiments by an accidental perufol of
"Mr. Tulfs book of Horfe-hoeing Huiban-
M dry* The promife of fuch immenfe ad«>
•* vantages accruing from a particular mode
«« of tillage, feemhigly neither difficult nor
•* expensive, made by an author of eftablifhed
** reputation, demanded at leaft a candid trial*
*< If the author's principles were truer why
w not adopt them? On the contrary, if falfe,
" it was high time to undeceive ourfelves and
** others.
" Though my firft experiments did not an-
«• fwer in that degree which I had flattered
*< myfelf they would, they, however, encou-
*« raged me to proceed: neither were the
M faults I committed, nor my ill fuecefs, un-
M edifying ; iiuce 1 had the good fortune to
M correct the former, and gain experience
" from the latter. — Having now pra&iced
«* the drill, culture conftantly during nine
*« years, a> well the horfe-hoeing part, as
" that
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED* I47
«* that branch of* it which confifts merely in
«' fowing corn, &c. in equally diftant rows ;
*« having applied thefe methods of culture,
" not only to corn, but to moft of the legu-
«« minous plants ; and having extended my
«« experiments very confiderably; I may veil*
«* ture, at laft, to recommend zealoufly a
" practice I have always found both enter-
" taining and profitable,
" It is true, many writers on this fubjecT:
«« have given a much more flattering account
" of drilling than I am able to give. If their
«' account be not exaggerated, either they
«' have been more fortunate than I, in culti-
«' vating a foil more peculiarly adapted to
" horfe-hoeing; or they have conducted their
" experiments with fuperior Ikill. However,
** 1 have never been able, from a fingle crop,
" in any one year, of any kind of vegetable,
** to obtain a larger produce from the fame ex-
" tent of equally good ground, where the
•* lawi was laid out in beds [lands or ridges]
" drilled and horfe-hoed, than where the
" corn was fown at random. Vegetables of
*« the pulfe kind are the moft improved by
<* the horfe-hoe ; poflibly as great a crop of
•' peafe, bean?, or turnips, may be obtained
*' by it. But wheat, barley, or oats, have
" ufually yielded me a third more from ran-
" dom fowing; that is, if three quarters of
" wheat may be produced from one acre in
M the Common Huibandry, the fame ground
La «• will,
it
it
(<
C(
c<
i(
ti
«(
it
.8 THE PRACTICE OP THE
will, cateris paribus, produce no more than
two quarters, when drilled and horfe-hoed.
But the fuperiority of one method over
another is not to be determined by its ad-
vantage of a particular crop, but by many
fuccellive ones, deducting the expences, and
confidering the nett profits : this I have
done, and the refult is, that I cannot avoid
giving the preference to the drill fyftem.
The actual produce of a field of feven acres>
horfe-hoed without dung, during eight fuc-
ceflive years.
Drill Husbandry.
Years.
*759"
1760
1761
1762 •
1763
1764
1765
1766
A.
2
5
4
3
4
3
4
3
Cornfown. Co. reaped. Med. Pr. 1 Value of the crop,
qrs. bufli. p. qrs. bufli. p. s. d. | 1, s. d.
Oats o i 2
Barley o
Wheat o
Barley o
Wheat o
Barley o
[Turnips i lb.]
Barley 012 72030 8 14
N.B. Turnips were fown in the in-
tervals of the barley, worth
Co. reaped.
qrs. bufli. p.
860
Med. Pr. i1
s. d.
I 6
10 2 e
2 O
4 5°
10 2 2
3 9
1 6
530
1200
[60 tons.]
720
3 9
2 0
3 °
5 9
4 o
18 9
5 o
1 3
12 o
o o
Barley o
Wheat o
Wheat o
Wheat o
4 4
22
12
10
6
o o
4 2
o 2
5 °
109
Dedutt for the value of the feed
in-
| 1
10 0
0
24
4 0
3
3i
8 ii
6
22
0 0
0
18
n 0
161
11 ol
7 H 4
Remains nett produce of feven acres, in eight years, 153 16 9*
Common
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I49
Common Husbandry.
Years.
|A.
Corn fown.
Co.reapec
1
2
3
1
7
7
Turnips iolb.
Barley 2 qrs. 5 b.
Clover 1 lb.
140 tons
28 qrs.
1 1 load
4
I
7
7
7
7
7
Oats 3 qrs. 1 b.
Turnips 10 lb.
Barley 2 qrs. 5 b.
Clover 1 lb.
35 qrs.
140 tons
28 qrs.
1 1 load
8
7
5°
Oats 3 qrs. 1 b.
35 qrs.
1
1 1 qrs. 4b. 2 p.
1 26 qrs.
Med. Pr.
per bufli.
worth
2 s. 8 d.
worth
l s. 5 d.
worth
3 8-
worth
is.8d.
Valueofthecrop.
1.
i.
d.
H
O
O
22
8
O
IO
10
O
19
5
O
»4
0
0 U
33
T2
O
10
IO
O
23
6 8
147 11 8
• ■■ ■
j 30 10 7
Dedac"t for the value of the feed 9 1. 10 s. 7 d. and
210 load of dung at 2 s. per load, ail.
Remains nett produce of feven acres, in eight years, 117 11
Drill Hufbandry, total produce of feven acres, in 1 , t
eight years J '~ °T
Common Hufbandry, total produce of feven acres, "I
in eight years, — — J '
Confequcntly the Drill is more advantageous by 36 i$ 8£
Proof 153 16 qi
" N.B. It is prefumed, that the plough-
ing expences are nearly equal in each me-
thod; and therefore there is nothing
" charged here on that account, on either fide.
«' [The expence of ploughing is generally more
•« in the Common than in the New Hufban-
*' dry: for in the New, the land is once
" ploughed to form the new ridges for wheat
" or other corn, and horfe-hoed four times
" afterwards ; not exceeding two common
L 3 «« plough-
u
i-
I50 THE FRACTICE OF THE
" ploughings in all. But, in the Old Huf-
« andry, all the land is ufually ploughed
" three times, often with fourhorfes; whereas
«* two horfes are enough for hoeing, or half
" the number neceffary for common plough-
** *nS*l ***ne va^ue of the feed and crop is
*• fet down to each, according to the medium
a prices of corn each year. The above {even
*« acres of experiment have not been fele&ed
«< as being particularly fucceftful ; but only
rt as it happened to be the field where they
" were begun, and continued to this timeg
" I was thereby enabled to relate the feries
« of feveral years fuccefs. The foil is light,
" deep, and dry; a hazle mould, excellent
" for barley, but generally thought not of
c< fufficient tenacity for wheat; and worth in
*« this neighbourhood fifteen (hillings per acre,
•« tythe-free. The beds extend eaftand weft ;
«■ and the field lies gently Hoping to the
" north.
" This field has never been manured, as I
" obferved before, fince my experiments were
• begun, nor for many years preceding.— It
•« may be remarked, that the firft crops are
«« not the beft \ but, on the contrary, a re-
«* gular improvement for feme years kept pace
« with its cultivation : and the value of
• the four laft crops is almoft double to
«' the former ones. The greateft fault eom-
• mitted at firft was, the fowing too little
« feed. The land fcems yet ifl perfect heart;
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I5I
H and though the product of laft year was lefs
«* than in former ones, it was well known,
«* that the wheat crop failed all over Eng-
" land ; as is evident by the prefent high
«' price of that grain. For I cannot allow,
«« that the dearnels of torn is owing to the
** bounry, as lome pretend ; having ever con-
«' tidered that acl: or parliament as the Magna
" Chartaof Englifh agriculture, and tending
*' on the whole to make gram more plentiful
M and cheap.
■«* Befides the general caufes of a fcanty
*' <crop in my field of experiments laft year,
H there were particular ones, occafioned by
** my abfence in the fpriog, and great f>art of
" the lumfner ; whereby the hand-hoeing, a
U ve<y material operation, was neglected, and
" the horfe-1aoeings not regularly nor duly per-
" formed. 1 perceived, on my firft examin-
*« ing the ridges io June laft, that the parti-
** tions were full of weeds, and the intervals
A* hard and compact ; but it was then too late
" to apply an effectual remedy, though the
«« weeding and horfe-hoeing were, even now,
*• of manifeft fervice. The bad condition of
'« the beds made me -determine not to fow
" wheat again for the next Crop, but to give
*4 the land a thorough ploughing in winter ;
•• and I prepared it to be lown in fpring.
** The aforementioned field is valued At fifteen
** (hillings an acre ;
L 4 con-
152 THE PRACTICE OF THE
** confequently the rent of fe-1
" ven acres, in eight years, is/
" Ploughing expences are, at"!
" mod, 15 s. per acre, I allow J
1. s. d.
42 o o
42 o o
" For the rent and tillage of feO ^
«< ven acres, in eight years, J T
o o
" The total produce of fevenl
" acres, in eight years, being > 153 16 o§
*\ valued at J
(t If we deduct for rent and ex- 1 Q
" pences of tillage ] 84 00i
" There re mains clear profit,from "I , , r
" fe ven acres, in eight years, J ? ^z
" which is one pound five millings clear annual
u profit, from one acre. And though this
" profit be not near fo confiderable as I be-
** fore computed, from an a&ual crop of
*' barley, where the land was in fine order,
" and every operation of hand and horfe-
" hoeing exactly performed ; yet I judge it to
u be fuperior to the old method, and fuffi-
" cient to demonftrate the advantages of pul-
*' verization.
«< The
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I53
1. s. d.
u The total produce of fevenl
44 acres, in eight years, in the \ nj 1 I
44 old method, is J
«' Deduct for rent and expences,") ^
44 the fame as above, J ^
o o
44 There remains clear profit onl
*' feven acres, iu eight years, J r*
" wfyich is not quite twelve {hillings clear
44 annul profit from one acre. Though this
H clear profit be much lefs than I calculated
44 before ; yet, I apprehend, that there arc
44 many farmers hereabouts who do not clear
44 more. And, if fome good managers do
M clear twenty (hillings an acre, which I
44 hope and believe to be the caie; I have
44 (hewn in my firft calculation, that the im-
«' proved Drill Culture is almoft doubly bene-
44 ficial : and by my laft calculation of a
44 farmer's profit, who is not at the top of
44 his profeflion, compared with the actual
44 produce in a courie of drilling, where
44 numberlefs faults were committed during
44 the five years ; the comparative advantage
44 is as much on the fide of drilling, as where
44 I reckoned the produce of each method at
44 a higher rate ; and the proportionable ex-
44 cellence
i£4* THE practicr or the
*' cellence ftili remains annexed to the fyftem
" of Tull."
The culture here given is from Sir Digby's
laft letter to the Society, as he was then be-
come more expert in the New Hufbandry than
at firft ; and for this reafon, as he obierves,
his drilled crops the laft four years were near
double to what they were the firft four years ;
and hence it appears, that the impartial com-
parifon of the two methods fhould be when
both are well executed ; and that the firft four
years, " wherein numbei lefs faults were com-
•* mitted," fhould not be included in the
comparifon, as the merits of the Old and
New Hufbandry are neither of them to be
determined by a few, or fmall trials, unfkil-
fully conducted, but by a continued courfe of
culture, managed with care, and in the beft
manner : for if the New Hufbandry was fb
much fuperior, u when numberlefs faults
*« were committed/' the advantage of it over
Old Hufbandry, when well performed, is
very ftriking, being near doubly profitable to
what Sir Digby has ftated it.
The land is defcribed as being light, deep,
and dry ; yet not fo much as Mr. Tull*s was
in general, much of whofe land was light
and dry, but not deep : yet it appears, that
liis crops of wheat were much greater than
Sir Digby's were, even in the laft years of
his practice. One reafon of this appears to
be, that the land here was twice ploughed, to
form
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 1 55
form the new ridges, which is not neceflary ;
but is a real injury to the crop, if one of
thefe plough ings is reckoned to be as ad van*
tageous a> a horfe-hoeing, which was the cafe
here ; for it appears by the defcription, that
this land was horfe-hoed but three times for
each crop, viz. firft, by turning a fmall fur-
row from the rows of corn on each fide;
next, by deepening thefe furrows, turning
the earth ftill from the corn ; and, laft of all,
ploughing the earth back to the ridges. Now
though thefe operations were very ufeful and
advantageous to the crop, the land did not
receive the full benefit of expofure, fo much
as it does by four horfe-hoeingc, twice from
and twice towards the ridges : for thefe
mould be of a good depth, and anew furface
is at each hoeing eKpofed to the atmofphere ;
by which means, the oftcner a new furface is
expofed to the atmofphere, at proper intervals
of time, the more will the land and crop be
improved : but, if time is not allowed for the
expofure, and the earth is immediately
ploughed back, without allowing it time to
lie expofed to the air, it will not be improved
by fuch fecond ploughing, any further than
twice 1 loughing may be an advantage to land,
by breaking and pulverizing it more than
once ploughing. Whence it happened that
this circuroftance was not attended to here,
does not appear in Sir Digby's letters ; though
he was acquainted with the benefits of expo-
fure,
I56 THE PRACTICE OF THE
fure, as appears from his letter above quoted,
where he fays, " The repeated flirrings not
** only improve the foil by keeping it in a
u loofe ftate, proper to be penetrated by the
•f roots and fibres of plants, which are thus
" enabled to draw their nourishment from it :
*c but they expofe every particle, in its turn,
U to the influence of the atmofphere ; and
" procure an inexhauftible fupply of food for
•* the purpofes of vegetation." This is found
to be true from experience : and giving this
land but three horfe-hoeings, inftead of four,
appears to be the reafon that this gentleman
thought, that twelve bufhels of wheat on an
acre is about the medium quantity to be ob-
tained from moderately fertile ground without
dung ; whereas we have feen, that Mr. Tull
obtained a great deal more; and that he, Mr.
Dean and Mr. Craik, obtained near as good
crops, in the way of drilling and hoeing, as
was ufually obtained in the common or broad-
cafl Hufbandry.
One caufe of the drilled crops falling fo
much ihort of the broad-caft has been, that
the experimenters have depended too much on
the finenefs or pulverization of their land ;
which is without doubt neceffary, that the
roots may freely penetrate and extend in it; but
pulverizing does not of itfelf enrich land : it
rather prepares it to be exhaufted, by the roots
of plants extending more freely therein;
whereas expofure brings additional riches to
the
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I57
the land, and therefore fhould never be
omitted, how fine foever the land may be:
land finely pulverized is indeed more fufcep-
tible of the influences of the atmofphere,
than land that is more clofe and comprefled ;
but no land, however fine, receives fo much
benefit from the atmofphere, as thofe parts of
it that are expofed to its immediate action, by
being turned and laid open to it, and remain-
ing fome competent time to be impregnated
by it. By not attending to this circumftance,
and fuppofing pulverization to be the fame as
expofure, feveral experimenters have been unif-
ied ; and fome have fancied, that the princi*
pies of the New Hufbandry were erroneous;
whereof we may have occafion to mew another
proof hereafter.
The firft letter from Sir Digby Legard to
the patriotic Society of Arts was in 1763,
giving an account of his culture of barley in
the New Hufbandry, for which they pre-
fented him with a gold medal. He fpeaks at
firft with great diffidence of this Hufbandry,
but, upon further experience, was clearly of
opinion, that it was more profitable than the
Old Hufbandry ; and found it was fo, though
his drilled crops were not fo large, and were
indeed fmaller, for the reafons above afligned,
than fome other ingenious cultivators have
obtained, as we have fully (hewn.
u
Iwifh,
15$ THE PRACTICE 0* THE
" I wifh," fjys Sir Digby id his firft letter,
** it were in my power to determine precifely
44 the moft profitable method of culture : but
*< fince feveral years experience, and the moft
44 eareful obfervations I have been able to
** make, have not been fufficient to clear up
** my own doubts, 1 (hall not prefume to die-
44 tate to others, or to fpeak very j ofitively
44 on fo nice a fubject* I would reject the
44 moft plaufible theory, if unconfirmed by
44 experiments. And even experiments them-
•* felves, if they are not executed with care,
** often varied in different foils, (ituations,
** and circumftances, and repeated feveral
«c years, are too apt to miflead. It is both a
44 very important and difficult talk, which
44 the advocates for the New Hufbandry have
•* undertaken, to overthrow entirely the old
*4 fyftem of fallowing and dung ; nay, even
44 the more modern introduction of turnips
44 and clover (a fyftem which the induftrious
44 farmer has long found abundantly fuffi*
44 cient, if not to acquire riches, at leaft to
44 enable him to maintain his family) ; in
** order to introduce the more falhionable
44 fcheme of pulverization ; aflerting confi-
44 deutlr, that nothing more is neceflary, in
44 order to create an immenfe and lading fer-
«« tility, in almoft every foil, than thorough-
44 ly to break and divide the earth. But the
** aflertors of a new doctrine are apt to be too
*• fanguine. Let Us beware of being impofed
«' upon
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED, I59
«* npon by novelty ; or of preferring inge*
" nious to ufeful difcoveries. I am the more
* inclined to communicate thefe experiments
** of laft year ; becaufe I think the compari-
u fon lefs favourable to the New Hufbandry,
" in that than in any other yean, wherein 1
•' have made experiments. For I would al-
** low every advantage to old cuftoms, that
** they can naturally or reafonably claim.**
[By this it appears, that Sir Digby was not
at firft, nor for fome years, inclined to be
partial, or even favourable, to the New Huf-
bandry ; upon farther experience, he came to
have a more favourable opinion of it, and
was at laft fully convinced of its fuperiority ;
which was in confequence of a long and cri-
tical obfervation of the effects of both me-
thods, and this he had opportunity of trying
extenfively.]
•* Five acres of an inclofed field, the foil
M of which is naturally pretty rich, but light
H and dry, inclining to a hazle mould, and
41 nearly of an equal goodnef3 throughout,
*« was deftined to be fown with barley, part
H according to the old, and part to the new
" method of Hufbandry, in order to afcer-
M tain the mod advantageous method of cul-
** tune. This land had borne four fuccemVe
" crops, vi2. one of barley, two of wheat,
** and one of turnips; was ditpofed in beds
N [or ridges] from the firft ; and had been
** horfe-hotd every year ; but it had neveY
•■ had
l6o THE PRACTICE OF THE
44 had any manure, except that the turnips
44 had been eaten off by the fheep. On the
44 26th of April, 1 753, half an acre was
44 fown by hand in the random way, and
44 took five pecks of feed. Half an acre was
44 drilled in equally diftant rows, one foot
44 afunder, and took three pecks. Two acres
W were drilled in ridges or beds, five feet
*c broad, in double rows, eleven inches afun-
44 der, and four feet one inch interval, to be
44 horfe-hoed, and they took fix pecks. Two
44 other acres were drilled, on five feet ridges,
44 in triple rows, feven inches afunder, and
•' took four pecks.
44 N.B. I feared, at the time of fowing
44 thefe lafl: two acres, that the feed had been
44 too fparingly difpenfed : but the plants
44 branched fo much afterwards, that the rows
44 feemed tolerably compleat.
14 The above five acres had but one plough-
44 ing : viz. juft before feed-time, after the
44 harveft, J762. One the 30th of May,
" the firft horfe-hoeing was performed on the
*< four acres fowed in ridges, with M. Duha-
44 mell's one-wheeled plough. But, on ac-
44 count of the rows being drilled unevenly,
44 this could not be done very regularly in
46 fome places, the plough coming fo near
44 the rows as to tear out fome plants, and co-
" ver others with mould ; and in others
" going at too great a diftance from the corn.
44 To remedy this in fome meafure, the rows
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED* l6l
44 fo covered had the earth taken off, and an-
44 other horfe-hoeing was given on the 7th of
44 June, the earth being very. dry. By this
44 Jaft operation, the firft: furrow was cut
«' deeper, and the plough went at a proper
" diftance from the rows.** [It is neceflary
to make the ridges and rows of plants to be
horfe-hoed, very ftraight at firft ; and they are
frequently not made ftraight enough by com-
mon ploughmen, which, as in this inftance
of Sir Digby's, is inconvenient, and attended
with feme extraordinary expence : this may
be prevented, and the ground laid out ftraight
at firft, by drawing a couple of cart or other
wheels upon the furface of the level ground,
after it is harrowed fine ; thefe wheels being
connected together by an axle of a proper
length, and drawn by one horfe in (hafts, or
a couple of poles, will mark the exact dis-
tances of the rows, and guide the ploughman
to make the ridges equal.] " On the 8th
44 of June, all the five acres were hand-hoed;
44 but, by reafon of the dry feafon, not many
<4 weeds had fprung up. The effect of the
44 horfe-hoeing on the four acres was great,
•« and the corn feemed to flourifh exceedingly.
44 The plants were of a deep green, and re-
44 markably vigorous. The part drilled in
44 equally diftant rows without intervals re-
44 mained always of a paler green. But the
44 part fowed in the common way was a de-
44 gree (till paler, though this laft part ripened
M 44 the
162 the Practice of the
44 the earlieft, the drilled half-acre next, and
44 the four horfe-hoed acres laft: of all. The
" third and laft horfe-hoeing was performed
44 in the beginning of July. This turned the
*' eatth towards the rows, and left a furrow
44 in the midft of the intervals.
44 On the 31ft of Auguft, 1736, the half-
** acre fowed by hand, and the half-acre
61 drilled in equal diftant rows, were mowed ;
" and on the 15th of September, the four
'• horfe-hoed acres were mowed : the ears of
44 thefe were far from being equally ripe, be-
44 caufe the extreme wet feafon had caufed fe-
44 veral frefh (hoots at the time the firft and
44 principal were ripening. The feed was
44 fowed too thin on the two acres drilled with
*' triple rows, and in confequence there
" were feveral vacant fpaces in the rows ; and
•? this was certainly fome diminution of the
<c crop. The ears of barley throughout the
44 four horfe-hoed acres were furprizingly
46 large. Several contained thirty -eight grains
44 each (which is uncommon, at leaft, in my
44 neighbourhood). I believe the number of
44 grains in an ear were, at a medium, about
44 thirty.
44 The many ftorms of wind and rain had
44 lodged the corn in many places. I had
44 fome barley this year, (own by hand, on
44 frefh and good land , which was fo lodged
44 in thofe places where the land was the
44 richeft, and the corn the thicken:, that the
" greateft
it
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 1 63
greateft part was wafted. Neverthelefs,
** though the horfe-hoed barley inclined every
" way, owing to ftorms, in various direc-
<c tions, and entirely covered the four inter-
" vals fo that no land could be feen ; yet
" were the ftalks only bent, but no Way in*
«« jured : and this is one great advantage,
" which horfe-hoed corn has over that fowed
m at random. For, though the ears are very
" large, the ftems are proportionably ftrong
" and hard, and being conftantly expofed* by
" means of the broad intervals, to the in-
M fluence of the fun and air, they acquire
M fuch a degree of flrmnefs, as generally to
•« refift all attacks of wind and rain. The
" only inconvenience attending thefe bent
" ftalks was, that they were difficult and
•■ awkward to mow ; and, by covering the
" intervals, prevented their being fown, and
•< deprived me of a good crop of turnips.
