THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA

I

ELEMENTS

OF

PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE,

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ELEMENTS

OF

PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE;

COMPREHENDING

THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS,
THE HUSBANDRY OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS,
AND THE ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

; BY DAVID LOW, ESQ. F.R.S.E.

PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN ;

AND

ADAM & CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH.
MDCCCXXXVIII.

PRINTED BY NEILL & CO. OLD FISHMARKET, EDINBURGH.

PREFACE.

The Agriculture of a country is affected, in its general
character and details of practice, by climate, the fertility
of the soil, and the food and habits of the people. Cli-
mate chiefly determines the plants to be cultivated and
the order of the labours of the season, and modifies all
the practices of the husbandman. Even within no great
extremes of temperature, the practice of the farmer must
be varied to suit the differences of climate. Thus, the
agriculture of the south of France is not the same as
that which is established in Normandy and other de-
partments of the North ; and in Italy, where, along with
the productions of northern climates, are cultivated trie
rice, the maize, the Indian millet, and other plants of
warmer regions, the agriculture differs in many parts of
practice from that of the corn-exporting countries of the
north of Europe.

To treat of agriculture, therefore, as a practical art,
without reference to some given conditions of climate and

VI PREFACE.

country, would embrace a wide range of observations,
and the consideration of a great mass of details. It
would involve the examination of many opposite prac-
tices, in themselves perhaps good and adapted to the
circumstances which gave rise to them, but, as a whole,
unsuited to any one condition in which the farmer could
be placed, and thence incapable of being reduced to prac-
tice. That instructions in agriculture, therefore, may
avail for useful purposes, they must have reference to
a system applicable to some given condition of climate
and country. In this way the study will be rendered
more easy to those who enter upon it for the first time :
and not only will the student make the most ready pro-
gress, but he will acquire the most useful species of
knowledge. For, however different be the natural pro-
ductions of countries, and however necessary it be. that
the farmer adapt his operations to these differences, yet
there are rules and maxims in the art common to the
husbandry of all countries ; and he who is thoroughly
acquainted with one good system of practice applicable
to any one situation of the farmer, has the means, by
an easy analogy, of applying his knowledge to other and
dissimilar cases. A person thoroughly trained to practice
on the banks of the Tweed, would make a good farmer
on the banks of the Po or the Ohio. He has received
the kind of instruction which is useful under all circum-
stances, and quickly learns to adapt his details of prac-
tice to the new circumstances under which they are to be
applied.

PREFACE. Vll

In describing a system of agriculture, too, it is im-
portant that, while it is one which admits of being car-
ried into easy effect, it shall be as perfect as, under
this necessary condition, it can be rendered. A rude
system of practice will not serve the purpose of useful
example. Although the agriculturist may not be able
to reach in all things the model proposed to him, it is
yet important that this model be good in itself, so that
his own practice may become as perfect as the circum-
stances in which he is placed will allow.

Agriculture, like every art, is founded upon principles,
and a natural method of studying it would seem to be,
to begin with principles, and from these to deduce the
rules of practice. The nature of the subject, however,
or rather the state of our knowledge, admits of this
course being followed only to a limited extent : for
the art founded on experience is often better understood
than the principles ; and while the science is in some de-
gree incomplete, the art has in many things been ren-
dered very perfect by experience alone. Hence it is well
to lay the foundation of the study of agriculture on a
knowledge of practice. In this case the agriculturist,
should he desire to extend the range of his observations
to the relations of the sciences with the practical art,
will do so with a more useful result, and less hazard of
error.

In the following work, which is designed in an espe-
cial manner for those who are to engage in the study of
agriculture for the first time, I propose to observe the

Vlll PREFACE.

plan of instruction to which I have referred. One condi-
tion of climate and country is assumed, and there is ex-
plained, in so far as the limits of an elementary work will
allow, a system of agriculture, which is conceived to be
good, which is founded on experience, and which is capable
of being reduced to practice. It does not therefore consist
with the design of this work, to detail a number of prac-
tices or examine a number of opinions ; many of which
may be good, and yet not in accordance with the system
to be explained. Further, the attention of the reader
is mainly directed to the essential parts of practice ; and
while the connexion of agriculture with other branches
• of knowledge is carefully pointed out, this is in most cases
done rather to show the relation between them than to
pursue the subject in detail.

The application of Science to Agriculture affords the
materials of interesting and useful study. Chemistry
ascertains the nature and constitution of soils, the mode
of action of manures, and the substances fitted for the
nutrition of plants ; Botany and Vegetable Physiology
treat of the structure, the properties, and the uses of
plants ; Animal Physiology and Medical Science relate
to the form of animals, their properties and diseases ; and
Mechanics are applied to the construction of machines
and rural works. But these are branches of agriculture
winch may be separately studied. They are not essen-
tial, as experience shows, to the knowledge of agriculture
as an economical art, and need be but partially treat-
ed of in an elementary work. Notwithstanding, how-

PREFACE. IX

ever, of this limitation in the design of the present trea-
tise, it will appear that it is sufficiently extended for those
who enter for the first time on the study of Agriculture ;
and that even a rudimental knowledge of so many sub-
jects as it embraces cannot be acquired without the la-
bour of patient study.

The favour with which the First Edition of this
Work has been received in this and other countries,
encourages me to adhere strictly to the plan before adopt-
ed. But I embrace the opportunity afforded by a Se-
cond Edition, to make a few amendments in minor
points, and certain corrections in the accounts given of
the breeds or varieties of the Domestic Animals of this
country. A more extended investigation of the effects of
climate, food, and culture, in modifying the form and
character of these animals, has qualified me to give greater
correctness to the descriptions of our breeds ; and I trust,
in another Work to be devoted to the Economy of the
Domestic Animals, to be enabled to treat of the entire
subject in further detail than consists with the design of
the present treatise. I am fortunately supplied with faci-
lities for pursuing this subject by an extensive and beauti-
ful collection of Paintings, illustrative of all the British
Breeds, which has been in progress for several years for
the Agricultural Museum of the College of Edinburgh,
and which will be completed with little delay.

It has been objected to some of the calculations con-
tained in this Work, that the rate of labour assumed

PREFACE.

will not apply to a great part of England. This objec-
tion is good in the case of various districts of very stiff
aluminous or alumino-calcareous soils in the south-eastern
counties of Eugland, where more than the labour of two
horses may be required for ordinary tillage ; but it cer-
tainly does not apply to the greater part of the land of
this country. The System of Agriculture here explain-
ed, in so far as it regards the methods of farm labour,
has been long established in the north of England, and
over all the better districts of Scotland. In the County
of Northumberland, where a system of cultivation is
pursued which may serve as a model to every part of this
kingdom, the stiffest soils are managed by two-horse
teams. While I must admit, then, the exceptions which
exist in the case of certain tracts of country, as the
London clay, the weald clay, and other very tenacious soils,
I maintain that the system of farm-labour here described,
is capable of being reduced to practice over nearly nine-
tenths of England : and to the whole of Ireland it is appli-
cable in its minutest details. The greatest obstacle to the
progress of agricultural improvement, is the prejudice of
habit. Throughout all England there is a multitude of
agriculturists surpassed by none in the world for intelli-
gence and spirit, and many things in the agriculture of
the country are deserving of the highest praise ; but it
cannot be concealed, that, in the simplifying and econo-
mising of labour, there is much to be learned and ef-
fected. It is in this respect, that the methods of English
tillage, and especially in the southern counties, admit of

PREFACE. XI

the greatest improvement. By a more efficient applica-
tion of the means of labour, a wide field of beneficial im-
provement is open over a great part of this rich and
beautiful country ; and one of the most useful services
that can be rendered to the farmers of many of the
finest districts of England, is to show them how the ope-
rations of the field can be more cheaply performed. It
is undeniable, that, in the parts of this kingdom which
are the least favoured by nature, the art of tillage has be-
come more perfect by being rendered more simple ; and
the result is shown in the greater revenue derived from
land under all the disadvantages of a colder, moister,
and more changeable climate. The agriculturists in the
south of England are surprised at the high rents paid
from the poorer soils in the northern parts of the king-
dom. This doubtless arises from a combination of causes ;
but not the least important of these is a simpler and
cheaper system of farm labour.

I have only further to observe, with respect to the pre-
sent as of the former Edition, that I have made use of
portions of a few essays written by me in the Quarterly
Journal of Agriculture, a work which I edited for some
time. The principal of these are, descriptions of soils,
of the plough, of the harrow, and other implements of the
farm ; accounts of the turnip culture, and of irrigation ;
the subject of the lease, and a few of lesser interest.

CONTENTS.

I. SOILS.

1. The Classes of Soils and their Properties as deter-

mined by External Characters,

2. The Properties of Soils as determined by Chemical

Analysis, ......

3. The Properties of Soils as determined by their Ve-

getable Productions,

4. Means of increasing the Productive Powers of Soils,

Page 1

12

23
33

II. MANURES, . . 39

1. Animal and Vegetable Manures, ... 39

2. Mineral Manures, ..... 59

3. Mixed Manures, ..... 72

III. IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM, . 75

1. Implements of Preparatory Tillage, . . 76

1. The Plough, ..... 76

2. The Harrow. ..... 89

3. The Grubber, .... 96

4. The Roller, . . . . .100

2. Machines for Sowing, .... 102

1. Machines for Sowing Corn in Rows, . . 102

2. Machine for Sowing Corn and Grass-Seeds Broadcast, 107

3. Machines for Sowing the Seeds of the Bean and Pea, 110

4. Machine for Sowing the Smaller Seeds in Rows, 112

3. Implements for Hoeing, . . . . 114

4. Machines for Thrashing and Winnowing, . . 117

1. Thrashing-Machine, . . . . 117

2. Winnowing-Machine, . . . .124

XI \

CONTENTS.

Implements for Preparing Food for Live-Stock,.

1. Tumip-Slicer, ....

2. Chaff-Cutter, ....

3. Machine for Bruising Grain,

4. Apparatus for Boiling or Steaming Food,
Wheel-Carriages, ....
Utensils of the Dairy,

Implements of Manual Labour, &c.

IV. SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE

Ploughing,

Harrowing,

Action of the Grubber,

Rolling,

Digging,

V. PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS, l6s

Fallowing, . . . . . .163

Levelling Ground and Removing Obstructions to Tillage, 173
Paring and Burning, .... 177

Page 127
127
129
130
130
132
139
139

146
146
158
160
161
161

1.

2.
3.
4. Draining,

VI. SUCCESSION OF CROPS, .

VII. CULTIVATION OF PLANTS,

LAAis lULiivAini run intiK t

1. Cereal Grasses,

nanus,

1. Wheat,

2. Rye,

3. Barley,

4. Oats,

5. Millet,

6. Maize,

7. Rice,

8. Canary-grass, &c

2. Leguminous Plants,

1. The Bean,

2. The Pea,

. #

3. The Lentil, Kidney-bean, and others,

3. Buckwheat,

182
198

210
210
210
228
243
244
253
260
261
264
265
266
266
276
282
285

CONTENTS.

Plants Cultivated for their Roots, Tubers, and

Leaves, .... Page 288

I. The Turnip

2. Rape,

3. The Cabbage,

4. The Potato,

5. The Carrot,

6. The Pai*snep,
7- The Beet,

8. The Jerusalem Artichoke,

288
302
305
309
324
327
330
332

3. Plants Cultivated for their Fibres for Thread, . 333

1. Flax, ...... 333

2. Hemp, ... ... 342

4. Plants Cultivated for their Oils, . . . 349

5. Plants Cultivated for their Dyes, . . . 355

6. Plants Cultivated for their Sugar, . . 360
7- Plants Cultivated for their Narcotic, Bitter, and

Tannin Principle, .... 362

1. Narcotic Principle, . . . .362

2. Bitter Principle, .... 366

3. Tannin Principle, . . . .371

8. Plants Cultivated for their Resins and Gums, . 372

9- Plants Cultivated for their Fruits, . . 375

10. Plants Cultivated for Fermented and Distilled Liquors, 376

11. Plants Cultivated for their Uses in Domestic Economy

and the Arts, . „ . .381

12. Plants Cultivated for their Wood, . . . 385

13. Plants Cultivated or Used for Forage or Herbage, 406

1. The Tare, ..... 4,06

2. Lucerne, . . . . .411

3. Sainfoin, . . . . .414

4. Wild Succory, &c. . . . .417

5. Clovers, Vetchings, Melilots, &c. . 419

6. Heaths, Sedges, and Rushes, . . . 422
7- Grasses, ... . . # 404
S. Burnet, &c. . . 430

CONTENTS.

VIII. WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE, Page 436

1. Annual and Biennial Weeds,

2. Perennial Weeds,

437
441

IX. MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LAND,

1. Forage,

2. Pasturage,

:5. Irrigation,

448

448
459
464

X. THE REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS, 474

1. The Horse,

2. The Ox,

3. The Sheep,

4. The Goat,

5. The Hog,

6. The Rabbit,

7. Domestic Fowls,

474

499
551
593
595
606
609

XL GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM, 622

1. Buildings of the Farm, , (522

2. Artificial Divisions of the Farm, . . . 631

3. Capital necessary for the Farm, . . . 652

4. Expenses and Produce of the Farm, . . . 6'73

5. Operations of the Farm in the Order of Time, . 678

The Weights and Measures referred to are the standard English acre,
containing 4840 square yards ; the gallon, consisting of 277.274
cubic inches ; the pound avoirdupois ; and the stone of 14 lb.

ELEMENTS

OF

PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE.

I. SOILS.

I. THE CLASSES OF SOILS, AND THEIR PROPERTIES, AS
DETERMINED BY EXTERNAL CHARACTERS.

The Soil is the upper portion of the ground in which plants
are produced. It forms a stratum of from a few inches to a
foot or more, in depth. It is usually somewhat dark in co-
lour, arising from the mixing with it of the decomposed stems,
leaves, and other parts of plants which had grown upon it,
and in part often by the presence of animal substances. It is
this mixture of the substance of organic bodies, with the mi-
neral matter of the upper stratum, which distinguishes this
stratum from the subjacent mass of earth or rock, to which
the term Subsoil is applied. The decomposed organic por-
tion of the soil may be termed mould ; and it is the presence
of mould, accordingly, which distinguishes the soil from the
subsoil.

Soils are very various in their fertility and texture. With

relation to their powers of producing useful plants, they may

be termed rich or poor : with relation to their texture, they

~£ may be termed stiff, — and free or light. The stiff soils are

Z SOILS.

those which are tenacious and cohesive in their parts ; the
light or free soils are those which are of a looser texture, and
whose parts are easily separated. But the cohesive soils pass
into the loose by imperceptible gradations, and hence though
all soils may be termed rich or poor, stiff or light, they are so
in every degree of fertility and texture.

All soils which possess this tenacious or cohesive property
in a considerable degree, are termed clays or clayey soils ;
while all the looser soils are termed light or free. And all soils
are more or less clayey, or more or less light, as they possess
more or less of this tenacious and cohesive property, or of this
looser texture.

The fertility of soils is, cateris paribus, indicated by the
greater or smaller proportion of mould which enters into their
composition. When soils are thus naturally fertile, or are
rendered permanently so by art, they are frequently termed
loams : Thus, there are clayey loams and sandy loams ; and
peat itself may, by the application of labour and art, be con-
verted into loam.

The parts of plants which grow upon the surface, and are
mixed with the mineral matter of the soil, may decompose and
become mould. Under certain circumstances, however, the
plants which have grown upon the surface do not decompose,
but undergo a peculiar change, which fits them to resist de-
composition. They are converted into peat, and the soils
formed of this substance are termed peaty. The peaty soils
are of the lighter class, and are distinguished from all others
by peculiar characters.

Soils, then, may be distinguished from one another : —

1st, By their texture, in which case they may be divided
into two classes, — 1st, the stiff, denominated clays ; 2d, the
light or free, comprehending the peaty.

2d, By their fertility or powers of producing useful plants,
in which case they are termed rich or poor.

Soils, too, from particular causes, may be habitually wet or
habitually dry. Soils, therefore, may be further distinguished
by their general relation to moisture. When water, from any

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 3

cause, is generally abundant, the soils may be termed wet ;
when there is habitual deficiency of water they may be termed
dry.

Subsoils, it has been said, are distinguished from soils pro-
perly so termed, by the absence of mould. Plants, in growing,
may extend their roots into the subsoil, and, decomposing
there, be mixed with it. But this is in small quantity, and
for the most part the subsoil is readily distinguishable by the
eye, from the upper stratum or soil, by the absence of organic
matter in a decomposed or decomposing state.

Subsoils may either consist of loose earthy matter like the
soil, or they may consist of rock. Subsoils, therefore, may be
divided into two classes, the rocky and the earthy.

When the soil rests directly upon and extends to the rock,
without any intervening bed of looser earthy matter, the soil
will frequently be found to be similar in the composition of its
mineral parts to the rock upon which it rests, from having
been formed by the gradual disintegration of that rock. This
is chiefly found to be the case with the soils of mountains ; for,
in plains, the soil is generally formed, not by the disintegra-
tion and decomposition of the rock upon which it rests, but by
the intermixing together of the disintegrated parts of different
rocks and mineral strata.

The rocky subsoils consist of granite, sandstone, limestone,
chalk, and the other mountain rocks of a country. They are
sometimes easily penetrated by the water that falls upon the
soil, and are then termed free or porous ; and sometimes they
resist the percolation of water, when they are termed close or
retentive.

The earthy subsoils may, in like manner, be divided into
the close or retentive, and the free or porous. The retentive
are those which, from containing much clay, are tenacious and
cohesive in their parts, and little pervious to fluids : the po-
rous are those which, having less of clay in their composition,
are more readily permeable.

Whether the subsoil be retentive or porous, the soil which
rests upon it should be of good depth. If the soil be shallow

a2

4 soils.

cm a retentive subsoil, it is affected too greatly by the alterna-
tions of dryness and moisture. And if, again, a shallow soil
rests on a porous subsoil, the moisture of the soil is too easily
acted upon and exhausted by heat.

A subsoil, in so far as mere texture is concerned, should be
neither too retentive nor too porous. But although this in-
termediate condition is in most cases the best, yet in a very
cold and moist country, a free or porous subsoil is for the most
part to be preferred to one which is close and retentive. The
Boil, besides being affected by the texture of the subsoil, is
sometimes also affected by the nature of the mineral substances
of which the subsoil is formed.

If the subsoil be rock}'', it is desirable that it be calcareous
rather than siliceous, — chalk or limestone, for example, rather
than quartz. Sometimes the subsoil contains matter which is
directly injurious to the growth of plants. This matter is ge-
nerally found to be the oxides of metals in combination with
acids. Subsoils of this kind are usually distinguished by deep-
ness of colour.

Soils, then, it is seen, are affected in their properties not
only by their own texture and composition, but by the texture
and composition of the subsoil ; and they are divided into the
Stiff or Clayey, and the Light or Free.

The Clayey Soils have, as their distinguishing character, the
adhesiveness of their parts ; and this property alone will enable
even the inexperienced to discriminate them. A stiff clay,
when dried either by natural or artificial heat, becomes so hard
as to resist a considerable mechanical pressure. On account of
the tenacity of such soils, they are tilled with more difficulty
than the freer soils. They require, to fertilize them, a larger
proportion of manures ; but they retain the effects of these
manures for a longer time. They are better suited to the cul-
tivation of plants with fibrous than with fleshy roots or tubers.

Soils of this class, as of every other, possess many degrees of
natural fertility. The poor clays form, for the most part, an
unprofitable soil, because, while their powers of production are
inconsiderable, the expenses of tilling them are large. The

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. O

clay soils of this character are generally of little depth, and
rest upon a retentive subsoil. The natural herbage they pro-
duce is coarse and little nutritious, and they are not well suited
to the production of the cultivated grasses and other herbage
plants. They are little fitted for the growth of turnips, or other
plants with fleshy roots or tubers. Such soils have every-
where local names which sufficiently denote their qualities.
They are termed, by not an improper figure, cold soils ; and
sometimes they are classed under the general name moor, which
term is often used to denote soils, whatever be their nature, of
a low degree of fertility.

Very different in their value and nature are the richer clays.
These bear weighty crops of all the cultivated kinds of corn ;
they do not excel the better soils of other classes so greatly in
the production of oats, and still less in that of barley, in which
the lighter loams may surpass them ; but they are unequalled
for the production of wheat, and in many places, derive their
descriptive appellation from that circumstance, being termed
wheat soils. They are well suited for the growth of the bean,
a plant with a weighty stem, and requiring a stiff soil to sup-
port it. They will yield large returns of the cultivated grasses
and leguminous herbage plants, though they are not so quickly
covered with the natural herbage plants of the soil, when laid
down to perennial pasturage, as the lighter soils.

Clays, like the other soils, approach to their most perfect
condition as they advance to that state which has been termed
loam. The effect of judicious tillage, and of the application of
manures, is to improve the texture of such soils as well as to
enrich them. Thus, clays in the neighbourhood of cities be-
come dark in their colour and less cohesive in their texture,
from the mixture of animal and vegetable matter, and thence
acquire the properties of the most valued soils of their class.

Natural changes, however, yet more than art, have furnished
the rich soils of clay. The best, for the most part, of the soils
of clay, are those which are formed from the alluvial deposi-
tions of rivers or the sea. The finest natural soils of this and
other countries are those which are thus formed. The deposi-

6 SOILS.

tions of rivers, indeed, are not always of a clayey nature. In
mountainous districts they generally form soils of the lighter
kinds. Where the sea, however, is the agent, or where both
the rivers and the tides combine their action, the depositions
generally partake of the nature of clay. Such alluvial soils
have every-where local terms to mark their character and fer-
tility. On the great rivers and estuaries in England, and in
what are termed carses in Scotland, fine and extensive districts
of this kind exist.

The next class of soils is the Light or Free. These are
readily distinguished from the last by their smaller degree of
tenacity. They are less suited for the production of wheat and
beans than the clays, but they are better suited for the produc-
tion of plants cultivated for their roots and tubers, as the tur-
nip and the potato.

This class of soils may be divided into two kinds, or sub-
classes, differing from each other in certain characters, but
agreeing in the common property of being less tenacious in their
parts than the clays.

The first of these sub-classes of the lighter soils has been
termed the Sandy.

The sandy soils are of all the degrees from barrenness to fer-
tility. When wholly without cohesion in their parts, they are
altogether barren, and are only rendered productive by the ad-
mixture of other substances. The cultivated sands part readily
with their moisture on the application of heat. They do not
become hard like the clays, and, making no considerable resist-
ance to external pressure, they are tilled with little labour.

The poorer sands are almost always marked by the scantiness
of their natural herbage. This character they possess in com-
mon with the poorer gravels. Other soils, even the poorest,
may be thickly covered with the plants peculiar to them ; but
the poorer sands and gravels usually put forth their natural
herbs with a sparingness which denotes the absence of vege-
table nourishment.

But sand, without losing its distinctive character as a soil,
may possess a greater cohesiveness in its particles, and be fer-

2

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 7

tile by nature or rendered so by art ; and then the soils deno-
minated sandy become of deserved estimation. Rich sands are
early in maturing the cultivated plants, and thence they are
familiarly termed kindly soils. They are fit for the production
of every kind of herbage and grain. They yield to the richer
clays in the power of producing wheat, but they surpass them
in the production of rye and barley. They are well suited to
the growth of the cultivated grasses ; and, when left in peren-
nial pasture, they are quickly covered with the natural plants
of the soil. But their distinguishing character is their peculiar
adaptation to the raising of the plants cultivated for their roots
and tubers.

The next division of the lighter soils, and allied in characters
to the sandy, is the Gravelly.

Sands will frequently be found to be the production of flat
countries, gravels of the mountainous and rocky. The charac-
teristic of the gravelly soils is the quantity of loose stones which
they contain. These stones will be found to consist of those
varieties of rock which the mountains of the country afford ;
and the nature of these rocks will frequently indicate the cha-
racters of the soil ; thus soils, of which the stony matter is very
siliceous, are generally found to be barren, while those of which
it is calcareous are found to be fertile.

Sands, upon examination, will be found to consist of small
particles of stony matter, and thus sands may be said to differ
from gravels only in the more minute division of their parts.
Yet, in this minuteness of division, there is generally sufficient
to distinguish the two kinds of soils. The stony matter of the
sand forms its principal component part, while the larger stones
in the gravel, which give to it its name and character, seem only
to be mixed with the other necessary parts of the soil. The
stone of the one has undergone a considerable mechanical divi-
sion, while much of that of the other has only been loosened, in
sensible masses, from its native bed. Any light soil, mixed
with a sufficient portion of stones, is gravel ; and gravel, there-
fore, is nothing else than the different kinds of light soils, mixed
with a greater or less proportion of stones.

8 SOILS.

Gravels, like sands, have all the gradations of quality, from
fertility to barrenness. The loose soils of this nature, in which
the undecomposed material is great, and the intervening soil
siliceous, are held to be the worst of their kind. These are, in
some places, termed hungry gravels, not only to denote their
poverty, but their tendency to devour, as it were, manure, with-
out any corresponding nourishment to themselves. As the tex-
ture and quality of the intervening earth improve, so does the
quality of the entire soil ; and gravels, like sands and clays, ad-
vancing through all the intermediate degrees, may become at
last of great fertility.

The rich gravels will produce all the cultivated kinds of
grain. Their looser texture renders them less suited than the
clays to the growth of wheat and beans, but they are admirably
adapted to the growth of barley and oats. They are quick in
their powers of producing vegetation ; and, from this quality,
they are, in some places, termed sharp or quick soils. They
readily admit of alternations of herbage and tillage, and im-
prove in a state of perennial pasturage. They are generally
trusty soils with regard to the quality of the grain which they
yield ; and, in this respect, they differ from many of the sands,
in which the quality of the grain produced does not always ac-
cord with its early promise. It is well, then, even in the best
sands, to see a tendency to gravel, which denotes a sharpness,
as it is termed, in the soil. Gravels, like sands, are suited to
the culture of the different kinds of plants raised for their roots
and tubers ; and they are in so peculiar a degree suited to the
growth of turnips, that, in some parts, they receive the dis-
tinguishing appellation of turnip soils.

The last division of the lighter soils consists of those which
are termed Peaty.

The matter of the soils of this class is dark in its colour,
spongy in its texture, and full of the stems and other parts of
plants, either entire or in a state of partial decay. It is gene-
rally tough and elastic ; and, when dried, loses greatly of its
weight, and becomes inflammable. These, the most observable
characteristics of the soils termed peaty, will distinguish them.

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 0

in their natural state, from every other ; and, even when they
shall have been greatly improved by culture, enough of their
original characters will remain to make them known.

Peat, it has been said, consists of vegetable matter which has
undergone a peculiar change. Under a degree of temperature
not sufficiently great to decompose the plants that have sprung
up upon the surface, these plants accumulate ; and, aided by a
certain degree of humidity, are converted into peat, which is
either found in strata upon the surface of plains, or accumulated
in great beds on the tops and acclivities of mountains, or in val-
lies, hollows, and ravines. Successive layers of plants being
added to the mass, it continues to increase, under circumstances
favourable to its production. Water is a necessary agent in its
formation, and we may believe, too, a peculiar temperature,
since it is only in the cold and temperate, and not in the warmer
regions of the earth, that it is found to be produced. The
plants which form it have not entirely decayed, but still retain
their fibrous texture ; and, from the action of certain natural
agents, have acquired properties altogether distinct from those
which, in their former condition, they were possessed of. They
have now formed a spongy elastic inflammable body, and so
different from the common matter of vegetables as to be highly
antiseptic.

The plants whose progress towards decomposition has been
thus arrested, are very various. Over the greater part of the
surface of the primary and transition districts of colder coun-
tries, the peat is chiefly formed of mosses, and other crypto-
gamic plants, mixed with the heaths and other plants which
had grown along with it. Sometimes the peat has been form-
ed in swamps and lakes, and at other times the humidity of
the climate has been sufficient to form it in one continued bed,
covering the whole surface of the country.

Of the heaths which enter into the composition of peat, that
hardy species the common ling, Calluna vulgaris, is the na-
tive inhabitant of the alpine countries of northern Europe, and
grows in vigour, and overspreads the surface, where hardly
any of the other larger plants would live. But although this

10 SOILS.

and other species of heath are very generally converted into
peat, this is not necessarily or universally so. By the growth
and decay of the roots and stems, a soil is indeed formed ; but
then this may take place in the same manner as in other soils,
and without the actual conversion of the upper stratum into
peat. This, however, in the case of the cold and moist coun-
tries of the north of Europe, is comparatively rare, for gene-
rally the heaths, from the slowness of decomposition of their
ligneous roots and stems, are wholly or partially converted into
peat. In the cases in which these plants are not converted into
peat, a dry and turfy soil is formed, different in aspect from
that formed by the gramineous and other easily decomposed
plants, but still produced in the same manner, though, like the
peaty soils, elastic and inflammable, on account of the great
quantity of ligneous matter in its composition. The soil itself
is generally thin and little favourable to vegetation. It usually
rests upon a subsoil of siliceous sand, and sometimes of chalk,
and then it is comprehended under the class of soils termed light.

The soil formed of peat would, from its vegetable composi-
tion, seem to contain within it the necessary elements of ferti-
lity, and yet this is not found to be so. The excess of ve-
getable matter which it contains is injurious rather than use-
ful. In the state of nature it is often found to be as barren as
the sand of the desert, and scarcely to deserve the name of
soil, until the labour of art has been extended to its improve-
ment, and even then it is not entirely divested of its original
characters.

The effect of a thorough draining off of the water of peat,
continued for a long time, is to carry away the antiseptic mat-
ter which it contains. When the water of peat has ceased to
be turbid and comes off clear, then we have the assurance that
the peat is freed of the principles injurious to vegetation. This
is the greatest improvement of which peat is susceptible, and
when we have brought it to this condition, the main difficulty
of improving it has ceased.

Peat may then be brought to the state of what has been
termed loam. In this ameliorated condition it becomes a soil of

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 11

the lighter kind, well suited to the culture of the larger-rooted
plants. It is dark in its colour like the richest vegetable loam,
and to the inexperienced eye may pass as such. But still, un-
less greatly corrected in its texture by the application of the
earths, it is found to be porous and loose, too quickly saturated
with moisture, and too easily freed from it. In this improved
condition it will yield bulky crops of oats and barley, although
the quantity of the grain will not always correspond with the
weight of the stem, nor the quality of the grain with its quan-
tity.

Soils, then, we have seen, may be distinguished according
to their texture and constitution, when they may be divided
into two classes, — the stiff or strong, denominated Clays, — the
light or free, subdivided into the Sandy, Gravelly, and Peaty ;
and all these, again, may be distinguished,

1st, According to their powers of production, when they are
termed Rich or Poor ; and

2d, According to their habitual relation with respect to
moisture, when they are termed Wet or Dry.

This simple nomenclature of soils is sufficiently intelligible
to the practical farmer. The farmer chiefly regards soils with
relation to their fertility, and the means of cultivating them,
and he naturally classifies them according to these views. A
main distinction between soils, in practice, is founded upon
their comparative productiveness, and this is the distinction
which is most important with regard to mere value. We con-
stantly refer to soils with reference to their good or bad quali-
ties, without adverting to the particular circumstances which
render them of good or bad quality. We speak familiarly,
for example, of land worth 30s. 40s. and 50s. the acre, with-
out considering whether it be a fertile clay, a fertile sand, or a
highly improved peat. We speak of it with reference to its
fertility and value alone. But those other distinctions, which
are derived from its constitution aud texture, are essential
when we regard the manner of cultivating such a soil ; for the
same method of tillage, and the same succession of crops, as
will be afterwards seen, do not apply to all rich or to all poor

12 soils.

soils, but are determined by the character of the soil, as de-
rived from its other properties.

Though soils are thus distinguished by external characters,
they pass into each other by such gradations, that it is often
difficult to say to what class they belong. These intermediate
soils, too, are the most numerous class in all countries. Tho
soils termed peaty, indeed, form a peculiar class, always mark-
ed by distinctive characters ; but even these, when mixed with
other substances, pass into the earthy soils, by imperceptible
gradations. We may say, therefore, that the greater part of
soils consists of an intermediate class, and that it is often dif-
ficult to bring them under any division, derived from their tex-
ture alone. Such soils, however, can always be distinguished
by their powers of production. They are good, bad, or inter-
mediate between good and bad ; and their relative value is de-
termined by the produce which, under similar circumstances,
they will yield.

II. THE PROPERTIES OF SOILS, AS DETERMINED BY CHEMICAL
ANALYSIS.

Having examined the external characters of soils, we might
inquire into their properties, as determined by chemical ana-
lysis. This, however, is a branch of the extensive subject of
agricultural chemistry, into which it would not be consistent
with the practical and elementary nature of this work to enter
at length. It is merely proposed, therefore, to direct the at-
tention of the reader to this part of the science of agriculture,
and to make known to him a few results which have been ar-
rived at.

The soil has been said to be a compound of mineral sub-
stances, mixed with a portion of vegetable and animal matter.

The vegetable and animal matter of the soil exists either in
a state of mixture, or of chemical union with the minerals of
the soil.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 13

The mineral matter of the soil forms greatly the larger part
of it, and necessarily consists of the same substances which
constitute the mountain rocks and mineral masses which are
found on the earth, and which form its crust or covering. The
hardest rocks break down by degrees, and are decomposed by
the influence of air and moisture. Sometimes the decomposed
matter remains upon the rocky basis from which it had been
derived, and there forms a soil; but more frequently the ac-
tion of water has mingled together the different mineral masses
and strata which are found on the earth.

The great body of the soil, then, is a mixture of the various
mineral substances which are upon the earth, and is resolvable
into the same constituent parts. Now, all the rocks and other
mineral masses which exist on the surface of the earth, are
found to consist of a few bodies, the principal of which are four
earths, — silica, alumina, lime, and magnesia, — oxide of iron,
soda, and potassa. In like manner, the great mass of the mi-
neral part of the soil is resolvable into silica, alumina, lime,
magnesia, oxide of iron, soda, and potassa.

The manner in which this compound body may be conceived
to exist is the following : Let it be supposed that the dif-
ferent minerals on the surface of the earth are more or less
decomposed, broken, ground down, as it were, and mingled to-
gether.

Some are in the form of stones, and are therefore merely
varieties of the different rocks of a country. These form loose
stones and gravel, which we see accordingly to be every- where
mingled with the soil, and to form often a great proportion of
it.

A more minute comminution reduces these mineral sub-
stances to sand. This is the form in which the largest part of
all soils exists, and when it is in a very considerable proportion
to the whole, the soil is termed sandy.

When the parts are more comminuted still, and reduced by
chemical or mechanical means to powder, the soil appears to
be in the state most favourable to vegetation. All our finest
soils contain a large comparative proportion of their parts re-

14 SOILS.

duced to this state of division ; and where none of this finely
divided substance, or a small quantity of it only, exists, the
soil is barren.

Of the substances which form the constituent parts of mine-
rals, the most widely diffused is silica. Stones in which it ex-
ists in large quantity are usually very hard. The sand of the
sea-shore is mostly siliceous, and siliceous sand forms vast de-
serts in every part of the world.

In quartz, and in felspar, silica exists nearly pure, and it
forms 98 parts in 100 of common flint. It is from its abun-
dance in quartz, a mountain rock of universal diffusion, and in
felspar, which is likewise one of the most abundant minerals in
nature, that silica is important as forming a principal consti-
tuent part of all the loose mineral matter of the surface of the
earth, and consequently of all soils. Quartz is a rock of con-
stant occurrence, and its disintegrated parts have been every-
where washed into the plains to form an element of the soil.
Quartz has been found to consist of silica, alumina, and a
small quantity of oxide of iron. Quartz is also an integrant
part of sandstone, and other rocks of general diffusion. It en-
ters largely into the composition of granite and other primary
rocks. It forms, in short, a part of the rocks in all the series
of formations which geologists enumerate ; and thus silica is
the most universally diffused mineral substance on the surface of
the earth, and forms a part, accordingly, of every soil that is
known to us.

Alumina, next to silica, is the most generally diffused of the
earths. United with silica, it forms a great proportion of all
the rocks and mineral masses on the earth. It is accordingly
everywhere found ; and forms a part of every soil not wholly
barren. Kneaded with water it becomes a ductile paste, and
is the substance which chiefly gives their plastic and ductile
characters to the soils termed clays. It retains water more
strongly than any of the other earths.

Silica and alumina, then, forming the largest part of the
rocks and minerals which exist upon the surface of the earth,
enter the most largely into the composition of soils ; and in

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 15

these they are found to exist, either as grains of sand, or as
gravel, or in the form of a fine powder.

Lime, the next of the earths, is one which is of wide exten-
sion, and performs an important function in the vegetable eco-
nomy. In nature this mineral is usually found in combination
with acids. Combined with carbonic acid, it constitutes the
numerous varieties of marble, limestone, and chalk. In this
and other combinations, it exists in rocks, in soils, in the wa-
ters of the ocean, in plants, and in animals. It forms great
beds, and numerous minerals in combination with silica and
alumina.

It is chiefly from the carbonate that the lime used in agri-
culture is derived. By exposing the carbonate to strong heat,
the carbonic acid is driven off, and that which remains is the
caustic earth, to which we give the name of quicklime. This
substance has a strong affinity for water, which it will absorb
from the atmosphere. When the water is applied in quantity,
it is absorbed by the lime, with a great evolution of heat ; and
this is the process of slacking so well known. The lime thus
combined with water attracts carbonic acid, and again becomes
carbonate of lime ; although, in this state of carbonate, it pre-
sents external characters entirely different from those which
it possessed in its original state of marble, limestone, and chalk.
But it is in external characters only, and in the lesser degree
of cohesion of its parts, that it differs, for otherwise the sub-
stances are the same.

By the minute division of its parts by heat, we are enabled
to apply lime to the soil in the state of a finely divided powder,
and thus in the best form for improving the texture of the
soil. It is from this cause doubtless, as well as those import-
ant purposes which it serves as a manure, that this earth is
of such importance to the husbandman. Could we apply the
earths silica and alumina to the soil in their pure state, or
could we reduce them by mechanical or chemical means to pow-
der, we should be able to apply them in a form calculated to
improve the texture of the soil.

Lime exists in all soils formed by the decomposition of rooks ;

i<; soils.

but in soils formed wholly by the aggregation of vegetables,
as peat, it does not necessarily exist. It improves the quality
of all soils, whether they are formed of silica, alumina, or ve-
getable matter.

Silica, alumina, and lime, forming the principal part of soils,
and, where any one of them prevails, giving its character to
the soil, it is frequently convenient to distinguish soils, as being
Siliceous, Aluminous, or Calcareous. Where silica prevails,
as in the case of many sands, w?e may call the soil siliceous ;
where clay prevails we may call the soil aluminous ; and where
lime exists in quantity, as in the case of chalk, we may call the
soil calcareous. Thus, in addition to the less artificial divi-
sion of the farmer, derived from the texture and external cha-
racters of the soil, we may use those derived from its compo-
sition.

Magnesia, in various states of combination, exists in nature
in considerable quantity. It is generally found in combination
with acids, as the carbonic. It exists along with silica, alu-
mina, lime, iron, and other substances. The minerals of which
it forms a part, generally feel soft and unctuous. It is the prin-
cipal constituent of various mountain rocks, as serpentine and
chlorite-slate ; and thus being an element in many rocks and
minerals, it must form a considerable part of soils. Magnesia,
however, is less generally diffused than lime, and may perhaps
perform a less important function in the economy of vegetation.
When it exists in such quantity as to give a character to the
soil, we may term the soil Magnesian.

The next substance that exists largely diffused in the mine-
ral kingdom, is oxide, or rather peroxide, of iron.

Iron, as it is the most useful of the metals, so it is generally
diffused on the earth. It is derived, for the purposes of the
arts, from a series of minerals termed ores of iron. It is found
extensively in mountain rocks ; and it exists, accordingly, in
more or less quantity, in almost every soil. Its precise ef-
. however, on the productive powers of soils, have not
been well determined ; some soils, where it exists, being ex-
tremely barren, while in some very fertile soils, it exists in large

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 17

quantity. Soils which contain much of iron may be termed.
Ferruginous.

The alkalies, soda and potassa, are also found in soils, be-
ing extensive products of the mineral kingdom. They are
found in nature combined with various acids.

Soils, then, consist chiefly of silica, alumina, lime, magnesia,
oxide of iron, potassa, and soda, together with a portion of
matter derived from organic substances.

From various experiments, it is known, that plants con-
sume in growing, the decomposed animal and vegetable mat-
ter which the soil contains. It is rendered probable also by
experiments, that a portion of the earthy matter of the soil,
— the silica, the alumina, the lime, as well as various saline
substances contained in it, — is absorbed by the plant, though
in minute quantity, as compared to the animal and vegetable
matter absorbed.

Further, the medium of supply of the matter of nutrition
contained in the soil, may be regarded as water holding in
solution the vegetable, animal, and other matters which pass
into the roots of plants. The soil, then, may be chiefly re-
garded,

1st, As the instrument for fixing the roots of plants in the
ground; and,

2d, As a medium for conveying to them the water holding
dissolved the different substances which pass into the plant.

The air may be considered as a vehicle for conveying water
to the soil. It is continually charged with aqueous vapour,
which partly descends to the earth in rains, and is partly de-
posited in dews, in the cool of the night. In many countries
it never rains at certain seasons, and the whole moisture is
supplied by the dew. In this case in an especial degree, and
in all cases in a certain degree, the power of the earth to ab-
sorb moisture from the air, may be regarded as connected with
the means of the soil to nourish plants.

All our fertile soils, accordingly, have a power of thus sup-
plying themselves with moisture, and of retaining it for the

R

18 SOILS.

proper time ; while infertile soils either have less of this absor-
bent power, or retain the fluid absorbed for a shorter time.
This was known to the ancients, one of the marks which
they gave of a fertile soil being, that it freely imbibed water.

Of the different matters which enter into the composition
of soils, animal and vegetable substances possess the greatest
power of absorbing moisture ; and the addition of animal and
vegetable substances always increases the fertility of soils.

Of the pure earths, the least absorbent is silica, and it is
that also which parts the most readily with its moisture. A
soil consisting of too great a proportion of siliceous sand is
always infertile. It imbibes the aqueous vapour of the atmo-
sphere with slowness, and parts with it quickly. A soil of sili-
ceous sand will scarcely be penetrated by the dew of night,
and will part with it on the first action of the morning rays of
the sun.

While pure silica will imbibe scarce a fourth part of its weight
of water, lime will absorb nearly its own weight, and alumina
two and a-half times its weight. But while the silica will
absorb a smaller quantity than alumina or carbonate of lime,
it will allow it to evaporate two times more quickly than car-
bonate of lime equally divided, and five times more quickly
than alumina in the same state.* The addition of carbonate
of lime or alumina to a soil containing too much silica, never
fails to increase its powers of absorption and its fertility.

The order in which the principal substances that enter into
the composition of soils possess an absorbent power, is the
following :

1. Animal and vegetable substances.

2. Alumina.

3. Carbonate of Lime.

4. Silica.

It appears, too, that the more perfectly a portion of the soil
is comminuted, decomposed, and reduced, the greater is the
power of absorption which it possesses.

* Chimie appliqu^e a l'Agrioulture, par M. le Compte Chaptal.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 19

But, although certain earths in their separate state have a
greater power of absorption than others, it does not follow,
that a soil consisting chiefly of that one earth would possess a
greater power of absorption than a soil composed of a mixture
of earths, even though these earths should in themselves be less
absorbent. Thus, a soil consisting chiefly of aluminous earth,
though alumina is itself the most absorbent of all the earths,
taking water up in the greatest quantity when poured upon it,
as well as retaining it the longest, is not really so absorbent as
when it is mixed with other earths. Hence, the stiffer clays
are not the soils which absorb water readily from the atmo-
sphere. Such soils, when the weather is dry, become indurated
upon the surface, which presents an obstacle to absorption ;
and thus we find, that the vegetation of very stiff clays is al-
most as soon injured by drought as that of sandy soils, and
much more quickly than that of good loams.

A mixture of siliceous sand, then, with a very aluminous soil,
although the sand is the less absorbent substance of the two,
increases the general power of absorption from the atmosphere ;
so also does a mixture of lime, and, in an eminent degree, of
animal and vegetable matter.

It is not, then, the prevalence of any one earth that consti-
tutes a soil well fitted to absorb humidity. A mixture of cer-
tain proportions of alumina and silica, of carbonate of lime, and
of vegetable and animal matter, appears to be the best suited
for absorbing the humidity of the atmosphere, of preserving it,
and transmitting it the most regularly to the plant.

Neither is the prevalence of any one earth in a soil favour-
able to its general powers of production. Too great a propor-
tion of alumina forms a soil too stiff and tenacious. Such a
soil will, from this cause, be found to be unproductive. A soil
consisting of carbonate of lime only, as we see in the case of
chalk, is a bad soil. A soil consisting of alumina and carbon-
ate of lime only, as we see in the case of clay-marl, is unpro-
ductive as a soil, until mixed with other substances. A soil
consisting chiefly of silica, is often so barren as to be incapable
of sustaining vegetation at all.

n 2

20 SOILS.

Some, founding on the experiments of Sir Humphry Davy,
have been led to the opinion, that the fertility of soils is directly
indicated by their power of absorbing water from the atmo-
sphere, and that their relative fertility may be estimated by
this circumstance alone. Sir Humphry Davy compared to-
gether the absorbent power of various soils with respect to the
moisture of the atmosphere, and found it to be the greatest in
the most fertile. Thus, 1000 parts of a very fertile soil from
the banks of the river Parret in Somersetshire, when dried at
212°, gained in an hour, when exposed to air saturated with
moisture at the temperature of 62°, 16 grains.

1000 parts of a soil from Mersea in Essex, worth 45s. an
acre, gained, under the same circumstances, 13 grains.

1000 parts of a fine sand from Essex, worth 28s. an acre,
gained 11 grains.

1000 parts of a coarse sand, worth 15s. an acre, gained only
8 grains.

1000 parts of the soil of Bagshot-heath gained only 3 grains.

It is an error, however, to hold that the relative fertility of
soils may be determined by their power under the circumstances
mentioned, to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Peat-
earth is a very absorbent soil, but it is not a soil of great fer-
tility. To infer that the fertility of soils depends upon their
powers either to absorb or to retain moisture, were to reason
as if these were the only conditions of fertility in soils, which
does not appear to be the case ; and other experiments accord-
ingly do not bear out the conclusion that the fertility of soils
depends upon these properties. But this may be inferred,
that all productive soils have a considerable power of absorb-
ing moisture and retaining it when so absorbed, and that this
property does not depend on the prevalence of any one sub-
stance, but on a mixture of several substances.

It has been found also, we have seen, that the fertility of
soils, however produced, is not dependent on the prevalence of
any one mineral in the soil, but on a mixture or combination
of several. But what the precise proportion of these is which
is most favourable to fertility, has not vet been determined.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 21

Without detailing any of the numerous experiments of che-
mical analysis that have been made, with the design of ascer-
taining this and other points relating to the properties of soils,
the following conclusions may be given as apparently deducible
from the investigations that have taken place : —

1. Soils in which a large quantity of silica and alumina ex-
ists in the state of fine division, are comparatively fertile.

2. Soils in which the quantity of siliceous sand is large are
comparatively infertile ; while soils in which the sand is fine
and only partially siliceous, are comparatively fertile.

3. Iron exists in all soils, but does not influence their fer-
tility in proportion to its larger or smaller quantity.

4. An excess of the acid combinations of the oxide of iron,
and certain other saline bodies, is hurtful to vegetation.

5. Carbonate of lime exists in the best soils, and, generally,
though not always, in larger quantity in the better than in the
inferior soils.

6. Certain earths possess the power of combining chemically
with animal and vegetable matter, and of retaining it for a
longer or shorter time. Thus, alumina and lime form certain
compounds of greater or less insolubility with animal and ve-
getable matters, while silica will not enter into the same com-
binations ; and hence it is that aluminous and calcareous soils
retain for a longer time the manure applied to them than sili-
ceous soils.

7. When water is in excess in the soil, and when vegetable
matter is present, acid is formed which is injurious to the pro-
ductive powers of the soil. Farmers are familiar with this
effect, and say that the soil is soured.

8. Soils, besides absorbing moisture from the air, appear to
absorb carbon and other matters nutrimental to plants.

These are the principal results to which the chemistry of agri-
culture has conducted us with respect to soils. This branch of
science, however, may be said to be as yet imperfect, and a large
field of useful investigation still remains for the philosophical
inquirer. Although it may be said that much has not been

22 soils.

done with relation to the really useful, which observation and
practice had not before shown, yet we have at least escaped
from the errors of former opinions, and so far the path of fur-
ther inquiry is more open to us.

Amongst other results to which this species of investigation
has conducted us, we have seen — that the practice known to agri-
culturists of mixing together different kinds of earths, admits
of explanation on principles founded on our knowledge of the
composition of soils : that the beneficial action of manures de-
pends upon a proper constitution and texture of the mineral
portion of the soil, and that hence to derive the full benefit of
manures, the province of the cultivator is to improve the tex-
ture and constitution of the soil : that the comminution of the
component parts of the soil is beneficial, as rendering the whole
more pervious to the air, and the vapour, and other matters,
with which the atmosphere is charged : and further, we have
been enabled to render our common nomenclature of soils more
precise, by distinguishing them by the terms Siliceous, Alumi-
nous, Calcareous, Magnesian, and Ferruginous, as silica, alu-
mina, lime, magnesia, and iron, prevail in their composition.

We might now proceed to consider the relation existing be-
tween the soils of a country and its geological condition. This
is a subject interesting to the scientific agriculturist. But, how-
ever curious the investigation might prove, it is not necessary
for that practical illustration of the subject of soils, which con-
sists with the design of this work. Besides, to characterize the
quality of soils, as affected by the geological nature of the coun-
try or district, is to view the subject in a somewhat more ex-
tended manner than is consistent with the common purposes of
the farmer. Although it is found that a relation may be gene-
rally traced between the nature of the rocks of a country or dis-
trict, and its fertility — as, in the British Islands, between the
new red sandstone and the finest districts of the country ; be-
tween the coal formation, under certain circumstances, and a
ferruginous and somewhat ungrateful soil ; between the mag-
nesian limestone and a tract of comparative infertility ; between
the lias formation and one of comparative productiveness, and

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. Zo

so on — yet many degrees of quality may exist in the soils of the
same series of rocks, and in the same country ; and even all the
contrast between great fertility and great barrenness may be
found within the limits of a single field. We must, therefore,
narrow our views when we examine the soils which we have oc-
casion to cultivate, and regard, not their properties with rela-
tion to an entire district, but their minuter shades of fertility
and character.

We have thus considered their properties as determined by
their external characters, and in part by their chemical com-
position. We may now consider their characters as determined
by their vegetable productions.

III. THE PROPERTIES OF SOILS AS DETERMINED BY THEIR
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.

WHEN we regard the distribution of plants in different re-
gions, we perceive that this is determined by causes which have
little relation to the nature of the soil on which the plants grow.
The soils of all countries are, in their essential characters, alike.
The same mineral masses, composed of the same substances,
exist over all the world, and yield, by their disintegration or
decomposition, the same materials for the forming of soils.

But, although the mineral matter of the soils of all countries
is thus similar in its constituent parts, it is altogether different
with the vegetation by which these soils are characterized.
Every zone, from the equator to the polar circle, is distinguished
by a different vegetation, and different regions have their pecu-
liar plants. A district of granite, of sandstone, or trap, in
southern Asia, will yield the same materials for forming soils
as similar districts in northern Europe, while the vegetation
produced will scarcely possess any common character.

Amongst the natural causes which affect the vegetation of
countries, the influence of temperature is that which is the most
obvious to the senses. When we pass from a warm country to
a cold, we perceive a change in the whole character of the vege-

24 soils.

tation. We cannot ascend a mountain without finding such a
change in the kinds of plants produced, and in the vigour with
which they grow, dependent upon the change of temperature.
The degree of moisture, too, the distance or proximity of the
sea, and other circumstances connected with the climate and
physical condition of the country, affect the nature of its vege-
table productions, and show, that the influence of soil, with re-
spect to the kinds of plants produced, is entirely subordinate to
that of temperature and the effects of climate.

When we extend, then, the range of our observation to dif-
ferent and distant countries, we see that the nature of the plants
cannot indicate that of the soils on which they grow. It is only
within narrow limits, and under given conditions of climate,
that the kinds of plants afford any indication of the nature of
the soils which produce them.

Within certain geographical limits, however, as those of a
country having throughout nearly the same climate with respect
to temperature and humidity, useful rules may be given for
distinguishing soils by means of the plants which they produce.
Numerous species of plants, indeed, will grow, with equal rea-
diness, on different kinds of soil ; yet there are other species
which affect particular soils, and in their wild state do not grow
on any other. Thus, there are plants whose natural habitat is
peat, others which grow on soils charged with moisture, and
others on soils which are dry ; some which, under the like con-
ditions of humidity and temperature, are proper to the light and
siliceous soils, some to the stiff and aluminous, some to the cal-
careous.

But, as even within the limits of a single country, pretty simi-
lar in its climate throughout, variations must exist of altitude,
and, consequently, of temperature, — of exposure to particular
winds, and, consequently, of humidity, — of proximity or dis-
tance from the sea, and other circumstances affecting the ha-
bitats of plants, — it is often difficult to indicate the precise
nature of a soil merely by its prevailing vegetation. It is al-
most always possible, however, to determine from this circum-

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 25

stance, whether the soil be wet or dry, and whether it be fer-
tile or infertile.

It is for the last mentioned purpose, namely, determining
the character of a soil with respect to its fertility, that the
examination of its vegetable produce is the most important in
practice. The nature of a soil, with regard to its texture and
composition, will generally be best determined by an examina-
tion of the substance itself. But its fertility, or power of pro-
duction, may be judged of from its natural produce ; in part
from the kinds of plants which are peculiar to it, and in part
from the luxuriance with which they grow.

When we cast the eye over a tract c^f country, we have ge-
nerally little difficulty in determining whether this tract be bar-
ren or fertile. The general aspect of the vegetation, whether
stunted or vigorous, the absence or presence of heaths, the
richness of the sward, the cleanness and straightness of the
stems of trees, the verdure of the foliage, and the like, present
to the eye a general character not readily mistaken.

When we observe a tract covered with luxuriant grasses and
other plants, and with vigorous shrubs and trees, we naturally
associate these appearances with fertility in the soil itself.
When, again, we see a tract of heaths or naked sands, with the
plants small or sickly, the soil thinly covered with lichens,
mosses, and other inferior plants, the eye alone is sufficient to
indicate that the tract is absolutely or relatively infertile.

The same method of judging of the productiveness of the
soil may be extended to a field or to a farm. Let us direct
the eye over it, and its general character with relation to its
vegetable productions, will impress us at once with an idea of
its fertility or barrenness.

This conclusion, indeed, will not be so securely arrived at if
the surface be limited to a single field, and still less if that
field shall be cultivated, in which case the effects of art, and
the stimulus of cultivation, may disguise the natural characters
of the soil. But if the range of our observation shall be so ex-
tended as to take in a sufficient number of fields and objects,

26 soils.

as trees, shrubs, hedges, and natural meadows, we shall scarce-
ly fail, if the eye be at all accustomed to country objects, to
arrive at a tolerably correct conclusion as to the general cha-
racter of the soil in respect to fertility ; and our conclusions
will be yet more satisfactory and precise, if wTe know the par-
ticular kinds of plants which thus give the character of infer-
tility or productiveness to the soil.

The plants the most important in this species of examina-
tion are the heaths, the grasses, and other herbage plants. In
the vast forests of the New World, a common method resorted
to by settlers for judging of the comparative productiveness of
soils, is by observing the kind of trees produced, whether pine,
cedar, hickory, or oak. This is because the principal vegeta-
ble productions of these countries are wood. But with us the
principal vegetable productions are the heaths, the grasses,
and other plants that form the sward. These may be said to
cover the entire surface of the country when not extirpated
by art ; and they afford, accordingly, the readiest means which
vegetable productions present of judging of the properties of
soils.

The fertility of soils, generally speaking, is denoted by their
power to yield the useful plants ; and it is a law, with few ex-
ceptions, that the poorer the soil is, the less nutritious are the
plants which, in its natural state, it produces. The soils of
the poorest class produce mosses, lichens, and heaths, which
are less nutritious than the grasses. As the soil improves in
quality, the grasses become intermixed with the heaths, li-
chens, and mosses. But the grasses are still inferior and little
nutritious. As the soil continues to improve, the grasses be-
come more valuable in their kind, and more numerous in their
species ; and, in like manner, the leguminous and other herb-
age plants indicate, by their kinds and greater numbers, the
increasing fertility of the soil. A square foot of rich old turf
has been found to contain 1000 separate plants of twenty dis-
tinct species * ; while a square foot of siliceous sand will frc-

* llort. Gram. Wolnimensis.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 27

quently contain not more than half a dozen distinct plants, and
those a single species.

In the northern latitudes of Europe, the plants most gene-
rally regarded as indicative of inferior soils are the heaths.
Some of the species of this family characterize, in a peculiar
manner, the soils termed peaty. They are found, too, abun-
dantly, on the coarser clays or tills, on the poorer siliceous
sands, as those lying upon or derived from quartz, on the poorer
class of calcareous soils as chalk, and generally on all soils low
in the scale of fertility.

The soils where this kind of plant prevails, are frequently
termed heathy soils or heaths. Heathy soils have, however,
their relative degrees of productiveness, and this is generally
well denoted by the vigour with which the heaths peculiar to
them grow. Thus, a soil of stunted heaths may be regarded
as amongst the lowest in the scale of fertility, whilst a vigo-
rous growth of the plant may indicate a soil susceptible of im-
provement and cultivation.

The principal heaths of this country are : —

1. Calluna vulgaris — Common Ling;

2. Erica cinerea — Fine-leaved Heath, indicative of a dry soil ;

3. Erica Tetralix — Cross-leaved Heath, indicative of a wet soil ;

and two other species more rare and local.

Intermixed with heaths, and indicating like them, soils low
in the scale of fertility, are numerous plants. Such are : —

1. Many species of Lichens, as —

Cladonia rangiferina — Rein-deer Moss, and

Cetraria islandica — Iceland Moss.
Which two species form an exception to the more com-
mon law, by being nutritive, though produced on in-
ferior soils.

2. Empetrum nigrum — Black Crowberry or Crakeberry.

3. Salix fusca — Dwarf Silky Willow.

4. Lycopodium clavatum — Common Club-moss.

5. Genista anglica — Needle Greenweed or Petty- whin, &c.

And many of the inferior grasses, as —

1. Melica ccerulea — Purple Melic-grass.

2. Nardus stricta — Mat-grass.

28 soils.

3. Agrostis vulgaris — Fine Bent-grass.

And various Carices and Junci, — plants of an inferior kind,
■with respect to their nutritive powers.

All these species of plants indicate soils low in the scale of
fertility.

But although peaty soils produce these and other inferior
herbage plants, yet there are plants still more distinctive of
this class of soils, and which, growing only upon it, may be said
to be the true plants of peat. Such are —

1. Certain species of Sphagnum, of which the most common are : —

Sphagnum obtusifolium — Blunt-leaved Sphagnum.
Sphagnum acutifolium — Sharp-leaved Sphagnum.

It is by the decay of these species, that the great mass of '
peat appears to be formed in certain countries.

2. Eleocharis caespitosa — Scaly-stalked Spike-rush.

3. Polytrichum commune — Common Polytrichum.

4. Different species of Eriophorum or Cotton-grass., namely —

Eriophorum vaginatum — Hare's-tail Cotton-grass.
Eriophorum polystachion — Broad-leaved Cotton-grass.
Eriophorum angustifolium — Common Cotton-grass.

5. Narthecium ossifragum — Lancashire Bog-asphodel, &c.

These and other plants growing only on peat, indicate great
infertility.

Another class of plants indicating extreme dryness of the
soil, also consists of plants denoting infertility, Such are —

1. Galium verum — Yellow Bed-straw.

2. Galium saxatile — Smooth Heath Bed-straw.

3. Campanula rotundifolia — Round-leaved Bell-flower or Hare-

bell.

4. Aira prsecox — Early Hair-grass.

5. Aira caryophyllea — Silvery Hair-grass.

6. Aira cristata — Crested Hair-grass.

7. Arenaria rubra — Purple Sandwort.

8. Hieracium Pilosella — Common Mouse-ear Hawkweed.

9. Linum catharticum — Purging Flax.
10. Rumex acetosella — Sheep's-sorrel.

There is also a class of plants which indicates wetness of the
soil. These plants, however, do not necessarily indicate infer-
tility, because, in numerous cases, soils, though charged with

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 29

moisture, are naturally fertile. Of the first kind, namely,
those indicating infertility, as well as moisture, the following
are examples : —

1. Juncus squarrosus — Heath-rush.

2. Juncus acutiflorus — Sharp-flowered jointed Rush.

3. Lychnis Flos-Cuculi — Meadow Lychnis or Ragged Robin.

4. Ranunculus Flammula — Lesser Spearwort.

5. Cnicus palustris — Marsh Plume-Thistle.

6. Cardamine pratensis — Common Meadow Lady's-smock.

7. Pinguicula vulgaris — Common Butterwort.

8. Pedicularis sylvatica — Pasture Louse -wort or Dwarf Red Rattle.

9. Triglochin palustre — Marsh Arrow-grass.

10. Galium palustre — White Water Bed-straw.

11. Rhinanthus Crista-Galli — Common Yellow Rattle.

And various species of Carex, &c.

The plants which have been mentioned, indicate infertility
and wetness of the soil : others show that the soil is wet, but
do not necessarily indicate that it is infertile. Such are : —

1. Agrostis alba — Marsh Bent-grass or Fiorin.

2. Poa fluitans — Floating Meadow-grass.

3. Poa aquatica — Reed Meadow-grass.

4. Arundo Phragmites — Common Reed.

5. Alopecurus geniculatus — Floating Foxtail-grass.

6. Catabrosa aquatica — Water Whorl-grass.

7. Equisetum arvense — Corn Horsetail; and other species of Equi-

setum.

8. Veronica Beccabunga — Brooklime.

9. Polygonum amphibium — Amphibious Persicaria.

10. Stachys palustris — Marsh Woundwort.

11. Juncus effusus — Soft Rush.

12. Juncus conglomeratus — Common Rush ; and many other spe-

cies of plants.

Certain plants are held to indicate infertility where they
prevail, without being peculiar either to a very wet or very dry
situation. Such are : —

1. Euphrasia officinalis — Eyebright.

2. Prunella vulgaris — Self-heal.

3. Aira csespitosa — Turfy Hair-grass.

4. Triodia decumbens — Decumbent Heath-grass, &c.

30 SOILS.

Certain plants indicate a maritime situation. Such are : —

1. Ammophila arundinacca — Common Sea-Reed or Mat-weed.

2. Carex arenaria — Sea Carex.

3. Elynius arcnarius — Upright Sea Lyme-grass.

4. Triticum junceum — Sea Rushy Wheat-grass.

5. Statice Armeria — Thrift or Sea Gilliflower, &c.

Various plants are regarded as indicating fertility where
they prevail. Of these are : —

1. Cnicus lanceolatus — Spear Plume-Thistle.

2. Urtica dioica — Great Nettle.

3. Arctium Lappa — Common Burdock.

4. Stellaria media — Common duckweed.

5. Achillea Millefolium — Common Yarrow.

And generally speaking, all the richer and more nutritious pas-
ture grasses. Such are : —

1. Dactylis glomerata — Rough Cocksfoot.

2. Festuca pratensis — Meadow Fescue.

3. Alopecurus pratensis — Meadow Foxtail.

4. Poa trivialis — Rough-stalked Meadow-grass.

5. Lolium perenne — Ryegrass.

Those who desire to pursue this investigation more in detail,
may consult botanical works, descriptive of the plants of par-
ticular countries or districts, in which they will find the ha-
bitats of plants indicated with more or less correctness. It is
not necessary, in the present place, to extend the observa-
tions on this subject ; for in giving examples of plants, those
have been selected which are of frequent occurrence, and the
best suited to indicate the characters of soils in this country.

I shall now conclude the subject of soils, by giving a few
rules for enabling the student to distinguish soils in the situa-
tions in which they may be presented to him.

First, then, let him make such use of the indications af-
forded by the natural produce of the soils as his means of in-
formation afford. He may not know the names of the plants
that are growing naturally upon the surface, but he can al-
ways observe whether they are growing with vigour, whether

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 31

the sward is thickly covered with species, and whether the
general aspect of the part to be examined indicates fertility or
poverty.

A difficulty, which it will be well that he endeavour, in the
first place, to overcome, is to distinguish the peaty soils from
the earthy. He will experience little difficulty in this when
they are distinct from each other, and covered by their na-
tural herbage. But when they are subjected to cultivation,
or intermingled with the earthy soils of the same field, or
when a soil contains a certain portion of peat in its composi-
tion without being entirely peaty, then the eye may be de-
ceived, from their resemblance to the dark-coloured loams.
The one class of soils, however, may be of great fertility, and
the other of great barrenness : for it is to be observed that,
though peat may be often rendered fertile, its presence in soils
is always suspicious.

The soils termed peaty, it was before observed, are dark
in their colour, and loose and spongy in their texture, even
when improved by art. The soils which they most resemble
in external characters are the richer loams, but they are more
light and spongy than these, and their colour is of a duller
dark than the loams, which approach rather to a hazel hue.
Peaty soils, too, very generally lie on a retentive subsoil ; but
perhaps the best method of discriminating them in the ab-
sence of their peculiar vegetation, is by the stones which lie
upon their surface. These appear to be acted upon by the
acid matter of the peat, and present a white appearance,
which, when once observed, will not be easily mistaken again.
Coupling this indication with the dull black, as distinguished
from the brighter hazel of the loam, and, above all, with the
peculiar vegetation and steril aspect of the surface, an ob-
server will soon learn to distinguish the peaty soils from the
earthy.

In examining the earthy soils, an essential circumstance to
be regarded is, the depth of the soil, and the texture of the
subsoil. A medium depth of a soil may be held to be from
ten to twelve inches. But it will be better that it exceed a

32 soils.

foot, and this greater depth of the soil is always a favourable
indication. If the depth of the soil does not exceed six inches,
that is an unfavourable indication. Such shallow soils are
rarely good, except sometimes when they occur resting on pe-
culiar rocks, as compact limestone, and certain easily decom-
posed basalts and porphyries. If a shallow soil shall occur on
a retentive clay, or on siliceous sand, we may certainly pro-
nounce it to be bad. When in the common operations of till-
age the plough is constantly turning up a subsoil very diffe-
rent in colour from the upper stratum, that is an unfavourable
indication.

When we find the rain in a furrow of ordinary descent carry-
ing off the soil, and leaving the subsoil exposed, that is an un-
favourable indication. It is desirable to see the water in the
furrows sink down, and be absorbed, instead of carrying off
the surface soil.

If the soil be of a dull black colour, and if it present upon
the surface the white stones above referred to, that is an un-
favourable indication, as it shows that the soil has more or less
of peat in its composition.

If the soil produce sub-acpiatic plants, it is wet. If we find
that such a soil is peaty, or shallow on a retentive subsoil, it is
naturally steril. If we find that the sub-aquatic plants are tall
and vigorous, and the soil earthy and deep, the removal of the
wetness may remove the cause of infertility, and such a soil
may become of the richest kind.

If we find a soil producing naturally the superior herbage
plants, and of a good depth, that soil we may infer to be good.
When soil of this kind tends to a dark hazel colour, we may
safely reckon it amongst the superior soils.

By attention to these rules, and by a little observation and
practice, the difficulty of discriminating soils will gradually be
lessened, and at length disappear. Those who have been used
to country objects rarely experience difficulty in discriminating
soils, in so far at least as these soils are to be distinguished by
their texture, into stiff and free, or by their powers of produc-
tion into rich and poor.

( 33 )

IV. MEANS OF INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS
OF SOILS.

The means at our command of increasing the productive
powers of soils may be comprehended under the following ge-
neral heads : —

1. Supplying to the soil those organic and earthy substances
which may be required.

2. Altering its texture, depth, and properties, by tillage and
other means.

3. Changing its relation with respect to moisture.

4. Changing its relation with respect to temperature.

Vegetable and animal matters, in a decomposing state, ap-
pear to act in various ways in increasing the productive powers
of the soil. They improve its texture, and they may be sup-
posed to increase its power to absorb and retain moisture ; but
above all, they supply that matter, which, in whatever form
conveyed to the organs of plants, tends to nourish them. This
matter being absorbed by the roots of the plants, it must be
supplied when exhausted.

Experience has in every age accordingly taught the hus-
bandman to supply those substances to the soil ; and the doing
so forms one of the most important means at his command of
maintaining or increasing its fertility.

Besides the animal and vegetable matter which is mixed or
combined with the mineral part of the soil, and is essential to
its productiveness, the mineral parts themselves, it has been
seen, require to be mixed together in certain proportions, and
in certain states of division, in order to produce the greatest
degree of fertility.

Silica and alumina form the principal mineral part of the
soil. If one or other of these earths be in excess, the soil is de-
fective in its composition. If the alumina prevail, the soil is
too adhesive ; if the silica prevail, it is too loose. A medium
is seen to be the best ; and although the precise proportions in

c

34 soils.

which the alumina and silica should exist have not been deter-
mined, it is safer that there be a tendency to an excess of alu-
mina than of silica. Further, the fertility of the soil depends
on the state of mechanical division of these minerals.

It would appear, then, to be a mean of improving the com-
position of a soil, to add to it siliceous matter when it is found
to be too stiff, and aluminous matter when it is found to be too
loose ; and, further, to reduce these substances to their greatest
degree of mechanical division.

Sometimes, accordingly, we have the means of improving the
constitution of soils, by mixing sand with clay, or clay with
sand. But, in practice, the direct mixing of these twTo sub-
stances for the purpose of producing a soil of better texture is
rare ; first, because the expense of this species of improvement
is considerable ; and, second, because, in the state in which sand
and clay are usually available for this purpose, it seldom hap-
pens that the aluminous matter of the one, or the siliceous
matter of the other, is in that state of minute division which is
favourable to fertility.

It is otherwise with the earth lime. This can, in all cases,
be reduced by heat to that state of minute division which is
favourable to the productiveness of soils ; and hence it can al-
ways be applied with benefit to those soils in which it is want-
ing.

Lime is sometimes mixed, in its natural state, with alumi-
nous and siliceous matter. It then forms marl, a substance
which is frequently applied to soils to improve them. It is
chiefly to the lighter soils that marl is suited ; for then, not
only is lime supplied, but alumina, which improves the texture
of the soil. It is by means of this mixture that some of the
greatest improvements on siliceous sands that have taken place
in Europe have been effected.

There are cases in which even calcareous matter is in excess
in soils. This occurs especially in districts where the chalk
formation exists. When the earthy stratum resting upon the
chalk is very thin, the chalky matter becomes mixed with it,
and, being then in excess, forms a barren soil.

INCREASING THEIR PRODUCTIVE POWERS. 3.5

An obvious method of amending the composition of a soil of
this kind is by adding any of the other earths, whether silice-
ous or aluminous. We need not here scruple to apply them,
because the clay is coarse or the sand gritty. We may add
them in almost any form in which they can be conveniently
procured ; for the effect will be to improve the composition of
the soil.

There is another case in which, in like manner, siliceous and
aluminous matter may be applied directly in almost any state
in which they can be found. This is in the case of peat. Here
the vegetable matter is in excess, and the addition accordingly
of any of the earths is an amendment of the composition of the
soil.

We see, then, that the composition of soils may be improved
by the addition of animal and vegetable matter, and also, in
many cases, by the addition of those earths in which they may
be deficient, and, in an especial degree, of lime, which we can
always apply in the form of minute division best suited to im-
prove the composition of the soil. This is the first of the means
referred to of adding to the productive powers of soils, and will
be considered in detail under the head Manures, and other
branches of the management of the farm.

The second mode referred to of increasing the productive
powers of soils, is that of altering their texture, depth, and pro-
perties, by tillage and other means.

The mere effect of that comminution of the parts of the soil
which it undergoes in the common operations of tillage, is seen
to have a beneficial influence on the productive powers of the
soil. Whether the soil imbibes from the atmosphere any thing
besides aqueous vapour or not, it is known that the exposure of
the matter of the soil to the atmosphere, and the comminuting
of its parts by tillage, add permanently to its fertility. Thus
we learn from experience the good effects of tilling lands well.
Soils once tilled are rendered for the most part more produc-
tive by the process. Peaty turf, if suffered to remain in its
original state, may continue to produce nothing but heath and
the most useless plants ; but, if merely ploughed, and exposed

c2

•36 soils.

to the influence of the atmosphere, it will at once tend to pro-
duce grasses of a better kind, and of greater variety : and,
again, if a subsoil of coarse clay be exposed to the atmosphere,
it is generally at first very unproductive ; and it is not until
after long exposure, that it becomes productive. This is
most remarkable in the case of clay-marl, a substance in it-
self containing the materials of a fertile soil, but which is often
barren, until after pulverization and the influence of the atmo-
sphere.

It is, indeed, conformable to analogy, as well as to expe-
rience, that soils should be improved by pulverization and ex-
posure to the atmosphere. In our examination of the consti-
tuent parts of soils, we have seen that their fertility is in a
great degree indicated by the proportion of minutely divided
earthy matter which they contain. The effect of tillage, there-
fore, may be reasonably supposed to promote this division, both
by the mechanical action of our instruments, and by exposing
the particles of the soil to the action of the air.

Another purpose sometimes promoted by tillage, and subser-
vient to the amendment of the soil, is the deepening of the up-
per stratum.

The subsoil, it has been seen, is distinguished from the soil
properly so called, by the former containing less vegetable and
animal matter, and so being less suited to the nourishment of
plants ; and in certain cases it is even found to be injurious to
vegetation. It is generally important, however, that there be
a good depth of soil ; and thus it is often expedient for the ef-
fecting of a permanent improvement of the surface, to plough
up and mix with it a portion of the subsoil, even though that
subsoil should be in itself infertile.

These, then, are the principal mechanical means by which
we can improve the soil, and they will be considered in de-
tail under the various heads which relate to the operations of
tillage.

Another mean, indeed, of changing the composition of soils,
is incineration, commonly called paring and burning. This
process will be described as connected with the operations of

INCREASING THEIR PRODUCTIVE POWERS. 37

tillage, and may be considered as one of the means possessed
by us of adding to the productiveness of soils.

The third mode referred to of increasing the productive
powers of soils, is changing their relation with respect to mois-
ture.

In warmer countries the soil is comparatively little injured
by an excess of wTater, and more frequently suffers from the
insufficiency of it. In climates like that of Britain, however,
the operation of conveying away the water which is in ex-
cess is an essential one, and, if neglected, the best-devised
scheme of improvement may fail. The superfluous water is
either stagnant upon the surface or percolates below it. The
freeing of cultivated land from water upon the surface gives
rise to the formation of land into ridges, by which the water
escapes without stagnating upon the ground or sinking into
the subsoil below. This is an object necessarily comiected with
tillage, and will be described when the manner of cultivating
land is treated of.

The freeing of the soil again from that superfluous water
which is contained below the surface, forms a peculiar branch
of agricultural improvement, and will be described under the
head Draining.

As draining is more required in the colder countries, so Ir-
rigation, or the watering of land, is less required there than
in those countries where the heat and evaporation are greater.
Irrigation, however, is a curious and interesting branch of ru-
ral economy, derived by us from very ancient times. In this
country it is chiefly employed in the watering of lands in grass
during the months of winter and spring, and will be described
when treating of the Management of Grass-Land.

The last of the means referred to of increasing the produc-
tive powers of soils, is by changing the relation with respect to
temperature.

This mode of adding to the productive powers of soils, is
less within our control than any of the others. It is only by
slow degrees that we can improve the climate of a country. It
is chiefly by draining, and by the rearing of hedges and wood :

38 soils.

all of these, accordingly, form important objects of rural econo-
my, and will be partially treated of in this work.

The means, then, of adding to the productive powers of the
soil, — namely, supplying the organic and earthy substances
which may be required ; altering its texture, depth, and pro-
perty, by mechanical means ; and changing its relation with
respect to moisture, — will all be treated of under the different
divisions of our subject ; and we shall begin with that which
is most closely connected with the nature and properties of
soils, — the nature and properties of those substances which we
apply to the soil under the name of Manures.

( 39 )

II. MANURES.

All substances which, when mixed with the matter of the
soil, tend to fertilize it, are, in common language, termed
Manures.

Manures may be composed of animal or vegetable substances ;
or they may consist of mineral matter ; or they may be derived
partly from mineral and partly from animal and vegetable sub-
stances. They may therefore be classed, according to their
origin, into —

1. Animal and Vegetable Manures.

2. Mineral Manures.

3. Mixed Manures.

In describing this class of substances, it is not my design to
treat of their chemical mode of action. This investigation
forms one of the most interesting parts of the chemistry of
agriculture ; but it is not essential to that practical knowledge
of the subject which will suffice for the common purposes of
the farmer. The remarks to be made, therefore, on the mode
of action of these bodies, will be of a general nature.

I. ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE MANURES.

Chemical analysis shows us, that all plants, and all the pro-
ducts of plants, are resolvable into a small number of simple
bodies, in various states of combination. These bodies are —
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and, in smaller quantity, nitrogen
or azote. These form the essential constituents of all vegeta-
ble substances. But there are likewise found in plants, though
in comparativly minute quantity, certain other bodies, con-
sisting chiefly of the four earths, silica, alumina, lime, and
magnesia, of the oxide of iron, and, in small quantity, the
oxide of manganese, and of the alkalies soda and potassa, but
chiefly the alkali potassa.

40 MANURES.

Now, all these bodies, or the elements of all these bodies,
exist in animal and vegetable manures ; for these being animal
and vegetable substances are resolvable into carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and nitrogen, with the intermixed earthy and other
bodies existing in the living plants.

In supplying, therefore, animal and vegetable substances to
the soil in a decomposing state, we, in truth, supply the same
substances which enter into the composition of the living
plants. These substances indeed exist in the dead matter of
the manures, in states of combination different from those in
which they exist in the living vegetable ; but still they are
present, and must be believed to supply the matter of nutri-
tion which the plants in growing require. Science has made
known to us the truth, that the living plants and the dead
manure are resolvable into the same elementary substances ;
but experience had not the less taught the husbandman in
every age, that all animal and vegetable substances, mixed
with the matter of the soil, tended to fertilize it, by affording
nourishment to the plants which it produced.

The simple bodies which form the substance of manures
exist in various states of combination. Now there is reason
to believe, that, in order that the solid matters, formed by
these simple bodies, may be absorbed by the roots of the grow-
ing plants, they must be dissolved in water. The absorbing
pores of the roots of plants are so minute, that they are only
to be discovered by powerful optical instruments. The solid
bodies, therefore, which find their way into these pores, may
reasonably be supposed to be held in solution by the aqueous
fluid which enters into the roots of plants, and forms the sap.
Water is apparently the medium by which all the matter of
nutrition, in whatever form, is conveyed into the roots of
plants, and without which, accordingly, vegetation is never
known to take place.