" For I have generally fown turnips in the
" intervals, immediately after the laft. horfe-
" hoeing about the beginning of July. The
" land is then reduced toexcellent tilth; andno-
<4 thing more is neceflary than to fow the feed
«« pretty thick. The firft fhower of rain
•• wafhes it into the groundj and covers it,
11 without the aid of the harrow. The young
" plants enjoy the benefit of the frelh-tilled
41 earth ; and the corn being reaped foon af-
" terwards, the whole field is left for the tur-
M nips to extend their roots in it. 1 have had
M 2 " near
l64 THE PRACTICE OF THE
44 near as good crops of turnips this way, as
44 when the land was occupied by that plant
44 alone.
qrs. bufh. p.
44 The total nett produce of one"|
M acre of barley, in the Old ? 5 4 2
M method, was, J
44 Ditto of one acre, fown in "I ,
" equally-diftant rows, J
44 Ditto of one acre, drilled and!
44 horfe-hoed J 3 °
*« The land of both thefe trials was, as
44 nearly as poffible, of equal goodnefs, and
44 in equal order, lying contiguous in the
44 fame field. The feed- corn of both was
44 exactly the fame, and all fown on the fame
44 day. So that the difference in the produce
44 of each acre muft be attributed to the quan-
44 tity of feed fown, the manner of diftri-
44 buting that feed in the earth, and the cul-
44 ture beftowed on the plants whilft grovv-
44 ing. It is evident, however, that the land
44 in the Old produced nearly double to that
44 which was cultivated in the New way.
44 But the greateft produce was from the land
44 -fown with the drill-plough in equally-dif-
44 tant rows, one foot afunder. Yet are we
44 not from thence to determine too rafhly in
44 favour of either method-,
44 I own,
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 1 65
" I own, from the appearance of the crop
*' whilft growing, and even after it was
44 reaped, I did expett that the quantity from
«* the four horfe-hoed acres would have been
" more confiderable. Indeed I can account
«f for fome diminution of the crop from the
44 following accidents, viz. the horfe-hoed
44 corn ripened unequally, owing, as was be-
•* fore obferved, to the exceflive wet feafon ;
" and, as it was later reaped than the other,
*' it was more expofed to the depredation of
44 fparrows and other birds, which certainly
*« got part of it. And, being firft carried
44 into a Dutch barn, and removed fome time
44 afterwards into a common barn to be
44 threlhed, there was not only a lofs by fcat-
" tered feed in the removal, but likewife by
44 pigeons, which devoured a good part,
•« having a conftant and free accefs to the
44 tops and fides of the barn where it was firft
44 depofited. Whereas the produce of the
44 parts cultivated in the Old way, and drilled
44 in equally-diftant rows, was carried into
44 the barn, and threfhed immediately, and
44 therefore not liable to the ravages of ver-
44 min, or to any other lofs.
44 But it muft be allowed notwithfhnding,
44 from this experiment, that the advantage
44 appears to be on the fide of the Old me-
44 thod. On the other hand, although (ix
44 quarters on an acre is confefledly a very
14 large increafe from land (own in the common
M 3 " manner,
l66 THE PRACTICE OF THE
44 manner, yet it is no lefs true, that this
44 great fertility was, in a confiderable mea-
" lure, owing to the excellent culture be-
44 flowed on it by the horfe-hoeing method.
44 Conftant tillage, during the four preceding
44 fummers, had undoubtedly fupplied the
44 place of manure; and four fucceeding crops,
** which were none of them bad, were fo far
44 from having exbaijfted the earth, that there
44 feemed to Le an increafe of vegetable food.
44 The foiJ appeared fo thoroughly divided,
44 that, fince the harveft of 1763, the above
♦f four acres have been drilled with wheat at
44 once ploughing, and promife a good crop,
44 the ridges being now where the furrows
44 were laft year: but thofe parts which
44 were fown at random, and in rows, have
44 been manured at the rate of fixteen loads of
44 liable dung to one acre, in order to recover
*' their loft fertility : and it was neceflary to
" fow fome kind of meliorating crop, tc»
*' make this part of equal goodnefs with the
*' reft of the field. Jt has accordingly been
46 ploughed into five-feet ridges, and drilled
«' this April with white peafe, a double row
" on each bed, and is intended tp be horfe-
" hoed.
" I cannot help obferying here, that were
44 I to follow M. De Chateauvieux' method
44 (although, in moft inftances, I am proud
44 to follow the example of fo able an expo-
44 rimenter), and compute the produce of fe-
44 veral
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 167
c< veral years on the footing of the above
«' horfe-hoed crop, reckoning the land in
" the Old way to bring a crop only once in
•« two years, the advantage would be greatly
" in favour of the New method, even fup-
«' poling every crop in the old at the rate of
66 fix quarters to an acre. For the expence of
M manure and tillage, in the fallow year, are
*' infinitely greater than the horle- hoeing ex-
" pences. But, if England be lb much fu-
u perior to Swiflerland in goodnefs of foil ;
*' or, if our farmers are fo much more Ikilful
" than theirs, that we ca"n in the common
** management, I mean, by the culture of
*' turnips, clover, rape, &c. have a benefi-
*' cial crop every year ; I fhould be inclined
*' to doubt, whether the very fuperior advan-
" tages, which fome writers attribute to the
*' horle-hoeing Huibandry, may not be more
•* imaginary than real. Not but that I
" think there are feveral circumftances to re-
«* commend it, and that it may be followed
" in iome lituations to great advantage. As
*' where the difficulty of procuring manure is
u very great, or where the diftance of the
«' ploughed field from the farmer's habita-
** tion would make the carriage too expen-
" five. There are alfo fome loils more pecu-
•■ liarly adapted than others to the New
" Hufbandry, as requiring an extraordinary
m degree of pulverization j fome vegetables
M 4 «« are
l68 THE PRACTICE OF THE
«! are particularly improved by bellowing a
•« culture on them whilft growing.
" I mould therefore be concerned to find,
•* that any one was deterred, by what I have
*• faid from making or continuing their experi-
«' ments in the New Hufbandry. My expe»
*• rience is much too fmall to determine ab-
" folutely the comparative excellency of the
*« two methods. I have, however, fo good an
** opinion of Mr. Tull's fyftem, that I have al-
" ready continued the practice of it for five or
f fix years, and have tried it on feveral kinds
" of vegetables $ and in a pretty extenfive
" manner. I propofe to continue my experi-
" ments, to extend, and to vary them. Per-
!€ haps, at Jail, I may be able to afcertain,
*« whether or no the horfe-hoeing fcheme be
** fuperior, and in what degree." [This gen-
tleman has hitherto fpoken like an impartial
experimenter, with caution and diffidence $
but, after continuing, extending, and vary-
ing his experiments for a courfe of years, and
finding the New Hufbandry ftill fuperior, he
fully declares himfelf convinced of it; though,
on account of his hoeing his barley, and alfo
his wheat, but three times in the feafon, his
ploughing fhallow at firfl, and giving his par-
titions between the rows of wheat but one
hand-hoeing, his crops of horfe- hoed wheat were
inferior to what they would have been, had he
be flowed a more perfect culture upon them $
which evidently appears from what we have
{hewn
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 169
(hewn above, that fome eminent cultivators
obtained much larger crops, from land of in-
ferior quality, or not fo well adapted to the
hoeing hufbandry. To this alfo may be added,
that Sir Digby's crops were late in ripening,
which is attended with feveral inconveniences,
and may in fome meafure be prevented by
early lowing. Hoed crops are longer in ripen-
ing than thofe not hoed ; as the hoeing con-
tinues to furnifh them longer with nourilTi-
ment, whereby the plants, and feed, are brought
to greater perfection : It is therefore the in-
terest, of the cultivator, to haften the blowing
of the plants, and to protract their ripening ;
early fowing is a means of obtaining both thefe
advantages.]
" There is one prejudice," continues this
gentleman, " commonly adopted againft this
" method by the inexperienced, viz. that it
" is very expenlive ; which is entirely ground-
«' lefs, as will appear by attending to the fol-
•• lowing particulars. The two-wheeled drill
" plough, invented by Mr. Tull (which I can
" recommend as a good inftrument, having
" had feveral years experience of it, and fome
<c hundreds of acres drilled with fuccefs), may
•• be made compleat, with wooden feed-boxes,
" for fifty (hillings. Mr. Duhamei's one-
*' wheeled plough, for horfe hoeing, cofts
" thirty (hillings. But this laft, though very
♦« ufeful, is not abfolutely ncceflary. For the
♦• common plough without wheels will per-
" form
1^0 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" form all the operations of horfe-hoeing ;"
[and much better than any plough that nas
a wheel ; which, as it goes upon the fide
of a (loping ridge, is apt to draw the plough
too much to the right.] " Thofe two inftru-
** ments may be eafily made, and repaired, by
" a country wheelwright. I have feveral
" made in the yjUage where I live, at the
" aforefaid prices, which were very perfect,
" and have lafled feveral years. It is true, I
«« make ufe of fome other inftruments, which
" may be faid to be appendages of the New
*' Hufbandry, as they have been contrived by
** the practitioners of it. But the five-coul-
•« tercel plough, the Angle and double-culti-
u vators, &c. though extremely convenient to
" thofe who practife this method in a very
*• extenlive manner, are by no means necef-
*c fary in making trials, or f mall experiments.**
[Theie two cultivators are the invention of
M. De Chateau vieux ; and may be uleful in
fome particular cales, but are by no means
proper to be fubitituted for the hoe-plough ;
as we fhall have occafion to fhew, in treat-
ing of Mr. Wynn Baker's experiments upon
wheat.]
" After the firft year, that is, when the
" land is reduced to fine order, one horfe is
*' generally fufficient to turn a furrow either
" to or from the rows : and as a man and
*' horfe can, with eafe, horfe-hoe four acres
«* in a day, it cannot cofl more than one fhil-
*' ling
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 171
P* ling to horfe-hoe an acre, even including
ff the repairs of the inftruments. Nor are
H more than four hoeings commonly required.
M So if we reckon four (hillings for ploughing
f the ground once over, or forming frefti
?< ridges ; four (hillings more for horfe-hoe-r
M ing ; two (hillings and fix-pence for hand-
«* hoeing; two (hillings for weeding; and
«« fix-pence for drilling; thirteen (hillings is
•I the whole expence of managing an acre in
•f the new method.
" Such therefore being the cafe with
" which this celebrated method is performed,
*' fo great the improvement of the land by it,
" and fuch the extraordinary effects produced
*? by merely (Hiring the earth ; one would
" think every hufbandman mould be induced
«' to give it a fair and candid trial; and as
•■ there needs not the exaggerated encomiums,
*' which its partizans have affected to Dedow
** upon it, oil the one hand ; fo, on the other,
f* the inveterate prejudices, which prevail in
•■ many againft this iydem, as they have no
** foundation in 'truth, mud prove fubverfive
«• of the intereds of agriculture."
Sir Digby's next letter is dated the rd of
November 1765.^*' The experiments,*' fays
lie, •• that I had the honour to lay before you,
" in 1763, in order to determine the mod
•• beneficial method of cultivating barley, were
" I fear, not entirely iatisfactory ; at lead they
;• were not fo to me ; I mud beg leave therefore,
" to
I72 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" to add the following, as a fupplement to my
44 former letter.
44 However doubtfully I might exprefs my-
" felf, in that letter, with regard to the ex-
" cellence of the drill, and horfe-hoeing cuU
*} ture, (not having, as I thought at thac time,
44 fufficient experience to determine a point
" of fo much importance) two years careful
«« obfervations have iince enabled me to Ipeak
" more pofitively, and have made me incline
" much more to the fide of the drill fyftem.
44 Nor have my experiments been confined to
44 barley. I have cultivated wheat for feveral
44 years with fucceis, and have applied the
*4 horfe-hoeing hufbandry to beans, peaie,
44 oats, turnips, potatoes, fainfoin, and lucern ;
44 and the eflecis of horfe-hoeing have been
44 fo condant and uniform in the cultivation
44 of all thofe vegetables, that 1 have no doubt
" but that this method, if executed with care,
44 attention, and perfeverance, during a term
44 of years, will prove much more advan-
44 tageous than the old method.
44 The fame field in which the experiments
44 on barley were made (as before related in
" *#$3J iS now *own with wheat, the eighth
44 fuccefTive crop, of which four crops have
" been wheat. The two lair, of thefe have each
4C produced two quarters of wheat per acre; and
44 the land is fo far from being exhaufted by
*4 fo many burdens, that it ietmsyet in per-
44 fc£l heart, though 110 manure has ever been
44 laid upon it.
i " I
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I73
«' I have now praclifed the drill culture
" about eight years, and, from the mod care-
" ful obfervations I have been able to make,
*' I jU(%e> tnat tvve^ve bufhels of wheat on
«• an acre is about the medium quantity to be
" obtained, from moderately fertile ground,
«' during at leaft fix fucceflive years, without
** dung. I reckon eight bufhels to the quarter,
«c and nine gallons to the bufhel. Now if this
" be a true pofition, I think it will uot be
" difficult to prove, that the drill culture is
«c more beneficial to the farmer than any
«« other method hitherto invented."
If Sir Digby's twelve bufhelsof wheat per acre
were more profitable than the Old Hufbandry,
how much greater was Mr. Tull's, who had
nearly twenty bufhels (alfo nine-gallon mea-
fure) upon the acre in double rows alfb, from
about ninety acres of his word land; and his land
poorer and much fhallower than Sir Digby's?
This fhews plainly, that there was a defect in Sir
Digby's tillage, and that his land, inftead
of three, fhould have had at leaft four horfe-
hoeings, deep hoeings from the rows of wheat,
and clofe to them. — And Mr. Craik fays,
•« Were it not for the parts that fail in my
" fields, my horfe-hoed crops would exceed
•' four quarters;" that is, his crops would ex-
ceed four quarters VVinchefler meafure, upon
the Scotch acre ; which is twenty-five and a
half Winchefter bufhels, upon an Englifh fta-
tute acre.]
After
1^4 THE PRACTICE OF THE
«' After I have related the two laft years ex-
" periments on barley, I fhall give a compara-
«« tive view, of the expences and profits attend-
*« ing the cultivation of the land, in the old and
«« new way ; and I fhall calculate the profit in
•« the old way, not according to the management
«« in ufe in the time of our anceftors, but accord-
«< ing to the beft modern improvements, taking
" the account from fome celebrated modern
*• practitioners, as related by themfelves.
M A comparifon of this fort is not fo properly
" made betwixt the Old and New Hufbandry,
*c as betwixt the modern improvements adopt-
" ed by the common farmer, and the benefit
«« peculiarly arifing from the drill and horfe-hoe-
" ing fyftem. That the latter is founded on juft
u principles, I am convinced ; and that the
<c practice of it (if any credit be due to the ac-
" tual experiments of its profeflbrs) ought to be
" efteemed one of the mod coniiderable im-
6t provments in agriculture.
" On the 26th of April 1764, two acres and
" a half were drilled with barley on ridges
*« four feet and a half broad, viz. a double row
" ten inches diflant on the top of every ridge,
*' the intervals for horfe-hoeing three feet eight
*« inches broad ; and took two bufhels two
*' pecks of feed. One acre adjoining, and of
" equal goodnefs, was on the lame clay drilled
44 with barley, in equally diftant rowb, ne foot
*' afundcr, and took two bufhels of ieeu. One
*« other contiguous acre was, at the lame time,,
" :o\vft
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I?$
** fown in the broad- caft manner, and took two
" bufhels one peck of feed. All the land was as
«* near as poflible of equal goodnefs, of a light
" and dry nature; viz. a good hazle loam,
" worth fifteen fhillings per acre. This field had
•' borne a good crop of oats, viz. fix quarters pet*
" acre, the preceding year, on once ploughing.
" N. B. It had been twenty years in grafs.
" Two ploughings had been performed fince
" the oat crop, viz. one in the autumn, and
" the other in the fpring. The horfe-hoed part
«• had three hoeings given at proper times, and
*' was once hand-hoed. The one acre drilled
" level could not be hand-hoed, becaufe fain-
" foin had been fown in the partitions, betwixt
u the rows of corn; and it is to be obferved, the
«c want of this hand-hoeing deprived the barley
** of a very material advantage. The acre lbwn
" broad-caft was alfo laid down with fainfoin,
•* and was not weeded.
•* The horfe-hoed corn, as well as the level-
" drilled, and broad-caft, were cut on the 18th
" of September, and produced,
qrs. bum. p.
*' Thetwo acres and a half horfe-1
" hoed, when threfhed, J 5 ° .
" The produce of one acre drilled!
«• in equally-diftant rows, J 4 4
11 And of the one acre fown
" broad-caft, j 4
i
The
1^6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" The horfe-hoed crop may be efteemed a
" great one, as it produced four quarters and
«* three bufhels to an acre. The corn was alfo
<c fuperior in (ize and goodnefs to the other;
" and was fold immediately for one pound five
u (hillings per quarter ; fome ears contained
" thirty-eight grains. This crop fuffered a
*f diminution from fome horfes breaking into
•' the field, and eating leveral rows, juft at the
" time of its getting into ear. But as the two
" other acres of experiment were injured by the
" corn being lodged, in fome places, by (terms
'* of wind and rain, thefe accidents might
" nearly balance each other.
" On the 4th of May 1765, the two acres
M and a half, juft mentioned to have been horfe-
" hoed the preceding year, were again drilled
" with barley, after two ploughings, to form
" the ridges, and took two bufliels one peck
M of feed. Thefe were horfe-hoed, and hand-
" hoed; and, in (hort, managed in every refpect
¥ as in the former year. This crop was reaped
" on the 13th of September, and threftied the
" 22d of October. The produce was ten quar-
" ters of fine and clear corn, fold at one pound
" two (hillings and fix-pence per quarter. The
u adjoining land, where the lad years experi-
M ments were made, could not be fown this
" year with corn, by reafon of its being occu-
" pied by a crop of fainfoin; which now looks
" very promifing. But I obferve, that this year
" mycrops of barley in general do not produce
'« more
new Husbandry exemplified. 177
•« more than four quarters four bufhels per
" acre. But taking my barley crops at a me-
" dium for the laft three years, the produce
•'• has been four quarters on an acre, in my
M bed: fields, fown broad-caft; and taking the
" horfe-hoed crops at a medium for the beft
'* three years, the produce has been three quar-
*« ters fix bufhels and three pecks. In the fo\-
•« lowing comparifon therefore I fhall calcu-
" late each year's crops, both in the old and
44 new way, on the above footing.
{ «* It is impoflible to be very exa6l in thi3
" kind of calculations ; but I fincerely believe,
** that there is greater probability of reaping
" four quarters on an acre in the horfe-hoeing
" hufbandry, than five quarters in the com-
" mon way, on fuch a foil as I have made
" my experiments on. It has been ufual to
*' reckon, that the farmer ought to make three
«' rents of his land : one third of which goes
«« to his landlord^ another to the expences of
«« cultivation, and the remaining third to the
*« maintenance of himfelf and family. But we
*' will allow that the art of hufbandry is fo
«' much improved, that an intelligent farmer
" may receive above a third clear profit. One
«' cannot precilely determine what the profit
" is, which varies probably in every county,
•« and depends lb much on circumllances and
** fituation. I (hall therefore fet down a courfe
•• of hufbandry frequently obferved by farmers
u in my neighbourhood, where the fields are
. N " inclofed,
178 THE PRACTICE OP THE
" inclofed, and let for fifteen {hillings an acre
« tit he -free.
An eftimate of the expences and profit of one
acre, in four years.
I. s. d.
" For turnips firft year, four"!
" ploughings, at 4 s. each, J ° l6 °
'< Harrowing and feed, 2 s. hoe- "I
" ing 6 s. rent 15 s. J
" Fifteen loads of dung, atl
" 2 s. 6 d. per load, J
" Expences 3 16 6
" The firfr. year's produce of tur-
I 3 o
1 17 6
«' nips, worth
')
«* The fecond year barley, pro- \
" duce4qrs. at 18s. perqr. J 3 I2 °
«* Two ploughings and harrow-"
" ings 10 s. three buihels feed
" and weeding, 8 s. and rent
« 15 s.
1 J3
'V The third year clover, 14 lb.*l
« feed, and rent j o 19 o
*• Two crops of clover, worth 1 10 o
" Fourth
i 18
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. Ijg
1. S. d.
M Fourth year wheat, 3 qrs. at") o
" 1 1. 16 s. per qr. J '
•* One ploughing and harrow-*
*\ ing 7 s. three bufhels feed
" and weeding 16 s. and rent
« 15 s.
" Total produce of an acre, in)
ml C f 12 IO O
" four years, J
*' Total expence of an acre, in \ « - >
M four years, J
years
«* Clear profit in four years
4 3 6
" I have not computed the value of the draw,
" becaufe it is fuppofed, that the expences of
*' reaping, threming, and carrying to mar-
" ket, will be nearly equivalent in this
M neighbourhood. In other places, \»here the
■« value of ftraw may be thought greater or lefs
'« than the expences, the calculation may be
*« made accordingly.
N 2
<« New
1 8a
THE PRACTICE OF THE
" New Method.
a
tt
u
Three quarters fix bufhels and"
" two pecks of barley, on an
" acre, at 18 s. per quarter,
" is worth
Deduct for expences, viz. two J
" ploughing*, 8 s. three horfe- /
" hoeings, 3 s. hand -hoeing,?
•j 2 s. 6d. feed, 2 s. id. f,V
" rent 15 s. j
Remains clear profit in onei
u year J
Confequentlv the clear profit
u on one acre in four years,
** is
1.
s.
3 8 71
i 10
i r8
12
/a
— «
u It appears from the above eftimafes, that
" the profit is confi drably greater in the drill,
" than in the OH Husbandry ; yet I have'
" ibppoled the fourth crop in the old way to
«« be wheat. Whereas it is much more com-
" mon hereabouts, where the land is not
«' perfectly ada ted to the culture of wheat,
** for the farmer to low oars, or lome other
" faring crop, after" the clover; and thus is
M the profit reduced. But I proceed to the
" calculation ot others.
« A
i
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. l8l
*l A letter in the third volume of the Af»-
*c feum RuJlhtWi page 332, ligned Y, reckons
1 the clear profit of land i.i tillage near Bury
' at about fifteen (hillings per acre. According
4 to rav calculation, as alove, the clear an-
■ nual profit is one pound one (hilling, in my
* neighbourhood, in the old way. But a
* ve*y ingenious tre tife, in the fifth number,
4 in the Foreign Eflays on Hufbandry, page
4 322, recommending the culture ot iainfoin
* and clover, with intermediate crops of corn,
' written by M. De L'Harpe, eftimates the
* clear profit of one acre at one pound (even-
1 teen (hillings. Therefore, as his method
4 feems a very good one (though it is cer-
* tainly the highefr calculation of any I ever
4 met with), 1 (hall compare the clear profit
1 to be expected in the drill culture with his
* calculation.