Holding this opinion to be just, the substances which form
vegetable and animal manures, before they can be made avail-
able as nutriment to plants, must be rendered soluble in water.

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 41

Of the means which Nature employs for this purpose, fer-
mentation appears to be the chief. By this process, the ele-
mentary parts of the substance fermented assume new forms
of combination, and become fitted to supply the matter of nu-
trition to plants in that form in which it can be received by
the pores of the roots. The fermentative process is completed
after the substance to be used as a manure is mixed with the
matter of the soil ; but it is common also to cause it to under-
go a certain degree of fermentation before it is mixed with the
earth. This is the method of preparing this class of manures
for use, which is employed in the practice of the farm.

Animal matters decompose with facility when acted upon by
moisture and the air, the greater proportion of their elemen-
tary parts making their escape in various forms of gaseous
combination, and leaving the earths, alkalies, and part of the
carbonaceous matter, remaining.

When this decomposition takes place beneath the surface of
the ground, these gaseous compounds, as well as the carbon,
which, when it combines with oxygen, assumes also the gaseous
state, may be supposed to be partially or wholly retained in
the earth, to afford the matter of nutrition to the plants.

Purely animal substances, therefore, which thus readily de-
compose, do not absolutely require fermentation before they
are mixed with the soil. Yet even in the case of purely ani-
mal substances, certain beneficial consequences may result from
subjecting them to a previous state of fermentation. Thus the
urine of animals, when applied in its recent state to the soil,
is not found to act so beneficially as a manure, as when a cer-
tain degree of previous fermentation has been produced.

And there is another purpose promoted by causing even
pure animal matter to undergo fermentation, and this is, that,
being mixed with vegetable matter, it promotes the more speedy
decomposition of vegetable fibre.

Vegetable fibre is, under certain circumstances, a slowly de-
composing substance. When vegetables are green and full of
juices, they readily ferment ; but when the steins are dried, as
in the case of straw and other litter, they decompose with

42 MANURES.

slowness, and the mixing them with animal matter hastens
the putrefactive fermentation. This mixing of animal with ve-
getable matter is the process employed for preparing the greater
part of the dung of the farm-yard.

The dung of the farm-yard is the produce of the hay, straw,
turnips, and other substances used as provender or litter upon
the farm. It is collected into one or more yards, and fresh
litter and all other refuse being added to the mass, it gradually
accumulates until it is carried out to the fields for use.

The manner of feeding cattle in their houses and yards will
be afterwards explained. It is sufficient, with relation to the
present subject, to observe, that the larger cattle may either be
fed in stalls in close houses, or in yards in which they receive
their food. When they are fed in close houses, their dung and
soiled litter are carried to the heap in the yard, where it gra-
dually accumulates ; and when they are fed in the yards, their
dung, in like manner, accumulates there, being in the mean
time compressed by their treading upon it.

In the practice of the farm, to be afterwards especially de-
scribed as suited to the circumstances of this country, the larger
cattle of different kinds are brought home to their houses and
respective yards before winter. Some are kept in their stalls
in close houses, and their dung and soiled litter are carried out
daily to the yards, while others receive their food in the yards
themselves, and thus tread upon the heap. In this manner
the mass of dung accumulates during the period of feeding,
and at the proper period, in the following spring or summer,
is carried out to the fields and applied to the land.

The dung of the farm-yard is thus seen to be a collection of
animal and vegetable substances. It consists of the excre-
ments of the animals kept and fed upon the farm, together with
the straw or other materials used as litter, and generally of the
refuse and offal produced about the homestead. This mixed
mass is collected during the period of feeding, when it under-
goes a certain degree of fermentation. When trodden by the
feet of the animals kept in the yards, the effect is to exclude
the external air, and to prevent the fermentative process from

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 43

proceeding with that rapidity which would take place were the
mass not compressed.

The principal animal substances which are mixed with the
ligneous fibre of the litter, and which cause it to undergo de-
composition, are the dung and urine of the animals.

The properties of this dung, to a certain extent, depend up-
on the kind of animals and the nature of their food. The
dung of horses is easily fermented, and is more readily decom-
posable, in proportion to the succulence and nutritive qualities
of the food consumed. This also holds with respect to the
dung of oxen. When the animals are fed on straw and the
dried stems of plants, the dung is less rich and decomposable
than when they are fed on turnips, oil-cake, and other nourish-
ing food ; and the same thing holds with respect to the dung
of the hog and other animals. The dung of the different feed-
ing animals is mixed in greater or less proportion with their
litter, and the greater the proportion of the animal to the ve-
getable matter, the more readily will the latter ferment and
decompose.

The urine of the animals, again, is in itself a very rich ma-
nure, and contains, in certain states of combination, all the
elements which enter into the composition of plants. It is
necessarily mixed with, and partly absorbed by, the litter and
other substances in the yards, and it hastens, in a material
degree, the fermentation of these substances.

The urine, however, is apt either to make its escape by flow-
ing out of the yards, or to be imperfectly mingled with the lit-
ter. It becomes, therefore, a part of the management of the
farm-yard, to provide against either of these contingencies.

The farm-yard should be made level at bottom, and even
paved if the subsoil be very loose and sandy, and the bottom
should be sunk somewhat below the surface of the ground. As
a portion of the liquid will flow from the stables and feeding-
houses, gutters of stone should be made to convey the liquid
from these into tanks or other reservoirs adjacent to the yards.
The same means are to be taken for conveying, away any ex-
of liquid from the yards themselves. This is not done for

44 MANURES.

the purpose of draining the yards of moisture, which would be
an error, but for the purpose of preventing any excess of liquid
from being lost. The principal cause which produces a great
flow of liquid from the yards, is an excess of rain, which, fall-
ing upon the heap faster than it can be absorbed, washes away
the urine.

Three methods may be adopted for the management of the
liquid which is obtained from the feeding-houses, or which
oozes or is washed off from the mass in the yards.

1. It may be pumped from the tank or reservoir into which
it had flowed, conveyed back to the farm-yard, and spread over
the surface of the heap. In this manner, it will be imbibed by
the litter, and tend to hasten the decomposition of the mass ;
or, if there be a compost heap upon the farm, the liquid may be
upon it so as to be imbibed by it.

2. It may be pumped up when convenient, and conveyed in
barrels to the field, and spread over the surface, a species of
manuring which, under certain circumstances, is exceedingly
efficacious.

3. In the bottom of the tank or reservoir to which the liquid
is conveyed, may be placed absorbent earths, stems of plants,
and other matters. These being saturated, will become very
rich manure, and may either be carried from the tank to the
field, and applied to the ground, or put into heaps or com-
posts, until the period of using them shall arrive.

Of these methods of applying the excess of liquid from feed-
ing houses and yards, the most generally applicable to the
common practice of farms in this country, is the conveying
of the liquid back to the yards, or the spreading of it over the
surface of compost heaps, or other collections of absorbent sub-
stances. In Flanders, where extreme care is bestowed in the
collection and preparation of liquid manures, there is a smaller
proportion of straw and hay produced on farms, than in the
mixed system of agriculture of Britain. There is not, there-
fore, so great a proportion of ligneous fibre to be decomposed.
The Flemings, accordingly, pursue the mode of managing
their manure, which the circumstances peculiar to their agri-

ANIMAL AXD VEGETABLE. 45

culture render expedient. They can always ferment sufficiently
the fibrous matter of the heap of their farm-yards, and there-
fore they have always a spare supply of liquid in a separate
state. But in this country, where we aim at producing a
large quantity of hay and the cereal grasses, we require nearly
all the liquid of the feeding animals, to moisten and ferment
the general mass of the farm-yard.

When the animals of the farm are fed on tolerably rich and
succulent food, and where the proportion of straw is not too
large, there is no difficulty in fermenting the mass of the farm-
yard to the degree required ; but when the quantity of straw
is very large in proportion to the more moist and succulent food
consumed, as sometimes occurs in the case of clay-land farms
in certain districts, then there may be considerable difficulty
in getting the straw sufficiently fermented and decomposed for
use. This may arise from the want of moisture, as well as from
a deficiency of animal matter ; and as we may not at the time
have a power of supplying the latter, we must endeavour to
keep the heap moist by soaking it, in the absence of rain, with
water. But the permanent remedy for this evil is to increase
the quantity of such nourishing food as the farm will produce,
— namely, cabbages, tares, clovers, and other succulent and
nutritive plants.

Sometimes, even when there is no extraordinary excess of
dry litter, the fermentation of the heap in the yard, after pro-
ceeding to a certain degree, suddenly stops, by which the ma-
nure is much injured. This arises from the want of moisture ;
and when it happens it is often very difficult to renew the fer-
mentation. The best remedy is to turn over the heap, soak
it with water, and mix it with horse-dung, or any animal offal
that can be obtained.

With these exceptions, the management of the farm-yard is
not attended with any difficulty. We have seen that the mass
consists of a collection of the excrements of the animals kept
upon the farm, of the straw and other substances employed for
litter, and generally of any refuse or offal produced at the
homestead; and that this mixed substance is accumulated

40 MANURES.

chiefly during the months of winter, undergoing during this
period a certain degree of fermentation and decomposition in
the yards where it lies.

The substance thus collected and partially fermented, is to
be applied to the grounds during the months of spring, sum-
mer, or autumn, immediately following the winter in which it
has been prepared. It should be always applied as soon after
it is prepared as possible, there being a waste either in retain-
ing it too long, or in causing it to undergo a greater degree of
fermentation than is required.

In the process of the putrefactive fermentation, the elements
of the body fermented, in assuming their new forms of combi-
nation, partly make their escape in the gaseous state. In the
fermentation of manures, the decomposition may proceed so far
that the great mass of the substance shall be exhaled, leaving
behind only the earthy and alkaline, and a portion of the car-
bonaceous, matter of which it was composed. In the treatment
of this class of substances, therefore, the putrefactive fermenta-
tion should neither be continued longer, nor carried to a greater
degree, than is necessary for the purposes intended.

In practice, our purpose is to produce certain kinds of crops ;
and certain kinds of plants, it is found, require a greater ac-
tion of manures at particular stages of their growth than others.
Thus, the turnip, the carrot, and the beet, which are sown, as
will afterwards be seen, in the early part of summer, require
that the manure applied shall be in such a state of decomposi-
tion as to act upon and nourish them in the first stages of their
growth ; and if this be not so, the crop may entirely fail. In
these and similar cases, accordingly, a complete preparation of
the farm-yard dung is an essential point of practice.

Certain plants, again, do not require the same state of de-
composition of the dung. Thus the potato requires less in the
first stages of its growth than the turnip, and hence it is not
necessary to subject the manure to be applied to the same de-
gree of fermentation.

In some cases, too, as in the process of the summer fallow,
to be afterwards described, the manure is mixed with the soil

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 4?

some time before the seeds of the plants to be cultivated are
sown. In such a case the manure undergoes the necessary
fermentation in the soil itself, and does not require that pre-
vious preparation which, in the case of the turnip and some
other plants, is required.

But while no necessity exists for fermenting the matter of
the farm-yard beyond the degree requisite for the special pur-
pose intended, it is always a point of good practice to ferment
it to that degree. In order to know when dung is sufficiently
fermented for the particular use required, a very little practice
and observation will suffice. When it is fully fermented, the
long stems of straw which formerly matted it together, are in
such a state of decomposition, that the parts can be readily
separated by a fork. It is not necessary in any case that it be
in that extreme state of decay in which we often see it used by
gardeners, and when it can be cut by a spade like soft earth.
Whenever farm-yard dung has been fermented to this degree,
it has been kept beyond the proper time, and the management
has been bad.

The mass, we have seen, is collected chiefly during the months
of winter, and will always be ready to be applied to the ground
in the spring, summer, or autumn immediately ensuing ; and
there is no case in which it is advisable to keep it beyond the
year in which it has been collected.

A common and convenient practice, is to carry it out from
the yards where it has been collected to the field where it is to
be used, and there to pile it up in one or more large heaps,
so that it may undergo the further decomposition required,
before being applied to the land. Doubtless there is a certain
waste of the volatile matter of the dung by this process, but it
is frequently convenient in practice, that the dungbethus carried
to the field where it is to be used, so as to economize time at
the season of more active labour.

When, accordingly, after the dead of winter, as towards the
end of December, and during hard frosts and snows, the men
and working cattle upon the farm cannot be otherwise employ-
ed, we may begin to carry out the dung to the fields where it

4o MANURES.

is to be used. It is carried out in the carriages of the farm,
into which it is lifted by large forks to be afterwards described.
This partial carrying out of the dung from the yards proceeds
when occasion offers, or when the state of the weather prevents
the other labours of the farm from being carried on. And
when the feeding cattle are finally removed from the houses
and yards, and turned out to pasture, which, in the north of
England, is generally by the middle of May, the whole re-
maining dung may either be carried to the fields, or remain in
the yards till required for use.

The dung, as it is carried out to the fields, is to be laid in
the large heaps, which may be about four and a half or five
feet high, and of such other dimensions as may be convenient,
When the dung is placed in these heaps, it is in a state very
favourable to further fermentation ; for it is to be observed,
that in all cases the turning over of the dung, so as to give ac-
cess to the air, causes an increase of fermentation, and this is
the method adopted by farmers and gardeners, when they wish
to give a greater degree of fermentation to any heap. Should
the dung in these large heaps not ferment to the degree re-
quired, they are to be turned over, and formed into new heaps,
the upper part being placed below, and what was before below
at the top. By this means the fermentative process will be
renewed ; and should this turning not be found sufficient, the
heaps must be again turned over, so that they may be brought
to the degree of decomposition required. The large heaps of this
kind should not be placed in a very exposed situation, so as to be
too much acted upon by winds ; and it is a good precaution, and
a necessary one in very warm countries, to face up the sides
with a little earth or turf, and to strew some earth upon the
top, so as to prevent the escape of decomposing matter.
When it is wished to hasten the putrefactive process in these
heaps, it is better that they be not compressed by the car-
riages going upon them to unload ; but where there is no pe-
culiar necessity for hastening the putrefactive process, the car-
riages and beasts of draught can go upon the heap without in-
jury. When peculiar care is required, as when the dung has

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 4U

been imperfectly fermented in the yards, it should be spread
over the heap in layers, so that one layer may undergo a slight
fermentation, before it is compressed by that which is to be
placed above it.

The mass may be also turned over in the yards where it
lies, and allowed to ferment before it is carried out to the
fields for use. In this case the workmen begin at one side of
the heap, and with large forks turn it over, laying that which
was before uppermost underneath, so as that the whole may be
reversed. If after this process of turning, no treading of cat-
tle is allowed, the fermentation of the mass will proceed with
rapidity, and then the whole may be carried out at once from
the yards to the fields for use. This method will not only in
certain cases be the most convenient, but will save some of
that waste of the volatile matter of the heap, which takes
place under the other system.

Where the dung produced is very rich and well decomposed,
as where cattle have been feeding in stalls on juicy and nutri-
tive food, it may not appear to require this turning over to fit
it for use ; yet even in such a case it is generally beneficial that
it be turned over at least once before being used, the effect
being to ferment the mass not only sufficiently but equally, and
to mix its different parts together. It may be observed also,
that when the mass of vegetable and animal substances is
thrown into a common yard, some care should be bestowed in
spreading it equally, so that one part of the yard may not be
filled with rich dung, and another with poor. The dung of
horses, for example, is more susceptible of quick fermentation
than that of oxen. When the stable, therefore, opens upon a
common yard, the horse-dung should not be suffered to accu-
mulate in a mass about the stable, but spread abroad upon the
general heap.

Farm-yard dung is chiefly applied to the soil, by being
spread upon the land when in tillage, and covered by the
plough. The periods at which this is done, and the manner
of doing it, will be afterwards pointed out. By being covered
by the earth, the dung soon passes through its course of fer-

oO MANURES.

mentation, and becomes decomposed, and mixed with the mat-
ter of the soil.

This valuable substance must be economized in the manner
of applying it. The soil must be kept as rich as the means at
the farmer's command will allow ; but it is an error in prac-
tice to saturate it at one time with manures, and to withhold
them at another. They ought rather to be applied in limited
quantity and frequently, so as to maintain a uniform or in-
creasing fertility in the soil.

The produce of the farm-yard will necessarily afford the
chief part of the manure consumed upon farms which do not
possess extraneous sources of supply. But besides the pro-
duce of the farm-yard, there are certain vegetable and animal
substances which in their separate states may be applied to the
manuring of land. An example of the application of vegetable
substances, in this state, is when certain plants are allowed to
come into flower, and are then ploughed down in their green
state, and mixed with the matter of the soil. This is a prac-
tice derived from very ancient times, and is yet followed in
Italy, and other parts of Europe.

Vegetable matter, when thus covered by the soil in its green
and succulent state, readily undergoes decomposition, and
forms a very enriching substance. The practice, however,
is chiefly suited to the warmer countries where vegetation is
rapid. In colder countries, where we are able to raise green food
of any kind, it is better that we apply it in the first place to
the feeding of animals, for then it not only yields manure,
but performs the no less important purpose of affording food.

When, however, the practice is for any reason adopted, the
period at which the plants may be ploughed down is when
they have come into flower, for then they contain the largest
quantity of readily soluble matter, and have the least exhaust-
ed the nutrient substance of the soil. The plants employed
for this purpose by the ancients were chiefly the leguminous,
as the Lupine, which is still used in Italy for the same purpose.
Buckwheat is also employed, and appears to be the plant best
suited for the practice in northern countries, for it is easily

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. .51

cultivated, and soon arrives at the necessary maturity. For
the same reason, Spurry has also been cultivated, but its pro-
duce is too small to render it well suited to the purpose ; nay,
the clovers have been thus employed at the suggestion of spe-
culative writers even in England, and thus the error has been
committed of employing a valuable article as a manure, which
might have been employed in the first place in supporting the
animals of the farm.

The leaves of trees also form a vegetable manure, though
not a good one : for although leaves enrich, to a certain degree,
the surface upon which they fall and decay, they will rarely
repay the expense of collecting them expressly for manuring
land. When the leaves of trees have fallen, their more solu-
ble parts have been lost, and there remains little more than
ligneous fibre with a proportion of siliceous earth.

The roots of plants disengaged from the soil in the process
of tilling and cleaning it, are also employed as a vegetable
manure. Some of these, however, as the couch-grass, being
very vivacious, would readily spring again ; and therefore it is
necessary that their vegetative powers be destroyed, which
may be done by mixing them with lime, and forming in this
way a compost. Many farmers, however, to save time, or to
prevent the risk of the plants springing again, burn them in
little heaps upon the ground at the time of their being collected,
and spread the ashes upon the surface. This may be sometimes
convenient, but the effect is, that the principal nutritive part of
the plant is dissipated, and nothing left but the carbonaceous,
earthy, and other insoluble matter.

But the principal vegetable substances employed as manure
in their separate state, are rape-cake, oil-cake, malt-dust, sea-
weed, peat or turf in a decomposing state, and the ashes of
several plants.

Rape-cake is the husk and refuse of the seed of the rape, af-
ter the oil has been expressed. It is reduced to a coarse pow-
der, and in this state it is scattered upon the surface and light-
ly covered, when it attracts moisture, and readily decom-
poses. It is sometimes strewed upon young clovers, or it is

r>2

5'2 MANURES.

sown with turnips and similar plants at the same time with
the seeds, or it is spread upon the tilled surface of any land
before the seeds are sown. The quantity that may be applied
is 10 or 12 cwt. to the acre, and sometimes a smaller quantity
is used. As it readily attracts moisture and is decomposed,
it should be kept dry, and used in its recent state. It is bet-
ter suited to land which is clayey and somewhat moist, than to
that which is very dry and light.

With the Flemings this substance is a favourite manure, and
they use also for the same purpose the refuse of the poppy-seed
after the oil has been expressed from it. They apply these
substances in larger quantity than is practised in England.
They dissolve also the rape-cake in urine, and thus form a
manure of the richest kind.

Oil-cake is a similar substance, being the produce of the
seed of the flax after the expression of the oil. It forms like-
wise a very rich manure, but it is too valuable to be much used
for that purpose. It is employed, as we shall afterwards see,
for the feeding of animals. In North America the seeds of
the cotton plant have been recently applied to the manuring of
land, and found to be amongst the most fertilizing of this class
of substances.

Malt-dust is used for feeding, but it is employed also as a
manure. It consists of the radicle of the seed rubbed from the
grain after malting. It is employed at the rate of from 40 to
60 bushels to the acre.

Sea-weed, consisting of different species of Fucus and other
marine plants, is greatly used upon the sea-coasts of Great
Britain and Ireland as a manure. It is very transient in its
effects, but it is nevertheless of much value in situations where
it can be obtained. The most convenient method of using it,
is to convey it directly to the land, and apply it fresh as a
top-dressing to the growing crops. If left in a heap by itself,
its more soluble parts are exhaled, and a dry fibrous matter
alone remains. If it is not applied, therefore, in its recent
state, it should be formed into a compost with dung, or with a
mixture of dung and earth.

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 53

It is more valuable for light and dry soils, and of less com-
parative value for the stiffer clays ; and hence, when a farm has
access to it, it is better to apply the sea-weed to the lighter,
and the dung to the stiffer, soils upon the farm.

Sea-weed may be also burned, and its ashes applied to th<j
soil. In this way it is largely used in Jersey and the other
islands of the Channel.

Peat is a substance which may be used as a manure, but
unless freed of its peculiar principles it may remain for years
exposed to water and air without undergoing decomposition,
in which state it can afford no nourishment to plants. Pure
peat, therefore, should be made to undergo decomposition be-
fore it is applied to the soil. This may be done by long
exposure to the air, or by mixing it with quicklime, which de-
composes its woody fibre, and forms a kind of compost, which,
however, is not greatly valued.

The woody fibre of peat may be better decomposed by mix-
ing it with dung or any animal matter. For this purpose, the
peat may be carried directly to the farm-yard, and spread upon
the heap of dung, so as to be mixed equally with it. This is
the most easy method of decomposing peat ; but care is to be
taken not to supply it in so large a quantity as to injure the
quality of the manure. Peat may be decomposed, too, by
mixing it in alternate layers with fresh dung in a fermenting
state, the peat being first partially freed of its moisture by be-
ing for some time exposed to the air. The quantity of dung
should be nearly equal to that of the peat ; and when the fer-
mentation has arrived at the degree of blood-heat, the mass
should be turned over and formed into another heap ; and this
should in like manner be turned before being used. This spe-
cies of compost, however, often disappoints expectation, per-
haps from the peat still retaining some principles unfavourable
to vegetation.

The ashes of wood, and all vegetables, may be used as ma-
nure ; but the effects of these are for the most part not very
great. By burning the plants, the carbonaceous and alkaline
matter indeed remains, but the other enriching parts of

.~>4 MANURES.

the substance are expelled. In Holland and the Low Coun-
tries, the ashes of peat are extensively employed ; but the
peculiar value of these ashes appears to be derived from
mineral impregnation. The most valued of them are taken
from the low marshes of Holland, which are covered during
the winter season with brackish water, and they are accord-
ingly much impregnated with saline matter. They are sown
upon the surface of growing crops of different kinds ; but they
are found of peculiar efficacy in promoting the growth of clo-
ver, upon the leaves of which they are strewed. They are
carried far into the interior for this purpose. Some ashes, too,
in England possess similar properties ; but from the effects
being evidently due to the saline matters with which they are
mixed, they are rather to be regarded as mineral than as vege-
table manures.

Of animal substances employed as manures, mention has
been made of dung and urine. The first is generally mixed
with ligneous fibre, and so in the common practice of this
country is the latter, though urine, it has been said, may be
applied in its separate state. Taking into account, however,
the general economy of stock and the farm-yard in this coun-
try, it is not perhaps expedient that we should adopt the
practice to any great extent ; yet when any liquid manure, the
excess of the cow-houses and stables, is obtained, it may be con-
veniently applied to grass land which is to be cut for hay or
green forage.

Of excrementitious animal matter, applied in its unmixed
state, one of the most useful is night-soil, a substance which
is very liable to decompose. It abounds in matters composed
of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, and whether re-
cent or fermented, supplies abundantly the food of plants. In
Flanders and all parts of the Low Countries, the attention paid
to night-soil as a manure is very great, and it is employed in
different states of fermentation according to the crops to which
it i- to be applied.

The disagreeable odour of this substance may be destroyed
by mixing it with quicklime. When it is exposed to the ;it-

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 55

mosphere, and the layers are strewed over with lime, it soon
dries, and in this state is easily pulverized. It then forms one
of that valuable class of manures which may be deposited in
the ground at the same time with the seed.*

Of excrementitious animal matter, too, the dung of birds is
a powerful manure, though usually obtained in quantities too
small to render it an object of much importance. The most
generally employed is that of pigeons and domestic fowls. It
should be spread upon the surface of land in tillage, and slightly
covered. It may be reduced also to powder, and applied in
this state in different ways.

Besides the dung of animals, their flesh and intestines are
sometimes used for manures. These substances undergo a
rapid decomposition when in contact with the air, and should
therefore be covered by the soil before their particles have
been lost by evaporation ; or they may be mixed with earthy
substances and formed into a compost. This last is gene-
rally the preferable practice with regard to them, because
they thus act in fertilizing a large quantity of matter with
which they are mixed. The refuse of the shambles furni lies
the largest supply of this kind of manure, and it is always
highly valuable where it can be obtained. When animals die
from accident or disease, they should never be left exposed, but
be covered with earth, which they will soon impregnate with
soluble matter. The disagreeable effluvia of such substances
may be lessened or removed by a mixture of quicklime.

Fish forms a very powerful manure. It may sometimes be
procured in considerable quantity in the neighbourhood of fish-
ing stations. It is generally best to mix it with earth in the
form of a compost. Sometimes herrings have been obtained in
such quantity that they have been used in this manner, and
sometimes fresh water fishes in the shallows of fenny countries
are obtained in sufficient quantity to be so employed ; and no-
thing can exceed the richness of this kind of manures.

Blubber may be employed very beneficially as a manure ; it

* Agricultural Chemistry, by Sir Humphrey Davy.

.")(j MANURES.

should always be mixed with earthy or peaty matter, and formed
into a compost.

The refuse of the various manufactures in which skin, wool,
and other animal substances are used, forms manure of various
quality, according to the substances employed, and the nature
of the manufacture ; such are the refuse of the currier, the offal
of the gluemaker, and various others unnecessary to be parti-
cularized.

A very important animal manure is bones. These are now
used in large quantities in certain districts of this country.
They had been long used in the neighbourhood of London,
after having been broken down and boiled for grease. But
since their more general extension as a manure, they are ap-
plied in their raw state, and form an article of considerable im-
portation from other countries. The bones are ground, or ra-
ther they are bruised, and reduced to a coarse powder, by being
passed between cylinders of a peculiar construction. Bone-
mills for this purpose, driven by horse-power, steam, or water,
are now in common use in England and Scotland.

Bone is composed of earthy salts, chiefly phosphate of lime,
with some carbonate of lime and phosphate of magnesia,
and about one-half of decomposable animal matter. But
there is reason to infer, that it is owing to the phosphate of
lime, that this substance owes its peculiar properties as a
manure.

Bones may be applied in several ways to the ground. They
may be spread upon it by the hand, or by machines construct-
ed for the purpose, or by apparatus attached to certain sowing-
machines. When deposited at the same time with the seeds,
in the manner to be afterwards explained, the quantity may be
2 quarters to the acre.

Bones may be also formed into composts with earths, and
thus allowed to ferment in the heap. When placed in a mass
by themselves, they speedily ferment ; and it is the opinion of
many, that they are superior as a manure when they have un-
dergone a previous fermentation. This may be supposed to be
because they are then in a decomposing state, and so fitted to

ANIMAL AM) VEGETABLE. 5?

act more immediately upon the plants. But when they arc
reduced by grinding to a coarse powder, which they always
should be, there is no necessity for subjecting them to any
other fermentation than that which they will undergo in the
soil itself.

Bones are less beneficial when applied to clay lands than to
lighter soils, and in wet seasons than in dry. Although the
quantity of the material employed is very small, it is not quick-
ly exhausted, but extends its influence to future seasons. For
the production of a single crop, an increase beyond a certain
quantity is not found to be attended with any benefit ; so that
a small quantity is frequently seen to be applied with equal ad-
vantage as a large.

Horn is a substance of similar properties, and equally effi-
cient as a manure ; but it is obtained in very limited quantity,
and its general importance is therefore greatly inferior to that
of bones.

Hair and feathers are similar in their composition to horn,
but they are of little importance, from the limited quantity in
which they can be obtained. They are also slowly decompos-
able. They are of the class of manures which may be applied
to trees, which require a slow and not a rapid action.

Woollen substances are also of the same chemical composi-
tion as those that have been last mentioned. They only be-
come soluble, however, after a considerable time. Nevertheless
woollen rags form a good and lasting manure. They are to be
cut in small pieces, and then spread upon the surface of the
ground and covered. They are used in the hop districts for
the manuring of that plant. The Genoese pick up with care
in the south of France all remains of woollen stuff, that they
may cause them to rot at the foot of their olive-trees. In like
manner, in countries where the silk manufactures exist, the in-
habitants revive the mulberry and other plants by spreading
at their roots the remains of the silk-worm.

But it is not necessary to specify all the substances which
can be employed as manures. The law is of general applica-
tion, that all animal and vegetable substances can be used for

.?8 MANURES.

this purpose ; and the province of the farmer therefore is sedu-
lously to collect every substance of this nature which comes
within his reach, and if it does not admit of beneficial applica-
tion in its separate state, to form it into a compost, or mingle
it with the general mass collected in the farm-yard.

Sometimes animal manure is made to be supplied by keep-
ing animals for a time on the same piece of ground, that their
excrementitious matter may fall upon or be absorbed by the
soil. This gives rise to the practice of folding, which consists
in penning flocks of sheep, chiefly during the night, on a small
space of ground. The pens are from time to time shifted, so
that, in the course of the season, a considerable quantity of
ground is successively manured. The practice is carried to a
most injurious extent in some of the southern counties in Eng-
land, where the sheep are driven to the fallow-ground, and
penned upon it for the purpose of manuring it. The animals
are even made to travel a considerable distance to the fold ;
and certain breeds are valued for their power to stand this
rude treatment.

Where such a system prevails, we may rest assured that the
farmers are ignorant both of the proper management of sheep,
and the art of collecting and preparing manures. It is the
wasteful manner of applying manures, by spreading them on
the surface of grass land, which prevails over the greater
part of England, that produces in any case the want of this
substance. Under a system of good husbandry, it is in all
cases practicable so to adapt the manner of cultivation to the
nature of the soil and other circumstances, that the farm shall
possess the means of maintaining its own fertility by the crea-
tion of manures. And the facility of doing so is increased in
an almost unlimited degree, when extraneous manures can be
obtained, as must every where be the case in a rich and closely
inhabited country. No necessity can exist, therefore, in any
one cultivated district of this kingdom, for such a practice as
the folding of sheep on arable land, merely for the purpose of
manuring it.

Tn many parts of the Continent, indeed, from the want of

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. 59

enclosures, and the danger from wolves, the sheep are necessa-
rily penned during the night. In other parts, where the chief
attention is directed to the wool, and the animals are defend-
ed from the weather in houses and sheds, a considerable quan-
tity of manure is obtained from sheep. But in England, there
is no want of enclosures, nor hazard from wild animals, and
the feeder never finds it for his interest to sacrifice the feeding
qualities of the animal for the wool it produces ; and, therefore,
in all cases, the sheep ought to be suffered to pasture at large,
and undisturbed. The exceptions are where they are penned
on turnips and similar crops, for the purpose of consuming the
plants upon the ground. Here, indeed, the sheep manure the
soil in an important manner ; but this is not the object of pen-
ning, but a consequence of it.

II. MINERAL MANURES.

The mineral substances which are employed as manures may
be supposed to exert two modes of action.

1. They may act upon the soil by improving its texture, or
by rendering soluble the parts of it which are insoluble ; or by
otherwise fitting it to promote the growth of plants.

2. They may act immediately upon the plant itself, by being
received into its substance.

The manner in which this action takes place upon the or-
gans of the plant may elude our observation ; but this much
may be admitted, that certain earths, oxides, and alkalies, or
earths, oxides, and alkalies, combined with acids, pass into the
substance of the plant, absorbed, it may be, in part, from the
atmosphere, but chiefly, along with the aqueous portion of the
sap, from the earth in which the roots are fixed. Some sub-
stances taken up in this latter mode, are known to act as poi-
sons, while others exercise a beneficial action on the plant.

We cannot generally distinguish when a mineral substance
acts upon the plant, through the medium of a change in the
soil, or when it acts directly upon the plant itself. All that we

60 MANURES.

truly know is, that certain earthy and alkaline bodies, or their
saline combinations, applied to the soil, promote the growth of
plants, and so, in the language of farmers, are manures.

Of all the mineral substances known to its, lime is that
which performs the most important part in improving the soil
and promoting the growth of vegetables. Lime is found in
nearly all soils that are capable of sustaining vegetation, and,
in combination with different acids, in nearly all vegetable sub-
stances.

Lime, as employed in agriculture and the arts, is derived
from three distinct series or orders of rocks.

1. From the rocks of the primary series. These are very
compact and crystalline. They afford the finest of our mar-
bles, and yield a pure lime.

2. From the lower secondary or transition rocks. These,
like the last, are hard and crystalline, and yield a lime of good
quality.

3. From the carboniferous rocks, or those of the middle se-
condary order. It is from this source that the largest sup-
plies of the mineral are derived. Of this series is the moun-
tain limestone, which is the most familiar to us, and the most
generally employed in agriculture and the arts.

4. From the upper secondary rocks. In this series is the
magnesian limestone, which, from its possessing peculiar pro-
perties, to be afterwards adverted to, is termed hot-lime by
agriculturists.

Of the same order of rocks, too, namely, the upper second-
ary, are the lias and oolite, which are found in some parts of
England, and the lime of which is employed for agricultural
purposes.

The last of the series of the upper secondary rocks is the
chalk, which is found abundantly in the south-east counties of
England and in France, extending eastward through the cen-
tral parts of Europe.

Limestone, from whatever series of rocks derived, when sub-
mitted to the action of heat, loses the carbonic acid with which
it was united; becomes a substance of an acrid nature, absorbs

MINERAL. 61

will or with an evolution of heat, and, by this union, forms what
is termed a hydrate. In absorbing water, it crumbles down
by degrees, while at the same time it begins to imbibe carbo-
nic acid from the atmosphere. In absorbing carbonic acid, the
water of the hydrate is expelled, the carbonic acid taking its
place. In this manner the lime recovers the principles which
it had lost by calcination. It becomes again a carbonate, with-
out, however, having recovered its hardness and external cha-
racters. In proportion as its recomposition takes place, it loses
the properties which it had acquired by calcination, ceases to
be acrid and caustic, and its solubility in water is diminished.

Lime is applied to the ground either in a state of hydrate,
that is, immediately after being slacked, and when it still re-
tains its caustic properties ; or in the state of carbonate, that
is, after it has again absorbed carbonic acid from the surround-
ing medium and become mild.

When the object is to supply calcareous matter to a soil in
which it is deficient, it often appears to be unimportant whe-
ther it is applied as a carbonate or a hydrate. In the latter
state, however, it is more perfectly divided, and may be spread
more equally upon the surface, and better mingled with the
soil ; and further, in its caustic state, it produces effects which
it either does not produce in its mild state, or which it pro-
duces in a less degree.

Lime, in its caustic state, is observed to exercise a powerful
action in decomposing the ligneous parts of plants. The same
effect is indeed produced by the action of mild lime, but in a
Jess perceptible degree.

Caustic lime, while it dissolves vegetable fibre, and renders it
soluble, has also the property of forming compounds of a soapy
nature with the soluble portion of vegetable and animal sub-
stances, which compounds are not dissolved till after a consi-
derable time.

Caustic lime thus performs two functions apparently opposed
to each other. It decomposes the inert vegetable matter of the
soil, and then forms compounds which are not themselves rea-
dily soluble.

b'2 MANURES.

Lime forms these insoluble compounds with almost all the
soft animal or vegetable substances with which it can combine ;
but these compounds, exposed to the combined action of the
air and water, are altered in time ; the lime gradually becomes
a carbonate, the animal or vegetable matters are by degrees
decomposed, and furnish new compounds capable of nourishing
plants ; so that lime, in performing two functions seemingly op-
posed to each other, really promotes the fertility of the soil and
the growth of plants. It first disposes certain substances in-
soluble in water to become soluble, while, by combining in part
with substances which are soluble, it prolongs the nutritive ac-
tion of soft vegetable and animal substances beyond the time in
which they would have acted, if they had not entered into a
combination with lime.

Of this particular mode of action, an example may be given
in one of the arts. When it is wished to carry off from the ve-
getable juices in the manufacture of sugar the animal substances
which have been used, lime is employed, which combines with
these substances, and rises with them to the surface of the li-
quid in the form of a thick scum, which is insoluble in water.
This scum laid upon the fields is injurious to plants ; but when
it is deposited in a ditch, and is allowed to ferment for a year,
it forms one of the richest manures. Count Chaptal states
that he has proved this fact during a period of many years in
his manufacture of beet-sugar, by employing in this manner
the scum which is obtained by the first operation which is per-
formed on the juice of the beet '"' .

We have in like manner seen that the application of lime to
night-soil, does not hasten the decomposition of this substance,
but, on the contrary, forms with it a less soluble compound.
Tt moderates its action, and renders its effects less sudden, but
more permanent.

Mixed, too, with any pure animal substance, lime does not
waste it, as, reasoning from its action on vegetable fibre, we
might infer. It hastens decomposition indeed, but then it forms

* Chiraie appliquee a. 1' Agriculture.

MINERAL. *'>'•>

with the substances decomposed compounds less easily decom-
posable. Hence it is not opposed to theory that lime should
be applied to the soil at the same time with dung and other
animal and vegetable substances, as is frequent in the practice
of farmers.

Certain acids and acid combinations often exist in the soil or
subsoil, and produce infertility. Lime, by forming new combi-
nations with these bodies, frequently neutralizes their hurtful ef-
fects. Thus, if sulphate of iron, or green vitriol, which is a
combination of sulphuric acid with the oxide of iron, exist in
the soil, and lime be applied, the lime will combine with the
sulphuric acid of the vitriol and form gypsum, and thus con-
vert into fertilizing matter a substance which, in excess, is in-
jurious.

Now, the carbonate of lime performs only in part these seve-
ral functions ; and although cases may exist where the applica-
tion of the carbonate will be as effectual as that of the caustic
lime, yet, in the great majority of cases, it is better that lime
be applied in its caustic than in its mild state.

Absolute quicklime, however, that is, lime at once taken
from the lime-kiln, will decompose or destroy living plants ;
but it is never employed in this state by the farmer. It is al-
ways slacked, and generally suffered to slack gradually in the
air, in which case it also attracts some carbonic acid, and then
it may be employed without injury even to plants when grow-
ing.

Lime may be applied to the land in different ways, and at
different periods.

1. It may be laid on the surface of land which is in grass,
and remain there until the land is ploughed up for tillage,
even though this should be several years afterwards. The
lime, in this case, quickly sinks into the soil, and acting upon
it, prepares it for crops when it is again tilled.

2. It may be spread upon the ground, and covered by the
plough, just after a crop of any kind has been reaped. In
this case, it prepares the soil for the succeeding crops.

3. It may be spread upon the surface even when plants are

()'4 MANURES.

growing. This practice, however, though sometimes conve-
nient, is rarely to be imitated.

4. It may be, and is most frequently, applied during the
season in which the land is in fallow, or in preparation for
what are termed fallow crops. The manner of applying it in
these cases will be afterwards explained.

5. It may be mixed with earthy matter, particularly with
that containing vegetable remains ; in this case it forms a
compost.

The quantity of lime applied to soils is very various, and is
dependent upon the nature of the soils, the climate, and other
circumstances. In warmer countries, a smaller quantity need
be used than in those which are cold and humid.

The stiff clays for the most part require a larger proportion
of it than the lighter soils ; and in the case of such soils as con-
tain much undecomposed vegetable matter, as peat, a quantity
should be applied sufficient to decompose effectually the inert
fibre.

In the north of England and south of Scotland, a moderate
application of lime for the lighter soils is held to be 120 bushels
heaped measure, and a medium dose for soils of different kinds
about 130 bushels, though a much larger quantity than this is
frequently applied in certain clay-land districts. I speak here
of newly-calcined limestone; for when it has imbibed moisture
and become a hydrate, it swells out to about two times its for-
mer bulk.

The periods at which doses of lime should be repeated, dif-
fer according to the quantity applied and the manner of using
it. In cases where the large applications just spoken of are
made, an effectual liming need not occur in less than fourteen
or fifteen years.

But in other cases, lime is applied in smaller quantity, and
more frequently, and there is nothing opposed to a sound
theory in this practice. Nay, there is reason to infer that a
more frequent application of lime, and in smaller quantity, is
the most advantageous method of using it.

The application of lime calls into powerful action the nutri-

MINERAL. 65

trient principles of the soil ; and hence, if land be severely crop-
ped after lime has been used, it is reduced to a greater state
of sterility than if the stimulant had not been applied. Lime,
therefore, calculated as it is to produce the best effects in fer-
tilizing a soil, is frequently made the means, in the hands of an
injudicious farmer, to injure it. This is especially observable
in the case of light soils of an inferior kind. These are fre-
quently so injured by injudicious cropping after the applica-
tion of lime, that they are reduced to a state of the greatest
barrenness. When soils are brought to this condition by
scourging crops, they cannot be restored to fertility by a sub-
sequent application of lime. So far from this, the future dose
generally renders them more barren than before. The only
good remedies are the application of vegetable and animal ma-
nures, and rest in grass.

But although the stimulating properties of lime may be
abused, it is an instrument of production of the highest import-
ance in the hands of the skilful farmer. On land improved
and cultivated for the first time, it exercises a very powerful
influence, and it is difficult to conceive how in many parts such
land could be improved at all without the assistance of this
mineral.

Lime is found to improve the quality of plants produced, to
render those cultivated more productive of farine matter, and
even to cause species that were not before growing naturally
to occupy the ground. Thus, lime spread upon a piece of
peaty land, is frequently found to eradicate in whole or in part
the heaths, and to permit the grasses and clovers to take their
place.

Whenever it is found advisable to deepen a soil by plough-
ing up a portion of the subsoil, the application of lime is the
most speedy means presented to us of correcting the defects,
or stimulating the productive powers, of the new substance ex-
posed.

To admit of the beneficial action of lime, the soil should be
freed of superfluous water. Not lime only, but all manui ^

E

00 MANURES.

are inefficient when the land is saturated in consequence of
excess of wetness.

Lime, it has been said, may be mixed with earthy matter
previous to being applied to the soil ; and this is a beneficial
practice. The lime in this case is best applied in its unslacked
state.

The best earthy materials for mixing with lime are those
which contain a certain proportion of decomposing organic
matter; such are the scourings of ditches, the sediment of
pools, mud deposited by rivers and the tides, and similar sub-
stances. The lime may be applied at the rate of 2 bushels to
the cubic yard, and 50 cubic yards of this mixture to the acre,
will form an efficient manuring for almost any soil.

Materials for forming manures of this class are constantly
presenting themselves. Old gardens, waste collections of earth,
the sweepings of roads, and the like, are always to be found in
more or less quantity. A mixture of lime in the proportion
mentioned, will ferment these substances even when they are
not peculiarly abundant in organic matter. The mass will
heat, and then it should be turned over once or oftener to
render the fermentation perfect, and destroy the seeds of plants
which may be mingled with the substances to be fermented.

Of the rocks from which lime is derived, one of the upper
secondary formation is the magnesian. It is so termed from
containing a considerable proportion of magnesian earth, and
is distinguished from other limestones by the effects of this sub-
stance. When the magnesia exists in a large proportion, it is
found to be injurious to growing plants ; and it is not until it
is combined with carbonic acid, that it becomes a useful con-
stituent part of the soil. Now, when magnesian earth is uni-
ted with lime in the minerals which form this class of rocks,
and when both substances are consequently calcined together,
the lime having a stronger affinity for carbonic acid than mag-
nesia, the magnesia remains longer uncombined with it than
the lime. In this state it is found to burn up as it were vege-
tation. Hence it is termed hot lime, and is used in much
smaller quantity than common lime.

MINERAL. 67

Magnesian limestones are usually coloured brown or yellow.
They differ from other limestones by dissolving more slowly,
and with feebler effervescence, when thrown in the lump into
acids. They may be distinguished by this circumstance, and
by their rendering diluted nitric acid milky. The presence of
magnesia in soils may be known by the waters upon the sur-
face, which are of a whitish colour, and which lose their tran-
sparency upon the slightest agitation.

Lime, besides being used in the form of a hydrate or carbo-
nate, is employed in agriculture in its other combinations ;
one of which is the sulphate of lime or gypsum.

This substance exists in soils, and is found in plants ; and it
is consequently supplied by our common vegetable manures.
It is not, however, employed directly in any considerable quan-
tity in this country, the success of the applications that have
been made having been partial and indecisive. This, there is
reason to believe, has arisen from the salt existing already in
the soils to which it had been applied, in sufficient abundance
for the purposes of vegetation. In other countries, it is greatly
valued in certain cases as a manure, and chiefly in the case of
the clovers of artificial meadows.

Gypsum, it has been said, is a compound of sulphuric acid
and lime ; and it contains a quantity of water of crystallization.
A moderate heat deprives it of this water, and it may then be
reduced to powder, and applied in that state to the soil. It
may be employed, either after having undergone this process
of gentle calcination, or in its raw state ; but it is better that
it be calcined.

The quantity applied in the countries where it is used is
very small, being at the rate of about 3 cwt. to the acre. It is
sown by the hand, at the time when the leaves of the clovers
and other plants begin to cover the surface ; and the operation
is performed, if possible, during slightly showery weather, it
being beneficial that the leaves should be somewhat moistened,
so as to retain a portion of the dust. The effect of this slight
application is felt for several years.

Gypsum, though not directly applied to the soil in any con-

e2

68 MANURES.

siderable quantity in this country, is yet indirectly applied in
all our common animal and vegetable manures. Certain peat-
ashes, too, owe their properties to the presence of this salt; and
they are accordingly applied with good effect to the top-dressing
of artificial meadows.

Lime is also found in combination with phosphoric acid, and
exists in this state in most excrementitious substances, in the
straw and seeds of the cereal grasses, as well as in pease, and
other leguminous plants. It is also applied directly, as we
have seen, in the state of bruised bones, in which case, as in
that of gypsum, a very small quantity of the material is re-
quired ; and, what is remarkable, while a certain quantity of
it will produce a given effect on plants, any excess beyond that
quantity will produce no increase of effect. It would appear
in this, as in the case of other saline substances, that a given
quantity only is required for the uses of the plants. Nay, it
appears that, when used in the quantity required, certain salts
will produce a beneficial effect, while, if applied in a larger
quantity, they will produce a hurtful one. Thus there is rea-
son to believe, in the case of common salt, that while in a given
quantity it is beneficial, in a larger quantity it is destructive.
Even in the case of sulphate of iron, a substance regarded as
eminently hurtful to plants, it appears, from experiments, that
in the due quantity it is fertilizing. And this perhaps is true
of all saline substances which are found in plants, not except-
ing the carbonate of lime itself: a certain quantity operates
beneficially, while any excess beyond that quantity is not only
superfluous but hurtful ; in the same manner as in the animal
system, certain condiments in a given quantity produce a bene-
ficial effect, while if beyond that quantity they act as poisons.

Carbonate of lime is sometimes applied to the soil in the state
of gravel and sand. Calcareous gravel is found in some places,
and employed as a manure. Calcareous sand is found in vari-
ous parts, chiefly of the sea coast ; it is formed of broken corals
and shells, and may be applied at once to the surface of the
ground. When laid upon land in grass, it never fails to reno-
vate and improve it.

MINERAL. 60

Marls are another substance applied to land, and are held to
be valuable in proportion to the calcareous matter which they
contain.

Clay-marl, as it is termed, is composed of carbonate of lime,
silica, and alumina, with a portion of the oxide of iron or
manganese. It occurs in beds, and is extensively diffused. It
assumes a considerable diversity of aspect and character, as it
is more or less indurated, or as the calcareous or aluminous
matter prevails. When very indurated, it is frequently termed
rock-marl.

The operation of marls is more slow than that of lime, and
they require to be applied in comparatively larger quantity.
They should be laid upon the surface, and generally well ex-
posed to the influence of the atmosphere before being mixed
with the soil. Some marls have been found to be very delete-
rious unless they had undergone this previous exposure to the
air. The kinds of soils to which marls are the most beneficially
applied are the sandy, gravelly, and peaty. In this case they
supply calcareous matter to the soil, and improve its texture
by the addition of alumina.

The quantity of this substance applied is exceedingly vari-
ous, being dependent upon the nature of the soil, and the pro-
portion of calcareous matter in the marl. Where the purpose
has been to change entirely the constitution of a defective soil,
it has been applied even at the rate of from 800 to 400 cart
loads to the acre. But where the purpose is merely to give a
common manuring, it is applied in the quantity sufficient to
afford an ordinary proportion of calcareous matter. It may be
laid upon the surface of land when in grass, where it remains
until the land is brought under tillage ; and this is generally
the best method of applying it.

Shell-marl is an entirely different substance. It is chiefly a
deposite of marine and sometimes of land shells, found frequent-
ly under a bed of peat. It may be used at the rate of from
twenty-five to thirty cart-loads or more to the acre. It can be
applied to the land when in various states, as when it is in stub-
ble, in summer-fallow, or in grass. The latter is a good prac-

70 MANURES.

tice : for, as in the case of all calcareous matter, the applica-
tion improves the herbage-plants ; and the mineral, sinking in-
to the soil, prepares it well for producing crops of corn when
it is broken up for tillage. Its operation is not so quick as
that of calcined limestone, but its effects are more lasting.
The same consequence is produced by excessive cropping after
the application of this substance as after that of calcined lime-
stone. The soil which has been stimulated by the action of
the mineral becomes more barren than before, and it is for the
most part only to be restored by rest and the action of animal
and vegetable manures.

The salts of lime, which have been before referred to, are the
carbonate, the sulphate, and the phosphate. Magnesia has al-
so its salts, but the only one used in agriculture is the carbo-
nate, of which mention has been made. The sulphate has been
also found in nature, and is said to have been employed benefi-
cially as a manure ; but the quantity of it is too small, and the
expense of obtaining it too great, to render it of any economi-
cal importance.

The vegetable alkali potassa is found in the ashes of most
plants. Wood-ashes consist in great part of this alkali, united
to carbonic acid ; and wood-ashes form a manure, though not
one very highly valued.

Potassa combined with nitric acid, and forming the well-
known substance, saltpetre, has been employed as a manure,
and apparently with good effect ; but these saline combinations
of potassa are expensive, which is probably the great objec-
tion to the using of them ; for otherwise there is reason to be-
lieve that potassa, like lime, exercises a beneficial influence
upon the soil, by rendering soluble certain substances which
were insoluble.

The mineral alkali soda exists in the ashes of sea-weeds ;
and sea-weeds we have seen form a good, though not a very
lasting manure.

The muriate of soda, or, as it is more correctly termed, chlo-
ride of sodium, being the principal part of common salt, is a
substance regarding the efficacy of which as a manure much

MINERAL. 71

discussion has taken place. Experience is entirely opposed
to the application of common salt in any considerable quantity
to land. The margins of the ocean, and vast saline deserts,
attest the sterile properties of this substance. It had been
known from the earliest times that salt rendered land barren.
A salt soil was regarded by the ancients as synonymous with
an unfruitful one.

Soils abounding in salt, however, have been found to yield
herbage very nutritive and wholesome, and certain saline
marshes are highly valued on this account.

Salt is probably as essential to the health of vegetables as of
animals, and we may believe that a mineral thus widely dif-
fused perforins important functions. It exists in all plants,
is a constituent part of almost every kind of animal and vege-
table manure, and is found in most soils in sufficient quantity
for the purposes of vegetation.

Hence experiments with salt as a manure have in most cases
failed, or been of doubtful success. That in many cases salt
applied in small quantities has been useful, can hardly be ques-
tioned. These, we may believe, were the cases, comparatively
rare, where there was not a sufficient quantity of salt in the
soil for the uses of the plants, or where it was not supplied in
sufficient quantity by the ordinary manures. Though salt can
rarely be applied with advantage directly to the soil, and ought
never to be applied at hazard without its being known whether
the salt of the soil is really deficient, yet there is reason to be -
lieve that, in various cases, it may be applied along with other
substances. Salt, in small quantities, appears to assist the de-
composition of animal and vegetable matter ; and a portion of
it mixed with ordinary composts of earth and lime, appears
to increase their fertilizing properties.

The whole subject of saline manures, it is to be observed,
deserves more extended investigation than it has yet obtained.
That all saline bodies which exist habitually in plants are bene-
ficial to vegetation, we may almost from analogy infer. We
see this in the case of the carbonate of lime, the sulphate of
lime, and the phosphate of lime ; and it is not unreasonable to

72 MANURES.

infer, that all saline bodies which exist in plants in their com-
mon state, may be employed as manures.

The knowledge in which we are now deficient regards the
quantity in which these substances should be applied. The
carbonate of lime is that in which it appears the greatest lati-
tude may be given. The sulphate of lime acts in smaller
quantity, and so likewise does the phosphate. Common salt,
supplied in small quantities in manures, promotes vegetation,
while a larger quantity is injurious ; and the sulphate of iron,
a substance poisonous in excess, if applied in the quantity
suited to the wants of plants, seems calculated to promote the
vegetation of the plants, and the fertility of the soil.

III. MIXED MANURES.

This class of manures consists of those derived partly from
organic, and partly from mineral substances.

Ashes of fuel of different kinds used for domestic and other
purposes, may be said to be of this class. Those of coal are
obtained from manufactories where much fuel is consumed,
and they form a large part of the refuse of towns. Ashes of
coal are to be regarded as a manure of an inferior class.

Ashes of peat are also of this mixed class. They are not
generally much esteemed, though they have sometimes a pe-
culiar value, as in the case of Dutch ashes, derived from their
mineral constituents.

Soot, which may be derived from the burning of coals and
wood, is frequently applied in its unmixed state as a manure.
Its base is charcoal, and it is advantageously spread upon all
soils, and in an especial manner upon land in grass.

The sweepings of roads are frequently used as manure, and
may be always rendered capable of being so by being ferment-
ed with lime. They consist of various minerals, comminuted
or ground by the action of carriages. They form mud in wet
weather, and in populous countries they are much mixed with
animal and vegetable matter.

Street manure, or the general refuse of towns, is a very com-

MIXED. 73

pound substance, of much importance to the fertility of the
adjacent country. It consists of all kind of offal, of the refuse
of manufactories, of litter and the dung of animals, and in large
quantity of ashes and other substances.

This species of manure is much valued, though it is far in-
ferior to well-rotted dung, the produce of the farm-yard. In
every town this substance ought to be carefully collected for
the supply of the neighbouring country.

There is a method of increasing the quantity of manures
upon a farm, which should in no case be neglected ; this is by
forming composts, which, as the name denotes, are a mixture
of substances. If dung, or any vegetable or animal substance,
be mixed with earth, the latter will imbibe a portion of the
decomposing matter, and become itself fitted to be used as a
manure. The earthy and the putrescent matters may be laid
in layers, the earthy covering the putrescent, so as to prevent
the loss of gaseous matter by evaporation. But it is not neces-
sary to observe the precise order of layers, since the sub-
stances may be mixed together whenever they can be conve-
niently collected. There should be at least one heap of this
kind upon a farm, as a general receptacle for all substances
capable of being fermented, which may from time to time be
procured. Urine poured upon such a heap will be found to be
very beneficial ; and lime may be mixed with it. The whole
should be turned over two or more times, so as to mix the ma-
terials together and promote fermentation.

Of the nature of composts, also, are those mixtures of lime
with weeds, the mud of ditches, the slime of rivers, and the
like, to which reference has been already made. No oppor-
tunity should be omitted of making manures by this method.

The management of composts of all kinds is exceedingly
easy. The knowledge that every sort of putrescent refuse
may be mixed with earthy substances, that lime acts bene-
ficially in fermenting the mass, that frequent turning mixes
the substances together, and produces the action required, are
sufficient to guide the farmer in all cases in this simple branch
of farm economy. However desirable it be that the scientific

74 MANURES.

agriculturist shall extend his knowledge of the nature and
mode of action of the particular matters forming this class of
substances, fortunately a minute knowledge of this kind is not
essential to successful practice. The law, that all animal and
vegetable substances whatever, and some well-known minerals,
act as manures, is of such universal application, that the agri-
culturist can rarely have difficulty in applying the substances
of this kind within his reach to their proper uses.

Having now considered the subject of the soil, and the
nature of those substances which, added to it, promote its
fertility, we are prepared to enter upon the consideration of
the means which are employed to cultivate it. This forms
the extensive subject of Tillage. But before treating of the
details of practice, it will be proper to consider the forms and
uses of the tools and machines which are employed.

( 75 )

III. IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM.

In order to understand the manner of performing the la-
bours of the farm, we should possess a certain knowledge of
the mechanical agents to be employed. It is rarely, indeed,
necessary that the farmer shall himself be able to construct
machines, because, in most countries where the arts are culti-
vated, there will be a class of artisans who can supply to him
the common instruments of which he stands in need. But yet
it is well that he be acquainted with the principles upon
which his machines should be constructed, and so be able to
supply, if necessary, the want of skill in the workman.

The machines, or implements of the farm, may be divided
into classes, according to the purposes to which they are to be
applied : —

1. The implements for preparing land for the plants to be
cultivated. These may be called the Implements of Prepara-
tory Tillage —

1. The Plough.

2. The Harrow.

3. The Grubber,

4. The Roller.

2. Machines for Sowing —

1. Corn in rows.

2. Corn and Grass-seeds broad-cast.

3. The Seeds of the Bean and Pea.

4. The smaller Seeds in rows.

3. Implements for Hoeing.

Horse-Hoes, &c.

4. Machines for Thrashing and Winnowing,

1. Thrashing-Machine.

2. Winnowing-Machine.

5. Implements for preparing food for live-stock.

1. Turnip-slicer.

2. Chaff-cutter, &c.

7G

IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

6. Wheel-carriages.

1. Single and Double-horse Cart, or Waggon.

2. Sparred or Corn-cart.

7. Utensils of the Dairy.

1. Churn.

2. Cheese-press, &c.

8. Implements of Manual Labour, &c.

Barrows, Forks, Spades, Shovels, &c.

I. IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

1. The Plough.

By means of this instrument the earth is to be turned over
to a given depth ; and this is to be effected by cutting from the
ground successive sods or slices of earth, so that each sod or
slice shall be raised up and turned over, and all the sods or
slices laid resting upon each other, in such a manner as that
an entire new surface shall be exposed to the atmosphere.

In the following figures, let A B C D represent the end or
transverse section of the slice of earth which is to be turned over.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

The slice is first to be raised from the position in which it
lies in Fig. 1 : it is next to be placed in the position showr.
in Fig. 2 : and it is finally to be placed in that represented ir.
Fig. 3.

THE PLOUGH.

/'/

In the following diagram, let ABCD, corresponding with
the same letters in the last figures, represent a transverse sec-
tion of the slice of earth which is to be turned over. This slice
is first to be raised from its horizontal position ABCD, by be-
ing turned upon its corner C as a pivot, and placed in the po-
sition CEFG, corresponding with that of Fig. 2. It is then to
be turned upon its corner G as on a pivot, and laid in the po-
sition GHIK, corresponding with that of Fig. 3. In this
manner the side DC, which was formerly underneath, will be
above, namely, in the position HI ; and if successive slices
shall be thus reversed, they will rest upon each other in the
manner shewn by the sections of the slices OXYZ, TCUV,
PQRS, OLMN, and GHIK,

The angle of inclination at which these different slices will
naturally rest upon each other in the manner shown in the
figure, will depend upon the proportion which the width of the
slices bears to their depth ; and that the greatest extent of sur-
face may be exposed to the air, the angle of their inclination
will be 45°. In order, therefore, that the slices may be at this
angle, the proportion which the width of the slices bears to
their depth is to be determined ; and this can be done by
simple calculation ; for it can be shown that the width of the
slice AB being the hypothenuse of an isosceles right-angled
triangle, the depth of the slice BC will be one of the sides.
Supposing, therefore, the width of the sod AB to be 10 inches,
the depth BC will, by calculation, be 7.071 inches *.

* That the maximum of surface will be exposed, when the angle of
inclination of the sods is 45°, may be demonstrated thus : Let the right-
angled parallelogram DBMN, in the following figure, represent a section
of the sod or furrow-slice, BKM being an angle of 45°, and KB being

IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

If, then, beginning at one side of a field, we shall cut off a
slice of earth, the entire length of this field, and place it in the
position OXYZ, Fig, 4, and then cut off a second slice, and
place it in the position TCUV, and then a third slice, and
place it in the position PQRS, and so on, the various slices
will rest upon each other at a given angle, in the manner re-
presented.

A similar operation is to be performed by the plough. Be-
ginning at the right-hand side of the field or ridge to be plough-
ed, a sod, which we shall now call a furrow-slice, is to be cut
from the firm ground, raised up, and turned over. A second
furrow-slice is in like manner to be cut from the firm ground,
raised up and turned over, and so on. In this manner, an en-
tire new surface will be exposed to the atmosphere, and the

equal to BM. On KM, which is here = BD, as a diameter describe the
semicircle KBM, and in that semicircle draw any other triangle KPM, re-
presenting a section of a sod having the same width as before, but with the
depth PM ; then will the two sides KB, BM of the isosceles right-angled
triangle KBM be together greater than the fig 5.

two sides KP, PM of any other right-angled
triangle KPM on the same base KM.

For, produce KB, and make BA = BM ;
produce also KP, and make PC = PM, and
join AM and CM. Then, because KBM is
the exterior angle of the triangle BAM, it is
equal to the sum of the interior and opposite
angles BAM and AMB ; but BA = BM,
therefore the angle BAM = AMB = ± KBM.
In like manner, the angle KCM = \ KPM.
But the angle KBM = KPM, and therefore
the angle KAM = KCM. Hence, the seg-
ment of a circle upon KM from the centre

B will pass through the points C and A, but the diameter KBA is greater
than any other straight line KPC, which does not pass through the centre.
Hence, since KA = KB + BM, and since KC = KP + PM, it follows that
KB + BM is greater than KP + PM.

To determine the ratio which the depth of a sod will bear to its width
when the inclination is 45° — Since KBM is an isosceles triangle right-angled
at B, KM2 am KB2 + BM2 = 2 BM2, and consequently BM = V i KM2.
Hence, suppose KM, the width of the sod, to be 10, then the depth BM
= iJ~Eq a 7-071 as in the text.

THE PLOUGH.

79

successive furrow-slices laid resting upon each other, thus : —

Fig. 6.

A well-formed plough is that which will perform these ope-
rations with the least resistance, with the least risk of injury
from the strain or shock of opposing obstacles, and which shall
join to these properties such lightness and simplicity of form
as are compatible with its uses.

The plough may be formed partly of wood, and partly of
iron. But as, when it is formed wholly of iron, it admits of a
somewhat better combination of its parts, the following figures
represent it as of this material, certain parts being of malleable
iron, and certain parts of cast iron.

Fig. 7- represents the plough as seen from the right-hand
side, or from that side which is at the right hand of the plough-
man when at work. In this position are seen the two handles
A and B, by which it is guided : the mould-board DEHGF,
the share HGI, the beam C, and the coulter K.

80

IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

Fig. 8. represents the instrument as seen from the same
side, but with the mould-board and share removed.

Here the connexion is shown of the left handle A with the
beam C, of which it forms a continuation, and of the right
handle B with the lower part of the frame-work. The upper
ends of these two handles rise to the height of about three feet
above the plane of the lower part of the plough. They are to
be regarded as levers in the hands of the ploughman, for ena-
bling him to direct the instrument.

Fig. 9. represents the plough, as seen from the left side, be-
ing that side which, in working, is towards the unploughed
land. The part AFDEB, is a perpendicular plane, formed of
plates of iron. The surface of these parts, the left side of the
share, FCD, and of the coulter K, should be in one plane, and
move in a direction parallel to the line of draught.

The beam is that part of the plough to which the moving
power is attached. Upon the end of the beam is placed a

THE PLOUGH. 81

bridle, as it is termed (N, Figs. 7, 8, and 9,) to which the point
of draught is fixed, and by means of which the line of draught
can be elevated or depressed, and moved to the right hand or
to the left as may be required. The bridle is moveable round
a bolt passing through the beam. The beam is curved in its
form, in order that, being more elevated above the surface of
the ground, it may be less impeded by stubble and other mat-
ters upon the surface.

In the beam is fixed the coulter K, (Figs. 7, 8, and 9). The
use of this part being to cut the sod from the firm ground, pre-
vious to its being raised up and turned over, its position is
inclined as in the figure, so that it may the better perform its
function as a cutting instrument. The inclination of the fore
part of the coulter to the plane of the plough's sole, may be 45°.

The coulter, being in front of the fore part or head of the
plough, is first struck by stones or other obstacles in the ground.
But a stroke upon the coulter is less apt to endanger the in-
strument than a stroke upon the head; and by its oblique posi-
tion, when it encounters a stone or other obstacle, it tends to
force it upwards out of the ground. The right side of the
coulter is welded with steel on account of the greater attrition
to which that part is subjected.

The share, Fig. 10, is made to be taken off, that it may be
sharpened when necessary. It is formed with a wing or pro-
jecting edge to the right-hand side, which is laid with steel,
on account of the friction to which it is suoject. The pur-
pose of the wing is to cut the under part of the furrow-slice,
previous to its being raised upon the mould- Fig. io.

board, by which means the operation of raising
and reversing the sod is better performed, and
with less waste of labour. The wing may be
seven inches measured from B to A.

The share is formed of malleable, and the mould-board of
cast, iron. The two parts combined form a curved surface,
which, beginning at the point of the share I, Fig. 7, gradually
rises from the horizontal plane, until it is vertical at F, at which
point, accordingly, a perpendicular line would touch it from

F

OZ IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

top to bottom. The surface then continues to incline in a
uniform manner to the right-hand side, until, at its extreme
point D, it inclines over to that side at the angle at which
the furrow-slice is to be laid. The whole right-hand side of
the plough, therefore, consisting of the share and mould-
board, forms the curved surface of a wedge, which, from the
point of the share where it is horizontal, becomes gradually
more and more upright, till it is perpendicular, and then con-
tinues inclining by a uniform curve to the right-hand side, un-
til it has formed with that side the angle at which we wish the
furrow-slice to be laid. The wedge thus formed being insi-
nuated beneath the furrow-slice and pushed forward, gradually
raises it to a perpendicular position, and then, by acting upon
the upper part of it, presses it over into the position in which
it is to lie.

That we may better comprehend the nature of the wedge
which the plough forms, let ABODEO, Fig. 11, represent a
wedge, one of whose sides, ABCO, placed perpendicularly,
moves in the line of the plough's motion, and consequently cor-
responds with the left-hand side of the plough, and whose other
side EBOD, is applied obliquely to the furrow-slice to be moved,
and whose width behind, DO, is equal to the width of the sod
to be moved, and which we may assume to be 10 inches. Such
a wedge moved forward in the ground is calculated to move
this furrow-slice to the right-hand side ; but it is not calculated
to raise it up and turn it over. But let the lower part of this
wedge DC be supposed divided into a certain number of equal
parts as ninety, then, beginning at the point C corresponding
with the point of the share, let all the upper part of the wedge
from the edge CD backwards, be supposed to be cut or scooped
away in such a manner as that, when we measure the angle
which the surface of this new wedge forms with its base, we
shall find that at the first equal part or division, the inclination
of the surface to the base is 1°, at the second 2°, at the fifth 5°,
at the tenth 10°, and so on to the ninetieth at D, where it is 90°,
or perpendicular. In this manner we shall have formed a new
wedge EAFCDO. whose face EFCD, corresponding with the

THE PLOUGH.

83

right-hand side of the plough, becomes gradually more and
more upright from the point C to the point D, where it is
wholly upright, and so forms a uniformly-curved surface from
the point to the extremity. A wedge thus formed, it is appa-
rent, is calculated to raise the furrow-slice in a uniform man-
ner from its horizontal to its perpendicular position.

There yet remains, however, the further operation of press-
ing over the furrow-slice into the position in which it is to be
ultimately laid. Now this we may suppose to be effected by
lengthening out our wedge behind as from E to G, and conti-
nuing it with a uniform curvature to the right-hand side, in
such a manner as that, after having passed the perpendicular at
DE, it shall incline more and more to that side, until at its ter-
mination at the point G, it has formed an angle with the surface
of 45°. In this manner, the surface of the wedge will represent
the right-hand side of the mould-board and share, beginning at
a point, rising by a gradual slope from the horizontal plane to
the vertical position, and then gradually inclining towards the
right-hand side, until it forms with that side the angle re-
quired to press the sod into its position. It is to be observ-
ed that, when the furrow-slice has reached its perpendicular
position at D, it begins to be turned upon a new pivot, so that
there is a slight change in the curvature of the wedge at that
point ; and further, it is to be observed, that when it has
reached this perpendicular position, it must be no farther acted
upon by the mould-board below, for which reason all the hinder
and lower part of the wedge DGH must be cut away in the
manner shown in the different figures of the mould-boards.

f2

84 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

The surface of the share and mould-board has been describ-
ed as uniform ; but in practice it is not to be made entirely
uniform, on account of the resistance of the earth being greater
at certain parts of the ascent of the furrow-slice than at others.
Thus, towards the point of the share, the resistance to be
overcome is greater than at the extremity of the mould-board,
and therefore the wedge is made more acute at that part than
behind.

A curved surface, such as has been described, may be form-
ed by various means. These, however, need not be here de-
scribed ; neither is it necessary to explain in detail the several
corrections to be made on the form of the parts. The na-
ture of the curved surface will now be understood ; or should
any obscurity exist in the description given, it will be removed
on examining the implement itself. The reader will perceive
that the surface of the wedge described is resolvable into two
planes, one of which acts in elevating the sod, and the other in
moving it to a side, and that the general effect is to raise the
sod, press it to a side, and turn it over.

The perpendicular height of the mould-board may be 15
or 16 inches, being that height which is sufficient to prevent
the loose earth from being thrown over it when the plough
is at work. The width of the plough below, measured from
the left-hand side to the point of the mould-board F, Fig. 7,
where it is begun to be cut away, and where its surface is
perpendicular, should be just equal to the width of the sod,
and which, it has been stated, may be assumed to be 10 inches.
The lower part of the plough from the point of the share C
to the heel E, Fig. 9, should be of that length which is suffi-
cient to give steadiness to the motion of the instrument, and
need in no case exceed 36 inches. It is the error in rude ploughs
that these parts are formed unnecessarily large, and especially
the width below, by which means the resistance is uselessly
increased.

An essential property of the plough is, that it shall move in
the earth with a steady motion, and the giving to it the form

THE PLOUGH. 85

and combination of parts necessary for that purpose is one of
the main difficulties attending its construction.

Were it ascertained by experiment on the plough when at
work, at a given depth of furrow, and in soil of a given texture,
that a cord attached to any point A, Fig. 12, and drawn in the
oblique direction AB, would so pull forward the plough, that
it should press uniformly upon the earth at all points, from C
to D, so that the share should neither tend to point upwards
nor downwards, but should move horizontally forward, then it
is to some part of this line that the moving power should be ap-
plied; and further, it is known from the principles of mechanics,
that it matters not, in so far as regards the force exerted, to
what precise part of this line the power is applied. Now,
without entering into any mathematical investigation of the
principles upon which this line is to be determined, it is to
be observed, that in a well-made plough, formed on the prin-
ciples pointed out, this line, drawn from the usual point of at-
tachment of the draught on the collars of the working cattle,
will intersect the sole of the plough at E, a little behind the
setting on of the share, and a little to the right of the plane of
the left side of the instrument.

Now, knowing the height at which the point of draught is
to be attached to the shoulders of the working cattle, let us
suppose 4 feet, and the distance from the point of the share at
which the animals of draught can be conveniently yoked, let
us suppose 12 feet, then laying off DF 12 feet, and FB 4 feet,
and drawing BE ; it follows that the point at the end of the
beam, to which the draught is attached, may be placed in any
part of the line BE. So that whatever be the length which we

Fig. 12

86 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

shall give to the beam, the line in question will denote the end
of it, or the point to which the draught is to be attached.

But the angle which the line EB forms with the surface,
is not, as can be shown, constant, but varies with the depth
ploughed, and the tenacity of the soil. That the instru-
ment may suit itself to these variations, as well as that any de-
fects in the form of its parts may be counteracted, and that
the line of draught may be placed in that position which is
required to pull forward the plough, without there being any
tendency in the share to sink into the ground or rise out of
it, the bridle is fixed at the end of the beam, so as to elevate
or depress the line of draught, as may be required. Should
the plough, for example, tend to go deeper into the earth,
the line of draught is to be lowered by means of the bridle, so
that it shall form a greater angle BGKF ; the effect of which
will be to counteract the tendency which the plough has to
go deeper. The same effect will be produced by shortening
the traces by which the horses are attached to the draught,
and thus increasing the angle. In like manner, by means of
the bridle, the point of draught can be shifted to the right or
to the left. If the point of the share tends to turn to the left
hand into the firm ground, the line of draught is shifted more
to the left, and if to the right hand, it is shifted more to the
right. This adjusting of the plough's motion is easy, and is
performed by the ploughman, until he feels that the plough
continues to swim fair, to use his own technical language ;
that is, until he feels, which he does at once, that it continues
to move horizontally forward, without any tendency to turn
to the right or left, or to rise from the earth or to sink into
it. A well-constructed plough of this kind, therefore, needs
no wheels or other devices to steady its motion ; the effect
being produced by merely altering the direction of the line of
draught.

The undoubted honour of having perfected this species of
plough belongs to James Small, an ingenious mechanic of
Scotland, who, by observing the defects of the ancient ploughs,

THE PLOUGH. 87

succeeded in forming an instrument which may be used in
every part of the world, and which has added millions to the
wealth of his native country. A treatise by him remains to
show the steps by which he arrived at the discovery of the
principles on which a plough should be constructed. His ma-
chine is alike efficient and simple. In the countries where it
is used it is drawn by two horses yoked abreast, and is capa-
ble of performing, by easy labour to the animals of draught,
almost every species of tillage which the plough is required to
perform*.

Although the animal of draught employed in this species of
plough is the horse, as being better suited than the ox to the
variety of labours in which the husbandman of this country
employs his working-cattle, and to the despatch which he deems
essential in all his operations, yet it does not follow that the
horse is to be preferred to the ox in all countries and in all
cases. In many countries the ox may still, on account of his
more easy means of support and other qualities, be advanta-
geously used. But whether the ox or the horse be employed
it matters not, in so far as regards the construction of the sim-
ple and efficient machine which has been described. It is
equally suited to either species of draught, and only requires
that the height of the beam shall be varied a little to suit
the animals employed, and the manner in which they are at-
tached to the yoke. When horses are used, they are attached
by an apparatus of swing-trees, as in Fig. 13, to the bridle
at the beam by a hook at A. These swing-trees being con-
nected together, each horse pulls against the collar of his fel-
low, so that each must exert an equal force in pulling. They
are attached by chains or traces, CC, to their respective swing-
trees.

* A description of the plough of Small, with an explanation of the prin-
ciple of its construction, was communicated by me to the Conseil Koyal
d' Agriculture de France, and, with accounts of the harrow, grubber, and
other implements, was afterwards published in the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture.

IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.
Fig. 13.

The chains or traces by which the horses are yoked, are
fixed to hooks on the collar as at A, Fig. 14. The traces are
prevented from falling down by a broad belt of leather B, fas-
tened to the traces, and passing over the back of each horse.
Each horse has a snaffle-bridle C, and a cord is attached to
the inner ring of each bridle, and to the trace of the opposite
horse, for the purpose of keeping the horses together. A long
rein is attached to the outer ring of each bridle, D D, and
looped to each handle of the plough. With these, assisted
by the voice, the ploughman directs the horses, and uses the
reins instead of a whip, when necessary, to urge the animals
forward.

Resting between the handles of the plough is a little spade
with a long handle, with which the ploughman removes any
mud that may be collected on the mould-board, or any sub-

THE HARROW. 89

stance that may be collected between the beam and the coul-
ter, or between the beam and the forepart of the mould-board.

Fig. 15.

The manner of ploughing a given piece of ground, as a field
or a ridge, will be described under the head Simple Operations
of Tillage.

2. The Harrow.

This instrument succeeds to the plough in the order of de-
scription, and the uses to which it is applicable. It consists
of a frame of wood or iron, in which a certain number of teeth
are fixed, which are pressed into the ground by their own
weight and that of the frame. The instrument is intended to
pulverize the ground which has been acted upon by the plough,
to disengage from it the roots and other substances which it
may contain, and to cover the seeds of corn and other cultiva-
ted plants.

The harrow is greatly more simple in its form than the
plough. It is even an imperfect machine in any form of which
we can construct it ; yet it is of great utility in tillage, and
should receive all those mechanical improvements of which its
nature will admit.

The harrow performing its operation by means of a certain
number of teeth moved forward in the ground, and pressed
downwards by their own weight and that of the frame in which
they are fixed, the first questions that occur in investigating
the principles of its construction are, the form that should be
given to those teeth, and the manner in which they should be
disposed in the surmounting frame. Were it the purpose, in
harrowing, solely to drag up the roots of plants and other sub-
stances from the ground, the best form, perhaps, that could be
given to the teeth would be that of a thin wedge, tapering to
the point, like the coulter of a plough, and, like it, inclining
forward. But although this construction might be the best

90 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

calculated for tearing up roots and other substances beneath
the surface, it would not be so well fitted for covering s eds and
for breaking and pulverizing the ground, as when a broader
surface was presented to the earth, and a greater movement
given to its particles. The wedge for this purpose should be
broad rather than thin. In order, therefore, to adapt the form
of the teeth to this purpose, — to the strength necessary to be
given to them, and to the lateral or shaking motion to which
they are subjected in passing over rough ground, as well as to
their forward motion, — it is conceived that the best form of
them will be when their horizontal section is a square, whose
diagonal is moved forward in the line of the harrow's motion ;
while they should gradually taper to a point, the forepart being-
kept straight, as in T, Fig. 16.