1. s. d.
«f Mon£ De L'Harpe reckons "]
44 the annual produce of fixty {• 170 o o
44 acres to be worth J
M From which he deducts for"
44 expences ten (hillings perl ,
44 acre, and rent ten (hillings
44 per acre
** Clear annual profit on 69 acres no o o
N 3 V Drill
1 82 THE PRACTICE OF. THE
1, S. d.
" Drill culture 3qrs. 6bu(h. 2p. 1
" of barley, at 18 s. per 7205 ly 6
«' acre, and for 6o acres J
** Deduct for rent, 4-5 1. and fori
" expences the fame } "
M Clear annual profit out of 6ol ,
r IK 17 6
" acres J J '
** Hence it appears, that fixty acres in the
" drill culture is more advantageous than the
« higheft calculation of profit made by mo*
4t dern improvers. But this is not all. For
" the above is calculated from a horle-hoed
«{ crop of barley; whereas, in many foils, I
" am convinced, it is more profitable to cul-
" tivate wheat in that manner. I have had
" feven fucceflive crops from the fame land
<< without manure, and the foil is yet unim-
" poverifhed, and fown at prefent with wheat,
" the eighth crop.
1. s. d.
" I have had fometimes twol
" quarters of wheat on an ? 3 12 o
" acre, J
" Whereas I eftimate the crop! q t
•' of b. rlev at no more than J r '*
** Put the clear profit from onelj
" acre of drilled wheat may > 2 o o
" be J
•*
■»* *"■*" "~™ "• — — — - — — *——•
" Thus
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED, 1 83
" Thus have I, with candour, endeavoured
M to give a clear and comparative view of the
" Old and New Husbandry. During the
" eight years that I have praclifed the latter,
*' I have been careful to obierve the peculiar
" advantages and d fetfs of each method :
*■ and if, upon the whole, I at laft declare in
** favour of Mr. Tull's fyitem, it is with-
w our prejudice, and merely from conviction.
" That the old method, with the affiftance
" of the more modern improvements by tur-
M nips and clover, and by the alternate ufe
" of the leguminous plants, which require
•* hand-hoeing, is very advantageous, I allow.
" Perhaps the farmer, who purfues this me-
«* thod in its greateft perfection, judges wifely
<4 in preferring a fyftem he is mafter of, and
" can confide in, to another whofe principles
" may be juft, but the practice of which is
" totally different from his own. But the
*.* farmer, who is ignorant of thefe modern
•« improvements, furely ought not to hefitate
M to adopt the drill culture, which a few years
•« practice would render habitual, and which
M lie would find to l)e much more beneficial.
«' For it is certain, that this is lefs expenflve
** than the pld method ; and, when once
*' adopted, eafier in the execution.'*
Sir Digby then prpceeds to relate his prac-
tice in cultivating wheat according to the New
Hufbandry, and recommending it without rc-
ierve as much fupcrior to the Old. I have
N 4 inlifted
J84 THE PRACTICE OF THp
infifted more minutely upon his firft experi-
ments than at firft intended, in order to give
the reader a full view of this gentleman's
practice, and the judicious remarks he makes,
on-" "ft comparative view of both the Old and
New methods. It is, however to be re-
gretted, that \ie did not more perfectly follow
the New, as laid down by the author of it,
by doing which his drilled crops would have
been larger, and the fuperiority of the New
Hufbandry would have been ftill more appa-
rent. This gentleman defcribes his land to be
f* light, deep, and dry, a hazle mould, ex-
^ cellent for barley ; but generally thought
** not of fufficient tenacity for wheat." This
was the opinion of the common farmers, and
they were probably right : but they judged
from their ideas of the Old Hufbandry, which
cannot be fafely made the ftandard for the
New. This land was prepared by feverai
ploughings in the Old Hufbandry, previous
to (owing it with wheat, and, if it happened
to be a dry fummer, the wheat furTered fqr
want of moift'ure ; but, in the New Hufban-
dry, this could not happen, if the land was
well and deep-hoed ; becaufe, when the days
are dry, .there are generally plentiful dews in
the night -r and thefe dews penetrate into land
as deep as the plqugh goes. This is found
in all land tilled deep fpr madder, or other
fuch croj. s ; they produce great crops of wheat,
after the madder, &c. is carried off, being
mbiftenea
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 185
moiftened by the dews to a gre^t depth, and
by thefe the land is inriched : for no manure
is laid upon thefe dcep-plougl ed land* tor
wheat or other corn. Mr. Tail's land was all
of it light land, fhallow, and very dry, ex-
cept one field. " I am lorry," fays he, p. 65,
" that this farm, whereon I have only pradtiied
" norfe-hoeing, being iiruate upon a hill, that
" confifts ot chalk on one fide, and heath-
M ground on the other, has been ufually
•« noted for the r.ooe(t and (hallowed ioil in
" the neighbourhood" And p. 263. ".My
h farm was termed a Barley -farm, not from
" the good crops of barky it produced, but
" becaufe the land, being almolt all hilly,
u was thought too light for wheat ; for m
M their old management it was often de-
" ftroyed by poppies and other weeds, and
" leldom was there a tolerable crop of wheat.
M In a dry dimmer, the barley crop failed for
" want of moifture, and of more puKeri-
46 zation, and was not worth half the expence.
** Land is leldom too dry tor wheat, and this
M dry foil, in the hoeing culture, brings very
•* good crops ot wheat; which n> the reufon I
" h.ive now no barley, except what is fown
*' upon the level, as it always mult be for
M planting faiutotn and clover am rn^it it;
•* were it not for that purpofe, I (houl 1 plant
" no barley at all." Hence it appears, that
Mr.Tu lfg la.id was both very dry a;,d fh.l-
lovv ; yet he planted it all wkh wheat, and
horfo
l86 THE PRACTICE OF THE
horfe-hoed ir. A\Co it appears, that he had
good crops of wheat, as appears from the ac-
count of his crops given above, much fuperior
to Sir Digby's wheat crops, though his was
ckap land. Mr. Toll alfo horfe-hoed his
wheat four times, and deep ; whereas Sir
Digby's was horie-hoed only three times.
He lays indeed (as before^-mentioned), «♦ nor
" are more than four hoeings commonly re-
U quired ; fo that, if we reckon four millings
" for ploughing the ground once over, or
" forming frefh ridges, four millings more
" for horie-hoeing, two (hillings and fix-
*; pence for hand-hoeing, two (hillings for
" weeding, and fix-pence for drilling; thir-r
*' teen (hillings is the whole expence of ma-
w naging an acre in the New method." But
though four horfe-hoeings are charged here,
as generally neceffary for a crop of wheat, yet
this land was horie-hoed but three times (for
what realon does not appear), and thefe
horfe-hoeings were performed with only one
horle ; which, as the land was de*p, might
have been deeper ploughed with two horfes ;
this would have kept the land moifl to a good
depth, would have enriched it more, and
caufed it to produce much greater crops.
Having given ib full an account of this
gentleman's barley and wheat crops, 1 mall be
the fhorter with rcfpecl to the other horfe-
hoed crops. The ninth crop upon the fcven
acres was in the year 1 767, fix acres lentils,
and
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 1 87
and one potatoes, in order to deftroy the weeds,
which by neglect greatly abounded ; but the
feafon continued fo long rainy, that the lentils
fprouted, and the crop became mouldv when
houied, and was of little value ; and the acre
of potatoes was alfo an inferior crop; thefe
deficiencies were not, however, owing to the
New Hufbandry, but to an uncommon bad
feafon.
1. s. d.
The lofs is reckoned at 480
Yet including this lofs, there reO «
mained a clear profit of J *
The profit from thefe feven acres") ,
in nine years was J J y
which is an advantage of more than 28 1. over
the Old Hufbandry : and *« it is very pro-
44 bable," fays Sir Digby, " ^hat when the
88 prefent wheat crop, now growing, and in
44 a flourishing condition, (hall be added to
" the account, the excellence ot the Horfe-
44 hoeing Huibandry will be more evident.
81 That part where the potatoes grew makes
44 the beft appearance at preient ; and there -
44 fore I can particularly recommend this
44 plant, as an excellent preparative for wheat.
84 — Of the other exclulivc benefits attending
88 the potatoe culture, I can give the follow-
44 ing inftance. October 3 1 it, 1765, an acre
fc4 ot potatoes, planted in a rich dry io.l, p»o-
44 duced
l88 THE PRACTICE OF THE
«« duced thirty- fix quarters; which, at three
f* pence per peck (a very law price), were
" 14 1. 8 s. Another acre the preceding year
" was planted with potatoes on five-reet
" ridges, viz. a lingle row on every ridge,
" and each plant a foot diftant. Thefe were
" well weeded and horfe hoed, and the crop
'? was thirty feven. quarters rive bufhels,
" which, at three pence per peck, comes to
«* 15 1. 4 s. But here the land was very rich.
*« — Though can there well be a more profit-
" able culture ?
M I have had very great crops of fiinfoin-
lt feed this way ; and once, in particular, I
" meafured a (ingle row on a three-feet ridge,
" and one hundred yards in length produced
" five pecks; and confequently an acr^ would
H yield feven quarters tour bufliels, an afto-
" nifhing quantity ! But the rows were per-
" feebly weeded, and the feed gathered by
«< hand, fo that fcarce a grain was loft ;
•' whereas, in the common way of mowing
" and threfhing, there is generally immenie
" wafte, probably amounting to half the
" quantity. But, on the other hand, the
" expence of gathering the feed of one acre,
" by women, calculated from the row above -
" mentioned, would amount to three pounds.*'
[But, if the tops were cut oft with a reap-
hook, and in the dew, it wiil not be liable to
fried ; and the {ted may be faved this way at a
imall expence*- — Sir Digby feems to incline to
the
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. l8o*
the opinion qf many farmers, that the ftulks
of large fainfom are hard and pip^y, and for
that reafon not {o agreeable to Cattle; a> the
fmall leafy ibrt: but this is becauie they are
apt to let it grow too old before they cut it ; as
they are in regard to broad clover alfo, and
other grades. But large fainfoin is the rich-
eft and molt juicy, if cut before it bloflbms ;
which for hay, or to be fed green, it mould
always be, before any of the bloflbms appear.
And lucerne mould be cut (till earlier, viz. not
only before any bloflbms appear, but even be-
fore the bloflbm-buds are formed. In this
there is no lofs ; for the earlier thefe plants
are cut, the fucceeding crop grows the
quicker.]
44 I own, I have fefdom found that horfes
•« leave any, not even the groflefl part of
44 the fainfoin plant. They will eat the (talks,
44 where the feed has ripened. Sheep are
•• more delicate : for, though they are excef-
44 five fond of fainfoin both in grafs and
<r hay, Jrou may frequently fee the thickeft
44 of the dems left untouched, where they
44 have been foddered." [But give them
drinfoin in grafs or hay, that is cut before it
bloflbms, they will eat the largeft (talks clean
up, and make no wade.]
44 Though I do not altogether approve of
" drilling fainfoin, to be horfe-hoed, I prefer
44 the drilling of it in equally drttant rows to
44 (owing it by hand. Becauie the drill fows
44 more
I90 THE PRACTICE OF THE
•4 more regularly than the haud ; and you
•* lave half the quantity of feed. I am lure,
44 I have not lefs than one hundred acres of
u drilled fainfoin. Some of it in rows at one
44 foot, and the reft at half a foot diftance.
44 The greateft quantity I ever fow is three
u bufheis to an acre. The leaft, and which
44 I generally fow, is one bufhel and an
44 half to an acre. . I have many fields, where
44 the plants are quite regular, and ftand
" as thick as on& would wifh, producing \evy
*'. good crops.
44 I have feveral thoufand acres on the
44 wolds, that do not let for a milling each
44 acre. The foil is generally dry, lhallow,
M and ftoney. This, after being reduced to
44 fine tilth, by repeated ploughings, and
44 nanured by the fold of a large flock of
" Cheep, which I keep for that purpofe, has
44 been gradually and fucceffively laid down
44 with all the various kinds of grafs-feeds in
44 common ufe ; the principal of thefe are
** fainfoin, and all the clovers, burnet, tre-
44 foils, lucerne, rye-grafs, rib-grafs, and com-
44 mon hay-feeds; of all thefe, fainfoin has
44 made the molt general and greateft im-
44 provement. This plant, whilft grow-
*4 ing, is grateful to all kinds of cattle ;
44 and the hay is excellent. The produce
44 from this land is, in a good year, about a
44 ton to an acre, taking the whole crop of a
" large field together. It is true, I have had
44 three
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. IQI
•' three ton to an acre in rich land. But one
ic ton from fuch poor land appears to 'be
" a more extraordinary produce : and betides,
" the hay is finer, fweeter, and more nou-
M riming than from the former. [This pro-
bably, becaufe the fainfoin from the poor
land was cut earlier than the other: for other-
wife, and the hay equally well-made, the rich
land produces the belt hay.]
46 As to lucerne, 1 could never get it to
■* fucced on fuch a foil ; but muft now do juf-
*' tice to its merit : for I have cultivated it
44 with fuccefs in a rich, deep, and dry foil.
44 I have about two acres in beds, of three and
" four feet breadth, in tingle and double
44 rows, part transplanted, and part fown,
•* which 1 keep carefully weeded, and which
•4 yields me generally three, and fometimes
•c four, crops in a fummer. The firft crop
44 is now (the 13th of May) ready to cut,
" being a foot and half high." [By this ac-
count, it feems, that Sir Digby's lucerne was
very imperfectly and very (hallow hoed; for, on
fuch land as this, rich, deep, and dry, if well
horfe-hoed, it is ready to cut earlier than the
! 3th of May in many parts of England ; and
rifes much higher than a foot and a half, and
even to twice that height, frequently higher.
The quality of this lucerne (hews alio, that it
was poor : for Sir Digby fays] 44 1 find it a very
44 great faving of corn. 1 give it to my coach
u andfaddle-horfes regularly every day, frc(h as
44 it
4
It}2 TI!E PRACTICE OF TftE
m it is cut : and I think it, in fome meafurc,
is fupplies the place of oats. I have fre-
" quently fed fome of my horfes with half
*' lucerne, and half their ufual allowance of
" corn, and found that thofe horfes were in
u higher flefh and fpirits than the others,
" which had their ufual food, viz. hay and
u corn." [But there are many inftances, that
horfes, fed with good lucerne, require no hay or
corn, though hard -worked.] " Either in
" fingle or double rows, with three or four
«c feet intervals, tranfplanted or fown, it may
u do extremely well, provided you weed care -
" fully ; but that is efTential. With fuch
*< care and 6xpence, often repeated, viz. three
" times a year, you may have good lucerne
** on almoft any foil ; and, without it, the
" mod: proper foil in the world will not fup-
" port lucerne above a year or two."
Sir Digby concludes, as before-mentioned,
with a full approbation of the Horfe-hoeing
Hufbandry in preference to the Common ; and'
his fucceis would have been ftill greater, had
he employed two horfes to hoe his deep land,
and given it at lead four horfe-hoeings with
two hories, inftead of three only with but
but one horfe. This was the leaft given, or
directed, for wheat by the author of this Huf-
bandry ; and none have yet excelled him in
the practice of it.
In 1763 the rev. Mr. Lowther communi-
cated to the London Society of Arts his ex-
periments
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 193
periments in the Drill CVtnre of wheat in
Cumberland, compared with the common
courte of crops in that country, viz. the firft
year turnips, with the full quantity of ma-
nure; the fecond year fallnv; and the third
year a crop of wheat, without manure. 'I his
courfe continued every three years. In the
Drill Culture, the firft year turnips, with half
the quantity of manure, as the broad-.aft;
the lecond year, barlev ; and the third year,
wheat. The barley and wheat repeated the
fourth and fifth years, and then the manuring
and turnips to take place again. It does not
appear, that any manure was ufed for the
crops of corn. The land, on which the expe-
riments were made, was a heavy, moift foil,
with a clavey bottom, and deemed too ftifF
for barley. It was tilled out of hay, and had
borne a crop of oats. The rent eight (hil-
lings per acre.
The courfe of crops here mentioned is an
uncommon one, and by no means the beft.
Mr. Lowther drilled three rows of wheat on
each ridge, which were too many, and his
ridges were but five feet and a half broad,
which for three rows (hould have been fix
feet ; u on the whole, he reckons the drilled
crops were more profitable than the broad-caft
in that country, by eight (hillings two pence
and eight-fifteenths per acre; but thele ex-
periments were not 1o (atisfactory by much
as thofe made by Sir Digby Legard : and
O therefore
Ip4 THE PRACTICE OF THE
therefore it is not neceffary to relate them more
particularly.
Mr. Dofiie has likewife particularly related
the experiments made by Mr. Cox of Wall-
hampton, near Lymington in Hamplhire, in a
field of twenty-three acres, divided into fixteen
parts, and drilled on the level, fome parts
with red, and others with white wheat, the
rows one foot afunder, and hand-hoed ; fome
were manured with lime, and the other parts
not manured. The above parts produced con-
fiderably more than the common broad-caft
fown wheat in that country. The land of
this field was nearly of the fame quality, viz,
a (hallow mould on a gravel. The quantity
of feed drilled was one bumel per acre. The
quantity ufually fown there broad-caft is from,
two to two bufhels and a half per acre. And,
as Mr. DofTie obferves, that at the rate at
which wheat is now fold (in 1767), there is
a clear faving, in the drill method of fowing,
of near the rent of the land, viz. twelve (hil-
lings and fix-pence per acre. This is, reckon-
ing the produce of all the experiments at an,
average, and after deducting for the hand-
hoeing, and all other expences ; and is a full
proof, that drilling on the level, in rows a
foot diftant, and hand-hoed, is more profit-
able than the common broad-caft fowing; but
drilling the wheat upon ridges, and horfe-
hoeing it in the proper manner, is ftill much
more profitable than level drilling and hand-
1 hoeing,
KEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I95
hoeing, or than any other way hitherto prac-
tifed of cultivating wheat.
Mr. Doffie concludes this head with a quo-
tation from Mr. Wynne Baker, wherein Mr.
Baker reckons, " that in the broad-caft, con-
" lifting of afucceffion of fallow, wheat, and
" oats every third year, he charges nine bar-
44 rels of wheat per acre produce from each
" crop. The fallow year is loll: : and the
" oats, yield in value to the wheat, only as
" four to nine. In the drill way, he obtains
44 fix barrels of wheat every year, in a con-
" ftant fucceflion." It is proper to obferve,
chat this is on the plantation acre, which con-
tains 7840 fquare yards. The total expence,
including rent, communibus annis, in fifteen
years, is 2I. ios.inthe broad-caft; and 2I. 5s. id.
in the drill culture, according to his ftate of
them ; which is 4 s. 11 d. annually, in favour
of the latter. But the difference of the value
of the produce, which is to be added to this
faving, is fo great, that it appears, as he fays,
according to his ftate, " a farmer, having forty
44 acres of tillage, fuppoiing him to direct his
44 attention to bringing it to the Drill Cul-
44 ture, would make, in fifteen years,
44 969 1. 10 s more than he can in the Com-,
44 ntou Hnfbandry: which is fuch an advan-
44 tage, that the greater profit in the drilling
44 acre will purchafe the fee-fimple of that
44 in the Common Hufbandry at twenty-fcven
44 years purchale, valuing the land at eighteen
U 2 (hillings
I96 THE PRACTICE OF THfi
" (hillings an acre: Thus it appears, that, irl
" every fifteen years the fee- nm pic of all the
" tillage-lands in the kingdom is loft to the
" community by the common courfe of til*
" lage."
Mr. Baker was a very accurate experiment
ter, and had experience of horle-hoeing feveral
crops, turnips cabbages, &c. in which he fuc-
ceeded ; but had not then experienced the
he rfe-hoeing culture of uhe.it* tor a fuccefllon
of years: and, a> it fcems from a quotation
he makes, that he depended, for information of
the hoeing culture of wheat, upon an edition
of Mr. Tull's Hufbandry* made by a perfon
employed by the late Mr. Millar the book-
feller, who feems not to have fully under-
ftood Mr. Tull ; Mr. Baker appears to have
been led into a mi (take, viz. to fir pofe, that
pulverization was the great principle in the
New Husbandry ; which without doubt is in-
difpenfably neceflary, and wiUgo far in obtain-
ing good crops of fuch plants and roots as are
thus cultivated for one year: but drilled
wheat crops have feldom any manure be-
flowed upon them, and are repeated every
year for many years in fucceiiion : and, as
the wheat crops draw nourilhmcnt every year
from the foil, this continual exhauftion re-
quires Tikewife a conftant recruit of vegetable
nourilhment: otherwife the earth will be
impoverished, and the crops muft decline.
The
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED 1 97
The tillage, breaking, hoeing, and pul-
verizing the toil, are operation* performed
by ploughs and hoes : but theie opera-
tions do not add any ne^v matter to the
foil ; they reduce the foil into fine tilth ; but
mere pulverization does not, or itfelf, increafo
the vegetable uourimment, which has been
taken no ice of abcve : tor earth made ever
fo fine in vacuo, and where no air is admitted,
will never be enriched, in the fmalleft degree,
by meie pulverization; it mull come in con-
tact with the air, or atmofphere ; from whence
alone it can be recruited with vegetable nourish-
ment. 1 he not being informed, and attend-
ing to this, was the reafon that Mr. Baker
failed in the hoeing culture of wheat, as will
appear hereafter.
Mr. Dome fpeaks doubtfully of what Mr.
Baker luppoles the drilled crops of wheat
would produce annually, as he had not then
feen many authentic experiments of drilled
and horlerhoed wheat crops in Britain ; and
Sir Oigby Legard's being the moft clearly
related, he had ftared his average of wheat
crops at onlv twelve buljiels per acre, inftead
of anout tixfctq buihels computed by Mr.
paker. Yet Mr. Baker's was a moderate com-
luta ion. His hilt years horfe-hoed crop was
greater than lie h .d computed ; and he might
have r ali/.e hi l computation, or higher, had
Ji*s cious uccn cultivated in the belt manner.
O 3 To
jq8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
To underftand his eftimate, it may be pro-
per to obferve, that the Irifh plantation-acre is
to the Englifh flatute acre, as 7840 fquare
yards to 4840 ; or nearly as 8 to 5. The Irifh
flone is 14 pounds.
Their barrel of wheat is 20 ftone, or 280
pounds ; which is four Englifh nine-gallon
buihels. Their barrel of oats is 14 ftone, or
196 pounds,
Mr. Baker being experimenter to the Dublin
fociety, he was directed by them to make a
comparative experiment of the drill and broad-
caft methods : apd he allotted one plantation
acre to be drilled annually with wheat, and
horfe-hoed for a conrfe of years ; and he fowed
two contiguous half-acres, of the fame foil as
the other, broad-caff ; the feed of one half-
acre to be covered with the plough, and of the
other with the harrow.
Thefe two acres were drilled with turnips
in 1764 upon five-feet ridges, which were
horfe-hoed. And in 1765 they were fown
with barley, which was drilled, two rows
upon each ridge ; the beft part produced a goo4
crop, the reft was inferior ; the barley being
fown too late, and the feafon unfavourable.
In
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. I99
1. d. s.
1
o 10 4
In 1765. The one acre was ploughed once, to
, form the new ridges, coft,
Oftober 5, Harrowed the ridges, 4^d. and \
drilled 6ft 51b of red lammas wheat, 6s 11 ^d. J ° 7 4
November 20, Winter horfe-hoeing, with two 1
horfes, ° ' '
I766. March 15, Spring-hoeing with the finglel ,
cultivator clofe to the rows, | x
— — Ditto with doable cultivator once along | 0
1. 1 ? o o 8
the intervals, f
— 30th, Horfe hoeing the intervals a fecondl ,
time, turning them to the rows, J 5*
May 12, Weeding the partitions, o o j\
o 1 s
}
June 17, Third hoeing the intervals towards
the rows,
— Deepening the middle of the interval 1 g
with double cultivator. J
Auguft 28, Reaping, 3s 4d. Threflung 7bar.1 « ,
i ift. 51b. at 9d. per bar. 5s. 7*d. J ° X*
September jy, One year's rent, o 18 o
otal expence, of the 1
wheat, the nrit year,
Total expence, of the horfe-hoed acre of "l ,
As ftated by Mr. Baker in his report to the Dublin Society,
j 766. The produce of the drilled acre,
Wheat, 7bar. id. $lb. at 30s.
per bar,
1. s. d.
. n 7 oj
Straw, 39cwt. iqr. and 22ID. ' *,
at od. per cwt. J 9 *
Produce of this acre, 12 16 7
Expences as above, 212 2$
Profit on this acre the firft year, 10 4 4l io 4 4l
O 4 1767.
200
THE PRACTICE OF THB
1767. The fccond year it was drilled &
in double rows and five feet
ridges, with 5ft. and 2lb. of
red lammas wheat, the 16th.
of October, 1760, and culti-
vated exaclly in the fame
manner as the firft crop;
weeding coft 8d. reaping 3s.
threfhing 8d. per bar. and the
whole expence was,
Auguft 20. The crop was reaped
and produced,
Wheat 5 bar. 12ft.! ,
7lb. at 25s.
Straw 29cwt. 2qrs.
271b. ai c;d.
-}
Profit the fecond year,
2 II
«J
8 2 11
5 11 5
1768. The third year. The culture'
was the fame as the two pre-
ceding years, and coft 7s. j±
It was drilled the 1 8th of Oc
lober, 1767, With 5 ft. and
alb. of feed, at 25s. per bar.
coft cs. i^d. Reaping, 27
Auguft, coft 3s. 6d. and
threfhing, 2s. ojd at 8d. per
ftone ; the total expence,
Produced, Wheat i ,
3bar. it. at2_cs. J 3 3
Straw, i6cwt. andT 1
at gd.
Profit the third year,
o 12 z'
7 &
.—?
4 8 Si
The annual decreafe of the crops, deter-
1 mined Mr. Baker to g;ve up the lchtme of
fucceffive crops of wheat, drilled upon five-
feet ridges; and he fuppoles, that by drilling
a double row upon fix-feet ridges, fome ot the
incori-
new Husbandry exemplified. 201
inconveniences which he found mi^ht poffibly
be avoided. He then dates his objections to
drilling on five-feet ridges; and aifigns t .elc
as the reaions why he did not fucceed.
" His firft objection is, that upon poor
•* cold ground the wheat is too late in ripen-
*6 ing, efpecialiv in fb moift a climate as Ire-
" land, and where there is io little fun " — -
This objection relates to drilled wheat, which,
by the nourifhment it receives from the hoe-
plough, is fomewhat longer in ripening than
wheat fown broad-caft ; but the difference is
not {q great as wholly to exclude drilling there,
as is intimated in this objection : for, as men-
tioned above, Mr. B^ker drilled one acre; and
contiguous to it he lowed two half-acres
broad-caft, all of them were iown the lame
day, viz. the cth of October. Thefe two
half-acres were reaped the 23d of Auguft;
and the drilled acre was reaped the 28th of
Auguft, which was only five days later: this
was lb fmall a difference as ought not to ex-
clude the hoeing culture of wheat, if other-
wife the mod profitable. Befides, it is to be
obferved, that this wheat was not fown till
the 5th of October; which, had it been (own
earlier, would have been earlier ripe: lo that
this is no valid objection againft drilling of
wheat in Ireland, even upon io cold laud as
this was.
2. Mr. Baker objects next, *« that after
** taking four or five crops in this way, the
** partitions
M
Ci
202 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" partitions throw up fuch a quantity of weeds,
" poppies, hog-fennel, &c. particularly upon
" poor land, and in a wet feafon, that no
labour (confident with profit) can eradicate
them, but fallow and turnips. And that,
if the corn is flrong, fo that the hoe-plough
cannot operate after June, the like weeds
" rife wonderfully in the intervals." It is
certainly difficult to eradicate weeds in thefe
circumftances. Yet we find that Mr. Tuli
conquered the weeds in his poor land : and he
advries, when the hoe-plough happens to be
fhut out, to give the land a light hand-hoeing,
which would keep down the weeds ; and this
hoeing would be well repaid, by the improve-
ment it would make in the land. Befides, it is
found, that a good horfe-hoeing in June, be»-
fore the wheat bloffoms, caufes the ears to be
fuller of grain, than deterring it till after the
wheat has done blowing ; though without
doubt hoeing then, and alfo after the blowing,
do both contribute to improve the crop, But
admitting that four or five crops can be taken
of hoed wheat, and there fhould then be a
necerlity of fome intermediate prop to be taken,
pf turnips, beans, &c. to clean the land ; the
following four or five crops may then be drilled
wheat; as was the cafe with Mr. Craikj but
he does not for that reafon give up drilling of
wheat.
3. Thefe ridges were five feet broad; but,
if made fix feet broad, he thought the hoe-
plough
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 203
plough might be introduced oftener, as there
would be more room in the intervals : but Mr.
Tull's ridges were narrower than five feet, as
were thofe of other cultivators who have fuc-
ceeded in this culture. " It has, fays he,
^ been after the culture of the intervals was
" finifhed [after June, as above] that they
M have (hot up, and formed their feed ; and
M which I conceive to be productive of them
ii in the fucceeding year," and this may be in
fome meafure prevented as before mentioned.
4. That, in ploughing thefe five-feet ridges
after harveft for the fucceeding crop, the
ftubble mixed with the mould of the in-
tervals ; and he fays he found by infpedtion
that this was the caule of the third crop being
fo fmall. The ftubble interfered with the
coulters of the drill plough in its paffage, and
cauled the ground to remain hollow about the
feed in many place*; and the winter's rain,
lodging in thefe hollows, perifhed the plants;
whence, fays he, a great diminution of our
(third) crop. Six-feet ridges may remove this
objection alfo; becaufe in ploughing the ground
for a fucceeding crop, the ftubble of the pre-
ceding one will not be fo apt to approach the
middle of the new-made ridges, as when ths
culture is carried on with narrower ridges.
Removing the ftubble would be a troublefome
and expenlive bulinefs, to clear a large quan-
tity of land, belides robbing the ground of fo
much manure as the -ftubble would make. —
The
204 THE PRACTICE OF THE
The two great furrows are thrown up firft in
a high r.dge, the plough going near the rows
pt (lubi)|e, (o that the two next furrows do
riot rife lo high, as to make the ftubble interr
fere \vith the drill plough. Other cultivators
Jiaye not found this inconvenience upon nar-
rower lid^es; nor, it feems, did Mr. Baker
find it till the third crop, and therefore was
riot a iufficient reafon for dilcontinuing this
Jiufb,«ndry ; the next objection appears to be
r.}ie principal realon of it.
5. W Though it feems to have been the
tc. ppin;Qn of many writers upon this huf-
*'- ba.ndry, that iuch con ft ant production of
t' crops without intermiffion does not im-
*'. poyerilh, but on the contrary improves the
ii ground by the culture beftowed upon it in
*s. {nib hu.iban.dry ; but I find this not to be the
jrt cafe : for certain it is, that the capability
fi of the ground t$ feed plants, is every year
tt lefs, after- it has produced a crop of turnips,
K I am afraid this objection will be found m-
ic. conteftably true in practice, with five-feet.
iS ridges ; how far thofe of fix feet may remove
tt it, 1 (haU wait until my experience (riall in-
H form; rne."-: If this argument was to be
depended upon, there was np occaiion to bring
any other objection again ft the New Hulr
bandry, Mr. Baker fpeaks here incautioufly,
aria* oppoles his one unluccefsful experiment
to the continued practice and fucceis of the
au|hpr of t(iis huibandry; and of the other.
^ gentlemen
ttEW Husbandry exemplified; 263
gentlemen of character ab;oad, who have cbri-
firmed its principles upon large traces of land
of various kinds. But it is plain that Mr;
Baker fell into an error that others have done*
by iuppoling that pulverization and ex(5ofUr£
were the fame. Mr. baker mould ha've culti^
vated his wheat with the hoe-plough* whicli
anfwers both thefe pUrpofes : but he lubuVitutea
cultivators inftead of the hoe- plough ; fcrieie '
were invented by M. De Chateivieux, as Ufe-
ful inftruments in loitle particular cafes. They
are not ploughs, they haVe neirher coulters iidf
earth-boards J and do not turn the toil and ex-
poie a new furface to the air, or atmofphefe"*
as a plough does. M. L)e Chatavieux called
the (ingle cultivator a miner, becadfe t works
wholly under ground, ratles the mould a little*
which (inks down agaiii where it was before
as foon a-; the cultivator is part ; but does ndl
turn the mould, nor expole a new furface to
the immediate action of the air, which is ef-
ieiiti.il in this hu(bandry i as this is the prin-
cipal means wheteby the Und is recruited of
the vegetable food, or nourishment, whereof
it is partly exhaufted by the growing cr<>p.
Breaking or pulverizing the earth makes it
lighter and more open, whereby the cekftial
influences can more eafily penetrate into it
than when it is clofe and hard ; but the foil is
not by any other means {a effectually and im-
mediately enriched, as bv turning and expofing
it to the immediate action of the atmolphcre,
as
206 THE PRACTICE OF THE
as we have taken notice of before, and is di-
rected by the author of this hufbandry ; efpe-
cially as neceflary in cultivating land for fuc-
ceffive crops of wheat : for thefe crops have
not anv aififtance from manure, nor is the land
recruited of its fertility by any other means
than by pulverization and expofure. Land
that is rich, and already much impregnated
with the vegetable food, will bear a good crop
l>y good hoeing, or pulverizing only, without
much expofure, for a fingle crop, efpecially if
alio manured ; this feems to have milled many
who were not well acquainted with the prin-
ciples of the New Hufbandry : they generally
recommend hbeing and pulverizing the land,
and to thefe they attribute the fuccefs of the
hoeing hufbandry ; but though this will do
for one crop, it is evident, from the hoeing
culture of wrheat, that thefe alone will not do
for a fuccemon of crops ; but they will gra-
dually decline every year, bccaufe the earth
is not recruited by pulverizing, unlefs a new
furface be alfo ex poled to the air, or atmof-
phere. It is this that recruits the earth of the
vegetable food: the pulverizing prepares the
earth to receive the new vegetable food, when
duly expofed to the air. The fingle cultivator
is a triangular hoe, and refembles one of the
triangular hoes of the nidget, only larger and
longer ; the double cultivator confifts of two
iingle cultivators placed fide by fide in a frame:
they nv.y be run along in light loofe mould,
but
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 20J
but are by no means proper to be fubftituted
for the hoe plough ; and here appears the
error of Mr. Baker's culture. His" winter or
firft horfe- hoeing, he takes notice, was per-
formed the 20th of November with the hoe-
plough, which turned the earth from the
rows of wheat. The fecond horfe hoeing with
the hoe-rlough was not performed till the
30th day of March, and then the earth was
turned back again towards the rows of wheat.
The third h'orfe-hoeing with the plough was
not performed till the 1 7th of June, and then
the earth was not again ploughed away from
the rows, as the author of this hufbandry di-
rects, and that the plough fhould go clofe to
the wheat ; but, on the contrary, fome loofe
earth was thrown up from the intervals, the
17th of June, up to the ridges; fo that inftead
of four hoeings with the plough, two of them
clofe to the wheat, here was only one hoeing
performed in that manner the 20th of No-
vember ; and after the earth was turned to
the wheat by the hoe-plough, it was no more
ploughed and turned from the wheat after-
wards, as (hould have been done ; and what
other tillage was given in the intervals was
wholly performed by the cultivators, not pro-
per to be iubihtuted for the plough.
Indeed the land here was properly horfe-'
hoed only twice, inftead of four horfe^hoeings
that ought at the lead to have been given it.
Mr. Tull at firft gave his wheat fix horie-
hoeings,
208 THE PRACTICE OF THE
r
hotings, and directed fo many to be given ;
and when he had reduced his ridges from fix
feet broad to four feet eight or nine inches,
he found four fuch hoeings were fufficient to
nourifh the crop, and enrich the land for the
fucceeding crop : but directs, that when the
hoer finds, by a decreafe in his crops, that the
land had not been Sufficiently improved the
preceding ltafon, he mould hoe it oftener, or
give the rows a drefling of fine manure about
the month of February ; neither of which was
done here, though the crop evidently declined.
Yet it was reafbnable to have followed the di-
rections of the father of the New Hufbandry,
who had long experience in it : for no novice
in this Hufbandry mould rafhly depart from
the rules laid down, from experience, by fo
able a cultivator. The examples above given
are a fufficient confirmation of the principles
of this Hufbandry, and cannot be invalidated
by the ill fuccefs of thofe who depart from
the eftablifhed rules of this culture.
I have been particular in reciting this mif-
carriage. Mr. Baker acted in a public ca-
pacity, was a very accurate experimenter, and
had iucceeded admirably in rarfing (ingle crops
of different forts ; and it was a misfortune that
he deviated from approved rules in the culture
of drilled Wheat, a plant of fo general ufe ;
his being fo fanguine of iuccefs (before he
had pra&ifed this culture), as appeared from
the calculation he had publifhed, and referred
to
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 200.
to by Mr. Doffie, of the great advantage to
be made in Ireland, from fucceflive hoed crops
of wheat, compared with the common courfe
of culture there (of a crop of wheat, one of
oats, and the third year fallow), his failing of
fuccefs was very difcou raging to others; al-
though the drilled crops he ftates are not
more than may be really obtained in the New
Hufbandry duly performed. Some, who fa-
voured the drill hufbandry, wifhed him fuc-
cefs ; but others, as he takes notice, hoped
otherwife ; and his not fucceeding may have
iome effecl: in Britain, but has fo difcouraged
moft in Ireland, that probably the hoeing cul-
ture of wheat will not again be attempted
there in a long time.
Since writing the above, I have feen a
treatife on Hufbandry, entitled Rural Improve-
ments, very lately publimed. The author is
a gentleman of practical knowledge, and the
work contains many valuable and judicious
obfervations : he has alfo practifed the hoeing
hufbandry, and recommends it. — The author
fets out with this general proportion, that
landed eftates may be improved to douLle
their prefent value. " This,'* fays he, «* it
44 feems, has been thought by many an ex-
*4 travagant notion, without any reafonable
44 ground or foundation in the nature and
44 realbn of things.'*
" Strange as this opinion may feem to
44 many, it is not the mere creature of a
P " warm
HO THE PRACTICE OF TH"E
«4 warm imagination, but founded on a feriei
•« of experiments and obfervations, made on
'< an extenfive fcale by the author, who in
44 numbers of inftances could confirm his
44 doctrine by his practice* and produce the
44 cleared evidence that thofe improvements
44 are capable of being carried much higher,
44 and to much greater advantage, on the
44 author's principles, &c. by the lame means
" he ufed."
P. 47^ " My idea of improvement does
44 riot only comprehend the increafed value of
44 the thing to be improved, but that the im-
44 provement be more than equivalent to the
M expence which attends tlie obtaining it.
44 For I can have no idea of any thing being
44 an improvement which is attended with
44 lofs. Suppofe a gentleman pofiefled of an
M efhte of 500 1. per annum, and that he has
44 iocol. in the flocks, which brings him
44 40 1 per annum. Should he convert his
44 flock into money, and expend the fame in
44 improving his eftate, which when effected
44 only produced 30I. per annum ; this furely
44 could never be thought an improvement.
64 But mould the expending the 1000I. add
" iool. per annum to the value, it might
44 then with great propriety be called an im-
" provement. And with refpect to the tenant;
44 fuppoiing in his farm he has 100 acres of
44 land, which are considered as little better
44 than wafle, and not valued to him at more
44 than
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 211
" than a {hilling an acre, and which perhaps
" he does not make half a crown an acre of,
" being only applied to the run of a few
" young cattle in the fummer; if a method
" could be rointed out, by which fuch land
** might be made to produce 10 s. an acre
u befides paying the expence, it is very clear,
" the improvement would be in the propor-
M tion of four to one, or 400 per cent.
" Now this is the improvement we propbfe,
•* and have no doubt of pointing out the
44 means by which it may be certainly
" effected.
M Few Hufbandmen have any notion of
" improvement, independent of manures of
«' fome kind or other : but, in many places,
*' they are not to be obtained at any rate :
*' and many lands are fo {ituated and circum-
" ftanced, that the expences of manuring (if
" manures could be got, would far exceed all
" advantages ; and therefore would ter-
" minate in lofs. But I maintain, that
*' fuch lands may be improved, independent
" of any manure but what may be raifed
" from the land itfelf. Indeed there is land
" fo barren, as to be incapable of any im-
provement ; fuch as abfolute bog, before it
is drained ; rock, and pure fand ; but land
that will bear furze, fern, broom, thirties,
or weeds or any fort, may be cultivated to
ufeful purpofes, without the expence of
carrying manure to the fame.
P 2 I by
(..
212 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" I by no means mean to decry the ufe of
" manure; I too well know its value; and
" that firmer mud be very indolent, or ig-
«< norant, whofe lands are not fertile, if he
" can have it in plenty upon moderate terms,
" if he neglects it ; but the quantity of it is
" limited, and not to be purchafed in the
" quantities defired : therefore, if land is not
" to be improved without manure, fome hun-
" dred thoufands of acres can never be im-
•< proved at all.
■* It may be faid, attempts of this kind
" have been formerly made without fuccefs ;
" and that much land, which has been in tillage
" heretofore, now lies neglected, in the con-
" dition above reprefented. This is certainly
" true, and what I have frequently feen ;
M but proves nothing againft this plan of im-
" provement, though a forcible impeachment
" of the avarice or weaknefs of the occupier.
" If men will facrifice all future advantage to
" a little increafed prefent gain, the fault is
" their own, and not the lands they poflefs.
" Suppofe a farmer mould fpade and burn-
«c beat a tract of fuch land as above defcribed,
" and reap a middling crop of wheat the firft
" year, a thin crop of barley the fecond, and
" a very poor crop of oats the third, not
£< enough to pay the expences of tillage; can
" it be a wonder, that fuch land mould for a
f* long feries of years be considered as abfo-
" lutely barren and worthlefs ? Such a prac-
t4 tice
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 2I3
'' tice would beggar any land ; and yet this
" is the practice commonly purfued. Whereas,
" had the farmer contented himfelf with
" one crop of corn, and fucceeded that by an
44 ameliorating crop, inftead of impoverishing
44 and reducing his land to a ftate of beg-
U gary, it might have been in a ftate of
" conftant improvement. The art required
44 is, to raife a tolerably good crop at firft ;
44 that being obtained, he muft be a poor
M manager who cannot keep-on with ad-
64 vantage.
44 This is not a mere matter of opinion.
44 I have a moor of 120 acres, which, for
44 fifty years back, never let for more than
44 eighteen pence an acre. Some of the old
44 people there remember its bearing as good
44 corn and clover as any land in the parifh,
" though I have fome of four pounds an
44 acre. I have it now in hand, and laft year
44 had a field of wheat of about five acres,
M which had been fpaded and burnt the Tum-
" mer before. This produced lixteen bufhels
44 to the acre, which, at five (hillings a
44 bufhel, amounts to four pounds ; and af-
" forded a nett profit of forty millings an
44 acre, or near it. The land is now in fuf-
44 ficient heart to produce a good crop of
44 barley ; but that I will difpenfe with, and,
44 inftead of it, take an ameliorating crop of
44 turnips, clover, or fome hoeing crop, that
" may improve it. The raifing large crops
? 3 "of
214 THE PRACTICE OF THE
« of corn by dint of manure, at a very heavy
1 expence, comes not within my idea of
6 improvement ; and in this the moft va-
4 luable part of improvement confifts, at
* leaft fo far as arable lands are the fubjecT:
< thereof."
The author's method is undoubtedly right,
of taking but one exhaufting crop from burn-
beat land ; but, though he is a favourer of
the New Hufbandry, he does not introduce
it here, though very proper to do fo; his
practice feems to have been more in hoeing
fingle crops of beans, peafe, turnips, &c. than
in cultivating wheat in iucceffive crops by
horfe- hoeing, which, in the find fenfe, is
properly the New Hufbandry, and, in the
prefent cafe, might have been introduced
upon this land for the firft crop after burn-
beating,, the land being firfl: well pulverized ;
and, if the crop had been even lefs than fix-
teen bufhels, the expence would have been
fmall; and, what is moft material, the land
would not have been impoverifhed by a crop
of wheat, but would have been certainly im-
proved ; and no occaiiori to think of an ame-
liorating crop of turnips, &c. to fucceed the
wheat, :but to continue every year to obtain a
crop of wheat, which is much more profitable.
Another inftance of the author's improve-
ment without manure, is of a peneral na-
fure, and deferves to be well confidered ; and
here likewiie the Drill Hufbandry may be of
lingular
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. GI5
■lingular ufe. " I proceed," fays he, p. 90.
to the confideration of the improvement of
fuch lands that are io circumftanced as not
to be within the reach of the common or
ufual method of improvement. 'Moft large
eftates have very large quantities of land,
that lie remote from the farm-yard ; fome-
times feveral miles, and often very difficult
of accefs, on account of fteep hills and bad
roads: therefore fuch lands have no chance
to be manured with dung, afhes, lime, or
any fuch thing, the carriage of which
would come high: and therefore they are
confidered as wafte lands, not worth more
than half a crown an acre, and are there-
fore fuftered to be over-run with brambles,
broom, or furze, from one generation to
another, though very capable of bearing
very good corn, if proper methods were
purfued. I have, at this time, feveral
hundred acres exactly thus circumftanced,
which ferve to no other purpofe, but to
fummer a few fheep and young cattle,
Thefe are* the ufes thofe lands have been
put to for a great number of years ; and, as
their condition is no better than formerly,
no body confidcrs them of more value; and
confequently I can get no more rent for
them. I have therefore taken feveral of
them into hand, with a determined refo-
lution to improve them, ifpoflible; which
I have not the leaft doubt of erTe&ing. I
P 4 " cannot
a
2l6 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" cannot convey an idea of my method better,
" than by an account of the courfe I am now
" purfuing.