With regard to the distribution of the teeth in the frame
of the harrow, they should not be placed too closely together,
for then they would be too much impeded by the obstacles
opposed to them : Further, they should be so disposed with
relation to each other, as that one part of the instrument shall
not be more interrupted than another : Again, their number
should not be too great, because then their power to penetrate
into the ground will be diminished, unless the weight of the
whole instrument shall be increased in a corresponding degree :
And lastly, their length should not be greater than is neces-
sary, because they will not on that account penetrate more
deeply into the ground, unless the whole weight is also in-
creased, and because this increase of length will give a greater
power to the teeth, when encountered by obstacles, to split the
frame in which they are fixed.

The harrows represented in Fig. 16, of which the frame is of
wood and the teeth of iron, are formed with a regard to these
general principles. They are connected together in pairs by
hinges. They consist each of four bars of wood, AB, CD,
&c, which are joined together by an equal number of cross
bars of smaller dimensions, mortised through them. The larger
bars may be 2<| inches in width or more, by 3 in depth, and the
smaller 2£ inches in width by 1 in depth. The larger bars are

THE HARROW.

91

placed oblique to the smaller bars, and to the line of the har-
row's motion, and the teeth are inserted into them at equal dis-
tances from one another. This inclination is made to be such,
that perpendiculars from each of the teeth falling upon a line
LM, drawn at right angles to the harrow's motion, shall divide
the space between each bar into equal parts, so that the various
teeth, when the instrument is moved forward, shall indent at
equal distances the surface of the ground over which they pass.

Fig. 16.

The number of teeth in each harrow is 20, 5 being inserted
in each of the larger bars. When two harrows, therefore,
are employed together, the surface of the ground from L to
M is indented by 40 teeth, impressing the ground at equal
distances from one another, and covering the space of about 9
feet. The teeth may project below the under surface of the
frame 7 or 8 inches, their length somewhat increasing from the
hindmost to the foremost rows, where the oblique position of
the line of draught tends most to elevate the harrow. The
teeth are often inserted into the frame with a little inclination

92 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

forward ; but this deviation from the perpendicular, if made at
all, should be very slight, because it renders the harrow more
apt to be impeded by the weeds or other substances collected
in the angle between them and the frame. The teeth are fixed
in the bars by boring holes with an auger of about f of an inch
in diameter, and then driving them firmly through. The teeth,
when thus driven into the bars, will be retained with sufficient
firmness. The best of the common kinds of wood for the larger
bars, as being the least liable to split, is elm, birch, or ash,
and for the cross-bars ash.

The iron rods which terminate in the hinges O, O, may pass
through the framework to give it greater strength. These
rods keep the harrows at the distance required, and the hinges
admit of either harrow rising or falling according to the in-
equalities of the surface. "When thus joined, the harrows are
• drawn by two horses guided by reins, the driver walking be-
hind so as to be prepared to lift up either harrow when choked
by weeds, or otherwise interrupted.

The method of attaching the animals of draught will be ex-
plained by the apparatus of swing-trees shown in the figure, by
means of which each animal must exert an equal force in pull-
ing. There are plates of iron N, N, passing through the left-
hand bars of each harrow. These plates have a few holes in
them, so that the line of draught may be shifted to the right
or left as may be required. The staple P upon the swing-tree
R R being the point to which the moving power of the harrow
is attached, it is important to ascertain its proper position.

Were a perpendicular to be let fall from the staple P upon
the line L M, the point of intersection would be in the middle
of the entire breadth covered by the harrows, and an equal
number of teeth would be on each side of the line of traction,
and this would seem to indicate the position of the staple P.
But the larger bars being placed oblique to the line of the har-
row's motion, when any obstacle raised above the surface of
the ground strikes one of these bars, it tends to press it to the
right-hand side. And as there are 8 bars of this kind, and

THE HARROW. 93

these of considerable length, it will appear that, in ground
where there is any great unevenness of surface, there will be a
constant succession of strokes, forming a strong lateral pres-
sure on the left side of the several bars. But the staple P
being nearly fixed in its position, while the harrows may be
moved round, the effect of this lateral pressure is to turn the
whole harrows on P as a pivot from left to right. In practice,
accordingly, there is found to be a constant tendency in the
harrows of this construction to swing around from left to right,
and this often to so great a degree in very rough ground, as to
place the larger bars parallel to the line of motion, thus caus-
ing all the teeth in the same bar to follow in the same track. '
Hence the point P ought not to be precisely in the middle of
the space covered by the harrows, but placed somewhat to the
left hand, in order that so great a number of teeth may be
placed on the right side of the line of traction as to counter-
act the tendency of the harrows to turn from left to right.
But further, the position of P is not fixed, but must vary with
the roughness of the surface over which the harrows are drag-
ged. Hence not only must the staple P be placed somewhat
to the left hand, but there must be the power of moving it
more or less towards the left hand, according to the roughness
of the surface passed over. This is effected by the iron plates,
with holes, of which mention has been made, and by means of
which the driver can readily shift the line of draught more or
less to the left hand, as may be required.

A species of harrow was formerly much in use, and is still
frequently employed, of much greater weight and dimensions
than the ordinary kinds, each single harrow being drawn by
two horses. These larger harrows were termed Breaks. They
were intended to till the stronger clays, at a time when they
were too hard to be impressed by the teeth of the common
harrow. There were differences in the form of these instru-
ments. One method of their construction is represented in
Fig. 17, in which there are five large bars, and twenty-five
teeth, and where the line of draught is so attached as that the
teeth shall impress the ground at equal distances.

94

IMPLEMENTS OP PREPARATORY TILLAGE.
Fig. 17.

The heavy harrows of this kind, however, cannot be said to
be indispensable, even on the most stubborn clays, since, at
those times when the lighter harrows are unable to operate,
other instruments may be employed.

Sometimes a light kind of harrow, with a greater number of
teeth, is used for covering the smaller seeds, as those of clovers
and the grasses. These light harrows do this species of work
better than the common kinds, and hence many farmers have
one or more pairs of them, for the specific purpose of covering
the smaller seeds.

To prevent injury to the surface, when it is necessary to sow
land in a very wet state, several harrows may be attached to-
gether, and the horses made to walk in the open furrows of the
ridges, to be afterwards described. These harrows maybe at-
tached to an axle, mounted on wheels, stretching the breadth
of the ridge. But the same purpose may be more simply ef-

THE HARROW.

95

fected by merely attaching the harrows to a beam of wood of a
length sufficient to stretch across the ridge, in which case the
two middle harrows may be connected together by hinges, in
the usual manner, while, to keep the outer ones at the distance
required, each of them may be attached to the cross beam, in
the manner shown in the figure.

I Fi& 18- I

The harrow has been here described as formed of wood, with
teeth of iron. The whole, however, may be formed of malle-
able iron. The advantages of the iron harrow are, that it is
more durable, and that a smaller surface being exposed to the
resistance of obstacles on the ground, it is not so much resisted
as when the frame-work is of wood. On this account it does
somewhat more work in proportion to its weight. The follow-
ing figure represents the harrow as formed of iron.

Fig. 19.

96 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

In these figures, the harrows are shown as closely connected
by their hinges : but they may be also more loosely connected,
so that each harrow shall have a little separate play, and this
is conceived to be an improvement in the construction.

3. The Grubber.

The uses of the harrow, it has been seen, are to pulverize
the ground which has been subjected to the action of the plough,
to disengage from it the roots of plants and other substances
which it may contain, and to cover the seeds which are sown
upon the surface.

The harrow, however, performs imperfectly a part of these
operations. It is not well suited to penetrate into the ground,
and drag up the roots of plants beneath the surface. The
teeth being forced down solely by their own weight and that of
the frame in which they are fixed, which is not considerable,
they are ill fitted to make an impression upon the ground, and
they are easily thrown out of it by the obstacles which they
encounter. In soil which is in any degree tenacious, there-
fore, the impression made by the teeth of the harrow is often
seen to be very slight. Were the teeth, as was before observed,
formed like the coulter of a plough, and set in the same posi-
tion, they would better insinuate themselves into the ground,
and be somewhat less liable to be forced out of it. But the
harrow, from its nature, could only admit of this construction
in a very limited degree ; for, were the teeth to form a sharp
angle with the frame-work in which they were set, the roots
and other substances disengaged from the ground would be col-
lected at the angles, and would thus be carried along with the
harrow and impede its progress ; while the difficulty would be
increased of freeing the teeth from the substances collected.

To obviate these defects of the harrow, instruments have
been employed, which, from their weight and construction,
are better able to penetrate into the soil, and maintain their
position at the depth required. They are termed Grubbers,
Cultivators, Extirpators, &c. They are of greatly more recent
introduction into agriculture than the plough and the harrow.

THE GRUBBER.

97

One of this class of instruments, termed Finlaison's Harrow,
from the name of its inventor Mr John Finlaison, has been
found to be an efficient machine. It is made wholly of iron.
It consists of two parallel sides A A, with two sets, or pairs, of
cross-bars, as shown in the figure. Into the hindmost of these
sets are inserted five curved teeth or prongs, and into the fore-
most four prongs. A little before the foremost prongs, the
sides begin to converge so as to meet at B, where they are at-
tached by a bolt to the long handle 0, fixed to which, by a con-
necting bar, is the wheel D, which runs upon the surface. Be-
hind is a species of spring E, consisting of two elastic rods with
openings, and supported in the manner shown in the figure.
The handle, which is retained in its place in the openings of
the spring, may be forced up and down by pressing it ; and as
the handle and the fore wheel are joined together, by raising
the handle the fore wheel will be raised also, and the prongs
allowed to go deeper into the ground. When the handle is at
the lowest opening in the spring, the foremost prongs are lifted
out of the ground ; and in proportion as the handle is pressed
up into each successive opening, the prongs descend, until the
handle is at the topmost opening, when they will be between
eight and nine inches in the ground, which is the greatest
depth at which it is necessary to set them. The axles of the
two hindmost wheels, may, by means of an apparatus attached
to the side bar, be elevated or depressed, and thus the hinder
prongs made to correspond in the depth at which they are set
with the foremost.

Fig. 20.

ys

IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

The entire space covered by the prongs of this machine is
5 feet 4 inches. The length of each prong is 29 inches ; and
the weight of the whole instrument is about 486 lb. On stiff
clays, or on soils not loosened by previous ploughing, four
horses are required to work the machine ; and in ordinary cases,
with tolerably light land, three horses. There is also a smaller
and lighter form of the instrument with seven prongs, which
covers a space of four feet. This, on heavy land, requires three
horses, and on light land two horses, to work it.

Another instrument of this class is Kirkwood\s Grubber.
This is formed wholly of iron, and consists of a frame-work as
shown in Figs. 21 and 22, in which are fixed seven prongs or
coulters, so placed as to move at equal distances from one
another.

Fig. 21

The frame-work, it will be seen, rests upon three wheels.
The handles AA move upon the axle of the two hindmost
wheels, and they are extended forward to a cross-bar at C,
which forms part of the frame in which the coulters are fixed.
The handles when moved act as levers, of which the fulcrum
is the axle of the two hindmost wheels. By depressing the
handles, they raise the cross-bar at C, with which they are
connected, and consequently the hinder part of the frame in
which the coulters are fixed. Further, the handles are con-
nected by means of rods DD with the fore-wheel E. The same
depression of the handles, therefore, which elevates the hinder
part of the frame-work, draws back the connecting-rods, and,
acting upon the fore-wheel E, depresses it, which is equivalent
to raising the fore part of the frame-work. A depression of

THE GRUBBER.

99

the handles, therefore, raises, at the same time, the hind part of*
the frame-work by acting upon the bar at C, and the fore part
of the frame-work by acting upon the wheel E. Thus, an ele-
vation or depression of the handles elevates or depresses the
whole frame-work, and consequently causes the coulters to
move at a greater or less depth in the ground. By means of
a simple contrivance at B, the connecting-rod D is fixed in its
position, and thus the whole frame is kept at the elevation re-
quired. The action of the handles and connecting-rods will
be further seen in Fig. 22, which represents a section of the
machine, the dotted lines showing the change of position pro-
duced by the depression of the handles.

Fig. 22,

By depressing the handles sufficiently, the whole coulters
may be lifted out of the ground when the machine is turned
at the end of ridges, when it is moved from one field to another,
or when it encounters great obstacles in the ground, as stones.
The various coulters being fixed in their places by keys or
wedges, they may be removed, or set at a greater or less depth,
according to the depth at which the ground is to be tilled.

The space covered by the coulters is 4 feet 4 inches ; the
coulters are 14^ inches long below the bars, 2 inches broad,
and about f of an inch thick. The diameter of the hindmost
wheels is 22 inches ; and the weight of the whole machine is
about 4 cwt.

The introduction of this class of instruments into tillage must
be regarded as beneficial and important. When land is full of
root-weeds, the repeated operation of the plough, the harrow,
and the roller, is resorted to for tilling and cleaning it. In these
cases the grubber is a useful assistant, and may frequently su-

r,2 "

100 IMPLEMENTS OF PREPARATORY TILLAGE.

persede the necessity of one or more ploughing;?. Under cer-
tain other circumstances it may also beneficially supersede the
plough. Thus, in very warm weather, certain stiff soils are
frequently rendered hard and compressed by being turned over
by the plough and exposed to the parching influence of the
sun. In such cases, the stirring of the soil may often be per-
formed by the grubber alone, without the necessity of turning
over the soil.

The grubber can be made to go to any depth which may be
required, and thus the soil can be either stirred to the depth at
which it had been originally ploughed, or to such lesser depth
as may be deemed expedient. It is, in this respect, greatly supe-
rior to the harrow, which we cannot regulate in this manner.
The employment of the grubber, however, does not supersede
that of the harrow in the pulverization of the ground and dis-
engaging of the roots of weeds. The harrow is still to be used
in conjunction with the grubber, and especially for collecting
into heaps the roots of the plants brought to the surface.

In the same class of instruments is one employed in some
parts of England, termed a Drag. The drag is merely a strong
triangular harrow, kept in the ground by handles assisted a
little by the form of the teeth. It is usually drawn by four
horses yoked abreast, and can go over about ten acres in the
day. The land being ploughed, the drag passes across the
field, and then the harrows follow to complete the operation
and collect the weeds.

4. The Roller.

The Roller is an instrument intended either to smooth and
consolidate the surface of the ground, or to pulverize the clods
of earth turned up by the action of the plough and the harrow.

The roller chiefly employed is a solid cylinder of wood, or
a hollow cylinder of cast-iron, surmounted by a strong frame-
work of wood, in the shafts of which is yoked one of the animals
of draught. The other animal, when two are employed, is at-
tached by chains to the shafts, and moves in a line before. The

THE ROLLER.

KM

manner in which the frame surmounts the cylinder, on the pi-
vots of which it rests, will appear in the following figure.

Fig. 23.

The length of the cylinder of the roller may be 5 feet, and
its diameter 24 inches. The substitution of cast-iron for wood
is a great improvement in the construction of this machine,
on account of the superior durability of the material, and be-
cause the iron surface is less apt than the wood to collect mud
as it moves along.

Frequently, instead of one long roller, the cylinder is divided
into two, as shown in the figure, so that each part may revolve
separately. The object of this is to diminish the labour of the
cattle in turning. Sometimes upon the frame is fixed a large
box, in which are put stones to increase the weight. The
weight of the roller, however, will best be increased by adding
to that of the cylinder ; for the adding to the weight of the
frame increases the friction in the way in which it is most con-
siderable in the machine, namely, by the pressure of the sur-
mounting frame upon the pivots. For the same reason, it is
an error to render the frame too heavy, the weight being al-
ways better increased by an addition to the weight of the cy-
linder, than to that of the frame.

For the constructing of this machine, it is important to know
wheth er the cylinder of large or small diameter be the most < f
ficacious.

Contrary to the opinion very generally entertained by tli^

102

MACHINES FOR SOWING —

makers of the instrument, the roller with the larger, is supe-
rior to that with the smaller, cylinder. It is conceived that
it can be fairly deduced from a consideration of the form
and mode of action of the machine, that comparing together
two rollers with cylinders of unequal diameter, that with the
larger cylinder will be more efficacious than that with the
smaller cylinder, because a greater weight can be brought by
the exertion of the same force to act upon the ground.

The manner of using the roller, and the cases in which it is
to be employed, will be afterwards explained.

The weight of the roller may vary with the nature of the
soil upon which it is to act. On farms of stiff clays it may be
from 16 to 20 cwt., and on the lighter class of soils a weight
of 12 cwt. is sufficient.

The cast-iron roller is subject to be broken when dragged
along a hard road, to obviate which may be employed a low
frame on wheels, on which the roller is then to be put.

V. MACHINES FOR SOWING.

1 . Machines for Sowing Corn in Rows.

The seeds of the different kinds of corn may be sown, either
by being scattered irregularly upon the surface, or by being
deposited in rows at given distances from one another. The

CORN IN ROWS. 103

first method may be done by the hand, the seeds being scat-
tered from a basket, or from a sheet slung over the shoulder
of the workman.

When seeds are scattered upon the surface, which is termed
sowing broadcast, they fall upon it irregularly. They cannot
be placed at equal distances from one another, but nevertheless,
if the operation be performed well, the inequality of distance
between individual seeds is too inconsiderable to affect the ge-
neral result, and the average distance is sufficiently preserved
thus :

Fig. 25.

For the purpose, however, of allowing the ground to be tilled,
and weeds to be destroyed during the growth of the plants, the
seeds are frequently sown in rows, at given distances from one
another, as 9, 10, or 12 inches.

Fig. 36.

In this case there is an interval between the rows of seeds,
which, until the plants shall have spread their leaves and steins
over it, may be tilled by hoes or other means. The sowing of
seeds in this manner is termed the row or drill system, and
different kinds of instruments are employed for sowing, accord-
ing as the seeds may be those of cereal grasses, as wheat ; of
certain leguminous plants, as the bean ; or of smaller seeds, as
the turnip.

Various modes of construction have been adopted for this
class of machines. Generally a frame-work is placed upon two

104 MACHINES FOR SOWING —

wheels, and upon this is an oblong box for containing the seeds.
From the axle of the wheels motion is communicated to a spin-
dle or axle, which passes horizontally through the lower part
of the box, and upon this axle may be fixed, at the distances
required, a series of grooved or fluted cylinders.

Fig. 27-

There are apertures formed near the bottom of the box, and
as each cylinder revolves amongst the seeds, a certain portion
of them is collected in the grooves at each revolution, and is
carried round in the grooves and falls through these apertures.
By making the grooves larger or smaller, so as to contain a
larger or smaller quantity of seeds, or by making the apertures
of the seed-box larger or smaller, so as to allow a larger or
smaller quantity of seeds to pass through, the machine can be
made to sow the seeds more or less thick, as may be required.

The seeds, after passing through the apertures, fall into tubes
or funnels, through which they are conveyed to the ground.
Immediately before the lower part of each funnel is a sharp
hollow coulter of iron, which encloses the lower part of the
tube, and makes a rut in the ground into which the seeds fall.
By these means they are sown in the quantity required, and at
the depth to which we choose to set the coulters.

To allow the rows to be at larger or smaller intervals, the
cylinders are generally moveable upon the spindle, so as that
they may be set at any distance required, as 9, 10, 12, or more
inches. The coulters are made to move at the depth required,
and to be lifted up along with the tubes or funnels when neces-
sary, as at the turning at the end of ridges, the encountering
of obstacles, and the like.

Sometimes the axle, instead of having cylinders upon it with
grooves, has a series of small pinions or teeth.

Fig 28.

Or, in place of the teeth, there is employed a series of stiff
brushes. The teeth or brushes revolve in the same manner as

CORN IN ROWS. L05

the fluted cylinders, and, by keeping the seeds in motion, cause
them to fall through the little apertures or holes near the bot-
tom of the box. The holes are made to be enlarged or dimi-
nished by means of a sliding iron plate, placed upon them,
with an equal number of similar holes with those of the iron-
plate. When the holes of the seed-box and the iron-plate
correspond, that is, when they are placed exactly one upon the
other, the holes through which the seeds drop are of their
largest size. But by moving the iron-plate a little to a side,
the holes do not entirely correspond, and hence the holes through
which the seeds fall are lessened; and by moving the iron-plate
still further to one side, so as that no part of the two sets of
holes shall correspond, those of the seed-box are entirely co-
vered. The iron-plate which thus lessens or closes the aper-
tures of the seed-box, is moved by a lever, and fixed in its po-
sition by screws.

In Fig. 29, the principle of construction is that of teeth or
brushes fixed upon an axle, which is more simple than when
the method of grooved cylinders is adopted, and is found in
practice to be equally or more efficient.

C represents the seed-box, formed with a lid at top, by which
the seeds are introduced. At its lower part are the holes
through which the seeds fall, and covering them all is a thin
iron plate with corresponding apertures. By moving the iron
plate, which is done by means of a lever, the holes of the seed-
box are enlarged or diminished to the degree required ; and
i i i i, &c. are a series of tin tubes, enlarged at the upper part
where they are in contact with the seed-box, which lead to
the hollow iron coulters ffff, &c. These hollow coulters are
sharp before and open behind. They inclose the tin tubes at
their lower end, and make a rut in the ground, into which the
seeds fall. In the figure, 11 of these coulters with their corres-
ponding tubes are shown ; and they are so made as that by
means of a simple contrivance, some of them may be closed up,
and the others placed at equal distances from one another : In
this way 7, 9, or 11 rows may be sown as may be required.

At the bottom of the seed-box within, is placed the horizon-

LOO-

MACHINES FOR SOWING —

tal spindle on which are fixed the teeth or brushes, which, agi-
tating the seeds in the box, cause them to fall through the
holes into the tubes. Motion is given to this spindle by means
of a toothed wheel upon the axle of the wheel E. This moves
a small intermediate wheel, and this again the wheel K placed
upon the end of the spindle. In this manner the spindle with
its brushes or wheels revolves amongst the seeds, and by the
motion which it gives to them, causes them to fall through the
holes into the tubes, whence they are conveyed to the ground.
When the spindle is stopped scarce any seeds fall through the
apertures, and by means of a lever L, the workman has the
power of throwing the moving wheel out of geer, and thus
stopping at once the revolution of the spindle. BB are the
shafts attached by means of hinges to the machine, between
which the animal of draught walks ; and A A are the handles
upon which the workman presses, and by elevating which, he
is enabled to lift up the seed-box and coulters, so that the lat-
ter may, if required, be raised entirely out of the ground. G
represents a part of a long wooden bar, with a rod and sharp
piece of iron H, fixed to it by hinges at I. The purpose of
this is, that when the machine moves across ridges, which is
the way in which it is often employed, a mark or rut may be
made in the ground : and when it returns the animal of draught
walks in the rut or track which had thus been formed, and
which is accordingly the guide or mark by which the workman
is enabled to direct the course of the machine. This marker
is made to be lifted to either side as may be required. The at-
tachment of it to the machine is not shown, on account of the
smallness of the figure.

CORN IX ROWS. 10/

2. Machine for So wing Corn and Grass-Seeds Broad- Cast.

The sowing of corn from the hand is known to be attended
with some uncertainty, being dependent, for the accuracy of the
execution, upon the skill and attention of the sower. The re-
gularity of the work is also affected by winds. In either case,
the means rarely exist of detecting the degree of imperfection,
until the plants are above ground, when it is too late to correct
it. As a remedy for these inconveniences, a machine has been
introduced into agriculture, for sowing the seeds of corn and
grasses broad-cast. The great recommendation of this ma-
chine is, the regularity and certainty with which it performs
the work, the saving of seeds, and the rendering the execution
independent of unskilfulness and the want of care in the ope-
rator.

The machine consists of an oblong box 16 feet or more
in length, supported upon a frame- work with three wheels.
Working at the bottom of the inside of this box, is a horizon-
tal spindle AB, Fig. 30, upon which is fixed a series of
pinions (or a spindle OP, on which is fixed a series of
hard brushes), at the distance from one another of about 7
inches. Motion is given to this spindle from one of the hinder
wheels, by means of the axle C, upon the end of which is fixed
the mitred wheel D. This works into a small mitred wheel
upon the little shaft E ; winch again, by means of another mi-
tred wheel working into a similar wheel F, gives motion to the
horizontal spindle. In this maimer the spindle with its pinions
or brushes, is made to revolve as the machine moves forward.
At the lower part of the seed-box within, are hollowed out ca-
vities, in which the several pinions work ; and at the bottom
of each of these cavities is a small aperture or hole, through
which the seeds fall. There is thus along the whole bottom of
the seed-box, a line of holes ; and a long thin iron-plate upon
the outside of the seed-box is made with similar holes. This
iron plate is moveable by means of levers, and is made to
be fixed in a given position by screws. When the holes
of the iron plate are placed so as to correspond exactly with

108

MACHINES FOR SOWING —

CORN AND GRASS SEEDS BROAD-CAST.

109

those of the seed-box, the holes through which the seeds fall
are of their largest size. By pressing the iron-plate a little to
one side, it partially covers the holes of the seed-box, and thus
the holes through which the seeds fall are diminished; by
pressing the iron-plate still more to a side, the holes of the
seed-box are covered, and no more seeds fall through. In this
manner, precisely as in the case of the drill-sowing machine,
the apertures of the seed-box can be enlarged or diminished,
so as to allow a larger or smaller quantity of seeds to fall
through. The seeds, however, in place of falling into tubes,
and being thus conveyed to the ground, and deposited in rows,
fall at once upon the ground, and so are sown broad-cast.
They are then covered by the harrow, in the manner to be af-
terwards described.

Fig. 31 is a perspective view of the machine. AB represents
the long wooden seed-box. CD are the shafts for the attach-
ment of the animal of draught. LL are two small levers for the
purpose of moving the iron-plate, and N is one of the screws
for fixing it in its position. M is a lever acting vertically for
the purpose of changing the position of the seed-box, which is
sometimes required in the case of a steep ascent.

The animal of draught between the shafts walks in the hol-
low of the ridge, in which also moves the fore- wheel, which,
however, is not seen in the figure, being hidden by the seed-box
and frame. The long wooden box extends over half the space
of each adjoining ridge, and thus the breadth of an entire ridge

110 MACHINES FOR SOWING—

is sown at once, In order that the machine may be adapted
to variations in the breadth of ridges, some of the holes at each
end are made to be closed by means of sliders. The workman
walks behind. A man and a horse with this machine, with
the assistant required to bring forward the seeds and empty
them into the seed-box, will sow from 20 to 25 acres in a day.

The regular manner in which the seeds are sown by means
of this kind of machine, renders less seeds necessary than when
the common method of sowing by the hand is practised. And,
further, this greater regularity in the distance of the seeds
from one another, produces a more equal growth or braird of
the plants.

Besides the sowing of the cereal grains, the machine is well
adapted to the sowing of the seeds of the grasses and clovers.
The seeds of these plants are very minute, and more difficulty
exists in sowing them with regularity than the larger grains,
and in an especial manner during winds, when, from the light-
ness of the seeds, they are easily blown away. When the
seeds of clovers and grasses are to be sown, the spindle with
brushes, in place of that with pinions, is to be employed.

3. Machines for So wing the Seeds of the Bean and Pea.

The seeds of the Bean being of larger size than those of the
cereal grasses, a peculiar kind of machine is employed for sow-
ing them.

The simplest of these machines consists of a seed-box, in
the bottom of which works a grooved cylinder. At each re-
volution of the cylinder a quantity of seeds dependent upon
the size of the grooves, is carried round, and these falling in-
to a tube at the bottom are conveyed to the ground. This
machine is generally made to sow only one row at a time. It
is thus so light as to be pushed forward by the hand, and is
moved upon a single wheel like a wheel-barrow. From this
wheel, motion is conveyed to the cylinder by means of cranks.

In the following figure, A is the seed-box, at the bottom of

CORN AND CRASS SEEDS BROAD-CAST.

Ill

which the grooved cylinder works ; BB are the handles held
elevated by the workman ; E is the wheel on which the ma-
chine moves ; CC are the cranks connected with this wheel,
which gives motion to the grooved cylinder within the box ; D
is the tube through which the seeds fall into the rut prepared
for them in the ground, in the manner to be described, when
treating of the culture of the bean.

But a better machine is now employed for sowing the seeds
of the bean as well as of the pea. In this implement, as in
the other, a grooved cylinder works in the bottom of a seed-
box ; but the seeds are conveyed to the ground by three tubes
in place of one, so that three rows are sown at once. The
machine is drawn by a single horse, and the seeds are de-
posited in the hollows between drills previously formed, in the
manner to be explained when describing the culture of the
bean and pea. Fig. 33 represents this machine : AB is the
seed-box, and C the wheels by which motion is conveyed to
the grooved cylinder ; DDD are the tubes through which the
seeds fall, and EF the shafts to which the animal of draught
is attached.

Fig. 33.

112 MACHINES FOR SOWING —

4. Machlse for Sowing the Smaller Seeds is Rows.

The seeds of the turnip and a few other plants cultivated in
rows require a peculiar class of machines.

These differ very much in the details of their construction,
and are more or less perfect in different parts of the country.
Sometimes the method before explained of grooved cylinders
is adopted, the size and mode of action of these being suited
to the minute seeds to be sown. The seeds are then carried
to the ground in tubes, defended at their lower part by coulters
which make ruts in the ground into which the seeds fall.

In place, however, of using grooved cylinders, the more com-
mon method is to place the seeds in cylindrical boxes of iron
or tin, which are made to revolve, and which being perforated
in a line all round, the seeds fall through as the boxes revolve.
Embracing the cylindrical box is a thin iron or tin plate, in
which also are perforated sets of holes, by slight change in
the position of which, a greater or smaller number of holes in
the boxes can be covered, and so a greater or smaller quantity
of seeds allowed to fall through.

Fig. 34. represents this method of construction. AA are two
boxes or hollow cylinders of tin. with a row of holes round each
cvlinder. Into these cylinders the seeds are introduced by
means of apertures with sliding lids. Motion is given to them
by a pinion upon the axle of the wheel at B. This acting up-
on the intermediate pinion C gives motion to the pinion upon
the end of the axle D. The cylinders AA being fixed upon
this axle, they revolve in proportion as the machine is moved
forward. The seeds falling into the tubes GG are conveyed
to the ground. The hollow coulters HH defend the lower
extremity of the tubes, and make ruts, into which the seeds
fall. I is a lever, which, by means of a toothed wheel work-
ing into the teeth of the iron plates KK, can move the lower
ends of the coulters and tubes to a greater or smaller distance
from each other, according as the rows may be somewhat more
or less distant.

SMALLER SEEDS IN ROWS.

113

Fig. 34.

Fig. 35. represents the machine complete. AA are the
shafts, to which is yoked the animal of draught. BB is a
wooden box, in which are contained the cylinders, to which mo-
tion is conveyed by the pinion fixed upon the axle of the large
wheel 0. DD are the hollow iron coulters, in which the tubes
for conducting the seeds to the ground terminate. FF are two
light wooden rollers, which follow each track of the coulters,
and cover the seeds. E is a larger wooden roller in front, the
purpose of which will be understood on describing the turnip-
culture in the sequel. It is sufficient here to state, that the
seeds of the turnip are sown on the tops of little raised drills,
and that the effect of this roller is to flatten and compress these
drills just before the seeds are sown. GG are two handles
which are held by the workman. These are attached to the
coulters in such a manner, that when either handle is lifted up,
the corresponding coulter also is raised ; and thus the workman
has the power of lifting up either coulter, when impeded by
roots or other obstacles.

Fig. 35.

Sometimes the machines of this class are made to sow only
one row at a time ; but it is an improvement that they be made

H

114 MACHINES FOR SOWING.

to sow two rows at once, both on account of the saving of la-
bour, and of the greater steadiness with which the larger ma-
chine moves forward. Sometimes motion is communicated to
the horizontal spindle, not by means of two wheels, as shown
in the figure, but by a communication with the roller which
flattens the ridges. These and other variations, however, in the
construction, it is not necessary here to detail, the purpose being
to describe one good machine, and not the many differences of
construction of which this class of instruments is susceptible.

III. IMPLEMENTS FOR HOEING.

The machines of this class are those which are employed for
the purpose of tilling the intervals of plants which are sown in
rows.

The plants which are cultivated in this manner are, in cer-
tain cases, the cereal grasses ; in other cases, the bean, the pea,
and such leguminous plants as are cultivated for their seeds ;
but, above all, the turnip and other plants of the cabbage fa-
mily, the potato, the carrot, the beet, and various plants culti-
vated chiefly for their roots, bulbs, or tubers.

The instrument most generally employed for tilling the in-
tervals of the cereal grasses is a hoe used by the hand ; al-
though, where the system is practised to a great extent, it is
found convenient to employ a series of hoes, moved by horse-
labour. These are commonly flat triangular shares, of such a
size as to occupy the interval of the rows, and so formed as to
be set at a greater or less distance from one another as may be
required ; and they are attached to a frame fixed on wheels.

But, in the practice of the farm, the hoeing instruments
that may be considered as really essential, are those used for
tilling the intervals of leguminous plants, as the pea and bean,
of the plants of the cabbage family, and of the various spe-
cies of plants cultivated for their roots and tubers.

A hoeing instrument for the latter classes of plants is a com-
mon plough, formed upon the principle of the plough already
described, but of smaller size, and drawn by one horse.

IMPLEMENTS FOR HOEING.

115

In using this plough, the animal of draught walks in the in-
terval between the rows of plants. The plane of the left-hand
side of the plough is made to go as near the line of plants as
can be done without injury ; and in this manner the plough
cuts off a shallow slice of earth, and lays it in the interval be-
tween the rows. The same operation is then performed with
the adjoining row of plants by the plough returning in the
same interval ; by which means another thin slice is cut off,
and thus two furrow-slices are taken from each pair of adjoin-
ing rows of plants, and thrown into the middle of the space be-
tween them. This is a very efficacious species of tillage, though
with some expense of labour. It is frequently used in the case
of the first hoeing to be given to potatoes and turnips, in the
manner to be afterwards described, and in the case of beans,
where the land is stiff and the intervals wide.

Besides this, however, are employed hoes of very various
construction, which, by means of shares and coulters, or of
coulters alone, till at one turn the entire interval between the
rows of plants. These are sometimes made with beams in the
manner of the plough, and sometimes without beams in the
manner of the harrow. The former is, for general purposes,
the best method of construction, and the following figure repre-
sents a machine of this class suited to the different purposes to
which it is applied.

lie

IMPLEMENTS FOR HOEING.

It will be seen that it is formed with a beam and handles,
like a plough. It has a triangular two-winged share, which
passes between the rows of plants. Fixed to the horizontal
bars are two upright coulters, bent inwards at the lower ex-
tremity. The bars to which these coulters are attached slide
upon the cross-bar AB, and are fixed by hinges to the beam,
and thus the upright coulters can be placed at such a distance
from one another, as to work as near the rows as they can go
without cutting or injuring the plants. In this manner, by
means of the broad share in the centre, and the coulters at the
sides, the entire space between the rows of plants is tilled.

Further, by removing the two lateral coulters, and substi-
tuting two mould-boards, a hoeing-machine of this kind may
be converted into another implement employed in tilling the
ground — a double mould-board plough. The effect of using
the lateral coulters in tilling, is to move, in part, the earth
away from the plants. By substituting the double mould-board
plough, the operation is reversed ; for, by passing along the
intervals of the rows, it lays back the earth towards the plants
from which it had been moved by the action of the lateral
coulters.

Fig. 37, represents the instrument, with its broad share and
lateral coulters. Fig. 38. represents it when the coulters and
bars to which they are attached are removed, and the two
mould-boards substituted.

Although the machine described will, in most cases, answer
the purposes required, yet, in the case of particular classes of
soils, or rather in particular conditions of the soil, the broad
share is found to raise up the ground in clods or masses, and

MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING. 117

to be sometimes inconvenient when the land is very full of
weeds. In such cases, an instrument with coulters alone may
be beneficially employed. The following figure represents a
machine of this construction.

It is formed, like the last, of iron. In the centre is a coul-
ter : and, attached to the beam, by hinges, are two bars, into
each of which are inserted two coulters. The bars can be set
at a greater angle to the beam, and consequently the coulters
made to extend over a greater space and till a wider interval.
Near the fore-end of the beam is a wheel, the purpose of which
is to steady the motion of the machine ; and there is sometimes
behind another wheel, which adds to the effect, but which is
not indispensable.

By removing the wheels, bars, and coulters, and attaching
the apparatus shown in Fig. 40, the machine is converted into
a double mould-board plough.

Fig. 40.

IV. MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

1. Thrashing Machine.

The separation of the grain of corn from the straw, has beer
effected by various means. That which is the most familial-.
and which has been derived from the earliest times, is by the

118 MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

flail, a simple instrument, which consists of two staves bound
together by tough thongs. One of these staves is held in the
hands of the workman, and with the other the unthrashed corn
is beaten with force. By this means, the grain and husks are
separated from the straw, and those again, by the further action
of winnowing, from each other.

The flail, although efficient in the hands of an expert work-
man, is but a rude instrument. The operation performed by
it is laborious, and the separation of the grains from the stems
is often imperfectly executed. As agriculture has advanced*
attempts have been naturally made to substitute machinery
which might perform the operation required with more facility
and greater despatch. These attempts were but partially suc-
cessful, until the invention of Andrew Meikle, an ingenious
mechanic of Scotland, to whom, beyond a question, belongs the
honour of having perfected the thrashing-machine. Changes
and improvements have indeed been made on certain parts of
the original machine ; but, in all its essential parts, and in the
principle of its construction, it remains as it came from the
hands of its inventor.

In this machine, the unthrashed corn is made to pass between
two revolving rollers. It is held firmly by these, which are of
small diameter, and revolve with comparative slowness, while
it is acted upon by a set of beaters, as they may be called,
placed upon a cylinder, and revolving with great rapidity.
The cylinder revolves upon a horizontal axle, while the beaters,
consisting of bars covered with iron, are fixed lengthwise upon
it, that is, parallel to its axis. The action of these beaters
detaches the corn and chaff from the straw, and then, by means
of revolving rakes, the straw is shaken, and the corn and chaff
are allowed to separate from it. These fall through spars or
wire-meshes into another machine, where they undergo the pro-
cess of winnowing, while the straw itself is carried forward and
thrown out of the machine by the action of the revolving rakes.

Fig. 41. represents a transverse section of these parts. In this,
AA are two fluted cylinders of iron, working into each other,
and between which the unthrashed corn is made to pass. B is

THRASHING-MACHINE.

119

the cylinder upon which are placed the four projections or beat-
ers cccc. The cylinder revolving with great rapidity, the
beaters act upon the unthrashed corn, as it is firmly held by the
fluted cylinders, and beat and detach the seeds and husks from
the stems. The whole passing over the cylinder, is thrown
forward in the direction shown by the arrows xxx. It is first
acted upon and shaken by the four rakes EEEE, placed upon
the hollow cylinder D, moving in the direction of the arrow y.
It is then thrown forward, and acted upon by an equal number
of rakes, placed upon the circumference of the sparred cylinder
I, and by them it is thrown out at the end of the machine, at
L. The bottom of the machine FGH, is so formed with spars,
or a species of wire-work, that, while the straw is carried for-
ward by the action of the rakes, the detached grains of corn
and chaff fall down in the direction of the arrows zzzzz, into a
machine below, in which, by the action of winnowing, the chaff
is separated from the grain. The first of the revolving cylin-
ders D, is formed of thin iron, or of wood covered with tin.

Fig. 4J.

The second of the cylinders I, is of wood, sparred, so that any
corn or chaff, not separated by the action of the first rakes, may
fall through in passing over the last cylinder. The rakes at the

120

MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

circumference of this cylinder may have brushes fixed upon
them, which sweep back any of the corn or chaff which may
have fallen into the cavity at K, and in this manner the whole
of the detached grain and chaff fall through the sparred or
meshed bottom FGH.

The machinery of the thrashing-machine is driven by animal
power, or by wind, water, or steam, variously applied. The
parts described are within the apartment or barn in which the
thrashing process takes place. The moving power applied is
without the walls of the barn properly so called. The form of
the thrashing parts of the machine is represented in Fig. 42.
with the wheels and pinions employed in moving them. Here
A is a large spur-wheel, with its axle resting on the beam B.
To this wheel, motion is communicated by means of the moving
power without the barn, whether that shall be animal power,
wind, water, or steam : and this wheel, by means of wheels,

Fig. 42.

THRASHING-MACHINE. 121

pinions, spindles, or belts, gives motion to all the parts of the
machine. First, by acting upon the pinion C, it gives motion to
the revolving cylinder D ; second, by means of pinions, it gives
motion to the horizontal shaft E, and this again, by means of
wheels, gives motion to the fluted cylinder F, and to the hollow
cylinder Gr, with its four attached rakes. A wheel upon the axle
of G gives motion to the two intermediate wheels xx, and these
again to the wheel y, fixed upon the axle of the sparred cylinder
H. Further, by means of the belt 1 1, placed upon a pully on
the spindle E, motion is communicated to the winnowing ma-
chine K.

It is not easy in so small a figure to represent correctly these
different parts. It must suffice here that the reader make him-
self acquainted with the essential parts of the machine, and the
general means by which they are put in motion. The large
spur-wheel A, he will observe, communicates motion directly
to the revolving cylinder D. The same spur-wheel, by means
of the spindle E, communicates motion, first to the two revolv-
ing cylinders between which the unthrashed corn passes, and
second to the hollow cylinder G, with its series of rakes ; and
this again, by means of intermediate wheels, gives motion to
the sparred cylinder H, with its several rakes ; while, by means
of a belt, motion is communicated to the winnowing-machine
K, which stands below the sparred bottom of the thrashing-
machine, and has the corn or chaff conveyed to it through a
large hopper.

To understand further the general arrangement of the
thrashing-machine, it is to be observed that the barn in which
the operations of thrashing, winnowing, &c. are carried on, is
divided into three apartments. M is the upper story of the
barn, in which the unthrashed corn is placed. N, immediately
underneath this, is an apartment for receiving the corn as it
comes out of the winnowing machine at the apertures KR.
O is the part of the barn into which the straw falls, and is
called the straw-barn. Into the upper apartment M, the un-
thrashed sheaves of corn are carried from the barn-yard ge-
nerally by means of an easy gangway on the outside. In the

122 MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

apartment N, which is called the dressing-barn, the corn is re-
ceived from the winnowing-machine, and made ready for use.
In the large straw-barn, the straw is generally piled up until
it is required for the purposes of fodder or litter.

The thrashing-machine, it has been said, is driven by animal
power, or by wind, water, or steam. The animal of draught is
generally the horse, and from four to six are the numbers
usually employed. The animals walk in a circular covered
pathway, without v the barn. Fig. 43 shows the manner in
which they are generally attached, and the means by which
motion is conveyed to the large spur-wheel within the barn al-
ready referred to.

A is a vertical shaft. BC is a large wheel with teeth
working into the pinion D. This gives motion to the shaft E,
and this again to the spur-wheel within the barn already re-
ferred to.

GGGG are vertical posts, descending from long beams HH,
placed above the animals of draught. To these posts the ani-
mals are yoked by short chains attached to the collar, and,
moving in a circular course, they give motion to the apparatus.

The number ©f horses employed, it has been said, is gene-

THRASHING-MACHINE. 123

rally from four to six. The smallest class of machines is
those in which only two horses are employed. There is always
a waste of labour, however, when less than four horses are used.
Whatever be the number employed, the operation of moving
the machine is a severe one upon the working cattle, from the
dead weight of the draught, and their confined position. For
this reason, amongst others, the substitution of mechanical
for animal power is always to be preferred where circumstan-
ces will admit of its application.

The mechanical power employed may be water or steam.
Wind also may be employed, but this is too uncertain and un-
equal in its operation to be well suited for driving the thrash-
ing-machine.

When water is the power employed, the common machinery
of the water-wheel is used. Of the different powers, water,
where it can be commanded in sufficient quantity, is the most
economical.

But where water cannot be obtained, then the best resource
is steam, which, from the great and steady power capable of
being applied, admits of an admirable construction of the
thrashing-machine. The steam-engine may either be a non-
condensing or a condensing engine. The former is the most
simple, and at its first cost the most economical : the latter,
though more expensive, is the more perfect. The engine, ac-
cording to the size of the farm, should be equal to a six or eight
horse-power. The steam-engine for the thrashing-machine has
now come into general use in the north of England and south
of Scotland, where the farms are generally of the larger class.

Thrashing-machines driven by hand-labour have been often
recommended, and in some cases constructed. But the ma-
chines of this class appear to possess no advantage over the
flail, or rather to be much inferior to it with respect to economy
of labour. A machine of this kind, made of the simplest form,
requires a heavy labour to work it, and even then it has not
been found possible to do more than to beat the grain from
the straw.

124

MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

Wisyo wisg-Machise.

The winnowing-machine is designed to remove the husks or
chaff of corn from the grain, and to separate the impurities and
loose refuse intermixed. With certain variations in the form
of its parts, the principle of construction of this machine is in
most places where it is used the same.

Four or more oblong boards of wood are fixed, at equal dis-
tances from one another, upon an axle, placed horizontally, and
extending through the machine. This axle is driven round by
a wheel acting upon a pinion, so that a rapid rotatory motion
is given to the boards, and a current of air by this means pro-
duced. The corn to be winnowed is made to fall from a box
or hopper, in the course of this current, through one or more
sieves of wire, which being kept in a quick lateral motion, in-
tercept and scatter the grain, while the current of air acts in
blowing away the chaff. The chaff being separated in this
manner, the heavy grain falls down, and is collected.

Figure 44. represents one side of the machine. A is a wheel
driven by the handle B, and this wheel acting upon the pinion
C, gives motion to an axle, on which are placed four oblong
boards. To these boards, which are enclosed nearly all round,
air is admitted from open spaces on both sides of the machine,
as shown in the figure. These spaces may be enlarged or di-
minished by means of sliding boards, so that a larger or smaller
quantity of air can be admitted.

Fig. 44.

WINNOWING MACHINE.

125

Figure 45. is the opposite side of the machine, and the oc-
cult lines represent a section of the interior. Here DDDD
are four oblong boards, termed fanners, by the rapid motion
of which in the direction of the arrows xxxx, a strong cur-
rent of air is produced through the interior of the machine in
the direction of the arrows yy. E, shown also in Fig. 44, is
a hopper, into which the corn to be winnowed is put. The
corn falls down from the hopper upon the sieves HI. These
sieves are connected with the bottom of the hopper FG, which
is moveable, and fixed to a hinge at K, and hung on two chains,
one of which, L, is seen in the figure. When motion, there-
fore, is given to the sieves HI, motion is at the same time
given to the board KG, which forms the lower part of the
hopper. The shaking motion given to this board causes the
corn in the hopper to fall through upon the sieves by the aper-
ture at G. By means of the screw M, a sliding board is made
to be raised or pushed down, so that a greater or less aperture
shall be left at G. The lateral or shaking motion is given to
the sieves and bottom of the hopper by means of the rod Q,
which is connected by one crank with sieves, and by another
crank 0 with the axle C, to which the fanners are attached.
The bottom of the machine TR, formed of boards, is placed
obliquely, so that the corn, after having passed through the
sieves, shall fall along the inclined plane from T to R. A
part of this bottom is perforated like a sieve, so that dust, sand,
and other impurities, shall be separated from the corn as it

Fig. 45.

12G MACHINES FOR THRASHING AND WINNOWING.

falls from T to R. A portion of this bottom also PT is made
to slide. A board S, extending across the machine behind, is
made to slide up or down, and all the space zzzia open.

The manner in which the machine acts will now be under-
stood. A person drives the handle, and so gives motion to
the fanners within. The corn to be winnowed is lifted up,
placed in the hopper, and continually supplied as it falls through.
It falls through the aperture Gr, which it has been seen can be
enlarged or diminished, upon the two parallel wire-sieves HI.
In the mean time, the current of air acting upon it, the chaff
is blown out at the end of the machine in the direction of the
arrows zzz. The heavy corn falling down the inclined bot-
tom comes out at R. Should any of the corn be so light as to
be blown past the point T, but yet not be sufficiently light to
be blown away with the chaff, it falls down in the intermediate
space in the direction of the arrows iiiii, separately from the
heavy corn. By pushing upwards the sliding board PT, a
smaller quantity of this lighter corn is separated, or, in other
words, a larger portion of it falls down mixed with the heavy
corn. By elevating the board S, a smaller quantity of lighter
corn is blown away with the chaff.

There are differences in the form of this machine. Thus in
place of two sieves one above the other, one may be rendered
sufficient. The heavy corn, in place of falling out at the end
at R, may be made to fall out at a spout at the side ; and, in
like manner, the light corn, in place of falling down below the
machine, may be discharged by a spout. This is the con-
struction adopted when the machine is attached to the thrash-
ing machine. Sometimes the bottom PR is made moveable,
so that a shaking motion may be given to it for the better
causing of dust and sand to fall through. The machine when
not attached to the thrashing apparatus is made so light as to
be readily moved from one part of the barn to the other.

TURNIP-SLICER, 127

V. IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD FOR LIVE-STOCK.

In many cases, it is beneficial to prepare the food to be used
by the animals of the farm in various ways. The first to be
mentioned of the class of implements employed for this pur-
pose, is that for cutting the roots of turnips and other plants
into pieces, that they may be the more readily eaten by sheep
and oxen.

1. Turnip-Slicer. %

Various machines have been constructed for this purpose.
The most convenient perhaps, and the most expeditious in its
operation, is that formed by means of knives placed upon a
fly-wheel, and made by each revolution to cut slices from the
turnip or other roots. The parts to be cut are placed in a box
open at the top and one of the sides. A large wheel, covered
with boards, is set upon a frame-work, in such a manner as to
cover the open side of the box or hopper, so that, when the
roots are put into it, they press upon the side of the wheel.
In the wheel are placed two knives, at equal distances from
each other, and extending nearly from the centre to the cir-
cumference. At every revolution of the wheel, each of these
knives makes a stroke upon the roots, which are pressing upon
the wheel at the open side of the hopper, and cuts off a slice.
An aperture is made through the entire wheel, corresponding
with, and of the length of, each knife, so that, when the slice
is cut off, it passes through this aperture, and falls down on
the other side of the wheel. The wheel is driven by a handle,
and roots being constantly filled into the hopper, the process
of slicing is carried on.

In the following figure, A B represents the hopper in which
the roots to be cut are placed : CD represents the large wheel
formed of boards, and which covers the open side of the hop-
per : E and G are the cutting-knives, extending nearly from
the centre to the circumference of the wheel. The apertures
corresponding with these knives, extend quite through the

128

IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD.

wheel. At every stroke of the knife the slice cut off passes
through the aperture, and falls down on the other side. One
person drives the wheel by a handle, and another fills the roots
into the box. A basket or other vessel may be placed for re-
ceiving the slices as they fall.

Fig. 46.

This machine is exceedingly well adapted for cutting the
roots of turnips and mangel-wurzel for oxen. But when
sheep, and especially young sheep, are to be fed in spring, and
when their teeth are loose, it is often better to cut the bulbs
not only into slices, but to divide them into smaller pieces
still, that they may be the more readily taken up by the ani-
mals. The machine described may be easily made to cut the
roots in this manner. A series of sharp projections are to be
placed upon the wheel, just before the apertures, so that the
root may be cut by these before it is acted upon by the cut-
ting-knife. By this means the roots are cut not only into
slices, but into pieces proportioned to the distance at which
these sharp projections are placed from one another.

Other machines have been constructed for cutting roots in-
to small pieces. But as the machine described is suffi- Fig- 47.
cient for its purpose, and is simple, it is unnecessary to ex- J|
plain other forms of construction.

A very easy mode of cutting turnips into pieces for
cattle is by an instrument with four blades at right an-
gles to one another. The turnip or other root is struck
as it lies upon the ground, or in the feeding-trough, and
thus at one stroke is divided into four parts.

CHAFF-CUTTER.

129

2. Chaff-Cutter.

The chaff-cutter is a machine employed for cutting hay and
straw into pieces of a given length. By this process, it is found
that the dried stems of plants can be more easily consumed by
cattle, and, therefore, afford more nutriment.

In this class of machines, the hay, straw, or other substances
to be cut, are placed in a narrow oblong trough. They are
then pressed forward to two revolving cylinders, which, while
they hold them with firmness, gradually carry them through.
They are then acted upon by one or more knives, some-
times placed upon a fly-wheel or its axle, and sometimes on
another wheel, to which motion is conveyed from the fly-
wheel. At each stroke of these knives, a portion of the
straw or other substance is cut off of the length required, as
from half an inch to an inch. The desiderata in the construc-
tions of these machines, are causing the knives to make the
stroke in the most efficient manner, which is done by placing
them in an oblique position, causing the straw or hay to be
brought forward, to be acted upon by the knives with regula-
rity, and so adapting this to the several strokes of the knives,
as to vary the length of the cut according to the degree of fine-
ness to which it is wished to reduce the stems.

Fig. 48.

The foregoing figure represents a machine formed with a re-
gard to these principles. Upon the axle of the fly-wheel A

U30 IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD.

are fixed the knives CO, and B is the trough in which are
placed the straw and other substances to be acted upon. These
are brought gradually forward by two smooth cylinders, to
which motion is given by the wheel A. As the stems come
out of the box in proportion as they are brought forward by
the cylinders, they are acted upon by the knives, and cut into
pieces of the length required. The manner in which the stems
are brought forward in the precise degree necessary, so as that
they may be cut of a given length, could not be explained with-
out sections of the different parts of the machine; but the figure
will give an idea of its general form and mode of operation.

3. Machine for Bruising Grain.

A machine is used occasionally for bruising seeds, as of
pease, beans, or oats, intended for the food of animals, and thus
rendering the mastication more perfect. There are different
forms of these machines. They are sometimes driven by the
hand, though this is better done by a power attached to the
thrashing-machine, or, where this is not convenient, by a single-
horse power. Perhaps the best construction of this class of
machines is that of two plane rollers of large diameter, kept in
rapid motion, the corn to be bruised being supplied from a
hopper, so as to pass between them.

The machines driven by the hand are convenient, as being
portable ; but the labour of driving them is considerable, and
all the purposes of such machines may be served by having the
seeds coarsely ground in any common corn-mill.

4. Apparatus for Boiling or Steaming Food.

In numerous cases it is found to add to the nutritive proper-
ties of roots and grain to boil them before they are given to
animals. The most economical method of preparation is by
heating the water by means of steam, conveyed from the
boiler to the vessel containing the roots or grain.

s

APPARATUS FOR BOILING OK STEAMING FOOD.

131

Any kind of wooden box or barrel will answer for this pur-
pose, so formed as to admit of being readily filled and emptied.
The steam is to be conveyed in a pipe to the lower part of the
vessel, which ought to have a sliding board at the bottom to
allow the contents to be discharged when ready. The vessel
may be filled with water, though this is not necessary in the
case of succulent roots as the potato, because the steam is
quickly condensed. But when corn is to be boiled, it should
be covered with water, that the steam may be condensed.

The following figure represents a steaming apparatus of a
sufficiently good construction.

Fig. 49,

A is a barrel or other vessel for containing water and sup-
plying it to the boiler C. D is a safety-valve. At the up-
per part of the boiler at C are placed two tubes, with stop-
cocks. One of these tubes terminates near the bottom of the
boiler. Upon the stop-cock being turned, water should al-
ways issue from this tube. When, therefore, steam issues from
it, and not water, this indicates that the water is too much boil-
ed away, and consequently that there is a deficiency of water
in the boiler. The other tube terminates within the boiler
near the top. Upon the stop-cock being turned, therefore,
steam ought always to issue forth. But should water in place

' i2

1o2 IMPLEMENTS FOR PREPARING FOOD.

of steam come out, then it will appear that the boiler is too
full of water. In this manner the attendant, by turning either
stop-cock, ascertains whether there is a deficiency or excess of
water in the boiler. The quantity of water could indeed be
regulated by nicer means ; but that described will be found
sufficient in practice. F is the furnace, and E is a pipe with a
stop-cock communicating with the boiler. When it is wished
to obtain hot- water, it is obtained by this pipe. A pipe G com-
municates with the barrels H, I, K, and conveys the steam to
them ; and in these is placed th£ food to be steamed. By means
of the stop-cocks /, /, I, the communication can be cut off with
any of the barrels, so that the steam may be admitted to
one barrel or two barrels, or three, as may be wished. The
barrels in the figure are three, but the number may be ex-
tended. Each barrel has a moveable lid, which is kept down
by screws, and a sliding board below, by which the food, when
ready, is withdrawn. The barrels are raised on a frame, so
that a wheelbarrow or vat may be placed below, and the food
at once emptied into it.

By means of an apparatus of this kind, roots and other parts
of plants may be steamed in a convenient and economical man-
ner.

VI. WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

The carriages employed by the farmer are moved either by
hand-labour, as in the case of barrows of different kinds, or by
the working cattle of the farm.

The carriages of the latter class are either carts on two
wheels, or waggons on four. Those of either kind have their
advantages, and in certain kinds of work each may excel the
other.

When the object is the conveying of heavy and bulky sub-
stances, as hay and corn, the waggon has this advantage, that
a greater number of animals can be employed to move one
load.

"YVHEEL-CARRIAGKS.

133

No waggon, however, for the purposes of the farm, ought to
require a greater force of draught than two horses ; and in
order that the horses may exert their force in the most advan-
tageous manner, they should be yoked abreast, and not one be-
fore the other, according to the common practice. They should
be so attached, too, as that each, pulling upon the collar of the
other, should exert an equal force in drawing. In order that
the waggon may turn with facility, the fore-wheels are gene-
rally made considerably smaller than the hind-wheels, as we
see in coaches and chariots, so that they may turn below the
bottom of the carriage. By this diminution of the size, how-
ever, the force required to draw the waggon is increased, both
by the comparatively greater friction on the axle of the smaller
wheel, and by the greater difficulty of pulling it over obstacles.
For these reasons, the fore-wheels should either be kept as
large as is consistent with the facility of turning, or placed a
little in front of the body of the carriage, so that a smaller
proportion of the weight shall press upon them. The follow-
ing figure of a waggon shows this latter principle of construc-
tion. *

Although the waggon, under certain given circumstances,
possesses advantages of its own, it is yet inferior to the single-
horse cart for the more common purposes of the farm.

* Communication to the Highland Society of Scotland by Sir Alexan-
der Gordon.

134 WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

In the single-horse cart, the horse partly bears the load and
partly drags it. In this manner, it is believed that it can be
shown that the horse can move a greater weight, at least for
moderate distances, than when he exerts his force solely in pull-
ing. The single-horse cart, therefore, in this excels the wag-
gon, that, for moderate distances, a greater comparative weight
can be drawn by an equal exertion of animal force. And it
possesses this further advantage over the waggon, that it is
more readily turned, backed, and otherwise managed, so that
a considerable saving of time is effected by employing it in most
of the common operations of the farm.

The objections to the use of the cart for the carriage of loads
exist when the roads are very bad, and the carriages very dis-
tant : in either case the horse is distressed by the pressure of the
load, and his own confined position in the shafts. But, where
the roads are good, this objection does not apply; and expe-
rience shows that a greater weight can be drawn for an equal
distance by the same number of horses in carts than in wag-
gons.

But two horses may be employed to draw the cart, one being
yoked before the other. In this case, however, a considerable
loss of power results from the manner in which the fore-horse
is necessarily attached to the carriage : for, by ceasing to exert
his force even for the shortest time, he throws the whole bur-
den upon the shaft-horse ; and when, after a temporary relaxa-
tion of draught, he makes an exertion, it is effected by means
of a start or jerk, which distresses himself as well as the shaft-
horse ; and as he frequently pulls in a line of direction some-
what different from that of the shaft-horse, a part of the force
exerted is lost, and becomes a pressure upon the back of the
latter. Hence, although the fore-horse frequently throws the
whole labour of draught upon the horse behind, yet, by exert-
ing his force solely in pulling, without bearing any portion of
the weight, and by the starts and jerks to which he is subject,
he is almost always found to be more distressed on a journey,
or by any continued work, than the horse on which the burden
falls more constantly and equally.

WHEEL-CARRIAGES. 135

The following figure represents the single-horse cart ; but
the same form of construction is adopted when two horses
are employed. This is termed the close-cart, in contradistinc-
tion to the other, to be afterwards described, employed in the
carriage of hay, corn in the straw, and other bulky articles,
and usually termed the corn-cart.

Fig. 51.

The body of the close-cart may be fixed to the shafts, or so
formed as to be raised independently of them, when it is term-
ed a turn-up cart. It is made in this manner in order that the
body may be raised so as to discharge the load from behind.
The body turns upon the axle, and is kept attached to the
shafts by a hook at A. The hook being disengaged, the body
of the carriage may be lifted up, the horse remaining in the
shafts. When this method of construction is not adopted, but
when the body is fixed permanently to the shafts, it is neces-
sary, when loads are to be discharged behind, that the horse
be disengaged from the shafts and the whole lifted up. This
appears to be very awkward, and yet in practice it is found to
be attended with no inconvenience. The carter, by taking
hold of the end of a shaft, has a more powerful lever to elevate
the cart than in the case of the turn-up cart, while the cart
itself is made more light and compact : and with respect to
unloosening the horse in the shafts, this is done in a time al-
most as short as in elevating the turn-up cart.

In every cart the hinder board is made to be detached for

136 WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

the purpose of discharging the load, or placing it more easily
in the carriage. Two boards BB, removeable at pleasure, are
placed one upon the edge of each side of the cart, for the pur-
pose of better supporting the load when bulky. They are fixed
by long handles at 0, C, passing through iron staples on the
outside of the cart.

In using the single-horse cart in journeys, one man drives
two carts. The horse of the last cart is fastened by a rope
from his bridle to the cart before ; and he soon learns to fol-
low steadily and quietly in the same track.

The other form of the cart is that represented in Fig. 52.
This species of cart is sparred at the sides, and is formed in this
maimer for the purpose of carrying loads of corn in the straw,
hay, and similar bulky commodities. It is generally made of
such dimensions as to be drawn by two horses, one yoked be-
fore the other. The reason of this is, that from the nature of
the load, one man can drive only one cart, so that if one man,
by the practice of the farm, has two horses, an additional per-
son will be required for driving the second cart. For this rea-
son it is generally thought better that two horses should be
used, though to a disadvantage as to the power of draught.

Where this practice prevails, it is not necessary that there
be a separate axle and wheels for the cart. It is only used
occasionally, and when this occurs it is placed upon the axle
and wheels of the close-cart. Thus, the simple arrangement
is, when hay and the like are to be driven, the close body is
removed, and the sparred one placed upon the same wheels.

Fig. 52.

It is very convenient to have a sparred frame to be attached

WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

137

to the close-cart. By this means, when occasion requires, it
may be employed for the same purposes as the larger sparred
or corn-cart.

Fig. 53,

It is often convenient and necessary upon a farm to have a
carriage for the conveyance of water. This may consist of a
large barrel, placed upon the frame of a common cart. In or-
der that the barrel may not be too high, the axle may be bent
as shown in the figure.

Fig. 54-

The manner in which the animals of draught are attached
to these carriages is very simple.

On the back of the shaft-horse, Fig. 55, is placed the cart-
saddle ; which is formed with a raised groove A, over which a
chain to be attached to the shafts passes. This chain is fixed
on each side to a hook moveable along an iron staple B, fixed

138

WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

upon the shafts. To the same staple are fixed two other hooks.
To one of these is attached a chain C, which is fixed to the col-
lar of the animal, and by means of which he exerts his force in
pulling : to the other hook is fixed the breech-chain D, at-

cJ lJ

tached to the leather-belt G, by means of which the horse is
enabled to resist the descent of the load when going downhill,
and to back the cart. Thus to the iron staple there are attach-
ed the collar or draught-chain, the back-chain, and the breech-
chain. A band E then passes beneath the horse from shaft
to shaft, which prevents the shafts from being raised up by
the weight. The bridle of the horse is a single snaffle, to the
rings of which, on each side, are fixed the reins by which the
driver guides him. These reins pass through rings upon the
collar. When the horse is to be unyoked, the bellyband is un-
loosed, and the collar and breech-chains unhooked.

When another horse is used, he is yoked by chains fixed
near the ends of the shafts ; and, to keep the chains asunder,
a bar or stretcher is fixed between them. The trace-horse has
no cart-saddle, having no weight to bear upon his back, and
he has no breeching, since he has no power of backing or re-
sisting the descent of the draught. A band, and sometimes
two, pass over his back to support the chains. A band also

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR.

139

passes beneath his belly to keep the harness in its place. The
chains are attached to the collar. The bridle, as in the case
of the shaft-horse, is a snaffle, to the rings of which are attach-
ed the reins.

VII. UTENSILS OF THE DAIRY.

The utensils required for the dairy consist of vessels for
containing milk, of churns, of cheese-presses, &c. These form
a class which will be most conveniently treated of when de-
scribing the works of the dairy.

VIII. IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR, &c.

These form a numerous class ; but it will be here necessary
to refer to only a part of them. The remainder will be more
conveniently described when reference is made to the labours
in which they are employed ; and an enumeration of the whole
which are necessary upon a farm will be given under the head
Capital.

1. Wheelbarrow.

The wheelbarrow is employed for the carriage of light loads,
as of earth, for short distances, lime for building, and the like.

2. Hands arrow.
Fig. 57.

i==^~^—~~Zi^

This species of barrow is, under certain circumstances, sub-
stituted for the wheelbarrow for short distances.

140

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR.

3. Spade, Broad -pointed Shovel, and Narrow-pointed Shovel.

Fig. 58. Fig. 59. Fig. 60.

6

The spade here shown is the common spade : the broad-
pointed shovel is chiefly used for the spreading of lime : the
narrow-pointed shovel for the throwing out of loose earth from
ditches, furrows, and drains, and for various other purposes in
conjunction with the spade.

4. Mattock, Pickaxe, and Foot-Pick.

Fig. 6i. Fig. 62. Fig. 63.

The mattock, Fig. 61, is used for forcing up stones, break-
ing hard ground, and the like : the foot-pick, Fig. 63, is em-
ployed for similar purposes : arid the pickaxe, Fig. 62, is made
for cutting substances, as the fibres of the roots of trees, as
well as for forcing them up.

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR.

141

5. Saw, Axe, Sledge, axd Hammer.

Fig. 64.

Fig. 65.

Fig. 66. Fig. 67.

These implements differ in nothing from similar tools in
common use.

6. Mall.

Fig. 68.

The mall is employed for driving posts, piles, and the like,
into the ground.

7. Three-pronged Forks.

Fig. 69. Fig. 70.

142

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR.

The larger fork, Fig. 69, of this class is used for the lifting
of dung into carts and the like : the small fork, Fig. 70, chiefly
for the spreading of dung upon the ground.

8. Forks, long and short.

Fig. 71-

Fig. 72.

Fig. 73.

The forks of this class differ from the last in the uses to
which they are applied : Fig. 71 is used for forking straw and
other substances to a height : Fig. 72 for forking the sheaves
of corn into carts or waggons : and the smaller fork, Fig. 73,
is used in the stable, and for numerous purposes.

The hay-rake is employed in raking the surface of ground,
for the purpose of collecting loose hay, straw, stalks of corn, &c.

10. Hand-Hoe.

Fig. 75.

The hand-hoe is employed in the cultivation of turnips, po-
tatoes, and other plants.

IMPLEMENTS OP MANUAL LABOUR.

14:3

^SS^^KBS

The scythe is used for mowing hay, green forage, corn, and
the like.

12. Dung-Drag and Mud-Scraper.

Fig 77-

Fig. 78.

The dung-drag is used chiefly for the dragging of dung from
carts : the mud-scraper is used for collecting substances on the
ground, as mud, dung, &c.

13. Hay-Knife.

Fig. 79.

The hay-knife is employed for cutting off portions of hay
from the compressed mass of the hay-stack.

144

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR.

14. Ladders, long and short.

Fig. 80.

The ladders of the farm are of different sizes, according to
the uses to which they are applied : they may be of the respec-
tive lengths of 24, 16, and 8 feet.

15. Grindstone.

Fig. 81.

The grindstone is best made to be moved by the foot, and
may have a trough beneath, in which water is to be put to keep
the stone moist when working.

16. Utensils of the Stable, — Currycomb, Brush, Mane-Comb,
Foot-Picker, and Scissors.

Fig. 82. Fig. 83. Fig. 84. Fig. 85. Fig. 86.

17. Weighing Machines.

A common balance for weighing wool and similar substances
is necessary upon a farm ; and sometimes other weighing-ma-

2

IMPLEMENTS OF MANUAL LABOUR. 145

chines, and particularly one for weighing large loads, as hay,
which may be upon the principle of the Roman steelyard.

18. The Utensils of the Barn will be afterwards de-
scribed.

19. The Hedoers Tools will be described when the ope-
rations in which they are employed are treated of.

20. There is a mixed class of implements, consisting of pails,
&c, which need not be represented. They will be enumerated
under the head Farming Capital.

( 140 )

IV. SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

I. PLOUGHING.

In ploughing, it has been seen, a slice of earth is to be cut
from the left-hand side, and to be turned over to the right-
hand side. In this operation the left-hand or near-side horse
walks on the ground not yet ploughed, the right-hand or off-
side horse walks in the furrow last made, and the workman fol-
lows holding the handles of the plough. By means of these
handles he guides the plough, and he directs the animals of
draught by the voice and the reins. When he is to turn the
plough at the end of a ridge, or when it encounters an obsta-
cle, as a large stone, he presses down the handles, so that the
heel of the plough becomes a fulcrum, and the share is raised
out of the ground.

In ploughing, the instrument ought to be held vertical. If
it is inclined to the left-hand side, the same work is performed
in appearance, though not in reality ; a portion of the ground
below not being tilled at all, but left thus —

Kig. 87.

The plough is of the most perfect form when its various
parts are so adjusted that they shall not oppose each other's
motion : but it is very difficult to form a plough that is per-
fect in the form and combination of its parts. Even in those
of the best construction, there is frequently found to be a ten-
dency to rise out of the ground, or to turn to one side, general-
ly the right-hand or open side. The tendency to rise out of
the ground can be corrected by giving an inclination down-
wards to the point of the share ; and the tendency to turn to
the open or right-hand side can be obviated by turning the
point of the share slightly to the left-hand side. By these

SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE. 147

means, however, the labour of draught is increased, and care
must therefore be taken, that this tempering of the irons, as
it is frequently called, be not in any case carried further than
is necessary to correct the defects of the instrument. All that
is necessary beyond this is effected by changing the position of
the line of draught by means of the bridle on the beam.

With regard to the depth to be ploughed, this, we shall see
in the sequel, depends upon the kind of crop to be cultivated,
and other circumstances. It has been shown that a furrow-
slice of ten inches in width requires a depth of seven inches ;
that is, a depth of about two-thirds of the width, in order that
it may lie at an angle of 45°. But although it is necessary to
proceed upon this principle in forming a plough, we cannot re-
gulate the depth to the width in this manner in practice. It
is not necessary that the depth should be to the width in the
proportion of two to three, or that the sod shonld lie precisely
at the angle of 45°. In the field all that can be arrived at is
a kind of approximation to the true proportions. When the
sods are considerably too wide in proportion to their depth,
the ploughman will be admonished of this by their lying too
flat, and too slightly overlapping one another. When their
depth is considerably too great in proportion to their width,
they will stand too upright, and be apt to fall back again into
the furrow.

The medium depth of good ploughing may be held to be
seven inches. When circumstances, as the kind of crop and
the nature of the soil, do not require deep ploughing, the depth
may be less : but it will be considerably more in those cases,
to be afterwards adverted to, where deep ploughing is from
any cause expedient.

In the moist climate of this country, and indeed in most
others of Europe, it is necessary to form the ground into what
are termed ridges, so as to admit of the water which falls upon
the surface finding a ready egress. And even in lands so dry
that little injury will result from stagnating water, such ridges
are generally formed on account of their convenience in the
different works of tillage.

k2

148 SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

The first operation in the forming of ridges is striking the
furrows.

Let it be supposed that a field has been laid level by pre-
vious ploughings, and that the marks of former ridges being
obliterated, the lines of the new ones are to be laid out. The
usual breadth of ridges is from 15 to 18 feet, and sometimes
more. We may assume in the following descriptions 15 feet to
be the width of the ridges.

Let a steady ploughman be furnished with three or more
poles of wood, shod with iron, 8 or 9 feet in length, and divided
into feet and half feet. The first operation is to mark off at
two sides of the field what is termed a head-land. This is
merely a ridge formed parallel to the side of the field on which
the horses are to turn, to afford sufficient space for which,
these ridges may be 18 feet wide. The lines of them are
marked off before the other ridges, in order that the plough-
man may know, on arriving at the end of the ridge, when to
turn his horses. After the rest of the field is ploughed, the
head-lands themselves are ploughed, and formed into ridges.

In the following diagram, representing a field, let EF, GH
represent the lines of the head-lands, drawn parallel to AB and
CD, the sides or boundaries of the field, and at the distance
from each of these sides of 18 feet. These lines the plough-
man marks out, by running a straight furrow with his plough
parallel to the two sides.

Let him now, beginning at the side of the field AD, paral-
lel to which it is intended to run the ridges, measure off with
his pole Ea, 7| feet. At the point a let him place one of his
poles. This is the point at which he is to enter his plough.
But, leaving his horses in the mean time, let him walk on
to a convenient distance, as to I, and there, in like manner
measuring off I b, 7| feet, let him set up his second pole at b,
and then, at the further end of the field, on the line of the
head-land, at c, let him place his third pole. He has now three
poles placed in a line ; but if, from the length of the field or in-
equalities of the surface, more than three poles are necessary,
more must be used, as there must be so many poles in sight as

PLOUGHING. 149

that the ploughman may be enabled to direct his plough by
means of them in a straight line. He now returns to his plough
and enters it at the first pole at a, keeping the other two poles
in a line, so that he may be enabled to plough directly towards
them. Having entered his plough at a, he stops his horses,
and measures off 15 feet to d, where he plants the pole. He
then returns to his plough, which is standing at a, and drives
his horses, keeping the two poles before him as a guide, to the
second pole b. Having done this, and leaving his plough
standing at b, he measures off from b to e, 15 feet, and there
he plants his pole. He then returns to his plough, and pro-
ceeds forward, making his furrow in a straight line to the last
pole c, where, in like manner, he stops his horses, and mea-
suring off 15 feet, he plants his pole at/

In this manner he has placed his poles in a straight line, at
the distance of 15 feet from their last position, and parallel, as
before, to the line of fence. He now turns his horses sharp
about, and returns by the furrow which he has just drawn cba.
By this second ploughing he throws the earth out in an op-
posite direction, so that he has formed a completely open fur-
row. In returning, he takes care to correct any inequality or
crookedness that may have taken place through the unsteady
motion of the horses in his first track.

The poles being now placed in a line, def, he brings his
plough to d, enters it, and stops it there. He measures off 15
feet with his pole from d to cf, and fixes his pole at g ; and then
he proceeds with his plough to e and/, repeating the same ope-
ration with his poles as before, and returning by the track of
his last-made furrow from /to d. In this manner he proceeds
throughout the whole field forming parallel open furrows, at
the distance from each other of 15 feet. These furrows are to
form the centres of the future ridges.

The field is now prepared for being ploughed into ridges,
and the manner of doing so is this : —

The ploughman, beginning at the left-hand side of the open
furrow, ploughs his first furrow-slice towards it. He then, re-
turning by the opposite side, performs the same operation,
causing the two first furrow-slices to rest upon each other.

150

SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

Thus, in forming his first ridge, he begins at the side of #,
and, ploughing in the direction from a to c, he turns his first
furrow-slice into the open furrow a c. When he arrives at c,
he turns his plough right about, and returning from c to a, he
lays his second furrow-slice upon the first one, as at C, Fig. 89.

In this manner he continues always turning to the right-
hand side, and laying his furrow-slices towards the centre of
the ridge, until he has reached the boundary of the ridge EH,
on the one side, and the line os half-way between ca and df
on the other. He has thus formed a ridge, of which ca is the
crown or centre, and HE and os the termination. By pro-
ceeding in this manner throughout the field, the whole is form-
ed into ridges, of which the first marked furrows are the centres.

Fig. 8fi.

•j

s

1

c

1

I

T

I

k'

£

', o

f o <

I

1

It has been said that the ploughman continues turning his
horses to the right, and that thus, after having proceeded from
a to c, he returns from c to a, and so on, always ploughing
round ac as a central line. When, however, he has proceeded
from a to c, he may turn his horses left about, and return from
f to d, and so on, always laying his furrow-slices towards ac
and fd respectively. In this manner he will have ploughed
the half of two adjoining ridges, and terminated at the space os
half way between them. This method of ploughing, it will

PLOUGHING.

151

appear, has the same effect as turning the horses right about,
and is the most frequent and convenient in practice.

In the following figure, in which CO, CO, CO, are the centres
of the ridges, the manner in which the successive furrow-slices
have been laid upon each other is shown.

By this laying of the earth towards the centres, the ridges
acquire a certain curvature. By ploughing the earth away
from the intervals AB, DE, FG, HI, the ground is hollowed
at these parts, which now form the open furrows. It is by
these open furrows that the water which falls upon the surface
finds a passage.

Fig. 89.

c

|

D (

Bl 1 !;.

: c

F
It !,■■:■■■ '

H

m 1

1

llilllll 1

1

ii'i ., '■ ''"i1

1

1

■ ■

I 1 ill *™

ill

1 mil iiiiiiii i

illHtt llllBKffil

HI 1

"nB'1 H I
SKI 1

illlflil

H 1

■H :.;'

A certain, though not a great, degree of curvature, is given
to the ridge by this ploughing. It is frequently, however,
necessary to give it a yet greater degree of curvature and ele-
vation. This is done by ploughing the whole ridge a second
time, and in a similar manner.

The plough is first driven along the centre of the ridge from
C to C, forming an open furrow. Successive furrow-slices are
then laid towards this furrow, in the same manner as in the
previous ploughing. This is done with the successive furrow-
slices, until the plough reaches the open furrows AB, DE, FG,
HI. In this manner the whole ridge is ploughed, and an in-
creased elevation and curvature given to it. This operation is
termed gathering..

152 SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

In performing the operation of gathering, it is important
that the ridge be formed with a uniform curvature, so that it
shall not have what is technically termed a shoulder, or hollow
part on each side of the crown. It is to prevent this defect
that the open track is made along the crown before the first
two slices are laid together ; by which means the ploughman is
better enabled to lay them upon each other in such a manner
that they shall not overlap and form a protuberance at the
crown of the ridge. A transverse section of the ridges, when
gathered, will appear thus :

Fig. 90.
B^E GC Ic

A ridge, however, being already formed, it may be wished
to plough it again, and yet to preserve it at the same curva-
ture and elevation. In this case, the plough is to enter at the
open furrow, and to lay the successive furrow-slices towards it,
until the two adjoining ridges are ploughed. By this means
all the slices of the same ridge lie in the same direction, and
the curvature and elevation of the whole remain as before.
This operation is termed casting, and the manner in which the
furrow-slices rest upon each other will appear in the following
figure.