" My firft eflay was on what is called an
over-land (that is, land without a tenement
belonging to it) of above fixty acres ;
" thirty of which lay on the north fide of a
" fharp valley. The defcent on one fide, and
" the afcent on the other, are fo quick, that
" it is not practicable to carry any manure to
" the faid thirty acres, but on horfes backs ;
" the expence of which would be too great
" for it to anfwer. The laft tenant had left it
*f in woeful plight ; having, as he faid,
w ploughed it as long as he could get two
" corns for one 5 miferable condition indeed !
" The firft two years I left it to the manage-
%f ment of my hind, who cleaned it, and
H fowed it with every fort of grain ; but the
" return was fuch as left nothing for rent.
" At length, he told me, it was to no pur-
H pofe to plant it any more, unlefs I would
" be at the expence of beftowing a good dref->
M fintg upon it, to improve it. This I re-
6C folved not to do : for I have no idea of
«« any thing being an improvement, that
** does not pay the extra expence, and increafe
H the nett profit.— Indeed, you may increafe
" the quantity of produce, and put the
" land into better condition: but if, to effect
ft this, you are at more expence than the
V improvement will repay, I muft call this
<c meafure
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 21^
*l meafure the reverfe of improvement ; for,
M though your land may be improved, your
" fortune is impaired ; this indeed would be
«« buying gold too dear.
" I therefore told him, I faw clearly, it
« would never anfwer the expence of carrying
" manure into it : I would try another me-
** thod, from which I hoped better fuccefs
" than he had met with : he anfwered, he
" wilhed I might, with a fmile that plainly
" denoted his incredulity. So averfe are
" moft of thefe people to every method they
" have not been accuftomed to.
" However, he was to follow my direc-
" tions. I faid to him, You fee, here are the
" two upper fields (about eleven acres) have
*' now lain above a year (ince the crops were
" got off; they have nothing growing upon
«' them but ftrong weeds, which are the na-
«' tural produce of the foil, as thirties, horfe-
" daifies, brambles, &c. thefe are firft to be
" eradicated : therefore fet a couple of ftrong
<c ploughs to work, lix oxen to each, and
" plough the two fields deep and well ; then
" let them, as foon as proper, be well*
" ^raggec^» rolled, and harrowed, and the
" ploughings, &c. repeated, until the land is
" clean, well-opened, and pulverized. This
*' was r«peated at proper intervals through
*' the winter, and until the following May.
*« By that time, they were got tolerably clean,
♦' and in good condition. The foil of each
"of
2l8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
<< of thefe fields were very different, though
** no larger ; they each confifted of fome verv
•' dry land, and fome altogether as wet. The
" firir. was a poor, lean, flatey ground ; the
** latter a tough, moory, clofe earth, mixed
*' with an imperfect marie, which held water
<c like a dim, I had a pit funk in the moil
" depending part, to drain off the water ; and
<( ordered the earth to be fpread on the flatey
** ground at a proper time. As I faid, the
f* land was in good order the May following;
*« I therefore ordered the moid: parts of the
" fields to be (own with rye-grafs, and the
** dry part with trefoil and burnet ; which,
'f* as loon as pretty full blown, I ordered to be
«' mowed, made into hay, and fet up in a
•« rick, in a comer of the upper field. The
*' fields to be then laid up until Oclober, or
<s until the grafs had done growing ; then to
*' turn into the faid fields half-a-dozen mares
*« and their foals, which I had at that time,
" with fome young cattle, to have the run of
** the faid thirty acres during the winter. I
" alfo ordered a linny, or hovel, to be erected
«* in the molt fheltery part of the fields, large
«' enough to fhelter a dozen horfes under it,
" for them to go into at pleafure ; a rack to
44 be put up; and, when the grafs was nearly
" eat up, to cut the rick, and fill the rack
f? once or twice a-day, as might be neceflary;
*' alio to- carry (tr.uv to litter the hovel,
<< which mould be -cleaned out once in a week
or
FEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 2I9
« or ten days, and a dung-heap formed of the
f fame. In this manner the cattle mould re-
44 main until the end of February, or until
44 'the grafs began to fpring.
44 Whilft this is doing, another of the fields
44 fhould be ploughed and got ready to fow in
*« like manner the following iMay. As the
44 extent of the pafture will be increafed, fo
44 may the number of cattle to be wintered on
44 it; and, at the beginning of the fecond win-
44 ter, there will be dung enough to manure
44 one of the fields, which I would have
44 fpread on the upper field in December or
44 January at farthefr. ; by which means, I
44 hope to have another good crop of grafs.
44 Thus are you to go on year after year, and
44 field after field, until the whole has been
44 well cleaned, cultivated, and drefled."
44 I do not expect it will anfwer to let it lie
44 for grafs more than two or three years ;
44 therefore, iii the winter after the fir ft year,
4r I would have dung fpread on the field or
44 fields that were mowed, which will give en-
4< couragement to the next crop, and leave it
44 furEciently in heart to bear a crop of barley
44 or oats, with which I would have you
44 fow, either clover, rye-grafs, or trefoil, as
44 beft fuits the land, taking but one crop of
14 coin to two of grafs, which cannot tail
44 of improving thole lands, as I would have
44 them conftantly fed in the winter as above
•• directed ; and the dung that is made by the
4 * 44 cattle
220 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" cattle to be ufed for manuring that land
*' only : for it is a kind of injuftice, if one
*' may fo fpeak, to carry the produce off, and
<c not leave the manure that arifes from it,
'« and is its natural due ; a robbery that is
*' too frequently committed, which keeps fuch
U land in a perpetual ftate of poverty.
" Thefe thirty acres, in the condition I firft
" found them, were not worth more than
" half a crown an acre; but, by the above
" management, are well worth ten millings
" at leaft j and by the fame means are capable
" of much more improvement. — This, in my
ct own opinion, is a fpecies of improvement that
" deferves the clofeft attention ; as perhaps
*' there is not another to be found, which
" may in general be made fo advantageous and
" extenfively ufeful. It comprehends every
" kind of land that is capable of improve-
" ment ; and the diftance from the farm-yard
*4 is no very great inconvenience, as all the
" labour it requires on that account is, a boy
" going once a-day to give the cattle fodder,
*' and ipread fome litter, and this not until
H the grafs is gone, and the weather fevere ;
t* then the litter is neceflary to increafe the
" quantity of dung, as well as to be of ufe to
*{ the cattle. By iuch management, land that
" is very indifferent in its natural ftate may
" very loon be made very good corn land, to
" the great advantage of the owner.'*
This
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 221
This is an uncommon and very valuable
fpecies of improvement, not only in regard to
the value of the improvement, which is very
great, but with refpect to its exten(ivenefs,as there
is not a county only, but fcarce a parim in the
kingdom, but this may be of great ufe to: and
it is here inferted at length, not only for that
reafon, but alfo becaufe this method may be
improved by the hoeing huibandry.
The author propofes to take a crop of corn,
barley, or oats, once in three years, after the
land is made clean, well pulverized, and fer-
tilized, with the dung of the cattle fed upon
it, and there is no doubt but this may be ob-
tained; but a better crop may be obtained by
drilling the feed in equidiftant rows a foot
afunder, and well hand-hoed; fome inftances
of this have been taken notice of above, and
many more might be produced to prove it
much fuperior to fowing broad-caft : for half
the feed at lead is faved by drilling, the land
is cleaned by the hoeing, and at the fame time
is improved. It might indeed have been ex-
pected that the author would have taken fome
notice of this, as he recommends the drilling
and hoeing huibandry much ; but his practice
feems to have been more in other crops thus
cultivated than com. However, it is certain
from experience, that this is a much more
profitable method than fowing broad-caft ; the
clear profit is much greater, after paying the
expcnce of once or even twice hand-hoeing.
Uut
%2& THE* PRACTICE OF THE
But there is another advantage, that in fome
circumftances may he obtained in this way ;
the land that commonly, and in the Old Huf-
bandry, is thought proper only for barley or
oats, will produce good crops of wheat, which
*is much' more profitable than fu miner corn :
this is found true, not only in horfe-hoeing,
but alfo in hand-hoeing, if well performed.
Land that lies with fo great a declivity, as
fome of theie defcribed by the author, cannot
indeed be horfe-hoed; the plough cannot turn
up the furrows againft fuch a fteep bank : but
all land that can be ploughed and fOwn broad-
call:, may alfo be drilled and hand- hoed, to
the great benefit of the occupier. But all land
thus circumftanced, worth no more than half-
a-crown an acre, and improveable to ten (hil-
lings, may in general be cultivated with the
hoe-plough, to a greater advantage than they
can by hand-hoeing ; nor (hould they be put
in the horfe-hoeing culture, while worth half-
a-crown an acre, but may to good profit when
worth ten millings. If the land is dry and
healthy, it may be improved in the author's
method with fheep, and their dung faved in
winter to drefs the land: but in whatever
method it is done, the hoeing will make the
improvement the more expeditioufly, and, by
faving the manure from the arable land, will
make fuch improvement more extenfive. —
44 The great ufefulnefs," fays the author,
p* 62; " and benefit of the New Hufbandry,
cc is
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 22$
*< is no where fo fenfibly felt and experienced,
44 as in lands that are fo fituated as not to ad-
44 mit of manure, but at fo heavy an expence
44 that their crops would by no means anfwer;
** the great advantage of this culture is in this
44 cafe felf-evident, where a crop, at lead
44 worth from forty (hillings to three pounds,
44 is obtained at the expence of fifteen (hillings
44 bellowed in tillage, and five {hillings in
M feed: a very handfome return for land,
41 which, under fuch circumfiances, cannot
44 be valued at more than five or fix (hillings
*f an acre. Immenfe quantities of land are
44 thus circumftanced, and by this method are
44 capable of incredible improvement, provided
44 the owners or occupiers could provide a
44 competent number of workmen and horfes
44 for the purpofe."
The number of men and horfes, neceflary
for the New Hulbandry, are not to be com-
puted from the number that is neceffary in the
Old Hulbandry, for the fame extent of land;
for, whatever number of horfes are ufed in the
Common Hufbandry, one half that number is
fufficient for horfe-hoeing the fame land ; Mr.
Craik ufed but two horfes for hoeing, and Mr.
Baker but two in his itirT land, except in un-
commonly hot days : and one man is fufflcient
to drive a team of four horfes ; but where only
two horfes are employed, a driver is not ne-
ceilary even in the Old Hufbandry, much lefs
in the New -, in which the itraight ridges guide
the
224 THE PRACTICE OF THE
the horfes to go ftraight, and are foon brought
to it, as I have experienced ; nor is more than
about half the number of horfes neceflary for
hoeing, as for common ploughing. »
" The New Hufbandry is an improvement
" of the old, and, notwithstanding all oppo-
" fition, great as it is, it dozs advance though
" flowly. Planting beans and peas in rows,
" and hoeing turnips, is pretty generally
*' praclifed in many counties ; but is not of
M very long Handing in the field culture, at
" leaft in many places.
•* The principal intention of this method of
M culture is to keep the land in perfect tilth,
«* and to keep it clean from weeds. In order
" to this, the land at firfl fetting off mould
•« be deep and well ploughed, harrowed, &c.
" and made as clean as you can. The in-
•* tervals between the drills I would advife
" to be of a good width, according to the fize
" of the plant you intend to* fow. One is
" apt to grudge fo much ground, which at
" firft appears unoccupied, but, before the crop
" arrives at maturity, one always finds the
" fpaces too little; this occafions a good deal
U of trouble and vexatioii, and prevents your
*' ufing the horfe-hoe lo effedually, or fo long
«' as you ought. I have drilled beans, peas,
" wheat, barley, carrots, potatoes, and iu-
** cerne, and have always found before harveft
" I wanted more room. For beans and peas,
" the diftance (hould not be lefs than three
c " feet
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 225
*' feet : for wheat, barley, and potatoes, two
44 feet and a half; lucerne and carrots, two feet.
" I likewife prefer (ingle rows to double or
«' treble, efpecially until the land is got very
" clean and in good order : for, when planted
44 in (ingle rows, the horie-hoe may be worked
44 near the rows, and the weeds difplaced to
" the bottom; but, if planted in double rows,
44 the fpace between being narrow, the weeds
li cannot be difplaced without the ufe of the
" hand-hoe, and then not deep enough to de-
" (troy them ; and fo much of the ground lies
" uncultivated. Double rows, I believe, afford
<c larger crops than (ingle, in beans, wheat,
44 and barley ; and, when your land is in good
" tilth and very clean, double rows may be
44 pra&ifed to advantage ; but, if ufed before, I
•■ am perfuaded your land will never be clean.
44 I have obfervcd before, that the general
44 opinion is, that the expence of instruments
" neceflary for this practice is more confider-
44 able than it really is ; which probably has
44 in fome meafure prevented many from
44 making fome trials of its fuccefs. I will
44 therefore enumerate and defcribe all fuch
44 as I have found neceflary for this work.
44 Every farmer mud be provided with
44 ploughs, harrows, drags, and a roller, for
44 cultivating his land according to the old
44 method : therefore thefe are not to be con-
44 lidered as an extra expence, occafioned by
•* the new practice. All the inflruments that
CL 44 arc
226 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" are neceffary to this culture are four in
<c number ; and two of thefe are equally ufe-
" ful for the Old as for the New Husbandry :
" therefore thefe cannot be fairly charged as
" and extra expence on the New.
" The firft is a fmall patent or Rotheram
«' plough, which may very conveniently be
" worked very near the rows ; and, if the land
*« is in tolerable tilth, one horfe, and that not
" a large one, will be very able to manage
" fuch a plough. This is my hoe-plough,
" and in all refpedts greatly preferable to every
" thing I have feen called by that name;
«« with this you may go fix, nine, or twelve
" inches deep, as you pleafe, and will pul-
" verize the foil, in which confifts the great
" advantage of this method of culture. — The
*« fecond is the fame plough with two mould
" boards; this, in. narrow intervals, throws
tC the mould up to the rows of plants on each
" fide at once going. Another ufe 1 put it to
(i is, to make clean open furrows of any
*' depth, and at any diftance, the grain or
"roots I have to place, may require. With
" this inftrument I make my drills for beans,
" peas, wheat, potatoes, or whatever ieed I
" have to fow : with it I can go any depth,
" from two to eight or ten inches ; and it
" makes but one furrow at a time, like a
" common plough ; they may be made at any
" diftance, one furrow from another, that
" your intended crop may require. This re-
*' ouir'es
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 227
" quires no nicety, no ingenuity ; any man
" that can plough a tolerable ftraight furrow,
" can do all that is required. " [The author
feems here to refer wholly to fowing upon
level ground, and not upon ridges ; which
are in general much preferable to level
ground to low upon, or to be horfe hoed.
The double-board plough here mentioned
is very proper to open furrows into which
potatoes are to be dropped by hand, or
beans; and in fuch rows as are at a con-
siderable diftance, and require no great ex-
actnefs to plant the feed in regard to
diftance and depth ; but, where that is re-
quired, a drill-plough is much preferable to
fowing feed in thefe open furrows, and co-
vering it afterwards, as it muft be, by the
plough, or by a hand-hoe ; and the {eed
in this way is not fo certainly covered at an_
equal depth, as with a drill-plough. -Nei-
ther can corn or any feed be thus fown
ftraight, as of wheat at a foot diftance, to
be hand-hoed. The drill-plough is in every
refpect the beft inftrument by much to fow
regularly, ftraight, at an equal diftance
and depth, and mod expeditiously ; and
horfe-hoeing wheat, and many other plants,
is much preferable upon ridges to level
ground.]
" The third inftrument is what the in-
14 ventor [Mr. Baldwin] calls, I think, a horfe*
li Koe ; it is little more than an harrow, fo
CL2 •« fhaped
2l8 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" fhaped as to pafs eafily between two rows
" of corn. It is about four feet and a half
" long, and fixteen inches wide, and the tines
" are made ftrong and eight or nine inches in
" length, with a couple of handles for the
" ploughman to guide it. It is a very ufeful
" inftrument to break down and crumble the
" lumps, and to drag out and clean away the
*' weeds, and may eafily be drawn with one
" horfe. It alfo well prepares the land in the
" intervals to receive a crop of turnips, cab-
" bages, or any thing elfe you may think
" proper to plant, before you have got the
" crop off the ground. This is not very often
" pra&ifed, but ibmetimes may with good
" fuccefs.
" The fourth and laft inftrument, that is
<* neceflary to this practice, is the drill ; with
" which I fow in rows the feeds of whatever
" crops I have to plant ; this requires no more
■* fkill, ingenuiry, or ftrength, than to drive a
" very light wheelbarrow along the furrows
u the plough with the double mould-boar/l has
" made. The only care it requites is, before
" you begin, to fet it to the iize of the feed
" you have to fow, and to iupply it with
" more feed as occalion may require : which
" may be four, fix, or eight times in fowing
" an acre, juft as you chufe.
u This is the whole apparatus that is necef-
" fary in this method of practice ; the expence
" of which cannot exceed fifty (hillings or
" three
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 229
u three pounds; which mud: be allowed to be
M a mere trifle, efpecially if it be confidered
'• that the two ploughs are equally ufeful in
" the old as well as in the new method."
[It has been obferved above, that a pair
of wheels are convenient, to mark the in-
tended diftance of the rows, or ridges, very
ftraight; a (hort {tone roller likewife, plain
or fluted, though not abfolutely neceflary,
is fbmetimes very ufeful, to break and crufh
the large clods in the intervals in very dry
weather, efpecially in ftrong land. Such
a roller in a pair of (hafts, and (hort enough
to be drawn along the intervals, will effec-
tually crufh thefe hard clods, without wait-
ing for rain, or hindering the hoeing. One
horfe is enough for this roller : and, if the
earth in the interval lies in a (harp ridge, it
will be convenient to open that ridge firft,
that the horfe may walk, and draw the
roller after him, in the interval. This is
fometimes of great fervice, as it prefently
and effectually pulverizes the earth in the
intervals ; but fhould be ufed only when
the earth is very dry.]
" Prejudice and intereft, fays the author,
«' frequently warp the judgement, and make
" men violent in the defence of one fcheme,
u to the utter dcflruction of another; though
" perhaps equally ufeful and defuable, under
" different circumftances. The truth of this
" obfervatiou appears no where in a ftrongcr
(^3 « light,
23O THE PRACTICE OF THE
" light, than in the conteft between the ad-
•* vocates for the Old and New Hufbandry.
" They cannot be contented to ufe either as
" circumftances may require, and render fit
** and ufeful; but one muft be eftablifhed
M univerially, to the utter extirpation of the
'« other, or all is not right. In the foregoing
u part of this work, I have (hewn that both
" may be ufed occafionally to advantage ; and
V that it is very wrong for a farmer to refpeft
«* either, becaufe it is new or old: the only
" confideration that fhould weigh with him
*' is, which is moft likely to be attended with
c< fuperior advantage ; and that only fhould
" determine his choice. I have known the
" drill method decried from the fmallnefs of
" the crop, when compared with the broad-
" caft on the fame land ; but that is an erro-
U neous way of judging. Such a comparifon
" affords no criterion to diftinguifh the fu-
" perior method ; for it is not the quantity of
" produce, but the net profit the farmer
" fhould be governed by. One field may pro-
" duce twenty bufhels of wheat to the acre,
" another but ten; the firft may be a lofing
u crop, the latter a gaining one. This I have
•• known happen more than once; and fo muft
" many others who refide in counties where
" a farmer cannot drefs and manure an acre
" properly, for wheat, under four pounds, and
" where twenty bufhels is deemed a good crop.
" Here, if, in the drill method, a farmer can
2 . " get
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 231
" get only eight bufhels by dint of horfe-hoe-
" ing, without the expence of manure, he
" will get more (hillings toward the rent of
*« his land by the latter method of culture,
u than he can do by the former.
" This correfponds with what I obferved
11 of Mr. Craik's crops, and expences of
" tillage : where it was (hewn, that eight
" bufhels of wheat upon an acre were, at the
" price of five (hillings per bufhel, fully fuf-
*' ficient to pay the rent and expences of a
" hoed-acre, even reckoning the rent high ;
*' and all above eight bufhels per acre was
" clear profit. The author allows here that
" even eight bu(hels may be a profitable crop;
" which may feem incredible to a common
*« farmer, though certainly true.
*' I am certain, continues our author, from
*« experience, that the drill culture may be
M praclifed to a great comparative advantage
•« in many articles, and under many circum-
*« itances ; and I am forry to obferve, that
'« fome of the oppofers of this practice have
" treated the memory of the late ingenious
" Mr. Tull, to whole labours the world is
" much indebted, with great want of candour
** and unfriendly reflection. That he did not
" die in very affluent circumitances, is no
«« impeachment of his method of culture, nor
" of his honour and veracity. I had not the
44 pleafure of his pergonal acquaintance, but I
*• am acquainted with ibme that had. I have
Q 4 " been
232 THE PRACTICE OF THE
u been informed his eftate was much too
*« fmall to maintain a family gcnteely, and
" grow rich; befides, continual ill health many
M years before his death muft help to impair
u his fortune. This however is difingenuoufly
u imputed to his obftinacy, in profecuting a
" method of culture, which greatly hurt, if
" not ruined him.
*' From all accounts, he was a man of yn-
«c doubted veracity : he tells us, he practiled
" the drill hufbandry upon a large fcale ; hav-
•* ing fometimes one hundred acres of wheat
<c in a year; that he followed the practice
" upon fome lands twelve or thirteen years;
" that his crops were larger at laft than at
" firft ; and his land not only in finer, but in
** richer condition than when he began the
*f practice. Struck with his fuccefs, and the
" advantages of his method, and convinced
" and (atisfied by the reafonablenefs of his prin-
*6 ciples, many perfons of great note and re-
•* fpectable characters have been induced to
" make trials of his method ; which, in num-
*« berlefs inftances, lucceeded beyond the moft
** (anguine expectation. Thefe are the late
** Lord Vifcount Townfend, Sir Digby Le
" Gard, M. Duhamel, M. De Chateavieux,
" Mr. Miller, and Mr. Baker a gentleman
«* of Ireland. This is a very fhort lift to
lt what might be given, but is furely abun-
" dantly i'ufficient to outweigh interefted ex-
** pcnmeiits, though made by thoufands. Ex-
' , ,..■•;..•;,,. " periments
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 233
88 periments made on the poor narrow fcale of
88 a rood of ground are unworthy of the
*' name; indeed they have little elfe, and can
18 ferve no other purpofe but to talk, about, in
88 the ample fpacious field of a moft heavy
88 voluminous work." [Meaning Mr. Young's,
as elfewhere mentioned].