Fig. 91.
DCECG ClC

In the operation of casting, two methods may be pursued.
The two first furrow-slices, as those at E and I, may be laid
resting upon each other, as in the figure above, in which case
the two ridges will be formed as it were into one large ridge ;
or else the open furrows at E and I may be preserved by keep-
ing the two first furrow-slices at a little distance from each
other, and preserving the space between them, thus :

Fig. 92.
B «- r: r I

PLOUGHING. 153

When land is ploughed in this manner, the ground is taken
from one side of each two adjoining ridges at G, and laid to-
wards the other, E and I, that is, it is gathered towards one
side and gathered from the other. In this manner the ground
at the open furrows G, from which we gather, becomes more
bare of earth than the open furrow E and I, towards which we
gather. This is an imperfection unavoidable in casting a ridge.
When, therefore, we wish to cast a ridge twice in succession,
we reverse the former mode of ploughing ; we gather towards
the open furrow G, and from the open furrows E and I, and
thus the ridge is restored to its former state.

Another method of ploughing is cleaving. In this case,
the plough commences at the open furrow, lays the first slice
towards it, and then returning by the other side of the open
furrow, lays the second slice upon the first, as in the follow-
ing figure. When it has reached the centre, it stops, and
begins with another pair of ridges, and ploughs the half of
each pair together in the same manner. In this way the open
furrows of the ridges become the centres, and the former cen-
tres become the open furrows. The operation of cleaving is
of constant occurrence in the summer-fallow and other clean-
ing processes of tillage. When we wish to level a ridge we
cleave it.

Fig. 93.
B C e C g C I C

There are two variations to be noted in the practice of
cleaving. Either the two first slices are laid close together,
in which case the open furrows of the former ridges become
the centres, and the former centres the open furrows, in the
manner shown in the last figure ; or a certain distance is kept
between the two first slices, and so the open furrow is preserved.
In this case, each ridge is split into two ridges, and the num-
ber of open furrows is doubled, thus :

Fig. 94.

154

SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

The next method of ploughing is cross-ploughing. This, as
the name denotes, is ploughing in a direction crossing that of
the former ridges and furrows.

In cross-ploughing, the workmen place themselves at equal
distances from one another, as thirty or forty yards, at the side
of the field at which they are to begin to plough. Each then
runs a straight furrow across the field, as from A to D, from
B to E, from C to F. Each then returns as from D to A,
from E to B, from F to 0, laying always the successive furrow-
slices towards the right-hand, until each man arrives at the ter-
mination of his allotted space xx, xx, xx, xx. There has been
thus formed by each workman one great ridge, but so extend-
ed that it may be said to be without curvature. The plough-
men, we perceive, turn from left to right around the first fur-
rows AD, BE, CF. But they may also turn from right to left.
Thus, in going from B to E, the ploughman lays his first fur-
row-slice to the right hand. When he arrives at E, he may
turn his horses left about, and proceed to D, and returning
from D to A, lay his first furrow-slice to the right-hand to-
wards DA. Turning left about then at A, he proceeds in the
direction BE, and so on, always turning left about until he has

Fig. 95.

PLOUGHING. 155

arrived, at the middle space 0, when the whole space between
AD and BE will have been ploughed.

Sometimes, for convenience and the saving of distance, he
may plough in the first place round the central line BE, by
turning from left to right, and then plough the remainder of
the interval by turning from right to left.

These are matters of detail somewhat difficult perhaps to be
described clearly, but so simple in themselves that they need
only be seen in the field to be thoroughly understood.

The first operation, we have seen, is striking the furrows
previous to forming the ridges. This is done by laying off, by
means of furrows, first the lines of the headlands, and then the
parallel lines corresponding to the future centres of the ridges
to be formed.

The next operation is forming the ridges. This is done by
beginning at the centre, and ploughing towards it till each
ridge is formed.

When ridges are formed, they may be subsequently plough-
ed in different ways.

First, They may be gathered ; in which case, beginning at
the crown, the ridge is ploughed, and an increased elevation
given to it.

Secondly, They may be cast ; in which case two ridges are
ploughed together, and either formed into one large ridge, or,
by keeping the open furrows clear, retained in two ridges.

Thirdly, They may be cloven ; in which case, beginning at
the open furrows, the half of each adjoining ridge is laid toge-
ther. The first two furrow-slices may either be laid close to-
gether, or the open furrow may be kept clear between them.
In the first case, each ridge will have been so cloven as that the
open furrow shall have become the crown, and the crown the
open furrow. In the second case, each ridge will have been
cloven into two, and the number of ridges and open furrows
doubled.

In the original laying out of ridges, the lines have been de-
scribed as running straight through the field; but it is fre-
quently expedient, on account of the inequalities of the surface

15G SIMPLE OPERATIONS OP TILLAGE.

or other cause, to change the direction of the ridges at some
part of the field so as to facilitate the discharge of water.

The application to this case of the principle of striking the
furrows is easy. The ploughman makes a furrow where the
change of direction is to take place, straight or curved, as cir-
cumstances may require. The one set of ridges terminate at
this part, and the other are laid off from it in the new direction
to be given. The ploughman, by means of his poles, as be-
fore, strikes his first set of furrows, terminating them at the
furrow where the change of direction is to take place. From
this furrow he strikes his second set of furrows in the direction
in which they are to run. The part where the opposite sets of
furrows meet may be made an open furrow or a raised-up
ridge or headland, as circumstances may require.

The direction of ridges must generally be regulated by the
sloping of the fields, and the lying of ditches and fences, so that
they may promote the main purpose for which they are formed,
the carrying off of surface water. But, other circumstances
being alike, they should be made to lie as much as possible
north and south, and as rarely as possible east and west ; for,
in tlie latter case, when the ridges are much elevated, the
north side has a somewhat less favourable exposure than the
south side.

Sometimes ridges are altogether dispensed with, either when
the land is very dry, or when it is wished to keep it in grass
and give it the aspect of a park or lawn. In this case, the
ploughs may either follow each other round the entire field,
and terminate at the centre, or they may plough in large divi-
sions, as in the case of cross-ploughing.

In ploughing very steep land, it is frequently laid in ridges
diagonally across the slope, for the purpose of rendering the
labour more easy, and of lessening the danger of torrents carry-
ing away the surface.

The precaution to be observed in this case, is to make the
ridges slope upwards from the right hand, as from A to B in
the following figure, and not to the left hand, as from C to D.
For in the first case, when the labouring cattle are ascending the

PLOUGHING.

m

steep, the plough is throwing the furrow-slice downhill; where-
as, in the other case, when the cattle are ascending, they are
raising the furrow-slice uphill, by which their labour is greatly
increased.

Fig. 96.

Besides the open furrows of the ridges, which act as channels
for carrying off the water, it is necessary, where there are hol-
low places in which water may stagnate, to form open furrows
or channels. This is done by drawing a furrow with the plough
in the direction most convenient for the purpose. A workman
then follows with a spade or shovel, and carefully opens all
intersections with other furrows, so that there may be a free
communication between them.

Sometimes it is necessary that the furrow made by the plough
be further deepened by the spade, so as to form a channel suf-
ficiently large ; and wherever headlands intercept the run of
water, channels must be cut through them to the ditch or out-
let, so that none may stagnate upon the ground. Attention
to these details in practice is essential in all cases of tillage ;
and it manifests a want of all skill and industrious habits in a
farmer to suffer his lands to be injured by the stagnating up-
on it of surface water.

The quantity of land which a plough can go over in an or-
dinary day's work will, when the instruments are equally good,
chiefly depend upon the nature of the soil, and the manner of
ploughing.

The common calculation, where good ploughing is practised,
is, that a pair of horses will plough an acre when in grass in
nine hours. In very stiff soils less will be done ; and in very
light soils, more. When land is in a loose and pulverized state,
from a third to a fourth part more may be done in the time

15o SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

mentioned. In winter, when six hours are generally regarded
as a day's work, and at which time the soil is wet, about half
an acre in the day may be considered as ordinary work. But
taking the year throughout, and soils in all their different states,
it may be held that an acre in the day can be done by a man
and a pair of horses.*

II. HARROWING.

The next of the simple operations of tillage to be considered
is that of harrowing. One man or boy drives a pair of horses
and a pair of harrows, though sometimes one person drives
three horses and three harrows. The driver walks behind with
long reins, which enable him to guide and urge forward the
horses ; and he must be ready to lift up with his hand or a
crooked stick, which he holds for the purpose, the harrows
when they are impeded by roots, weeds, or other substances.
By lifting up the harrow when in motion, the weeds collected
by the teeth fall down.

The harrows pass over the ridge either longitudinally or
across. At the end of the ridge they are turned, and gene-
rally pass again over the same ground. This is called a double
turn of the harrows. When they do not return over the same .
ground, but pass to another space, they are said to give a
single turn. Sometimes a single turn suffices for particular
purposes, but more frequently a double turn is required.

Sometimes the harrows give two or more double turns in the
same direction, but more generally after one double turn they
give the next double turn across the direction of the previous
one, and so on lengthwise and across alternately.

When land is to be pulverized and cleaned of root- weeds, in
the manner to be afterwards explained, the operation consists
of repeated double turns of the harrows in different directions.

* In some of the very stiff clays of England, as, for example, the Lon-
don Clay-formation, this calculation will not hold, because the farmers may
be often obliged to employ four horses in a team.

HARROWING. 1 ,")!)

The root-weeds being dragged to the surface, are collected by
the hand and carried off' the ground or burned. The plough
prepares the ground for the action of the harrow, and the
plough and the harrow acting by turns, the land is ultimately
pulverized and cleaned.

Besides the cleaning of the ground, a purpose in harrow-
ing is to cover the seeds of the cultivated plants.

The number of harrowings to be given for this end de-
pends upon the state of the ground and other circumstances.
When the surface is matted together by the roots of plants, as
in the case of land ploughed when in grass, repeated double
turns are required to cover the seeds in a proper manner. But
when land is already well pulverized, as in the case of summer-
fallow, a smaller degree of labour is required. Sometimes two
double turns are given, sometimes one, and in some cases, as
those when the smaller seeds of grasses are sown, a single turn
will suffice.

The operation of harrowing is best performed when the
land is dry. Harrowing when the land is wet, is as much as
possible to be avoided, both on account of the less efficiency of
the operation, and of the injury done to the ground by the
treading of the working cattle.

In the case of covering seeds, however, in unfavourable sea-
sons, it is often necessary to harrow the ground when in a wet
state. This is one of the accidents which embarrass the fanner,
and call for the exercise of his practical knowledge. In ex-
treme cases of this kind, the practice has been sometimes re-
sorted to of attaching several harrows to a beam stretching
across the ridge, in the manner before represented (Fig. 18), and
of causing the animals of draught to walk in the open furrows.

Harrowing is not a very severe labour for the working-cat-
tle, though more so than from the small weight of the instru-
ment might be inferred. It is the starting and irregular mo-
tion of the harrow, and the sinking of the animal's feet in the
soft ground, that form the principal labour in drawing. From
this latter cause, a light pony or a colt will do more work in
proportion to his strength than a heavier horse.

ICO SIMPLE OPERATIONS OP TILLAGE.

The space of ground that can be passed over by a pair of
horses in a summer day's work is generally held to be about
twelve acres, so that a pair of harrows will give a double turn
to six acres in a day : hence, as a plough will work one acre in
a day, the expense of giving a double turn of the harrows is
equal to one-sixth part of the expense of giving one ploughing.

III. ACTION OF THE GRUBBER.

The grubber is subsidiary to the plough, and similar in its
mode of action to the harrow.

When the purpose is to stir the ground, without turning it
over, the grubber may supersede the operation of the plough.
It is more frequently used, however, as a substitute for the
harrow in the cleaning of land ; and it excels the harrow in
this, that having a heavier frame, and being fixed on wheels,
it has not the starting and irregular motion of the harrow, and
is not subject to be thrown out of the ground when encountered
by obstacles.

In using the grubber, the workman walks behind, and when
handles are employed, he makes use of them to lift the teeth or
coulters out of the ground in turning at the end of the ridges,
or when otherwise necessary.

Generally the grubber passes once over the ground to be
tilled, but it is frequently found expedient to go twice over the
ground. In this case it is proper to set the teeth at half the
depth required in the first operation, and in the second to set
them at the full depth, and in working the second time to cross
at right angles to the direction of the first operation.

The grubber, with two horses, will go over six acres a-day,
so that the expense of one operation is equal to one-sixth of
that of the plough, or equal to a double turn of the harrows.

ROLLING — DRAINING. 161

IV. ROLLING.

The roller is employed upon the farm in two distinct opera-
tions. It is used to assist the harrow in the cleaning of ground,
or to smooth and consolidate the surface of land in grass or
crop.

When employed to clean land in conjunction with the har-
row, the latter is first used, by which the clods, or indurated
masses of the soil, are brought to the surface. The roller is
then brought to act upon these indurated masses, which it
bruises by its weight ; and thus it performs, though in a diffe-
rent manner, the same operation of pulverizing the earth which
the harrow does. By this mean the harrow is enabled to act
upon these clods, upon which its teeth could not otherwise make
an impression:

The further use of the roller is the smoothing and compress-
ing of the surface of the ground ; and sometimes, in performing
this operation, it serves to cover certain seeds, as will be after-
wards explained.

In using the roller when the land is in ridges, it is to be
driven across the ridges and not longitudinally.

Sometimes one horse is employed in the operation of rolling,
but more frequently two. In this case they are generally
yoked one on the shafts, and one before, though they could
exert a greater force in pulling were they to be yoked abreast.
But this is not of any essential importance, two horses yoked in
this manner being able to move the heaviest rollers which are
employed.

The quantity of land which a roller with a cylinder of five
feet can go over in a day is about five acres. By extending
the length of the cylinder, a greater quantity of work will be
done in appearance though not in reality.

V. DIGGING.

The plough, the harrow, and the roller, are the essential im-
plements of preparatory tillage. To these, however, and the

L

L62 SIMPLE OPERATIONS OF TILLAGE.

grubber, may bo added the spade ; which, though properly the
instrument of culture in the garden, may be employed occa-
sionally in the fields.

The cases in which the spade may be used in field-culture
are those where, from particular causes, the plough cannot be
used.

Such is sometimes the case in the first improvement of very
steep or rocky ground, where the plough cannot act, or in the
case of deep peat, when it is so soft as not to bear the weight
of working cattle.

Cultivation by the spade, however, though more efficient,
is greatly more expensive than by the plough. It may be
sometimes employed with advantage, though rarely on the
great scale, where the profit depends upon economy of labour.

The further simple operations of tillage are those performed
by the sowing and hoeing machines, and by other implements
of the farm. The manner of using these will be from time to
time referred to ; but it is by practice and observation that the
full knowledge is to be obtained. The first object of study of
the learner should be the general form of the machines, and the
particular purposes for which they are intended. This know-
ledge being obtained, there is only wanted the opportunity of
seeing them employed in the field to understand the manner of
using: them.

( 163 )

V. PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

I. FALLOWING.

The fallowing of land consists of a course of tillage conti-
nued for a certain time. When it is continued for an entire
season, the process is termed the Summer-fallow.

A course of tillage during only a part of the season is adopt-
ed in the case of preparing land for such crops as the turnip,
the cabbage, the potato, which are thence frequently termed
fallow-crops. This preparation consists of a series of plough-
ings, harrowings, and other operations, continued until the
land is cleaned, and otherwise fitted for the crop to be culti-
vated.

The extension of the culture of fallow-crops has greatly les-
sened the necessity of the summer-fallow ; for the ground re-
ceiving a good preparation for this class of crops, and they,
from the wide intervals at which they are cultivated, admitting
of an efficient tillage during their growth, the farmer is more
enabled to dispense with the necessity of devoting an entire
year to the tillage of his land.

It is chiefly on the stiffer clays that the summer-fallow may
be held to be an essential branch of farm management in this
country. These are tilled with greater difficulty than the
lighter soils, and do not always admit of the cultivation of those
particular classes of plants, as the turnip, which are suited to
the lighter soils, and which render upon them an entire sum-
mer-fallow unnecessary. A further reason exists for the adop-
tion of the summer-fallow on the stiffer clays, namely, that the
most valuable of their productions is wheat, for which the
summer-fallow affords the best preparation. The manner of
performing this process, therefore, merits the serious attention
of farmers in this country.

Whatever be the nature of the soil to be fallowed, the • first
ploughing is in all cases to be given in autumn, or before win-

L2

164

PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

ter, so that the soil may receive the influence of the winter-
frosts, and the growth of weeds be checked ; for certain weeds
will grow during the months of autumn, and partially in winter
and in early spring ; but by inverting the surface, and expos-
ing the roots of those plants, and the under part of the sod, to
the frost, the vegetation is checked until the process of plough-
ing can be resumed in the following spring.

In all cases the first ploughing should be as deep as the
plough can conveniently be made to go. A good plough with
a pair of horses can easily plough from eight to nine inches
deep, and this is in most cases an efficient tillage. But, should
the nature of the soil render it necessary, an additional force of
draught must be employed, so that the requisite depth of fur-
row may be given. Thus, in some of the marly and tenacious
soils of England, four horses may be occasionally required to
give sufficient depth to the first ploughing of fallow. Three
horses may be also used ; these, with a good plough, forming
an efficient team, which may be managed by one ploughman.

Often it is beneficial to give a deeper ploughing to land than
the ordinary depth of furrow. This may be effected by what
is termed trench-ploughing, on which one plough, deprived of
its mould-board, follows in the track of another ; but, in place
of the latter, there has been recently employed a species of
plough termed a subsoil-plough. It is constructed wholly of
iron, weighs about 4 cwt., and requires the active force of four
horses. It has a stout share, but no mould-board. Eising
from the share and parallel to the body of the plough, is a
fiat piece of iron D, the use of which is, that when the plough
is struck by stones they may be forced upwards by means of

Fig. 97.

FALLOWING. 165

the inclined plane which the piece of iron presents. This is a
most efficient instrument, and of admirable use in stirring the
subsoil without mixing it with the upper stratum. It is the
invention of an ingenious gentleman of Scotland, Mr Smith of
Deanston.

With respect to the manner of laying the ridges, that kind
of ploughing must be adopted which is calculated to keep the
land dry during the months of winter, this being an essential
point of practice in the class of soils for which the summer-fal-
low is required.

A good method of preserving the land in a dry state is
cleaving with open furrows (see Fig 94). In this manner each
ridge is divided into two, so that good provision is made for
allowing the free egress of water.

Sometimes the ridges may be gathered (Fig. 90), and at
other times, when the land is moderately dry, they may be cast
(Fig. 92). In whatever manner the ridges are ploughed, they
remain in the same state till the following spring, and care
therefore must be taken that all the cross-furrows and chan-
nels shall be made and carefully cleaned out, so that no water
may stagnate upon the field.

In the ordinary management of the farm, the first operation
in spring, as soon as the weather allows, is the sowing of the
spring-crops of corn. When this essential labour of the season
is completed, which in this country is generally from the mid-
dle to the end of April, the tillage of the land intended for
such crops as the turnip, the potato, and other fallow-crops, is
to be resumed. But though these are the first in the order of
preparation, and must necessarily be first attended to, yet the
summer-fallow should not be neglected at this early season, but
should receive one ploughing not later than the month of May,
and the earlier in the month the better.

Now this, the second ploughing of the summer-fallow, may
be done in two ways. The land may be either cross-ploughed,
or ploughed in the direction of the former ridges. On the
lighter and drier soils, in the cases where such soils are sub-

166" PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

jeeted to the summer-fallow, the cross-ploughing is the better
method. But, in the case of the stiffer clays, the ploughing in
the direction of the former ridges is to be preferred ; for this is
a provision against the effects of heavy falls of rain, which,
were they to occur at this early season, when the land was
ploughed, without open furrows to carry off the water, might
so saturate it as to render the subsequent tillage precarious
and difficult.

The next ploughing, which is to be as early in June as the
other labours of the farm will allow, is to be made across. Im-
mediately after this ploughing, the land is to be harrowed by
repeated double turns, the direction of each doubje turn cross-
ing that of the previous one. These double turns are to be
repeated four, five, or more times, as occasion may require ;
and the roots of all plants which are dragged to the surface by
the harrows are to be carefully collected by the hand and laid
in heaps. A cart then passing along the rows of heaps, the col-
lected plants are to be forked or thrown into it, and carried off
the ground. They are to be formed into a compost by being
mixed with quick-lime, so as to destroy their vegetative powers.

Sometimes these weeds are burned on the ground, and their
ashes spread upon the surface : but this practice is not to be
imitated, the ashes yielding an inconsiderable quantity of ma-
nure as compared with that which is produced by forming the
weeds into a compost.

It is of great importance at this period of the summer-fal-
low, to drag to the surface and collect as large a portion as
possible of the roots of vivacious weeds in the ground ; for,
this being the period of active vegetation, every part of these
roots which is left in the ground will grow again and extend
itself.

It is by the repeated action of the harrows that these roots
are detached from the soil and dragged to the surface. When
necessary, the roller is also to be employed. This, bruising the
clods or indurated masses of earth upon the surface, enables
the teeth of the harrow to act upon them. When the roller
passes over the ground, the harrows immediately follow.

FALLOWING. 16}

At this time, too, the grabber may be employed, as subsi-
diary to the action of the harrow.

This is a period of the summer-fallow at which all obstruc-
tions arising from land-fast stones and other impediments to
tillage are to be removed ; and if drains are required, it is now
convenient to form them, the stones collected upon the surface
being carried forward at once to the drains, and filled into them
in the manner to be afterwards explained.

This, indeed, is merely matter of convenience when the stones
are in readiness, for the time of summer-fallow is not really the
best for the forming of drains, owing to the hazard of heavy
rains occurring, and carrying the soil, which is then loose, into
the drains. This, however, is but a contingency, and there is
convenience in forming such drains as may be needed at this
time : and not only at this time, but during all the subsequent
operations of the summer-fallow, draining, the removing of ob-
structions to tillage, and other works, are carried on. The
obstructions of this kind to be removed are, generally speak-
ing, any thing that may impede the path of the plough, and
interrupt the common operations of tillage, — such are the roots
of trees, stones, inequalities of the surface, and the like.

It has been seen, then, that, in the management of the sum-
mer-fallow, the first ploughing is to be given before winter,
when the land is ploughed lengthwise, in such a manner as
that the land shall be kept dry until the tillage can be resumed
in the following spring ; that the second ploughing is to be
given as early as possible in May, and, in the case of stiff soils,
lengthwise ; and that the third ploughing, which, in the com-
mon course of farm-labour, we may hope to accomplish in
June, is to be given across, when the principal labour of har-
rowing, rolling, and disengaging weeds, is performed, and when
opportunity is taken to begin to drain, clear the ground of
stones, and perforin similar operations required.

As soon after the last ploughing and cleaning as the state of
\ he weather and the labours of the farm will allow, the fourth
ploughing is to be given. This ploughing may be performed

108 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

in two ways. It may either be given lengthwise, and the land
formed into ridges, or the whole may be ploughed in large di-
visions, without regarding ridges, as in cross-ploughing. '

The former method may be adopted when the season is cri-
tical, and the land stiff and naturally wet. This is in order to
avoid further hazards from great falls of rain ; for, by forming
the land into ridges, it is placed in a state of comparative se-
curity. But it allows of a better subsequent tillage of the land
to lay it flat, by ploughing it in large divisions without yet
forming it into ridges.

In this case, the land may be ploughed in a direction at
right angles to the previous ploughing, that is, in the direction
in which the future ridges are to run ; but it will be better to
plough somewhat diagonally, that is, nearly in the direction
from corner to corner of the field. This is done in order that
two successive ploughings may not be in one direction, for the
next ploughing to be given, as we shall immediately see, must
necessarily be lengthwise in the direction of the ridges. But
by deviating from this direction with the ploughing now to be
given, the two successive ploughings will cross each other, and
thus the tilling will be better performed.

No sooner is this diagonal ploughing completed, than the
process of harrowing, rolling, and cleaning the ground of the
roots of vivacious weeds, is to be renewed, precisely as after the
preceding ploughing. It is not necessary or expedient that
the process of harrowing shall be carried further than is abso-
lutely required to disengage the weeds ; but to this extent it
is important that it be earned, so that the land may now be
cleaned.

These two ploughings, with their corresponding harrowings,
are of the utmost importance in the management of the sum-
mer-fallow. If the weather has been favourable, the land may
now be expected to be effectually cleaned, and thus far to be
in good order. Sometimes a further ploughing may be re-
quired for the purpose of completing the cleaning process, but
whether this be so or not, the land ought now to be formed

FALLOWING. 169

into ridges. This is necessary, in order to provide against the
contingency of heavy rains, which, were they to occur at this
period, when the land is lying in a flat state, might so soak it
as greatly to retard the future labours.

We now, therefore, proceed to strike the furrows in the
manner formerly explained. The land is then ploughed and
formed into ridges, and this completes the fifth ploughing which
it has received. The land will generally be now ready to have
the dung laid upon it. But in some cases it may require a
sixth ploughing before it is sufficiently cleaned and prepared
for the dung. In this case, the land being harrowed, and the
remaining weeds collected as formerly, it is ploughed again in
the line of the ridges.

We may proceed, however, upon the supposition, that this
further ploughing and cleaning are not required, and that the
land, after the fifth ploughing, is ready for the application of
the dung. This may bring us, in the ordinary course of farm-
labour, to the month of August. .

Now the dung, according to the practice before described,
has been previously carried out and laid in large heaps in the
field, where it has undergone a certain degree of fermentation.
Should this not have taken place sufficiently, the heaps must be
turned, so that the dung may be brought to a fit state for use.

The dung is now conveyed to the land in carts from the
heaps, the carts being driven along the ridges. It is dragged
out from behind by the workman with the dung-drag (Fig. 77)
into heaps, as nearly as possible of equal size, and at equal dis-
tances, in rows along each ridge. Sometimes, to ensure accu-
racy, the ridges are divided, by furrows run across them, into
rectangular spaces, each space receiving its allotted quantity
of dung. But in general the eye and practical knowledge of
the workman will enable him to drag out and deposite the
heaps in the quantity and with the accuracy that may be re-
quired.

Several persons, who may be females or young lads, then
spread out the dung all across the ridge, by means of light

170 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

three-pronged forks (Fig. 70). This operation should be done
with much attention, so that the dung may be spread regular-
ly over the ridge.

Close upon the work of the spreaders, the ploughs are to fol-
low and cover the dung. This is done by gathering the ridge,
so that, while the ploughing covers the dung, the curvature
of the ridge is increased.

The dung being covered in this manner, and the ridge
raised, the land is to remain untouched for a few weeks, so
that the dung may be decomposed and incorporated with the
soil. When the dung has been previously fermented in a pro-
per manner, this incorporation will be completed in a very
short time.

The land is now ready to receive what is called the seed-
furrow, which is the ploughing given to it previous to the
seeds being sown. In this ploughing the ridge is again ga-
thered, but the ploughing being very shallow, it has little ef-
fect in raising the ridge higher.

After this final ploughing, and upon the surface now exposed,
the seeds, usually of wheat, are to be sown, in the manner to
be afterwards described. This generally takes place about the
middle of September or later, and completes the important
operations of the summer-fallow and sowing of the wheat-seeds.

In this detail the maimer of applying the dung has been de-
scribed ; but there is likewise to be considered the manner of
applying lime, when this substance is to be laid upon the land
in summer-fallow.

There are two periods at which the lime may be applied, —
either before the dung is laid on, or afterwards. In the for-
mer case, the lime may be laid on just after the land has been
formed into ridges, and when it is ready to receive the dung.

The (pick-lime, as it is brought from the kilns, may be laid
down in heaps of about five carts each, at regular distances,
upon the head-lands or where convenient. In this case, it is
brought to the farm as opportunity offers, and slacked slowly
and regularly.

FALLOWING. 171

When we are prepared to spread it upon the ground, a per-
son with a broad-pointed shovel (Fig. 59) is appointed to each
heap. He fills his cart, drives it along the ridge, and spreads
the lime abroad upon the surface, taking it out with his broad-
pointed shovel from the cart behind ; sometimes two carts and
two men may be appointed for each heap, the one man filling
the cart at the heap and the other spreading the lime upon
the ridge.

Both men and horses sometimes experience injury from the
caustic effects of the lime, especially when the weather is moist.
The face of the man may be defended by a thin handkerchief,
and the back of the horse should be covered.

When the lime is spread, the land must be immediately har-
rowed, to incorporate the lime with the soil. This being done,
the dung is to be spread upon the ground, and covered by the
plough in the manner before described.

But frequently the dung is first spread, and the lime is not
laid on until just before giving the seed-furrow. This answers
very well, provided the land has lain a sufficient time after the
dung has been spread, so that it may be decomposed and mix-
ed with the soil.

These details have an especial reference to the stiffer soils,
which are those on which the summer-fallow is generally prac-
tised. When the lighter soils are to be fallowed, the process
of cleaning is more easy, and there is less hazard of serious in-
terruption from the state of the weather. The only variation
with regard to the lighter soils that need be referred to, is in the
first spring-ploughing. In the case of such soils this plough-
ing may be given at once across, and the process of harrowing
and cleaning then commenced. This is precisely the manage-
ment pursued in the case of turnips and similar fallow-crops ;
so that, when the learner comprehends the operations of the
summer-fallow thus far, he is acquainted with the manner of
preparing the land for an extensive and important class of
plants.

Tn the preceding detail, the ordinary operations of the sum-

17'2 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

mer-fallow have been described ; but the nature of the seasons,
the state of the land, the prevailing weeds to be eradicated,
and other circumstances, produce variations in the course of
management, which, however, it is not necessary here to point
out. They are little subject to rule, but are best determined
by the judgment of the farmer, as the cases themselves arise.
A more important purpose is served to the student of agricul-
ture by pointing out to him the manner of managing the sum-
mer-fallow upon approved principles. Knowing this, a little
experience will soon show him how to adopt those variations
of practice which the state of the season and other circum-
stances may render expedient.

The process of the summer-fallow, conducted as it should
be, enables us to effect the tillage of clay-lands in a manner
calculated to eradicate weeds, and fit the land for bearing a
lengthened rotation of crops.

After a complete summer-fallow, the land is seen to be in
the best order which circumstances will allow. It acquires that
mellowness, indicative of fertility, so familiar to the eye of
the farmer, yet so difficult to be described. It is frequently
observed by farmers, that clay-lands in this climate get into an
adhesive, and, as it is termed, a sour state, by the long repeti-
tion of crops. The giving them from time to time the mellow-
ing influence of a summer-fallow, during which weeds may be
extirpated and the manures applied in the most beneficial man-
ner, is found to have the best effects in restoring the fertility
of the soil and fitting it to yield an increased produce in suc-
ceeding years. One advantage, too, of the summer-fallow, not
to be disregarded, is, that it divides the labour of tilling a farm
more regularly throughout the season.

LEVELLING GROUND, &c. I J'. ]

II. LEVELLING GROUND AND REMOVING OBSTRUCTIONS TO

TILLAGE.

The most frequent impediments to the common operations
of tillage are, swamps, inequalities of the surface, stones, the
roots of trees, and the like. The removing of swamps is a
branch of draining. The levelling of ground and the removal
of stones and similar obstructions are to be attended to in the
common operations of tillage.

When the surface of ground is unequal, the plough will suf-
fice for levelling it in common cases of tillage. The plough is
made to act in this case by repeated cleavings of the land to
be levelled. Frequently the surface is previously removed by
the spade, so that the soil may be replaced upon the new sur-
face after it has been rendered level.

Sometimes machines are employed for the purpose of level-
ling ground. The following figure represents a machine of this
kind.

Fig. 98.

It consists of a box in the form of a large shovel, drawn by
a pair of horses. There is a short iron pin on each side fixed
to the box which passes through a hole or eye in the handle at
A. When the handles and pin are in this position, the box is
fixed in its place. But by disengaging the handles from the
pins, which is done by merely stretching them out a little on
each side, the box can turn round upon B as an axle.

The manner of using the machine is this : The workman,
holding by the handles, attaches them to the box, and directs

174

PREPARATION" OP LAND FOR CROPS.

the horses forward to the ground to be levelled, or rather an
assistant may be employed to lead the horses forward. The
workman at the handles in the mean time, by pressing them
down, causes the box to move upon the heel C. But when he
reaches the ground to be removed, by raising the handles he
allows the sharp edge of the box DD to penetrate into the
ground : the horses in the mean time moving forward, the box
is loaded with earth. By pressing again upon the heel C, this
earth can be earned forward as on a sledge to the place where
it is to be deposited. When the box arrives at this place, the
man at the handles stretches them outwards, and disengaging
the handles, allows the box to turn round as in the figure be-
low, and in this manner the load is discharged.

The horses in the mean time moving forward, the box is
caught on the ground by the projecting points EE, by which
means it is again turned round and replaced in its first position.
Thus the box carries its load from the elevation to be removed
to the hollow to be filled, deposites it, and regains its for-
mer position, and this without the necessity of stopping the
horses. The machine is efficient and expeditious in its opera-
tion. It may be advantageously employed for the levelling of
those crooked and elevated ridges which are seen in so many
places. But it is to be observed, with respect to the levelling
of such ridges, that in all cases the soil should in the first place
be removed, so that it may be replaced on the surface, and not
buried.

Another obstruction to tillage is the roots of trees. These
are generally to be removed by digging round them, lifting

LEVELLING GROUND, &c. 17->

them up, and carrying them away. In a country where land
is valuable, the slow process of natural decay, which is thought
sufficient in newly cleared countries, cannot be waited for.

Another and frequent impediment to tillage is stones. These,
when loose and upon the surface, are carried away in carts.
As the cart passes slowly along the ridge, the stones are col-
lected and thrown into it, and if drains are being formed at the
time, the stones are taken forward to the trenches to be filled.

But when the stones are large or land-fast, the removal of
them is a work of greater labour.

When they are of such dimensions that they cannot be lifted
into a cart they must be broken. This may generally be done
by the strokes of a sledge (Fig. 66) ; and in other cases it may
be necessary to blast them with gunpowder. When they arc
thus broken the fragments are to be removed, and employed
for drains and other purposes.

Sometimes the stones are dug under, and a hole formed into
which they fall, and in this manner they are buried beneath
the reach of the plough. This, however, is a somewhat labo-
rious operation.

In certain cases they are lifted up by machines of different
kinds, and hoisted at once into carts. The most efficient of
these machines is one formed in the following manner.

A, B, and C, are three strong wooden posts, about 14 feet
in length, through the ends of which are holes, for the re-
ception of the strong iron pin DE, upon which is made to
slide the curved iron bar G. The holes through which the pin
passes being of such a size as to allow a little play to the posts,
these may be stretched out like the legs of the common theodo-
lite, in the manner represented in the figure. To the curved
iron bar are then attached the fixed block M, and the moveable
block N, containing the like number of pulleys. Each of these
blocks must be hooped with a strong bar of iron, and the pul-
leys must be of a size sufficient to admit of a thick rope passing
over them. To the lower block N is to be hooked the iron
plug P, consisting of a ring for attaching it to- the apparatus,
of a flat part through which the ring passes, and of a cylindri-

176

PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

cal part. This cylindrical part may be 2 inches in length,
| of an inch in diameter at the point, and gradually increasing
to about T\ part of an inch more at the neck, where it joins
the flat part. The rope O, passing over the fixed pulleys, is
attached to the windlass H, which is fixed to the posts A and
C. At each end of this windlass is a winch, T and U, for the
purpose of saving time in tightening the ropes previous to the
windlass being worked. To work the windlass there are stout
bars or levers, for the reception of which are mortises at L, L,
as shown in the figure. At one end of the windlass is fixed a
rachet-wheel, with a catch E. fixed to the post A, for the pur-
pose of preventing the weight from falling when the moving
power is withdrawn. The posts A and C should be connected
by a bar, to keep them steady in their place.

Fig. 100.

The machine thus formed is to be placed over the stone to
be raised, by extending the posts on each side of it, and then
the windlass is to be attached. Of the stone to be thus raised,
however large it be, it is enough that the smallest part of it
can be seen. At this part let a workman, with a mallet and

PARING AND BURNING. 177

the common boring chisel of masons, make a circular hole,
about 2 inches deep, and as perpendicular as possible, so that
a stroke or two of the hammer may be necessary to drive the
pin home. When thus driven an inch more or less into the
stone, it is attached to the block, and the ropes are tightened
by turning the winch. Nothing more is now necessary but to
set the men to work the windlass with the levers ; and with
no other fastening than this simple pin, stones of some tons1
weight may be easily raised from the ground. Being raised up
by the pulleys, the stone may be hoisted into a cart or other
convenient carriage, and removed from the ground.*

III. PARING AND BURNING.

The process of paring and burning consists in paring off, by
means of a spade or plough, the sward or turf of the soil, and
burning it, either in heaps, or by setting fire to the turfs on
edge, and then spreading the ashes upon the surface.

The process must be performed while the weather is suffi-
ciently dry to allow of the combustion of the turf. It may be
begun in the month of April, or, if the weather be dry, earlier,
and may be continued throughout the summer as convenience
or the state of the weather allows.

The instruments employed in this operation are either a
species of spade, pushed along partly by the hands and partly
by the pressure of the breast, and thence termed a breast-
plough, or by a plough so formed as to cut and lay on its back
a thin sward or turf.

The spade or breast-plough is a triangular-shaped spade,
about 9 inches in length, and 10 or 12 in breadth. It is fixed

* An account of this curious machine, the invention of Mr Richardson,
Keswick, and an explanation of the principle on which the iron pin is re-
tained by the stone, though simply driven into it, were given by me in the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. An account of it was subsequently pub-
lished in the Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland. The iron
pin, it was shown, is retained in its place by the elasticity of the stone.

M

17# PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

to a strong handle, with a cross handle at top, upon which the
workman presses with his breast, holding the cross handle at
the same time. When he has pushed it forward and under the
sod for about two feet or more, he suddenly turns it over, and
reverses the sod. He then proceeds as before, pushing and
turning over the sod as he advances. Workmen with similar
spades follow one another, and thus the whole turf is turned
over. The depth of the sod cut is generally from 1| to 2
inches, or a little more. There is generally a raised edge on
one side of the spade, which facilitates the operation.

This instrument performs the work satisfactorily, though it
requires considerable manual labour. When the ground, how-
ever, is rocky or unequal, it is the best method of effecting the
purpose. But in those cases where the land is tolerably level
or free from obstacles, as in the fenny districts of England,
where paring and burning are practised to a great extent, it is
common to substitute a species of plough, formed so as to pare
off a thin sod, and reverse it.

The turf being cut an inch or more in thickness, is set up
on edge to dry, and after it has remained in this state for a
time sufficient to render it dry enough to burn, it is either set
on fire as it stands on edge, or it is collected into heaps. The
heaps are set on fire and left to burn, being so covered as that
they shall burn with a smothered heat. By this slow combus-
tion the whole heap is equally consumed. But there is often
difficulty in getting these heaps to burn, in which case it is ne-
cessary to employ straw, furze, and other substances, to main-
tain the combustion.

When the heaps are burned, the ashes are spread abroad
upon the surface, and as quickly as possible covered by a shal-
low ploughing.

Upon the land thus ploughed may be sown a crop of rape or
turnips in the same season, to be eaten upon the ground with
sheep. This is the best mode of treating land that has under-
gone the process of paring and burning. Further, the after-
management of land so treated should be as gentle as possible ;
for having called the productive powers of the soil into power-

PARING AND BURNING. 179

ful action, we must be careful not to avail ourselves of this to
rob and exhaust it.

Much dispute has arisen on the advantages and evils of pa-
ring and burning.

While it is by some contended that it must exhaust the soil
of its permanent sources of fertility, by dispelling the soluble
matter which it contains, it is contended by others that any
loss of soluble matter from this cause is more than compensated
by the increased productiveness of the soil, and the consequent
means afforded of adding to its fertility by the greater quantity
of manures produced, and that, in truth, experience does not
prove that the soil is exhausted of its permanent powers of fer-
tility by this process.

But whatever advantages may result from the practice under
certain circumstances, it is known that an injurious use is fre-
quently made of the temporary fertility produced ; and that,
although in many cases it may be an advantageous method of
stimulating the productive powers of the soil, there are many
others in which this stimulus is too powerful.

The cases in which paring and burning have been found to
be always hurtful, are those of a siliceous sand, with a thin
covering of sward. A soil of this sort is frequently seen to be
reduced to a caput mortuum by the operation. In this case,
the scanty vegetable matter which such a soil contains being
driven off by heat, or exhausted by a few crops of corn, no-
thing remains but the barren sand of which it was composed.
All thin soils, however, are not thus injured by paring and
burning. Thin chalky soils, and indeed the thinnest calcareous
soils of any kind, rarely suffer, except under great mismanage-
ment, from paring and burning. The heat probably acts upon
the limestone by dispelling the carbonic acid, and this calcareous
matter, converted into quicklime, produces an immediate ac-
tion upon vegetation. If such land is gently treated and laid
down to grass, it will be covered again with a sward, the
growth of which may quickly repair the loss of vegetable mat-
ter. Thin chalky downs in England have been subjected to

m2

180 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

a constant repetition of the process of paring and burning,
without any apparent diminution of their fertility.

Again, in deep peaty and fenny soils, the process of paring
and burning may be carried on to a certain extent without in-
jury. Here there is a great excess of vegetable matter, and
the loss of a part of it at the surface may not be attended with
sensible injury. The loss may be more than compensated by
the increased produce; and if such lands are laid down to
grass, without having been too much exhausted by cropping,
the production of fresh sward may soon replace the waste of
vegetable matter.

Cold clays, too, have been often much improved by paring
and burning. Such soils do not generally contain much vege-
table matter, and when that portion of it which is contained
iu the turf is expelled, a more than corresponding benefit may
be derived by improving the texture of the soil itself.

" The process of burning,11 says Sir Humphry Davy, " ren-
ders the soil less compact, less tenacious and retentive of mois-
ture ; and, when properly applied, may convert a matter that
was stiff, damp, and, in consequence, cold, into one powdery,
dry, and warm ; and much more proper as a bed for vegetable
life.11

" The great objection made by speculative chemists,11 con-
tinues he, " to paring and burning is, that it destroys vegetable
and animal matter, or the manure in the soil ; but in cases in
which the texture of its earthy ingredients is permanently im-
proved, there is more than a compensation for this temporary
disadvantage ; and in some soils, where there is an excess of
inert vegetable matter, the destruction of it must be beneficial ;
and the carbonaceous matter remaining in the ashes may be
more useful to the crop than the vegetable fibre from which it
was produced.11

" All soils which contain too much dead vegetable fibre, and
which consequently lose from one-third to one-half of their
weight by incineration, and all such as contain their earthy
constituents in an impalpable state of division, i. e. the stiff
clays and marls, are improved by burning ; but in coarse sands,

PARING AM) BURNING. 181

or rich soils containing a just mixture of the earths, and in all
cases in which the texture is already sufficiently loose, or the
organizable matter sufficiently soluble, the process of torrefac-
tion cannot be useful. All poor siliceous soils must be injured
by it."

But even in those cases where paring and burning may be
practised, great injury is yet to be dreaded from exhausting
by severe cropping the productive powers of the soil thus sti-
mulated. In this manner immense injury may be done, and
has been done, and an instrument of beneficial improvement,
if discreetly used, converted into a mean of ruining the soil.

When any kind of land is for the first time made arable, a
reason may perhaps exist for this method of rendering it as soon
as possible productive. But after land has been brought into
a state of regular culture, it is difficult to believe, notwith-
standing the authority of so many farmers in England, that
paring and burning are good as a regular system. Great crops
are doubtless raised in the Fens, and other parts, where this
system prevails, but greater crops still are raised in the north
of England and in Scotland, on inferior soils, and with a less
favourable climate, where the system of paring and burning is
unknown.

But while paring and burning may be thus injudiciously
and'too indiscriminately practised, and without the precautions
that should attend it, there is no reason why we should not
avail ourselves of so powerful an instrument of improvement,
when it can be beneficially employed.

The cases in which it may be safely used seem to be —

1st, In the case of poor cold clays, marls, and calcareous
soils, when broken up for the first time.

2d, In the case of moors, where there is a considerable stra-
tum of peat, and which are broken up for the first time.

3d, In the case of deep peaty soils, where there is an excess
of undecomposed vegetable fibre.

( 132 )

IV. DRAINING.

Principles to be ever kept in mind by the tillage-farmer are
to keep his land dry, rich and clean. The first in the order of
these principles, and an essential one to be regarded in cold
and humid countries, is to keep the land dry.

While a certain portion of water is essential to vegetation,
an excess of it may prove greatly injurious. In the colder coun-
tries an excess of water is one of the main causes of infertility,
and a primary purpose of the husbandman there is to carry it
away from the ground.

The water which falls from the atmosphere does not sink to
an indefinite depth, nor generally to a great depth, in the
earth. It is either retained at or near the surface where it
falls, and whence it is evaporated, or it finds its way to a lower
level, by channels upon the surface, or in chinks of rocks, or
beds of gravel, sand, and other permeable substances beneath
the surface.

When water stagnates at or near the surface, or when, hav-
ing penetrated to pervious substances below the surface, it is
finding its way to a lower level, the purpose of the drainer is
to confine it to a determinate channel, and carry it away by
some convenient outlet, in order that it may not overflow or
saturate the soil.

The drains for conveying away water from the surface are :
The ditches of fields, which ought to be so laid out as to favour
the descent of water, — the open furrows which are formed
by the ridges, — and trenches dug in the places necessary for
allowing a passage to the water.

The trenches for carrying away surface water, are usually
left uncovered, and they are termed open drains. But some-
times they are partly filled with stones or other substances,
and then covered with earth, so that while the surface water
may sink down and be carried away, the tilling instruments
may not be interrupted.

In the forming of open drains, the dimensions must be fixed

DRAINING. 183

with relation to the quantity of water to be carried away, and
the direction determined by the natural flow of the water, or
by the particular course by which it is expedient to conduct it
from the ground. In general, open drains are formed in the
hollows or lower parts of the land to be drained, so that the
water may find access to them from the higher grounds, or
sometimes they are formed across the line of descent, in order
to intercept the water which runs from the higher grounds to
the lower.

In open drains, of whatever depth, the sides should possess
a declivity from the top to the bottom, to prevent them from
crumbling down and being undermined by the current. Ex-
cept in the case of rock, this inclination should not be less than
45° ; and, when the earth is soft, and the flow of water consi-
derable, it should exceed 45°. In all cases, the earth should
be spread from the edge of the trench backwards, so that the
water from the land on each side may have access to it.

When drains of this class are covered, they are generally
made from 2| to 3 feet deep, and filled with stones or other
loose materials to within a foot of the surface. They are usu-
ally in this case carried through hollow places, where the wa-
ter of the land stagnates, or tends to flow.

The further end to be effected by draining is to form chan-
nels for water which has already sunk into the ground, and is
either retained by it, or is finding its way beneath the surface
from a higher to a lower level. It is the intercepting of water
below the surface that constitutes the most difficult part of
draining, and which requires the application of principles which
it is not necessary to apply in the case of surface draining.

When the soil rests upon a retentive subsoil, the latter may
present a surface of resistance to the water ; or the water may
have sunk down into the subsoil, and be finding its way through
channels beneath.

The substances through which water finds its way with fa-
cility are the looser earths, sands, and gravels, the crevices of
rocks, and beds of loose or decomposing stones ; the substances
which resist its progress are clays and the harder rocks.

184

PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

If we shall penetrate a little way into the looser portion of
the earth, we shall generally find a series of strata, consisting
of gravel, sand, or clay, of different degrees of density. These
strata are frequently horizontal, frequently they follow nearly
the inclination of the surface, and frequently they are broken
and irregular. Sometimes the stratum is very thin, as a few
inches in thickness, and sometimes it is several feet thick ; and
sometimes the traces of stratification disappear, and we find
only, to a great depth, a large mass of clay or other homo-
geneous substance.

When these substances are of a clayey nature, water finds
its way through them with difficulty ; when they are of a looser
texture, water percolates through them freely. These last, ac-
cordingly, form natural conduits or channels for the water
which is below the surface, when finding its way from a higher
to a lower level.

When any bed or stratum of this kind, in which water is
percolating, crops out to the surface, the water which it con-
tains will flow out and form a burst or spring, oozing over and
saturating the ground, as in the following figure, which repre-
sents a section of the ground, from C to D.

Fig. 101

When water is, in like manner, percolating through one of
these pervious strata, and meets any obstruction, as a rock or
bed of clay at A, Fig. 102, it is stopped in its progress, and,
by the pressure of the water from a higher source, it is forced
upwards, and thus saturates the superjacent soil, as from D
to E, forming springs, or a general oozing.

In either of these cases, and they are the most frequent that
occur in practice, the object of the drainer is to reach the water

DRAIN! XH.

185

Fig. 102

>B^

^\\\ANNX\

in its subterraneous channel before it shall arrive at the sur-
face, and to carry it away in a drain.

By cutting a drain at A, Fig. 101, the water of the stratum
of sand CE, is cut off before it reaches the surface at C, where
it forms the swamp CD.

In like manner, in Fig. 102, by forming a drain at C or F,
the water is cut off in its channel AB, and thus, in relieving
the pressure from the higher source, by giving egress to the
water through the drain, the cause of the wetness from E to
D is removed.

In looking at the sloping surface of any tract of ground, as
a field, in which there is an oozing or bursting out of water,
we shall generally distinguish the line where the wetness begins
to appear on the surface, extending over a considerable space,
xx xxx, Fig. 103, the effects appearing in the wetness of the
ground farther down the slope, as yyy. The line where the
wetness begins, and which is generally rendered perceptible by
the change of colour of the soil, the tendency to produce sub-
aquatic plants, and other indications of wetness, marks for the

»■<

mmWr

18fi PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS

most part nearly the course which the line of the drain should
follow. By cutting a drain nearly in this line, as from G to A,
and from L to A, sufficiently deep to reach the porous stratum
in which the water percolates, we shall intercept it before it
reaches the surface, and by carrying it away in some conve-
nient outlet, AB, remove the cause of wetness.

This, accordingly forms, in the greater number of cases, the
rule adopted in practice for the laying out of drains upon the
surface. The line is drawn nearly at, or a little above, the line
of wetness, or, to use the common expression, between the wet
and the dry.

Should the line of drain be drawn too much below the line
of wetness, as at G, Fig. 101, then the trench would fail to in-
tercept the water ; and further, if it were filled with earth,
stones, and other substances, in the way to be afterwards de-
scribed, the whole, or a part, of the water would pass over it,
and the injury be unremoved.

Again, should the line be too much above the line of wet-
ness, as at H, the drain would fail to reach the channel of the
water, and so would be useless.

It is for this reason that, in common practice, the rule is, to
draw the line of the drain nearly between the wet and the dry,
or a little above it, taking care to give it the necessary descent,
and to form it of sufficient depth to reach the pervious bed or
stratum in which the water is contained.

But as water may arrive at the surface in different ways,
and the wetness be produced by different causes, so variations
from this rule of lining out the drain may be required, and the
judgment of the drainer is to be shown in adapting the course
of his drain to the change of circumstances.

Sometimes in a hollow piece of ground, feeders may reach
the descent, as in Fig. 104 ; and the water may be forced up-
wards by the pressure from each side of the hollow, and thus
form the swamp from A to B. It may not be necessary here
to cut a trench on each side along the line of wetness at A and
B ; a single trench C, cut in the hollow, and giving egress to
the water, may relieve the pressure and remove the swamp.

DRAINING.

187

Sometimes upon a sloping surface, one pervious stratum, in
which water percolates, may produce more than one line of
springs, as at B and A, in the following figure. Here a single
drain cut at B will remove the cause of wetness at both swamps,
without the necessity of the drain at A.

And, in practice, it is well to wait to mark the effects of a
drain cut in the higher part of the slope to be drained, for these
effects often extend further than might be anticipated, removing
springs, bursts, or oozings, at a great distance.

On the other hand, a single swamp, as from B to A, in the
following figure, may be produced, and yet one drain at B may
be insufficient to remove it. In this case, the water being
brought to the surface by more than one channel, it is neces-
sary to form several drains to reach the several beds in which
the water is contained, as at B, C, and D.

These examples will shew, that one rule, with respect to the
laying out of drains, is not applicable to all cases, but that the
drainer should adapt his remedy as much as possible to the

188

PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROP'S.

F'g. 100.

'///vm////'/ v,

cause of injury. One end. however, to be aimed at in all cases,
is to reach the bed, channel, or reservoir, in which the water
is contained.

Before beginning to drain a field or tract of ground, it is
frequently well to ascertain, by examination, the nature of the
substances to be digged through.

At the upper part where the wet tract to be drained ap-
pears, or between the wet and the dry, let a few pits be digged.
The place of each pit is to be marked out nearly in the direc-
tion of the proposed line of drain, six feet long by three in
width, in which space one man, and if required, two, can work.
Let the earth be thrown out to the lower side, and to such a
distance from the edge of the pit as not to press upon and break
down the sides. Let these pits be made to the depth of five
or six feet, or more if necessary, so that we may reach, if pos-
sible, the porous bed in which the water is contained. Should
we find no water, then let us apply a boring-rod, in order to
ascertain at what depth the porous substance lies in which the
water is contained.

Sometimes water will not be found until we come to a great
depth. It may be so deep that we cannot reach it by any drain,
or even by boring with the auger. In this case a previous
examination saves us the labour of making the drain unneces-
sarily deep. Sometimes we shall proceed to a considerable
depth without finding any appearance of water, when, all at

DRAINING. 189

once, by breaking through some thin stratum, we shall reach
it. The water is frequently seen, in this case, to boil up like
a fountain, and this affords the assurance that we shall succeed
in our object.

This species of preparatory examination by means of pits, is
therefore, in many cases useful. It affords the means of judg-
ing of the proper depth and dimensions of which the drain shall
be formed ; it prevents the committing of errors in the laying
out of the lines of drains ; and it enables the drainer to enter
into contracts with his workmen with precision.

When we have thus, by sinking pits in various parts of our
intended lines, obtained an idea of the nature of the ground,
of the substances to be digged through, and of the depth of
the water, we mark our lines of drains upon the ground.

This may be done by pins, or by a plough drawing a furrow
along the intended line.

It is at this time very convenient to make a hand-sketch of
the piece of ground to be drained, marking each line as it is
laid off in the field, and noting the depth and direction in which
the water is to run.

The lines being marked off in the manner described, these
are to form the upper edges of the drains.

The width of the drain at the top depends upon its depth, it
being usual, except in the case of very hard and tenacious sub-
stances, to make it slope from the top to the bottom. Thus,
if it be 6 feet deep, and from 18 inches to 2 feet wide at bot-
tom, it may be 2^ feet wide at top.

The workman, in forming the trench, works up to the higher
ground, and never from the higher ground to the lower. The
instruments which he uses in the operation are — the common
spade, Fig. 58, a shovel for throwing out loose substances,
Fig. 60, a pick or mattock, Fig. 61, for raising stones and
breaking the earth when hard, and the foot-pick, Fig. 63.

The materials to be used for filling the drain may be stones,
tiles, or other hard and durable substances. When stones are
to be employed, if they are inconveniently large, they may be
broken to the weight of three or four lb. They may be laid

100 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

clown for use, before the cutting of the drain is begun, along
the upper line of the drain, the earth being thrown by the
workmen to the lower side ; or else they may be brought for-
ward while the work is going on, and thrown from the cart
into the drain.

In the larger class of drams it is regarded as beneficial, and
even necessary, to form a conduit at the bottom. This is done
by building a little wall roughly on each side at the bottom,
about 6 inches in height, and so as to leave an aperture or con-
duit of about 6 inches in width. The workman then covers it
with such flat stones as he can procure, filling up also the in-
terstices of these covers with smaller stones, so as to defend
the conduit from earth and other substances that might fall
into it. When this is done, the remaining stones are thrown
in promiscuously to the height of 18 inches or 2 feet above the
cover. The stones are then to be made level at the top, and
either covered with the sod which, on breaking the ground of
the drain, had been laid aside for that purpose, or with a cover-
ing of straw, heath, or the like. This covering is to prevent
the loose earth from falling amongst the stones.

When these operations are completed, the earth which had
been thrown out of the trench is shovelled upon the'stones until
it be above the level of the surface. The purpose of raising it
higher than the surface is to provide for the subsidence of the
loose earth, which is generally found to be rendered more com-
pact, and to occupy a smaller space than it did in its original
state. When a portion of the earth is shovelled in, it is an
economy of labour to employ a common plough for filling in the
remainder.

A drain thus formed will appear on a transverse section,
as in Fig. 107, and after the subsidence of the earth as in Fig.
108. Where the soil is very soft, it is of benefit to pave the
lower part of the drain with stones or slates. In the whole
operation of forming the trench and conduit, great care is ne-
cessary in seeing that all the parts of the work are executed
welL

DRAINING.

191

Kig. 107.

Fig. 10K.

Fig. 109.

The stones used for this species of drain may be sandstone,
or any of the harder stones that can be obtained. But, in
many cases, stones are not to be obtained, in which case tiles
may be substituted.

The tiles, which are made with an
arch as in the annexed figure, may
be formed of separate pieces of about
14 inches in length. Flat soles are
made of the same material, on which the arched tiles are to rest.

The method of forming the drain when tiles are the mate-
rial employed, may be somewhat different from that adopted
when stones are used. Fis- no-

The drain is carried down as narrow as a ^^^5 ^^
man can work, and at the bottom an excava-
tion is made by means of a narrow-mouthed
spade, to fit the dimensions of the tile, which
is then placed upon its stand or sole. Above
this should be laid some loose materials, as
clean gravel or sand, for allowing the filtra-
tion of the water. Even brushwood, and such
materials, may be used ; for, though they are
not of great durability, they serve the purpose,
even after they have decayed, of rendering the earth more
open and pervious to water.

102

PREPARATION OF I.AXD FOR CROPS.

Drains formed in this manner, whether the material em-
ployed be stone or tile, will be found efficient when they are
laid out in the proper direction, and when the pervious sub-
stances are reached in which the water is contained.

But it is often impracticable to reach these substances with
a drain of common depth. In this case, apertures may be
formed at the bottom of the drain, by boring or sinking down
at the proper distances, until the pervious beds in which the
water is contained are reached. By this mean the water will
be allowed to flow up from below into the cavity of the drain,
and so will be carried away.

The application of this principle had been familiar from the
remotest times in the sinking of wells. But it was not till af-
ter the middle of the last century that the same principle was
applied to the draining of land. This was done by Mr Elking-
ton of Warwickshire, who employed the auger and the boring-
rod for the purpose of reaching the channels and reservoirs
below the surface, when an ordinary drain could not reach
them.

The auger employed for this purpose is similar to a carpen-
ter's wimble. It may be from 4 to 5
inches in diameter. Square iron rods
are made to be screwed into one an-
other, so that the length of the line of
rods may be increased in proportion as
the auger penetrates the ground. In
the annexed figure, A is the auger, B
one of the rods, C a key for turning it
round and working it, D another key

for holding the rods when they are to be unscrewed by means
of the key C.

This instrument may be sometimes found useful when the
channels and reservoirs of water can be reached in this man-
ner. The apertures are formed by the auger in the bottom of
the drain. When the water is reached, it will spring up into
the drain, in the same manner as water in the bottom of a well.

It is not necessary to employ any artificial means fof keeping

3 *

Fig. ui

DRAINING.

193

the apertures open, as the flow of the water will suffice to main-
tain for itself a passage.

Sometimes, in place of an auger-
hole, wells are sunk at intervals
along the side of the drain, and
filled with stones in the manner

shown in the figure.

In all cases of draining where
the water to be reached is at some
depth, the drains should be made
of sufficient dimensions. They
should not be less than 4 feet deep,
even when the pervious strata lie
at less depth ; and the reason is,
that they may be more permanent,
and better defended from injury
from mud and sand carried down
by surface water. It is not ne-
cessary that they be made deeper than 4 feet when that is
found to be sufficient ; but they must be carried, if necessary,
to the depth of 6 feet, or even sometimes of 7 feet, though the
expense and difficulty of executing the work increase, in a
great proportion, as the dimensions of the drain increase.

The importance, in this species of draining, of proceeding
upon principles in laying out the lines of drains, instead of
acting at random, as so many do, cannot be too strongly im-
pressed upon the attention of the drainer. Every drain, how-
ever rudely devised, and imperfectly executed, may do some
good. But one drain well laid out, and of the required dimen-
sions, may perform a purpose which no multiplication of minor
and insufficient drains can effect. These may lessen the effects
of wetness, but the other is designed to remove the causes of
it ; and the more perfect practice will usually be found in the
end to be the most economical as well as the most efficient.

The drains of the larger class described, it will be seen, are
intended for the removal of water which is contained in reser-
voirs and channels below the surface.

N

194 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

But frequently the water to be intercepted is very near the
surface, as between the soil and subsoil, or the subsoil is so
homogeneous to a great depth, that no pervious strata can be
readily reached. In such cases, the drains may be of smaller
dimensions, and increased in number, so as to afford many out-
lets to the water with which the soil and subsoil are charged.

A system of draining, having relation to this condition of
the soil and subsoil, has been termed the Essex system, from
its having been extensively practised in that flat and clayey
district, and it is now very generally termed furrow-draining.
The system consists in forming a series of small drains pa-
rallel to one another, in the open furrows between the ridges.
In this species of draining, the design is not to reach the
water as it percolates in pervious channels beneath the sur-
face, but to afford numerous outlets to the water which the
soil and subsoil retain. The system is for the most part
greatly more expensive than the other : yet as it is efficient,
is easily practised, and produces an immediate effect in drying
the ground, it is often preferred even where the purpose
might be otherwise effected. It may often, however, be com-
bined with the system of deeper drains ; the latter being em-
ployed to intercept the springs and larger body of water, and
the former to give an increased degree of dryness to the surface.
The materials that may be employed in this species of
draining are tiles or stones, the latter being broken to the size
of small road metal. Of these materials, tiles are held to be
the most convenient and economical, from their requiring a
smaller trench, and from their being more easily carried, and
more readily taken up and replaced when injured. They are
formed into an arch of a semi-elliptical form, and they are
made to rest on flat soles in the manner shown in the figure
109. The size of the arch varies with circumstances : the
usual size . is from 3 to 4 inches wide within, and from 4 to 5
inches high, and the length of each tile is about 14 inches.
The soles are flat, or slightly curved, and made to project
about a quarter of an inch on each side of the tiles. These
are the usual dimensions for the smaller parallel drains ; but.

DRAINING.

195

where main drains are formed to receive the water from the
smaller drains, the size of the tiles is increased to 7 or 8
inches wide within, with a corresponding height.

The principle adopted in laying out this class of drains, is
to form one or more main or receiving drains across the ground
to be drained, and to conduct into these the minor drains
which follow the course of the ridges. The receiving drains
are formed of greater size, by employing the larger form of
tiles, or by placing two tiles side by side, and sometimes with
their edges together, so as to combine the two arches into one
tube ; and sometimes three or four tiles are employed various-
ly arranged. The minor drains lead to these receiving ones,
and the water is permitted to enter by chipping off corners of
the larger tiles, at the places where the tiles of the smaller
drains terminate. It is better, however, that sets of tiles be
prepared at the tile-work, in which case the apertures can be
made either through the sides of the tiles, or at the corners.

The depth of the drains should be sufficient to place the
tiles completely beyond the reach of injury from the deepest
ploughing. A medium depth of the smaller drains is from
18 to 24 inches. They are formed by first taking up a spit
with the common spade, and then employing the narrower
spade, shown in figure 113, so as to
form the trench with a slope to the bot-
tom, where the width should be just suf-
ficient to receive the soles of the tiles ;
and in order to clear out any mud or
loose earth in the trench, there is em-
ployed the species of shovel, Fig. 114.
Sometimes, in order to save some ex-
pense in digging, the earth at the surface
is first removed by the plough, which
passes along without the mould-board,
and then returns by the same track, with
the mould-board attached, so as to push
the earth to a side and form a furrow. In proportion as the
trenches are formed by one set of workmen, the tiles are laid

n2

Fig. 113.

Fig. 114-

106 PREPARATION OF LAND FOR CROPS.

by another. The workman in laying the tiles works backwards,
the tiles having been previously laid along the line of the
drains, and there is usually an assistant to hand them to the
person in the trench. This part of the operation must be per-
formed with care, so that the soles shall be placed firmly and
evenly on their bed ; and so that the acclivity shall be always
sufficient to cause the water to run. The earth is shovelled
back upon the tiles, and care should always be taken that the
looser soil of the surface be laid next the tiles, so that the
space above them may be rendered as pervious as possible to
water. When there is any sod upon the surface at the time of
draining, this should be laid aside, and placed upon the tiles
with the grassy side below, and then the looser soil next the
surface is to be shovelled in, and lastly the more tenacious
subsoil. And it is even an improvement in this kind of drains
to lay over the tiles some gravel, sand, peat, or other pervious
matter, before replacing the earth. This species of draining
is of admirable use in drying the soil, by affording outlets to
the water with which it may be charged, but care should be
taken not to apply the principle to cases to which it is un-
suited. It is plain that the method is not well adapted to the
removal of springs and swamps produced by water beneath
the surface. It may indeed keep the stratum of soil compa-
ratively dry, even when the wetness is produced by the rising
of water from beneath, but then it is a very inartificial method
of producing the effect, since the water may be far more ef-
fectually removed by intercepting it by a drain along the line
of the descent, in the manner before explained.

This kind of draining is mainly to be recommended for its
efficiency, and for its speedy action in rendering the soil dry.
When the tiles are good and laid with care, these drains will
last for a long period. When choked at any particular part,
they can be easily taken up at that part, and the tiles replaced,
or new ones substituted.

Thorns, brushwood, and branches, are frequently employed
in the filling of drains. They serve the purpose of affording a
more pervious channel to water, but they soon decay, and the

DRAINING.

1D7

ilrains are very apt to be choked. Sometimes, indeed, the
channels formed by the water remain, when there is a consider-
able current, long after these materials have decayed. But this
cannot be depended upon, and such materials, therefore, ought
not to be used if better can be obtained.

Sometimes a species of draining, termed Wedge-draining, has
been employed. The general method of performing this is to
form a narrow trench with a long nar- Fig. 115.

row shovel. The spit being taken out as
deep as the shovel can go, a scoop is em-
ployed to clear out the mud and loose
earth at the bottom. Then another spade
narrower than the first is used, and a
second spit taken out, and lastly a cor-
responding shovel still to clear the whole
out, — forming a trench with a ledge as
in Fig. 115.

A piece of sod, with the grass side below, is then forced
down, and resting upon the ledge, a space is left for the water
below. Sometimes the ledge is dispensed with, and the sod is
merely formed into a wedge, narrowed towards the grassy side,
and this, when the little trench is cleared out, is pressed into
it and covered with earth ; and as it does not reach the nar-
row bottom, a channel remains below, through which the water
percolates.

This simple species of drain has been extensively adopted in
some districts ; and as it is easily formed, and as the number
of drains may be multiplied at little expense, considerable be-
nefit has resulted from the use of it. But although drains of
this kind will sometimes remain open for a considerable time,
they are exceedingly apt to be closed up; on which account, the
use of tile is in most cases to be preferred.

( 198 )

VI. SUCCESSION OF CROPS.

All plants which are cultivated, and which are carried from
the ground where they are produced, tend to render the soil
less productive, or, in the language of farmers, to exhaust it.

But plants which are suffered to decay, or which are con-
sumed by animals on the ground on which they grow, do not
exhaust the soil. On the contrary, the decay of the stems and
leaves of such plants, either naturally, or by the consuming of
them by animals, tends to add those decomposing organic mat-
ters to the soil which form one of the elements of its fertility.
This process may be imperceptible and slow, but it is that
which Nature herself employs to form the soil, as distinguished
from what has been termed the subsoil.

Sometimes this process of decay is counteracted by the sin-
gular natural provision, of a conversion of the decomposing
vegetables into a substance which itself resists decomposition
— peat. But, with this exception, the tendency of the decay
of vegetables upon the surface is to add to the fertile matters
of the soil.

This is well understood in the practice of agriculturists.
When the productive powers of a soil have been exhausted by
cultivation and the carrying away of its produce from the sur-
face, it is laid down to herbage, in which state the future vege-
tation which it produces tends, by its decomposition upon the
surface, to renovate the productive powers of the soil. Land
in this state is said to rest.

When land, however, has been empoverished by successive
crops, and has become full of weeds, the laying it down to rest
in that state is attended with less beneficial consequences than
when the soil has been previously cleaned of injurious weeds,
and fertilized by good culture. In the former case, the pro-
cess of renovation is slow, if perceptible at all ; the useless
plants increase, and not those which are beneficial and afford

SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 199

food to pasturing animals. Land, when properly laid down to
grass, therefore, tends to recover its wasted powers of produc-
tion. Land not properly laid down has less of this healing
property, and may be more full of weeds, and no richer when
ploughed up again after a time, than when first laid down.
Under good management, however, the laying down of culti-
vated land to grass and other herbage-plants to be consumed
upon the ground, is a mean of resting the soil, and renovating
its powers of production ; and this mode of recruiting an ex-
hausted soil being always at the command of the farmer, its
application is important in practice. It is to be observed also,
that the poorer soils require this species of rest and renovation
more than those which are naturally productive.

The experience of husbandmen from the earliest times has
shown, that the same kinds of plants cannot be advantageously
cultivated in continued succession. The same or similar spe-
cies tend to grow feebly, or degenerate, or become more sub-
ject to diseases, when cultivated successively upon the same
ground. Different causes have been assigned by physiologists
for this degeneration ; but whatever opinion may be formed
regarding the causes, it is from the observed fact that has re-
sulted the rule which forms the basis of a system of regular
alternation of crops, namely, that plants of the same or similar
species shall not be cultivated in immediate succession ; and
further, the same rule has been thus far extended, that the
same species shall recur at as distant intervals of the course
as circumstances will allow.

All herbaceous plants whose produce is carried off the ground
which produces them, may be said to exhaust the soil upon
which they grow. But all such plants do not exhaust the soil
in the same degree ; for after some species the soil is seen to
be more empoverished than after others.

And not only do different species of plants exhaust the soil
in a greater or less degree than others, but the same species
does so according to the different period of its growth at which
the plant is removed from the ground.

When a herbaceous plant is suffered to grow until it has

200 SUCCESSION OF CROrS.

matured its seeds, it exhausts the soil more than when it is
removed before its seeds are matured. All herbaceous plants,
therefore, when cut in their green state, that is, before they
have matured their seeds, exhaust the soil less than when they
remain until they have ripened their seeds. Thus the turnip,
when used in its green state, is one of the least exhausting in
the agricultural class of plants to which it belongs ; but the
turnip, when allowed to remain upon the ground until it has
ripened its seeds, is one of the most exhausting plants that is
cultivated amongst us ; and so it is with the rape and others.

Further, certain plants, by the larger or smaller quantity of
manure which the consumption of them affords, are more or
less useful in maintaining the fertility of the farm.

When a herbaceous plant is suffered to mature its seeds,
and when any part of these seeds is carried off the farm, the
plant affords, when consumed by animals, a smaller return of
manure to the farm than if the same plant had been cut down
before it had matured its seeds, and been in that state con-
sumed by animals. Thus it is with the turnip plant referred
to. This plant is with us sown before midsummer. In the
first season it forms a napiform root, and puts forth a large
system of leaves. Early in the following season it puts forth
a long stem, which bears flowers, and the seeds are generally
matured about midsummer. If this plant is removed in the
first stage of its growth, that is, after it has put forth its large
leaves and formed its root, and is then consumed by animals,
it returns a great quantity of manure ; but if it remains until
the second state of its growth, then the consumption of its
roots and leaves returns scarce any manure. The juices of
the root have apparently been exhausted in affording nutrition
to the flower-stem, the flowers, and the seeds.

It is beyond a question, that, in order to bring a plant to its
entire maturity, by the perfecting of its seeds, a larger quan-
tity of the nutrient matter of the soil is sucked up by it than
when it is brought only to its less advanced stages. When crops
of plants, therefore, are suffered to arrive at maturity, they
are greatly more exhausters of the soil on which they grow than

SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 201

when they are cut down while they are green ; and if those
seeds are in whole or in part carried off the farm, the crops
are exhausters of the farm, as well as of the ground which had
produced them. Were the ripened seeds to be wholly returned
to the soil, it may be believed that they would give back to it
all the nutrient matter which had been derived from it. But,
in practice, seeds are employed for many purposes, and are
generally carried off the farm which produces them. When
this is done in whole or in part, the plants produced are in an
eminent degree exhausters of the farm, as well as of the soil
on which they have grown.

Further, certain plants, from their mode of growth and cul-
tivation, are more favourable to the growth of weeds than other
plants. The cereal grasses, from growing closely together,
and not admitting, or admitting partially, the eradication of
weeds, are more favourable to the growth and multiplication
of weeds than such plants as the turnip and the potato, which
are grown at a considerable distance from one another, and
admit of tillage during their "growth, and whose broad leaves
tend to repress the growth of stranger plants.

Having these principles in view, certain rules may be de-
duced from them, for the order in which the crops of plants in
cultivation in a country shall succeed one another on the same
ground.

1st, Crops consisting of plants of the same or similar species,
shall not follow in succession, but shall return at as distant in-
tervals as the case will allow.

2d, Crops consisting of plants whose mode of growth or cul-
tivation tends to the production of weeds, shall not follow in
succession.

3d, Crops whose culture admits of the destruction of weeds,
shall be cultivated when we cultivate plants which favour the
production of weeds. And further, crops whose consumption
returns to the soil a sufficient quantity of manure, shall be cul-
tivated at intervals sufficient to maintain or increase the fer-
tility of the farm.

202 SUCCESSION OF CROPS.

And, 4tk, when land is to be laid to grass, this shall be done
when the soil is fertile and clean.

These rules may be applied to the plants which form the
subject of common cultivation in the fields. In this country,
the plants chiefly cultivated on the large scale are, — the cereal
grasses, chiefly for the farina of their seeds ; certain leguminous
plants, as the bean and the pea ; plants cultivated for their
fibres, as the flax and hemp ; for their leaves, roots, or tubers,
as the turnip, the cabbage, and the potato ; and certain legu-
minous and other plants for forage or herbage. The plants of
these different classes are yet to be described ; and they are
now only referred to with relation to the order in which they
may succeed one another.

1st, One class of these plants consists of the cereal grasses.
These are chiefly wheat, barley, oats, and partially rye. All
' these plants are in an eminent degree exhausters of the farm.
They are all suffered to mature their seeds, and are wholly
or partially carried away from the farm. Further, from the
manner of their growth, and mode of cultivation, they all tend
to favour the production of weeds. For these reasons, and on
the general principle that plants of the same or similar kinds
should not follow in succession, the cereal grasses should not
succeed one another, but should be preceded or followed by
some crop, which either (exhausts the soil less, or admits of a
more perfect eradication of weeds.

2d, The leguminous plants cultivated for their seeds, as the
bean and the pea, are all exhausters of the soil. They ripen
their seeds, and these seeds are for the most part carried off
the farm. Some have supposed that they are less exhausters
of the soil than the cereal grasses. But the essential diffe-
rence between them, when considered with relation to their
effect upon the soil, is, that, from their growth, and the manner
of cultivating them, they are greatly less favourable to the pro-
duction of weeds than the cereal grasses. By their broader
system of leaves, they tend to stifle the growth of weeds more
than the cereal grasses : and further, they admit of tillage

SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 203

during a great part of their growth. This is especially the
case with the bean, which is therefore regarded as a useful
cleaning crop, and so is cultivated in rotation with the cereal
grasses, as a mean of preserving the land clean.

3d, Hemp and flax, which are cultivated chiefly for their
fibres, and all plants cultivated for their oils, are exhausters of
the soil. They are suffered to form and ripen their seeds, and
their steins afford no return of manure to the farm.

The next class of plants, from the large return of manures
which the consumption of them affords, may be regarded as en-
riching or restorative crops, in contradistinction to the others,
which may be termed exhausting crops : —

1. The turnip, the rape, and other plants of the cabbage
genus, cultivated for their roots and leaves, and consumed
upon the farm.

2. The potato, the carrot, the parsnip, the beet, and other
plants cultivated for their tubers and roots, and consumed
upon the farm.

3. The leguminous plants, — the clover, the tare, the lucerne,
and others, — when cut green for forage, and consumed upon the
farm.

The plants of the latter class, namely the leguminous, when
mixed with gramineous plants, as the rye-grass, are commonly
termed the artificial grasses, but would be more correctly termed
the cultivated herbage or forage plants. They are often suf-
fered partially to ripen their seeds, and are made into hay ; and
in this case they follow the general law, exhausting the soil
more than when used green. And when the hay-crop is carried
away from the farm, they are to be regarded as exhausting ra-
ther than restorative crops.

In speaking of these different classes of plants, the following
terms may be employed : —

1. The cereal grasses may be termed Corn-crops.

2. The leguminous plants cultivated for their seeds, Pulse-
crops.

8. The turnip, and other plants of the same kind, cultivated
for their roots and leaves, may, with reference to the mode of

204 SUCCESSION OF CROPS.

consuming them, be termed Green crops ; or, with reference to
the maimer of preparing the ground for them, Fallow-crops.

4. The potato and plants of other families cultivated for
their roots and tubers, may, in like manner, be termed Green
or Fallow crops.

5. The leguminous plants cultivated for green food, as the
lucerne and tare, may be termed Green Forage crops.

And, lastly, the mixture of gramineous and leguminous plants
cultivated for herbage or green food, may, in compliance with
common language, be still termed the Sown or Artificial
Grasses.

Further, distinguishing these different classes of crops ac-
cording to their effects upon the fertility of the farm, they
might be divided thus :

1. Corn-crops, — exhausting crops, and favourers of weeds.

2. Pulse-crops, — exhausting, but cleaning crops, or capable
of being rendered so.

3. Green or fallow-crops, — restorative and cleaning crops.

4. Green forage-crops, — restorative, and sometimes cleaning
crops.

5. The sown grasses, — restorative crops.

Knowing these the general characters of the cultivated plants,
we have, in devising a rotation, to cause the restorative and
cleaning crops so to alternate with the exhausting crops, as
that the land may be preserved fertile and clean. Further,
when we find that land cannot be sufficiently cleaned by means
of cleaning crops, we must make use of the summer fallow ;
and again, when we find that land requires rest, we may lay it
down to grass for a longer or shorter time, taking care when
this is done, that the land shall be in as fertile a state as cir-
cumstances will allow, and free of weeds.

The application of these principles will be best explained by
adverting to some of those courses of crops which have been
found good in practice, both as maintaining or increasing the
fertility of the soil, and as admitting of an economical division
of labour upon a farm.

The first of these courses is the four years1 course, or four-shift

SUCCESSION OF CROPS 205

course, as it is sometimes called. This course is of very gene-
ral application, and forms the basis of nearly all the most ap-
proved rotations on the lighter soils and inferior clays of this
country. It consists of a regular alternation of the following
crops :

1st year, Turnips or other green crop, manured.

2d Corn-crop, as wheat, barley, or oats.

3d Sown grasses.

4th Corn-crop.

In this course, we observe that each exhausting crop alter-
nates with a restorative one ; and that, in each year, one-half
of the farm is under exhausting, and one-half under restorative,
crops.

This rotation is adapted to a large class of soils fit for carry-
ing green crops, though these soils ought to be rather of the
better class, in order to admit of a continuance of this course
in cases where there does not exist a supply of extraneous ma-
nures. When the whole produce of the restorative crops,
namely, the green crop and cultivated grasses, and the straw
of the corn-crops, are consumed upon the farm, the fertility of
the soil will be generally maintained under this course. But
when these are partially carried away, a supply of extraneous
manures is necessary, otherwise the soil will decrease in fertili-
ty, and the course become what is termed a scourging one.
This course, although an admirable one for an extensive class of
soils, has this defect, that the crops of the same kind return at
too frequent intervals, and hence are apt to fall off in quality
and productiveness. Under a long continuance of this course,
the red clover can often scarcely be made to grow. The land
is said to tire of the crop, and the expression and the fact il-
lustrate the general principle before referred to, that plants of
the same species should not return at too short intervals.

The four years"' course, however, with the defects that at-
tend it, is of very general application. It was derived from
Norfolk, and is frequently termed the Norfolk-course, and it
is, in a great measure, from its general adoption that the hus-
bandry of that country has become so celebrated.

200 SUCCESSION OF CROPS.

The summer fallow may be substituted for the manured
green crop in the first year of this course, and then the course
becomes : —

1st year, Summer-fallow ;

2d Corn-crop ;

3d Sown grasses ;

4th Corn-crop.

The course, thus modified, is adapted to the stiff and humid
clays, where turnips and other green crops cannot be profitably
raised. The course is defective in this, that the summer-fal-
low is too frequently repeated ; and it has the same defect as
the Norfolk-course, as to the frequent return of the cultivated
red clover.

Other rotations, founded upon these, are produced simply
by prolonging the period for which the land sown with grass-
seeds shall remain in grass. When the course is intended to
be for five years, the land remains two years in grass, thus : —

1st year, Summer-fallow, or green crop manured :

2d Corn-crop ;

3d Sown grasses ;

4th Grass for pasture ;

5th Corn-crop, generally oats.

This excellent course is less severe than the four years' course,
and, requiring less manure to maintain or increase the fertility
of the soil, it is better adapted to all soils of inferior quality.
It does not yield so great a gross produce as the four-years1
course, and therefore, where the soil, or the command of ma-
nures, admits of the latter, there is not any reason why it should
not be preferred. But in other and dissimilar cases, the five-
years' course, as this is frequently termed, will be found to be
preferable. Wherever, in this course, the soil is suited to the
production of green crops, the first crop of the series should
be of that kind. But when the land is not suited to the pro-
duction of green crops, or when, from any cause, the summer-
fallow is to be preferred, then the summer-fallow may super-
sede the green crop in the first year of the series.

Although the five-years' course, which allows the land to re-

SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 20"

main two years in grass, is suited to soils pretty low in the
scale of fertility, yet it is often necessary, when the soil is poor
or exhausted by previous cropping, to allow it a longer rest ;
in which case, the land, instead of two, remains three or more
years in grass.

The four and the five-years1 courses are suited, it has been
said, to a great extent of land in this country. But the richer
clays, as well as the lighter loams of the better class, admit of
a more extended and varied range of cultivation ; the particu-
lar plants to be produced being determined by demand for the
produce, peculiarity of local situation, command of extraneous
manures, and the like.

When this is the case, it is easy to extend the four-years,
course in a manner to comprehend the further plants to be pro-
duced. Let it be supposed that the land is of the richer clays,
and that it is suited to the summer-fallow, then the course
may be : —

1st year, Summer-fallow, manured ;
2d Wheat ;

3d Sown grasses, generally for hay or green forage ;

4th Oats ;

5th Beans, manured ;

6th Barley or wheat.

This is a course deserving of imitation in all the cases suited
to it, that is, where the soil is sufficiently clayey and rich, and
does not require rest in pasture. Under this course, it will
be seen that two-thirds of the farm are under exhausting crops,
and one-third in summer-fallow and restorative crop.

A slight deviation can be made on this course without alter-
ing the principle of it, namely —

1st year, Summer-fallow, manured ;

2d Wheat ;

3d Beans ;

4th Barley or wheat ;

5th Sown grasses, generally for hay or green forage.

6th Oats.

208 SUCCESSION OF CROPS.

But we can render this course less severe, by allowing the
land in grass to remain two years in that state, when the course
becomes —

1st year, Fallow ;

2d Wheat ;

3d Sown grasses ;

4th Grass ;

5th Oats ;

6th Beans ;

7th Barley or wheat.

In which case we have three-sevenths in restorative crops, and
four-sevenths in exhausting crops. It is therefore more severe
than the four-years1 course, in which two-fourths are in ex-
hausting crops. When the soil is light and fertile, as a sandy
or gravelly loam, the summer-fallow of the last-mentioned
courses may be dispensed with, and any kind of green crop
substituted : —

1st year, Green crop, as turnips, potatoes, beet, or the
like, manured ;

2d Wheat or barley ;

3d Sown grasses ;

4th Oats ;

5th Pease or beans, manured ;

6th Barley or wheat.

Under this course, as before, two-thirds are exhausting crops,

and one-third restorative crops. The course requires a good

soil. It may be rendered less severe, by allowing the land to

remain two years in grass, in which case the course becomes —

1st year, Green crop, manured ;

2d Wheat or barley ;

3d Sown grasses, for green forage or hay ;

4th Grass for pasture ;

5th Oats ;

6th Beans or pease, manured ;

7th Barley or wheat.

In this case we have three-sevenths in restorative crops, and
four-sevenths in exhausting crops, in which respect it appears

SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 209

inferior to the four years1 course ; but it is superior to it in
this, that the crops are more varied, and if we shall make wheat
only once in the rotation, it will fulfil in an eminent degree
this condition, that two crops of the same species shall return
at as distant intervals as possible.

These several courses illustrate the principle of a good sys-
tem of rotations, as applicable to the plants commonly cultiva-
ted in this country, and they are all capable of being reduced to
practice upon the farm. They may serve as the basis of other
courses, where plants not enumerated here are to be introduced
into the course.

( 210 )
VII. CULTIVATION OF PLANTS.

I. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.
I. CEREAL GRASSES.

Of the cereal grasses, the most commonly cultivated in this
country are wheat, barley, oats, and, in a lesser degree, rye.
These present certain common characters, and admit, to a con-
siderable degree, of a similar mode of culture. Before, there-
fore, treating of the species, it will be well to consider those
circumstances with respect to culture in which the kinds enu-
merated agree.

The seeds of these cereal grasses may be sown either pre-
vious to winter or in spring ; wheat and rye are, for the most
part, sown before winter ; barley and oats generally in spring.
They may be sown either broadcast or in rows.

When they are sown broadcast, the operation may be per-
formed either by the hand or by a sowing apparatus.

When they are sown by the hand, the grain is contained in
a basket, or in a sheet slung over the right shoulder of the
sower. This sheet he holds distended by his left hand, and
uses the right in sowing. He walks, with a measured step, along
the ridge, scattering the grain in a uniform manner across
it. He passes twice along a ridge of from 15 to Fig. uc
18 feet, so that each cast is across half the ridge-
The corn is placed in sacks in the field at con-
venient distances, and may be carried by an as-
sistant to the sower in a straw-basket (Fig. 116).

Experience teaches the sower to regulate the quantity to the
acre, and to scatter it equally upon the surface. An inexperi-
enced sower scatters it unequally, and often with intervals of
thinner sowing between the casts.

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS. 211

To render the execution of the work less dependent upon
the skill and attention of the sower, and to deposite the seeds
■with greater equality, the broadcast sowing-machine (Fig. 31.)
may be employed. This machine is drawn by a horse, which
walks in the open furrow, and it is of size sufficient to sow the
half of two adjoining ridges, or the space of one entire ridge,
at a time.

When this machine is used, the grain is, as in the other cases,
brought forward from the sacks in a basket, and emptied into
the seed-box. By the revolution of the internal .spindle with
its wheels or brushes, the seeds fall through the apertures;
these apertures being made to be enlarged or diminished, so as
to allow the seeds to fall through in the quantity required.

Whether this machine or hand-labour be employed, the har-
rows are immediately to follow, giving the number of turns re-
quired lengthwise and across, until the seeds are sufficiently
covered.

When the grain is to be sown in rows, the sowing-machine
may move either lengthwise in the direction of the ridges, or
across. In the former case it is convenient that the machine
be of a size to suit the ridges, so that it may complete each ridge
at two turns. The distance between the rows may be 12
inches. After the machine has passed over the land, it is to
be slightly harrowed.

The advantages of drilling are chiefly in the case of the
lighter soils, and especially where these are apt to be overrun
with annual weeds. The intervals between the rows admit of
being tilled by the hoe, so that annual weeds may be destroyed
before the crop shall cover the ground. This tilling between
the rows, too, is favourable to the growth of the plants. In
Norfolk and the lighter soils of Suffolk, and indeed very ex-
tensively in England, the drill-system accordingly is preferred
to the broadcast. In the north of England, and in Scotland,
the broadcast system is preferred. When the land is sown
broadcast, it admits of no further tillage during the growth of
the plant. For the most part, the only weeding which it re-
ceives is the pulling up of individual plants, but more fre-

o2

212 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

quently by cutting them over by the simple instrument termed
a weed-hook.

Fig. 117-

Before the corn shoots, as in the month of June, bands of
young persons, or females, with these weed-hooks, pass along
the ridges, and cut over the thistles, docks, or larger weeds ;
which is generally sufficient to prevent their rising to seed, and
interrupting the reapers in harvest.

When the corn, however, is sown in rows, it admits of being
hoed in spring. This is sometimes done by a horse-hoe. But
the more general method is by the hand-hoe (Fig. 75.) Each
hoer generally takes one row, hoes the earth as near to the
growing corn as possible, and pulls up also by the hand any
weeds amongst the corn.

The cereal grasses receive no other tillage during their
growth, except an incidental one when the grass-seeds are sown
amongst them in spring. The grass-seeds are sown broadcast
upon the surface, and then covered by the harrows or roller.

In the end of summer, when the green colour of the stem has
nearly disappeared, and when the grain, having changed from
its milky state, has somewhat hardened, it will be proper to
commence the process of reaping. It will not be necessary to
delay the operation until the grain shall have become what is
termed dead-ripe : for before this state of the plant has occur-
red, the grain will have attained its maturity of size, and the
sap have ceased to ascend to nourish it, and the process of
hardening will proceed equally well, although the stem be se-
parated from the ground. By cutting before the state of ex-
treme ripeness, hazard from winds and rains will be lessened,
as well as the loss from shaking out the grain during the reap-
ing and removing of it ; and the straw will be secured more
full of nutritive juices, and more fit for the purposes of pro-
vender.

In the reaping of corn the stems should be cut as horizon-
tally and close to the ground as the nature of the instruments
employed will admit. They should be laid in rows or bunches,

CEREAL GRASSES. 213

with the heads in one direction, in such a state as to be easily
collected and bound into sheaves, and all this with the least
waste of grain and the greatest economy of labour.

The instruments employed in reaping are the sickle and the
scythe. The blade of the sickle is Fig. ns. Fig. 119.

smooth or serrated.

In using the sickle, the reaper
holds the instrument in his right
hand, and seizing the stems of corn
by small portions with his left, he cuts them horizontally
through within a few inches of the ground, by pulling the
sickle towards him. When he has collected as much as he can
conveniently support by his hand, he lifts the whole up by the
aid of his sickle, and lays it on a short rope, formed of the
stalks of corn, and laid upon the ridge behind him. When
a sufficient number of these handfuls is laid upon the rope,
another person who follows binds the whole up into a sheaf.

To arrange the reapers in the field in the way best suited
for despatch, let 3 be placed upon each ridge when the breadth
is less than 18 feet, with 1 man for every 6 reapers, to bind the
sheaves, and place them upright in the way to be described.
Let it be the duty of the centre reaper of each ridge to make
also the ropes or bands by cutting, or when the corn is very
short by pulling, a small handful of the corn, twisting it to-
gether at the ear-end, and dividing it into two smaller parcels ;
and let this band be laid down upon the stubble behind him.
When the ridge, however, is 18 feet or more in breadth, there
may be 4 reapers upon each ridge, and then there must be 2
binders for every three ridges, being 1 binder for every 6
reapers as before.

The binder having tightly bound the sheaves, he places
them upon every alternate ridge, resting upon their bases,
and upon one another. Five pairs of these sheaves, when the
crop is oats or barley, and six pairs when it is wheat, may be
conveniently placed in rows together ; and in the case of the
oats or barley, the whole may be covered by two sheaves, the
but-ends of which lie towards each other, with the ear-ends

214

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

divided a little, and pulled down so as to cover and defend
the upright sheaves, thus making twelve sheaves to each
shock. In the case of wheat, the stems of which are hard
and dry, and which requires to stand in the field only a few
days before it is ready to be carried home, the head-sheaves are
omitted. In the case of oats and barley, which, on account
of the greater softness of their stems, require to stand a longer
time in the field, the head-sheaves are used for the purpose of
securing the upright sheaves against the effects of the weather.

Fig. 120.

The shocks should be set nearly north and south, so as to
be equally dried by the sun on both sides. By means of the
head-sheaves, the other sheaves are protected from an ordi-
nary shower, which runs off from the convex surface, and the
whole stand till they are sufficiently dry to be transported to
the barn-yard.

There is one variation from this method of arranging the
sheaves to be noticed. It is ever proper to cut crops of corn
when dry, but often, from the effects of dews and rains, the
crop is in a moist state when it is necessary to reap it. In
this state, and the observation applies chiefly to oats, it might
be unsafe to bind the sheaves tightly at once, lest they should
become mouldy or the ears sprout. In this case the rope may
be drawn very loosely round the sheaf, and nearer to the ears,

CEREAL GRASSES.

215

so that the bottom may be stretched out, and each sheaf made
to stand separately upon its own base, (Fig. 121). In this state
the sheaf is less protected from the injuries Fig. 121.

of the weather, but a readier access being
allowed to the air, it dries sooner, and is
not so apt to be injured when it has been
put up in a wet state. Before these loose
sheaves are removed from the ground, they
ought to be bound tightly together in the
same manner as the others, and either car-
ried at once to the barn-yard, or placed in
regular shocks until it shall be convenient
to remove them.

In this whole process of reaping, a very minute care is ne-
cessary in causing all the parts of the work to be well and di-
ligently executed. It is especially important that the reapers
be made to cut as low as can conveniently be done ; for in this
way only will the stubble be left clear of loose and straggling
heads. Further, the straw of this class of plants is always
more succulent near the root, and a slight difference in the
height of cutting will make an essential one in the weight and
value of the straw produced.

The other instruments usually employed in reaping, are
scythes of different kinds. The common scythe may be em-
ployed for this purpose, in which case there should be attached
to it an apparatus (Fig. 122), for the purpose of supporting
the stems, during the action of the blade, and laying down the
corn with regularity.

Fig. 122.

This apparatus, usually termed a cradle, may consist of

216 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

three slightly bent pieces of ash, mortised into a piece of wood,
which is attached to the end of the lower part of the handle,
so as to be vertical when the scythe is at work, and the upper
part is fixed by a rod or cord passing from it to the handle.
The three pieces of ash stand above the scythe, and parallel
to it, and are of such a length as to extend over half the blade
or more. In place of the common scythe here described, there
has been recently introduced one with two handles, which, by
placing the mower in a less constrained position, is more easily
worked.

The mower cuts from right to left. In some parts the prac-
tice is, for the mower to cut towards the standing corn, on
which, accordingly, the cut corn rests, assistants following
close to remove it. But the better practice is, for the mower
to cut towards the open side. In this manner, the corn is laid
down with considerable regularity.

Each mower is followed by one person, to make the bands,
and lay the corn upon them. A person follows immediately,
and binds up the sheaves, precisely as is done in the case of
reaping with the sickle. Another person follows every two
mowers with a large rake, with curved-iron teeth (Fig. 123),
to rake the stubble.

Fig. 123

In place of the hand-rake, rakes drawn by horses may be
employed. The following is an example of one of this class of
instruments, so formed that each tooth moves independently
of the other. The teeth are of iron, fixed each to a separate
handle of wood, and all the handles are attached by their ex-
tremities to a rod of iron, on which they are moveable. Fur-
ther, the handles are all separately attached by chains to a
common bar, and this bar being attached by chains to handles
held by the workman, the whole teeth can be lifted from the
ground at once, and the collected stems of corn allowed to fall

CEREAL GRASSES.

217

down. In the figure, C is one of the teeth, D the handle to
which it is fixed, B the common bar to which the handles of
the teeth are attached by chains, A the handles held by the
workman, and attached by chains to the bar B. Further, the
bar B may be divided into two parts, so that one-half only of
the teeth shall be raised at the same time.

Fig. 124.

Corn mown by the scythe is cut closer to the ground than is
common in practice by the sickle, and the stems being less
compressed together, they are sooner ready for being carried
home than when reaped by the sickle. The sickle excels the
scythe in this, that the corn is laid down more regularly, with
the heads in one direction, a point of importance in all cases,
but especially when the thrashing machine is to be used.

An instrument surpassing the sickle in despatch, and the
scythe in the regularity with which it lays down the reaped
corn, is the Hainault scythe (Fig. 125).

The workman holds in his left hand the bent instrument A,
with which he presses upon the corn
about the middle, and he then strikes
it near the root with the scythe B,
which he holds in his right hand,
laying the cut against the standing
corn. He employs the bent instru-
ment and the scythe to collect the corn. This method of reap-
ing is practised in Flanders ; and a similar method, though with
a different instrument, is followed in some parts of England.

Fig. 125.

218 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Whatever be the means employed to reap the corn, it ought
not to be left loose upon the ground, but secured in sheaves
and shocks until it can be transported from the field. This is
required, at least in a moist and uncertain climate.

When the corn has remained a sufficient period in the field
for the juices in the stem to be dried, and when the sheaves
are freed from external moisture, it will be time to convey the
crop from the field, and to secure it in a place of safety. A
certain exhaustion of the natural juices is necessary ; for other-
wise the mass, when collected together in quantity, and exclu-
ded from the air, would ferment. While, therefore, no favour-
able occasion is to be neglected of securing the crop, its subse-
quent safety must not be endangered by precipitation. The
proper time for its removal will be learned by a little practice
in the fields. The sheaves should feel light when lifted up,
and no particular sensation of cold or damp should be expe-
rienced in thrusting the hand into the body of them. In four
or five days of good weather, wheat will generally be fit for
carrying home, and oats and barley in twelve or fourteen. But
the process may be retarded when the air is moist, and with-
out wind, and still more when rains intervene. In this case,
the ear will often sprout, and the straw become injured. Fre-
quently, in these circumstances, the head-sheaves must be re-
moved to give access to the air, and often the entire sheaf
spread out during the intervals of sunshine.

The corn being ready, the sheaves are to be forked into the
cart or waggon. The cart employed is sparred at the sides,
and has a projecting frame-work all around (Fig. 52). The
sheaves are built on the carriage by the driver, another per-
son forking them to him from the shocks. In building, he lays
courses along each side, the but-ends outermost, filling up the
heart by sheaves laid lengthwise. In this manner he proceeds,
until he has built the load to the height to which it can be
with safety raised, when two ropes, one fastened to each side,
are thrown over the load, and tied tightly at the opposite
sides : but when the distance is short, the tying with ropes is
omitted.

CEREAL GRASSES. 219

The corn is then to be secured in stacks built near the barn,
— a practice greatly superior to that of securing it in large
houses or barns in a climate like that of Britain. When
placed in this latter situation, the corn requires to remain
longer in the fields before it can be safely stored, is more sub-
ject to injury from various causes, and, being too much exclu-
ded from the external air, does not keep so safely.

The stacks may be made circular, with a diameter of 12 feet
or more, according to the convenience of the farmer, and the
size of his barn. The manner of working is this : —

A circular layer of straw, or other substance, is laid, to form
the bottom. The workman begins by placing a sheaf upright
in the centre of the intended stack, round which he places
other sheaves, also on their but-ends, with the tops inclining
inwards ; and this he continues to do in regular courses, the
sheaves being placed closely together, until he nearly reaches
the outside of his foundation. He then lays an outside layer
all around, the buts being outwards, with the top and upper
half of the sheaves resting upon the inner ones. In this ope-
ration of laying the exterior layer, he first grasps a sheaf, and
then, placing it close to, and somewhat upon, the sheaf last
laid, he presses upon it with his hands and the weight of his
body, and lifts himself forward, until he has placed his knees
upon it ; and then, grasping another sheaf, he, in the same
manner, places it in its position, and so moves on from sheaf
to sheaf. He thus lays a layer of sheaves all around, and
then a second layer, in the same manner, filling up, where ne-
cessary, the interior of the stack, until he has raised the whole
nearly to the same level as the top of the upright sheaves be-
fore mentioned.

Having completed this first part of his work, that is, having
laid his outside layers, and filled up the heart, so that the
whole may be nearly level, but with a slight dip from the cen-
tre outwards, he proceeds thus: — He lays his second course
of sheaves all around, with their buts about 15 or 18 inches
further back than those of the outside course. Having done
this, he fills up the interior of the stack ; but, in filling up the

220 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

interior, he does not generally observe the same order of courses
which he does in laying the outside layers ; he merely packs
the sheaves in a proper manner, so that they may fill up the
whole interstices. He now lays an outside layer all round,
with the buts outward, as before, and the ear-ends slightly ele-
vated, by resting upon the buts of the last laid or inner course.
Thus he proceeds, alternately laying the outside and the inner
course, and filling, as he proceeds, the heart or interior, care-
fully preserving, as has been said, the dip of the sheaves from
the centre outwards.

Sometimes when the stack is very'large, or the straw short,
more than two internal courses are laid. The process, how-
ever, is the same. The different courses overlap, and the work-
man proceeds by laying the courses in succession upon each
other, and filling up the heart.

When the workman has carried his stack to the height of
12 feet, or more, he begins to contract it. But he first lays a
course projecting a few inches beyond the outer course last
laid. This is intended to form the eaves of the roof; but of-
ten this is dispensed with, and is not essential.

After this he contracts the stack, each successive course of
sheaves being laid more inwards. At the same time, the ele-
vation of the centre is not only preserved, but increased, so
that the sheaves may have an increased obliquity as the upper
part of the stack is formed.

When the workman has contracted the top to a platform of
three or four feet in diameter, he rises from the position in
which he has hitherto worked, and places a sheaf upright in
the centre, and this he surrounds with sheaves standing in like
manner upright, but with their tops inclining inwards, and
leaning upon the centre sheaf. This summit of upright sheaves
he firmly surrounds with two or three turns of a straw-rope,
the ends of which are sometimes fixed to opposite sides of the
stack, so as to prevent the summit from being blown down.

The stack is now in the form of a cylinder with a conical
top. It is usual to make the diameter of the stack increase
as it rises in height. This deviation from the perpendicular.

CEREAL GRASSES. 221

however, should be very slight, as it tends to render the stack
more apt to incline to one side.

The stack is now to be thatched, after it has subsided a lit-
tle, and it is proper that a certain quantity of straw be in rea-
diness for the purpose. The straw is formed into bunches, by
drawing it out by the ends into handfuls : the short straw
which is separated in this operation is reserved for other pur-
poses, as forming the bottoms of the stacks, and partly also for
thatching.

Twisted straw-ropes are to be in readiness. They may be
made by means of the simple instrument, Fig. 126.

Fig. 126. It consists of a handle of from
two to three feet long, bent at one end like
a bow, and having at the other a ring and
swivel, through which ring a straw-rope is passed, which is
tied round the waist of the worker. The straw to be twisted
is fixed to a notch at the end of the bow, and gradually sup-
plied by a person from a heap. The other worker, who may
be a very young person, the work requiring no exertion of
force, walks backward turning his bow round with one hand,
until the rope is formed of the length required. The ropes
thus formed are coiled upon the arm, and reserved for use.

The workman who thatches the stack stands upon the roof.
The bunches of straw being handed or forked to him, he
spreads the straw in handfuls all around the stack, laying suc-
cessive layers until he reaches the top, the higher overlapping
a little the lower ; and he takes care, by working backwards,
not to tread upon the straw already spread. When he reaches
the upright sheaves at the top, he lays a thick row of covering
on, which may consist of short straw, which he draws to a
point at the top, and makes tight with a thin straw-rope wound
round it.

The straw is then fastened down by means of the straw-
ropes already described. The thatcher stands upon a ladder
aloft so as to be able to reach the summit, while two assist-
ants remain on the ground below, or are supplied with short
ladders. He lays the ropes over the roof in a series at the

222

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

distance from one another of Flg' 127'

12 or 15 inches. They are

passed obliquely over the roof,

and fixed to, or wound round,

another rope placed above the

eaves, or below them as in the

figure.

Considerable danger arises
in wet seasons, if the corn is
carried home in a damp state ;
but this may occur in any sea-
son if the straw is not freed
of its natural juices before
being carried from the field. The incipient fermentation is de-
noted by the great heat of the interior of the stack, which will
be rendered sensible by thrusting in the shaft of a fork, and
feeling it when it is withdrawn, or by pulling out a handful
of corn, or by merely thrusting in the hand. If the heating
proceeds so far as to threaten injury to the stack, the whole
should be turned over and rebuilt, or carried to the barn and
thrashed.

In wet seasons farmers are frequently obliged to form their
stacks hollow in the centre, so as to allow the access of the air.
This is done by placing upright posts fastened at the top, and
stretched out like the legs of a theodolite, and building around
them. An opening being made to this hollow from the ex-
terior of the stack, a current of air is admitted.

Often stacks are placed on pillars of stone, or of cast-iron,
as in Fig. 128.

The building and thatching of the stack complete the har-
vest-operations for the cereal grasses. The leguminous plants
cultivated for seeds are secured nearly in the same manner.

The stacks being secured, remain until it is convenient to
thrash the corn and prepare it for use. The thrashing by
the flail is a work of labour, and notwithstanding every care a
considerable part of the grain remains attached to the straw.
Labour proceeds slowly at a time when despatch may be im-

CEREAL GRASSES.
Fig. 128.

22;}

portant, and the thrashed corn remaining generally for a con-
siderable time in a heap is subject to injury of various kinds.

For these reasons, the invention of the thrashing-machine is
to be regarded as important in the progress of improvement.
The farmer by means of it is enabled to get his work perform-
ed at once and with despatch, and in a more perfect manner
than is usually done by manual labour. It is in these things
rather than in the saving of expense, that the superiority of the
thrashing-machine over the flail consists.

The thrashing-machine has always a winnowing-machine at-
tached, and forming a part of it, by which the grain is partial-
ly freed from the chaff and impurities. Sometimes two win-
nowing-machines are attached to the larger class of thrashing-
machines ; but this is rare, and where there is only one winnow-
ing-machine, the corn, as it is received from the thrashing-ma-
chine, undergoes a further process of winnowing in a separate
machine, in order to be fully cleaned.

The thrashing-machine performs three operations : — First, it
beats the grain and chaff from the straw, by means of the
beaters fixed upon its revolving cylinder ; second, by means of
its revolving rakes it shakes the chaff and intermingled seeds
from the straw, which last is separately thrown out of the ma-
chine ; and third, by means of the attached winnowing-appa-

224

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

ratus, the seeds are separated from the chaff, and being re-
ceived from the machine, are carried away to undergo a final
dressing in a separate winno wing-apparatus. The barn for
these operations, it has been seen, is divided into three apart-
ments : — First, that in which the unthrashed corn is put ; se-
cond, that immediately underneath it, in which the corn is re-
ceived from the thrashing-machine, and afterwards winnowed ;
and third, that into which the straw falls from the thrashing-
machine, and where it is generally stored for use. This last is
termed the straw-barn, and ought to be of a size sufficient to
contain the produce of two stacks.

The first operation to be performed in thrashing is to carry
the unthrashed corn from the Fig. 129.

barn-yard to the barn. A
piece of canvass is laid at ^the
side of the stacks for the sheaves
to fall upon. The sheaves may
be carried to the barn by two
persons, on a piece of canvass
fixed on two poles (Fig. 129) ;
or they may be conveniently carred on light sparred barrows.

When the machine is put in motion, one person is employed
to carry forward the sheaves, another to lift and lay them sheaf
by sheaf upon a table adjoining the feeding-board. The duty
of the person who lays the sheaves on the table, is to loosen
them, untwisting at the same time the bands, and laying them
in the direction of the sheaves. The person who stands at
the feeding-board takes the unthrashed corn from the table.

CEREAL GRASSES. 225

and spreads it upon the board, pressing it forwards towards the
fluted rollers. His duty is to convey it in due quantity to the
machine ; and generally, to observe that all is right with re-
gard to the machinery. Two persons, generally females, are
employed in the dressing-barn, to convey away the grain as it
comes from the thrashing-machine. Two are employed in the
straw-barn, one to take away the straw as it falls from the ma-
chine, and to pile it up in the straw-barn, and another to build
and tread it ; and, where animal power is employed, one person
drives the working cattle.

The taking away of the grain from the machine is carried
on continually by the two assistants in the dressing-barn, in
riddles (Fig. 131 and 132).

The winnowing-machine, from the description formerly given
of it, will be seen to separate the corn into three parts, — first,
the chaff which is blown away — second, the heavy and useful
corn — and, third, the intermediate or light corn. The winnow-
ing-machine attached to the thrashing-apparatus, performs in
a certain degree these operations. The chaff is blown away
and is received into a separate chamber. The light grain is
received at one aperture, and the heavy grain at another ; but
the winnowing machine is so formed and regulated that a small
portion only of the light grain is separated from the heavy.
The greater part of the light and the heavy grain is made to
come out at one aperture ; while that which comes out at the
other aperture is but a small proportion of the light mixed
with pickles with the chaff attached, broken ears, and other
substances. Now, the assistants in the dressing-barn collect in
their riddles, first the heavy mixed with light corn, which falls
from one aperture of the machine ; and next the small propor-
tion of light mixed with heavy substances which falls from the
other; and they proceed in the following manner : —

At the aperture from which the corn, properly so called, falls,
they receive it in their riddles (Fig. 132), and riddle it into a
heap. What falls through the riddle is corn ; what is retained
in the riddle is broken heads of corn, chaff, and other substances.
This refuse is thrown aside, or more frequently it is thrown

p

'SJh PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

amongst the mass of similar substances which are falling front
the second aperture of the machine. Now, with respect to the
substances falling from this latter aperture, they are also col-
lected by the attendants with riddles and much wider meshes.
called slap-riddles (Fig. 131), and riddled into a small heap.
What falls through is corn mixed with chaff and other sub-
stances. What is retained is broken heads of corn, short
straws, and the like. These are thrown aside as refuse, or car-
ried again to the feeding-board, and passed through the thrash-
ing-machine, so that the broken heads may be subjected to a
further thrashing, and thus the remaining corn be separated
from the straw.

There are now two heaps, one consisting of the great mass
of corn, and the other much smaller, consisting chiefly of the
light corn and chaff, which had passed through the meshes of
the slap-riddle. This completes the operation of thrashing, as
it is effected by the thrashing-machine and its attached fan-
ners. The corn is now to be finally dressed and prepared for
use in a separate winnowing-machine.

The winnowing-machine was before described. The corn,
it was seen, is put into the hopper, and, falling down upon the
wirework below, is acted upon by the air of the fanners. The
chaff is blown out at the end of the machine. The heavier
corn falling down, is conveyed by an inclined plane to an aper-
Tiuv where it is received; while the inferior corn, not sufficient-
ly light to be blown away with the chaff, nor sufficiently heavy
to go with the superior grain, falls into an intermediate space,
and thus is separated from the heavy grain on the one side,
and the chaff on the other. Both the heavy and the light grain,
which last is in comparatively very small quantity, arc riddled
into their respective heaps, and the refuse retained in the rid-
dle is thrown aside.

In applying the winnowing-machine to complete the dressing
of the corn, it is placed in a convenient situation near the com
to be winnowed. For bringing the corn from the heaps to the
hopper, close sieve-like implements (Fig. 133), capable of hold-
ing about half a bushel, are used. One person is sufficient for

CEREAL GRASSES.

227

this duty, and for filling the corn into the hopper. One per-
son may conveniently collect the heavy corn as it falls from
the machine, and carry it in the same sieve-like implement to
two persons employed in riddling, and divide each portion be-
tween them by pouring it into their respective riddles. This
at least is a convenient distribution of labour, but the interme-
diate worker may be dispensed with. The persons employed
in riddling, riddle the corn into its heap, and throw aside the
refuse. The light or intermediate corn is riddled into a heap
as it accumulates.

' The whole corn, then, is divided into the following parts —
first, the heavy or superior grain — second, the light or inferior
grain — and third, the chaff, straw, and refuse.

The implements employed for these operations are —

1. The thrashing and winnowing-machine already described.

2, The close implement for carrying corn, and the sieves for
riddling or shaking it through. These last are sometimes
made of wire, but they are more simply and better formed of
splints of ash ; the meshes being of different sizes, suited to
the different kinds of grain.

Fig. 131.

Fig. 132.

Fig. 133.

3. A vessel for measuring corn, with a flat stick or roller for
passing over the top and levelling the corn. This measure
may contain a bushel. Fig. 134.

4. A wooden shovel for shovelling corn into heaps. Fig. 135.

5. A loadbarrow for carrying filled sacks. Fig. 136.

The heavy or superior grain is intended for the various pur-
poses of consumption to which the different kinds are suited.
The common practice of the farmer is to convey it as quickly
as possible to the miller or intermediate trader in corn. For
this purpose, as soon as it is winnowed in the manner described,
it is measured, and put into sacks capable of holding a deter-

p2

228 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

minate quantity, as half a quarter. In these sacks it is con-
veyed to market : and sometimes, from particular causes, the
fanner stores it in granaries, spreading it upon the floor until
it is required for use.

Fig. 135. Fig. 136.

The lighter or inferior grain is usually employed for the feed-
ing of the animals upon the farm.

The straw is used for various purposes of domestic economy
and the arts ; but its main consumption upon the farm is for
the purposes of provender and litter. The chaff also is used
as fodder for cattle.

Of the straw of the different kinds of the cereal grasses, that
of the oat is the most valued in this country for fodder ; that
of wheat and barley is chiefly used for litter. The quantity
produced varies greatly. It may be held on a medium to
weigh from 20 cwt. to 30 cwt. per acre. Wheat produces the
greatest weight, oats the next, and barley the smallest, as well
as the least valued also for its quality.

1. Wheat.

Having thus treated of the cereal grasses in general, we are
prepared to consider the characters, uses, and modes of cul-
ture of each. They are divided into genera, and these again
into species, and minor varieties, or kinds. The first in the
order of description of the genera, and the most important as
the food of man, is Wheat.

WHEAT.

229

Of the genus Triticum, the following species may be enume-
rated as admitting of cultivation for their seeds : —

1. Triticum aestivum — Summer Wheat.

2. Triticum hybernum — Winter or Lammas Wheat.

3. Triticum compactum — Compact Wheat.

4. Triticum compositum — Egyptian Wheat.

5. Triticum turgidum — Turgid Wheat.

6. Triticum atratum — Dark-spiked Wheat.

7. Triticum hordeiforme — Barley-like Wheat.

8. Triticum Zea — Far.

9. Triticum Spelta— Spelt.

10. Triticum monococcum — One -grained Wheat.

11. Triticum polonicum — Polish Wheat.

Triticum cestivum, Summer wheat, has awns both on the
calyx and corolla. Each spikelet has usually five florets, of
which two are barren.*

* The calyx of wheat consists of two valves or glumes, enclosing several
florets. In each of these florets there are two valves, forming the corolla,
and enclosing the seed. Sometimes the corolla encloses a perfect seed, and
sometimes the seed is not perfected. Each calyx, with the florets which it
encloses, is termed a spikelet. The part to which the spikelets are attached,
is termed the rachis or shaft, and the spikelets, placed one above the other on
each side of the rachis, form the ear or head. The rachis is jointed, and the
spaces between the joints are termed the internodii. In the following mag-
nified figure of a spikelet of Triticum hybernum — a is a joint of the rachis, —
b b the calyx, or calycine glumes, — cd the glumes, or valves of the corolla, —
e a seed, — -/another floret with a perfect seed,— <? a third perfect floret, h a
fourth imperfect or abortive floret, — i a fifth imperfect or abortive floret.

Fig. 137.

230 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Summer wheat requires a shorter period to complete its
vegetation than any of the other kinds. It is the prevailing
species of warmer countries, and is cultivated in many parts
of Europe. Its grains are for the most part small, and the
produce of its straw is less than that of some other species
when cultivated under the same circumstances. The trials
that have been made with it in this country have shown it to
be inferior in productiveness and quality to the better kinds of
the winter wheat. The advantage which it possesses is the
earlier period of its ripening, on which account it may be sown
so late, even in this climate, as the beginning of May.

Triticum hgbernum, Winter or Lammas wheat, is distin-
guished from the last by having no awns upon the calyx, and
only short awns upon the corolla, near the summit of the spike.
But the awns not being a good botanical character, many bo-
tanists have conceived the species to be the same. But the
characters of either kind being permanent, and remaining,
under given circumstances, unchanged for an unknown period,
they may be regarded as species. The winter wheat has
usually five or six florets, of which two are barren.

Winter wheat is that which is the most important with re-
lation to its cultivation in Northern Europe. It is, in this
country, generally sown previous to the months of winter ; but
it is an annual plant, and may be sown in spring.

Triticum compactum, Compact wheat, is allied to the two
last named species, and may be merely a variety of them. In
it the internodii of the rachis are very short. It is partially
produced in different parts of Europe. I have received speci-
mens of it from France and from Sweden, and have cultivated
them, without observing any change of characters. Whether,
however, the characters which distinguish it are sufficiently
permanent to entitle it to be regarded as a species, has not
been determined. In the mean time, following the authority
of Host *, I have placed it amongst the species.

Triticum compositimi, Egyptian wheat, is distinguished from

•

* Icoues et Descriptiones Graminum Austriacorum.

WHEAT. 231

the others by its branched or compound spike, which no other
species tends, under any circumstance, to produce. Its seeds
are numerous, and the produce abundant. It requires a good
climate and a fertile soil, for, in unfavourable situations, the
branches of the spike are not evolved, and then it assumes the
appearance of ordinary wheat. It is cultivated in Egypt and
the East, as it is in the south of Europe and differents parts of
Italy. It was known in Germany about 240 years ago* ; and
in France it is said to have been cultivated for about eighty
years, having been brought from the East under the name of
Wheat of Smyrna. In England it has been partially culti-
vated as the subject of experiment.

In the next species, Triticum turgidum, Turgid wheat, the
corolla is awned, but not the calyx, the spikes are covered with
soft hairs, and in some varieties change to a dark colour, and
the awns drop off as the seeds become ripe ; in which respects
it differs from summer- wheat. It is termed with us Grey-
wheat, Duck-bill-wheat, Grey Pollard, Rivet, Pole-Rivet, Cone,
Pendulum, &c.

This species grows very tall, with a thick and rigid stem.
The spikes are large and heavy, and nod to one side as the
grain increases in weight. The kinds or minor varieties are
distinguished by the farmer from their qualities of earlier or
later ripening, and greater or less productiveness. One of the
most esteemed of these is Cone-wheat, so named from the co-
nical form of its spike.

The turgid wheats are productive in corn and straw, but
the grain is coarse and hard. They are chiefly suited to the
inferior clays, upon which, in England, they are extensively
cultivated. They are valued, under such circumstances, for
their productiveness in grain, and their large growth of straw ;
but being inferior to the winter-wheats in the quality of their
produce, the cultivation of them is not likely to be extended
in this country.

Triticum atratum, Dark-spiked wheat, is allied to the last.

* Eicones Pl&ntamm, Francofurti ad Moenum, mdxc.

2'S'2 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

species, if it is not rather to be regarded as a variety of it. I
obtained it from Africa, and it is not improbable that the tur-
gid wheats are derived from that country. The dark-spiked
wheat has merely been made the subject of experiment, but
not of extended cultivation. It is not superior in productive-
ness to the turgid wheats in common use.

Triticum hordeiforme, Barley-like wheat, so named from its
peculiar form resembling that of barley, seems also to be de-
rived from Africa. It resembles the last species by its florets
being awned, and by its calyx and corolla becoming dark as
the seeds ripen. But it resembles the class to be next refer-
red to, termed Spelt-wheat.

Triticum Zea, Far, is one of the class of spelt-wheats. It
is distinguished by the distance of its spikelets from one an-
other. The straw is rigid ; the calyx and corolla adhere close-
ly to the seed, and the spikelets again so closely to the rachis,
that they cannot be separated from the rachis without break-
ing it. This wheat is cultivated in some parts of Europe on
inferior soils.

The next species, Triticum Spelta, Spelt-wheat, is distin-
guished, like the last, by its spikelets being firmly attached to
the rachis, and by its rigid calyx and corolla closely envelop-
ing the seed.

Spelt is much cultivated in the south of Europe. It is
grown extensively in the southern provinces of France, in
Switzerland, Italy, in several parts of Germany, and in Arra-
gon, Catalonia, and other parts of Spain.

Spelt could be raised in this country with facility, and, it is
probable, on soils low in the scale of fertility. It has been
cultivated in Scotland 600 feet above the level of the sea.

The next species is Triticum monococcum, One-grained
wheat Its spikelet consists of three or four florets, one of
which only is for the most part fertile, and hence its name of
one-grained wheat. The fertile floret has a long awn. It is
readily distinguished from all the other wheats by its general
appearance, in which it resembles barley. Its stem is slender
and rigid. It is allied to the spelts, with which it was classed

WHEAT. 2o-"3

by some of the older botanical writers. This species is culti-
vated in the mountainous parts of Europe, and in barren soils.
It has never formed an object of cultivation in this country,
and does not appear to possess properties to entitle it to be
introduced.

The last species to be mentioned is Triticum polonicum, Po-
lish wheat. This species has long awns, and is distinguished
from all the others by its long and leafy calyx and corolla. It
is cultivated in Germany, in Poland, and in Spain. It has
been cultivated partially, too, in some counties of England,
where it is said to have been valued on account of its produc-
tiveness of flour. But, although it may be possessed of this
quality, its florets are often infertile, and it does not merit a
more extended culture in this country.

Of the species which have been enumerated, greatly the most
important in the rural economy of this country is the winter-
wheat.

The kinds of it are very numerous, and, in truth, there is
scarce a limit to the differences which climate, situation, and
soil may produce. The characters which it thus acquires in
the different conditions in which it is placed, are more or less
permanent and important.

The kinds are distinguished by a great variety of local
terms, derived from their qualities, their places of growth, and
other circumstances, as Kentish-yellow, Burwell-red, Golden-
ear, Essex-dun, Velvet-ear, and the like. With respect to
their uses in agriculture, they may be divided into two classes,
distinguished by the colour of their seeds, red and white ; and
these again may be distinguished by their spikelets being
smooth or hairy, the one being termed thin or smooth-chaffed,
and the other thick or woolly-chaffed. Of these classes, the
white are superior in the quality of their produce ; the red are
the more hardy : and, in general, the thin and smooth-chaffed
are preferred to the woolly and thick-chaffed.

Winter-wheat is sometimes termed spring-wheat. This
merely arises from the period of sowing. If it is sown in

234 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

spring, it is termed spring-wheat ; if previous to winter, Lam-
nuts or winter- wheat. This circumstance has perplexed some
writers, who have evidently drawn distinctions between the
winter and spring wheat of the farmer which do not exist.
13ut it is a curious fact, that wheat, by being sown in spring,
changes its habit with relation to the period of ripening. The
produce of wheat sown in spring acquires the habit of ripening
earlier than the produce of wheat sown in autumn; hence the
fanner, when he sows wheat in spring, should sow the produce
of that which had been already sown in spring, and not the
produce of that which had been sown in autumn. This change
in the habit of ripening takes place in the case of all the cerea-
lia, and many other cultivated plants.

The minor varieties of any species of wheat are not perma-
nent in their character, though, under given conditions, they
will remain unchanged for an indefinite period. Under other
circumstances, however, they degenerate ; and hence particu-
lar kinds that were once valued have now ceased to be so.

W heat is of very general cultivation on all classes of soils ;
but the soils which are best suited to it, are those which are
more or less clayey. So peculiarly is wheat suited to the stiffer
soils, that these are familiarly termed wheat-soils. The soils
of the lightest class are the least suited to wheat ; and it is an
error in practice to force the production of wheat on soils, and
under circumstances, which are better suited to the production
of the other cerealia. Wheat, in this country, does not admit
of being cultivated at a great elevation. A general rule, ap-
plicable to all cases in which wheat is sown, is, that the land
shall be in the best condition that circumstances allow, with
respect to tillage, cleanness, and fertility. As wheat is the
most valuable of the cereal grasses, so it requires greater care
than the others to produce it. It is an error to sow with a
corn-crop any land which is out of order ; but this error is
ereater and more hurtful in the case of wheat than of the other

o

cerealia.

Wheat is always to be sown before winter, when the land
-•an be then prepared to receive it. The sowing of it is de-

WHEAT. 235

ferred till spring, when the crops which it is to succeed in the
rotation cannot be removed till that season. It is sown before
winter after summer-fallow, potatoes, or beans, because, in all
these cases, the ground can be fitted to receive the seeds at that
time. It is sown in spring after turnips, cabbages, and such
other crops as are not usually removed from the ground till
spring.

The fitting place of wheat in the rotation is upon land that
has been in summer-fallow. In this case, the land is to re-
ceive, previous to the wheat being sown, what is termed the
seed-furrow ; as soon after which as convenient the seeds may
be sown. The best period for sowing is from about the mid-
dle to the end of September. The seeds, previous to being
sown, undergo an operation peculiar to wheat, termed pick-
ling or steeping. This is intended to prevent a disease to
which the cultivated Tritica are subject, termed smut. The
best substance which can be employed for the purpose of
steeping is stale urine, which should be in readiness when the
period of sowing arrives. The process of steeping may be thus
performed : —

Let a tub be provided, and partly filled with urine, and let
a quantity of wheat, as a bushel, be put in at a time. Let the
wheat be well stirred, and all the lighter grains which come
to the top skimmed carefully off, and thrown aside as useless.
The wheat should remain from five to ten minutes, but never
more than ten minutes, in the pickle. The successive portions
of wheat thus pickled are to be allowed to drain a little, and
then to be laid upon the barn-floor in layers, hot lime being at
the same time sifted upon each layer. The purpose of spread-
ing the lime is to dry the grain, which should then be carried
immediately to the fields and sown. The lime used should be
quite hot, and for this purpose it should be slacked at the
time. Although the immediate purpose served by the appli-
cation of lime is drying the grain, it may be believed that it
also assists the action of the brine in removing the tendency
to the disease.

A very strong pickle of salt dissolved in water may be used

236 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEBDS.

instead of urine ; but salt-brine is not quite so secure a mean
of destroying the infection of the disease as urine ; and the lat-
ter, therefore, ought to be preferred.

The wheat, after being pickled, must not remain long un-
sown, otherwise its vegetative powers may be injured or de-
stroyed. No more should be pickled at a time than can be
then sown. When, from any cause, as from rain intervening, it
is not practicable to sow the wheat for a day or two, it should
be spread thinly upon the floor, but never kept in sacks, in
which it would soon ferment.

The wheat, when pickled, then, is to be carried directly to
the field. It may be sown, either by the hand or by the broad-
cast sowing-machine, in the manner already described, or in
rows by the drill-machine.

When it is sown in drills, the usual distance between the rows
is from 9 to 12 inches ; but it is conceived that the larger in-
tervals are the better, and that they may, in most cases, be
with advantage even more than 12 inches.

The quantity of seeds usually sown is from two to three
bushels to the acre. In the case of summer-fallow, the quan-
tity need not exceed two bushels to the acre. When the sow-
ing takes place in spring, the quantity may be extended to
three bushels, rather less than more.

When the seeds are sown by the drill-machine, a single or a
double turn of the harrows will suffice. When they are sown
broadcast, the land must receive several harrowings, but no
more than are sufficient to cover the seeds, it being better in
the case of wheat that there be a certain roughness of clod.
A double turn along the ridge, a double turn across, and again
a single turn along, will in almost every case suffice ; and of-
ten less, namely, a double turn along, a single turn across, and
a single turn along. Some farmers prefer finishing with a turn
across.

No sooner is the process of harrowing executed than the
land is to be water-furrowed in the following manner : — The
common plough, with one horse, is to pass once along each
open furrow, and then along the open furrows of the head-

wheat. 2:37

lands, and to draw open furrows in such hollows of the field
as water might stagnate in. A person is then to follow with a
spade, to clear out the open furrow of the head-lands to the ne-
cessary depth ; to make channels through the head-lands to the
ditch, where necessary ; to clear out the cross-furrows in the
hollows, so as to allow the water to run ; and to open up the
intersections of the open furrows of the ridges with these cross-
furrows, and the furrows of the head-lands.

The best period of sowing, it has been said, is from about
the middle to the end of September. The early part of Octo-
ber, however, is well suited to the sowing of wheat, and it may
be continued till the middle of November.

Wheat may be advantageously sown after potatoes. This
crop is generally removed from the ground early in October,
which admits of the wheat being sown before winter. In the
case of this crop, the land being first harrowed, it is then form-
ed into ridges, and the wheat is sown upon these, precisely as
in the case of summer-fallow.

Wheat may be sown after a crop of beans, before winter.
When the beans are removed from the ground, the land should
be well harrowed across, the effect of which is to level it. The
ridges are then to be ploughed by gathering the old ridges,
the traces of which are not generally obliterated. The wheat
is then to be sown precisely as in the case of summer-fallow ;
and the same careful attention is necessary, as in all other cases,
to the clearing out of the furrows and cross channels, so that
no water may stagnate upon the surface.

Wheat may be sown after pease, and then the management
is the same as in the case of beans.

Wheat may be sown after turnips, and other plants of the
cabbage family. If they can be removed before winter, the
wheat may be sown at that time ; but as these plants generally
are not removed from the ground till spring, the wheat is in
this case sown in spring. The land is ridged up once, and
sometimes receives in addition a seed-furrow, and the wheat is
sown as in the case of summer-fallow or potatoes.

Wheat may also be sown after beet, carrots, and parsnips,

l2o8 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

and is treated precisely in the same manner as when sown after
turnips. If the crops can be removed before winter, the wheat
is then to be sown ; if not, it is to be sown in spring, and the
more early in spring the better.

Wheat may be sown after clover and the cultivated grasses.
But this is not the true place of wheat in the rotation, oats be-
ing the crop that can generally be most advantageously sown
after grass. When wheat, however, is sown after these plants,
the land may be ploughed once, and the wheat sown in autumn.
Sometimes a partial fallowing is given ; but this is unneces-
sary.

A practice prevails in certain parts of England, of planting
the wheat upon the clover-lea by dibbling. In this case, the
furrow-slice is laid flat, and a light roller made to pass over it.
A man walking backwards with an iron dibble in each hand,
strikes two rows of holes in each sod, and he is followed by
children, who drop a few grains into each hole ; the seed is
covered by a bush-harrow, and sometimes by a roller. The
quantity of seeds is from a bushel, or even less, to a bushel
and a half per acre. Although a seemingly inartificial and
rude process, and unsuited to that despatch which is deemed
essential on well-managed farms, it is yet found to answer well
on the loose and sandy soils on which it is practised.

Wheat, and all the cerealia, have the property of sending
out numerous shoots from the roots during their growth.
This natural process is termed tillering, and is familiar to all
farmers.

It is to be observed, too, that often the roots of the grasses
are partially raised above ground, in which case the plant be-
comes feeble or perishes. This accident sometimes occurs
from two thick sowing, and too rapid a growth in that state.
But it is more often produced by the sudden contraction and
expansion of the soil by alternate frosts and thaws in winter,
and in this case the wheat is said to be thrown out.

To promote the process of tillering, and sometimes to pre-
vent the throwing out of the plants, it is found to be beneficial
to give a certain tillage to the growing wheat in spring, by

WHEAT. 239

means of the hoe, the harrow, or the roller. When wheat is
sown in rows, this is done by means of the hoe; when broad-
east, by means of the harrow ; and in either case the roller
may be also used. But this tillage is generally given to it in-
cidentally, and in the course of another operation to be de-
scribed,— the sowing of the seeds of clovers and the cultivated
grasses.

The seeds of these plants are sown as early as convenient in
April upon the surface of land on which the cereal grasses are
sown. They grow up under the shade of the latter, and in the
following season they are fit for use. When the crops of corn
with which they are to be sown, are sown in spring, they are
generally sown at the same time: But when the crop, as of
wheat, has been sown in the previous autumn, the grass-seeds
are sown amongst the growing plants, and covered by being
harrowed or rolled.

The minute seeds of these plants, consisting of the clovers
and ryegrass, or other grasses, are, previous to being sown,
carefully mixed together. They are then brought to the
ground in sacks, and sown by the hand, or what is better, by
the broadcast sowing-machine. In either case, the harrow
follows, giving a double turn along the ridges, and the roller
may also follow, crossing the ridges, and going over the ground
once. In some cases the roller alone is used to cover the

seeds.

When the crop is in rows and hoeing is practised, the seeds
may be sown just before the hoeing is given, which then serves
the purpose of the harrow. But it is better that the hoeing
first take place, and that the seeds be afterwards sown.

The clovers and grasses thus sown, rarely flower in the first
year. They grow under shelter of the stems of the larger
crop, and they are seen in autumn amongst the stubble cover-
ing the surface. They grow during the autumn and winter
months, shoot vigorously forth in spring, and are in their
greatest luxuriance in the following summer, when they are
frequently termed new- or one-year-old grass.

The grass-seeds being sown, no further culture can be given

240 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

to the wheat, during its growth, nor any weeding, except pull-
ing up or cutting over above ground the larger weeds, as docks,
thistles, cockle, and the like.

Wheat sometimes becomes too luxuriant in spring, especially
when sown early, and then it is apt to be lodged, and run
to straw more than to produce grain. In this case it may
be pastured for a short time in the early part of spring with
sheep.

The next process in the progress of the wheat culture is that
of reaping, the method of performing which is the same as that
before described.

The produce of this crop varies greatly with the seasons,
the nature of the soil, and the mode of cultivation. A fair
good crop may be held to be thirty bushels per acre. The
average produce of England does not, perhaps, exceed twenty-
two bushels, nor that of Scotland twenty-five. The weight
of the straw is reckoned to be about double that of the grain.
An acre, therefore, yielding twenty-five bushels of grain, at
the rate of 60 lb. per bushel, would yield 3000 lb. of straw, or
about 26^ cwt.

The uses to which this grain is applied are numerous and
well known.

It is beyond every other grain adapted to the making of
bread. It owes this preference chiefly to the greater quantity
of gluten which it contains, and to its greater nutritive pro-
perties. It is used in various other ways for food- Starch
for domestic uses is also derived from it. The grain, being
steeped, is beat in hempen bags in water, and thus the starch
is separated.

The straw is applied to various purposes of rural economy
and the arts. It is used for litter, for which it is well suited.
It is used also for provender, but is not so much esteemed for
this purpose as the straw of the oat, although more than that
of barley. In other countries of Europe, however, it is that
which is most esteemed for provender, being generally reduced
to chaff. It is used for thatching, to which, from its long and
rigid stems, it is well suited. It is used for making baskets,

WHEAT. 241

bee-hives, mats, and similar articles ; and for the manufacture
of hats. The straw, in this latter case, is grown very fine, by
being closely sown : it is pulled green, and bleached upon the
surface of the ground. The grano marzolano of Italy, em-
ployed in the manufacture of the Leghorn hats, is a variety of
summer-wheat.

Wheat is subject to various accidents and diseases, some of
them peculiar to itself. The most dreaded and destructive of
these is blight, so termed from its effects upon the ear, or mil-
dew from its supposed cause, namely mel-dew, from an old opi-
nion that it was produced by honey-dew falling from the air.

This disease is indicated by the presence of certain minute
plants of the order of Fungi, or the mushroom tribe, which
grow upon the stem and leaves, and doubtless feed upon and
exhaust the juices of the plant. When this occurs at a period
so late that the seed is already formed, it does not materially
affect it, the straw alone suffering in this case. But when it
occurs when the seed is still in an embryo state, the further
progress of the seed to maturity is arrested ; and it is found
when cut down to be shrivelled and abortive.

One of this tribe of plants, and apparently the most destruc-
tive, is Puccinia graminis, which appears in the form of small
spots upon the stem, and gradually extends in lines on the sur-
face. Vast losses have been sustained by the blight produced
by this cause.

A disease termed rust is also very frequent and hurtful. It
appears in the form of a brownish dust upon the stem and
leaves ; and it is produced likewise by a parasitical plant of the
same family.

Another disease of wheat, produced also by minute fungous
plants, is smut, which differs from rust and mildew in this, that
the means of prevention are generally within our power.

There are two varieties of smut. The first resembles a black
dust, growing within the glumes of the wheat. It destroys the
seed and its envelopes, converting them into a black powder,
known by the name of brand, dust-brand, burnt corn, &c. This
species is Uredo segetum.

Q

242 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

The other variety is like a brownish-black dust, consisting
of larger grains than the last. It does not appear externally,
but fills the seed with a fetid powder ; and is greatly the most
destructive of the two. It is known to fanners under the name
of smut, or ball. The fungus has been termed Uredo caries,
by M. De Candolle. When affected with this disease, the seed
is said to be smutty, blacked, or balled. If the number of
grains affected is considerable, the loss is important, both by
lessening the produce, and tainting what remains with the black
dust of the balls.

Fanners, when their wheat is greatly injured by this disease,
sometimes wash it, by immersing it in vats or cisterns partly
filled with water. The smut-balls and lighter grains floating
to the surface are skimmed off, and the heavy and sound grain
after being washed, is exposed to the air to dry, or dried in a
kiln with a moderate heat. This practice, however, is rare,
and industrious winnowing is the usual method resorted to for
freeing the grain from the intermixed balls.

There is no doubt of the infectious nature of this disease.
That it is conveyed from the grain to the future plants, may
be inferred from the effects of brine and caustic substances
upon the grain, as employed in the process of pickling. It has
been supposed that the almost impalpable seeds of the fungi
are carried upwards by the ascending sap.

These and other diseases of the wheat arise from the growth
of parasitic plants, favoured and developed, it may be believed,
by circumstances unknown to us. Another class of diseases is
produced by the attacks of animals.

Of these the most common, in the early stages of the growth
of the plant, are the larvae of certain beetles. They pass among
agriculturists under the general name of grub.

Certain flies also attack the wheat, at a later stage of its
growth. The Cecidomyia Tritici is a fly with an orange-co-
loured body and white wings. About the month of June the
female ascends the ears of wheat, and deposites her eggs in
these by means of a fine trunk, and in a few days she perishes.
The progeny being hatched in the ear, feed upon the grain.

WHEAT. 243

They are very small, from ten to fourteen being sometimes
found in one grain, and are distinguished by being of a bright
orange colour. They do not extend beyond the grain in which
they had been produced ; but several grains being thus con-
sumed on each ear, the damage done is often considerable. Thrj
larvae, after a period, fall down to the earth, in which they bur-
row, and remain there till the following summer, when they
ascend from the earth in the form of the beautiful fly which
has been mentioned.

These are the principal accidents to which the wheat-plant
is subject in this country, from animals and diseases. When
stored in the granary it is subject to the attacks of the weevil
and other creatures.

2. Rye.

Of the genus Secale, there is one cultivated species,
Secale cereale — Rye.

Rye is extensively cultivated in Europe, forming the main
part of the bread-corn of the inhabitants of a great part of
Germany, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and other countries.

Rye, with respect to its mode of cultivation, resembles wheat;
but it can be grown upon inferior soils, and with less of culture
and manure. It differs from wheat in this, that while wheat
affects a stiff tenacious soil, rye succeeds best on a light and
sandy soil.

Rye may be sown in autumn, or it may be sown in spring ;
and this circumstance affects, as in the case of other cerealia,
the habits of ripening of the plant. When sown in autumn, it
is termed winter-rye, and when sown in spring, spring-rye.
The winter-rye is sown in autumn at the same time as wheat ;
the spring-rye with the oats, or as early in spring as the wea-
ther will allow. Rye shoots into the ear sooner than wheat,
and ripens earlier. It stands drought better than wheat, but
is more apt to suffer injury from wetness. It is a hardier
plant than wheat, and less subject to the attacks of insects
and diseases.

Q2

244 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Rye is in various countries sown mixed with wheat. The
mixture is termed meslin in England ; and the two kinds ripen
at the same time when sown together.

Rye has sometimes been sown for yielding herbage in spring,
and green forage at a later season. Where turnips, however,
and the cultivated grasses, are raised, this practice is little
adopted.

The bread of rye is dark, sweet, and nutritious, though in
this latter property it is inferior to wheat. Mixed in certain
proportions with wheat, it makes a palatable and wholesome
bread. It is used extensively in the north of Europe, for the
purpose of distillation.

Rye rises to a greater height than wheat, and produces a
thinner stem, but a great weight of straw. The straw is hard,
wiry, and little valued for fodder ; but it is used for thatch
and other purposes. It is well suited for the manufacture of
straw-hats ; and, when intended for this latter purpose, it is
sown very thick, pulled green, and blanched by exposure to
the air.

Rye, though free from the diseases of wheat, is yet subject
to a peculiar one. This is the ergot, a fungous plant, which,
though it is found on other gramineous plants, is more espe-
cially the disease of rye. It is a long cartilaginous-like sub-
stance, taking the place of the grain, and projecting from the
ear. It chiefly prevails in humid seasons, in close situations,
or where the soil is wet. Animals when in a state of liberty
refuse it ; and when used in quantity amongst bread, it is said
to be pernicious, producing gangrene.

The manner of cultivating and managing the rye-crop, is in
all essential points the same as that of wheat.

3. Barley.

Of the genus Hordeum, the following species may be enu-
merated as cultivated for their seeds.

1. Hordeum distichum — Two-rowed Barley.

2. Hordeum gymno-distichum — Two-rowed Naked Barley-

BARLEY. 245

3. Hordeum disticho -zcocriton — Two-rowed Sprat or Battledore

Barley.

4. Hordeum hexastichum — Six-rowed Barley.

5. Hordeum gymno-hexastichum — Six-rowed Naked Barley.

6. Hordeum hexasticho-zeocriton — Six-rowed Sprat or Battledore

Barley.*

Hordeum distickum, Two-rowed barley, is the species in com-
mon cultivation. The spike is composed of two rows of per-
fect seeds, the corolla remaining closely attached to, and co-
vering the seeds. The minor varieties of two-rowed barley
are numerous, and are distinguished chiefly by the quality of
their grain, and by their habit of early or later ripening ; and
some varieties are more productive than others : — effects ap-
parently dependent upon differences of climate and situation.

Barley is an annual plant ; but, like wheat, it may be sown
in autumn, and then it acquires the habit of later ripening,
and is termed winter-barley.

Two-rowed barley is sometimes, from the colour of its co-
rolla, black. This creates a great difference in the external
appearance of the grain, but is not to be regarded as a per-
manent character.

The corolla of this species, as has been said, is closely at-
tached to the grain, and forms its covering. But sometimes the
corolla is not attached to the grain, and in this case the seed is
commonly said to be naked, in which respect it resembles wheat.
It is not determined whether this be a permanent character,
but in the absence of proof to the contrary, it may be assumed
to be so, and the naked barley held to be a species. It may
be termed Hordeum gymno-distichum.

Two-rowed naked barley is said to have been introduced into
England in the year 1768. It is now little cultivated, and is
by some asserted, though without any evidence, to merge into
the common species. It has been in cultivation in some parts

* Barley differs from wheat in this, that each floret has its own calyx.
The florets are placed in threes on each of the two sides of the rachis. Some-
times all the three florets on each side are fertile, producing seeds, when the
barley is termed six-rowed : sometimes only one floret of the three is fertile,

246

PLANTS CULTIVAVED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

of Europe, and has preserved its characters, for a period be-
yond all record.

The next species, commonly termed Hordeum Zeocriton, has
been here termed Hordeum disticho-zeocriton, Two-rowed sprat
or battledore barley. The spike is short and conical, the awns
long and spreading, and the seeds more compressed than in the
other species. As in the other species, the three contiguous
florets on the spike may perfect one seed, forming two-rowed
barley ; or they may perfect all the seeds, forming six-rowed
barley. This species is scarcely cultivated in this island, the
shortness of its straw being regarded as an objection to its cul-
tivation.

The next species is Hordeum keccastickwn, Six-rowed bar-
when the barley is termed two-rowed. In the following figure the three flo-
rets are represented as fertile : a is a joint of the rachis ; b and c are the two
glumes of the calyx ; e is the inner valve of the corolla, d is the outer valve,
of which the awn / is a continuation ; h is another floret, showing the same
parts ; and g is another floret, also showing the same parts, excepting the in-
ner valve of the corolla.

Fig. 138.

BARLEY. 247

ley. When sown before winter, this species acquires the habit
of late ripening, and is then termed winter-barley. Winter-
barley is very frequently cultivated in the countries of the north
of Europe.

One of the kinds of six-rowed barley, and the best known
in this country, is bere or bigg. Bigg ripens its seeds in a
shorter period than the two-rowed barleys. It is cultivated in
the north of Scotland, in Denmark, Sweden, and other parts
of Europe. The number of its grains is greater than in the
two-rowed kinds, but they do not weigh so heavy in propor-
tion to their bulk. It is hence regarded as an inferior crop,
and is only cultivated in the more elevated parts of the coun-
try. It ripens very early when sown in spring, and hence the
advantages which it possesses in a late climate.

Sometimes the external cover of the grain, as in the case of
the two-rowed barley, is black. This arises in either case from
the change of the colour of the corolla in ripening.

The corolla of this species adheres closely to the grain, and
forms its covering. Sometimes, however, as in the case of the
two-rowed naked barley, the corolla is detached from the grain.
Whether this be a permanent character is not determined ; but,
in the absence of proof to the contrary, it may be assumed to
be so, in which case it must be regarded as a species. It has
been termed Hordeum gymno-hexastichum.

The six-rowed naked barley is cultivated in various parts of
Europe, and is greatly esteemed for its fertility. In some parts
of Germany, it is regarded as the most valuable kind of barley,
and by the French, on account of its supposed productiveness,
it has heen termed orge celeste. This, and the other superior
kinds of six-rowed barley, deserve more attention than they
have yet received. Almost the only kind cultivated in Britain
is bere or bigg, which occupies an inferior place.

A variety of this species lately brought from Nepaul, has, in
place of awns, soft hooked appendages at the termination of the
valves of the corolla. These tend to disappear by the effects
of acclimating in this country, and to pass into awns. This

248 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

remarkable variety is cultivated in Tartary 10,000 feet above
the level of the sea.

The last of the species to be mentioned is Hordeum hexasti-
cho-zeocriton, Six-rowed sprat or battledore barley. This has
been sometimes termed six-rowed barley : whereas the charac-
ter of six-rowed does not belong to it alone. An examination
of the plant will shew that it is the common battledore barley,
with all the florets fertile.*

Thus, the species of barley which may be cultivated, are, —

1. The two-rowed species, in which the corolla adheres to
the seed.

2. The two-rowed species, in which the corolla does not ad-
here to the seed.

3. The two-rowed species of battledore barley.

4. The six-rowed species, in which the corolla adheres to
the seed.

5. The six-rowed species, in which the corolla does not ad-
here to the seed.

6. The six-rowed species of battledore barley.

* Much confusion has arisen in the arrangement, by agriculturists, of the
cultivated barleys, and in an especial degree by their speaking of four-rowed
and six-rowed kinds. There is, however, no barley to which the term four-
rowed can be applied. Barley is termed two-rowed or six-rowed, according
to the number of its fertile florets. In two-rowed barley, one row of florets
on each of the two sides of the spike is fertile, and consequently one row of
seeds on each side is perfected. In six-rowed barley, three rows on each
side of the spike are fertile, and consequently three rows on each side are
perfected. In this sense only it is termed six-rowed barley. But there is
no species known to us in which only two rows on each side of the spike
are fertile. Slightly examined, indeed, six-rowed barleys frequently pre-
sent the appearance of four rows ; but this is in appearance only, for such
barleys have always the three rows on each side perfect. In poor soils, and
unfavourable situations, two of the rows run much into each other, and this
has perhaps given rise to the mistake ; but the two rows which thus run
into each other in appearance, are on the opposite sides of the rachis.

I have ventured to propose a new arrangement of the cultivated barleys ;
under which, it will be seen that the Hordeum ruhjare of some botanists is
Hordeum hexastichum, and that the Hordeum hexastichum of some botanists is
Hordeu m hcxastich o-zeocriton .

BARLEY. 249

Barley, it has been said, may be sown either in spring or in
autumn. It is more frequently sown in spring.

Barley is an early ripening grain, and therefore it may be
sown at a late period, as the month of May ; but the usual
period is April, and the sooner the better. The more early
that barley can be sown the produce in grain is the surer,
though the bulk of straw will be less. It may be sown at any
time at which spring-wheat can be sown.

In the rotation of crops, barley may succeed to summer-fal-
low, to potatoes, turnips, or any other green crop, and to any
of the pulse-crops.

When barley follows a summer-fallow, it is common, after
ridging up the land in the manner described for wheat, to leave
it in that state till spring, when it receives the seed-furrow, and
when the barley is sown. It is a rule observed in the case of
barley, always to sow on a freshly stirred soil. It is for this
reason that the seed-furrow is deferred till spring, and given
when the land is dry, just before the barley is sown. The
grubber might with greater advantage and economy be employ-
ed to give this spring tillage than the plough.

When barley is sown after potatoes, the land is ridged up
when the potatoes are removed, generally in October. It re-
mains in this state till spring, when it receives a final plough-
ing or seed-furrow immediately before the seeds are sown.

Barley, however, is rarely sown after summer-fallow or po-
tatoes, because the land is then prepared for the more valuable
crop, wheat. When barley, therefore, is sown in either of
these cases, it may be regarded as an exception to the general
rule.

Barley may be sown after beans. In this case the land,
after the beans are removed, receives one or more ploughings
in autumn, and is ridged up so as to remain dry. In spring
it receives another ploughing, and sometimes two, immediately
after which the seeds are sown. Wheat, however, is the grain
which in the more general course follows beans, first, because
it is the more valuable crop, and, second, because the soils
suited to beans are those also suited to wheat.

250 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

When barley is sown after pease, the mode of management
is the same as in the case of beans.

In the cases that have been mentioned, barley might be sown
previous to winter. But the practice of sowing winter-barley
is rare in this country. When from any cause, however, it is
found expedient to sow barley in place of wheat after summer-
fallow, potatoes, or pulse-crops, the winter-barley might in
many cases be sown with advantage. In this case it will be
necessary to obtain the seed of some of the winter-sown barleys
in cultivation. Barley, it has been said, may be sown after tur-
nips or other green crops, and these are precisely the kinds of
crops which form the best preparative for barley. They are
grown for the most part upon light soils, and the lighter soils
are those to which barley is suited. These crops also are not
generally removed till spring, and spring is a proper season
for sowing barley. Barley, therefore, is better suited to follow
such crops than wheat is. It is also generally better suited to
follow them than oats, because oats are the less valuable crop.
These circumstances concur in indicating that the proper place
in the rotation for barley is in succession to turnips and simi-
lar crops, which remain on the ground till spring.

When barley is sown after turnips and other green-crops in
spring, the land should be ploughed once, and immediately af-
ter the ploughing, the barley should be sown. But when the
period of sowing is late, and the ground is hard from the effects
of drought or any other cause, two ploughings are to be given
to reduce the ground to a finer tilth. In this case the harrow
and the roller are also employed ; and the grubber is well suited
for the same purpose.

When barley succeeds turnips and similar crops, which are
removed before winter, or at a very early period in spring, then
the land should be ploughed into ridges immediately. When
the season for sowing the barley arrives, a second ploughing or
seed-furrow should be given.

Barley may be sown broadcast, or in rows, giving it a single
turn of the harrows ofter the drill-machine, and just a sufficient
number of harrowings to cover the seed in the case of broad-
cast-sowing.

BARLEY. 251

It is always found beneficial to roll this species of crop.
The operation of rolling may either take place immediately
after the conclusion of the process of harrowing, or after the
plants are above ground. While the action of the roller com-
presses the soil so as to exclude drought, it comminutes it so
as to afford facility to the extension of the roots of the plant.
But the roller, on being employed for the covering of the grass-
seeds which are sown with this crop, also effects the purpose of
smoothing and consolidating the surface of the land. The time
of using the roller therefore is immediately after the grass seeds
are sown.

The quantity of seeds of barley generally varies from 2| to
3 bushels to the acre, when sown broadcast ; but when sown
in rows the quantity of seed need not exceed 2 bushels to the
acre.

The seeds of clovers and grasses are also sown with barley as
with wheat. They may be sown either at the time at which
the barley is sown, or when the plants are above ground. If
this is done at the same time with the barley, the seeds are
sown just previous to the last turn of the harrows, and are
then covered first by the last turn of the harrows, and then by
the roller ; or they may be sown after the land is harrowed and
covered by the roller alone. When the grass-seeds cannot be
sown at the same time with the barley, then they are to be
covered, when the time of sowing them arrives, by the roller
alone without the harrowrs. When the barley is sown in rowrs,
it may be hoed once previous to the grass-seeds being sown.

After the grass-seeds are sown, the barley-land admits of no
further tillage. Should any large wTeeds appear, they may be
pulled up by the hand, but it is the evidence of bad husbandry,
if a spring-so wai barley crop requires weeding during the com-
paratively short period in which it is on the ground.

When the period of harvest arrives, barley must be allowed
to be sufficiently ripe, but not to become what is termed dead-
ripe. It may be cut either by the scythe or the sickle.

Barley, on account of the softness of its stem and tendency
of its ears to vegetate, is more apt to be injured, and even de-

252 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

stroyed, by wet weather than any of the other cereal grasses.
For this reason the safer course in a humid climate like ours,
is to place it when cut down in sheaves and shocks, and not to
allow it, as is frequently practised, to lie loose upon the ground.

Barley being more subject to injury from heating, requires
more precautions in the securing of it, than any other grain.
By heating in the stack it quickly becomes discoloured and in-
jured.

It is thrashed and prepared in the same manner as wheat ;
but it has this peculiarity, that the awns of the corolla adhere
to the seeds, and are with some difficulty broken off, especially
when the season has been unfavourable, and the seeds have
ripened imperfectly.

The thrashing-machine, if sufficiently powerful, will general-
ly break off the awns, or may be made to do so, by making the
cover of the cylinder rough internally, and bringing it near to
the beaters, so as to leave a small space between them and the
cover. But in less powerful machines, in which the breaking
off of the awns is imperfectly performed, it is a frequent prac-
tice to put the thrashed barley again through the thrashing-
machine, in order that, by the further agitation which it under-
goes, the awns may be broken.

Sometimes a species of machinery driven by the power which
moves the thrashing-machine is applied to this purpose. It is
formed upon the principle of skutching. The skutchers are
arms fixed to a vertical spindle enclosed within a cylinder.
There are several tiers of these arms one above the other ; the
barley, being put in at the top of the cylinder, is acted upon
by the tiers of skutchers kept in rapid motion, and so the awns
are broken off.

But when the thrashing-machine is not in use, FlK' 139-

or performs its work imperfectly, an instrument
worked by the hand, termed a hummeller, is em-
ployed. This consists of a set of parallel iron-
plates fixed to a frame, and worked by the hand
like a paver's instrument. The barley to be hum-
melled is laid upon the barn-floor, and by repeated
strokes of the hummeller is freed from its awns.

BARLEY. 253

The produce of barley, like that of all grains, varies greatly
with seasons, culture, and soil. A medium crop is generally
held to be about 36 bushels per acre ; and 40 bushels per acre
are regarded as a good crop. The medium weight of two-
rowed barley is about 52 lb. per bushel.

Barley is employed for various purposes. The flour is used
in some parts for bread, but the bread, though sufficiently nu-
tritious, is dark and strong-tasted.

Barley is subjected to a species of grinding, by which the ex-
ternal coat of the seed is rubbed off. In this state it is termed
pot or pearl barley, and is employed largely in soups, gruel,
and cooling drinks.

It is used in the south of Europe for the feeding of horses ;
but in this country the oat is regarded as the proper food of
the horse. It is also employed for the feeding of hogs or other
live stock. In the practice of the farm, the light or inferior
barley is generally used for this purpose. This, after being
being boiled or steamed, furnishes a cooling and laxative food
for horses and other animals.

But the great consumption of barley is for malting, to which
purpose it is excellently suited.

The straw of barley is employed partially for fodder, but
chiefly for litter. It is lighter than the straw of oats and
wheat, and less esteemed than either. The awns of barley
are given to stock, either in their natural state or boiled.

The diseases of barley are not so numerous or fatal as those
of wheat. It is attacked by the larvse of certain flies. It is
also subject to smut, though in a partial degree, and the fun-
gus is usually Uredo segetum.

4. Oats.

The Oat is of the genus Arena. The following species are
those chiefly cultivated for their seeds : —

1. Avena strigosa — Bristle-pointed Oat.

2. Avena brevis — Short Oat.

•3. Avena sativa — Common Oat.

254 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

4. Avcna orientalis — Tartarian Oat.

5. Avena nuda — Naked Oat.

The first of these species is distinguished by the two lower
florets of the spikelet having each three awns, the dorsal one
very long and twisted, the others short and straight. This is
a native species, of inferior properties, but sometimes cultivat-
ed, as in the remoter Highlands of Scotland.

Avena brevis, Short oat, is, like the last, of inferior quality.
The seeds are numerous, but small. It is cultivated in the
more mountainous and central parts of France, and elsewhere.

Avena sativa, Common oat, is the most important of the cul-
tivated species. Each spikelet contains two, and sometimes
three, perfect seeds. The florets are sometimes awned, and
sometimes destitute of awns.

Avena orientalis, Tartarian oat, is cultivated in England,
and largely in some other parts of Europe. Its panicle is con-
tracted and nods to a side, which distinguishes it from the last-
mentioned species. The colour of its corolla is generally dark,
but the plant improves by culture in a good soil, losing its
awns, and that darkness of colour which appears to distinguish
the oat in its less improved state.

Arena nuda, Naked oat. In the species that have been
mentioned, the corolla adheres closely to the seed and forms
its covering. In this species the corolla is detached from the
seed, as in the case of wheat and naked barley. It is from
this property that this oat has obtained the name of pilcorn
or peelcorn. It has been cultivated for an unknown period in
Europe, is mentioned by our earlier writers, and was once in
general cultivation in Scotland, and other parts of the island.
It is said to be productive, and the meal to be fine.