" I cannot on this occafion help taking no-
88 tice, of the moft unwarrantable partiality,
88 exercifcd by fome writers, in conftantly re-
88 ferring and appealing to fuch paltry experi-
88 ments, as to the touchftone or ftandard of
88 truth. I would beg leave to afk all fucb, if
88 the pretended experiments of owe, who
84 manifeftly wrote with interefted views,
" ought to be fet in competition with, or can
88 be deemed evidence of equal force with,
88 thofe of the refpectable difinterefted gentle-
4< men above mentioned ? Were the experi-
88 ments ma ie by Lord Townfend, on the cul-
" ture of turnips, true and genuine? or were
88 they fraudulent and deceitful? Were the
88 extenfive experiments made by Sir Digby
*' Legard honelt and fair, or were they in-
81 tended as impolitions on the public? I re-
88 peat the fame quetfions with refpec"V. to the
88 reft of the gentlemen, particularly Mr.
*' Miller (whofe veracity 1 think equal to any
81 man's); and Mr. Baktr, whofe experiments
u were very numerous, extenfive, and con-
*' dueled with great (kill and care. If thefe
" gentlemen's veracity fland unimpeached,
88 how
234 THE PRACTICE OF THE
« how dare any man place the (ingle tefti-
" mony of an interefted hafty writer in oppo-
** lition to them, and make his conclufions the
41 teft of truth ? If they are impeached or
" fufpecled of dihSoneft practices, let the ac-
" cuier ftand forth, and make good his charge
" againft them. Until that is done, no re-
«' gard ought to be paid to conclufions, de-
" duced from experiments, which in many
" inftances militate againft, and invalidate each
«< other.
" Notwithftanding all that has been faid to
«« the contrary, by the interefted experimenter,
u and by thofe who on certain occafions en-
" deavour,to fupport him; it is a moft certain
" truth, that there are few plants or vegetables
" cultivated in England for the ufe of man or
« beaft, but receive great encouragement and
<< benefit from the earth in which they grow
'« being well pulverized and broken j and the
" moil: effectual way to do this, is by the horfe-
" hoe, or hoe-plough, whilft they are grow-
" ing ; and this is not to be done unlefs the crop
" is planted in drills or rows. — Thefe articles
" are not a few ; lucerne, and all the variou*
" kinds of cabbages, beans, peafe, the turnip-
" rooted cabbages of both forts, carrots, par-
*' fnips, potatoes, and I will venture to add
" turnips i and I am clearly of opinion, that
" fainfpin and burnet will in time be found
M to be of the number."
We
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 235
We have given fuch a number of authentic
inftances of the fuccefs of the New Husbandry,
that it appears unnecefiary to give more par-
ticulars from this author, or from the foreign
gentlemen he mentions, who were the difciples
of Mr. Tull, and do him great honour; their
experiments were extenfive and very accurate,
and much might have been taken from them;
but it was thought moft fuitable to give prin-
cipally the experiments made in Britain, and
fuch as were extenfive, and made in a great
variety of different kinds of land. Thefe ex-
periments demonftrate the great advantage of
the New Husbandry, and will direct thofe,
who are defirous to learn it, to the fuccefsful
practice ; and this more particularly than they
will find elfewhere in one view.
Thofe who are defirous to be informed of
the practice of this huibandry, as conducted by
feveral ingenious perfons abroad, may confult
M. Duhamel's Husbandry [a very curious
French gentleman], who has collected their
experiments, and publifhed them together
with his own ; whereof fome have been tranf-
lated into Englifh, by the ingenious John
Milis Kfq; and Mr. Miller author of the
Gardeners Dictionary. Thefe experiments were
numerous and accurate ; but neither fo ex-
tenfive, nor of near (o long continuance, as
thefe I have recited. And it is further to be
obferved, and will be obvious to thofe who
ftiall peruie this treatife, that M. Duhamel and
his
236 THE PRACTICE OF THE
his correfpondents were not fully matters of
the New Hufbandry : as they were acquainted
only with the firft part of Mr. Tull's work ;
but had not feen the latter parts that he pub-
lifhed afterwards, containing feveral improve-
ments of importance, that he made in the
courfe of his practice; yet were they fo fen-
fible of the advantages of his Hufbandry, and
to much furprifed at the effects of hoeing and
good tillage, that many focieties have, in con-
sequence thereof, been eftablifhed in France,
for the encouragement of agriculture ; and
thefe gentlemen have particularly recommended
the New Hufbandry, which had fucceeded
with them much beyond their expectation,
which they have very fully acknowledged.
The great advantage of this culture has
been experienced, not only in Britain, Ireland,
France, and Italy, but has been introduced
likewife into America, whereof we have an
inftance from the ingenious Dr. Elliot of New
England, in the culture of maize, there called
Indian corn, which he relates as follows:
*« The land," fays he, 61 being previoufly
*' prepared, and the corn come up, we plough
*' a furrow off from the corn on each fide,
" and the next time plough up to the corn ;
'« fo that this tillage is nearly the fame as is
" propofed for wheat, or whatever we would
U plant: only, by the way, I would ob-
»« ferve, that the ploughing between the
«* rows of Indian corn is fo mallow, that
" one
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 237
" one would be apt to think it intended for
" nothing more than merely to kill the grafs
*' and weeds ; whereas it is found bv ex-
" perience, that, though there be neither
" grafs nor weeds, the ploughing and hoeing
44 will make the corn grow ; and that the
44 more the land is ploughed and hoed, the
44 better and longer it will refift the drought,
44 and yield the better crop : and, what is lHU
44 more remarkable, if the Indian corn be well
" tilled, the next crop, whether it be oats
44 or flax, will be proportionably greater and
44 better : fo that the land muft have gained
44 firength and richnefs. If it were not fo,
" why did not the Indian crop exhauft and
" and fpend the ftrength of the land, efpe-
44 cially when we coniider how laige that
M corn is made to grow by good tillage ? But
" we find the contrary ; the better the crop
" of Indian corn, the better the crop will be
" of oats. There is no fort of Huibandry,
44 wherein the fuperior force and virtue of
" tillage doth more evidently appear, than
" in the railing of Indian corn : for if you
44 mould plough and harrow the beft land,
44 and fow or plant the com, and never do
44 any thing more to it, there will be lefs
44 corn, than if you mould plant poor land,
44 and cultivate it well : the poor land well
" ploughed and hoed (hall bring a greater
44 crop than the rich hmd. We herebv ice
" the efficacy and advantage x)i this repeated
4* tlJl.M-',
238 THE PRACTICE OF THE
" tillage, which falls in fucceflively accord -
** ing to the exigency and want of the plant
" in its feveral degrees of growth ; and keeps
" the land in a proper ftate. Why mould it
" not have the fame effect upon wheat, and
" every other plant, that is fufceptible of the
** like culture?"
Here it is to be obferved, that maize or In-
dian corn is very generally cultivated in
North America, and particularly in New
England, where it is efteemed to be a great
impoverimer of land ; yet we fee, that the
Hoeing Hufbandry not only improves the
crop, but the land alfo, to fuch a degree, that
it is fo far from being impoverifhed by this
corn, as in their Common Hufbandry, that
it is enriched fo much by the hoeing, as to
produce a better crop of maize, and likewife
a better fubfequent crop of oats or flax. This
is the more extraordinary, as the hoeing was
fo mallow, and but once repeated; and,
fhews, that fuccefiive crops, even of this ex-
haufting plant, may be obtained in this Huf-
bandry ; as we have fhewn, that fucceffive
crops of wheat have been obtained in Britain
for a long courfe of years, though found im-
practicable in the Common Hufbandry. It is
likewife juftly obferved here by the Doctor,
that this culture may be applied with fuccefs
to other plants : for, " why," fays he, " fhould
" it not have the fame effect upon wheat, and
H every other plant, that is fufceptible of the
" like
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 239
" like culture ?" And, in fact, it is found
to have the fame effect upon wheat and other
plants, upon beans, peafe, cabbages, turnips,
potatoes, carrots, &c. and, if properly ap-
plied, would have the fame upon many others,
as hops, madder, &c. and upon feveral plants,
to great advantage, hitherto wholly appro-
priated to garden-culture ; as I may hereafter
have an opportunity of (hewing.
It may indeed feem unaccountable to many,
who are not well acquainted with this Huf-
bandry, that is has not made greater progrefs
in Britain ; which has been owing; to feveral
caufes. It could not be expected that com-
mon farmers would come into it, till in-
formed of the principles, and convinced of
its utility, by the experience of gentlemen
fully (hewn them. It was oppoled at firft by
fome prejudiced perfons, who had an intereft
in fo doing ; and has been much prejudiced
by feveral modern writers on Hu(bandry, who
neither underftood it, nor had practifed it with
judgement and perfeverance. To (hew how
ftrangely it was oppofed may be ken in Mr.
Miller's Gardeners Dictionary, under the
article Triticum, where he lays, that {t the
" Horfe-hoeing Hufbandry, which was prac-
" tiled by Mr. Tull, has been almoft univer-
44 fally rejected by farmers in every country,
44 it being fo oppofite to their accuflomed
*' practice. — And indeed, by the abfurdity of
44 the author in a few particulars, he has dif-
" couraged
24^ THE PRACTICE OF THE
" couraged many from engaging in it, — but,
•' upon finding Mr. Tull poiitively afferting,
" that the fame land would nourifh the fame
41 fpecies of plants, without changing the
" crops, for ever, and this without manure,
" which, being contrary to all experience,
" led them to believe his other principles had
" no better foundation. And he practifed
" this method of lowing the fame fpecies
•' upon the fame ground, till his crops failed,
*' and were much worfe than thofe of his
** neighbours, who continued their old me-
M thod of Hulbandry."
The pracYifers of the New Hufbandry find,
that manure is not in general nectffary for
wheat, even upon ordinary land, if well and
fufficiently hoed: for, if both well hoed, and
alfp manured, the wheat would grow too
rank and lodge. But, in cultivating turnips,
cabbages, and fuch as are intended for feed-
ing cattle, manure is ufeful, and contributes
to enlarge the crops to advantage, and with-
out danger from their luxurancy.
Mr. Tull took the firft hints of his Huf-
bandry, as he mentions himfelf, from the
low vineyards in the fouth of France, where
the vines have been cultivated for ages by
hoeing only, and without manure; which
Mr. Miller had not well confidered, or he
could not have fuppofed a fucceffion of the
fame plants without manure, to be contrary
to experience ; and he too implicitly believed
the
i
*EW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 241
the reports induftrioufly fpread againft this
Hufbandry, and of Mr. Tull's ill fuccefs,
which was void of foundation, as he might
have known upon enquiry. Yet Mr. Miller
very much recommends the Hoeing Hufban-
dry, and gives inftances of wheat-crops there-
by obtained, much greater than any men-
tioned by Mr. Tull.
But notwithstanding the vulgar prejudices
againft this husbandry, it now gains ground,
even among fome farmers, who will undoubt-
edly adopt it more generally, as it is their
intereft to do, when made more fully ac-
quainted with it, of which it is the intention
of this treatife to inform them, and by what
follows to render the practice of it eafy and
familiar to them, not only in the culture of
wheat, but of many other plants.
The above experiments, and fuccefsful prac-
tice of this husbandry, will, it is prefumed, be
acceptable to our readers; and they, who defire
to know the hiftory and progrefs of it from
the beginning, are referred to Mr. Tull's work
above mentioned, whereof a new edition will
ibon be offered to the public.
A late writer, and favourer of the common
hufbandry, has nevertheleis owned, " that it
" rnuft be acknowledged, that even the Old
" Hulbandry has received no fmall improve-
" ment by the difcovery of the genuine prin-
" ciplcs of the New. The advantages ot
m meliorating and pulverizing the earth are
R «• better
24^ THE PRACTICE OF THE
" better underftood, and I believe more ge*
" nerally pradtifed than formerly ; and the
M grand principle of all, that of frequently
M ftirring, expofing, and enlarging the iuper-
«« ficies, in order to fuply in fome meafure
M the place of dung, is a difcovery of vaft im-
a portance.-— And, fays he, the memory of
H Mr. Tull ought to be held in the higheft
*< reverence by every hufbandman, for his
" improvement of the art of agriculture. It
t* is from him we have learnt the great benefit
" of frequent plowings to pulverize the foil,
f which in fome lituations" fupply the place
«« of dung. To him the farmer owes the ad-
« vantages arifing from cleaning and pre-
f« paring his ground by fowing turnips, and
f* improving them by hoeing. It was Mr,
" Tull who firft introduced the drilling of
" peas, beans, vetches, fanfoin, &c. into field
f « culture, and (hewed the advantages of hoer
f* ing, and keeping them clear from weeds ;
M and it is from him that the whole kingdorn
*f have learnt to raife more corn from lefs
u feed than ever was thought poffible before
f* he fet the Example. Thefe are folid and
" fubftantial advantages, which have intro-?
*' duced an unjverfal reform in hufbandry."
Thefe and other great advantages are owing
to this great Hufbandman, who has raifed a
fpirit of improvement upon a rational fyftem
of agriculture, unknown to former ages. He
has refcued this mod valuable art from the
darknefs
NEW HUSBANDRY EXEMPLIFIED. 243
darknefs and errors of ignorant rufticks, and
eftablifhed it upon fuch clear principles, that
thofe of the firft rank in his own and other
countries of Europe are now convinced of its
great utility, and are emulous to advance im-
provements, that before his time were neg-
lected, or thought beiow the notice of gentle-
men. Such is the merit of the Father of the
New Hufbandry, whofe memory deferves to
be celebrated, not only by the curious, but
likewife that a ftatue mould be erected for
him by his grateful country.
R a APPEN-
[ 244 1
APPENDIX.
IN the foregoing treatife, the methods of
feveral eminent practifers of the New Hus-
bandry are recited, which differing in feveral
circumftances may render this hufbandry ob-
fcure to a beginner, efpecially in cultivating
wheat by the horfe-hoe. I have therefore
added this Appendix, to guard him againft mif-
takes in that culture, and bring into one view
the method that he may depend upon at his
entering upon the practice.
The late Sir Digby Legard, who was an
eminent hufbandman, and extenfive improver,
near Scarborough in Yorkfhire, pra&ifed the
New Hufbandry for eight or nine years, cul-
tivating barley and wheat upon afield of feven
acres : he likewife cultivated in other fields
mofl of the other common plants in this me-
thod ; for, befides wheat and barley, he cultivated
in that manner oats, beans, peafe, turnips,
potatoes, and lucerne -, and communicated the
refult of his practice for a courfe of years in
feveral letters to the London Society of Arts,
and concludes his laft letter, of the 1 2th of May
1 768, with a recommendation of the drill and
horie-hoeing hufbandry, as follows, viz. " I
M can fay with truth, that, after ten years can-
't ftant and very extenfive practice, after the
f\ experience pf a great variety of foils and
" feafons,
APPENDIX. 245
M feafons, I can recommend the drill and
44 horfe-hoeing culture, as founded on reafon
" and on truth. I have conftantly attended,with
«' all the impartiality I am mafter of, to the
16 peculiar advantages, inconveniencies, ex-
M pences, and benefits, both of the Old and
44 New Hufbandry, and I cannot avoid giving
44 my verdict in favour of the latter."
He had before given his opinion, with re-
gard to the farmers pra&ifing this huibandry, in
the following judicious manner. *' That the
44 old method, fays he, with afliflance of the
" more modern improvements, by turnips and
" clover, and by the alternate ufe of the le-
44 guminous plants, which require hand-hoeing,
44 is very advantageous, I allow. Perhaps the
44 farmer, who purfues this method in its
*' greateft perfection, judges wifely, in pre-
44 ferring a fyftem he is mafter of, and can
44 confide in, to another, whofe principles may
" bejult, but the practice of which is totally
44 different from bis own. But the farmer,
44 who is ignorant of thefe modern improve-
44 ments, furely ought not to hefitate to adopt
44 the drill culture, which a few years prac-
44 tice would render habitual, and which he
44 would find to be much more beneficial. For
44 it is certain, that this is lefs expenfive than
44 the old method, and, when once adopted,
44 eafier in the execution.'*
This culture has made hitherto but a flow
progrefs ; the great farmers cannot adopt it in
R 3 general,
246 APPENDIX.
general, as their fervants are not acquainted
with it: but the little farmers might more
eafily come into it ; they do great part of the
hufbandry work themfelves, and the whole is
under their immediate direction ; fo that, after
they have attained to the knowledge of it, they
could ealily put it in pra&ice ; and the little
farmers in the neighbourhood would readily
adopt it likewife, for it is not only moreeafily
performed, but it is likewife more profitable
than the common hufbandry.
Suppofe, for example, fuch a farmer rents
nearly 80 acres of land, for which he pays 50 /.
a year ; it has been ufual to reckon, that a
farmer ought to make three rents, one for his
landlord, one to pay the expeuces neceflary to
be laid out upon the farm, and the remaining
third to pay the expences of houfe-keeping,
&c. and to fave fome for his family. But,
as this has been the general eftimate a long
time, and before clover became fo general, and
the hoeing culture of turnips fo well under-
stood as it is now ; likewife before the mo-
dern practice, of the moft Ikilful farmers, of
introducing hoed crops of beans, peafe, cab-
bages, &c. inftead of a fallow, whereby the
expence of fallowing every third or fourth
year is faved, and a hoed crop obtained every
fallow year ; thefe are fo great improvements
in the common hufbandry, that now it is
reckoned the farmers make a greater profit
of their arable lands than three rents ; and
2 fome
APPENDIX. 247
fbme have reckoned it fo high as four rents ;
which it may be in fome particular cafes and
fituations, though in general not fb high.
This profit includes all that is made from
the crops of corn and grafs, cattle, dairy, hogs,
poultry, and every other produce of the farm ;
for, with regard to the crops of corn, and other
vegetables generally cultivated, they fall much
fhort of thefe eftimates.
Sir Digby Legard, being fully fatisfied of
the advantage of the New Hufbandry, from
experience, compares the fame with the com-
mon Hufbandry ; obferving, that a letter in the
3d volume of the Mufeum Rufticum, p. 232,
figned Y, reckons the clear profit of land in
tillage, near Bury in Suffolk, at about 15 s. per
acre. He then gives the courfeof hufbandry
frequently obferved by farmers in his neigh-
bourhood, where the fields are inclofed, and
let for fifteen (hillings an acre, tithe-free ; the
courfe for four years being, firft year turnips,
iecond barley, third clover, and fourth wheat.
The total produce in four years is 12/. 18 s.
and the total expences in four years is 8/. 6 s. 6d.
and the clear profit of an acre in that time
4/. 3 J. 6d» or near a guinea an acre clear
profit a year. Whereas the clear profit a year,
upon the acre cultivated by himfelf in the
New Hufbandry, is 1 /. 1 8 s. od. ; where it is to
be obferved, that he reckons the profit of the
New Hufbandry, from barley cultivated in that
method ; which he acknowledges is not fo pro-
R 4 fitable
248 APPENDIX.
fitable as wheat fo cultivated, alfo that he
had SuppoSed the fourth crop in the old way
to be wheat; whereas, fays he, " it is much
" more common hereabouts, where the land is
<4 not perfe&ly adapted to the culture of wheat,
*« for the farmer to fow oats, or fome other
*' Spring crop, after the clover ; and thus is
" the profit reduced," of the common Hus-
bandry in that neigbourhood. But he proceeds
to compare his barley crops in the New Hus-
bandry with an eftimate in the foreign eflays
on hufbandry, p. 322. where M. De L'Harpe
eftimates the clear profit of one acre in SwiS-
ferland at one pound Seventeen (hillings ; this
is from crops of Sainfoin and clover, with in-
termediate crops of corn ; which, Sir Digby
Says, is certainly the higheft calculation of any
he ever met with ; yet even that is not fb
profitable as Sir Digby's barley crops in the
New Hufbandry, and would be (till more in-
ferior to his wheat crops cultivated in that
manner. It is likewife to be obferved that this
calculation of M. De L'Harpe is upon a fup-
pofition that only half the land is under corn,
and the other half is every year clover and
Sainfoin, which is a large proportion of the land
iu cultivated grafles,beSides meadow andpafture.
Sir Digby was So far from being partial in fa-
vour of the New Hufbandy, that, as he writes
in his firft letter to the London Society, " I
«* am the more inclined to communicate to you
«< thefe experiments of laft year, becaufe I think
1 «« the
APPENDIX. 249
<s the companion lefs favourable to the New
" Hu(bandry in that than any other years
" wherein I have made experiments. For I
" would allow every advantage to old cuftoms,
" that they can naturally or reafonably claim/'
And, agreeably to this, he reckons the profit
of his horfe-hoed crops as above, not according
to thofe crops that he obtained after he had
experience in that method of Husbandry, but
his firft crops are alfo included, though much
inferior to thole he had afterwards from the
fame land : for he committed feveral errors at
firft, as he frequently mentions : " My former
" experiments, fays he, began in 1763, and
*< ended in 1765, and they were confined to
" the culture of barley. But, I think, it will
" fet the advantages of the horfe- hoeing, or
«* Tullian Hulbandry, in a clearer light, if I
" give you the produce of the fame field,
" cultivated during eight fucceffive years (in-
M eluding the three I before gave you an ac-
" count of), according to the principles of
" the New Hufbandry, without dung, or any
" other amelioration but what the plough
" alone has obtained. In communicating to
" you my firft attempts, I am fenfible, that
" my inexperience will appear to be the caufe
*« of much lofs. Neverthelefs, my errors may
" ferve as leflbns to others ; and, in calcu-
" lating the profit of a certain portion of land,
" at a medium of eight years, as I include the
" firft and leaft profitable ones,l (hall be fcarcely
I " iufpecled
a5o APPENDIX.
*• fufpected of any prejudice in favour of thd
*' horfe-hoeing fvftem."
Sir Digby cannot indeed be charged with
any partiality in this refpeel, and without doubt
his ftating the errors of his firft practice of this
Hufbandry was giving a fair and candid ac-
count of his fuccefs ; yet, in a comparative
view of the Old and New Hufbandry, it is much
to the difadvantage of the New, to include
thele imperfect beginnings ; for, as the Old
Hufbandry is ftated in the beft. and moft ap-
proved methods of that hufbandry, the beft
method in the New mould likewiie be ftated,
the errors having beenfeen and rectified in the
future practice of it. *< This field, fays he,
" (the ieven experiment acres) has never been
«« manured, as I obferved before, fince my
«« experiments were begun, nor for many
f* years preceding. It may be remarked, that
" that the firft crops were not the beft ; but,
«' on the contrary, a regular improvement for
" fome years kept pace with its cultivation, and
** the value of the four laft crops is almoft
" double to the former ones. The greateft
" fault committed at firft was the lowing
*« too little feed. The land feems yet in per-
*« feci heart, and though the product of laft
" year was lefs than in former ones, it was
m well known that the wheat crop failed all
M over England.'*
By this it appears, that, by a few years prac-
tice, this method of Hufbandry was fo much
improved,
APPENDIX. 151
improved, fo well attained to, that the profit
was almoft doubled in four years; and there-
fore the crops of the firft four years, before
the method was well underftood and pactifed,
fhould not be included in a comparative example
of thefe two methods of Hulbandry, where one
was fo imperfedly pradtifed, and the other
performed in the bell: manner ; and an impartial
com pari fon of both, where both are well per-
formed, is ftill more in favour of the New
Hulbandry, than appears in the above ftate of
them.
There is likewife another circumftance,
greatly in favour of the New Hulbandry, ari-
ling from another error in the practice of
this gentleman ; for Mr. Tull, the author of
this Hulbandry, in his firft practice of it, gave
his wheat fix horfe-hoeings, befides once
plowing the land, to form it into ridges before
the leed was drilled ; and he recommends fix
horfe-hoeings as necellary : this was when he
drilled wheat in two, three, or four rows, upon
(ix-feet ridges ; but upon further experience he
found that narrower ridges, viz. thofe of four
feet eight or nine inches broad, and only two
rows of wheat upon each ridge ten inches af-
fuuder, was better than the fix-feet ridges with
more than two rows ; and alfo, that four
horle-hoeings of thefe narrower ridges, and
deeper hand- hoeing between the double ten-
inch rows, produced him as good or better
crops, and at a lefs expence, than the fix -feet
ridges;
252 APPENDIX.
ridges ; the pra&ifers therefore of this huf-
bandry have adopted his latter method in the
breadth of their ridges, and number of horfe-*
hoeings. SirDigby takes notice that fourhorfe-
hoeings were the number proper to be given
to a hoed crop of wheat : " After the firft
«' year, fays he, that is, when the land is re-
" duced into fine order, one horfe is generally
" fufBcient to turn a furrow either to or from
u the rows : and as a man and horfe can with
M eafe horfe-hoe four acres in a day, it can-
'* not coll: more than one (hilling to hoe an
" acre, even including the repairs of the in-
w ftruments ; nor are more than four hoeing*
" commonly required. So, if we reckon four
" millings for ploughing the ground once over,
w or forming frefh ridges, four {hillings more
" for horfe-hoeing, two millings and fix-pence
«* for hand-hoeing, two millings for weeding,
«* and fix-pence for drilling, thirteen millings
" is the whole expence of managing an acre
«' in the new method. Such therefore being
*« the cafe with which this celebrated me-
«« thod is performed, fo great the improve-
" ment of the land by it, and fuch the ex-
<( traordinary effects produced by merely ftir-
M ring the earth ; one would think every huf-»
M bandman mould be induced to give a fair
" and candid trial."
Here Sir Digby ftates the proper tillage at
once plowing, to form the new ridges, and
four horfe-hoeings afterwards, which are agree-
able
APPENDIX. 253 '
able to Mr. Tull's lateft practice and direction ;
yet it appears from Sir Digby's account of his
tillage, that, in forming the new ridges, he
ploughed the land twice, and gave it after-
wards but three horfe-hoeings. It does not,
appear why he thus deviated from Mr. Tull's
practice and directions ; but it feems pretty
evident that this deviation was the caufe of
leffening the crops : for Sir Digby, defcribing
the quality of his land, fays, " the foil is
«' light, deep, and dry, ahazlemould, excel-
M lent for barley, but generally thought not
" of fufficient tenacity for wheat, and worth
" in this neighbourhod fifteen (hillings per
*' acre, tithe- tree." — Not of fufficient tenacity
for wheat, this was the opinion of the farmers
there, who were probably right in their opi-
nion concerning this land, as cultivated in the
Old Hufbandry; but in the New it was other-
wife : land is feldom too dry for wheat, if
well and frequently horfe-hoed ; for that pul-
verizes the land, and opens it to admit the
dews, which keep it moift, an advantage it
has not in the Old Hulbandry. Sir Digby fays,
" wheat, barley, or oats, have ufually yielded
" me a third more from random fowing, than
" if drilled and hofe-hoed ; that is, if three
*« quarters may be produced from one acre in
" the common Hulbandry, the fame ground
•• will, ceteris paribus, produce no more than
<l two quarters when drilled and horfe-hoed.**
fie fays, he had fome years two quarters of
wheat
254 APPENDIX.
wheat (nine gallons to the bufhel) per acre
drilled and horfe-hoed; but that ne judged,
*f that twelve bufhels of wheat upon an acre
" is about the medium quantity to be obtained
" from moderately fertile ground, during at
'* leaft fix fucceffive years, without dung. Now,
" if this be a true pofition, I think it will
" not be difficult to prove, that the drill cul-
♦* ture is more beneficial to the farmer, than
« any other method hitherto invented."
Sir Digby is undoubtedly right, that twelve-
bufhels per acre is very profitable to the farmer,
who can obtain fo much from moderately
fertile ground without any manure, as in
this inftance ; but much more may be ob-
tained per acre in fuch land, by the New
Hufbandry, than twelve bufhels of wheat ; and
from thence we may conclude with certainty,
that there was an error in his culture of wheat
by the New Hufbandry.
To (hew this, it might be fufficient to refer
to Mr. Tull's fuccefs, who had commonly
much more than twelve hufhels of wheat
per acre from land that could not be properly
called moderately fertile ground, but was
really poor ground, as defcribed by himfelf,
and by others who viewed it on purpofe to
know the quality of his land, v/hich lying on
chalk is very dry, and, befides its poverty in
quality, is alfo mod: of it a fhallow foil, fo
that it appears to be much inferior to Sir
Digby Legard's land., upon which he culti*
vated
APPENDIX 255
Vated barley and wheat by the New Hufbandry :
yet Mr. Tull, by an actual trial, had near
four quarters, or thirty-two bufhels (nine-gal-
lon meafure), of wheat per acre upon his bell:
land ; and upon about eighty acres, he had
near twenty bufhels of wheat per acre upon
an average, of his ordinary land, mod: of it
inferior to Sir Digby's feven experiment acres.
Others have mice had nearly as good crops of
wheat in the hoeing culture, as have been
obtained the fame years in the neighbourhood
in the Old Hulbandrv, where the land has
been of equal goodnefs, and the hoeing cul-
ture (killtully performed, in the manner di-
rected by Mr. Tull, and according to his lateft
practice.
The reaf >n that Sir Digby did not obtain
better crops of wheat in the New Hufbandry
was his giving his wheat but three horie-hoe-
ings, and one of them a very mallow one,
inltead of four deep horfe-hoeings : for no no-
vice in this Hufbandry mould beftow fewer
hoeings than Mr. Tull gave and directed, but
rather more, and as deep and near to the
plants as he did, tor he was perfect mafter of
the New Hufbandry particularly in the culture
of wheat. The wheat plants, when upon to-
lerable land, branch much when well horfe-
hoed, and for that reafon three pecks of feed
wheat is generally furficient to drill : ueitherMr.
Tull, nor any of the moil expert cultivators ilrill
pore, even, if the feed is planted late ; but if
planted
256 APPENDIX.
planted early in the feafon, and upon good
land, about two or between two and three
pecks is found enough. If more is drilled,
the wheat being too thick is apt to lodge ;
?.nd hence Iikevvife appears a defect in Sir
Digby's method of hoeing ; for he drilled a
bufhel of wheat upon an acre, which was
certainly too much upon fuch good land, if
the culture had been performed in the beft
manner : for then his wheat would have been
apt to lodge.
What has been faid with regard to Sir
Digby's culture ot wheat, is not by any means
intended to depreciate that gentleman's prac-
tice of agriculture, who was an excellent huf-
bandman ; but to guard the farmer from fall-
ing into an error which he might be led into
from a mi flake of that eminent cultivator.
And if, as he has fhewn, twelve bufhels an
acre is more profitable than the Old Hui-
bandry, how much greater muft the farmer's
profit be, who can raifefrom lixteen to twenty
bufhels an acre, from ordinary land, without
manure, and at the expence of only fifteen
{hillings an acre, for the culture beftowed upon
it in the New Hufbandry? And that, upon
good wheat laud, he may, in that Husbandry,
raife from twenty to thirty bufhels and up-
wards per acre, without the expence of ma-
nure, and with very little more expence of
culture than in ordinary land ?
The
Appendix. 257
The little farmers, having but fmall capitals
to begin farming, mull: be content with fmall
farms j and it is of great coniequence to them,
to obtain fuch as do not require much money
to flock them. In this refpect the New Hus-
bandry is peculiarly fuitable to them, as that
requires much lefs flock than the common
hufbandry, which, for a farm of fifty pounds
a year, may require four or five horfes to cul-
tivate it. Thefe are a heavy expence upon them*
horfes being very expenfive to keep : for which
reafon many of them find it neceflary to em-
ploy their horfes in carrying timber, ftone, or
other articles, for hire, and to bring dung or
other manure for their land, though feverai
miles diftant, which employs themfelves and
horfes a confiderable part of their time : and
the article of manure in particular is fo in-
difpenfably neceflary, that, without a large
quantity of it, many fuppofe that no fuccefs
can be expected in farming, and to procure
enough of it becomes a heavy expence upon
the poor farmers in particular. This is a
matter of great importance, as the little far-
mers are extremely ufeful to the community
in many refpects ; and a method of culture,
that will be greatly afilfting to them, is on
that account particularly valuable.
It may feem incredible to many, that the
New Hufbandry can be carried on at a lefs
expence than the Old. The neafnry of ia
much hoeing, of men and cattle ofteu in the
S field
258 APPENDIX.
field at work, after the work in the Old Hufc
bandry is finifhed, has made many conclude,
who are unacquainted with the New Huf-
bandry, that the tillage is much more expen-
live in the New than in the Old ; and feveral
modern authors have fuppofed it fo, and others
have roundly aflerted it, though entirely con-
trary to fa£t and experience, and though it
plainly appears that they neither had expe-
rience in this huibandry, nor understood the
principles of it.
But admitting that, in a courfe of crops in
the common hufbandry, the land is ploughed
twice only for each ^rop at an average ; and
that each fucceflive wheat-crop in the hoeing-
culture requires alfo twice ploughing, once
to form the new ridges, and four horfe-hoe-
ings afterwards, which are equal to another
ploughing; the whole tillage in the new way
does not exceed, in labour and expence, two
common level-ploughings of the land, which
is therefore nearly equal to the tillage ufually
given to land in the old way : and thus the
tillage may feem equal in both methods ; but
is really very different, becaufe the land in
the New Hufbandry, if properly cultivated,
is always in high tilth, kept loofe, light, and
open, by the repeated hoeings ; fo that half
the ftrength of cattle is iufficient to till fuch
land as the farmers ufe in common plough-
ing : for, if the land is ftrong, and ufually
ploughed with four horfes, two fuch horfes
are
APPENDIX. 259
are fufficient to till the fame land in the hoe-
ing hufbandry ; and in light land, which is
ploughed with two horfes, it is hoed with
one : and thus in general the hoeing huf-
bandry is performed with about half the
ftrength, or half the number of the fame
horfes that are commonly employed to plough
the fame land ; which greatly reduces the price
of the hoeing tillage.
In the common hufbandry, a ploughman,
driver, and four horfes, ufually plough an acre
of land a day ; but in the New Hufbandry
for wheat, a ploughman horfe-hoes four acres
a day with two horfes without a driver.
Sir Digby Legard ufually ploughed four acres
a day of his light land with one horfe.
There is, befides, another faving in this re-
fpect ; a ploughman and driver is commonly-
employed with every plough team, of three or
more horfes, in the ufual way of ploughing land ;
but in the hoeing- hufbandry a driver is not
neceflary : for in the New Hufbandry, wheat
is drilled upon ridges (being much better
than upon level ground, more conveniently
horfe-hoed, and keeping the wheat dry in the
winter) ; and cattle, horfes, or oxen, after a
very little ufe, are very tradable in hoeing,
being guided by the ridges to go ftraight with-
out a driver. The faving in this refpect, and
only half the number of cattle employed in
hoeing as in common ploughing, renders the
tillage a great deal cheaper in the New, than
in the Old Hufbandry.
S 2 Some
&o APPEND.! X.
Some of the pracYifers of the New Huf-
bandry having, as we have feen, deviated from
the mod fuccefsful method, and fome of thofe
who oppofe or do not underftand it having
obfcured it ; a farmer, who is defirous of prac-
tifing this hufbandry. may be at a lofs to
know the beft method, and upon which he
can rely : the following defcription may there-
fore be of ufe to fuch, and is offered to thofe
who defire to pra&ife it with fuccefs, particu-
' larly in the culture of the wheat, which is
the farmer's principal crop ; and thofe who can
cultivate wheat well in the hoeing hufbandry,
may foon attain to the bell: culture of other
crops in the fame manner.
The farmer is advifed to begin at firffc with
a fmall extent of ground ; an acre or two laid
up in ridges to be horfe-hoed, about the fame
quantity to be drilled in equidiftant rows upon
level ground, and another piece to be fown
broad-caft; all thefe pieces of land to be con-
tiguous to each other, to be as near as pomble
of the fame quality, and fown at the fame
time, and with the fame feed : thefe different
methods will not only be amufing, but of real
ufe to the cultivator.
It may be proper to winter and fummer
fallow the whole, and is the beft method of
extirpating the weeds, and making the land
very clean; this is abfolutely neceflary for the
piece to be horfe-hoed, for that muft be made
very clean, and brought into good tilth, before
it
APPENDIX. 261
it is drilled with wheat. If this is omitted at
rirft, it cannot be made clean nor kept fo after-
wards but at a great expence, efpecially land
that is fowed with a double row, for it will
be extremely difficult to get the weeds and
natural grafs out of a double row of wheat. —
The beft way of fallowing, is to lay the land
up at firft in high narrow one-bout ridges.
By laying the land up in this manner, it is
expofed to the immediate influences of the
weather, and is eafily ploughed, and at a fmall
expence, at one bout; or a double mould-board
plough will fplit thefe narrow ridges in the
middle at one draught, and form new ridges.
If they are harrowed down level between the
ploughings, the weeds will foon come up ;
and being ploughed again into thefe narrow
ridges, to remain fo a few weeks, and alter-
nately ploughed down and harrowed fine, the
land may be thus expofed to the atmofphere,
the weeds harrowed out, and the young weeds
deftroyed; by which means the land will alfb
be brought into fine tilth in a winter and
fummer; nor will the expence be fo great in
this as in the common way of fallowing, but
much more effectual for the purpoles intended.
— The land for thefe trials mould be of a
middling quality, not very rich, nor poor.
The ploughings mould be performed when
the land is dry ; and no dung mould be laid
upon it, nor any other manure,
S 3 When
262 APPENDIX.
When the ridges are leveled the laft time,
harrow the land fine, the contrary way to
the intended bearing of the ridges to be horie-
hoed ; then with a pair of light narrow wheels,
let to the diftance of the ridges (as of four
feet ten inches), mark the breadth of the
ridges; which the wheels will plainly do, if
drawn acrofs the harrowing : the marks will
guide the ploughman to make the ridges of
that breadth, and" very ftraight, which they
fhould be made. Ridges of the common
height are proper to be drilled ; but in very
ftrong land they mould be laid up high, to
throw off the rain water, and keep the wheat
dry, which is necerTary. Ridges of four feet
ten inches broad give room to drill a double
row of wheat at ten inches diftance upon the
middle of each ridge (called the partitions),
and intervals of four feet between the double
rows, to be horfe-hoed, four feet being a
proper diftance, and room for the hoe-plough
to work and turn the earth to or from the
rows.
The tops of the ridges mould be fmoothed
with light harrows before the wheat is
drilled ; and the horfe or horfes that draw
the harrows mould walk in the furrows be»
tween the ridges.
The farmer, who intends to practife the
hoeing hufbandry, mould have a drill-plough
to fow the feed, for that is the moft exact
way of doing it. Sir Digby Legard had Mr.
Tull's
APPENDIX. 263
TulFs drill-plough made with wooden feed-
boxes, which performed well, and coll: fifty
millings. But if he has not a drill- plough at
firft, he may mark two parallel channels upon
the top of each ridge very ftraight, and upon
the middle of each ridge, and ten inches dis-
tant. The drill-plough makes the channels,
drills the feed (about three pecks to an acre),
and covers it about two inches deep, all at one
operation ; but, if there is no drill plough, the
feed may be fprained thin into the channels
by hand, and covered with a rake or light
fhort-toothed harrow, about the fame depth,
two inches; and when the wheat comes up,
and probably will be too thick, the plants
fhould be thinned to about an inch diftance,
with a very narrow (harp hand-hoe ; but it is
much the bed way to do this by hand, and as
regularly as can be done.
It is ufual to brine and lime feed-wheat, to
prevent the crop being fmutty, which fome
years it is very apt to be, and to damage the
crop. If the feed is very clean, found, and
from a good change, it will not produce a
fmutty crop : but brining is the fureft way to
prevent it. Full plump wheat is the moft apt
to produce a fmutty crop: for which realbn,
farmers prefer thin imall-bodied wheat for feed,
particularly the burn-beat wheat. The fmall
feed, if found, produces as full-bodied wheat
as any : for the crop is not large-grained
wheat from the fize of the feed, but from the
goodncfs of the land, and the tillage.
S 4 The
t6± APPENDIX.
The intervals mould be horfe-hoed in No-
vember or December, before the froft fets in,
and the earth ploughed away from the rows
of wheat ; the hoe-plongh to be brought
within about three inches of the rows : if any
earth runs over the left fide of the plough
upon the rows, the wheat mufr be uncovered;
but where it runs only upon the three-inch
narrow (lips, it mould remain there till the
next hoeing in the fpring; for the fine earth
•which falls upon thefe flips will give (helter
to the wheat in winter.
The fecond hoeing is to be given the begin-
ning of March, or as foon as the great frofts
are gone off. The hoe plough is, at this hoe-
ing, to go in the fame furrows as it did at the
firlt hoeing, but deeper and nearer to the
wheat : this loofens the earth next the wheat,
and, the furrows being at the fame time made
deeper, give? the roots of the wheat liberty tq
extend every way, the effe<St ptf which will be
foon vifible : the wheat will grow more luxu-
riant, and of a deep green colour. The plough
fhould at this fecond hoeing go deep and very
near the rows of wheat, and cannot be brought
too near, fo as it does not difplace or tear out
the plants. Several, who have praclifed this
Hufbandry, have been afraid to hoe fo clofe
to the rows, left the wheat mould be injured
by the plough breaking or tearing off the roots
of the wheat: but this is a great error. Hoe-
ing fo clofe does not injure the wheat ; but is
a gre§t
APPENDIX zb$
a great benefit to it, breaking off the ends of
the roots, caufes new roots to fpring out at
the broken ends in much greater numbers
than before, and thefe young roots being por
rous auiorb more vegetable nourifhment, fo
that the plants are fed more plentifully. The
earth is likewife by the deep ploughing opened
and made penetrable to the roots, to a greater
depth than it was before ; and the bank next
the rows left there at the flrft hoeing, being
hardened by the weather in winter, confines
the roots that they cannot fo eafily fpread and
extend fide-ways till that cruft of earth is
removed by the plough; which, when the
earth is in a 6t temper for this hoeing, may
be done near the rows, even within about an
inch of them, efpecially if care has been taken
to drill the rows very flraight, and upon the
middle of the ridges.
In about ten days or a fortnight after this
hoeing, the earth is to be hoed back to the
rows ; but if the mould mould be fo crumbly
and dry as to fall down, and expofe the plants
too much, the earth mould be immediately
hoed back to the rows to fupport them, and
the earth being now all well tilled and loofened
next to the rows, the roots will freely fpread
and extend therein ; and though lb me may
doubt the caufe, none can difbelieve the bene-
fit and effects of thefe hoeings, who may fee,
in a fhort time after they are performed, that
fhe wheat will grow remarkably luxuriant,
ai)4
266 APPENDIX.
and of a healthy deep-green colour, in confe-
quence of them.
The partitions or narrow ten-inch fpaces be-
tween the too rows of wheat, mould be well and
deeply hand-hoed, and alfo the narrow flips on
the outrides of the rows ; which may be done
before the intervals are horfe-hoed, or before
the earth is turned back to the rows, accord-
ing as the weeds are more or lefs advanced ;
and at the fame time the weeds and natural
grafs mould be carefully drawn up out of the
rows by hand. Once hand-hoeing the partitions
is generally fufficient to keep down the weeds,
and the wheat growing up and fpindling (hades
the[weeds fo much, that they cannot make much
progrefs afterwards. It is, however, a matter
of importance to keep the land very clean, and
that the weeds mould never grow up high,
much lefs mould they ever be fuffered to run
to feed ; to prevent this, it may be advifeable,
when weeds grow faft, to give the partitions a
fecond deep hand-hoeing, with a common
hand-hoe, and another hand-weeding of the
partitions, and the narrow flips may be hoed
with a Dutch hoe, which is called fcuffling,
and kills the weeds by cutting them off near
the furface of the ground. — A fecond hand-
hoeing is of more advantage to the crop and
to the land than the expence of it, and par-
ticularly if deeply hand-hoed, for that loolens,
turns, and improves the ground betwixt the
rows, which has no other afliftance during
the growth of the crop ; but the intervals be-
tween
APPENDIX. 267
tween the double rows have the benefit of hoe-
ploughing, which improves the land, and fub-
dues the weeds there.
The rime to give the third hoeing is not
limited; only the farmer mould be careful not
omit hoetng till the earth becomes ftale and
hard, and till the weeds get a head and grow
luxuriant. It is likewife neceffary to obierve
the ftate of the land ; that it be dry, and will
brenk into fine parts by the hoeing, which
fhould not be done when the earth is wet.
A good horfe-hoeing is very ferviceable when
the wheat begins to bloflbm, or a little before;
for this ftrengthens the plants and bloflbms,
fo that they produce more grain than if not
aflifted at this critical time : for ears of wheat
are formed at firft to produce above double the
number of grains that are found in them after-
wards ; as may be feen, if examined, when
they begin to blow, either by the eye, or better
by a magnifying glais ; and by this examina-
tion it will be plainly (ttn that more than half
the bloflbms are abortive for want of nourifh-
ment, and that this happens even after the
grains begin to be formed : it is therefore of
great importance to aflift the plants by a good
and deep horfe-hoeing when they begin, or a
little before they begin, to blow. It is not nc-
ceflary that this hoeing mould be performed
by turning the earth towards the rows, for
the plants are nourifhed by turning the earth
to or from the plants, as we (hall fee below.-*-
Thc
268 APPENDIX.
The horfe-hoeing is neceflary at this time for
another reafon, vjz. that, in Tome years and in
fome climates, the weather may become rough
and boifterous after Midfummer, and when the
wheat-ears become heavy ; for then the ftraws
bend, and are fometimes fo difordered, that
the wheat cannot then be fafely horfe-hoed,
and its milling of a hoeing then will be an
injury to the crop and to the land ; but this
will not be fo injurious, if it has been well
hoed at the time of its beginning to bloflfom.