The oat is the natural inhabitant of colder latitudes. It de-
generates in the warmer parts of the temperate zone, and in
lower latitudes disappears from cultivation. It is, of all the
cereal grasses, that which is the most easily cultivated, grow-
ing best indeed, as all such plants will do, on the better soils,
but suited to every kind from peat to the lighter soils and
clay.

oats. 255

Of the species that have been mentioned, greatly the most
important is the common oat, Arena satita. Of this species
there are innumerable sorts, produced by the effects of climate,
soil, and cultivation. These maybe conveniently divided into
three classes — the black, the dun or grey, and the white.

Those in which the corolla is very dark, are in the first class.
The oats of this habit are awned, and the seeds are small.
They are hardy and ripen early, and it is this property which
suits them for cultivation in cold and elevated districts. They
are an inferior class of oats in their ordinary state, and should
rarely be used where varieties more improved by climate and
cultivation can be raised.

The next class of oats, the dun or grey, may be said to be
intermediate between the black and the white. Some of them
are awned and very worthless ; but those that have been im-
proved by culture and selection, are valued in the situations
suited to them. Those that are chosen for seed should be
plump without awns, and with but a slight darkness of colour.
The oats of this class are called red oats, sometimes dun, and
sometimes blue oats.

The third class consists of those that are white, and the
most improved of them are without awns. These are the least
hardy kinds ; but they are of the greatest weight to the bushel,
and the most productive of meal.

In this class the Potato-oat is that which has possessed the
greatest reputation for a time in the districts where it is culti-
vated. It is not so well suited to inferior soils as some of the
other white and darker coloured kinds. It is less productive
of straw than they, though the grain is more plump, weighs
heavier, and yields a greater weight of meal. The hardier
kinds, however, are better suited to certain situations than the
finer, just as the hardier red wheats are better suited to certain
situations than the thin-chaffed and white varieties. The po-
tato-oat was the discovery of accident, and the produce of a
single plant. It has in many cases shown a tendency to de-
generate, by the husks becoming thicker and the body less
plump, and by the partial appearance of awns.

256 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Other minor varieties of the oat, which have had more or
less reputation, are the Late and Early Angus, the Blainslie
or Common white oat, and the Poland oat.

The varieties of the Angus oat have been much cultivated.
They are hardy, of fair quality, and sufficiently productive.
The Early Angus is the finer variety, and ripens about 10 days
before the other.

The Blainslie oat, so named from a farm noted for produ-
cing it, used to be largely cultivated in the south-eastern coun-
ties of Scotland. It is somewhat small in the grain, but pro-
duces on good soils abundant crops of grain and straw. It is
an early-ripening oat, but has now generally given place to
other early-ripening varieties.

The Poland oat was long greatly valued. It ripens early,
and produces an abundant crop of grain ; but it is somewhat
deficient in straw, and is supposed to be peculiarly liable to
injury from shaking. This kind has been cultivated in Eng-
land above 100 years, and, during that long period, has retain-
ed its characters.

To this must be added the Dutch or Friesland oat, which
is a hardier kind, or at least better adapted to inferior soils,
than the Poland oat ; but it has not preserved its characters
so uniformly as the Poland oat.

Other kinds could be named, as having been long cultivated
in this country ; but those enumerated will suffice for the pur-
pose of example. Minor varieties of this kind may be multi-
plied to an unlimited degree, and we may constantly expect to
see new ones obtained by accident, or by care bestowed in se-
lection. A variety which has been lately extensively cultiva-
ted is the Hopetoun oat, derived from East-Lothian. It may
be said in general, with respect to the principal kinds now in
use, that the Potato and other finer kinds of oat are the best
suited for low lands, and the better class of soils ; that the dun
oats are suited to inferior soils, or to the more elevated
grounds ; and that on the soils lowest in the scale of fertility,
the improved black varieties may be used.

The oat has a wider range of soils than any of the other ce-

3

oats. 257

realia, and it requires, too, less preparation of the soil by til-
lage and manures.

The oat is generally sown after grass, and this is precisely
the period in the rotation in which the oat should be sown.
It grows better upon old grass-land than any other crop, and
should always be sown accordingly when land is broken up
from grass of some years1 standing. When land, indeed, is
broken up from grass of one year, wheat, it has been seen, may
be sown ; but, in the majority of cases, the more suitable crop
is oats.

When grass-land is to be ploughed for oats, this should be
done in winter, or as soon in spring as the state of the wea-
ther, and the labour of the farm, will allow, so that it may, if
possible, receive a little of the winter's frost to mellow it be-
fore the oats are sown. In the ordinary practice of the farm,
the first operation after harvest is ploughing the stubble-land
intended for fallow and fallow-crops, and then the grass-land
which is intended for oats.

Oats may be sown after a summer- fallow. This is done
when the soil and situation are less suited to wheat and barley
than to oats. In this case, the fallow is ridged up before win-
ter, and again receives a seed-furrow in spring, though fre-
quently the oats are sown without the seed-furrow.

Oats are sown after pulse-crops, when the land is not in a
fit state of preparation for wheat and barley, or when the soil
and situation are unsuited to these crops. In this case, one
ploughing is generally given in autumn, and sometimes a seed-
furrow in spring.

Oats may be sown after turnips or other green crop, when
they are more suited to the soil and situation than wheat and
barley. In this case, the green crop being removed, the oats
are sown after one ploughing.

Sometimes oats are sown after oats, or other corn-crop.
This is a deviation from the general rules of good culture ; but
it is in some cases rendered necessary by the failure of grass-
seeds, and other circumstances. In this case, the land may be
ploughed once ; but when grass-seeds are to be sown with the

R

258 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

crop of oats, it is better that it receive a second tillage in
spring, either by the plough or the grubber.

When land is broken up from very old grass, good farmers
sometimes take two crops of corn in succession. This is a de-
viation from the rules of the alternate husbandry. Circum-
stances may render it expedient ; but it is the exception, and
not the rule of general management.

Grass-seeds may be sown in spring with oats, in the same
manner as with wheat and barley. But the land should in
this case be prepared by previous fallow or green crop.

Oats are, for the most part, sown broadcast. When land
is broken up from grass, the land is not in so good a state for
allowing the drill machine to operate, and accordingly the more
suitable method of sowing is broadcast. Exceptions to this
may be required, when there is a great prevalence of annual
weeds, — as of the wild radish and wild mustard ; but the ge-
neral rule for sowing oats is broadcast, and the sowing in rows
the exception.

The period of sowing oats is generally from the beginning of
March to the end of April. From the beginning to the middle
of March is held to be the best period, when the weather and
state of the ground will allow.

The quantity of seeds sown may be from 4 to 6 bushels to
the acre. There are rarely sown more than 6 bushels, and there
ought never to be sown less than 4.

Oats, from being sown after grass-land, are more apt to be
overrun with thistles than the other kinds of grain : hence it
is usual to weed this crop by going over it with the weeding
instrument before referred to.

The reaping of oats is by the scythe or sickle, in the manner
before explained. They should be allowed to ripen, but not
to stand till they are dead-ripe. When ripe, they are to be
taken sharp, as it is termed, by which means the chance of
loss by winds at this critical period is lessened.

The produce of oats varies greatly with the nature of the
soil and the mode of management. It is frequently calculated
that 30 bushels to the acre may be the average of this country.

oats. 259

In Scotland, where the culture of the oat is more attended to
than in any other part of Europe, 60 bushels are held to be a
great crop — below 25 an indifferent or bad one.

Oats vary in weight from 35 lb. to 45 lb. the bushel. The
produce in flour is generally regarded as in the proportion of
about 8 to 14 ; that is, 14 lb. of grain give 8 lb. of meal,
though the proportional quantity of meal increases as the oats
are heavier.

The meal of the oat is used for bread ; but though it is the
food of a great part of the inhabitants of the north of Europe,
it is inferior for this purpose to the flour of rye, and greatly in-
ferior to that of wheat. It is used, however, in various simple
preparations for food.

But the principal consumption of the oat is for the feeding
of horses, to which purpose it is eminently adapted. In the
practice of the farm, it is common to reserve the light corn for
the feeding of the horses, and the heavier grain for seed and
for sale.

The oat is employed also in malting and distillation ; but
for these purposes it is inferior to barley.

The straw of the oat is, in this country, more esteemed for
provender than that of wheat, barley, and rye. It furnishes a
great part of the food of wintering cattle, as will afterwards be
explained. It is given also to working horses in place of hay
in the early part of winter, when the work is not severe.

Oats are subject to considerable hazard of injury by the
shaking of winds, as the grain approaches to its ripened state.
In the early stages of its growth, too, it is subject to be at-
tacked by several enemies, of which the principal is the wire-
worm, which is the larva of a very small beetle, Elater sege-
tis ; and by the larva? of several other insects, comprehended
by farmers under the general name of grub.

The diseases of the oat are not numerous. It is subject,
though in a partial degree, to smut, occasioned by Uredo se-
getwm.

r2

2C0 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

5. Millet.

Under the term Millet are comprehended certain plants of
different genera which are cultivated for their seeds : —

1. Panicum mlliaceum — Common Millet.

2. Setaria italica — Italian Setaria.

3. Setaria germanica — German Setaria.

4. Sorghum vulgare — Indian Millet.

Common millet grows several feet high, and is terminated
by a large branched panicle hanging to one side. It is very
prolific in seeds. These are small and smooth ; in some sorts
brown, and in others yellow. The plant is cultivated ex-
tensively in Russia, in Italy, and Germany. Its seeds, being
divested of their outer covering, are used in the manner of rice,
and furnish a nourishing and grateful food. They are also
made into bread, which, however, is not esteemed. They are
used for the feeding of domestic fowls, for which they are well
suited. The straw produced is bulky, and valued for pro-
vender.

The cultivation of common millet is not practised in this
country. It is not with us a part of the food of the people,
while with respect to the feeding of domestic fowls, we have
so many resources in the waste of our cereal grains, that there
is scarcely need of cultivating any plant expressly for the pur-
pose. But more than this, millet is not well suited to the colder
parts of Europe, and supplies of it can be obtained in unli-
mited abundance from the shores of the Mediterranean.

The Italian setaria, cultivated in the south of Europe, is
only known to us in this country as a plant of the garden. It
is too delicate for the northern parts of Europe : for even about
Bordeaux it is a precarious crop, suffering frequently from the
effects of frost.

German setaria is cultivated in Hungary in fertile subhumid
soils. It is used in its green state, or as dried fodder for horses
and oxen.

The Indian millet furnishes bread to the Arabians and

MAIZE. 261

other people of the East. The flour is known to the Arabs
under the name of dourra ; and it is truly the bread-corn of
Africa, being grown over all the parts of that vast continent.
It is cultivated likewise in Italy and the south of Germany ;
and it was long ago introduced into Spain, it may be supposed
by the Moors, if not at an earlier period still by the Cartha-
ginians. It has been introduced also into the Islands of the
West Indies, under the name of Guinea corn, and into the
Southern United States of America.

This fine plant grows with a strong reedy stem, with broad
leaves like those of the maize, but smaller, and producing a
large panicle. Its seeds are smooth and roundish, resembling
those of the common millet, but larger. They are ground into
flour, but the bread made of it is dark in colour and coarse-
In Europe the grain is chiefly used for feeding domestic fowls
and pigeons, for which it is well suited.

This plant is the native of a warmer country, and demands
a more genial climate than we possess. With us it will scarcely
even ripen its seeds, and frequently not even expand its flowers.
Other species of Sorghum are likewise cultivated, but the same
remark applies with more or less force to them all.

6. Maize.

Of the cultivated Maize, Zea Mais, the varieties produced
by differences of climate, and other external causes, are very
numerous, differing greatly from one another in size, aspect,
and the period of maturing their seeds.

The maize has a wide range of temperature. In the western
continent, it flourishes from about the 40° of southern to be-
yond the 45° of northern latitude. It is extensively produced
in Africa, Asia, and the South of Europe. On all the shores
of the Mediterranean, — Spain, Italy, and the countries of the
Levant, — it supplies the food in most common use. The re-
gion of the maize in Europe seems to have been extending
northwards. It is grown in France, Germany, and even in the
.Netherlands. The last, however, is somewhat beyond the true

262 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

region of the maize, which requires the warmer summer of the
south of Europe to bring it to its full perfection. The kinds
best suited to the colder parts are the dwarf, some of which,
even in the latitude of Paris, complete the circle of their vege-
tation in a period comparatively short.

The manner of cultivating the maize in the countries where
it is produced, is generally rude and inartificial. The proper
method of cultivating it is in rows at the distance from each
other of from 3 to 4 feet. In this manner the plants can be
tilled by the horse and hand hoe in the most perfect manner,
and the earth heaped up to the stems of the plant by the ope-
ration of the common plough. This heaping up of the earth
tends to support the long stem and weighty ears. The plant,,
although it has a very fibrous root, does not penetrate deep in-
to the ground ; but from the lower joints of the stem, it sends
forth large roots, which partly serve the purpose of supporting
it. During the growth of the plant, and even till the seeds are
formed, the tilling may be continued, and the earth heaped up
to the stem.

The maize is a plant which with difficulty bears the rigour of
early spring. It is easily injured by frosts ; and hence the ne-
cessity of adapting the period of sowing it to the peculiarity of
the climate. The plant, like the other graminese, may be trans-
planted, and that, too, after it has attained a considerable size.
In planting, therefore, it is well to have a provision of plants
for the filling up of blanks.

A peculiarity in the manner of treating the plant is founded
upon the circumstance of its being monoecious. The flowers
bearing stamens are produced in a branched spike at the sum-
mit of the stem. The female flowers grow lower down on the
stem. Upon these the pollen falls from the flowers above. As
soon as the male flowers have performed their functions by de-
positing their pollen on the organs below, they become no lon-
ger necessary, and they accordingly, with all the elevated part
of the stem which supports them, may be removed. This is
familiarly termed topping ; and the period of performing it is
denoted by the state of forwardness of the plant. When the

MAIZE. 26o

silk-like filaments of the female flowers are withered, and when,
upon stripping off the husks, the grain is found to be some-
what hardened, then the tops and even the leaves may be re-
moved without injury. These form a valuable deposite for the
winter, and may be reserved for food for horses and oxen in
spring.

The harvest-labours of the maize are altogether different
from those of the other cerealia. The ears are stript from the
stem by the hand, and carried directly to the barn-floor to un-
dergo the process of husking. The husks, consisting of a thick
leafy covering which closely envelopes the ear, are then also
stript off, and the ears are deposited in some convenient place.

The next operation is that of separating the grain from the
ear. This may be done by a machine, but it is generally done
by scraping or rasping the ears upon a piece of iron fixed
across a wooden vessel into which the grains are received.

The flour of the maize, on account of the deficiency of glu-
ten, is greatly inferior to the flour of wheat for the making of
bread. It is, however, a perfectly nutritious substance, and be-
comes palatable to those who are used to it. Its flour is con-
verted into various preparations, and used extensively in the
countries where it is produced. In America the people of every
condition eat the maize in its different states. The most de-
licate perhaps is when the ears are green, and the seeds simply
roasted or boiled. In this state they are enjoyed by people of
all ages throughout the United States.

The maize is a nourishing food for all the domestic animals.
It is suited to the feeding of the horse : hogs get speedily fat
upon it, and poultry eagerly eat the hard grains.

The maize is thus a very valuable plant in all the countries
in which it is produced. It is only, however, in the warmer
parts of Europe, or in the countries which, like North America,
have a hot summer, that the maize is calculated to take the
place of the common cerealia.

264 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

7- Rice.

Rice has been known and cultivated from the earliest records
of the human race, and is believed to furnish food to a greater
number of human beings than any other of the cultivated gra-
minese.

Of this plant there is held to be but one species —
Oryza sativa — Common Rice.

But there are subspecies, or varieties, so greatly different in
their habits and characters, that they may be rather regarded
as specifically distinct. The common rice grows from one to
six feet in height, terminating in a panicle. The seeds are
armed with awns. It is cultivated in marshes, and, for a great
part of its growth, partially under water. The mountain rice
grows on mountains and dry soils. The plant has been recently
found growing high on the range of the Himalayan mountains.

The rice is spread over all the warmer regions of the Old
World, and has been carried to the New, where it flourishes
in great luxuriance. It is cultivated in the south of Europe,
and has lately been extended to the more northern parts of
it, — to Westphalia, and even to the Low Countries. It seems
to be a plant fitted, in a remarkable degree, to accommodate it-
self to different situations. The range of its vegetation has
extended northwards. It is a considerable period since it was
introduced into the countries north of the Mediterranean, —
Greece, Italy, and Spain. It is more recently that it has ex-
tended to Hungary and central Europe ; but whatever be the
power of acclimating of the rice, there is little reason to sup-
pose that it will ever form any thing beyond an inconsiderable
part of the cultivated graminese of Europe.

CEREAL GRASSES. 265

8. Canary-Grass, &c.

The cereal grasses that have been enumerated, afford the
main part of the farinaceous food of mankind. Besides these,
however, other grasses are cultivated, or used for their seeds,
as —

1. Phalaris canadensis — Cultivated Canary-grass.

2. Poa fluitans — Floating Meadow-grass.

3. Digitaria sanguinalis — Hairy Cocksfoot, or Finger-grass.

Canary-grass is cultivated in a few parts of the south of
England, and chiefly in the Isle of Thanet, for its seeds, which
are given to the smaller birds. The plant is easily raised, but
it is of little economical importance.

Floating meadow-grass, is a native plant tolerably productive
of seeds, which are sweet and nourishing. They are collect-
ed in some parts of Germany, Poland, and other parts of Eu-
rope, and used as food ; and they are brought to this country
under the name of Manna. The plant is too aquatic in its ha-
bits to admit of extended cultivation.

Hairy Cocksfoot, or Finger-grass, is an annual plant, grow-
ing in sandy cultivated fields. In Poland and Lithuania it
abounds by the road-sides, and its seeds, being collected and
boiled with milk in the manner of rice, are said to be esteemed.

Many other grasses could be enumerated as yielding seeds
of sufficient size to be used as food ; but none of them can be
regarded as fitting subjects of cultivation for their seeds.

( 266 )

II. LEGUMINOUS PLANTS.
1. The Bean.

The bean is of the genus Faba, of which there is reckoned
one species —

Faba vulgaris — Common Bean.

But great diversities, in the habit and aspect of the plant,
have been produced by the effects of climate, soil, and cul-
ture.

Of the beans which form the subjects of cultivation in this
country, there may be said to be, with respect to their uses,
two general classes, — those which are cultivated in the fields,
and are thence termed field-beans, and those which are cul-
tivated in gardens, and so termed garden-beans. The former,
too, are frequently termed grey beans, and the latter white
beans.

Of the white or garden-beans, the sorts are very numerous.
Those that may be here referred to as cultivated also in the
fields, are the Mazagan-bean and the Long-podded.

The Mazagan-beans are regarded as the best of the early
kinds at present in cultivation. They are said to be derived
from Africa ; and their habits change by their being culti-
vated in this country. They become larger, and do not ripen
so soon as when first imported.

The Long-podded are of the middle size of garden-beans,
and are very productive, the pods being long, and closely filled
with seeds. Of the long-pods there are many varieties enu-
merated by gardeners.

These two sorts, though raised in the garden, are also cul-
tivated partially in the fields, and they are reckoned to be the
best of the garden kinds used for this purpose.

The kinds, however, the most important to the agriculturist,
and forming the subjects of common cultivation in the fields,
are the small or hardier kinds, termed the field-beans. Of

THE BEAN. 267

these, the principal are the horse-bean and the tick-bean. The
former is the more hardy ; the latter is generally regarded as
of better quality, and more productive. The horse-bean grows
more tall than the tick-bean, but is not so productive of pods.
The tick-bean contains many subordinate varieties, to which
names are assigned, as the Flat-ticks or May-beans, the small
or Essex-ticks. To the field-beans in use may be added the
Heligoland bean.

The bean, generally speaking, is suited to the stiffer clays.
The seeds may be buried deeply in the ground. In colder
countries, they are generally sown in spring, but they may be
sown previous to winter ; and then the beans acquire the habit
of later ripening, and are termed winter-beans. The manner
of cultivating the bean is greatly influenced by climate ; and
the agriculturists of different countries learn to suit their prac-
tice to this circumstance.

The bean, like all other plants cultivated for their seeds, is
an exhausting crop ; but then, from the habit of its growth,
and the mode of cultivation which it admits of, it is a clean-
ing crop, and, in the rotation, is generally made preparatory
to a corn-crop. It is regarded as well suited to prepare the
land for wheat or barley ; and ought, therefore, to precede one
of these crops.

Beans may be sown on land broken up from grass, and will
succeed perfectly well in such a case ; but this is not the true
place in the rotation for the bean : for oats are more generally
suited to land broken up from grass ; and beans should rather
follow a corn-crop.

When the bean is to be sown in spring after a corn-crop, the
land should receive a deep ploughing before winter, generally
in the direction of the former ridges, so as to keep the land
dry. Sometimes, in case of dry land, the ploughing may be
across the ridges ; and then the plough, passing along the for-
mer open furrows, is to form new open furrows in the same
place. In either case, care is to be taken to prevent the stag-
nating of water on any part of the surface.

As early in spring as the land is sufficiently dry to be work-

268

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

ed, it is to be ploughed across the direction of the former plough-
ing. The land is now to be left to dry for a few days, and
then it is to be harrowed, so that the surface may be levelled ;
and then, with the common plough, the whole surface is to be
formed into raised ridglets, or drills.

These drills are formed by a single furrow or turn of the
plough in the following manner : — The plough, entering at the
headland of the field, at x in the diagram below, draws the
straight furrow x y from side to side. Turning to the right at
g, and entering at c, it draws the straight furrow zr, and thus
forms the drill xyzr, of which the centre is AB; this first drill
being necessarily formed by a double turn of the plough, while
the others are formed by single turns ; for the plough, then
turning to the right and passing on to E, draws the straight
furrow EF, and so forms a drill by a single turn. At F it
turns to the right, and, passing on to Gr, draws the straight
furrow GH, and so forms another drill ; and then, passing to
I, and drawing the furrow IR, forms another drill ; and so on
until it has formed a certain space into drills. Equal spaces
being drilled in this manner, the whole field is passed over.
The plough, it has been said, is to turn to the right, but it may
be also turned to the left if more convenient ; or, having form-
Fig. 140.
R F 7Az G

I E acB-r H

ed a certain space into drills by being turned to the right, it
may form an intermediate space into drills, by being turned
to the left, on the same principle as was explained in the case
of cross-ploughing. In place of forming the first drill by a

THE BEAN.

2G9

double turn, in the manner described, the operation may be
performed thus : The plough passing from x to y, forms the
drill xyzr by a single turn. On arriving at y, the plough
turns left about, and, returning by the same track, forms ano-
ther drill yx EF, also by a single turn : on arriving again at
x, it turns to the left, and proceeding from r to z, forms the
drill rz GH : on arriving at s, it passes on to F, and proceeding
from F to E, forms the drill FEIR.

The drills thus formed should not be less than 27 inches
from centre to centre. A transverse section of the land, when
drilled, will appear thus —

Fig. 141,

The land being thus ridged up, the seeds are to be sown by
the sowing-machine (Fig. 32), or better by the machine Fig.
33, which sows three rows at once. The former is pushed for-
ward by the workman, the latter is drawn by a horse. The
seeds are thus sown in the hollows of the drills, and the plough
passing along the centre of each drill, splits it into two, and
so covers the seeds. The common plough performs this ope-
ration, or it may be performed by a double mould-board plough.
A transverse section of the drills when split or divided will ap-
pear thus —

Fig. 142.

In this manner, the seeds are well covered, sown in rows at
the distance required, and prepared for the subsequent opera-
tions.

But the previous operations taking place at a very early
period of the season, wet weather may intervene to prevent
this species of tillage. In this case, in place of first plough-

270 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

ing the land, and then forming it into drills, it may be found
necessary to give only one ploughing. The simple sowing-
machine, pushed along by the hand, is to follow every third
plough, or, in other words, to be pushed along every third
furrow, depositing the seeds in the hollow. The succeeding
furrow-slice covers the seeds, and thus they are deposited and
covered in every third furrow throughout the field. By these
means the seeds are sown in rows ; and, supposing the width
of each furrow-slice to be 9 inches, the distance in the rows
of beans from one another will be 27 inches ; or 30 inches,
supposing each furrow-slice to be 10 inches.

The latter method of sowing is less effectual than that by
raised drills, and therefore should not be resorted to, except
when the state of the weather renders it necessary.

The running of a sowing-machine in every third furrow may
seem to be a somewhat clumsy operation ; and yet the loss of
labour is extremely trifling. Some farmers, however, attach
the sowing-machine to every third plough, fixing it between the
handles in such a manner that it sows the seeds in the furrow
which is just formed ; the three ploughs following each other in
succession, and the third sowing the seeds, these are deposited
and covered in every third furrow.

Dung is often to be applied to the bean crop, especially when
wheat is to succeed ; and it may be applied at two periods. It
may either be spread upon the stubble in autumn, or it may
be applied at the same time at which the drills are formed.

In the first case, the dung, being spread upon the stubble,
is covered by the ploughing which is then given ; and this is
greatly the better practice. In the second case, the land be-
ing formed into drills, and the seeds sown in the manner de-
scribed, the dung is to be carried to the rows in single-horse
carts, the horse walking in the interval of every third or fifth
drill. The dung is to be dragged out by the dung drag (Fig.
77), from the cart behind into little heaps. Three or more
young persons are to follow each cart, and to spread out the
heaps regularly. The dung is in this manner spread over the
seeds. The ridglets are then to be split in the manner before

THE BEAN. 271

described, and in this way, the dung and seeds covered. Some
prefer spreading the dung first, and then sowing upon it the
seeds.

When no drills, however, are formed, and when the seeds
are sown in every third furrow, then the dung, if it has not
been applied in the preceding autumn, is merely spread upon
the ground before the land is ploughed, and covered by the
plough at the time of sowing.

Such is a simple method of performing the culture of the
bean, which has been found to be efficient in parts of the coun-
try where, from the uncertainty of the climate, and the nature
of the soil, the culture of the bean is the most difficult. This
system, then, of sowing the bean in rows and in drills, is sus-
ceptible of being every where practised, and, from its efficiency
and simplicity, deserves to be generally imitated.

In various parts of England, a more operose method is
adopted of sowing the bean. The land is not ploughed until
about Christmas, or as soon afterwards as possible ; and upon
the furrow-slice turned up, the seeds of the bean are planted,
by means of the dibble, in regular lines, at the distance from
one another in the rows of two or three inches, and at the rate
per acre of about two bushels. The practices, however, which
prevail in different parts of England, both with respect to the
method of sowing, the quantity of seeds used, and the general
treatment of the plant, are very various.

The bean being a slowly ripening plant, the period of sow-
ing should be as early after the land can be prepared in spring
as possible. The month of February should be selected if cir-
cumstances will allow, and the sowing should not be later in
any case than the month of March.

Beans may be sown previous to winter, though the practice
is not suited to a very cold and humid climate. Where this sys-
tem is adopted, the produce of beans sown before winter, or
winter-beans, as they are called, must be selected, and those
always of the hardy kinds. When the bean can be sown pre-
vious to the months of winter, it removes certain difficulties at-
tending the present method of cultivating it, and hastens the

272 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

harvest process, so often injuriously retarded in the case of
cold countries.

The quantity of seeds sown must depend upon the nature of
the soil and climate. In the north of England and Scotland,
four bushels to the acre are not found to be too much ; while
in the parts of England where the climate is more favourable
to the ripening of the bean, a' much smaller quantity is used,
and especially where the dibbling process is resorted to.

It is a frequent practice to mix a quantity of pease with
beans, generally in the proportion of about half a bushel to the
acre. This increases the value of the fodder, and generally
adds to the weight of the crop. But many farmers do not ap-
prove of any intermixture with the bean.

In about ten or twelve days after the beans have been sown,
the land is to be well harrowed across. This process of har-
rowing should be resorted to in all cases of the bean-culture,
whether the beans are sown in drills or on a flat surface. It
should be performed just before the beans appear above ground;
or, if it cannot be then done, it may be delayed till after the
plants have got a little above ground. This operation of har-
rowing destroys the weeds that may be springing up amongst
the plants, or in the intervals of the rows. It seems to be a
very rude process, and yet it is never hurtful, but, as in all
cases of stirring the soil, tends to promote the vegetation of
the plants.

Immediately after this harrowing process, care must be taken
to clear out all cross channels, so as to give free egress to sur-
face-water ; nothing being more destructive to a crop of beans
at this stage of their growth, than to permit water to stagnate
upon the field.

After the beans have made some growth, sooner or later, ac-
cording to the state of the weather, the process of horse-hoeing
is to commence.

The hoes employed for this purpose are either the small
single-horse plough (Fig. 36), or the horse-hoe, with a share
and lateral coulters (Fig. 37). In the first hoeing to be given
to the plants, it is frequently better to employ the single-horse

THE BEAN.

273

plough. The subsequent hoeings may be done by the horse-
hoe. When the plough is used, the ploughman, driving his
horse between the rows, makes a shallow furrow as near the
rows of the plants as the plough can go without injuring them,
laying the furrow-slice towards the centre of the interval. He
then returns by the adjoining row, in the same manner, throw-
ing the furrow-slice also towards the centre of the interval ;
and in this way the ground is tilled as near the rows of plants
as the plough can go. A transverse section of the drills after
this operation will appear thus —

Fig. 143.

Immediately following the operation of the horse-hoe, the
hand-hoers, each with a little hoe (Fig. 75), are set to work.
Each hoer takes a row, and with the hoe cuts up any weeds
that may have escaped the action of the hoeing instruments,
or that may be found amongst the plants in the rows, using the
hand when necessary to pull up weeds amongst the plants.

In about a fortnight after this, the horse-hoe again passes
along the intervals, and again the hand-hoers follow, cutting or
pulling up all the weeds that may have escaped the action of
the horse-hoe.

This will generally complete the hoeing process ; but, if ne-
cessary, the hand-hoers are to be set to work a third time, so
as effectually to clear the ground of all remaining weeds. A
section of the ground after these operations will appear thus —

Fig. 144.

274

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Some time after the last hoeing, the double mould-board
plough (Fig. 38) may be driven along the centre of the inter-
vals, so as to lay up the earth as close to the rows of plants as
possible. Many farmers, however, omit this final ridging up
of the land, either conceiving that it is unnecessary, or that it
tends to interrupt the harvest process, by rendering the ground
uneven. Yet this final ridging up makes a good conclusion
to the process of culture. A section of the field, after this ope-
ration, will appear thus —

Fig. 145.

/if k\ / '

'" ^

The cleaning processes being performed, the plants grow
without further care, and will generally cover all the surface,
and prevent the growth of weeds during the remainder of the
season.

A well managed bean-field cultivated in this manner will be
like a garden. The land, in respect of cleanness, will be no-
thing short of the condition in which it would be after a sum-
mer fallow, and the soil will be prepared for a crop of any of
the cereal grasses.

The superiority of the practice of drilling over that of sow-
ing broadcast is apparent. In the case of broadcast, a fa-
vourable season and other circumstances may cause as great a
crop to be produced, but this will not be so upon an average
of seasons, while all the advantages of the more perfect tillage
of the ground will be lost.

In all cases of the row-culture, the system should be carried
into full effect. The intervals between the rows of plants should
never be made narrow, with the design of saving ground. All
experience shows that not only by the wider rows can the ci-op

THE BEAN. 275

be more perfectly tilled, but that, in the great majority of cases,
the crop will be more abundant.

In cold and humid countries, the harvest-management of the
bean is peculiarly difficult, on account of its late period of ripen-
ing, and the large and succulent stems of the plant.

The bean should be suffered to ripen itself thoroughly, but
not to become over-ripe. The period of ripening will be de-
noted by the skin of the seeds having acquired a yellowish
leather-like appearance.

Beans may be cut by the scythe or by the sickle. When
the sickle is used, the utmost care is to be taken that the plants
be cut low, both on account of the value of the straw, and of the
saving of such pods as may be growing near the bottom of the
stem. The beans are to be formed into sheaves, by tying them
with straw-rbpes previously prepared, or, when pease are mixed
with beans, by ropes formed of the steins of the pease twisted
upon the spot at the time of reaping. The beans should be
merely laid upon these ropes in the first place, and left for a
few days to dry and wither, before they are bound into sheaves.
Some lay down the beans, in the first place, in large handfuls,
upon the ground, and allow them to remain there for a few
days, before being collected and bound into sheaves. When
the sheaves are bound, they are to be set up into double-rowed
shocks, without any covering of head-sheaves.

The beans, when fully ready, are carried to the barn-yard,
and formed into stacks like other crops.

They are thrashed and dressed in the manner described in
the case of the cereal grains. From the largeness of the seeds,
the process is a simple one, the lighter and broken grains being
more easily separated from the heavier than in the lighter
kinds of corn.

The produce of the bean is exceedingly various in this island.
Forty bushels to the acre are regarded as a great crop ; 30
bushels are a satisfactory one, and probably the average pro-
duce of the kingdom does not amount to 24.

The grain of the bean is chiefly applied to the feeding of
horses, though largely also to that of other domestic animals,

s2

2/(>' PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

and chiefly of hogs, in which latter case it is usually manu-
factured into a coarser kind of meal. In the feeding of horses,
it is frequent to mix a portion of beans with oats.

The straw of the bean is nutritious and wholesome. It is
generally given to horses, and is reckoned little inferior to hay.

The bean is a plant very subject to diseases, and, in an es-
pecial manner, to injury from the attacks of several animals.

The most common diseases of the bean is a species of rust,
produced by parasitic plants of the mushroom family, growing
upon it in the same manner as rust or mill-dew on wheat.

The animals that attack and feed upon the juices of the bean
are certain aphides, the most common of which is of a bluish-
black colour, and is called the collier. In some seasons this
creature is very destructive. It begins at the top of the plant
and continues multiplying downwards. A remedy, which has
been suggested and practised, is to cut off the top of the plants
as soon as the aphides appear ; and this may be a palliative if
carefully performed.

2. The Pea.

Of the cultivated Pea; there seems to be one species, compre-
hending our various cultivated kinds, whether grown in the
garden or the field, namely —

Pisum sativum — Cultivated Pea.
But botanists of high authority make two species, Pisum ar-
rense, the Grey Pea, and Pisum sativum, the Cultivated pea of
the gardens.

The changes produced on this plant by the effects of climate,
soil, and culture, are very great. Whether regarded as one or
two species, pease, with respect to their uses, may be divided
into two classes ; the first, the field pease of different colours,
and the second, the white or garden pease. The coloured
kinds are those which generally form the objects of cultivation
in the fields ; the white kinds are those which are grown in the
garden, though several of the white kinds are also cultivated in
the fields, and though some of the garden kinds are coloured.

THE PEA. 277

The garden pease are distinguished by their periods of ripen-
ing and other properties. New kinds of them are raised every
year, and generally receive names from the persons who have
first cultivated them, or the places where they have been grown.
Their characters, however, arc not permanent, and they de-
generate, unless cultivated and selected with care.

The field kinds are distinguished by their habits of ripen-
ing. The early-ripening kinds admit of being sown late ; the
late-ripening kinds must be sown early. The common early-
sown pease of this country are small and dark in their colour.
The most hardy of these is generally termed the early grey
pea. It is chiefly cultivated for the food of horses.

The later sown kinds of field pease are larger in their size
and approach more in their characters to the garden pease.
The seeds are of various colours, blue, speckled, grey, and dun ;
and they have purple flowers, whereas the true garden kinds
have generally white flowers.

The white kinds usually cultivated in the fields in this coun-
try are the Pearl, the Early Charlton or Golden Hotspur, and
the common White or Suffolk. Of these the early charlton has
been long esteemed as an early-ripening kind.

The pease of this class are largely cultivated in the north of
Germany, in Poland, and all over the central and southern
parts of Europe. In England they are raised to a consider-
able extent in Middlesex, Kent, Suffolk, and some other coun-
ties. But the principal cultivation of pease in this country is
of the grey or field kinds.

Sometimes pease are cultivated to be used in their green
state. There is no species of cultivation more profitable than
this, where it can be adopted ; for the pease being ready for
use in the month of June, time is allowed for taking another
crop, generally of turnips, in the same season. The practice,
however, of gathering pease in their green state must neces-
sarily be limited to the vicinity of great markets ; and in most
parts of the country it is the province of the gardener rather
than of the agriculturist.

The general purpose in cultivating the pea is for its ripened

2/8 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

seeds. When these are intended for boiling, the white kinds
are used ; when for the food of horses and other animals, the
grey kinds are preferred. The method of cultivating either
kind is the same. The circumstance to be chiefly attended to
is the habit of ripening, which should determine the period of
sowing.

The later-ripening kinds are sown in February or March ;
the earlier-ripening kinds in April, and sometimes so late as
the beginning of May. -But the more early all kinds of pease
are sown the better.

The pea will grow on stiff soils as well as the bean ; but it
is more peculiarly adapted to the lighter- class of soils, and in
an especial degree to the calcareous.

The pea, like the bean, may succeed to any of the corn-
crops ; and, if properly tilled, it may, like the bean, be regard-
ed as a cleaning crop, and be succeeded by another corn-crop.

In many parts of England the pea is made to succeed to a
crop of grass and clover, and it will grow well under such cir-
cumstances ; but it has been before observed that a corn-crop
may then be taken with benefit. It is generally better, then,
that a crop of oats be taken, to which may succeed a crop of
pease. This at least is the rule of practice, while the devia-
tion from it which particular circumstances require may be
regarded as the exception.

In the case of sowing pease on land broken up from grass, it
is common in some parts of England to plant them by means
of the dibble ; and the most approved method of doing so is to
put a row of holes upon each sod, so that the rows shall be
at the distance from one another of about 9 inches. To allow
of this the furrow-slices are laid very flat.

When the pea, however, is to follow a corn-crop, which is
its proper place in the rotation, the land is ploughed before
winter as for beans, though there is not the same necessity for
giving a very deep ploughing, as in the case of the bean, the
root of the pea being more fibrous, and not striking down in
the same degree into the soil.

When the land is ready to be worked in spring, it is to be

THE PEA. 279

cross-ploughed and well harrowed ; and the pease are to be
sown in rows, at the distance from each other of about 27
inches. Several methods of sowing may be adopted : —

1. The land, after being pulverized by the cross-ploughing
and harrowing, may be sown with the same kind of drill sow-
ing-machine as is employed for the common grains.

2. The land may be formed into drills, as in the case of the
bean ; and the sowing-machines, Figs. 32 or 33, employed to
sow the seeds. The land is next to be harrowed across, and
thus the seeds are covered. It is not necessary to split the
drills by the plough, as in the case of the bean. The harrow
does the work equally well, covering the seeds of the pea to
the depth of 2 inches, which is sufficient.

3. The seeds are sometimes covered by the plough, in which
case they are sown in every third furrow. But the more fre-
quent practice is to sow in every furrow, in which case the
rows are only 9 or 10 inches asunder. This is a species of
drilling certainly, but the great advantages of the drilling-sys-
tem are lost when the intervals are thus narrow.

Of these methods of sowing the pease, the best, it is con-
ceived, is that of sowing them on a flat surface by the common
corn drill-machine, the orifices being adapted to the larger
size of the seeds.

When either system of culture is practised, the quantity of
seeds may be 3 bushels to the acre, or less.

When the plants are a few inches above ground, the horse-
hoe with lateral coulters (Fig. 37.) is to pass along the inter-
vals, the coulters being set to go as near the rows of plants as
possible without injuring them.

Soon after, the hand-hoers, with the hoe (Fig. 75.) follow,
and hoe up any weeds that are amongst the rows of plants, or
that may have escaped the action of the horse-hoe in the in-
tervals.

Then, before the plants come into flower, the hand-hoers are
again to pass along the rows, and hoe up all weeds as before.
This completes the culture of the pea, which will now grow
with great rapidity, and soon cover the intervals. Sometimes

280 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

this growth is so considerable, that only one hoeing can be
given ; but in every case one horse-hoeing in the early stage of
the plant, and one hand-hoeing, must be given.

When the intervals, however, are very narrow, as 8 or 9
inches, the common horse-hoe cannot be applied, and the hand-
hoe alone is used. In some cases, indeed, particular kinds of
horse-hoes with flat triangular shares are employed.

Early hoeing in the case of this plant should never be ne-
glected. The effect is not only to repress the growth of weeds
until the plant shall have acquired sufficient strength, but, as
in all cases of tilling the ground about the stems, to give in-
creased vigour to the growth of the plants. From the man-
ner of growth of the pea, and from its stems quickly stretch-
ing over the intervals of the rows, the process of hoeing should
be begun early, and assiduously prosecuted. After the first
crops of weeds are destroyed, the plants themselves will grow
and stiffle all that may spring up during the subsequent pe-
riod of their growth.

This is the system under which the pea may be beneficially
cultivated. The land will thus be cleaned in an efficient man-
ner, and prepared for any crops of grain that are to follow.

With the early-sown varieties of pease, it is common to sow
a proportion of beans. This is a good practice, the tall and
erect stems of the bean affording a support to the other, in the
same manner as branches do in a garden. The proportion of
beans may be equal to one-fourth part.

When manure is applied to the pea-crop, it should be laid
on the ground and covered by the plough before winter rather
than in spring, fresh manure tending to cause this plant to
run too much to straw. Lime is extremely beneficial in the
case of this crop.

The ordinary method of harvest management for the pea
differs from that of the other kinds of grain mentioned. In
some parts there is employed a tool called a pease-make, which
is merely the half of an old scythe fixed in a handle. With
this the pease are cut and rolled up into what arc called wads
or wisps, in which they are left to dry. In other cases, old

the pea. 281

blunt hooks are employed, by pulling which towards the reaper
the plant is torn and broken at the surface rather than cut.
The binders move in advance of the reapers, twisting the ropes
for binding, and laying them down. The reapers, as they ad-
vance, throw the ropes behind them, and lay upon them the
reaped pease in moderate bunches, their heads all in one direc-
tion. In this state they lie for a few days to wither, and are
then tied in sheaves, but they are not set up in shocks. They
are left upon the ground to dry until they are ready to be car-
ried home and stacked, and in the mean time they are to be
turned once a day, which is easily done by boys or girls pass-
ing along the rows with hooks in their hands, and hooking over
the bunches.

The produce of the pea is very uncertain. Perhaps none of
our cultivated crops present such frequent failures. This arises
partly from the diseases to which the plant is subject, and
partly from the effects of late ripening and unfavourable wea-
ther. Thirty bushels per acre are held to be a good crop in
most districts of this country. Perhaps the average of the
kingdom should not be stated as exceeded 20 bushels per acre.

Pease are much employed in this country as the food of
horses, and for this purpose they are generally mixed with oats.
They form a very nutritious food, and should be given when
dry, and in all cases bruised. They are also employed for the
feeding of hogs in the same manner as beans are, and they
form a nutritive and fattening food. In this respect they are
held to be superior to beans, which feeders imagine give a hard-
ness to the pork. The meal, too, as well as that of beans, is
made into a thick gruel, which, given with milk, forms an ex-
ceeding good food for calves, after they have been fed for some
time on milk.

But the pea is also used extensively for human food. In
some cases it is ground into meal, and made into bread ; which,
however, though nutritious, is coarse and unpalatable. But
the meal of the pea may be mixed to a considerable extent with
the flour of wheat, without sensibly impairing the qualities of
the latter. It is made also into bread with the flour and meal
of barley.

282 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

But the most common application of the produce of the pea
is for soups, puddings, and other articles of domestic economy.
In this way there is a great consumption of the pea in Eng-
land, partly the produce of the country and partly derived from
the Continent. And a distinction is made between the diffe-
rent kinds of pease, derived from the difficulty or facility of
boiling them. Those that moulder down are technically term-
ed boilers, and this property seems to arise less from the par-
ticular variety, than from the nature of the soil in which they
are produced. Calcareous matter, so favourable to the growth
of the plant, tends, it is said, to give the quality of hardness
to the seed. To fit the pea for its culinary preparations, the
seeds are subjected to a species of grinding, by which the ex-
ternal covering is rubbed off.

The straw of this plant is greatly esteemed for fodder. It
is not regarded as much inferior to hay, and it is given in place
of hay to the working cattle of the farm. Sheep too are fond
of it, and it may be given to them in the cases where hay would
otherwise be given.

The pea, like the bean, is subject to various diseases. It
suffers like the bean from rust, and is rather more subject to
injury from insects at the root. It is liable too, like the bean,
to the ravages of aphides. At a late period of its growth, great
injury is sometimes sustained by a small beetle, Bruchus gra-
narius, which deposites its eggs in the pods, and the grubs of
which destroy the seeds. Other species of beetles, in different
countries, prove fatal to the pea ; and in some countries to so
great an extent has this taken place, as to put a stop to the
cultivation of the plant. Assiduous tillage, and the avoiding
of too frequent repetition of the crop, are the best preserva-
tives against these evils.

3. The Lentil, Kidney-Bean, and Others.

Besides the bean and the pea, there are various plants of the
rich natural family to which they belong, which produce seeds
applicable to the purposes of human food.

THE PEA. 283

In Spain, Italy, the south of Germany, and France, a greater
consumption takes place of certain leguminous plants than is
common in this country. These are used for haricots, soups,
and other culinary preparations.

The principal plants of this class in cultivation are —

1. Ervum Lens — Common Lentil.

2. Ervum Ervilia — Bastard Lentil.

3. Ervum monanthos — One-flowered Lentil.

4. Lathyrus sativus — Cultivated Lathyrus.

5. Cicer arietinum — Chick-pea.

0. Phaseolus vulgaris — Common Kidney-bean.
7. Lupinus albus — White Lupine.

The Common Lentil, Ervum Lens, is familiar to us as a plant
of the garden. There are several varieties of it, distinguished
by the colour of their seeds, the greater or smaller growth of
their stems, and the earliness of their period of ripening. The
principal distinction is founded upon the colour of their seeds,
in which respect they are divided into the brown and the yel-
low.

The species Ervum Ervilia is a native of the south of
Europe. It is distinguished from the last in its botanical cha-
racters, but not in its uses.

Lentils have been cultivated from the earliest times. They
are greatly used all over the countries of the east, and, as has
been said, in various parts of Europe. They were at one time
more cultivated in England than now, but have generally given
place to the bean and the pea, the comparatively small quan-
tity of them which we consume being either raised in gardens,
or imported from other countries.

Lentils require a somewhat light soil and warmth. They
are greatly less productive of straw than the pea and the bean,
and the produce of their grain is also comparatively small.
Unless, then, there existed a sufficient demand and enhanced
price for their seeds, there could be no benefit in introducing
them into the field-culture of this country. They can always
be obtained in the quantity required from countries better
suited to produce them, and where the cost of labour is less.

2tU PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

Ervum monanthos, Oiie-flowered Lentil, grows with more
luxuriance than the last, and in its habit resembles the tare.

Lathyrus sativiis, Cultivated Lathyrus, is also sometimes
termed lentil. The seeds of this plant, when consumed in
great quantities, possess the remarkable property of producing
a paralysis or rigidity of the limbs, in the case of horses, hogs,
and other animals fed largely upon them. They are, however,
used extensively as food in Spain, the south of France, and
other parts of Europe ; and are much esteemed for fattening
various animals. The plant is of easy growth, and could be
readily cultivated ; but it does not appear to possess proper-
ties to 'entitle it to supersede the common leguminous plants
of our fields.

The Chick-pea, Cicer arietinum, grows naturally in the south
of Europe. It is a beautiful plant with a very branched stem,
and distinguished by its turgid legumes, and the peculiar form
of its seeds. It is too delicate a plant for field culture, and de-
generates when raised in the colder parts of Europe. It is
one of the various leguminosse cultivated in India under the
name of gram.

The Kidney-bean is another plant cultivated for its seeds.
Though said to be a native of India, it has been long familiar
in the gardens of this country. In the southern countries of
Europe, in Switzerland, Germany, and France, it is cultivated
in the fields. It furnishes a nutritive and delicate food used
in soups and haricots. Various species of it grow abundantly
in America, and there form an article of cultivation and food.

Some species and varieties have tendrils and climb ; others
are without tendrils. The most commonly cultivated species
in Europe is the common kidney-bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, of
which there are several minor varieties.

It has been sometimes observed, that the legumes of this
class are more used in Catholic than in Protestant countries.
This doubtless, in part, results from the abstinence from ani-
mal food on certain days, when the more nourishing kinds of
vegetables are resorted to. And there is no class of seeds which
forms so good a substitute for animal food as the legumes. As

BUCKWHEAT. 285

a substitute for farinaceous food, indeed, there is the potato,
which surpasses them all ; but still it were to be wished that
the cottagers of this country were taught to vary their repasts
with those simple and delicate preparations which are familiar
to the labourers of some other countries. The different species
of the kidney-bean, indeed, are not with us suited to field cul-
ture. But they may be raised in the garden, or chiefly ob-
tained from other countries, while our fields are devoted to the
production of plants congenial to the climate, and fitted to the
general purposes of the farm,

The Lupine is another plant whose seeds are used for food,
but they are coarse and bitter. The white lupine, Lupinusal-
bus, is the species most frequently cultivated for this purpose.
The lupines are known to us in this country as garden-flowers.
In Italy, and other parts of the south of Europe, they are cul-
tivated in the fields ; and a practice derived from the Roman
husbandman is still pursued, that of ploughing them clown,
when in flower, for manuring the ground.

Others of the Leguminosse might be enumerated, as form-
ing, or calculated to form, the subjects of cultivation for their
seeds ; but the bean and the pea, from their productiveness,
and the large growth of their steins, are calculated, beyond all
the others, to retain their place in the field-culture of northern
Europe.

III. BUCKWHEAT.

This plant is cultivated for the farina of its seeds. It be-
longs to a family, the Polygonew or Dock tribe, which is known
to farmers as affording a class of common weeds.

Of the genus Polygonum there are two species cultivated in
Europe for their seeds, —

1. Polygonum Fagopyrum — Common Buckwheat.
. 2. Polygonum tataricum — Tartarian Buckwheat.

The fh'st is the species commonly cultivated. The latter is

286 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS.

of larger growth, and is said to be more hardy, but it is less
productive of seeds than the common buckwheat. A third
species is cultivated in China and Chinese Tartary, Polygonum
emarginatum, Notch-seeded buckwheat, which resembles the
common buckwheat in its habit of growth. All these species
are annual.

Common buckwheat bears white flowers tinged with red. Its
stem is full of knots, and rises to the height of 2 feet or more.
The plant is of rapid growth, continues to flower long, and bears
at the same time flowers and ripened seeds.

Buckwheat is cultivated extensively in some countries. In
China and other countries of the East it is used as bread-
corn. It is produced for the same purpose in most countries
of Europe, as well as for the feeding of horses, hogs, and fowls.
In Germany and Poland the seeds are used for broths, gruels,
and other purposes. In Russia they form a great part of the
food of the inhabitants. In Spain, Italy, and the south of
France, they are also an object of extensive cultivation. The
Italian farmers cultivate this plant, as well as the species ta-
taricum, esteeming the latter in some cases as ripening more
early. Buckwheat was cultivated at a very remote period in
England, but it has now gone much into disuse. The buck-
wheat is a plant very generally diffused, owing in part, it
may be believed, to the little labour required in cultivating
it ; to the short period in which it completes its growth ; and
to the facility with which it may be produced even on the
poorest soils.

The soils suited to it are the lighter kinds. It should not
be sown earlier than the beginning of May, or rather the mid-
dle of May, as the young plants are apt to suffer from frost.
But as it grows with great quickness, it may be sown at any
time till midsummer.

The land should be prepared for it precisely as for pease,
and the seeds may be sown broadcast at the rate of from 1 to
1| bushel to the acre. It requires no further attention after
being sown than guarding it against the depredations of birds,
to which it is very subject. It may be cut by the scythe ;

BUCKWHEAT. 28"

and its subsequent management is similar to that of the other
grains.

Its produce may be reckoned from 25 to 30 bushels to the
acre, though this varies greatly under different states of soil
and culture. It is a peculiarity of the plant that it does not
ripen its seeds all at the same time, so that while a part of the
plant is bearing flowers another is ripening seeds. It must
be reaped, therefore, before a great part of its seeds can be
matured.

The seeds of the buckwheat may be given advantageously
to horses, to poultry, and to hogs. The external part of them
being rubbed off by a coarse grinding, they may be used for
human food like rice : they may also be converted into flour :
and, in short, there is no purpose for which the grain of the
cereal grasses can be used, to which the farina of buckwheat
may not be applied. But though the flour is white and whole-
some, it is comparatively deficient in gluten, and so does not
undergo the panary fermentation like wheat ; for which reason
it is generally made into a kind of cakes. Another of the
purposes to which the seeds of the plant maybe applied is dis-
tillation.

The stem of buckwheat when green seems to be nourishing,
but when dried it is hard, and not readily eaten by any kind
of animals. This, and the little comparative quantity of fod-
der produced, are the principal objections to the extension of
the culture of buckwheat in England ; and yet, from the faci-
lity with which the plant may be grown, and this on soils low
in the scale of fertility, its cultivation might in some cases be
attended with advantage. In the Netherlands it forms a re-
gular part of the rotation, and is sown on all soils where other
grains cannot be prepared in time.

One of the purposes to which it has been applied from time
immemorial, and for which, from the quickness with which it
grows, it seems well adapted, is the ploughing of it down green
as a manure for the land. Farmers who have made trial of
this practice speak favourably of its effects : and cases may
doubtless be conceived where it may be beneficially adopted.

288 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &o.

But, generally, where a good system of agriculture is establish-
ed, and where a proper combination of the practice of tillage
and feeding live-stock exists, a green crop, when raised, will
be more advantageously applied to the feeding of animals in
the first place, and then the manure which the consumption of
it produces applied to the ground.

II. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, TUBERS, AND

LEAVES.

1. The Turnip.

Of the genus Brassica, or Cabbage, the species chiefly inte-
resting to the farmer, as the subjects of cultivation, are —

1. Brassica Rapa — Common Turnip.

2. Brassica campestris — Wild Navew.

3. Brassica Napus — Rape or Cole.

4. Brassica prsecox — Early Cole.

5. Brassica oleracea — Cabbage.

These species may be cultivated nearly in the same manner.
But they may produce small fusiform roots, when they are cul-
tivated for their leaves, — or for their seeds, which yield oils ;
or they may produce large esculent roots, when they are cul-
tivated chiefly for their roots.

The varieties producing esculent roots are the following : —

1. Brassica Rapa — Common Turnip.

2. Brassica campestris Napo-brassica— Swedish Turnip.

3. Brassica Napus esculenta — Turnip rooted Cole.

4. Brassica oleracea caulo-rapa — Turnip-stemmed Cabbage, or

Kohl-rabi.

Those which are cultivated in the fields of this country un-
der the common term turnips, are —

1. The Common Turnip.

2. An intermediate class, which are probably hybridal varieties

between Brassica Rapa and other species.

3. The Swedish Turnip.

THE TURNIP.

289

The common turnip has numerous sorts, distinguished by
their size, form, time of ripening, and other properties. This
plant has, like the others of the genus, two periods in its
growth. In the first, the leaves rise directly from the root,
and are large, rough, and jagged. In the second period, or
that of its flowering, which is generally in the second season
of its growth, it sends forth a stem, 4, 5, or 6 feet in height,
with smooth pointed leaves, entirely different from its first or
root-leaves.

The minor varieties produced by the effects of climate, soil,
and cultivation, are very numerous, and have every-where local
terms attached to them. For the purposes of the agriculturist
they may be divided into three classes, distinguished by their
form : — 1. the round or globular ; 2. the depressed ; and, 3.
the fusiform. These may be considered as types, to which the
different cultivated kinds more or less approach. Fig. 146.
represents the round or globular kind, commonly termed the
globe-turnip ; Fig. 147, the depressed, frequently termed the
Norfolk-turnip ; and Fig. 148, the fusiform, frequently called
the tankard- turnip.

Fig. 146.

Fig. 147.

They are further distinguished by the colour of the portion
of the root which grows above ground. This may be white,
green, or red ; and the distinction is of some practical import-
ance, because those of the white colour are regarded as the
most palatable to animals, while the others are the more hardy
but the less esteemed as food. These colours pass by imper-
ceptible gradations the one into the other, but, generally, they

T

290 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

are readily enough distinguished for the purposes of the far-
mer.

The turnips of the next class are distinguished from these
by the root being yellow internally, and externally also under
the surface of the ground. They have the leaves of the com-
mon turnip, and the habit and character of the Brassica cam-
pestris and Brassica Napus, and may be supposed to be hy-
bridal varieties, formed between the common turnip and these
species. The turnips of this class are hardy and nutritious,
and resist well the winter frosts. They are distinguished from
one another by the colour of the root above ground, which is
sometimes dark purple, and sometimes green.

The last species is the Swedish turnip, as it is usually
called. The substance of these turnips is hard and nutri-
tious. They resist well the severities of the weather; and, retain-
ing their juices and nutritive properties till a late period in
spring, they are highly valued as a resource for livestock at
that season. The leaves of the Swedish turnip are less acrid
than those of the common turnip, and may be used for human
food in place of cabbage.

The Swedish turnip is cultivated in the same manner as the
common and yellow turnips, but it is generally sown several
weeks earlier, on account\of the comparative slowness of its
growth. It is more difficult to be raised than the common tur-
nip, requires a larger quantity of manure, and should be sown
on a good soil. It has a property which the common turnip
has not, that of bearing to be transplanted when young, so that
when blanks appear in a field the spaces may be filled up by
transplanting.

In the common management of the farm, the Swedish tur-
nips are first sown, the next in order are the yellow, and then
the common.

The soils suited to the turnip are those of the lighter kind.
The proper place in the rotation is, immediately succeeding a
corn-crop, and preceding another corn-crop.

The land intended for the turnip, as for all other green or
fallow crops, is to be ploughed by a deep furrow in autumn.

THE TURNIP. 291

after the preceding crop of corn has been removed. The land
is to be ploughed lengthwise, in the direction of the former
ridges, by being cast or cloven, with open or close furrows, as
the nature of the land may require ; and care must be taken
that no water shall stagnate upon the surface.

In the following spring, when the crops of corn are sown,
and the potatoes planted, and when the ground is sufficiently
dry, the tillage of the turnip-land is resumed. The chief pe-
riod of the preparation of it is in the month of May and be-
ginning of June.

The first ploughing is to be given across, and the ground is
to be repeatedly harrowed by double turns of the harrow in
various directions. This is for the purpose of pulverizing the
ground, and of dragging to the surface and disengaging the
roots of weeds below the ground. To assist in this operation,
the roller is also to be employed when necessary; and the
grubber is a useful subsidiary to the harrow and the plough.
The roots of the plants disengaged are then to be gathered
with care, and carried to a heap, to be mixed with quicklime
and other substances, to form a compost. At the same time,
loose stones and other obstacles to tillage may be removed.

The land is immediately afterwards to be ploughed in a di-
rection traversing the last ploughing ; and the same process of
harrowing, rolling, and collecting the disengaged weeds, is to
be repeated. The land is once more ploughed, and again the
same operations are resorted to ; after which the land is gene-
rally in a fit condition to be formed into drills. Should this
not be so, the operation of ploughing, harrowing, and gather-
ing of weeds, is to be repeated, and this until the ground is
cleared of injurious roots, and reduced to a friable state.

After this preparation, the land is to be formed into drills.
This is to be done by single-bout ridgelets, precisely in the
manner described for the bean. The width of these drills, and
consequently the distance from centre to centre, may be from
27 to 30 inches, which is necessary to allow the intervals to be
tilled by the horse-hoe, and to admit of a sufficient circulation

T2

292

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

of air between the rows,
will appear thus —

A transverse section of the drills

Fig. 149.

The manure chiefly applied to this crop, in the ordinary
course of management, is farm-yard dung. This requires to
be well prepared. It is conveniently carried out, as was for-
merly explained, to the field, and laid in one or more large
heaps. It is necessary to turn it over once, or oftener, in or-
der that it may undergo the necessary degree of fermentation.

When the drills are thus formed, the dung is to be carried
forward to them in single-horse carts. The driver directs the
horse along the interval of a drill, consequently each wheel of
the cart will be in the interval adjoining. As the cart moves
along, the workman pulls out the dung into little heaps, by
means of the dung-drag (Fig. 77), and thus the dung is laid
in heaps in the hollow of each third drill, at the distance from
one another of 8 or 10 feet. For the economy of labour in this
process, one or more persons are at the dung-heaps to fill, one
person drives the loaded carts to the drills and brings back the
empty ones, and one person at the drills drags out the dung in
the manner described.

Following the carts are persons, generally females or young
lads, with light three-pronged forks (Fig. 70), to spread out
the dung from the little heaps regularly along the hollow of
each drill. Four persons should be employed for every three
drills, the duty of one of them being to go before and distri-
bute the dung lying in the centre drill between it and each of
the adjoining ones ; while the three others, taking each a drill,
spread the dung regularly along the hollows.

A cross section of the drills with the dung deposited in the
intervals will appear thus —

Fig. !50.

THE TURNIP.

293

The dung being spread in this manner is immediately co-
vered by the common plough, which, passing down the middle
of each drill, splits it into two, so that a new drill is formed,
whose top is immediately above the former hollow of the old
drill, thus —

Fig. 151.

The operation of splitting the drills is performed by the
common plough as follows : —

A double mould-board plough, by passing along the centre
of each drill, would simply perform this operation. It is, how-
ever, more frequently done by means of the common plough in
the following manner. In the figure below, let ABCDEF re-
present the apices of the old drills ; let the plough be supposed
driven in the direction from H to I, that is just along the centre
of the drill, until it arrives at the headland at I ; let it then
turn to the right, and entering at K, the centre of the next
drill, pass along the centre of the drill in the direction KG.

Fig. 152.

This will form the first drill, of which the apex is L. Let the
plough then turn to the right, and proceed by the centre of
the next drill MN. Let it then turn to the right, and proceed

21)4 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

from I to H. In this manner the drill, of which the apex is
O, will have been formed, and this, it will be observed, by two
bouts of the plough, first from M to N, and then from I to H.
It is thus a double-bout drill. Let the plough, in like manner,
turn from H to P, and proceed along the centre of the next
drill in the direction PQ. Let it then return by NM, and so
form the drill, of which the apex is R. By proceeding in this
manner throughout the field, each of the new drills covering
the dung will be formed, appearing in a transverse section as
before represented.

The dung is now completely covered, and a new drill for
the reception of the seeds at once formed. The double mould-
board plough would perform this operation by one turn, but
the common plough does it more completely by two turns.

Instead of depositing the dung in the manner described, it
is sometimes laid upon the stubble after harvest, and is then
covered by the first ploughing given. This, however, infers
that a supply of manure remains upon the farm from the pre-
vious winter, or that it has been obtained elsewhere. The
most economical employment, however, of manure made upon
the farm, is in the spring immediately succeeding the winter in
which it has been produced.

As liberal an expenditure of manure as can be afforded is al-
ways to be made in the case of the turnip-crop, the goodness of
which will much depend upon the fertility which is communi-
cated to the soil. But, in the common management of farms
remote from the means of procuring external supplies, and
where turnips are cultivated on the great scale, it is necessary
to economise this valuable substance ; and 10 or 12 tons per
acre are considered to be the ordinary manuring on a regular
turnip-farm.

Sometimes lime is applied to the turnip-crop together with
dung. This may be done by laying the lime upon the stubble
after harvest, or by spreading it upon the ground and harrow-
ing it well previous to the forming of the drills.

Street-dung is a good manure for turnips. Sea-weed, too, is

THE TURNIP. 295

used ; and ashes generally produce a good effect, by causing the
seeds to vegetate quickly ; though their fertilizing effects are
not usually of a permanent nature, and they are not so much
esteemed as farm-yard dung.

Bruised bones have been employed with the best effects for
the manuring of turnips, and are regarded as an important sub-
sidiary to the other manures upon a turnip-farm. They may
be applied in two ways, either by being spread in the hollow of
the drills, and covered in the same manner as dung, or by be-
ing sown at the same time with the seeds, by means of an appa-
ratus attached to the sowing-machine. Rape-dust may also be
applied to the turnip-crop. It is usually deposited in the ground
at the same time as the seeds, and by means of an apparatus
similar to that employed in sowing bruised bones. When the
manures are sown, the drills are not reversed as in the case of
the application of dung, but made at once in their most per-
fect form by a dduble bout of the plough.

The apparatus employed for depositing the manure is va-
riously constructed. It may consist of a large box placed
upon the frame-work of the sowing-machine. Moving in the
lower part of this box is a spindle, with teeth or pinions upon
it. These teeth, working amongst the bruised manure, cause
it to fall through apertures at the bottom of the box, as in the
case of the broadcast sowing-machine. The bruised manure
falling into funnels, is conveyed to the ground just before the
tubes which convey the seeds of the turnips to the ground, and
in this manner both are sown at the same time.

But reverting to the case of" manuring with dung, which is
the most frequent in practice : the dung, it has been said, hav-
ing been spread, is covered, and new drills are formed, which
are now ready for the reception of the seeds.

The seeds are sown by the turnip-drill (Fig. 35), which is
drawn by one horse, the horse walking in the hollow of the
drills, and the workman who guides it holding the handles of
the machine. By this operation, the drills are compressed by
the roller in front of the coulters formerly represented. A
transverse section of the drills will now appear thus :

29G

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

Fig. 153.
^SSSMSSSiSv j^S^s^^Ss. .«S?SS88SS8SS^X

& 1 ..

The several operations of forming the drills, of spreading
the dung, of covering it by the plough, and of sowing the seeds,
are to be carried on in close succession. The dung is to be
immediately covered, so that none of it may be lost by evapora-
tion ; and to promote the early vegetation of the seeds, they are
to be sown while the earth is newly turned up and moist.

The seeds of turnips may be sown upon a flat surface in
rows, as well as upon the raised drills here described. But in
the parts of this country where the turnip culture is the most
extensively and perfectly executed, the system of drills is pre-
ferred, for the following reasons : —

1st, The manure can be more readily covered, and by being
applied close to the roots of the plants, a smaller quantity will
suffice to produce a given effect.

2d, The land can be kept more dry, and crops accordingly
raised upon land so wet as otherwise to be incapable of yield-
ing returns of any value.

But whether the method of sowing in rows upon a flat or
drilled surface be adopted, either is far superior to the practice
of sowing broadcast.

By sowing in rows, the plants can be more cheaply and
quickly hand-hoed, the process being so simple as to be taught
to young persons in a few hours ; whereas, when the plants
are not regularly disposed in rows, considerable experience
and time are required ; and what is of greater importance still,
the land under the one system can be more thoroughly hoed
and cleaned during the growth of the plants than under the
other.

The quantity of seeds sown may be 2 lb. to the acre. It is
not proper to make the quantity excessive, but a sufficient num-
ber of seeds must be sown to provide against the loss of plants
from the attacks of insects, and from other contingencies.

THE TURNIP. 20/

In the climate of the north of England and Scotland, the
period of sowing is generally from the first to the end of June,
though it is sometimes continued till the middle of July. The
turnips sown after the latter of these periods seldom attain to
a proper size, and when sown earlier than the first of June they
are apt to shoot forth their flowering stem before winter, by
which the nutritive juices of the root are exhausted. The best
period of sowing, under the condition of climate supposed, is
from the beginning to the middle of June ; but in different
countries the period of sowing must be suited to the warmth
of the climate and quickness of vegetation.

When the plants have assumed what is termed the rough
leaf, and are about two inches in height, the process of hoeing
is to commence. This first hoeing may be performed by the
small plough (Fig. 36) drawn by one horse, going and return-
ing along the interval of each drill, and cutting off a shallow
slice of earth as near to the turnips as possible. Or the same
operation may be more conveniently performed by the hoe with
lateral coulters (Fig. 37), passing along each interval once. A
section of the ground appears thus :

Fig. 154.

— \ ■ — j ' —

After this operation the plants are hoed to the proper dis-
tance from one another by the hand-hoers, with the hoe (Fig. 75).
Each takes a drill, and, standing facing the rows, by an alter-
nate pushing and drawing of the hoe from and towards him,
thins the turnips, leaving them standing singly at the distance
from each other of from 9 to 10 inches. By this operation the
rows of the turnips are cleaned of all weeds, the superfluous
plants of turnips cut up and pushed into the intervals where
they die, and the plants to be preserved left standing at the dis-
tance required from one another. A transverse section of the
drills will then appear thus :

298 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

Fig. 155.

Soon after the operation in question, weeds will again spring
up in the intervals of the rows and amongst the plants. In
the course, therefore, of 12 days or more, the horse-hoe again
passes along the intervals of the drills, cutting up all the weeds
that may have sprung up; and afterwards the hand-hoers,
with the same instrument as before, hoe round the plants, and
carefully single any that may have been passed over in the
first hoeing.

Sometimes the horse-hoe passes again along the intervals,
but more frequently the hand-hoeing concludes the process, the
weeds being now kept down by the rapid growth of the plants,
and the overshadowing of the intervals by the leaves.

Very frequently, however, after an interval of 8 or 10 days
from the last hand or horse hoeing, the earth is laid up to the
stems of the plants by the double mould-board plough passing
along the intervals of the rows, and ridging up the earth thus :

Fig. 156.

The design in this operation is, that any weeds remaining
in the intervals after the former hoeings, may be destroyed, and
that the turnips may be kept more dry during wet weather in
the months of winter.

This concludes the culture of the turnip, which now grows
rapidly without further care ; and by the beginning of Sep-
tember, the leaves of a good crop will have covered the entire
surface of the field.

Towards the end of October or beginning of November, when

THE TURNIP. 299

the pastures have decayed, the turnips are to be used for food.
The manner of consuming them is various, and dependent up-
on the kind of stock to be fed : —

1. They may be pulled up and carried to a separate field,
and spread upon the ground, to be consumed by the feeding
animals.

2. Where sheep are to be fed, the animals may be penned
upon the ground, and thus allowed to consume the turnips
where they have grown.

3. The turnips may be pulled up and carried to the oxen
or other animals in their feeding stalls or yards, in the manner
to be afterwards explained.

4. The turnips may be taken up and stored in a conve-
nient place for use. In this case they are to be pulled from
the groimd about the beginning of November, or previous to
the frosts of winter. In the act of pulling, a slight twisting
motion is given to disengage the earth, and then the tap-root,
and the tops or leaves, are cut off, each by stroke of a hook
or knife, care being taken not to wound or injure the root.
The roots thus divested of their leaves and tap-roots, are to be
carried to some convenient situation, placed on a dry base of
6 feet or more in breadth, and piled up as high as they will
conveniently stand. The heap is then to be thatched with
straw, and secured with straw-ropes, thus forming an oblong
heap of the size required.

Turnips may be preserved by storing for some months, but
they lose a portion of their nutritive juices, and become less
palatable to cattle. They are, therefore, best consumed soon
after they are taken from the ground. The reasons that may
exist for storing are : 1st, The necessity in countries where the
winters are long and severe, and the snows deep, of having a
surplus store in readiness ; 2d, The expediency of clearing land
for the purpose of sowing any particular crop, previous to the
time at which it may be convenient to consume the turnips ;
and, 3c?, The advantage of removing them from certain wet
and clayey lands, before the season arrives when they could
not be removed without injury to the surface.

300 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

Turnips suffer greatly from sudden alterations of frost and
thaw, in spring, particularly, when the heat is considerable, and
when they have no covering of snow to defend them. There
is no remedy for this evil but to consume the turnips if pos-
sible before putrefaction has begun. The storing process is a
considerable preventive of the decay of turnips in spring. A
practice, too, is sometimes resorted to, of covering the turnips
in the rows where they grow before winter. This is done by
the plough passing along the intervals, and raising the earth
over the turnips, which is found to be a tolerably good defence
against the effects of extreme frosts.

In frosts, the turnips are often so hard and frozen to the
ground as not to be raised without great labour. In this case
they must be taken up by hoes, it being impracticable to pull
them by the hand. Often the turnips are cut into pieces be-
fore being given to the larger cattle and sheep. This is ef-
fected by the machine (Fig. 46) formerly described. But these
and other details with respect to the consumption of the turnip,
will be explained when treating of the rearing and feeding of
live-stock.

Sometimes the turnip is cultivated for its seeds for sowing ;
and by careful selection, varieties of the plant may be multi-
plied and improved. A maimer of procuring a good variety
of turnip, is to pick out from the field in autumn or the follow-
ing spring the largest and best formed turnips, with the small-
est tops and tap-roots, and to plant them in some separate
place in rows. The plants will flower in spring, and when
their pods are formed, they are to be guarded from the de-
predations of birds, and the stems are to be cut dowTn and well
dried, and then either stored in stacks, to be thrashed out
when wanted, or thrashed at once, and the seeds preserved in
the granary.

The diseases and accidents to which this valuable plant is
subject are considerable.

The chief danger to it is in the early stage of its growth,
when either the seed may not vegetate from a deficiency of
moisture, or when the plant may be destroyed by the attacks

THE TURNIP. .301

of animals. Should the turnips fail from either of these causes,
the sowing is to be repeated by simply driving the sowing-
machine along the drills, or by again ridging up the compressed
drills, and then sowing them.

The insect the most destructive to the turnip during the first
stage of its growth, is familiarly known to farmers by the name
of the turnip-fly. It is a species of beetle, the Haltica nemorum
of entomologists. This creature attacks the plant as soon as
the cotyledon leaves are upon it ; when the plants have put on
the second or rough leaves, they are regarded as safe from in-
jury from the beetle, and hence a security against its ravages
is a rapid and vigorous vegetation of the plant.

There are other creatures that attack the plant at this stage,
and when it has escaped these early enemies, it is sometimes
attacked by the larvae of a species of saw-fly. These, however,
are more partial enemies to the turnip plant than the beetle,
though occasionally they are very destructive.

The turnip is liable to a kind of blight. Another of the
diseases to which it is subject is a species of canker. The
disease attacks the root, but its presence is first discovered by
the leaves becoming flaccid and drooping. The roots, in place
of enlarging into their usual form, shoot away into excrescences.
They become acrid, and even at an early stage of the disease
animals reject them. Towards autumn they become ulcerated,
and at length decay. A species of maggot is found in them,
but whether this be a consequence of the disease or a cause of
it, has not been satisfactorily determined. This destructive
disease has been long known in England, and frequently re-
ceives the name of " fingers and toes.1" It sometimes affects par-
ticular districts, and generally continues its ravages for many
years in succession. The only sure remedy for the disease
is to cease cultivating the turnip when it appears, and substi-
tuting for a time some other species of crop. When turnips
follow in a regular rotation, as at intervals of four or five years,
by omitting them once and substituting a crop of potatoes,
the disease will afterwards be greatly mitigated, and sometimes
removed.

302 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

The extended culture of the turnip has enabled us to carry
the practice of breeding and feeding our domestic animals to
a state of perfection, in which no other country has yet been
able to rival Great Britain. The cultivation of the plant in
rows, instead of the former method of broadcast, may well be
regarded as an improvement of the highest importance. It has
enabled the farmer to secure abundant returns, which the for-
mer methods of cultivation did not admit of, and so to increase
the number of useful animals that may be maintained upon
the farm, and to subject the lighter soils to a species of culture
more beneficial than any other that had been before devised
for them.

2. Rape.

The plants usually cultivated under the name of Rape, are
the fusiform varieties of the following species of Brassica : —

1. Brassica Napus — Cole or Rape.

2. Brassica campestris — Colza.

3. Brassica Rapa — Fusiform Common Turnip.

4. Brassica prsecox — Early Cole.

Brassica Napus, Cole or Rape, is a native plant. All its
leaves are smooth. When cultivated, it produces abundance
of leaves and seeds. The leaves are used for food, and from
the seeds oil is expressed.

Brassica campestris differs from the last in having its lower
leaves slightly rough. It has been thought to yield a larger
quantity of oil than the last.

The other kinds of rape, namely, the fusiform varieties of
Brassica Rapa, and Brassica prcecox, are of more partial cul-
tivation, and are not reckoned so productive of leaves and seeds
as the other species.

The rape is a hardy plant, and has a wider range of soils
than the turnip. It grows, like the turnip, on the lighter soils,
but may be raised also on the stiffer and even somewhat humid
clays. It requires less of culture and manure than the turnip,

RAPE. .303

and consequently can be produced under circumstances in
which the turnip cannot be profitably cultivated.

The manner of cultivating the rape for its leaves is very si-
milar to the manner of cultivating the turnip ; but it admits of
variations suited to the soil, the period of sowing, and other
circumstances.

The land intended for rape should, as in the case of the tur-
nip, be ploughed before winter. In the following season it
should be cross-ploughed, harrowed, rolled, and cleaned of the
roots of weeds. It then should be ploughed a second time,
harrowed, rolled, and cleaned ; and a third ploughing and se-
ries of harrowings being given, it will be fit for being sown.

The land may be formed into drills, manured and sown
precisely as in the case of turnips, but with narrower intervals
between the rows. A distance of 24 inches will suffice to ad-
mit of the operation of the horse-hoe.

The rape-seeds may also and conveniently be sown in rows
upon a flat surface and in like manner at intervals of 24 inches.
Under this method, when the ground has been ploughed and
harrowed, and the root^ weeds removed, the dung may be spread
upon the surface, as in the case of summer-fallow, and covered
by the plough. After this the rape-seeds are to be sown in
rows, and the land being rolled, the seeds will be covered.

Instead of dung, bruised bones may be employed. These
should be well ground, and sown by a machine. Rape-dust
may be also used, and this forms a good manure to the plant.

Whether the method of sowing on raised drills, or in rows
on a flat surface, be adopted, the land is to be hoed after the
plants have come above ground and fully assumed their second
leaves. This may be done by the hoeing-plough, with lateral
coulters ; immediately following which go the hoers, who, with
hoes 6 inches broad, single out the plants to the distance from
one another of about 8 inches. Another horse and hand hoe-
ing are given ; and these complete the culture of the rape.

Very often, however, the rape-seeds are sown broadcast;
and if the land is well prepared, good crops can be raised in
this manner.

304 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

The rape admits of being sown later than the turnip, and
therefore, when the land cannot be prepared in sufficient time
for the turnip, it is yet ready for a crop of rape.

The great advantage which the culture of the rape presents,
is the facility with which the plant may be produced, and on
inferior soils, where the turnip could not be beneficially culti-
vated. The rape may often obviate the necessity of an entire
summer-fallow upon such soils ; for it may be eaten upon the
ground with sheep in the month of September, and thus a crop
of wheat be sown in the same year. Under this system, very
inferior clays have been made to produce excellent crops of
wheat.

The rape is frequently sown as a kind of intermediate crop.
Thus, after a crop of corn has been reaped, rape may be sown
upon the ploughed stubble, and will in the following spring
yield a tolerable supply of green food.

After land has been prepared for summer-fallow, but when
it is not intended to sow wheat in that season, but to take oats
or barley in the following spring, then rape may be sown with
advantage. In this case, the land being already well prepared,
the rape will grow with vigour, and be ready in spring to be
Consumed before the spring crop is sown.

Rape, too, may be frequently sown after early pease and
potatoes, and produce an exceedingly good crop.

It is for this kind of intermediate cropping that the rape is
in a peculiar degree adapted. It may be sown, it has been
said, much later than the turnip, and in cases where the tur-
nip could not be produced.

Rape may be mown for forage, and will spring again. It is
best, however, consumed on the ground by sheep penned upon
it.

Rape bears well to be transplanted. It may thus be sown
in seed-beds, and then transplanted to the place where it is to
grow. By being prepared in a seed-bed, it can be got ready
to be planted on stubble-land in autumn, as soon as the crop
is removed. This practice, however, is chiefly applicable when

2

THE CABBAGE. 305

the rape is cultivated for its seeds, and will be adverted to
when considering the rape as a plant producing oil.

3. The Cabbage.

The Cabbage, commonly so called, is Brassica oleracea. This
species assumes a vast variety of form and character. The
wild cabbage, from which the greater number of the cultiva-
ted kinds are derived, is a little plant growing upon our sea-
coasts. Yet to this plant we certainly owe the greater part
of the numerous varieties cultivated in our gardens and fields.
We cannot, indeed, be assured of the origin of all the cultiva-
ted kinds, for, besides the variations produced by climate and
art, all the species of Brassica form hybrids with one another.

The different kinds in cultivation may be arranged in dif-
ferent classes, according to their general aspect and more po-
pular characters : —

1. Those which bear their leaves on stalks without their
being formed into a head. Some of these have crisped leaves,
and are a class of hardy pot-herbs everywhere familiar in the
culture of the garden. Others have smoothish leaves with long
branched stems. These comprehend the largest and most
productive of all the cabbages, — the Jersey cole, the thousand-
headed cabbage, and others.

2. Those whose leaves are formed into a large head. These
comprehend the larger cabbages cultivated in the fields. The
savoys of our gardens are allied to this class.

3. Those whose roots become napiform, as the Kohl-rabi.

4. Those in which the stem divides and forms a corymbose
head, as in the cauliflower and broccoli.

The cabbages of the first class, with crisped leaves, fre-
quently termed Greens, are very hardy. They are cultivated
pretty extensively in some parts of the north of Europe ; but
in others they are chiefly regarded as pot-herbs, and confined
to the garden.

The branched kinds with smoothish leaves are the most
productive, but at the same time they require a good soil and

u

306 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

favourable climate. Their leaves are stript off as they are re-
quired for use ; and as these are constantly supplied by fresh
leaves, the plants yield a succession of forage throughout a
great part of the season, and they remain growing for several
years.

There are different varieties of these larger cabbages, which
are more or less valued in the places where they are cultiva-
ted. The thousand-headed cabbage, Chou a mille tetes, is re-
marked as possessing a greater number of shoots ; the cow-
cabbage, as growing more to one stem, and producing cream-
coloured flowers ; the Jersey cole, as being similar in its
growth, and producing yellow flowers.

In Jersey and Guernsey, where the cultivation of these
plants is well understood, they are sown in beds in autumn,
and planted out in succession from November till February.
About the month of April, the farmers begin with the first
sown to strip off their under leaves for use. They give them
to their cows, hogs, and other stock. They cut them in small
pieces, and mix them with bran and other farinaceous sub-
stances. During the summer they continue this process of
stripping off the leaves, the plant in the mean time rising to
the height of several feet.

This plant requires a good soil and plentiful manure, and is
regarded as a great exhauster of the soil. It perhaps yields a
larger proportion of nutriment within the same period than
any other forage-plant. It may be presumed that it is not
well fitted for general cultivation, and in this country will only
succeed in favourable situations, as the south of England and
Ireland, and the beautiful little islands where it is now culti-
vated.

The kinds of the cabbage which are best suited to general
cultivation in the fields are the large-headed field cabbages, as
the Large Scottish or Yorkshire, the Drumhead, and the Ame-
rican. These and other names, however, are frequently ap-
plied where there is no real distinction. They are all known by
their large leaves, which, as the plant advances, collapse and
form a dense head.

THE CABBAGE. 307

The next class consists of those in which the root becomes
napiform. There are varieties, the principal of which is the
Kohl-rabi. This plant is cultivated in Germany and the north
of Europe. It is valued as a resource for cattle in winter.
While it produces a root like a turnip, it at the same time
sends forth stems bearing leaves like a cabbage. It is not
only hardy, but keeps better in store than any plant of the
cabbage kind. It may be cultivated in the same manner as
the Swedish and yellow turnips; but the experiments that
have been made with it in this country lead to the inference,
that it is not equal to those turnips for the purposes of feed-
ing.

The cabbages of the last-mentioned class, as the cauliflower
and the broccoli, are entirely limited to the garden.

Of the different kinds, therefore, it appears that the large
field-cabbage, whatever name it may receive, is that which is
best suited for common field-culture.

The cabbage may be cultivated like the turnip, being sown
in drills, and tilled and hoed in the same manner. The pro-
per method, however, of cultivating the cabbage is to sow the
seeds of it in the first place in beds, and then to plant it by the
dibble or spade in the situations which it is to occupy.

The land is to be ploughed with a deep furrow in autumn,
precisely as for the turnip ; it is to be cross-ploughed in spring,
harrowed and rolled if necessary, cleaned of root-weeds, and
again ploughed ; and the same operation of harrowing and col-
lecting weeds is to be repeated. If the land is now in a fit
state to be formed into drills, this is to be done ; if not, it is to
be again ploughed, harrowed and cleaned, and finally formed
into drills 30 inches from centre to centre, the dung being spread
as in the case of the turnip culture, at the rate of not less than
20 tons to the acre.

In the mean time the young plants are being prepared. For
this purpose, the seeds must have been sown as early in spring
as the weather allowed, on some land in good heart, well shel-
tered, and carefully digged. This should have been done in
the month of March ; and about the middle of May, or as soon

u2

308 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

afterwards as possible, the plants are to be set along the tops of
the drills by the dibble, at the distance between each plant of
2| feet. The land should be moist when this operation is per-
formed.

The cabbage is usually intended for spring food. If de-
signed in any case for early feeding, the seeds should be sown
in the previous autumn, and well protected from the frost.
They will be ready to be planted out on the drills early in
May, and they will be fit for use in October.

The intervals of the cabbage are tilled by the horse and
hand hoe, as in the case of the turnip ; and the distance of the
plants affords the opportunity of doing this with effect. The
last tillage should be that of earthing up the soil thoroughly to
the stems of the plants.

Cabbages do not endure storing like turnips, and therefore
they should be consumed nearly in proportion as they are pull-
ed from the ground.

They should be carried to the yards and sheds, and given to
the cattle in troughs or mangers, the stem being cut off by a
hook or knife. When they are to be given to sheep, they
should be carried to a dry field, and laid upon the ground.
They may be boiled or steamed, but they are usually given in
a raw state. They are relished by all feeding animals, and
furnish a wholesome nutritive food. They are chiefly valued,
however, for the feeding of milch cows, to which purpose they
are largely applied in some of the dairy-districts in England.

The cabbage is a more nutritive plant than the turnip, and
will feed a greater quantity of animals from the same extent of
ground. It is suited to a different class of soils from those to
which the turnip is suited, the soils best adapted to the cabbage
being the clayey.

The cabbage is generally regarded as an exhausting crop.
In this respect it probably follows the law of all plants that
yield a great degree of nourishment, abstracting a correspond-
ing quantity of nutritive substances from the soil. But then if
it returns back a corresponding quantity of manure by its con-
sumption, it cannot be said to be an exhauster of the farm.

THE POTATO. 309

On the Continent, and in the districts of England, where it
is cultivated, it is known to be a plant that requires a good
supply of manure. But then it is known to be a rich forage-
plant, and calculated to replace that manure by its consump-
tion on the farm.

The expediency, however, of extending the culture of the
cabbage in any part of this country, depends mainly upon the
nature of the soil and climate.

The turnip and the potato are substitutes for the feeding of
live-stock, which are more readily and safely raised over a great
part of the soils of this country ; and hence the culture of the
cabbage is more confined to particular situations, and these
where the climate and other circumstances are favourable.
Thus, north of the Tweed, the cabbage, though often tried,
has never been greatly cultivated, and it is not until we reach
the more southern parts of the kingdom, that the culture of the
cabbage can be said to be fairly established as an object of
field-culture. There the crops of it are heavy in proportion to
the crops of turnips ; while in the more northern parts of the
country, the crops of turnips are heavy in proportion to the
crops of cabbage.

Nevertheless, even in the parts of this country less favour-
ably situated, there are many cases in clay-land districts, in
which the cabbage may be substituted for the bean in the rota-
tion. But whether or not it be expedient to introduce the cul-
ture of the cabbage as a regular part of the rotation, it can al-
ways be cultivated successfully on the small scale. It is on the
smaller possessions accordingly that we see the most frequent
patches of the cabbage, and this is as it should be, because the
state of possession admits of more attention being paid to the
tillage and manuring of the plant, than might be consistent
with the regular labours of a more extended farm.

4. The Potato.

This plant, of the genus Solatium, is of the natural order
Manew, or the Night-shade tribe. The juices of the plants of

310 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

this family possess certain narcotic and stimulating properties,
which in excess are poisonous. But these properties exist in
different species in different degrees ; so that, while some of
them, as the deadly night-shade, are highly poisonous, others
are merely narcotic, and others yield common articles of food.
Even the tubers of the common potato, which are regarded as
so nutritive, possess certain poisonous properties, which are ex-
pelled by heat in the process of preparing them for human
food. Of the species of Solanum, several are cultivated in dif-
ferent countries for their uses in domestic economy and the
arts ; but of all the species, the most important to the human
race is —

Solanum tuberosum — the Tuberous-rooted Night-shade or Potato.

This species is a native of America, and it has been ob-
served, that it is the most precious gift of the New World
to the Old. It appears to have reached Europe from the Spa-
nish settlements : but it came to England from Virginia, being
brought to it, as is supposed, by the brave and unfortunate Sir
Walter Raleigh. The history of its introduction into the va-
rious countries of Europe and Asia is remarkable. It was for
the most part received with tardiness, distrust, or contempt ;
while another plant of the same natural family, the Tobacco,
possessing merely the properties of a narcotic, was no sooner
made known than it was received with eagerness in every part
of the habitable world.

The use, however, of the potato has constantly extended :
it forms now a great part of the food of the inhabitants of
Europe, and its more general consumption has, beyond all
question, lessened the hazards of famine, and added greatly to
the comforts of the labouring people. It grows exempt from
the hazards to which almost all other crops are subject. Its
tubers ripen under the earth, and so are defended from the
effects of winds and storms. It yields a large quantity of fe-
cula, which can be obtained separately from the tuber. It
may be used in its natural state, either directly as the food of
man, or for the feeding of domestic animals. It has a wider

THE POTATO. 311

range of soils and temperature than most other cultivated
plants, grows on soils the lowest in the scale of fertility, and is
capable of supporting a greater number of human beings upon
the same extent of ground than any other plant cultivated in
the temperate regions. Under every system of agriculture it
is a beneficial object of culture; and to the settlers of new
countries, it is, of all the cultivated plants, the securest, the
most easily produced, and the least liable to the contingencies
of the seasons.

The potato rises with a branched and succulent stem, bear-
ing white or purplish flowers. The fruit is a round berry, of
the size of a little plum, green at the first, but growing black
when ripe, and containing numerous small seeds. The root
has many tubers attached to it of a round or oblong form.

The potato may be propagated from its seeds, and it is in
this way that new sorts are obtained ; or it may be propagated
by planting the tubers, in which case plants similar to the old
are produced.

When the plants are propagated from the seeds, they re-
quire to be planted for several successive years before the tu-
bers attain their full size. When they are raised at once from
the tubers, they yield their full produce in one season : hence,
when the object is to obtain tubers for food, they are always
produced by planting the tubers.

But one tuber generally contains many buds or germens,
from each of which a stem will arise : hence it is not necessary
to plant the whole tuber, but only such part of it as may con-
tain one of these buds or germens.

The tuber, therefore, though it may be planted entire, is for
the most part cut into several pieces, care being taken that
each piece shall contain at least one bud, or eye as it is termed.
These buds are sufficiently visible on the surface of the tuber,
and hence the operator has no difficulty, by cutting the tuber
through longitudinally or transversely, as may be required, in
preserving one bud at least upon each piece. Small tubers
are generally cut into two, the larger into three, four, or some-

312 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

times five, if the potato be very large. When they are cut a
considerable time before being planted, they should be spread
thinly on the ground, and turned from time to time, that they
may not ferment. When proper care is bestowed, large and
well shaped tubers are selected for planting.

Many approve of planting the entire tuber, a practice to
which no objection exists, further than that experience shows,
that nearly an equal effect may in most cases be produced by
dividing the tuber, while there is a certain economy in the
practice. Nevertheless it is certainly better to plant the whole
tuber. Others have recommended the merely scooping out of
a small part of the tuber containing the bud, and planting the
pieces, and doubtless good crops have been raised in this way.
The approved practice, however, and beyond a doubt the proper
one, is either to plant the tuber entire, or to cut it into pieces,
so that one eye shall be upon each.

It has been observed that eyes taken from tubers that have
not been fully ripened, are more vigorous than those that have
been taken from such as have been very fully ripened. This
leads to a rule in practice, that the tubers to be planted shall
be those which were taken up before the stems had begun to
decay in autumn.

It has been observed, too, that eyes taken from the upper
part of the tuber, which is always less matured than the lower
part, — and which hence is called the watery end, in contradis-
tinction to the other, which is called the mealy end, — ripen
earlier than those taken from the lower or mealy end. This
has given rise to a practice adopted in some places, where
very minute care is bestowed on the culture of the potato, of
dividing the tuber transversely into three parts, and planting
the sets separately : those taken from the upper or watery end
for the early crop, the centre ones for the intermediate crop,
and the lower ones for the later crop. But such niceties, it is
to be observed, are in no way essential in the common practice
of the farm.

The varieties of the potato, as produced first from seeds and

THE POTATO. 313

afterwards continued by sets, are exceedingly numerous, and
constantly varying as the old ones degenerate, or as better ones
are brought into notice.

The most obvious distinction of the varieties of the potato is
into the early and the late. The power of early ripening ex-
ists in a greater degree in certain individuals than in others :
the early ripening kinds are thus obtained in part by selec-
tion, and the property becomes permanent in the progeny. The
early potatoes are more raised in the garden, the late ones in
the fields. But very often the early potatoes are also raised
in the fields, and where a demand exists for their produce, as
near large towns, they can be cultivated in the field as well
as in the garden. Potatoes, with relation to their periods of
ripening, may be classed as follows : —

1. The earliest kind used by gardeners, which are generally
termed forcing potatoes. These are not at all intended for
field-culture.

2. Early kinds, which may be subdivided according to their
order of ripening : First, the earliest sorts in common cultiva-
tion, as the Early-shaw, the American-Early, the Early-cham-
pion, and others ; and next an intermediate class, which would
be considered as late in the gardens but early in the fields ;
such are those termed the Early-red, the Cape of Good Hope
kidney, and the Bread-fruit.

3. The later kinds, forming the common subjects of culti-
vation in the fields, which may, in like manner, be subdivided
according to their order in ripening ; such are those termed
the Red-apple, the Bedfordshire kidney, the Lancashire pink,
and numerous others.

4. Those of a large kind, but of so coarse a nature as only
to be cultivated for feeding domestic animals ; the best known
of which are the Late champion, the Ox-noble, and the Suri-
nam potato.

New varieties of the potato are obtained, it has been said, by
cultivating from the seed. Many of the early potatoes, how-
ever, do not blossom at all. To obviate the effects of this, Mr
Knight adopted an expedient which deserves to be noticed,

314 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

both as being calculated to effect the purpose intended, and as
illustrating the habits of the plant. He removed the tubers as
they were being formed, by which means he directed the vege-
table juices to the stem and parts of fructification, and so was
enabled to produce blossoms and seeds.

The mode of procuring new varieties from seeds is simple,
but tedious. Some of the largest and best-formed berries,
when fully ripe, which is denoted by the change of their co-
lour, and by the stalk having become withered, are plucked,
and the pulp separated from the seeds, which are then dried
in the sun. These seeds are to be sown in the following spring,
and the produce to be taken up early in October. They will
then have nearly attained the size of small plums. The best
of these are to be selected and carefully preserved. In the
month of April following they are to be planted at a distance
from one another of from 15 to 18 inches ; and when they rise
about 2 inches above ground, they are to be covered with earth
by the hoe, which operation may be repeated during the season,
and they are to be kept free from weeds. When they have
arrived at maturity, which will be denoted by the decay of the
several stems, they are to be taken up in succession as they ri-
pen, keeping the early separate from the late : and the produce
of each stalk is again to be planted in the following spring.
A judgment of the properties of the potatoes will then have
been formed, and those are to be reserved for cultivation which
are approved of. It will be found that, whatever had been the
parent stock, the seeds will produce numerous varieties, some
white, some dark in the colour, with tubers of different forms,
round, oblong, and kidney-shaped. This is a tedious process,
but necessary when it is desired to cultivate new varieties from
seeds.

The soils best adapted to the potato are of the drier and
lighter class. In wet clays the return is inferior in quality
and productiveness. Deep dark peat often produces large
crops ; and it is one source of great value in this plant, that it
can be cultivated successfully on the soils termed peaty.

Although the lighter soils are, generally speaking, best suited

THE POTATO. 315

to the potato, there is one variety, the Surinam potato, or as
it is sometimes called the yam potato, which grows best on
stiff soils.

Potatoes, in the common course of farm culture, are culti-
vated by the plough ; but they are frequently also, and this in
many cases with great convenience, cultivated by the spade ;
thus in woods in new countries, in plantations and steep banks
inaccessible to the plough, or in certain cases in peat too soft
to bear the treading of cattle, the spade may be beneficially
substituted for the plough.

An example of this method of culture is what is termed the
lazy-bed system. This consists simply in forming beds of a
few feet in width, with intervening spaces or trenches ; these
beds being digged, the dung is spread upon them, and the pota-
toes planted in rows upon the manure at distances from one
another of ten inches or more. They are then covered with
earth thrown upon them from the trenches, and generally after
they have appeared above ground they receive a second cover-
ing of earth, so as to be covered in all to the depth of from 4
to 5 inches.

Inartificial and rude as this method may seem, there are
cases in which it can be practised with advantage ; such are in
deep bogs where the plough cannot act, and peaty soils which
are brought under culture for the first time. And it is sur-
prising how large the crops are which are sometimes raised in
this manner, and in how good a state the land is left from the
deep tillage which it has received.

The cultivation of the potato, however, upon the larger
scale of farm-culture, must necessarily be performed by the
plough and the working cattle upon the farm.

The potato forms a good preparative crop for any of the
cereal grasses ; and it may follow any crop of corn. Sometimes
potatoes are planted upon land newly broken up from grass.
In this way they may be cultivated beneficially in regard to
produce : but this is a deviation from the general rule, that
the potato shall follow a crop of corn and be succeeded by one.

As in the case of preparing land for the summer-fallow,

316 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

the land intended for potatoes is to be ploughed before winter,
receiving a furrow of 8 or 9 inches in depth. The ploughing
should be lengthwise, so as to keep the ridges dry, and prepare
the ground for early tillage in the following spring.

In spring, as soon as the other labours of the farm allow,
and the land is sufficiently dry, it is to be cross-ploughed, and
harrowed by repeated double turns of the harrow in every di-
rection. The roller also, if necessary, is to be employed to re-
duce the soil, and all the root-weeds are to be carefully col-
lected by the hand, and carried away to be formed into a
compost, as was described in the case of the management of
summer-fallow.

The land is next to be ploughed in a direction crossing the
last ploughing, or rather the ploughs may cross the field dia-
gonally, because, as it is always desirable to make each alter-
nate ploughing cross the previous one, and as the next plough-
ing which forms the drills will be in the direction of the form-
er ridges, all the ploughings will thus be made to traverse each
other.

When this second ploughing is given, the land is to be again
harrowed and rolled if necessary, and all the root-weeds are to
be industriously collected and removed as before.

These operations will generally fit the land for being formed
into drills. This may be done by single-bout drills, as in the
case of the bean, or by the double mould-board plough. The
distance from centre to centre, or, in other words, the breadth
of the drills at the base, may be 30 inches.

A transverse section of the drills will appear thus :

Fig. 157.

When the drills are formed in this manner, the dung is to
be carried forward to them, and spread in the hollows, pre-
cisely in the manner described in the case of the turnip.

THE POTATO. 317

Dung will, in all cases, act the most quickly upon young
plants when it is well prepared, but extreme preparation of the
dung is not required in the case of the potato. It is enough
that it be in such a state of fermentation as that it may be rea-
dily covered by the plough.

The potato requires a large supply of manure. The quan-
tity should be from 16 to 20 tons to the acre, and when a
larger quantity can be supplied it is well, the goodness of the
potato-crop being greatly dependent upon the quantity of ma-
nure applied.

The proper manure for the potato under ordinary circum-
stances is common farm-yard dung. But any other putrescent
manure that can be obtained may be applied. Bone-dust has
been employed, and with good effects. Lime does not appear
to act in a beneficial manner, and is rarely applied directly to
this crop.

As soon as the dung is spread along the hollows of the drills,
the potatoes are to be planted. The potato-sets should be cut
10 or 12 days before planting them, by which the cut part
acquires a skin or indurated surface, which is supposed to pro-
tect the sets from injury when first planted. The sets are
placed directly upon the dung in the row, about 10 inches from
one another. The planters, carrying them in baskets, gently
place them upon the dung, directed by the eye, as nearly as
possible at the distance required. A transverse section of the
drills, with the dung and potato sets placed upon it, will ap-
pear thus :

Fig. 158.

The sets are now to be covered by splitting each drill so
that the top of the new drill formed is immediately above the
hollow of the old one. The manner of performing the opera-
tion is the same as that described in the culture of the turnip.
A transverse section of the drills when split will appear thus :

318 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

Fig. 159.

This simple series of operations completes the planting of
the potato.

The usual period of planting is during the month of April,
but it may be continued till the middle of May. The early
potatoes should be planted by the latter part of March. The
quantity planted may be from 8 to 10 cwt. to the acre, accord-
ing to the size and distance of the sets.

In a fortnight or more after planting, the whole field is to
be harrowed. The effect of this tillage will be partially to level
the ground, making a transverse section of the drills appear
thus :

Fig. 160.

When the plants have got above ground, and appear dis-
tinctly in rows, the horse-hoe is to pass along each interval.
This may be done by the small one-horse plough passing twice
along each interval as near to the rows of plants as it can con-
veniently go, and throwing the earth from each row into the
centre of the interval in the manner described in the case of the
bean and turnip ; or it may be done by the horse-hoe with
lateral coulters, passing once along each interval. Following
the horse-hoe, the hand-hoers, each with the common hoe, are
to hoe the rows of plants carefully, cutting up all weeds that
may have escaped the action of the horse-hoe. A transverse
section of the drills after this operation, will appear thus :

Fig. 161.

THE POTATO. 319

After an interval, as a fortnight or more, the horse-hoe with
lateral coulters is again to pass along the intervals. Imme-
diately succeeding the horse-hoe, the hand-hoers are to follow
as before, hoeing about the plants and cutting up all weeds.

This is generally sufficient to clean the land in an effectual
manner, though sometimes, when it is exceedingly full of weeds,
a third hoeing may take place.

The last operation is raising the earth to the stems of the
plants. This is done by a double mould-board plough passing
once along the intervals, and throwing up the earth towards
each row. A transverse section of the ground will then appear
thus;

Fig. 162.

This in all cases completes the culture of the potato. The
plants will now grow with quickness, their stems spreading
over the intervals and covering the entire ground.

Deviations from this method of culture may take place, but
these it is unnecessary to detail. It is sufficient to have ex-
plained one practice, simple, cheap, and efficient, and which,
under all circumstances of potato-culture in the fields in this
country, can be carried into effect.

The crop requires no further attention until the tubers are
ready to be taken up when ripe, which is generally in the month
of October.

The operation of taking up the tubers may, upon the small
scale, be performed by digging them up with a three-pronged
fork ; but, on the large scale, it is to be performed by the
plough.

The plough, from which the coulter has been previously

320 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

taken, is to pass with a deep furrow along the centre of the
drill, and thus reverse one-half of it. It is to be followed by
a sufficient number of persons to collect the potatoes into bas-
kets. It is then to return by the same drill, reversing the
other half of it, so that the" whole tubers of the drill are turned
up. Time is saved in this operation by the plough, after lay-
ing open the half of one drill, passing to another drill, where
there is a like number of persons to follow it, and so on to an-
other and another. It then returns to the first drill, and reverses
the other half of it, and so on in succession with the other drills.
Often, however, the plough reverses an entire drill at one turn.
After the plough has reversed the different drills, the harrows
should follow, so as to bring to the surface any tubers that
may have escaped. In this manner the gathering of the potato-
crop, which in many cases is regarded as a work of time and
labour, is performed with economy and despatch.

Tubers intended for planting, and not for consumption,
may be taken up earlier than the others, so that they may be
secured before they are over-ripe.

It is important that the potatoes be taken up in dry weather
and before frost. They may be preserved in various ways, the
purpose being to secure them effectually from frost, and prevent
them from putrefying.

Sometimes they are conveyed at once to a house, and stored
in it, to be ready for use or sale. But the more frequent prac-
tice is to form them into oblong heaps, and to cover them care-
fully with a thick layer of straw, and this again with a coating
of earth. There is no better non-conductor for this purpose
than straw. When any heap is to be opened for use, bunches
of loose straw should be employed to defend it from the air.
Even when the potatoes are kept in houses, they should be
carefully covered with dry straw, to prevent the action of frost
upon the tubers.

After the potato, the usual crop sown is wheat, for which
the ground is well prepared by the operations of the potato-
culture.

The later and common varieties, it has been said, should be

THE POTATO. 321

planted if possible in the month of April. The early varieties
should be planted before the end of March. Under good cul-
tivation and favourable circumstances, the latter will be ready
to allow a crop of turnips or rape to be sown in the same year.

In some parts of the south of England, early potatoes are
planted before winter, and are thus ready very early in the fol-
lowing season. They are planted in October or November, 9
or 10 inches under the surface, and well covered with litter or
dung. They appear above ground in March, and are ready
by the middle of May. In some cases even, by planting in
October, a crop can be raised before the winter frosts set in,
which is used during winter.

It has been often recommended to pinch off the blossoms of
the late potatoes, so as to prevent the formation of seeds. This
has been deprecated by some, but recommended in an especial
degree by Mr Knight, who asserts that more than a ton of ad-
ditional tubers per acre will be procured by this means. Cer-
tainly an increased produce will be obtained if the operation is
performed sufficiently early. A female or a boy will pluck off
the blossoms of from 1 to 2 acres in a day.

The produce of the potato varies so greatly, that it is diffi-
cult to say what may be regarded as a medium return. Gene-
rally speaking, the crops produced in England and Ireland are
greater than those produced in Scotland. In Lancashire the
produce is reckoned to be from 8 to 12 tons per acre. In
Scotland a fair produce is held to be 8 tons per Scotch acre,
which is equal to 6§ tons per English acre.

The starch or fecula of the potato may be obtained separate-
ly by simple means, and applied to various purposes of domes-
tic economy. The quantity is generally from about a fourth
to a fifth part of the whole weight.

This substance is perfectly nutritive, but, wanting gluten, it
does not undergo the panary or bread fermentation. It is not
therefore so well suited to the making of bread as the flour of
wheat. It may, however, be mixed with the latter in a given
quantity so as to produce good bread, and it is suited to those
other purposes of domestic economy in which the panary fermen-

x

o22 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

tation is not required. The use of the starch of the potato has
been gradually extending in various forms, by which the utili-
ty of the potato, as a branch of husbandry, is likely to be great-
ly extended.

The potato yields a large quantity of ardent spirits by dis-
tillation, for which purpose it is now extensively employed in
the distilleries of France and the Netherlands, and to a consi-
derable extent also, is is believed, in the distilleries of this
country.

The potato may be given in its raw state to nearly all our
domestic animals. It requires merely to be washed, which is
done by various simple means. One of these is by a cylinder
or barrel, with a wooden axle placed vertically, to which are
attached upright sparred arms, like a churn. These being
turned round by a handle, the potatoes in it are put in motion,
and the cylinder being partially filled with water, they are
washed by a few turnings of the handle. The water is let off
at the bottom by a stop-cock ; and when the cylinder is large,
a hinge-board is made to open and shut at the side or bottom,
by which the potatoes are removed. Other contrivances for
washing are resorted to which need not be described. The
principle of construction of them all is to give a sufficient mo-
tion to the roots when immersed in water.

But although potatoes may be given to live-stock in then-
raw state, and it is frequently convenient to give them in that
state, yet various benefits may arise from giving them steamed
or boiled. In this state they are relished by every class of
our domestic animals, and afford food in a high degree nourish-
ing and salubrious. Even the dog, which will not touch raw
potatoes, will fatten upon them when boiled or steamed.

Steamed potatoes, mixed with cut straw or hay, may be
given to horses of every kind, even when on the hardest work,
and this forms a species of food both wholesome and economi-
cal.

They may be given in this state to dairy-cows, or to any
kind of cattle for the purpose of feeding. But it is observed
that steamed food is not generally attended with the same be-

THE POTATO. 323

nefit to ruminating as to other animals. To hogs they are
given with the best effect. When poultry is reared in quan-
tity, their food may be considerably economised by mixing the
potato with meal. An apparatus for preparing the potato
for these various uses by steam has already been described
(Fig. 49).

The accidents and diseases to which this plant is subject
are, happily, not many, nor, in this country at least, very for-
midable.

Of these diseases the best known, and the most dreaded, is
that which is termed the curl. It is indicated by the curling
of the leaf, and hence the name. It seems to arise from a cer-
tain decayed vigour in the plants, which unfits it for the pro-
duction of tubers. In cultivating the potato as we do, solely
from tubers, we deviate from the natural habit of the plant,
which tends to produce its species by seeds as well as tubers.
When we cultivate solely from tubers, therefore, we do a cer-
tain violence to nature, and it may be reasonably concluded,
that the vigour of the plant is impaired. To prevent this, we
have the means of obtaining new plants from the seed, and
thus a method of restoring their natural habits and renewing
their vigour. But another mean of obviating this tendency to
degeneracy has been already adverted to, namely, the select-
ing of tubers from plants that have not matured their seeds.
The good effects of this are proved by the numerous experi-
ments of horticulturists and farmers.

The potato is of high importance in this and other coun-
tries. Its cultivation has extended rapidly, and is yet likely
to extend. It can be cultivated on the large as well as on the
small scale, — by the manual labour of the peasant as well as
by the plough, and with more or less success in every soil
where cultivation is practicable. And it has done more than
any of the cultivated plants to bring nearer to a level the value
of different soils of the country ; because crops of potatoes can
be produced on inferior light soils and on deep peat, often
equal to those of the superior loams,
x 2

324 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

5. The Carrot.

The Carrot, Dauciis Carota, is of the natural order Umbel-
lifera, an extensive family, which, like the Solanea, contains
species that are highly nutritive, and others that are poison-
ous. Of the latter class are the hemlock ; of the former are
various well-known esculent herbs, as the carrot and the pars-
nep. The tribe of UmbellifercB generally is suspicious and dan-
gerous, except that the seeds are innocent ; and many of them
are cultivated for their aromatic qualities, as the coriander
and others.

The wild carrot, Daucus Carota, is a native species, familiar
as a weed, under the name of bird's nest, from the resemblance
of its umbellated top to a bird's nest. By what accident this
plant, with its slender fusiform root, has been changed into
the plant of our gardens, is unknown. It is probable that the
latter has been derived from warmer countries, and not from
the wild plant of northern Europe, which no cultivation has
been able to change.

Of the cultivated carrot there are many sorts, distinguished
by their colour, size, and form. The most esteemed for field-
culture in England are the Altringham, the Orange, and the
Long-red.

The carrot, from its long fusiform root, requires a deep soil.
It prefers the sandy, and rejects the stiff clays. Large crops
of it are sometimes produced on a deep rich peat ; but the pro-
per soil for it is a sandy loam.

The land intended for carrots should be ploughed with a very
deep furrow previous to winter, and at this period the dung
should be applied at the rate, if possible, of from 15 to 20 tons
to the acre. So essential is it to plough deep for this crop, that
it is common to make the first ploughing a trench-ploughing,
one plough following the track of the other. In some parts of
the Continent the spade is made to follow the plough, in order
to deepen the furrow.

In spring the land is cross-ploughed and well-harrowed, and

THE CARROT. 325

all root-weeds are removed. It is again ploughed, and the
same operations are repeated ; and, if it be necessary, the
ploughings and harrowings are to be given again and again,
until the soil is reduced to a proper tilth, and all the vivacious
roots of plants collected and removed.

The plant may now be cultivated in three ways : —

1st, The land may be formed into drills, and the seeds sown
on the tops of them in the same manner as those of turnips.

2d, The seeds may be sown in rows, but without being on
raised drills.

3d, The seeds may be sown broadcast.

When the plant is cultivated in the first of these modes, the
operations of hoeing and cleaning are nearly the same as those
of the turnip, the horse and hand hoe being employed in suc-
cession to till the intervals and plants in the rows. But the
seeds having many hooked hairs on their surface, adhere to
each other, on which account the machine for sowing them
must be peculiarly constructed, so that they may be separated
in sowing.

The next method of cultivating the carrot is in rows, but
not on raised drills. In this case, when the land is fully
prepared, the double mould-board plough is to form it into
shallow drills, at the distance from centre to centre of 12 or 15
inches ; and in the ruts or hollows of these drills the seeds
are to be sown. This may be done by a sowing machine suited
to the nature of the seeds ; or it may be done by the hand, in
the same manner as gardeners do, mixing the seeds with a little
dry sand, and rubbing them in the hand to make them separate.
The seeds are then covered by a slight harrowing. This is a
good method of cultivating the carrot.

The other method of cultivating the carrot is broadcast.
This is practised in the Sandlings in Suffolk, where the culture
of the carrot is successfully carried on, and large returns ob-
tained. The same method is practised in the Netherlands,
where the carrot is highly valued as a crop, and carefully cul-
tivated.

Of these three methods, the best under ordinary circum-

32(> PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

stances is that of rows, either on a raised or flat surface, and
these rows may either have a narrow interval, as 12 or 15
inches, in which case the hand-hoe only can act, or they may
be at such a distance that the horse-hoe can also act, as in the
case of the turnip and other fallow-crops.

The seeds of the carrot should be of the previous season's
growth, otherwise they may not vegetate ; and care should be
taken in all cases to try them before they are sown, the most
frequent cause of the failure of the carrot being the badness of
the seeds.

The quantity of seeds may be from 2 lb. to 3 lb. to the
acre, when sown in rows, and 5 lb. or more when sown broad-
cast. The most approved period of sowing is the beginning
of April.

When the plants are fairly above ground, they are hoed to
the distance of 3 or 4 inches. This operation is to be perform-
ed with great care, as it is difficult at this period to distinguish
the carrot from the weeds in the rows. In three weeks or more
the carrots are again hoed, and set out at the distance from
one another of about 10 inches. In a few weeks more, or when-
ever weeds appear, the operation of the hand-hoe must be care-
fully repeated. These three hoeings will be sufficient to com-
plete the summer culture of the carrot.

The carrots may be taken up and stored about the end of
October, or, which is better, they may be left in the ground
and pulled up as required. When carrots are to be stored,
they are taken up in dry weather with three-pronged forks,
and their leaves cut off close to the root. They may then be
put in narrow oblong heaps, the tails and heads being packed
together, and the whole covered with a coat of straw. If taken
up when dry, carrots will keep well in these heaps, without any
other precaution than defending them from frost.

The produce of the carrot, in circumstances that are favour-
able to it, will be from 300 to 400 bushels to the acre, though
much beyond this quantity is sometimes produced.

Carrots may be given to every species of stock, and they
form in all cases a palatable and nutritious food. They are

THE CARROT. 327

given in their raw state, though they can be steamed or boiled
in the same manner as other roots.

The live-stock to which they are most frequently given is
horses and dairy-cows. They are found in an eminent degree
to give colour and flavour to butter, and when this is an object
to be aimed at, no species of green-feeding is better suited to
the dairy. To horses they may be given mixed with cut straw
and hay, and thus given, they form a food which will sustain
horses on hard work. They afford excellent feeding for hogs,
and quickly fatten them. When boiled they will be eaten by
poultry, and, mixed with any farinaceous substance, form an
excellent feeding for them. They may be used for distillation,
affording a good spirit.

Although the return of this crop is, on soils and situations
suited to it, very valuable, it is only in certain situations that
it can be beneficially cultivated, and for this reason it is that
it does not form an object of general interest in the agriculture
of this country. Where circumstances admit of its being in-
troduced into the rotation, the essential points to be attended
to are, that the soil on which it is grown shall be deep and of
the lighter class, that the tillage shall be deeply given, and
that the seeds shall be fresh and of the proper kind.

6. The Paksnep.

The Parsnep, Pastinaca sativa, in its uses, and the manner
of cultivating it, resembles the carrot. It is a native of many
parts of Europe, and of Asia. The wild plant has a slender
root, with downy leaves : in the cultivated variety the leaves
are smooth, and the root large and mucilaginous.

The most extensive cultivation of the parsnep in this king-
dom is in the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The large Jer-
sey parsnep is the kind most approved of for cultivation, whe-
ther in the garden or the field. It grows freely on the deep
disintegrated gneiss of these islands, sometimes extending three
or four feet into the soil. There are two kinds of it, one of

328 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

which is fusiform and strikes deeply into the earth, the other
becomes thick and tends to the napiform.

The seeds of the parsnep may be sown either in autumn or
in spring. The latter period is generally adopted, but the au-
tumnal sowing is well suited to the habits of the plant.

When it is to be cultivated in spring, the land intended for
it is to be ploughed in autumn with a deep furrow. It is to be
cross-ploughed in spring, and tilled and cleaned, in so far as
the earliness of the season will allow ; for the parsnep must be
sown at an early season, the common period usually being the
month of March.

The parsnep may be sown on a flat surface, in rows, like the
carrot, the plants being kept at a somewhat greater distance
from one another. But sometimes the seeds are sown in beds
in autumn, and transplanted when the soil is prepared.

The parsnep might also be cultivated in drills precisely like
the turnip and potato. Nay, this seems to be the best mode
of raising it ; because an increased deepness eminently favour-
able to the habits of the plant will be given to the soil. If
cultivated in this manner, the drills may be no wider than is
necessary to admit the horse-hoe, as 24 inches ; and the plants
may either be planted in the drills from previously sown beds,
or the seeds sown in the manner of the turnip, and hoed out to
a distance of 8 or 10 inches from each other. The method of
transplanting would probably be the better, as in this case the
plants would not need to be planted in the drills till the month
of April, when the land could be better prepared.

All the after processes of tillage may be the same as for the
carrot.

The seeds must be new, because when they are more than
one year old they frequently do not vegetate. The seeds are
very light, but they do not adhere in the same manner as the
seeds of the carrot, and hence are more easily sown.

The parsnep has a wider range of soils than the carrot, and,
unlike the carrot, seems to prefer those which are more or less
clayey.

The plant is ready for use when the leaves begin to decay.

THE PARSNEP. 320

It may be taken up and stored like the carrot, or left in the
ground to be pulled when required for use. It is not apt to
be injured by frost ; but it should not be left in the ground
after the beginning of February, because, as soon as the flower-
stalks begin to form, the roots become hard. The produce is
generally greater than that of the carrot.

Its uses for domestic purposes are well known. It is a use-
ful esculent for the garden of the cottager. When persons ab-
stain from animal food, as in Catholic countries, the parsnep is
regarded as a grateful substitute. For this reason it is that it
was formerly more cultivated in this country than now, to be
eaten with salted fish during the season of Lent ; and it is yet
largely cultivated for the same purpose in the north of France
and the Low Countries.

All animals are fond of the parsnep. To milch cows it is
eminently favourable, giving a flavour and richness to their
milk which no other winter vegetable but the carrot can give.
The cows of Jersey and Guernsey fed with parsneps and hay
yield butter during winter of as fine a tinge, and nearly as
good flavour, as if they were fed in pastures. To horses it is
equally suited as the carrot. Hogs are extremely fond of it ;
and, when boiled, poultry may be fed upon it.

Like the carrot, it yields a large quantity of spirits by dis-
tillation.

As a plant of agriculture, the parsnep seems to be better
suited to general cultivation in the field than the carrot, as be-
ing more productive, and having a wider range of soils. At
the same time, from the early period at which it must be sown,
and from the difficulty of getting the land fully prepared for it
in spring, it cannot be said to be a plant well adapted to field-
culture in this country. It is, however, suited for being culti-
vated on the small scale, and in this view it is better deserving
the attention of the cottage-gardener than other plants which
have succeeded to it in common estimation.

330 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

7. The Beet.

This plant is of the natural family Chenopode<t, several of
the species of which are known to the farmer as weeds, while
others are cultivated for their roots and leaves.

The field-beet, Beta vulgaris, is of larger size, and grows
more above ground, than the garden kinds. It is sometimes
red externally, and yellowish-white internally ; but it has dif-
ferent shades of colour. It is frequently called Mangel-
Wurzel, from the German, and has sometimes received the
name of the Root of Scarcity. The introduction of the
mangel-wurzel into the agriculture of this country is of com-
paratively recent date. It was cultivated in Germany long be-
fore it was introduced into this island.

In Belgium and Alsace, in the Palatinate of the Rhine and
other parts of Germany, the most common method of culture
is to sow it in beds, and to transplant it into lines. But it
may be cidtivated also in a manner similar to the turnip.

The land intended for this crop is ploughed before winter,
and as early in spring as the labours of the farm will allow it is
ploughed across. It is then well harrowed, and rolled if neces-
sary, and the root-weeds are collected and carried away. It
is again ploughed, harrowed, and rolled, and formed into drills,
if it should be in a fit state ; or, if not, the ploughing and har-
rowing are repeated till it is so.

When it is formed into drills, the dung is carried to the
land and covered by the splitting of the drills, as in the case
of the potato and turnip. The quantity applied should be
liberal.

The seeds are large, and stick a little together. It is there-
fore frequently found convenient to sow them by the hand, in
the same manner as the seeds of the carrot are usually sown.

Sometimes the seeds are dibbled in, shallow holes being made
for their reception by the dibble, into which a few seeds are
dropped. This is a tedious process, and does not appear to

THE BEET. 331

possess any advantage over a continuous sowing in ruts made
upon the top of the drill.

The seeds should be fresh, not exceeding one year old, and
the utmost care should be taken that they are of the true kind,
for great loss would be sustained should any of the smaller
garden sorts be sown. The period of sowing may be about
the middle of May, or earlier.

When the plants are fully above ground, the horse-hoe with
lateral coulters, or the single-horse plough, is to pass along the
intervals. Immediately afterwards the hand-hoers with the
common turnip-hoe, are to thin out the plants to the distance
of 8 or 10 inches.

After an interval, when the weeds are again springing up,
the horse-hoe with lateral coulters is to pass between the rows ;
and after this the hand-hoers are to follow, cutting up all the
weeds in the same manner as in the turnip-culture.

The next process is the setting up of the earth to the roots,
which may be done by the double mould-board plough. This
completes the summer-culture of the beet.

Before the setting in of winter frosts, the beet may be pulled
up and stored. The steins are cut off by a stroke of the knife,
care being taken not to wound the root, which is peculiarly
susceptible of injury. The leaves furnish excellent food for
every kind of live-stock. On the Continent it is common to
cut off the leaves of this and such plants as the carrot, the
parsnep, and Swedish turnip, while growing. This is a point
of economy little attended to in English agriculture. With
respect to the practice, it is to be observed, that in no case
should it be attempted until the root has attained its full size.

The roots, when taken up, may be piled in an oblong heap
and covered with straw. They should be taken out when re-
quired at one end of the heap, and this end carefully covered
again with straw to exclude frost. The roots of this plant, it
is to be observed, are greatly more susceptible of injury from
frost than the Swedish turnip or the carrot.

Very large returns arc occasionally obtained from beet ; and
it differs from the turnip in this, that it may be grown on

332 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR ROOTS, &c.

stiffer soils. The beet, however, requires a somewhat favour-
able climate. It is accordingly more cultivated in the southern
than in the northern parts of this Island. Although in Scot-
land very good crops of the beet are occasionally produced,
the plant is not so well suited to cultivation there as the Swe-
dish and yellow turnips ; while in the southern counties the
beet is probably a more productive crop than the turnip. Thus
also in France and the warm countries of Europe, the turnips
are not generally to be compared with the crops which are pro-
duced of beet.

The beet is well suited for feeding milch cows, being exceed-
ingly nutritious, and causing them to give abundant milk, while
it does not taint it with the bad flavour which turnips give.

Beet is cultivated in different parts of the Continent for dis-
tillation : and in France it is cultivated largely for its sugar.

8. The Jerusalem Artichoke.

This plant, Hdianthus tuberosus, is, like all the plants of the
Sunflower genus, a native of the New World. It was highly
esteemed by our ancestors for its tubers, but it has fallen into
neglect since the more extended cultivation of the potato and
other plants.

Although believed to be a native of the warmer parts of
America, it is one of the hardiest of our cultivated plants, very
productive, easily propagated, and growing on the poorest soils.

This plant produces stems from 5 to 10 feet in height. It
does not ripen its seeds in this country, but may be propagated
with the greatest ease from tubers, like the potato. It grows
rapidly, and may be cultivated like the potato, but the inter-
vals between the plants and rows should be larger. It may be
planted also in autumn ; but if planted in spring it will be
ready in September. It is common with some to cut the stems
over in July, to prevent their falling down. On the Continent
the leaves and stems are used as green and dried fodder ; but
in England, it is believed that they have not been so employ-
ed. The tubers are in clusters attached to the roots of the

THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 333

plant. As compared with the tubers of the potato, they are
watery, and may be believed to be inferior in nutritive proper-
ties. But the quantity is frequently very large ; about 500
bushels per acre, it is said, having been produced without ma-
nure. The tubers do not seem to have great fattening proper-
ties, but they are eagerly eaten by animals.

The plant is in a peculiar manner fitted to grow under the
shade. It can therefore be cultivated in woods ; and it is
sometime? so grown in England to afford shelter for game ;
the planu being left to reproduce themselves annually from
tubers.

Taking into account the hardy qualities of this plant, its
productiveness and easy culture, it may be doubted whether it
merits the universal neglect into which it has fallen. Granting
its inferiority as an article of food to the plants now cultivated
for our domestic stock, it must be of some importance to have
a plant that can be so easily raised, and on soils so low in the
scale of fertility.

III. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES FOR
THREAD.

1. Flax.

The plants chiefly cultivated in the north of Europe for
their fibres for thread, are Flax and Hemp.

More than 70 species of the genus Linum are enumerated
by botanists. They are of a natural order of plants, the Li-
ma, distinguished by the tenacity of their fibres, the mucilage
of their seeds, and generally by the beauty of their flowers.
The most important of the genus is

Linum usitatissmium — Common Flax.

It is an annual plant, growing with a slender upright stem,
branched near the top. The fibres of the bark of this plant
have been applied to the making of cloth from the remotest
ages.

334 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

Being a native plant, it is sufficiently hardy to endure the
climate of this and other northern countries. It has, indeed,
a wide range of temperature, being cultivated, and for the like
purposes, from Egypt almost to the polar circle.

Flax is an exhauster of the soil and farm, and more so when
its seeds are permitted to arrive at maturity. When pulled
green its effects are less injurious ; in which respect it follows
the general law of other cultivated plants. But still, at what-
ever period reaped, it is thus far an empoverisher of the farm,
that its stems yield no return in manure, and that its seeds only
do so when consumed upon the farm.

The soils best suited to flax are those which contain a large
proportion of vegetable matter. The stiff poor clays, and the
inferior soils of a very dry and gravelly nature, are not wrell
suited to it. The best flax-soils in England are a few rich al-
luvial districts, in which it is still largely cultivated, and where
it forms a regular part of the course.

In a rotation of crops, the best period for the introduction
of flax is soon after the land is broken up from grass. For
this reason it may be the first crop taken after grass or clover-
lea, in which case the flax is a substitute for a crop of oats in
the course. But it is not necessary that flax should be grown
immediately on the breaking up of grass-land. It may be sowTn
at any period in the rotation, provided the land is in a fertile
state. But in all cases it is to be regarded as an exhausting
crop, and not as equivalent to a restorative one : and these
principles being attended to, the period of the rotation in which
flax should be introduced will be understood.

Should the soil, for example, be suited to the four years''
course, the rotation may be : — 1. Turnips, rape, or other green
crop ; 2. Barley or wheat ; 3. Sown grass ; 4. Flax.

Or the order in which the flax is introduced may be changed,
and the course may be : — 1. Turnips, rape, or other green
crop ; 2. Flax : 3. Sown grasses ; 4. Oats or other corn-crop.

Under the latter course the seeds of the clovers and grasses
are sown with the flax, in the same manner as with the cereal
grasses ; and for this purpose the flax is equally well suited.

FLAX. 335

Flax may be sown also after a pulse-crop ; but this is not
usually a good preparation for flax, the land being apt to be-
come foul when the flax is preceded by a crop of beans or
pease. It is better to make it succeed either the grasses, or
such crops as potatoes, turnips, carrots, beet or rape.

It is frequent, indeed, to make it succeed to a crop of corn.
But this is an erroneous practice, for after a corn-crop, which
has already rendered the land foul, a crop of flax tends to ag-
gravate the evil. Sometimes, however, not only does the flax
succeed a crop of corn, but it is succeeded by another. This
practice is opposed to all the principles of a proper rotation,
and should be proscribed wherever the flax-culture is practised
in this country.

In warmer countries the flax admits of being sown before
winter, but in the north of Europe the proper period of sowing
is spring.

When land which is in grass is to be prepared for flax, it is
always to be ploughed in the winter-quarter, as if it were in-
tended for oats, and as early as convenient, so as to receive the
influence of frost to pulverize it before sowing. One plough-
ing only is required in this case ; but the land should be very
thoroughly pulverized by harrowing just previous to the seeds
being sown.

When flax is sown after potatoes, turnips, carrots, rape, or
beet, the land is to be ploughed immediately upon the removal
of the crop. One ploughing is in these cases generally held to
be sufficient, but the land, previous to the seeds being sown, is
to be well harrowed, and rendered quite smooth.

The period of sowing in this country is in the month of
April, and in the more northern parts from the middle to the
end of April is considered to be sufficiently early.

The universal method of sowing flax is broadcast. It might
be sown, indeed, in rowTs like any kind of corn. But in the case
of corn, the design is to produce a large quantity of seeds,
whereas in the case of flax the chief object is to produce long
stems. And the broadcast system is better calculated to cause
the plant to rise with a straight stem than the system of rows.

330 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

which affords it space to branch out ; for it is to be observed,
that it is not desirable that the plant should branch ; because,
when there is a branch, the continuity of the fibre is interrupt-
ed, and more refuse is produced. When we are desirous to ob-
tain fine fibre, we must sow thick. When we look for quan-
tity, both of fibre and seeds, we must sow more thin. In the
former case, 3 bushels to the acre may be sown ; in the latter,
2 will be sufficient.

The seeds are sown by the hand in the same manner as corn.
Were the flax cultivated in quantity, the broadcast sowing-
machine might be substituted. Previous to sowing, the land
should, in all cases, be well harrowed and rendered fine, and
any stones that may have come to the surface removed. After
the seeds are sown, they are to be covered by a double turn of
light harrows ; and the land is then to be rolled and carefully
water-furrowed.

In the culture of flax the changing of the seeds is consi-
dered to be beneficial and even necessary, the plant being found
to degenerate when produced from seeds frequently sown on the
same ground. The principal reason of this appears to be, that
the plant is rarely suffered fully to mature its seeds, and its na-
tural habits are counteracted by the closeness with which it is
sown. It is from the countries, therefore, in which attention is
directed to the proper ripening and preparing of the seeds, that
we are indebted for our supplies. The best seeds used in this
country are supposed to be derived from Holland ; but the
Dutch themselves obtain their supplies from Livonia, Courland,
and other parts of the north of Europe, where due attention is
paid to the ripening of the seeds.

When the plants of flax are about 4 inches high, they are
to be carefully weeded by the hand. This is generally done
by persons in a sitting or kneeling posture. They advance
gradually along the ridges, picking up by the hand every
weed that can be observed. The young plants that have been
pressed down by the weeders in this operation soon regain their
upright position ; but yet it is well that the weeding process be
not too long delayed, lest the stems of the young plants be
broken and injured.

FLAX. 337

The land, if it has been prepared in a proper manner, will
not require more than one thorough weeding of this kind.
After weeding, the plants will grow with vigour sufficient to
overcome any common weeds that may grow amongst them.

The next process in the culture of the flax is that of reaping.
This is done, not by the sickle or scythe, but by pulling the
plants up by the roots.

The period of pulling the plant is determined by the princi-
pal end in cultivating it. When it is wished to procure fine
fibre, the plant should be pulled when somewhat green. When
it is wished to procure the seeds either for sowing again or for
crushing for oil, the plant must remain until the seeds are ripe.
This will be denoted by the hardened state of the seed-vessels,
the yellow colour of the stems, and the falling off of the leaves.
When flax of good quality, but not extreme fineness, is wanted,
the best period of pulling is just when the plant has attained
its maturity with respect to the formation, but not to the full
ripening of the seeds. When it is required for the finest fa-
brics of all, as for cambrics and muslins, it should be pulled
when it begins to flower.

When the crop is ready, the plants are pulled up by the
roots, and laid in handfuls alternately crossing one another,
and left upon the ground for a few days to wither. They are
then freed from the capsules or seed-vessels, and made into
small sheaves, winch are conveniently tied by a few stems of
the plants themselves, or by some rushes or straw-ropes.

The separation of the seed-vessels from the steins is perform-
ed by a process termed rippling.

The rippling machine is an implement like a comb, with
iron teeth, fixed upon a plank. Through these teeth the
stems are repeatedly drawn by the hand, Fig. 163.

and thus the capsules or seed-vessels, are
separated. The ripple is placed in the
middle of a large sheet of canvass spread
upon the ground. There may be two

sets of teeth, as shown in the figure, fixed on one plank, so that
two persons may work at the same time ; and the plank may

Y

338 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

be conveniently fixed in the ground by a pin passed through
it. The capsules are preserved, the seeds being either used
for sowing, or bruised for oil.

The next process is to separate the fibres from the stem.
The common method of doing this is by steeping the whole
plant in water. By this mean the softer part of the stem
partially undergoes the putrefactive fermentation, while the
tougher fibres of the bark are not affected. At a certain
period then, as 10 or 12 days before the fibrous part of the
bark has become affected, the plants are removed from the
water and dried. After being dried the stems become brittle,
and are easily separated by rubbing or beating from the
fibrous part of the bark, which is the only part employed in
the manufacture of linen. It will appear that, if the putre-
factive process shall proceed too far, the fibrous as well as
the more mucilaginous part of the bark may be affected. It
is, therefore, a point of practice, to allow the putrefactive pro-
cess to proceed just the length of affecting the softer part of
the stem, without acting upon the fibrous part of the bark.
And the usual manner of performing the process of steeping is
the following :

The little sheaves made up after the process of rippling, are
carried away to a pool or tank, either containing water, or
into which water may be conveyed : and in all cases the water
ought to be soft.

The sheaves should be built in the pool in a nearly upright
position, the heads of them being uppermost. They are then
kept under water by stones or heavy substances of any kind,
in such a manner as that they shall not rise to the surface.
They must not, however, be compressed to the bottom, but
merely so loaded as that they shall be kept below water.

The period of steeping to the proper point must be carefully
watched. In warm weather 8 days will sometimes suffice, in
other cases 10 or 12. After the sixth or seventh day, the state
of the flax must be observed from time to time. It is safer to
steep it too short a period than ever so little too long. In
the first case, merely a little more time is required in the fu-

FLAX. 339

ture processes ; in the second the strength and texture of the
fibres may be injured.

When the flax is found to be sufficiently steeped, it is to be
taken from the pool .sheaf by sheaf, and laid in heaps near the
watering-place until the water has drained off. It is then to
be carried away to a dry and airy grass plot. Here the sheaves
are opened out, and spread thinly and evenly in rows upon the
ground, the spreaders working backwards, and causing the
but-ends of one row just to touch the tops of the next, so that
the whole plot of ground shall be covered with a thin coating
of flax.

In this state the flax is allowed to lie for a time, determined
by the state of the weather, generally 10 or 12 days, and some-
times more.

During the further process of rotting, or dew-rotting as it is
termed, the dissolution of the soft part of the stem is still fur-
ther promoted, and the whole becomes hard. When it has
lain for a sufficient time, which is known by its being brittle
when rubbed, and when it is at the time sufficiently dry, it is
bound up again into sheaves, but larger than those made before
the watering process. It is allowed to remain in these sheaves
a little time to dry, after which it is carried home.

The carrying home of the flax terminates the preparation, in
so far as the mere grower is concerned. The remaining parts
of the operation are properly the province of the manufacturer.
But sometimes the manufacture proceeds on the farm itself to
the extent of partially separating the fibrous part.

The first process in this case is breaking the stems, which
is usually done by an instrument Fig m

called a break. This machine con-
sists of three triangular planks,
fixed together at both ends. Two
triangular planks are fixed to an-
other frame. The two frames are
fixed together at one end by a
hinge, and work the one into the
other, as in the figure.

y2

340 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

The upper moveable frame being lifted up, handfuls of flax
held in one hand are placed upon the lower frame, while with
the other hand the upper frame is made to work upon the flax
by repeated strokes. In this manner the flax is bruised, and
put into a state to have the ligneous refuse separated from the
fibrous part by beating or scutching.

Scutching may be performed either by machinery or by ma-
nual labour. When performed by manual labour, handfuls of
the flax being suspended by one hand over a plank, are beat
by a flat piece of wood held in the other hand. By repeated
strokes, the woody refuse of the stem is separated from the
fibrous part of the bark. But the operation of scutching is
now very generally performed by machinery, the raw material,
after being bruised by the break, being sent to the lint-mill for
that purpose.

To complete the process, and to get the fibres sorted into
lengths, so as to be fitted for spinning, the lint goes to a class
of persons whose province it is to give it this final preparation.
These are termed hecklers. The heckler operates by means of
a set of numerous teeth, placed vertically upon a board. The
flax is pulled repeatedly by the hand through these teeth. In
this way, and by using heckles of different sets of teeth, the
workman sorts the lint into lengths. The refuse after this
operation is tow.

The produce of flax varies greatly with the seasons, soil, and
management. It may be said to be from 30 to 60 stones per
acre, that is after being scutched, and before being combed or
heckled.

Besides the produce of the plant in lint, that of its seeds is
of considerable importance. The quantity of seeds produced
on the acre varies as greatly as that of the produce of the
stem. It may be said to be from 6 to 10 or 12 bushels to the
acre.

The seed is frequently divided into three sorts ; the first
sort is reserved for seed, the second for bruising for oil, and
the third or refuse is employed at once for the feeding of cattle.

The capsules containing the seeds, we have seen, are sepa

FLAX. 341

rated by the ripple. The ripple is carried to the field, and the
operation takes place before the handfuls of the flax are bound
into sheaves to be carried to the watering pool.

The capsules are then dried in the sun, during which a num-
ber of them will open, and allow the seeds to escape. These
are the best and ripest, and may be reserved, if so wished, for
sowing.

The remaining seeds are separated from the capsules by a
slight beating. The seeds are then carefully sifted and win-
nowed, and laid in some properly ventilated place, care being
taken to turn them from time to time.

The expression of the oil by bruising is a sufficiently simple
process, and is done by machines more or less perfect.

The refuse of the seeds may be given to live-stock. They
are highly nutritive in every form. They are frequently given
boiled to young animals, as calves, and to sick horses and
cows. By the process of boiling, a jelly is formed, which all
herbivorous animals will eat. It is for this purpose that the
refuse of the seeds of the flax, which are not sufficiently good
for crushing, is often reserved.

The culture of the flax does not extend in this country, and
has generally decreased as improvements in agriculture have
advanced. This arises in part from the nature of the plant,
the minute care necessary in its culture, and the large supply
of extraneous manures which it requires. It arises, however,
also, in a great degree, from the extended commercial rela-
tions of England, which enable her to obtain the quantity of
the raw material required from countries better fitted to pro-
duce it, or where the comparative expense of labour is less.
Flax, it has been said, requires a large proportion of vegetable
matter in the soil. Sometimes, for this reason, peaty soils
will produce it in great abundance ; but the best flax-soils are
those rich vegetable grounds which exist in new countries, as
over all the temperate parts of America, and even in the north
of Europe, and chiefly upon the flat margins of rivers enrich-
ed by deposites of mud. These are the great flax-soils of the
world, and may supply this country with the material, for the

342 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

uses of the arts, in any quantity that may be required. The
best cultivators of flax in Europe are the Flemings, amongst
whom the linen manufacture took early root, and who have
ever since pursued the culture of flax with diligence and suc-
cess.

2. Hem i'.

Hemp, Cannabis sativa, is of the natural order Urticew, or
the Nettle tribe, many of the species of which, like the hemp,
are remarkable for the tenacity of their fibres. Even the com-
mon nettle, familiar to the farmer as a weed, possesses this
property.

The hemp is supposed to be of eastern origin. It is very
generally diffused over the world, and has been used for sup-
plying cordage and cloth for a period unknown.

The hemp is a very fine and graceful plant. It is dioecious,
that is, the male and female flowers are produced on different
plants. It grows with us, in the fields, to the height of 5 or
6 feet, but in the richer soils of warmer countries it attains to
a much greater elevation. In the fertile plains of Lombardy
it rises to the height of 12 feet and more ; and, mingled with
the maize and other cultivated plants, gives an air of surpass-
ing richness to the landscape.

The leaves of the hemp are powerfully narcotic ; its seeds
are nourishing, and are eagerly consumed by birds ; and they
produce an oil which is used for many purposes of the arts.

But the great use of hemp is for the making of cordage and
canvass. For this its tough, durable, and elastic fibres are
suited beyond any other substance. The supply of hemp for
the cordage and canvass of the shipping of this country is im-
mense, and forms a vast trade with the ports of the Baltic.
But, besides being used for the canvass of sails, sacks, and
other coarser fabrics, hemp is employed in forming numerous
cloths used in domestic economy, as towels, coarser table-cloths.
;\nd the like.

Hemp, like flax, prefers a rich vegetable soil, but it is not at

HEMP. 343

all nice in the choice of soils, growing in clay, sand, or peat,
provided merely the land is kept rich with manures. Hemp,
too, possesses the anomaly of growing upon the same spot for
successive years without degeneracy.

For hemp the land may be prepared in the same manner as
for flax. But hemp, unlike to flax, may precede or follow a
crop of corn in the rotation ; and the reason is, that while flax
invariably renders the land more foul, the tendency of hemp is
to smother and choke all other plants. Grass-seeds, too, can-
not be sown with hemp, because they would be destroyed un-
der the shade of its thick foliage.

Hemp may be introduced into the rotation in such a man-
ner as the following: — 1. Fallow or green crop ; 2. Wheat ;
3. Sown grasses; 4. Hemp; 5. Oats. Or, 1. Fallow manured ;
2. Wheat or other corn-crop ; 3. Sown grasses ; 4. Oats ; 5.
Hemp manured ; 6. Corn-crop. Or, in very rich soils, hemp
may follow hemp, provided the land is largely manured every
second year.

The land intended for hemp should always be ploughed in
time to receive the influence of frost ; and when it follows a
corn-crop, besides a deep ploughing before winter, it should re-
ceive two or more ploughings in spring, so as to reduce the
soil to a fine tilth, and free it of root-weeds.

The period of sowing hemp is later than that of sowing flax,
for it is more easily injured by the frosts of spring. It may be
sown towards the end of April, or beginning of May.

The best seeds are held to be those obtained from Riga; but
wherever the seeds are procured, care must be taken that they
be fresh, which will be known by their being heavy and bright
in the colour.

The quantity of seeds sown to the acre is generally from 2
to 3 bushels, and the common method of sowing is broadcast.
But hemp is well suited to be sown in rows, this method of
cultivating it presenting the advantage of allowing the inter-
vals to be well tilled, and of admitting air to the plants.

The distance between the rows may be 30 inches. The horse
and hand hoe may be both employed. In the first hoeing, the

344 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

plants should be hoed out to the distance from one another of
a foot in the rows, and, after the interval of a month or six
weeks, another horse and hand hoeing should be given, which
will complete effectually the summer culture of the hemp.

But the common practice in the hemp-districts is to sow
broadcast, hoeing the plants to the distance from one another
of a foot or 16 inches, and giving another hoeing after an in-
terval of a month or six weeks. There are other districts,
again, in which it is common to give no other culture than to
pull up the larger weeds, trusting to the rapid growth of the
hemp to overtop all kinds of plants.

As the season advances, the hemp grows with great rapidity,
and in autumn it is pulled up. But the circumstance of the
male and female flowers being on different plants gives rise to
a peculiarity in the method of treating the hemp which exists
in the case of no other of our cultivated plants.

The male plants are distinguished from the female by their
producing numerous flowers. These, after they have stood
sufficiently long to discharge their pollen, are pulled up, the
female plants being allowed to stand for several weeks longer,
to ripen their seeds. The period of pulling the male plants is
generally five or six weeks before pulling the female or seed-
bearing plants. Thus there are two harvests of the hemp, the
one five or six weeks before the other.

When the period of pulling the male plants arrives, which is
denoted by the forming of the seed upon the female plants, the
pullers walk between the drills, when the row-system is adopt-
ed, and, when the broadcast is used, in the furrows between the
ridges, and stretching across, pull up the stalks, taking care
not to tread upon or break down those that are to remain.
The male plants are easily known at this time by their yel-
lowish colour and faded flowers. When pulled, they are tied
in small bunches, previous to being carried to the pool to un-
dergo the process of steeping, as in the case of flax.

The second pulling takes place when the female plants have
matured their seeds. This is known by the brownish colour of
the capsules, and by the fading of the leaves.

HEMP. 345

The plants are then bound in bunches and set up on end to
dry, in the same manner as sheaves of corn. When the whole
are so dried that the capsules can be easily rubbed from the
stalk, the sheaves are slightly thrashed, and thus the capsules
are separated from the stems.

When this is done, the plants are taken in small bunches to
the pool, to be steeped.

The male plants, we perceive, undergo the process of steeping
before the female plants. The manner of performing it is in
both cases the same. But often the female plants do not under-
go the process of preparation in the same year, but are stacked,
so as to be prepared in the following spring and summer.

As it is in some cases necessary to economise the water used
for steeping, the water of one pit or pool is made to serve the
purpose of successive waterings. Sometimes five waterings
take place in the same pool ; but there should not, if possible,
be more than three without the admixture of fresh water,
since the fresher the water is the better.

The bunches are generally placed in the pool in rows, cross-
ing one another, and pressed down by some heavy substance
laid upon them, so as to be kept from rising to the surface, care
being at the same time taken that they are not so loaded as to
be forced down to the bottom. If the weather be warm, 4 or
5 days will frequently be sufficient ; if not, 2 or 3 more ; but
the period is denoted by the stem being so softened that the
outside coat shall come easily off. Care must be taken, as in
the case of flax, that the putrefactive process does not proceed
so far as to injure the cortical fibres. The quantity put into
one pool may be the produce of an acre ; but it is better that
the quantity be small and the pits shallow.

When the hemp is thus steeped, it is, like flax, taken out of
the pool and carried away to a plot of sward, on which the
plants are spread singly and regularly.

The hemp thus spread out, lies 3, 4, or more weeks upon
the surface, and is turned over not less than twice a-week. It
is thus subjected to the further influence of the rains and dews,

.'346 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

and the decomposition of the ligneous part of the stem is pro-
moted. By this process the stem becomes hard and brittle.

When the hemp is seen to be in a state for removal, it is ta-
ken from the ground, bound into bunches, and carried home
to the barn, where it undergoes the process of bruising by the
machine called a break, as in the case of flax.

When thus prepared, it is bound up in bunches, generally
weighing a stone each, and carried to market. The hemp
which breaks off in the operation is technically termed shorts ;
and is half the value of the long hemp. The refuse is used as
fuel.

Often the steeping process or water-rotting is omitted, and
the hemp is simply dew-rotted. Thus, when the female plants
are not immediately prepared, but are dried and stored up du-
ring winter, they are not put into the steeping pool, but
spread on the sward early in the next season, as in January or
February, regularly turned, and exposed for a sufficient time to
the influence of the weather. In this manner the necessary de-
composition of the stem takes place ; but it is always better to
hasten the fermentative process by steeping, the texture of the
hemp being injured by too long exposure.

After the hemp has undergone the operation of breaking, it
passes into the hands of various artisans.

The first operation is that of heckling ; which is done either
by the hand or by machinery. The hemp is first beat, and
then dressed by means of fixed heckles, resembling those used
for flax. It is arranged into sorts, finer or coarser, to suit the
demands of purchasers. It then passes into the hands of the
spinner, of the whitster as he is called, of the weaver, and of
the bleacher.

The produce of hemp in rough fibre, that is before heck-
ling, varies from 30 to 50 stones and upwards per acre. It
leaves a large return when the crop is good, but the expense of
labour in all cases is large.

The quantity of seeds produced is not less various than that
of the fibre ; 10 or 12 bushels lo the acre are considered as a

HEMP. 347

medium produce, but this quantity is often considerably ex-
ceeded.

It is a question in the case of hemp, as of flax, how far it is
expedient to extend its cultivation in this country. In many
cases, certainly, hemp might form a profitable subject of culture.
It is held to be a good paying crop in the districts where it is
yet raised, and in many cases the first crop of hemp raised from
peaty soils might be found more than the fee-simple of the
ground. But yet, as an object of general culture, it does not
appear that much public or private benefit would result from
an increase in the production of hemp. It is a plant that re-
quires a large supply of manures, not always easily obtained,
and a degree of minute labour not always consistent with the
regular business of a well-ordered farm. It can be obtained, too,
in unlimited quantity from other countries ; and it appears that
the home cultivation of it has diminished as the commercial
relations of the country have been multiplied and extended.

Of the textile plants of Northern Europe, greatly the most
important are the flax and hemp.

Numerous plants, however, yield fibre of sufficient tenacity
for forming threads. Some of these have been partially culti-
vated, or made the subject of experiment.

Many* of the nettle tribe, as well as the hemp, yield tough
and durable fibres. The common nettle, Urtica dioica, might
be used for this purpose.

Urtica nivea, the Chinese or White-leaved Nettle, is a native
of China, Japan, and other countries of the East, where it is
used for making cordage, and sometimes thread. No satisfac-
tory experiments are recorded of the culture of this plant in
Europe.

The Siberian or Hemp-leaved Nettle, Urtica cannabina, is a
native of Siberia, whence its seeds were brought to St Peters-
burgh, and dispersed over Europe. No conclusive experi-
ments upon it, as the subject of culture, seem to have been
made.

Urtica canadensis, and others of the genus, have been pro-

348 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FIBRES.

posed for use ; but experiments upon them as the subjects of
useful culture, are entirely wanting.

Asclepias syriaca, Syrian Swallow- wort, is one of the textile
plants. It is a native of Canada, though termed Syrian. In
Canada it fills the woods with its fragrance when in flower.
Its seeds are surmounted by tufts of silky down, which can be
used like cotton. This plant, though long known in England,
has never been cultivated for economic uses. It is perennial,
and may be planted in rows. Its habit is to send forth nume-
rous shoots, and in the third year these will have covered all
the ground. Independent of the down of its seeds, the bark
of the plant yields fibres like the hemp, and, it is said, more
abundantly. It has been partially cultivated in France ; in
some parts of which it may be said to be naturalized. Its cul-
tivation has made some progress in Silesia. How far it could
be advantageously introduced into the agriculture of the north
of Europe is not yet known.

Various common plants yield fibres of sufficient toughness to
be made into thread ; as the Esparto Rush, Stipa tenacissima,
which is used in Spain for obtaining coarse thread ; the Com-
mon Broom, Cytisus scoparia ; the Spanish Broom, Spartium
junceum ; different species of Aloe, and several plants of the
Lily tribe.

Phormium tenax, Iris-leaved Flax-lily, sometimes termed
New Zealand Flax, has recently attracted attention for the
uses of its fibres. This plant grows with broad, stiff leaves,
like plants of the lily tribe. It is found in New Zealand and
Norfolk Island, where its fibres are converted into threads,
fishingf-lines, cloth, and mats. It has since been used for cor-
dage for ships frequenting New Holland, and it is found to be
well suited to the purpose. It is grown as an object of curio-
sity in this country ; and, in the south of Ireland, some at-
tempts were made to cultivate it for use. The iris-leaved flax-
lily, however, requires a greatly wanner temperature than we
possess in this island.

The wanner regions of the world abound in plants possess-
ing a fibrous structure of the bark, which renders them ca-

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS. 349

pable of being employed in the making of ropes, thread, and
cloth.

Other plants produce a down which envelopes their seeds.
Of these, greatly the most important, and now an object of vast
consumption, is the Cotton plant, Gossypium. This is the
plant of warmer countries, and can only be known in the
colder parts of Europe as the subject of commerce. The
warmer parts of the temperate zone, and also the intertropical
regions of America, Asia, and the accessible parts of Africa,
can furnish us with the down of the cotton seeds in unlimited
quantity.

Several native plants furnish a pappus or down which, it has
been supposed, might be converted into cloths. The down of
some kinds of Eriophora, or Cotton-grasses, the produce of our
bogs and heath soils, has been manufactured into cloth, and
exhibited in the country as curious native productions.

IV. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS.

The plants usually cultivated in the north of Europe for
their oils, are —

1. The Rape, and other plants of the Cabbage genus.

2. The Mustard, the Raddish, the cultivated Camelina, and other

Cruciferse.

3. The Hemp and Flax.

4. The Poppy.

The oils which these plants yield are obtained by bruising
their seeds, and are termed Fixed Oils. There is another class
of oils obtained by distillation, termed Volatile Oils. These
last are yielded in an especial manner by plants of the Mint
family ; but the plants producing them are rarely the subjects
of cultivation on the large scale.

Of the oil-bearing plants of the north of Europe, the most
extensively cultivated are the fusiform varieties of the genus
Brassica, namely, —

350 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS.

1. Brassica Napus — Rape or Cole.

2. Brassica campestris — Navew, Rape or Colza.

3. Brassica Rapa — Turnip.

4. Brassica prsecox — Early Cole.

The two last species are only partially cultivated for their
oils ; the two former are regarded as the most important of our
oleaginous plants.

The manner of cultivating these plants for their leaves has
been described, and there is no other difference in the man-
ner of cultivating them for their seeds, than suffering them to
stand until they are ripe. The turnip and early cole will usually
ripen their seeds in the same year, and so will the other spe-
cies, if sown sufficiently early, and if the produce of spring-
sown seeds is sown ; for these, like other cultivated plants, ac-
quire the habit of late or early ripening, according to the
period at which they are habitually sown. The proper period,
however, of sowing the seeds of the rape in this country is in
summer or autumn, that they may ripen their seeds in the fol-
lowing summer. They are to be kept clean by horse and
hand hoeing in the first year ; they will be in flower in the May
of the following year, and in July the seeds will be ripe.

The plants are best reaped by the sickle, and the operation
is to be preformed with care, so as to prevent the loss of seeds
by shaking. The plants may be bound into bunches, and
placed in stacks until it is convenient to thrash them. But it
is better to thrash them as soon as they are dried. This may
be done in the field, if the weather is good, by thrashing on
boards, with sheets of canvass spread underneath ; or the crop
may be carried home to the barn and thrashed there. The
seeds are easily disengaged from the pods, and the most suit-
able instrument for the purpose is the flail.

The dried stems are of little value. They are sometimes
given to cattle in place of straw ; but it is better that they be
employed only as litter, and so made into manure. They are
sometimes burned for the potash they contain.

The seeds are spread for a time upon the granary floor, not

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS. 351

less than several weeks. They are then bruised in mills of
different construction.

The mill used for the bruising of the seeds of this and other
plants for oil, is in most parts of Europe a very simple ma-
chine ; consisting merely of a millstone placed vertically, and
moved round by a horse or mule in a circular trough. The
seeds being placed before it, it crushes them, and so the oil is
expressed. More perfect mills, however, are employed, and
perform the work by stamping. In Holland, the Netherlands,
and part of Germany, where the culture of the oil-plants is ex-
tensively practised, it is common to have an oil-mill attached
to the farm. In England the seeds of the oil-plants are always
sent to the oil-manufacturer, the preparation of the oil form-
ing a distinct profession.

The refuse, consisting of the husks, after the oil is expressed,
is rape-cake. This being ground, forms the manure termed
rape-dust.

Besides the rape and other species of cabbage, the plants of
the Sinapis or Mustard genus, and of the Raphanus or Radish
genus, yield oils from their seeds, and may be cultivated for
that purpose.

Of the genus Sinapis, either the white or the black species
may be sown. The black mustard, Sinapis nigra, is the spe-
cies usually cultivated for the well-known condiment mustard.
But the white species, Sinapis alba, is rather better suited for
the production of oil, it being more productive of pods, and
less subject to injury from insects in the early stages of its
growth. Either of these species may be sown in March or
April, and in July or August the crop will be ripe. They are
easily cultivated, but they are apt to spring up again from
seeds that may not have vegetated in the first year.

The Raphanus or radish is equally suited to yield oils as the
mustard. The common radish, Raphanus sativus, is well
known as a salad. It should be cultivated, as all such plants
should, in rows ; and, as it spreads over a considerable space,
sufficient room should be given to it. It flowers and bears
seeds for a long time during the season, but no difficulty exists

o.)2 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS.

in knowing the proper period for reaping it. A variety, de-
rived from China, has been supposed to be more productive of
seeds than those in common cultivation, and has been accord-
ingly termed Raphanus sativus oleifer.

The mustard and the radish have this superiority as oil
plants over the rapes commonly cultivated, that they are sown
and reaped in the same season. The quality of the oil is nearly
equal.

But these plants are never cultivated on the large scale in
England. They are, however, supplied in considerable quan-
tities to the oil manufacturers by nurserymen, who dispose of
their spare produce in this manner. Even the wild mustard
and wild radish, plants which sometimes spring up in vast
quantities in our cultivated fields, yield seeds which produce
oil ; and sometimes the produce of these destructive weeds may
in this manner be turned to account.

Almost all cruciferous plants yield more or less of oil. One
of these, Camellna satira, cultivated Camelina, is a plant pro-
duced in various parts of Germany and Italy for this purpose.