If the earth is ploughed from the rows at
bloflbming, the hoe-plough fhould go clofe to
the rows, as clofe as at the fecond hoeing :
this may feem too near, and fo Mr. Tull him-
felf thought at firft ; but, upon further ex-
perience, he found that his wheat throve the
better for bringing the hoe-plough clofe to the
wheat at every hoeing from the rows. — The
third hoeing, given when the wheat begins
to blow, will be of great fervice, in caufing
the ears to produce a greater number of grains.
- — And if the wheat frauds fair, the next hoe-
ing after the wheat has done bloflbming will
alio be very ferviceable, to nourish the wheat
well then, and caufing the grain to be large,
plump, and full of flour.
It was before obferved, that Mr. Tull's lateft
practice was, to give his wheat four horfe-hoe-
ings : the firit. was before winter from the
wheat ; the fecond was in the fpring alfo from
the wheat, only deeper, and nearer to it ; the
third
APPENDIX. 269
third hoeing was to fill the grain, turning the
earth towards the rows; and the fourth and
laft hoeing turned the earth from the wheat,
and the hoe-plough was then brought clofe to
the rows, as clofe as at the fecond or ipring hoe-
ing.— It is very remarkable, that ploughing the
earth away from the wheat while it was ripen-
ing mould then nourifh and ripen it; but he was
very clear, from full experience, that it did
fo ; and I have feen wheat hoed in this man-
ner with fuccefs, the earth ploughed away
from the wheat and remain ine fo till harveft.
It is not, however, neceflary to hoe the earth
from the rows the laft time, and in general
it is not fo convenient as turning the earth to-
wards the rows at the laft hoeing ; becaufe,
if the next crop of wheat is drilled upon the
former intervals, as is commonly done, more
ploughing is neceflary to form the new
ridges ; for which reafon 1 would advife the
young farmer to hoe the earth the laft time
towards the wheat, and in this way he will
hoe three times from the rows, and twice to-
wards them, which may be called five hoeings;
but the fecond or fpring hoeing from the rows,
being only to deepen the winter furrows, and
bring the hoe-plough about two inches nearer
to them, is not properly a full-hoeing ; and, not
reckoning that, the whole is only four hoeings.
— I am fenfible that the fpring hoeing from the
rows is ufually reckoned ; but the great error
of thofe who have tried this Hufbandry unfuc-
cefsfully
2;o APPENDIX.
cefsfully, having been their hoeing too fuper*
ficially, and giving but three inftead of four
or more hoeings, the Farmer, when he begins
this Hufbandry for wheat, mould give it five
hoeings as above ; and when he has experience
in the practice, and finds his land in order for
it, he may then abate one hoeing : however,
even if five hoeings were continued, the ex-
pence of one hoeing is but a trifle and will
be no lofs, for the wheat will tiller or branch
more, and the lefs feed will do.
From the beginning of March to about
Midfummer is the principal time for the fpring
and fummer hoeings ; which being liable to be
obftrudted by accidents of rainy and rough
weather, the farmer mould not omit the pro-
per opportunities of performing them about
once a month when the earth is dry ; their not
attending to this has been the caufe of feve-
ral beginners not fucceding well, for there is
no lofs in often hoeing, but an advantage
both in the crop and land ; and after the land
is brought into good tilth, once or twice hoe-
ing extraordinary cofts but a trifle ; and is no
damage, unlefs they make the corn too luxu-
riant, which happens mod: commonly by fow-
ing too much feed, or the plants {landing too
clofe.
It is not eafy to determine the moftproper quan-
tity of feed; for if drilled too thick, or it branches
very much, it will be apt to lodge, for the fame
realbn that wheat fown broad-caft is apt to
do
APPENDIX. 271
do fo ; namely, its {landing fo thick as to
exclude the air and fun from the roots and
Items, whereby the ftems become weak and
fpungy, unable to ftand upright againfl wind
and rain, and fall down to the ground before
they are loaded with the weight of the ears,
and even before the ears are filled with grain ;
but, if the drilled wheat is not too thick, it
will generally ftand and the ears not touch
the ground, though by their weight they hang
down and bend the ftraw that fupports them
in a manner not common to any other but
the horfe-hoed wheat ; the diftance to which
the plants are to be thinned at firft depends
upon the quality of the land and the hoeing.
Brining and liming the feed is ufeful, to
prevent the fmut, but is attended with one
inconveniency, that the land fhould be moid
when fown or drilled ; for fteeping the feed,
efpecially if done as frequently directed for
many hours, caufes the corn to fwell and im-
bibe fo much moifture that a vegetation com-
mences; and if then fown in dry earth, and
no rain falls foon, the vegetation is checked,
which kills or much weakens the feed. Other
feeds in general, both in farming and garden-
ing, are fown when the earth is dry ; and the
reafon that wheat is an exception to this, is
its being fo long fteeped in brine ; for which,
however, there is no neceflity, for it is the
fmutty powder adhering to the ieed-corn that
caufes the crop to be fmutty. If no fuch
powder
f$2 APPENDIX.
powder adheres to the feed, the crop is generally
free from fmut ; or if the fmutty powder is
wafhed off the ieed by brifldy flirring it with
a flick in fair water only, and all the fmutty
powder fkimmed off the top of the water,
this will prevent the fmut, as has been found
by experience, and the fmutty powder is by the
fame means itill more eafiiv feparated from the
corn if it is biifkly ft irred among brine and
well fkimnqed ; in either way, there is no
necefiity to let the feed lie foaking any time,
but may be taken out of the liquor and dried,
and fown immediately after it is dry* which
is much better than (owing it wet, and if the
feed is from a good change and free from
fmut, it may be fown without being fteeped
at all and while the land is dry* it then is not
forced, but vegetates gradually and according
to the order of nature.
If the crop fhould happen to be fmutty by
very unkind feafons or otherwife, it is a damage
to the crop, and leffens its value at market,
and for this the farmer has no remedy when
fown broad-caft ; but when the feed is
drilled, the crop may be intirely cleared of
the fmutted corn before it is reaped. For
horfe-hoed wheat, having large ears, full of
heavy grain, bends and turns downwards be-
fore harvefr. ; but the fmutty or blighted ears,
being light, fiand upright, and are eafily dif-
tinguifhed, and may then be ail clipped off by a
woman, and carried away in a bag at a trifling
expence *t
APPENDIX. 273
expence ; the crop being thus freed from fmut,
will fell at a full price, being as fit to make
bread as any other, only not fo proper for
feed to be (own without being warned in brine,
as fome of the fmutty powder may have been
blown upon the found corn before the fmutty
ears were cut off*.
There is a great advantage in keeping all
crops clean from weeds, and particularly hoed
wheat crops ; for horfe-hoed wheat, being fup-
plied with abundance of nourifhment till it is
fully ripened, is ufually feveral days later in
ripening than (own wheat, for which reafon
it is advifeable to drill wheat early, as fuppofc
in the beginning or by the middle of September,
for by that means it will be the fooner ripe.
Some feafons are early, and fome fo late, that
it may not be proper to drill fo early as the
beginning of September; but when the weather
is iuitable and the land in order, it is molt
advifeable, to drill early ; the early fown has
another advantage befides its ripening early, it
tillers or branches before fpring ; and its roots
being thus multiplied, it is the better able to
refift tho cold and froft in winter.
Many farmers, however, do not choofetofow
early, becaufe they fay the wheat grows win-
ter-proud, that is, fhoots up before winter fo
luxuriantly, that the plants are liable to be
killed by the froft ; but though the blades are
Sometimes killed, yet the roots furvive (if the
land is dry .and healthy), and they produce
T new
274 APPENDIX.
new and ftrong (hoots after the frofts are over,
as has been frequently obferved, and produce
a good crop; whereas, if the wheat has but
few and wTeak roots, it is -liable to be totally
deftroyed by great frofts. In the long and
fevere froft in the year 1740, much of the
wheat above ground was killed ; and many
farmers, thinking their wheat was wholly de-
stroyed, ploughed it up, and fowed the land
with fpring corn ; but others, finding upon ex-
amination that the roots of the wheat was
alive, fuffered it to remain, and it (hot up
again, and in many places produced great
crops.
A remarkable inftance of this is mentioned
by Mr. Tull, p. 262. " It happened once,
" fays he, that my white cone being planted
w early, and being very high, the blade and
" ftalk were killed in the winter ; yet it grew
" high again in the fpring, and had the fame
" fortune a fecond time ; it lay on the ridges
'*' like ltraw, but fprung out anew from the
" root, and made a very good crop at harveft ;
" therefore, if the like accident mould happen,
" the owner need not be frighted at it."
Lammas wheat is as hardy as cone, if the
ground is dry ; and it does not often happen
to be hurt by the cold in winter ; and, if the
danger was greater than it is, there are fuch
advantages in fowing early, that the farmer
mould not negled it when the feafon is fa-
vourable.
If
APPENDIX. 275
It was cuftomary formerly to let the wheat
grow till it was very ripe, as then it makes
moft meafure, and parts more freely from the
ftraw ; but of late years ieveral good farmers
cut their wheat lboner, and while the knots of
the ftraw are green, for fuch wheat looks fair
to the eye, handles well and flippery, and
coming iboner to market fells at a good price.
Wheat, cut before it is dead-ripe, is fmooth*
and the grains lie clofein the bulhel ; fo that it
weighs as much per bufhel as wheat that ftands
till it is thorough-ripe, but more grains go to
fill the bufhel, and it is more difficult to
threfh out clean. Thefe inconveniencies are^
however, anfwered by the advance in price.—
Cone wheat is not ufually cut till full-ripe.
Drilled wheat mould be reaped low, that
the ftubble may not obftruct the hoeing of the
next crop ; it ftands fo fair to be cut, and no
weeds, that it is reaped at half the price of
broad-caft wheat, and being clean from weeds
it is fcon fit to be carried home.
It is ufual to raife the new ridges for the fuc-
ceeding crop upon the former intervals, which
is alfo moft convenient, becaufe the mould,
whereof thefe new ridges are compofed, is in
fine tilth, and the new ridges are made at once
ploughing. In hoeing the earth up to the
ridges the laft time with the hoe-plough, if
done as it mould when the earth is dry, fome
of the dry mould will be apt to run back into
the interval, after the hoe-plough is paft ; and
T 2 then
276 APPENDIX.
then a plough with a double mould board
may be ufed, to clear the interval of the loofe
mould. This is belt done iometime after the
laft hoeing with the hoe- plough ; for if any
weeds mould in the mean time ipring up there,
the earth raifed by the double board plough
will be thrown to the right and4 left up to
the ridges, and will cover and fmother thefe
young weeds, will quite clear, widen, and
deepen the furrows in the intervals, and by
that means the new ridges will be deeper in
fine loofe mould. The double mould board
plough is very convenient to be ufed for this
laft operation, but fhould not be made ufe of
inftead of the hoe-plough, as fome do for the
greater difpatch ; but this is an argument
againft the ufe of it at other times, for it is
eljential to expofe the earth for fome time to
the influences of the atmofphere, which is not
done fo fully when it is turned up at once to
both ridges by the double board plough, as it
is when turned up in two furrows feparately,
and at different times by the hoe-plough, by
ufing which conftantly the furface is more en-
larged and expoied, and the land more im-
proved, than by uiing any other inftrument,
cultivators, or any others, that have been hi-
therto fubftituted in the room of the hoe-
plough.
The ftubble is a guide to the plough-
man, to make the new ridges ftraight, and if
brought near the rows of ftubble, the plough','
i at
APPENDIX. 277
at two large furrows, will raife the middle of
the new ridges high enough to be above the
ftubble, when that is turned to the ridges, at
two furrows more : this mould be carefully
attended to, that the ftubble may not obflrudt
the drilling of the feed. Four furrows are
commonly enough to plough all the mould,
and form the new ridges ; but, if the plough-
man finds any difficulty in making the mid-
dle of the new ridges properly at two large
furrows, he may raife them at four; taking
care that they are high enough, and that the
ft.ubble does not rife lo high as the top of the
ridges, and obftruct the drilling. When three
or more rows were drilled upon each ridge,
it was found neceflary to raife the ridges high,
in order to obtain a greater depth of mould,
for the benefit of the middle rows : but
ridges of the common height are moft pro-
per, when only a double row is to be drilled
on each ridge,
Thefe ridges are to be drilled, and the
wheat cultivated, id the fame manner as in
the fir ft year ; and thus every iucceeding year
the land will produce good crops, ib long as
it is thus cultivated, without manure or fal-
low. But if any of the hoeings ihouki hap-
pen to be omitted, or the wheat feems not
vigorous enough in the fpring, let lome fine
manure, as alhes, foot, malt -du ft, &c. be
iprmkled upon the rows in February, which
will ltrengthen the plants.
T 3 The
278 APPENDIX.
The foregoing account of the hoeing
culture of wheat, being particular, may to.
fome appear tedious ; but to thofe who in-
tend to practife the New Hufbandry, will, ,
it is preiumed, be acceptable ; as not only the
beft method, but the reafons alfo, in moft
cafes, are here afligned for the rules laid down ;
which was the more neceflary for a learner,
as moft of the modem accounts tend more
to perplex, than inform, a beginner. Dril-
ling wheat in equally-diftant rows, and
hand-hoeing it, is a method that farmers
like much better than horfe-hoeing it, and,
though more advantageous than broad-cad
{owing, is not by much fo profitable as horfe-
hoeing. The hand-hoeing does not improve
the land fb much ; and the wheat-crops can-
not be repeated every year in fucceffion, upon
the fame land, even with the aififtance of
manure. The land is, however, improved
by hand-hoeing; and there is a confiderablc
faving in leed, for a bufhel of wheat is the
proper quantity to drill upon the level in
equidiftant rows, and one foot diftant. This
leaves room for the hand-hoe between the
rows; which is performed in the fpring, and
the weeds cut down, before the wheat fpindles,
for then the hoe is fhut out. But as the hoe-
ing both improves the land, and deftroys the
weeds, twice hoeing would improve it more
than once, or deep hoeing, and a fcuffling,
to which the only objection is the expence.
APPENDIX. 279
If the wheat is drilled upon the level, in
rows, at two feet difrance, it may be hoed
with a fmall plough, and will produce better
crops in that way, than by hand-hoeing ; and
if, at the laft hoeing, the plants are earthed
up by the hoe, they will the better ftand up-
right againft the dorms of wind and rain.
Large crops may be obtained in this method;
but there is no other, befides the horfe-
hoeing of wheat upon ridges, by which con-
stant annual crops are obtained fb cheap, and
without manure or fallow.
Moft farmers will think that more than
two rows of wheat may be planted to ad-
vantage upon a ridge, and the author of this
Hufbandry was at firft of that opinion : for
which reafon he then drilled four rows, and
for fome years three rows, upon each ridge, at
ieven inches diftancc : but, when three only
are drilled, the roots do fo entangle and in-
terfere with each other, that the crop of the
two outride rows are leflened, and the middle
row fo much {tinted, that it does not grow
near fo tall, nor produce halt the crop of
either of the two outride rows, occafioned
by the obstruction of its roots, and that the
feven-inch partitions cannot be hand-hoed fo
well and deep, as the ten-inch partition be-
tween the double rows ; and therefore no
more than two rows (hould be drilled upon a
ridge. It would indeed be better to drill only
one row upon a ridge, and then the wheat
T 4 might
jSo appendix.
might be horfe-hoed to the row on both
fides, which is much more beneficial than
hand-hoeing. Ridges of four feet broad
would be broad enough, if only one row
was planted : but common wheat, in fingle
rows at fo great diftance, would not produce
a fufncient crop ; and four feet is the proper
breadth to hoe the intervals well with a
plough : and though an inftrument might
be contrived to hoe intervals of a lefs breadth
than four feet, yet the farmer is advifed, not
to drill his wheat, to be horfe-hoed, clofer than
with ten -inch partitions, and about four feet
intervals, thefe having by long experience
been found the proper diftance for wheat;
and the hoe-plough the proper inftrument for
obtaining good fucceftive crops of wheat.
When the farmer has learned to raife good
crops in this manner, he may try to improve,
beginning with fmall experiments ; for other-
wife he may fail of fuccefs, as has happened
to fome perfons, who attempted improve-
ments before they were acquainted with this
Hufibandry, and to others, who have ufed
fome foreign inftruments, inftead of the hoe-
plough.
For large plants to be horfe-hoed, fingle
rows upon a ridge are mod: advifeable ; as for
turnips, cabbages, potatoes, &c. for thefe
may be hoed alternately, and produce much
better crops than double rows, becaufe they
may be hoe-ploughed very near the plants on
both
APPENDIX. 281
both fides. This is to be underftood, when
it is intended to take fucceflive crops, and to
improve the land: for when only a (ingle
crop is intended to be taken, a double row of
plants may, in fome cafes, produce a larger
crop than a iingle row : but, in general, the
farmer will find it moft for his interefl to
plant the larger plants in (ingle rows, both,
on account of improving the land, which is a
confideration of great importance, and like-
wife to keep the land clean, which is ealier
done with (ingle rows, and at a lefs expence,
than when the rows are double : and in all
ca(es it is proper to leave an interval between
the rows, whether (ingle or double, of about
four feet, that breadth being necelfary to hoe
them properly with a hoe-plough.
There is one advantage peculiar to the
horfe-hoeing Husbandry, which the common
Farmer cannot obtain, and delerves to be well
confidered. When a crop of broad-ca(t
wheat is harvefted and carried home, the
land is become dale, and not in order to be
lowed with wheat for a fecond crop ; but the
land mull: be ploughed and winter- fallowed,
to prepare it for a crop of fummer corn:
but, it the hoeing farmer is defirous to change
his crops, he is not under the neceflity of
winter fallowing, but may iave that expence,
and alio obtain another crop before the fpring
feed-time. Moil forts of common cabbages,
and Lkewile the turnip-cabbage and turnip-
rooted
282 APPENDIX.
rooted cabbage, planted in Autumn, will grow
and produce a profitable crop in winter and
fpring, will then be good food for his cattle,
and lave hay. This is a matter of much im-
portance to all farmers, many of them being
diftrefTed to find fufficient food for their cat-
tle in winter and fpring: for this purpofe
much land is employed to obtain a good crop
of turnips; whereof, however, the farmer is
too often difappointed by the fly in fummer,
and the frofl: in winter ; and if the land is
very ftrong, it is not the moll: proper for
turnips : but the hoeing farmer may raife a
fufficient quantity of the cabbage kinds on a
fmall fpot of ground and a very little feed,
as an ounce or two will produce plants enough
for an acre of ground ; and being tranfplanted
in autumn will furnifh a great deal of good
food for his black cattle, (heep, and hogs, in
{he winter and fpring. Land that is well
hoed is always in good tilth to receive fuch
plants; which, if planted upon ridges, may
be horfe-hoed in the winter, and produce
good crops on light land, or ftrong ; and the
hoeing will not only keep the land in heart,
without impoveri filing it, but will alfo, keep
it in fine tilth for the fucceeding crop. When
this is confidered, the health of his cattle, for
fatting them, and for the dairy ; likewife the
great quantity of good manure that may be
thus raifed ; it will be evident to every ex-
perienced farmer, that this is an advantage of
great
APPENDIX. 283
great confequence to him, and cannot be fa
eafily obtained in any other way, as it may by
the New Hu(bandry.
In this hufbandry there is a faving in feed
and in labour ; but the principal article faved
in cultivating wheat is in manure. We
have (hewn above how necelfary manure is in
the Common Huibandry, and how great depen-
dance farmers have upon manure for wheat,
their principal crop : as this is the cafe in the
Common Husbandry, a method of culture
wherein this expenfive article may be faved,
muft be of great confequence to every farmer,
who is at the expence of no lefs than from
fifty (hillings to five pounds for every acre of
wheat, and is wholly faved in the New Huf-
bandy, which in general requires no manure
for wheat, except a light hand-drefling in the
fpring ; and this only in fome particular cir-
cumftances, where there has been fome neglect
in hoeing, and is not neceflary where the cul-
ture is duly performed. Now if a farmer
raifcs annually twenty five or thirty acres of
wheat, and he faves only three or four pounds
an acre in manure, it will be an article of
great confequence to him ; but when it is con-
iidered that the manure faved in his wheat
enables him at the fame time to drefs his
other lands with it, either for his crops of
turnips, or others for feeding his cattle, and
to drefs his cultivated grades, meadows, and
paftures ; every experienced farmer mult be
icnlibie
284 APPENDIX.
feniible how highly beneficial the New Hus-
bandry is to thofe who practice it with (kill
and perfeverance.
The hteil accounts of the practice of the
New Huibandry, related in Mr. Defile's me-
moirs of agriculture, are the experiments above-
mentioned, made by Sir Digby Legard and
Mr. Lowther; and he concludes, page 377,
*f There are, fays he, however fuch accounts
" or' experiments already made, which have
" been laid before the public, or the Society
" for the encouragment of Arts, &c. as gives
" the greateft room to believe, that through
" the increafe of produce in quantity or value,
" or the diminution of expence, the profit
" of tillage may, in a term of feveral years
" taken together, be rendered a third greater
" or perhaps even doubled to the farmer, by
" the fubftitution of the drill culture in the
" place of the common or broad-call. This pre-
" ference appears from experiments alio in
M fome degree to hold good of indifferent, as
*4 well as rich foil j and of other kind of
" cultivated plants as well as corn, and to
" have many other advantages."
If fuch are the advantages from this Huf-
bandry when executed imperfectly, how much
greater will it be to the Farmer, who performs
it in the belt manner, and according to the
directions of the Author of it? He had near
four quarters of wheat by meafure, upon twen-
y five acres of his be ft land ; and about twenty
bufhels,
APPENDIX. 285
buihels at an average upon his whole farm,
nine gallons per bufhel. The exteniive prac-
tice hkewiie of Mr. Dean, continued many-
years, and of Mr. Craik, in a foil and climate
unfavourable to the New Huibandry, fhew
plainly the profit of it much beyond what Mr.
Doffie has laid ; and what may be expected,
when performed with the fame care and judge-
ment, as the induftrious Huibandman beftows
upon his land in the Common Hufbandry.
This has been proved by experience by
that eminent huibandman Sir Digby Legard,
who has (hewn the New Hufbandry to be
more advantageous, not only than the com-
mon huibandry in his neighbourhood, but
alio to the moft improved modern huibandry
here or abrqad ; and, upon a full view of both,
he concludes as follows. " But the farmer,"
fays he, " who is ignorant of thefe modern
" improvements, furelv ought not to helitate
" to adopt the drill culture ; which a few
" years practice would render habitual ; and
" which he would find much more beneficial.
" For it is certain, that this is lefs expenfive
" than the old method ; and, when once
adopted, eafier in the execution,"
FINIS.
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