This plant is, like the last mentioned species, an annual, and
is raised with facility. It grows spontaneously over a great
part of Europe, and is a frequent weed amongst flax. It grows
best on light sandy soils, and in the south of Europe two
crops of it can be produced within the year. The oil it pro-
duces is said to be fine in quality, retaining a good flavour,
and in burning it does not produce any disagreeable odour.
In the south of Europe it is sown in April or May, and is
sometimes ready in less than three months, so that it is one of
the quickest growing of the oleaginous plants. The seeds are
sown thin, and the plants hoed if too thick. It is pulled or
cut, and laid in a covered place to complete the ripening and
drying of the seeds. These being then freed from the stalks
by beating, are winnowed, dried, and bruised.

Linum usitatissimum, flax, yields an oil by expression, which
is greatly used in the arts. But it is cultivated at the same
time for its fibres ; and for obtaining its oil, it is merely suffered
to stand until its seeds are matured. The manner of separating

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS. 353

the capsules which contain the seeds from the stems, has been
described. The seeds are bruised in the same manner as those
of the other oleaginous plants. The refuse after expression is
termed oil-cake, and forms a nutritive food for cattle.

The seeds of the hemp, in like manner, yield oil, which is em-
ployed for nearly the same purposes as the oil of flax. The
hemp, however, being dioecious, only part of the crop yields
oil, namely, the female or seed-bearing plants.

The Poppy is cultivated in various parts of Europe for its
oil. The oil of the poppy is sweet, and well suited for domes-
tic uses. It is esteemed to be the next in quality to that of
the olive.

Any of the species of Papaver will yield oil. But that which
is generally cultivated in Europe for the purpose, is one or
other of the varieties of Papaver somnifertm, the sleep-bring-
ing or opium poppy.

The soil for the poppy requires to be well pulverized and
manured. In the parts of Flanders where it is cultivated, this
point is especially attended to. It frequently succeeds rape in
the rotation, manure being applied to both crops. It should
be sown early, as in March or April, cultivated in rows, and
the plants thinned out to 6 or 8 inches distant. The mode
of reaping it in Flanders is peculiar. Sheets are laid along the
line of the standing crop, upon which the reapers, gently bend-
ing the heads forward, shake out the seeds from the capsules.
When no more seeds will fall from the capsules, the row is
pulled up and placed in upright sheaves, in order to allow
those capsules to ripen which had not at first yielded their
seeds. The sheets are then drawn forward to the next row,
and so the process is continued throughout the field.

Some plants of the natural family Composites yield seeds
which will produce oils by expression. One of these, Helian-
thus annuus, the Sunflower, has been cultivated in some parts
of Europe for this purpose. This plant, a native of America,
and familiar to us as a garden flower, is easily cultivated.
But it does not rank high as an oil-bearing plant, and its

z

o54r PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR OILS.

seeds are more usefully employed for the feeding of domestic
fowls.

Several of the natural family UmbellifercB may be also culti-
vated for their oils. One of these is Coriander, Coriandrum
sativum, a plant which is, however, more frequently cultivated
for the aromatic flavour of its seeds.

Of the trees whose fruits or seeds yield oils, the most import-
ant is the Olive, derived originally, it is believed, from the
East, but now cultivated on all the shores of the Mediterra-
nean, and the southern counties of Europe. The oil of the
olive is obtained in small quantity from its seeds, but chiefly
from the pulpy substance of its fruit.

The Almond is a tree yielding oil of high estimation, but
its cultivation is confined to the warmer countries. Proceeding
northwards, the olive is succeeded by the walnut, the beech, and
the hazel. The oil of these plants is obtained from the seeds,
and is sometimes mixed with and sold as the oil of the olive.

The warmer regions of the world abound in plants produ-
cing oils ; such is Bicimis communis, the Castor-oil plant, which
is also cultivated in the south of Europe. There, however, it
is only an herbaceous plant ; but in Africa and the warmer
parts of America, where it is largely produced, it is a tree.
In the Brazils it affords the principal part of the oil consumed
in lamps.

Another of the oleaginous plants of warmer countries is
Arachis hypogcea, American Earthnut. This plant is remark-
able for ripening its seeds under ground. It has been cultiva-
ted in the south of Europe ; and with some care it has been
made to ripen its seeds in the latitude of Paris, and is grown
abundantly in the Southern United States of America.

Another of the oleaginous plants is Sesamum, Oily Grain,
of which there are several species. Oily grain is one of the
principal herbaceous oil-plants of Africa and eastern countries.
It was an oil-plant of the ancient Jews, as it still is of their
descendants, of the Arabs, and of other eastern nations. In
Asia, it is the most generally diffused of all the oleaginous

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES. 355

plants. It is grown in the south of Europe, but is unfit for
cultivation in higher latitudes.

The growing of the oil-plants forms an important part of
the agriculture of many countries. In England alone, the
cultivation of these plants is regarded as of minor interest, and
is little practised ; not because oil is little consumed in Eng-
land, but because that which is required for domestic purposes
and the arts can be derived from other countries by commerce.

V. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES.

The plants chiefly cultivated in the north of Europe for
their dyes are : —

1. Isatis tinctoria — Woad.

2. Rubia tinctorum — Madder.

3. Reseda Luteola — Weld.

Isatis tinctoria, Woad, is indigenous in various parts of
Europe. It is one of those plants which yield the deep blue
colouring matter so greatly valued in the arts, Indigo. It was
in extensive use in Europe previous to the introduction of the
indigo of commerce, which is derived from the green parts of
certain species of Indigofera, the production of warmer coun-
tries.

Woad is a perfectly hardy plant, and in this climate is a
biennial. Its seeds may be sown early in spring, in which case
a certain produce of leaves may be obtained in the same sea-
son ; or it may be sown in summer or autumn, when the re-
turn is obtained in the second year.

The plant requires a deep rich soil, perfect preparation of
the ground, and a careful tillage during the period of growth.
It is best cultivated in rows at such distances from one an-
other as to admit of the operation of the horse and hand hoe.
It is usually grown on a flat surface, although it may be culti-
vated in raised drills in the same manner as turnips, When
z2

•'{•Id PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES.

the leaves are of their full size, and before they have begun to
change to their paler colour, they are picked off by the hand ;
and in this manner successive crops are obtained during the
season : and when the plants have shot forth their flowering
stems in July or August, the land is ploughed and prepared
for another kind of crop.

The leaves, when collected, are washed, and, being dried, are
carried to a mill similar to that used for bruising the seeds of
oil plants. The paste obtained is placed in heaps, and fer-
mented, and the heaps are then broken down and formed into
balls, which are the subject of commerce : or else the paste is
first formed into balls, which are dried in proper apartments ;
and to fit these balls for the dyeing process, they are reduced
to powder in the same mill which had been employed to form
the paste. The ground material is then spread 3 feet deep
on a floor, moistened with water and slowly fermented. Being
then gradually cooled, it is ready for being stored in casks, or
otherwise preserved until required for use.

The colouring substance may also be obtained, like that of
the indigo plant, separately from the leaves. This is done by
fermenting the leaves in water, and extracting the colouring
substance from the green part of the plant. The process is
described in a work drawn up by the French Government in
1811, at which time the cultivation of woad was a favourite
object with Napoleon, in his endeavours to find substitutes for
the colonial produce of other countries. This method of pre-
paration, however, does not seem to have been extended ; and
less artificial processes prevail where the woad-culture is prac-
tised.

The culture of the woad, and the preparing of the leaves,
require a minute care scarce compatible with the regular busi-
ness of the farm, as practised in this country. But the yet
greater objection to its more extended culture is the uncer-
tainty of the returns, arising from the competition of the in-
digo of commerce, which can be obtained in great abundance
from the intertropical countries of Asia and America.

The next of the common dye plants of Europe is Madder,

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES. l]57

Ilabia tinctorum. This plant has an annual stem, but it is
from the root that the dye is produced. Like others of the
family to which it belongs, it tinges with red the milk, the
urine, and the bones of the animals that feed upon it.

The root is composed of long succulent fibres, which strike
deep into the ground. The plant is best raised from sets, and
should be cultivated in rows with a good distance between.
The method of the drill turnip culture seems entirely suited to
the habits of this plant ; and doubtless in this manner it could
be successfully raised. The roots are taken up before winter
in the third year, at which time, if the soil has been suitable,
they will be frequently found extending from 3 to 4 feet deep
in the earth. The proper kind of soil for this plant is a deep
sand.

The roots, when taken from the ground, are dried by a mo-
derate heat, and then pounded by stampers. The first beat-
ing separates an inferior kind of madder mixed with impuri-
ties ; the second beating a medium sort ; the third is the in-
terior and brighter part of the roots, called in this country
crop-madder. The dye thus produced is a peculiar red, and
is a substitute for cochineal.

Holland was long the country from which we derived our
supplies of madder, and the plant is still much cultivated by
the Dutch and Flemings. It can be readily raised in Eng-
land, for it is not a plant of difficult culture ; but experience
has shown, that it can be produced more cheaply in countries
where the climate is more favourable, and the cost of produc-
tion less.

Weld or Dyers'1 Weed, Reseda Luteola, is another of this
class of plants. It is of the Resedacese, or mignonette family.
It is a native, and generally a biennial. It is found upon earth
brought from a great depth, as the rubbish of coal-mines.

The weld affords a fine yellow dye for cotton, wool, silk,
and other substances. The weld and the bark of the Quercus
tinctoria yield the principal yellow dyes employed in the arts ;
but the latter is now in the most general estimation in this
country.

358 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES.

The weld is the most easily cultivated of all the dye plants,
growing on a variety of soils, without requiring one of great
fertility. It may be cultivated in the same manner as^ the
clovers and common grasses, that is, it may be sown with
any crop of corn, and reaped the following year. In this
manner it is sometimes cultivated, being mixed with the clovers
and grasses, and plucked up from amongst them when it is in
flower.

But the surer method of cultivating the weld is by itself, in
which case it may be sown, in the month of May or later,
broadcast or in rows. The surface of the ground should be
well smoothed, and the seeds, which are very small, lightly
covered. The plants are to be carefully cleaned during the
period of their growth, and in the month of July in the second
year they will be in full flower, and then they are to be pulled
up, without waiting for the ripening of the seeds.

The plants are pulled up by the roots, and set upright, ge-
nerally four together, to dry. When they are sufficiently dry*
which will be in the course of a week or more, they are bound
into larger bundles, in which state they are ready for sale ; or
they may be stacked, and preserved for years without suffering
injury. The culture of the weld, therefore, differs from the
other dye plants in this, that no part of the preparation of the
dyer falls upon the grower. The dye, when extracted from the
stalk, must be soon used, otherwise it will ferment and become
useless.

The produce varies greatly with the seasons, being from 12
to 40 cwt. of stems or more to the acre. It sometimes yields
a good profit, but the demand for it is very uncertain. It is
exceedingly subject to a species of blight. Coupling this with
the unequal demand, little advantage seems likely to be derived
from the more extended culture of it in this island.

The woad, the madder, and the weld, are the plants usual-
ly cultivated on the large scale for their dyes in the north of
Europe. But innumerable other plants yield those beautiful
substances, and are partially cultivated :

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR DYES. 359

1. Crocus sativus, Saffron Crocus, an autumnal species of a
genus known to us as yielding amongst the earliest of our ver-
nal flowers. The plant is cultivated from bulbs. The dye
produced is saffron, and it is derived from the stigma and
style of the plant. The colour of the crocus, however, is very
fugitive, being obliterated by the action of the solar rays.

2. Carthamus tinctorms, Bastard saffron or safflower. It is
the flowers of this plant which are used for dyeing. The dye
produced is of two kinds, a yellow and red. The yellow is
separated by maceration in running water. The remaining dye
is a'delicate red more beautiful even than cochineal, but it is little
permanent. When ground with pure talc, it forms the rouge
termed by the French, rouge vegetale. The seeds yield also an
oil, which is used in medicine and painting. The plant is cul-
tivated in various parts of Europe, and extensively in Egypt
and the Levant, whence great quantities are imported into
England for painting and dyeing.

3. Nerium tinctorium, Dyer's Oleander, one of a genus of
beautiful evergreens, yields indigo, and it is believed might be
cultivated for that purpose.

4. Galium verum, Lady's bedstraw, a familiar plant of the
natural family Eubiacew, and yielding like the madder a red
dye.

5. Rhamnus infectoria, Yellow-berried buckthorn, the fruit
of which produces a yellow dye, is cultivated in France under
the name of Graine oV Avignon. The dye is extremely fugitive.

7. Croton tinctorium, Officinal croton, yielding a beautiful
blue, which is employed to dye silks and wools. This sub-
stance is known to us under the name of Turnsole.

A vast number of other plants could be enumerated as
yielding dyes, and capable of being cultivated for that pur-
pose. The colours they yield are more or less valued for their
permanence and beauty.

( 360 )

VI. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SUGAR.

Of the plants which are either cultivated, or which admit of
cultivation, in Europe, for their sugar, the following may be
enumerated.

1. Beta cicla et vulgaris — White and Common Beet.

2. Brassica Rapa, Solanum tuberosum, Pastinaca sativa, and other plants

producing tubers and mucilaginous roots.

3. Vitis vinifera, and other species of Grape.

4. Betula alba — The Birch.

5. Acer saccharinum — The Sugar -Maple.

6. Saccharum officinarum — The Sugar-Cane.

The Beet is now cultivated largely in France for its sugar.
The sugar produced can be crystallized, and is then little in-
ferior to that derived from the sugar-cane ; but it cannot yet
enter into competition with the latter with respect to cheapness
of production. The manufacture in Trance owed its origin to
the rude plans of Napoleon, to render his empire independent
of the sugar of commerce, and is now only maintained by a
system of fiscal regulations, which exclude, or admit only on
unfavourable conditions, the produce of the sugar-plant of the
tropics.

Although, under the artificial system by which it is support-
ed in France, the manufacture of the sugar of beet cannot be
regarded with favour, yet it is of great interest and curiosity,
as evincing the large quantity of sugar which exists in certain
vegetables, or the facility with which their constituent parts
may be converted into this nutritive and grateful substance.

Besides the beet, the roots of many common plants produce
sugar ; such are, the turnip, and others of the cabbage genus ;
the potato, the parsnep, and other plants which have tubers or
large mucilaginous roots. None of these, however, has been
cultivated on the large scale for sugar, though many of them
have been subjected to experiments, which evince the possibi-
lity of deriving sugar from them in considerable quantity.

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SUGAR. 361

The Vine, Vitis vim/era, and other species of Grape, yield
sugar; but they are never cultivated for this purpose; for,
while they are inferior to other plants for the production of
sugar, they are superior to any for the special purpose for which
they are cultivated — the production of wine.

The Birch, Betida alba, when its stem is perforated, yields a
large quantity of juice, from which sugar may be obtained by
boiling ; and the inhabitants of countries where the birch
abounds, supply themselves, in this manner, with a species of
domestic sugar.

The Sugar-maple, Acer saccharinum, is one of the innume-
rable marvels of the American forest, extending over a vast
tract of country, from lake St John, in Canada, to the upper
parts of Pennsylvania. The juice is extracted in the early
part of the year, while the ground is yet covered with snow,
by boring holes with an auger in the trunk. The juice, which
continues to flow for five or six weeks, is conveyed to a trough
at the foot of each tree, and collected every day, and poured
into casks, from which it is drawn to fill the boilers, which are
upon the spot. It is then evaporated by means of a brisk fire,
until the liquid is reduced to a sirup, when it is left to cool, and
it is then strained through woollen cloth, to separate the im-
purities. It is boiled a second time, until it is of a proper con-
sistency to be poured into moulds. The sugar obtained in this
manner is equally grateful to the taste as the brown sugar de-
rived from the sugar-cane ; and it is equally suited for culinary
uses ; and when it is refined, it equals the finest sugars con-
sumed in Europe. The sugar of the maple supplies a large in-
ternal consumption in Canada and the Northern United States
of America ; but the plant has not been introduced for this
purpose into the culture of Europe. Other species of Acerinece
yield sugar, but none of them in quantity equal to the sugar-
maple.

But the plant which yields the largest supplies of this sub-
stance is the Sugar-cane. This plant is of the natural family
Graminese, and it is of all the family that those juices are the
richest in saccharine matter.

362 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR

The sugar-cane, however, cannot stand the cold of high la-
titudes. The zone of its cultivation extends to about 35°, or
thence to 40°, on either side of the Equator ; and it is only pro-
duced in the temperature of the colder countries of Europe by
artificial means. It is partially cultivated in the islands of the
Greek Archipelago, and its cultivation yet lingers in some of
the provinces of Spain ; but it is scarcely now regarded as one
of the cultivated plants of Europe. Its produce, however, can
be obtained, in unlimited quantity, from the intertropical re-
gions of either hemisphere.

VIII. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR NARCOTIC, BITTER
AND TANNIN PRINCIPLE.

1. Narcotic Principle.

Of the plants which afford the narcotic principle, the most
important are the Tobacco and the Poppy.

1. The Tobacco, Nicotiana, is of the Nightshade tribe. It
was before seen, that the wholesome and esteemed potato is of
this formidable family of plants, possessing in its leaves and
root, until expelled by heat, the same dangerous properties.

Of the tobacco there are many species. Those most gene-
rally cultivated are —

1. Nicotiana tabacum — Virginian Tobacco.

2. Nicotiana rustica — Common Green Tobacco.

Some of the many species of tobacco are natives of Asia, but
the most important of them have been derived from the New
World ; and none of them appears to have been used for luxury
or commerce till obtained from that continent.

The discovery of this plant is supposed to have been made by
Fernando Cortes, in Yucatan, in the Gulf of Mexico, where
he found it used universally, and held in a species of venera-
tion, by the simple natives. He made himself acquainted with

NARCOTIC PRINCIPLE. o63

the uses and supposed virtues of the plant, and the manner of
cultivating it, and sent plants to Spain, as part of the spoils
and treasures of his new found world.

But it was the Portuguese who were mainly instrumental in
diffusing the tobacco plant over Europe and the East. The
history of its introduction into different countries is very re-
markable, but need not here be detailed. It is known, that
the use of this plant, seemingly nauseous, has, in spite of all
opposition, taken root as it were in every country, and become
apparently essential to the comfort of the inhabitants.

The tobacco-plant grows in all the temperate zones to a high
latitude. It is cultivated extensively in Germany, France, and
the Low Countries, in Sweden, Russia, and other parts of
Europe. It required a long series of intemperate laws to ar-
rest its progress in England, and its culture there is now di-
rectly prohibited, on account of the great revenue derived from
the foreign commodity. It is not necessary here to canvass
the policy of these laws. They can be justified only on the
plea of necessity, which compels us to trust to the importa-
tion of foreign tobacco for a large part of the revenue of the
country.

The tobacco-plant requires a rich light soil, and its cultiva-
tion is attended with considerable labour of detail.

The seeds, which are very minute, are generally sown in a
sheltered place, covered during the night to defend them from
frosts, and, in the end of May, or beginning of June, trans-
planted to the fields, and set in rows at a sufficient distance
from one another. The culture they there undergo is hoeing,
to keep them free from weeds, removing insects and injured
leaves, and picking off the summits and buds, to prevent the
flowering of the plant, and to direct the nourishment to the
leaves.

When the leaves are ready, the stems are cut over, the plants
hung up and dried, and then put into heaps, and made to un-
dergo a degree of fermentation. They are again hung up, the
leaves being separated from the stems, and made to undergo a
second fermentation, under a certain degree of pressure. The

364 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR

leaves are again dried, and tied together in bundles. They
are then packed, and compressed in casks, for sale or exporta-
tion, which completes the task of the grower.

The average produce differs very greatly under different
conditions of climate and culture. Mr Brodigan, who culti-
vated the' plant extensively in Ireland, states the produce in
the county of Wexford at 1200 lb. per acre.

The whole details of the operation of culture will be found
in various works. The most recent, with respect to its cultiva-
tion in this country, is by Mr Brodigan, whose treatise is very
complete, and founded on experience. A full summary of the
practice, as pursued in different countries, is given in the Nou-
teau Cours complet <T Agriculture, by M. Bosc.

The tobacco-plant is found to grow in all the temperate re-
gions, but that produced within the tropics possesses the finest
flavour. The quantity produced and consumed of this plant
is immense.

It may be asked, what it is which renders this seemingly
unpalatable herb so grateful to the palate and the system in
every climate, and in every form in which it can be used. Even
in the most nauseous way in which it can be consumed, that
of chewing, the use of it becomes a passion, and few that have
used it in any form ever willingly abandon it.

It is evidently a soothing narcotic, of which the universal
taste of mankind approves ; and it is hard to believe that a
taste so universal should be given for a substance that is in it-
self noxious. It may be abused, indeed, like many gifts of
Nature ; but all the presumption is, that, in moderate use, it
is harmless as well as grateful.

2. The Poppy is of the genus Papaver, of which there are
various species. That which is chiefly cultivated for its nar-
cotic principle is

Papaver somniferum — The Opium Poppy.

The flowers of this species are sometimes white, when the
seeds are also white ; and sometimes the flowers are white and
purple, when the seeds are of a darkish blue colour. The first
is the variety album, the latter the variety nigrum, of De Can-

NARCOTIC PRINCIPLE. 365

dolle. The darkish-coloured seeds are obtained from Germany,
under the name of maw-seeds. This plant grows, in favourable
situations, to the height of five or six feet. The petals of the
flowers are of short duration, being succeeded by large round
heads, somewhat flattened. It is from these heads or capsules,
that the opium is derived.

Being an annual plant, the poppy when sown in spring, ma-
tures its seeds in autumn. It is of easy culture, and can be
produced in the north of Europe, and the opium extracted
from it.

In England, the seeds may be sown in the beginning of
March. The best method of cultivating the plant is in rows.
But, on the poppies attaining a few inches in height, they are
to be hoed out to a distance from one another of six or eight
inches.

When the heads are fully formed, but are yet green, the
opium may be extracted. The process, although minute, is
simple, and may be taught to children in an hour.

Two or more longitudinal incisions are made in the capsule
with a sharp knife, or other instrument, about an inch in
length, and not so deep as to penetrate through the capsule.
The incisions, are, in the first place, made on one side of the
capsule only. As soon as the incisions are made, a milky juice
will flow out, which, being glutinous, will adhere to the capsule.
The next day it is collected from the capsule, by the edge of a
knife or spoon, and put into a vessel. As soon as the glutinous
matter is taken from one side of the capsule, the remaining in-
cisions are made on the opposite side, and the same process of
collecting the exuded juice is repeated.

The juice thus collected is opium. In a day or two it is of
the consistence to be worked up into a mass, and may be rolled
up in leaves, like the opium of commerce.

The narcotic matter of the plant may be also collected by
boiling ; but it is only the exuded juice that forms pure opium.
The manner of cultivation described does not differ in prin-
ciple from that practised in the opium-countries of the East.
In these, according to writers, the longitudinal incisions are

3GG

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR

made at sunset, by many-pointed knives or lancets. In the
following day, the juice is collected, scraped off with a small
iron scoop, and deposited in earthen pots, where it is worked
by the hand until it becomes consistent. It is then formed
into globular cakes, and laid in little earthen basins, to be fur-
ther dried. After the opium is extracted from the capsule,
the plant is allowed to stand and ripen its seeds.

The seeds of the poppy, having nothing of the narcotic prin-
ciple, are eaten by the nations of the East as a nourishing and
grateful food ; and they yield by expression an oil, which is
regarded as inferior only to that of the olive.

It is the expense of labour, and the contingency to which
the plant is subject from rains, that form the principal objec-
tion to the cultivation of the poppy in this country for its
opium. The latter objection, indeed, is greater than the first.
The processes of labour, though minute, are simple, and can
be performed by children. The trials, however, that have been
made on the culture of the opium plant in this country, not-
withstanding the partial success of some of them, lead to the
conclusion that opium may be better obtained from countries
with a warmer and less humid climate than that of England.

2. Bitter Principle.

1. The most important of the plants cultivated with us for
their bitter principle, is the Hop.

The Hop, Humulus Lupulus, has been cultivated in Europe
durino- an unknown period, for its flowers, which are used for
giving a bitter flavour to beer, as well as for preserving it.
Its roots are perennial, and its stem ascends trees and other
objects. It is a dioecious plant, that is, the male and female
flowers are on different individuals. The male plants are
technically called wild hops, and are rejected as of no value.
The hop is a native of this country, and of most parts of Eu-
rope. It flowers in England in June or July.

The hop is raised from slips taken from the stem, or from
sets taken from the root„ These are planted either in autumn

BITTER PRINCIPLE. 367

or in spring ; but the latter is the usual time. The plant is in
its full bearing in its third year ; and a plantation generally
lasts from 10 to 15 years, when it must be renewed, the old
plants being grubbed up, and fresh sets planted.

The slips or sets are obtained from the pruning of the old
plantations, or from the roots. Each slip should contain two
joints or buds. The slips are sometimes planted in a garden
for a season, before being set in a plantation.

The manner of forming the hop plantation is this : — The
ground is deeply ploughed, and well prepared. The places
where the sets are to be planted are marked out, which may
be done by a plough drawing parallel furrows, at the distance
of eight feet from one another, and then by crossing these by
similar furrows, at equal distances. The points where these
furrows intersect, are the places where the sets are to be
planted.

At each of these points of intersection, a hole is dug, and
some manure put in it. A little hillock is made, and five, six,
or seven sets dibbled in, forming a circle round the top of each
hillock, at the distance of five or six inches from one another.
They are set to incline inwards, and one generally is placed in
the centre.

In the first year the plants are tilled and hoed in the inter-
vals, and the earth is drawn by the hoe around the roots of
the plants, which is termed earthing. The principal earthing
is in the first spring of the growth of the plant, but it is re-
peated annually afterwards in spring.

The process of tilling, hoeing, and earthing up, is an an-
nual operation, and manure is applied generally once in three
years. It is either laid on the hills of hops as they are term-
ed, or in the rows. An esteemed manure for this plant is
woollen rags.

The plants yield nothing during the first year. In the se-
cond year they yield their first crop of flowers. In prepara-
tion for this the poles are set. This operation is performed ge-
nerally in the end of April, when the plants are 2 or 3 inches
high.

368 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR

The poles consist of straight shoots of ash, oak, willow, or
other tree, from 6 to 9 inches in circumference at the base, and
tapering to the size of a small cane. Two, but more generally
three, or even more poles, are placed on each hill. They are
fixed in the ground by making deep holes with an iron-crow,
their tops inclining somewhat outwards.

The next operation consists in tying to the poles the shoots
which it is wished to preserve. This is a work of skill, and
one upon the right performance of which part of the success
of the crop depends. The shoots not to be preserved are cut
away. The tying up of the shoots is by means of withered
rushes, so loosely tied as to allow the free growth of the shoots.
When the warm weather arrives, the shoots grow with extra-
ordinary rapidity, twining round the pole.

The season of picking the hop is usually the beginning of
September. The period is known by the hop acquiring a
strong scent. The manner of performing the work of picking
is this : —

Frames of wood are raised in the most convenient part of
the plantation. These frames consist of four boards nailed to
four upright posts, the whole frame being about 8 feet long,
3 feet wide, and 3 feet high. Six, seven, or eight pickers, ge-
nerally women or boys, are placed at the same frame, three or
four being on each side. The plants being cut through at the
root, the poles are lifted up and laid on the frame with the
hops upon them.

The pickers then carefully pick off the flowers of hops, which
they drop upon a large cloth which is hung upon the frame
with tenter-hooks. When this cloth is full, the hops are emp-
tied into a large sack and carried home.

The hops are then kiln-dried, which is done by placing them
on a hair-cloth, 10 or 12 inches deep. The heat is gradually
increased to the proper height, and continued steady eight or
ten hours. The hops are then taken from the kiln, and laid
in a large room or loft until they become cool.

The next process is packing the hops into bags or pockets.
In the floor of the room is a round hole, equal to the size of

BITTER PRINCIPLE. 369

the mouth of the bag. The mouth of the bag is then fixed
firmly to a strong hoop, which is made to rest on the edge of
the hole. The bag is then let through the hole suspended by
the hoop, and the packer goes into it. Another person puts
the hops into the bag in small quantities at a time, and the
packer tramples them firmly down. When the bag is full, it
is drawn up and the end sewed. The hops are now ready for
sale.

In the mean time, the poles in the plantations have been
stript of the stems attached to them, and piled in stacks to
await the following year.

The produce of the hop is more variable than that of any
other crop. It is frequently nearly a failure. It is sometimes
as low as 1 or 2 cwt. to the acre, and sometimes as high as
20 ; the average produce may be stated at about 10 cwt. or
less.

The stalks, like those of other plants of the natural family
Urticew, yield fibres, which may be made into cloth. They are
treated like the hemp ; but the woody part is with more diffi-
culty separated, and requires a longer maceration.

The hop is liable to diseases and the attacks of insects be-
yond any other of our cultivated plants. At the first stage of
its growth, it is attacked by an insect of the flea kind, simi-
lar to that which attacks the young turnip. At a more ad-
vanced stage, it is attacked by numerous lice as they are call-
ed, the young of a little green fly, which frequently greatly in-
jure or totally destroy the plant. Other insects also prey upon
it, and plants of the mushroom family grow upon it, forming
mildew or blights.

From this general account of the manner of cultivating the
hop, it will be seen that the cultivation of it is attended with
considerable difficulty, all the processes of tilling and dressing
the plant, until its final preparation, requiring minute atten-
tion and much labour. It is also a very expensive species of
cultivation, arising from the large outlay required for the poles.
From this circumstance, from the great uncertainty of the re-
turns, and from the whole preparation of the produce being

A a

oJO PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR

subject to the superintendence of the excise, the culture of the
hop in this country does not extend, and is not likely to do so.
The hop is used for preserving and giving a bitter taste to
malt liquor, to which purpose it is exceedingly well suited.
Many bitters, however, may be used in place of the hop, and
these, on account of the enhanced price of the hop, are em-
ployed clandestinely in this country to a great extent. Some
are injurious, as the Cocculus indicus, which has not only a bit-
ter but a narcotic principle, and is in truth a poison ; and
others are innocent.

2. Common Broom, Cytisus scoparius. The young shoots
of this plant yield a bitter ; and the method adopted is to mix
a portion of them with a quantity of hops.

3. Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris. This plant, like some
others of the natural family to which it belongs, is tonic ; and
as it also yields a bitter, it may be used as a substitute for hops.

4. Ground-Ivy, Glechoma hederacea. This plant was for-
merly used for giving a flavour to ale. It belongs to the Mint
tribe of plants, which are generally tonic and cordial.

5. Marsh-Trefoil or Buckbean, Menyanthes trifoliata, is a
common plant, perfectly wholesome, and, as a bitter, is believed
to be superior to the hop. It is the roots which are used for
this purpose.

6. Quassia is also a bitter, used clandestinely in the brew-
ing of beer. It is derived from the bark of a tree found in the
woods of Surinam. It is a very intense bitter, and is used in
medicine as well as in brewing.

7. But the most important of the plants yielding bitters are
those of the natural family Gentianea. The Gentian family
of plants seems intended by nature to supply this principle.
They are herbaceous, and extend over almost every part of
the world, from the highest mountain of Europe to the arid
sands of India and America. The principle of bitterness re-
sides in their roots. They are all of them tonic and stomachic.
They are the most generally extended febrifuges known, and
are, consequently, valuable medicines for the most fatal class
of disorders incident to the human race. Gentiana lutea,

BITTER PRINCIPLE. 371

Yellow gentian, is a native of the Alps of Europe, and is
chiefly employed in France and England : Gentiana rubra is
the species principally used in Germany ; and Gentiana pur-
purea in Norway and Sweden. Their properties are the same.
The yellow gentian, when formerly employed in the old English
ales, was termed Bitterwort.

3. Tannin Principle.

The plants the most commonly employed for the purpose of
yielding tannin are the Oak, the Willow, the Chestnut, and
the Larch ; and it is chiefly from the bark that the tannin prin-
ciple is derived.

Of these forest-trees the oak is the most esteemed for its tan-
nin, although it appears that certain species of willow are not
inferior to it in the quantity and quality of the tannin which
they produce.

The oak produces tannin from its galls, but it is chiefly pro-
duced from its bark, and this in the largest quantity when the
buds begin to open in spring. It yields the smallest quantity
in winter, after the autumnal descent of the sap. It is for this
reason that the oak is too frequently cut down at a time which,
though favourable for the production of tannin, is not so for
the ultimate durability of the timber.

Sir Humphrey Davy made various experiments on the quan-
tity of tannin yielded by the bark of different species of trees.
He found that the greatest quantity was produced by the Lei-
cester willow of large size. From 480 lb. of bark,

The Large-sized Willow yielded

33 1b.

The Common Willow,

11

Coppice Oak,

32

Middle-sized Oak cut in spring,

29

The Spanish Chestnut cut in autumn.

21

The Ash, ....

16

The Black Thorn,

16

The Larch, when cut in autumn,

8

Of these trees, the larch, it will appear,

yields the smallest

A a

2

372 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR GUMS.

quantity, weight for weight ; but then the larch produces a
considerable quantity of bark, for which reason it is common
to strip the frees of their bark when felled. Other coniferous
trees are rich in the tannin principle, as the Hemlock-spruce of
America.

The Myrtle family of plants are some of them very produc-
tive of tannin. The loftiest timber trees of New Holland and
Van Diemen's Land are of this family, and tannin in consider-
able quantity has been recently obtained from the Australian
woods. From the same vast country Acacia has been import-
ed on account of its tannin ; for it is to be observed that several
of this genus yield tannin in great quantity. In some species
of Acacia of the western parts of America, the extract yielded
consists chiefly of tannin.

The Sumach is also a genus of plants which yields a consi-
derable portion of tannin : one of the species, Rhus Coriaria, is
used in Turkey for tanning the leather of that country ; an-
other of the species, Rhus Catinus, is said to be cultivated in
the Apennines for the same purpose.

Tannin is found in the roots and leaves of many other trees
and shrubs. Some common plants of the Rose family yield it
largely, and indeed it is a very commonly diffused vegetable
principle.

VIII. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR RESINS.

The most important of the plants yielding resinous sub-
stances are the Conifer a. or Fir- tribe.

The trees which form the family of Coniferae are of high im-
portance, both on account of the timber which they produce,
and their numerous secretions. It is with relation to the last
of these productions that they are to be here adverted to. These
secretions are termed resins, and they are of very great import-
ance in the arts.

From the Wild pine, Pinus sylvestris, frequently called the
Scotch fir, is obtained common tar. The manufacture is car-

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR GUMS. 373

ried on in those vast countries of pine which form so great a
part of northern Europe.

The manufacture is simple. A conical hole, usually in the
side of a bank, being made, roots and fillets of pine are let into
the cavity, and the whole is covered with turf, which is beat
firmly down above the wood. The wood being kindled, a slow
combustion takes place. A cast-iron pan at the bottom of the
cavity receives the fluid, and has a spout which projects through
the bank, and carries the tar into barrels. As quickly as the
barrels are filled, they are closed with bungs, when the mate-
rial is ready for exportation. This manner of preparing tar
has been derived from the earliest ages. By the further appli-
cation of heat, the tar is converted into pitch.

These two substances, tar and pitch, are of extensive use in
the arts. The employment of them in the preservation of the
ropes and cordage of shipping, is everywhere known. The
importation of tar into this country from the north of Europe
and from America, is very great. The tar of America, how-
ever, is not derived from the consumption of the wild pine,
which does not exist in the New World, but from other spe-
cies, and chiefly from the Swamp pine, Pinus australis.

The Norway spruce, Abies communis, is applied to the same
purposes as the wild pine.

Common turpentine is likewise an extensive production of
certain coniferous trees. It is not obtained by heat, but by
the natural exudation of the juices of the plant, through inci-
sions of the trunk.

Turpentine is resolvable into two parts. The one is rosin,
a substance extensively used in the arts. By distillation oil is
obtained, what remains being rosin. The oil of turpentine has
frequently the name given to it of spirits of turpentine ; but,
though a very powerful substance, it has no resemblance to
alcohol.

Turpentine is obtained from others of the pine family be-
sides the wild pine ; and, according to the species from which
it is derived, the turpentine possesses peculiarities which fit it
for different purposes in the arts.

374 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR RESINS.

Turpentine is extensively produced in the United States of
America. A sort of cavity is formed at the root of the tree,
capable of holding about a pint and a half of juice ; and an in-
cision being made in the bark, the turpentine flows into the ca-
vity, which is emptied five or six times in the season.

Venetian turpentine is obtained from Larix europcea, the
Common larch. The turpentine of the larch is generally ob-
tained from the Alps of the Tyrol ; and the shipping-port being
Venice, it thence derives its name of Venetian turpentine.

The Bordeaux turpentine is derived from the Cluster pine,
Pinus Pinaster.

The Strasburg turpentine is derived from the Silver fir, Abies
Picea. This majestic tree is extremely prolific of resinous
matter.

The Cyprus turpentine is obtained from Pistacia Terebin-
tkus, the turpentine tree of the south of Europe. The islands
of Cyprus and Ohio are productive of this species of turpen-
tine ; which, however, is scarce, costly, and adulterated in com-
merce with the less valuable kinds.

The obtaining of the exuded juice, in this manner, does not,
as in the case of tar, infer the destruction of the tree ; but when
turpentine is procured by incision, the tree is weakened, and
hence, from the small extent of coniferous forests in this coun-
try, and from the time required for the collection of the ex-
uded juice, it is found better to derive the turpentine employed
in the arts from other countries.

Other resinous substances are, in like manner, obtained from
various Coniferse ; as the Canadian balsam, from Abies Balsa-
mea ; the Carpathian balsam, from Pinus Pinea ; the Hunga-
rian balsam, from Pinus Pumilio, &c.

( 375 )

IX. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FRUITS.

Of the plants cultivated for their fruits, the following classes
may be enumerated : —

1. Vitis vinifera — The Vine.

2. Pyrus Malus — The Apple, and others of the Apple tribe ; as

the Pear, the Medlar, and the Quince.

3. Araygdalus persica — The peach and others of the Almond tribe,

as the Plum, the Apricot, and the Cherry.

4. Fragaria vesca — The Strawberry and other fruit-bearing plants

of the Rose family ; as the Raspberry, and others.

5. Ribes grossularia — The Gooseberry, and others of the Curranl

tribe.

6. Cucurbita Pepo — The Pumpkin, and others of the Gourd tribe.

7. Cory his Avellana — The Hazel, and others of the Oak tribe ; as

the Oak, the Chestnut, and the Beech : — Juglans regia, the
Walnut ; and other trees and shrubs bearing nuts and berries.

The first in the order of these fruits is the Vine, the true re-
gion of which, in Europe, is to the southward of the 50° of la-
titude. Within this zone, the vine is the most important of
all the plants cultivated for their fruits, employing a large pari
of the industry of the inhabitants, and yielding the liquor which
is in most general use. Beyond the natural limits of the vine,
to the north, it is the plant of the garden, and is usually raised
by artificial heat.

The next class of plants, the Pomacea, or apple tribe, com-
prehends the most important of the fruit-bearing trees of nor-
thern Europe. They are hardy and of easy culture. They
yield fruits employed in many ways as food, and their juice
supplies a fermented liquor. They have been cultivated and
improved with great care in England, which now numbers a
vast variety of this class of fruits.

The next class comprehends many of our most esteemed
fruits — the Apricot, the Peach, the Nectarine, the Plum, and
the Cherry. Though highly valued for their juicy fruits, a
dangerous principle, hydrocyanic or prussic acid, resides in
their leaves and kernels, which renders them less safe as food
than the fruits of the apple tribe.

3/6 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR FERMENTED

The Strawberry, of different species, is a native of the Old
World and the New, yielding an esteemed and wholesome
fruit. Of this tribe are the Raspberry, and others, largely
produced in the north of Europe.

The Gooseberry, and other plants of the Currant tribe, yield
fruits which are esteemed in the colder, though not in the
warmer, parts of Europe. The plants of the Currant tribe are
hardy, and of easy propagation.

The larger kinds of the Gourd tribe are cultivated in the
fields. They yield a great produce where circumstances are
favourable to their growth ; but they are suited to the warmer,
and not to the colder parts of Europe. Of this tribe are the
Melon and the Cucumber, which are plants entirely of the
garden.

The last class of plants enumerated consists of those of which
the seeds are eaten. Of this class is the Hazel, which is some-
times cultivated on the larger scale; so likewise are the Chestnut
and the Walnut ; but the chestnut and the walnut belong to
the warmer parts of Europe.

X. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR FERMENTED AND
DISTILLED LIQUORS.

The juices and soluble matter of many plants are susceptible
of the vinous fermentation. During this process, a principle
is formed, alcohol, which may be obtained separately by distil-
lation. The liquors, in their first state, are fermented liquors ;
such are wine, cider, beer. The substances obtained from
these, by the process of distillation, are distilled liquors. Many
plants are cultivated for yielding these substances. The most
important of them are the following : —

1. The Vine.

2. The Apple, and other Pomacese.

3. The Peach and other Amygdalacea;.

4. The Strawberry, and other Rosacea?.

5. The Gooseberry, and other Grossulaceae.

6. The Cereal Grasses.

7. The Parsnep, the Carrot, the Beet, and other plants producing

mucilaginous roots and tubers.

AND DISTILLED LIQUORS. 377

At the head of this class of plants stands the Vine, the
fruit of which has, in every age, been employed for the pro-
duction of fermented liquor. The vine may be cultivated
within the tropics, but that is not the natural region of the
cultivated vine, which, in the northern hemisphere, may be
said to extend from about the 25th to near the 50th degree of
latitude.

Although of vast importance to the agriculturists of the
wine-growing countries of Europe, the fermented produce of
the grape can, in this and other countries similarly situated,
be regarded only as the subject of commerce, since no sup-
posable contingency can arise in the colder countries to ren-
der it expedient to attempt the cultivation of this plant for
its wine.

It is otherwise with the next class of enumerated fruits, the
Pomaceee. These are hardy plants of easy culture, suited to
the climate, and capable of producing, in unlimited quantity, a
nutritive and grateful liquor. The wine of the apple is termed
cider, that of the pear perry. The preparation of cider is a
simple process. The apples being gathered, which must be
done when they are thoroughly ripe, are piled into a heap about
a foot high. This heap may be defended from the rain, but
the air should be allowed access to it. After the fruit has lain
for a time to mellow, all decayed apples being in the mean time
removed, it is carried to the bruising-mill.

This, in most of the cider countries of Europe, is a very
simple machine, consisting merely of a common millstone,
placed vertically, and made to be moved round in a circular
stone-trough by a shaft extending beyond the trough, to which
a horse is attached. The vertical millstone should be made of
any hard stone, but not of limestone, because the malic acid
of the fruit acts upon the calcareous matter : neither should any
lead be employed.

The vertical millstone may be four feet in diameter and 10
or 12 inches thick ; the groove in which it is to run in the
trough, may be 9 or 10 inches deep, of sufficient breadth at the
bottom to allow the stone to move freely, and 6 or 8 inches

3J8 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR FERMENTED

wider at the top than at the bottom. The apples are strewed
in the trough, and crushed by the stone as it revolves.

The pulpy mass being removed, is allowed to remain about
twenty-four hours in a heap, after which it is carried to the
cider press. This is usually formed on the principle of a
common screw-press. Boards placed horizontally compress the
pulpy matter, and the screw which presses them together is
moved by levers. The pulp is placed usually in hair-bags, one
above the other, between the horizontal boards. These are
slightly compressed at first, and then more strongly until the
juice be fully expressed. The juice is received in proper ves-
sels, and after being pressed through a hair-sieve to retain
the grosser parts, it is conveyed to a cask, where it is suffered
to ferment.

The fermentative process proceeds, and when it is completed
the liquor is withdrawn, or racked as it is termed, the impu-
rities being left behind. Should the vinous juice show a dis-
position to ferment a second time, it must be again racked, and
so on till the tendency to fermentation be removed. The cider
now formed is put into the casks in which it is to remain. It
is kept in these until it is fit for being put into bottles, when,
if well made, it will be found to be a clear rich liquor, and will
remain in these bottles, without loss of its properties, for twenty
or thirty years. Cider, then, it appears, is a true wine without
any addition to the fermented juice of the fruit.

The manufacture of perry is entirely the same as that of
cider, the pear being substituted for the apple.

The preparation of these liquors is attended with no peculiar
difficulty, and might be extended to every part of the country.
It is not the finer garden apples that are required for the cider
manufacture. They are rather of the less improved and harsher
kinds, approaching somewhat to the wild apple. Nay, the
wild apple itself, one of the most easily cultivated of trees,
will yield good cider alone, but unexceptionable cider if mixed
with a proportion of the cultivated apple. In truth, although
most writers would have us believe that there is something of
much moment in the choice of a particular kind of apple, it is

AND DISTILLED LIQUORS. 379

well established that the principal success of the cider pro-
duction, in the different countries of the north of Europe, de-
pends on the manner of performing the operation rather than
upon the kind of fruit.

The Peach, the Plum, and others of the Almond tribe, also
produce liquors, but these are generally distilled liquors. The
brandy of the peach is extensively consumed in some parts of
the United States of America.

The Strawberry, and other fruit-bearing Bosacea, and the
Gooseberry and other fruits of the Currant tribe, may also bo
converted by the vinous fermentation into wine.

The general character of these fruits is, that they are defi-
cient in those saccharine properties which suit the grape and
the apple tribe to the production of wine. They undergo the
acetous in place of the vinous fermentation, and all of them ac-
cordingly require an addition of sugar to cause them to become
wine. The addition of sugar produces readily the fermenta-
tion required ; but it is common also to add a distilled liquor
to give strength and flavour to them.

Those domestic wines are an article of household economy,
and although they want the flavour of the wine of the grape,
they are not unpalatable. Some of them undergo the vinous
fermentation by the sole addition of saccharine matter, and do
not require the addition of alcohol ; and these are true wines.
Others again are not palatable, and will not keep, without this
addition ; and these are not true wines, but a mixture of dis-
tilled and fermented liquors.

The next class of plants producing fermented liquors are the
cereal grasses. In these, the soluble matter being obtained
by infusion, is fermented, and forms beer. This class of li-
quors includes ale, porter, and the like, which are merely va-
rieties of beer, their different qualities being produced by va-
riations in the manner of performing the fermentative process,
and by differences in the substances added to give strength and
flavour to the liquor. The grains from which these liquors
may be derived are chiefly wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize,

380 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR USES IN

millet, rice. In this country, the grain most commonly em-
ployed, and found best suited to the purpose, is barley.

In all cases of fermentation, the saccharine appears to pre-
cede the vinous fermentation. In the case of brewing from the
seeds of the cereal grasses, it is usual, in order to promote the
conversion of the fecula of the seeds into sugar, to cause them
to germinate, and then suddenly to stop the germination. The
seeds are then termed Malt, and can be preserved for use.
This partial conversion of the matter of the seed into sugar is
not, indeed, essential, for it appears that, without it, the sac-
charine fermentation will proceed under favourable circum-
stances.

The process of malting, then, is simply the production of a
certain degree of germination, by which the starch or fecula of
the seeds is partially converted into sugar. The grain is steeped
for a time in cold water ; the water is then allowed to drain
off; the grain is spread out in a thick heap, in which it gra-
dually heats and germinates. "When germination has taken
place to a certain extent within the grain, the further germina-
tion is checked by exposing the grain on a kiln, heated to such
a degree as to destroy the vitality of the seeds. The malt, af-
ter being bruised, is put into a mash-tun as it is called, and
hot water conveyed upon it. After this it is boiled, and, du-
ring the process of boiling, hops are added, and it is then cooled
and fermented. Beer is therefore a wine, the soluble matter
of the seed, instead of the pulpy matter of the fruit, being em-
ployed.

The last of the kinds of plants enumerated for yielding fer-
mented and distilled liquors are the parsnep, the carrot, the
beet and other plants producing mucilaginous roots and tu-
bers. The details of the operations differ from those in which
the cereal grasses are employed, but the principle of the fer-
mentative processes is the same.

By the vinous fermentation, it has been said, alcohol is pro-
duced, which may be obtained separately by the action of heat.
This constitutes the art of distillation ; and the substances

DOMESTIC ECONOMY AND THE ARTS. 381

which arc capable of undergoing the vinous fermentation are
capable of yielding alcohol by distillation.

Many plants not enumerated here are capable of producing
fermented and distilled liquors. Thus, various common grasses
yield them in considerable quantity; and some berries, as
those of the mountain-ash, ferment as easily as the juice of the
grape.

XI. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR USES IN DOMESTIC
ECONOMY AND THE ARTS.

The plants cultivated for their uses in domestic economy and
the arts constitute a numerous class. They often yield good
returns of profit ; but they are rarely cultivated in the fields,
and for the most part they fall more within the province of the
gardener than the farmer. Those which may be here pointed
out are, —

1. Dipsacus Fullonum — Clothiers' Teasel.

2. Sinapis nigra et alba — Black and White Mustard.

3. Coriandrum sativum — Coriander.

4. Carum Carui — Caraway.

5. Glycyrrhiza glabra — Smooth Liquorice.

6. Lavandula Spica — Common Lavender, and other Labiata?.

7. Rosa rubiginosa, and other substitutes for Tea.

8. Cichorium Intybus, and other substitutes for Coffee.

Clothiers'' teasel is cultivated in various districts of England
for the raising of the nap on woollen cloths, which is done by
the crooked awns of the head. For this purpose, the heads
are fixed to the circumference of a broad wheel, which is turn-
ed round, while the cloth is pressed against them.

The clothiers'1 teasel is a plant growing several feet high,
and terminated by the large head, which is employed in the
manufacturing process. The seeds are sown about the be-
ginning of April, on soil well prepared. The general mode of
culture is broadcast, though the row system would seem more
suited to the plant, which requires cleaning and hoeing during

382 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR USES IX

its growth. In the common practice, the plants are hoed out
to the distance of 12 inches from one another ; and they are
kept free of weeds by hoeing until the plants begin to shoot,
which is in the summer of the second year. In proportion as
the heads become ripe, they are cut off with a portion of the
stem, and are then placed in a shed until they are dry. This
crop may yield a good return, but it is necessarily of limited
culture.

The Black and White mustard are plants cultivated for
their oils. They are likewise applicable to other purposes,
and in an especial degree to the making of the well-known
condiment, mustard, which is in use in many countries.

Both these species are annual ; they admit of easy culture,
and ripen their seeds early in autumn. They may be sown in
rows on a flat surface like corn, the distance between the rows
being 12 inches, so as to allow a sufficient space for the hand-hoe.
They require no other culture than weeding during their
growth. When reaped, they are tied in bunches and left a
few days to wither, and then they are stacked to remain till
they are required for use.

It is the black species which is chiefly ground into flour for
mustard ; although the white, which is less pungent, is fre-
quently mixed with it. Both are mixed with the wild mustard,
and wild radish ; but the adulteration is not otherwise hurtful
than as it is a fraud upon the consumer.

Several species of umbelliferous plants are cultivated chiefly
for the aromatic flavour of the seeds. Of these are Coriander
and Caraway.

Coriander is an annual plant, supposed to be a native of the
south of Europe, but now naturalized in England. Its leaves
and, seed-vessels are strongly scented. Its seeds have an aro-
matic taste, and are used for confectionary and seasonings of
different kinds. They are employed by distillers and rectifiers
for flavouring spirits, and by druggists for various purposes.
The plant is cultivated in Essex and other parts of England,
and ripens its seeds in the same year in which it is sown. But
it is common to sow it in September, when it is ready early in

domestic; economy and the arts. 383

the following autumn. It is sown broadcast, although like
many similar plants it may be cultivated in rows.

Caraway is of the same class of plants with respect to its
uses ; but it is a biennial plant, and is frequently sown with
corn, the corn being reaped in the first year, and the cara-
way in the second. The seeds of the caraway are imported in
large quantity from Holland. It is a native plant, and admits
of easy culture.

The Smooth Liquorice is a leguminous plant, the roots of
which yield a sweet and mucilaginous substance, which is em-
ployed in medicine and for other purposes. It is cultivated in
some parts of England. It requires a light soil, deeply dug,
and well -prepared. The plants are cultivated from sets, in
rows, 3 feet distant. They are tilled by the horse and hand-
hoe, and after three summers' growth the roots are taken up for
use. There is a great demand for the produce of the liquorice
plant, which, amongst other purposes, is used largely in the
brewing of porter. The extract from the root is usually im-
ported from Spain in rolls or cakes.

Lavender is cultivated chiefly for the odour of its flowers,
which is obtained by distillation. It yields an oil, which is
employed in some of the arts. It is a perennial plant, and is
easily cultivated. Various other species of the mint family, as
sage, marjoram, thyme, and peppermint, are valued on account
of their tonic or aromatic properties, and are cultivated on the
small scale on that account.

Thea viridis, Common Tea, is now the subject of immense
commerce. It is the leaves of this plant that are imported in
such vast quantities, and the infusion of which forms something
like a necessary of life in certain countries. China and Tar-
tary supply tea in the largest quantity.

The leaves of the tea-plant seem to owe their grateful action
upon the system to their stimulant properties. Many substi-
tutes have been used, and are mixed largely with the tea con-
sumed in this country, but none of them possesses the proper-
ties of the tea-plant of Asia.

The substitutes are the leaves of some of the plants of the

o84 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR DOMESTIC ECONOMY, &c.

rose family, as the Rosa rubiginosa, sweet-brier, and Rubus
arcticus, common dwarf bramble ; of some of the currant tribe,
as Ribes rubrum, black currant ; of some of the almond tribe, as
Primus spinosa, the sloe ; of some of the mint family, as sage
and balm ; and of some even of the heaths and ferns. In the
United States, the leaves of the sweet-smelling golden rod,
Solidago odora, have been found to be a grateful substitute for
tea.

The Coffee-plant, Cqffea arabica, yields a berry, whose decoc-
tion forms a well known beverage, the use of which has been
derived by us from Asia. Europe is now supplied in immense
quantity with the berry of the coffee-plant from the islands of
the West Indies. This decoction is, like that of the tea-plant,
grateful to the palate, and produces an exciting action upon the
system. Many substitutes have been used, but though general-
ly nutritive and wholesome, none of them possesses the flavour
and properties of the Cqffea arabica.

The best of the substitutes for coffee are the seeds of certain
leguminous plants, which may be prepared by roasting in the
same manner as coffee. Two of these may be mentioned :

1. Astragalus bceticus, Boetian Milk-vetch, a plant which is
cultivated in several parts of Europe, and used in the same
manner as coffee.

2. Lotus tetragonolobus, Purple Winged-pea. This plant is
cultivated in Spain for the like purpose. It produces beauti-
ful scarlet flowers, and is remarkable for its winged legumes.

But the plant which at present attracts the most attention as
a substitute for Coffee is the Succory, Cickorium Intybus, which
is also cultivated for forage. It is the root of the plant which
is used. It is mixed largely with the coffee consumed in
France. It is believed not greatly to injure the flavour of the
coffee, and some even, from habit, prefer the mixture.

( 385 )

XII. PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

The plants usually cultivated for their wood are divided into
two great classes. 1st, The Com/era or Fir tribe, called also
Resinous trees, and sometimes Soft-wood ; and, 2c?, the Amen-
tacea, and other tribes, frequently termed Hard-wood.

Trees of either class may be raised directly from seeds in the
places which they are to occupy ; but experience shows that it
is generally more convenient to raise them in some place where
they can be tended with care during the first stages of their
growth, and, when they have acquired sufficient strength and
size, to transplant them to the places where they are finally to
grow.

In this country the care of the nursery has long become a
distinct profession, and it is the natural effect of a division of
labour that it should be so. Convenience will cause the greater
number of planters to resort for their supplies of tree-plants
to those who devote their attention to the raising of them. But
where planting is to be earned on upon an extended scale, the
planter may form his own nursery, in which case he has the
means of raising his trees with more economy, and on soils
more similar to those on which they are to be ultimately cul-
tivated.

A nursery of this kind should consist of soil of a medium
degree of fertility, the extreme of too great richness, or too
great infertility, being avoided. The soil, too, should be of
the lighter kind rather than of the stiffer, because the lighter
soils are better suited than the stiffer to favour the growth of
the roots of young plants, and because they are adapted to a
greater diversity of the kinds of the cultivated trees,

The situation of the nursery should be somewhat airy, with-
out being too much exposed. To prepare the soil, it should
be deeply trenched and thoroughly cleaned of the roots of
weeds. If the land be not of itself fertile, it should receive a
moderate manuring of lime and dung; for, although every
thing like forcing forward of the plants is to be avoided as a

Bb

386 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

great error in practice, care is to be taken that the land shall
possess a sufficient degree of fertility to nourish and bring
them forward.

The seeds of the trees to be cultivated, are first sown in
what are termed the seed-beds. These may be made about
4 feet wide, with little paths for passages between.

The ground of these beds being carefully digged and ren-
dered smooth by the rake, and a little of the surface-soil being
laid aside for the purpose of covering the seeds, these are to
be scattered evenly over the surface, and a light wooden roller
then passing over it, the earth, which had been laid aside, is
to be spread carefully and equally over the seeds.

The seeds of resinous trees must be lightly covered, and so
also must some of the hard- wood kinds. Those of the larch,
the Scotch or wild pine, and the spruce, should be covered
about a quarter of an inch, and sown in the month of April ;
whilst those of the oak, the ash, the chestnut, the sycamore,
and others, may be more deeply covered and sown at an ear-
lier season. But some of the hard-wood kinds require to be
sown at a later period, on account of their being subject to
injury from frost ; and some may be sown in summer and au-
tumn.

The young plants remain in the seed-beds for one or two
years, during which period they are termed seedlings. Some
of the hardier resinous species, as the larch and the wild pine,
may be transplanted at once from the seed-beds to the place
which they are to occupy in the forest ; whilst others, including
several of the resinous, and all the hard- wood kinds, are first
transplanted into lines in another part of the nursery, where
they remain for one or more years, and then are transplanted
to their place in the forest. The most of the resinous trees,
when they are to be transplanted into the nursery lines, may
be one year's seedlings ; others of the resinous, and all the
hard-wood kinds, should not generally be less than two years'
seedlings before being transplanted to the lines. The trans-
plantation from the seed-beds to the nursery lines may take
place in autumn, after the descent of the sap, or in spring, be-

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

387

fore vegetation has commenced. The operation may be per-
formed by the spade, but is often performed by the dibble.
The plants are set at such distances in the rows that the ho-
rizontal branches of the young trees shall not interfere with
one another. In transplanting, no part of the root should be
lopped or shortened by the knife, nor the roots doubled in put-
ting them into the ground ; and care should be taken in plant-
ing, where the dibble is used, that the root shall be fixed firm-
ly without being compressed at the neck.

Certain kinds of tree plants, instead of being propagated by
seeds, are propagated by cuttings, consisting of a portion of
the shoot of the previous year's growth, 12 or 15 inches long.
These cuttings are planted by thrusting one end a few inches
into the ground. This is the manner in which willows and
certain poplars are raised.

Certain kinds again are best propagated by layers. This
practice consists in bending down the branches of a growing
tree, fixing them in the ground by means of crooked pins of
wood, and covering them partly with earth. In this state the
covered part quickly shoots forth roots, and the branch being
then separated from the parent tree, becomes a distinct plant.

But, in the case of the greater number of species, the prac-
tice is to sow the seeds in the seed-beds in
the manner described. The hardier pines
are often planted at once, as has been said,
when seedlings ; while others of the resinous
species, and most of the hard-wood, are not
planted in the forest until they have been one
or more years in the nursery-lines, where
they extend their roots, and acquire strength
and size.

During the period in which the plants re-
main in these lines, they are to be kept free
from weeds. They require no pruning at this
early stage, further than to the extent of
causing the leading or principal ascending
shoot to preserve its ascendency over the la-

Bb2

Fig. 165.

088 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

teral and more horizontal ones, so that the plant shall not be-
come what is termed forked, as in the figure. This may be
simply effected by shortening one of the branches as at a, or
by simply nipping off the terminal bud of the branch at A, by
which means its lateral growth will be interrupted, and the
main stem permitted to preserve its ascendency.

The next operation to be performed is that of planting. For
this purpose, the ground is to be enclosed by an efficient fence,
and freed, where necessary, of surface water, by open drains tra-
versing the space to be planted : and no further preparation is
usually required than this fencing and carrying off of the surface
water. It is not necessary to dig or manure the ground as for
common crops. Nevertheless, when it is wished, from any
cause, to hasten the growth of wood, and when expense is less
regarded than accomplishing the purpose intended, the land
may be trenched or even manured. This will hasten the
growth of the trees, and render the failure of plants less fre-
quent ; but it is a method of forest culture which has narrow
limits, and which is impracticable, on account of the expense,
over the greater part of those lands which form the fitting
subject of planting in this country. Were it necessary to cul-
tivate land in this maimer before it could grow trees, a great
part of the waste land of the country now covered with wood
must have remained implanted.

The plants of the nursery, then, are to be transplanted to
their place in the forest, which may be done in the case of some
species when they are seedlings, but which is to be done in the
case of the greater number when they have remained one or
more years in the nursery lines, and when they are said to be
one year, two years, or three years transplanted, according to
the number of summers which they have remained in the lines.

Two methods of planting may be practised. The one con-
sists in making a slit in the ground with the spade, and put-
ting in the plant : the other in digging a hole, in which the
plant is placed, the earth being carefully shovelled over the
roots.

The first of these methods may be practised with trees

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR wool). 389

which are transplanted when seedlings, or even with pines and
firs which shall have been a year in the nursery lines. The
other method is practised generally with plants which have
been for some time in the nursery lines, and whose roots ac-
cordingly have become extended. When the manner of plant-
ing is by slits, it may be performed thus : —

One person with a spade makes a deep slit in the ground,
and then another slit crossing it. Having made the second
slit, he bends down the spade until the slit becomes wide
enough to admit the roots of the plant. An assistant, who
attends with a bundle of plants, then taking one of them, slips
it into the aperture formed by the spade. The spade being
then withdrawn, the edges of the sods close upon the plant, the
heel of the planter treading smartly upon the sod to bring the
edges together. In this manner two persons may plant from
1000 to 1200 plants in a day.

Instead of the common spade, a small kind of 1(i„ RC
spade, so light that it can. be worked by one hand,
may be used. When this instrument is employed,
no assistant is required.

The person who plants carries a little bag of plants
before him : with the spade in his right hand he makes
a slit in the ground, and with his left he places the plant in the
slit, and then he fixes the plant by a stroke of the heel. Prac-
tice renders this method of planting easy. One person, by this
simple process, will set from 3000 to 4000 plants in a day, in
such a manner, we are informed by those who have planted
on the largest scale of forest culture, that scarce one plant will
fail.*

But this method of planting is suited only to seedling plants
of not more than two years1 growth ; for when they exceed that
age, and come from the nursery lines, the common spade must
be employed, the strength of one hand not being sufficient to
form a slit largo enough to contain the root.

The other method of planting is performed by digging a
hole by the spade. This is the method to be practised when

* Ci'tiickshaiik"s Practical rianter. ,

390

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

the plants, by having grown in the nursery lines, have acquir-
ed extended roots ; and the following is the method of pro-
ceeding : —

The holes are first digged in the number and at the distan-
ces required, the earth taken out of them being laid beside
them. The trees are then planted, and two persons are em-
ployed at the work. The one places a plant in the centre of the
hole, holding it upright by the top ; the other with the spade
shovels the earth all round it. The earth being then trodden
down by the foot, the tree is planted ; and it is a point of good
practice that the sod or richer soil shall be laid next the roots.
The rules to be observed in this operation are, that the holes
shall be of sufficient size ; that the plants shall be set upright,
and be properly fixed in their position ; and that no lopping
away of the woody part of the root shall be permitted with the
design of fitting it to the hole.

The distance to which the plants are to be set, is to be de-
termined by the nature of the soil and situation. A common
distance is from 3 to 4 feet. Trees ought in all cases to be
planted at first much closer than they are intended to grow.
The object of this is twofold : — 1st, that there may be a pro-
vision against the failure of plants, and that those may be ulti-
mately selected for standing which are the most vigorous and
best formed ; and, 2d, that the plants may mutually shelter
one another. For, although by this close planting the tempe-
rature of the air, as indicated by the thermometer, is not in-
creased, the shelter afforded against the violence of the winds
is found to contribute to the healthy, straight, and rapid growth
of the trees.

After a time, and by degrees, the superfluous plants are to
be cut down. It is not, therefore, necessary that all the super-
numerary plants should be of the more valuable kinds of trees,
which would unnecessarily enhance the expense. The cheapest
and quickest growing trees are the best suited for sheltering
the others, and none are so well adapted for the purpose, at
least in cold countries, as the fir tribe; these. being at once
cheap, easily raised, and beyond every other kind suited to the

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 391

sheltering of other trees, by their being evergreens. The firs
thus intended for nurses, may be planted in slits, the hard-
wood trees in holes.

The absolute necessity of sheltering by means of evergreens,
doubtless only exists in a cold country, such as the more ele-
vated parts of this island. But where the situation is low and
the soil fertile, the sheltering, by evergreens, may be dispensed
with. Still, however, even in the most favoured situations, the
plants should be set close together, both for the purpose of pro-
viding for contingencies, and for promoting the tendency to
upright growth in the trees.

The period of planting is between the fall of the leaf in au-
tumn, and the time when the buds expand in spring, when the
vegetation of the plant is inert, that is, from about the middle
of October to the end of February. Between these two pe-
riods, all forest plants may be transplanted from the nursery
to their ultimate destination, the precaution merely being taken
that the weather shall be mild, and the ground not frozen, when
the transplantation takes place.

The next operations to be performed are those of pruning
and thinning.

The natural tendency of many trees is to rise with a conical
stem shooting forth lateral branches from the base upwards.
Some species of trees, as most of the resinous and some of the
willow and poplar kinds, do not generally tend to deviate from
this form, the main trunk rising erect, surrounded from the
summit to the base by smaller horizontal branches. But other
trees, and these may be said to comprehend the greater part
of the hard-wood, do not rise with the same regularity. In-
stead of one leading upright trunk, they send out many large
boughs, which rival in size the principal trunk : such trees be-
come forked near the base, and the principal trunk below is
short, while the top is largely branched.

Now this is a form of the tree which, however conducive to
beauty, is not so to utility. The main purpose of cultivating
wood is for the timber, and the greater part of the useful tim-
ber of trees is contained in the trunk before it begins to shoot

392 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

out into boughs. In the artificial cultivation of wood, there-
fore, it is important to produce as great a length of trunk, in
proportion to the branched top, as a due attention to the na-
tural habits of the tree will allow.

Further, it is important, for the obtaining of useful timber
for the purposes of the carpenter, that the trunk shall be what
is termed clean for as great a space upwards as possible. To
understand the meaning of this term, when a branch shoots out
from the side of the trunk of a tree, a part of the vegetable
circulation is earned on through that branch ; and hence there
is at this place an interruption of the continuity of the circu-
lation. The fibres of the branch lie in a different direction
from those of the main stem, and this, when carried to a cer-
tain extent, is injurious to the texture of the wood. These
twisted fibres frequently constitute as it were a distinct mass
of wood within the body of the trunk, which takes greatly
from the usefulness of the timber for the purposes of car-
pentry.

For these reasons, it is important that as great a part of the
lower trunk as possible be freed from the lateral shoots.

Nature in part performs this process. As the tree rises in
height the lower branches decay and fall off, so that there are
few trees in which, even if left to themselves, there will not be
a certain portion of the lower stems cleared of lateral branches.
When trees are close together, this natural falling off of the
lower branches takes place more quickly, and to a greater ex-
tent, than when they are distant from one another. Thus, in
natural forests the trees rise with very tall upright stems, and
are gradually divested of all their branches below to a vast
height. It is from natural forests, accordingly, that our finest,
tallest, and most valuable timber is derived.

But in the artificial culture of wood we cannot entirely imi-
tate the natural process, and allow the lateral branches to fall
off by themselves. We must in this case admit the air to the
trees, by keeping them at a distance from one another : and
under these circumstances, the tree tends greatly to shoot out
into branches, and thus to produce a smaller growth of up-

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR AVOOP. 393

right stems, as well as to have a smaller extent cleared of
branches towards the base. •

In the cultivation of wood, then, we must generally resort
to artificial means to give the tree the form which we wish it
to possess. We must first endeavour to promote the upright
in place of the lateral extension, and then to have a sufficient
portion cleared of lateral branches.

Further, the lateral branches should be taken off at as early
a stage in the growth of the tree as is consistent with its health ;
for it is to be observed, that when a branch shoots from a tree,
the twisting of the fibres begins at the point where the branch
had originated, and not, as from a cursory inspection might
be supposed, from the surface of the stem.

As in the practice of pruning there are two distinct pur-
poses to be aimed at ; first, giving the vertical tendency to the
tree, and, second, obtaining as great a portion as possible of
clean stem ; so there are two periods in the growth of the tree
at which these objects are to be attended to. The first in or-
der of time, is giving the vertical tendency to the tree, and the
second denuding it of its lower branches.

Until the tree has attained the height of 15 or 16 feet, the
only object that need be attended to is to give it the upright
tendency in question, and to prevent its becoming forked.

The pruning for this purpose consists in merely shortening
such branches as may be rivalling the leading shoot, or stretch-
ing out laterally with a growth disproportioned to that of
the others. Frequently the mere nipping off of the terminal
bud will be sufficient to retard the growth of a branch ; but
in all cases it will be completely effected by cutting off the
shoot as at a, Fig. 165, making it about half the length of
the shoot above ; this is the sole end in pruning during the
first period of the growth of the tree ; and, it is to be observed,
that if a tree be of itself tending to grow upright and without
forking, no pruning, even of this simple kind, is required. For
of all pruning, it is to be observed, that it is a violence done to
the plant, and is to be avoided as much as possible. By cut-
ting off branches and leaves, we cut off organs of nutrition.

o94 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

We do not prune that we may increase the quantity of wood,
for the operation has a directly opposite tendency and effect ;
but we prune that we may give to the tree that form which is
calculated to produce the greatest quantity of timber in the
proper place.

The other branch of pruning, and the next in the order of
time, consists in denuding the lower part of the trunk of
branches, so that there may be obtained a sufficient extent of
clean wood. Although, for the reasons given, it is important
that the taking off of these branches be at as early a period as
possible, yet this must be done always under the conditions ne-
cessary to preserve the health of the tree. The tree should,
in the first place, have attained sufficient strength and age to
bear the being deprived of its branches ; and, in the next place,
the process should be carried on so slowly as not to affect the
healthy growth of the plant, and so gradually, that it may
have vigour to cicatrize, or cover with bark, the wounds that
have been made upon its surface. The period when we may
safely commence this process of denudation is when the tree
has attained the height of 15 or 16 feet.

Now, every tree adds to the length of its leading shoots and
branches from buds which grow on the ends of the shoots.
Every year a new shoot is made from each of these buds, of a
length proportioned to the vigour of growth of the plant. The
shoots thus formed in one year, produce each a bud, which,
in like manner, produce shoots in the following year; and
thus, while the tree is growing, there is a continued increase
of the length of its leading shoots and branches. Further,
when the annual shoots of any branch is produced, there is
usually sent forth at the place where it originates one or more
lateral shoots, so that there is a succession of branches, or tiers
of branches, from the base to the summit. Were these lateral
branches not to fall off, we could, by means of them, ascertain
the age of the tree ; and in the case of many of the Coniferse,
we can frequently ascertain the number of years which they
have lived, or that each individual branch has taken to grow,
from the number of these annual shoots alone. A knowledge

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

395

Fig. 167.

of this mode of growth will conduct us to a simple rule in
practice for removing, without violence, the lower branches of
the trunk.

When we commence this process of pruning off the branches
of the stem, let us cut off the lowermost branch or tier of
branches, that is, the branch or branches of one year's growth,
and no more : in the second year let us cut off a second tier :
in the third year a third
tier ; and so on. In this
manner, while the tree in
each year makes one shoot
vertically, the lateral shoots
of another year are cut off
below. Thus, in the an-
nexed figure, the tree ha-
ving made 15 shoots, and
having risen, we will sup-
pose, to the height of 15
feet, we commence the pro-
cess of pruning, by cutting
off the lowermost branches
or set of branches 1. The
tree then makes a shoot
from 15 to 16, so that while
we have cut off the lateral
shoots of one year, another
year's vertical shoot will be
made. The next year we
prune away the branch or
branches 2 ; and again the
tree makes a shoot from 16
to 17. In the third year,
we cut off the branch or
branches 3, the tree making again a shoot upwards as before,
to 18 ; and so we take off each year the lateral shoots of one
year, and never more.

By this method we shall gradually denude the stem of its

390 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

lateral branches from below upwards, while it is increasing in
vertical growth. The extent of cleared trunk will thus gra-
dually become larger in proportion to the uncleared portion or
top. Thus, suppose that we begin to prune when the tree has
made 15 years' shoots, then, when it has made 30 years' shoots,
we shall have cleared off 15 ; that is, half the height of the
tree.

Now, when we have cleared half the height of the tree, or a
very little more, we should pause in our further operations, and
mark its state of growth. If it continue to grow vigorously
we may resume our operation of close pruning, but at longer
intervals than before, so as never in any case to have more
cleared away than one-half, or at the utmost three-fifths, of the
height of the tree, and never taking off more than one year's
lateral growth of branches in a season.

Ever)' tree, it is to be observed, must possess a sufficient top ;
that is, it must extend horizontally as well as vertically so as to
bear branches and leaves. The leaves are organs of nutrition
of the plant, essential to the healthy exercise of the vegetable
functions ; and we must be careful to deprive it of no'more of
these organs than consists with our purpose in pruning. Now.
by proceeding slowly in this gradual manner, never taking off
more in any one year than the growth of one year's lateral
branches, we shall not usually interfere with the healthy growth
of the tree, but shall always leave it a sufficient power^.of ex-
pansion at top to afford it the means of nutrition and growth.
Further, by never cutting off more at a time than the growth
of one year, the tree will generally have vigour to cicatrize
the wounds that have been made upon its trunk ; whereas,
were we to lop off many branches at a time, according to the
practice too prevalent, the tree might not have vigour to cover
them with a fresh growth of bark, and thus the wounds might
remain, to the lasting injury and frequent destruction of the
tree.

In pruning in this manner, the branches are to be cut off'
quite close to the stem, so that the bark may quickly cover the
wound ; and although trees may be primed in summer, thp

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 397

fittest period of pruning, as of all operations upon the living
plant, is when vegetation is inert ; that is, from the fall of the
leaf to the period of the ascent of the sap in spring.

Thus, then, the operation of pruning may be said to be begun
in the nursery, but at that time with an extreme degree of tem-
perance, all the end of pruning at that early period being to
prevent the plant from becoming forked. When the trees arc
transplanted to their ultimate situation, we may examine them
in the third, or at latest the fourth, year afterwards, and then,
if more than one leading shoot is formed on any tree, we are to
select the best, and shorten the others to about half the length
of that which had been selected. And in like manner, when
any branch or set of branches is seen to be extending laterally,
with a growth disproportioned to that of the others, then, by
merely shortening them, the tendency to the lateral extension
will be sufficiently checked to allow the other branches to ex-
tend in an equal degree. And should we find that all the
branches of a tree are tending to extend too much laterally,
by merely shortening them in a slight degree, we shall give
the ascendency to one leading shoot, and so promote the up-
ward tendency ; and this is all the pruning required until the
tree has attained, as has been said, the height of 15 or 16 feet,
when the process of pruning the lower branches is to be begun,
and carried on by the slow process described. But even after
we have begun the process of close pruning, we may still ob-
serve that the tree is ascending vertically, and if required, give
this tendency from time to time by shortening any of the la-
teral branches.

It is not essential to the success of this method of pruning,
that it be carried on every year. It will be sufficient to ap-
proach as near to the perfect practice as circumstances will al-
low, observing merely the general rule that not more than the
growth of one year shall be taken off at a time, and that the
process shall not be carried further than to the clearing off of
three-fifths of the height of the tree.

The method of pruning by the shortening of the lateral
branches, was brought into notice in England by the writings

398 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

of Mr Billington, who had charge of a portion of the Royal
forests ; and it was further developed and explained, with the
addition of the gradual denudation of the lower branches, by
Mr Cree in Scotland. To these most deserving individuals is
due the merit of having introduced, and to the latter that of
having perfected, a system of pruning very greatly superior to
that which had been before in use.

Pruning, as it is commonly practised, can scarcely be said to
be founded on any principle. Branches are lopped off without
limit or caution, and thus the growth of the tree is injured,
and wounds formed upon its surface which are never after-
wards cicatrized. Often in the case of the youngest trees, we
see the entire branches of successive years1 growth lopped off
in a season, and nothing left but a bush at the top. By this
system of mutilation, millions of trees are sacrificed. A great
proportion indeed of the whole cultivated wood of the country
is annually destroyed, and it were better that the pruning knife
were never used at all than thus misapplied. The practice so
common has probably been derived from that of the garden ;
but it is to be observed that, in the garden, the purpose in
pruning is to repress the growth of wood and produce that of
fruit ; and the principle, therefore, is in no degree applicable
to the pruning required in the forest.

The principal instruments to be employed in pruning are a
sharp knife, chisels with handles for reaching the higher
branches, and sometimes a small saw for the larger branches.
The hatchet is on no occasion to be used in pruning. The
following figures represent the chisel and the saw. The saw
here shown is the Indian saw, which is made to act by being
pulled towards the operator, in place of being pushed away
from him like the common saw of Europe. By being fixed to
a long handle, this instrument is adapted to the cutting off of
the higher branches.

Fig. 168.
Fig 169.

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 399

When the proper direction has been given to the growth of
the tree, and the lower branches have been pruned to the height
to which it has been thought expedient to carry the operation,
art has done all that it can do to render the tree useful. The
natural growth of the tree must effect the rest. The trunk
will increase in diameter by the addition of concentric layers
of wood, yearly formed between the bark and the stem. The
longer a tree stands while in a growing state, the thicker will
its trunk become, and the more valuable. It makes wood ra-
pidly, to use a familiar expression, when the trunk has become
of good size ; and it is an error, therefore, to fell wood which
is intended for timber too soon.

In the pruning of forest trees, one of the most frequent er-
rors committed is to delay the process till too late. By this
delay the form of the tree is often rendered such that it cannot
be restored ; and the lopping off of large branches in the man-
ner often practised, in order to give the tree a better shape, is
for the most part attended with the evil of disfiguring it more,
and enfeebling its growth. We constantly see those mistaken
attempts to repair past neglect, by the lopping off of large limbs,
the places of which the tree now wants vigour to heal. Vast
numbers of trees are destroyed by this system of mutilation,
when all further object in pruning is at an end. Sometimes a
large branch may be lopped off when a tree is top-heavy, or
wrhen a branch is likely to be split, or for some other good
reason. But it is an error, which must end in disappointment,
to begin this system of lopping a full grown tree, with the de-
sign of compelling it to resume its process of increase when it
has naturally ceased.

When a tree has been neglected, but is not yet so far ad-
vanced but that we may hope to restore it, we have merely to
apply the principle of pruning explained to the case of the par-
ticular tree. We have to shorten the lateral branches which
are forming forks, so as gradually to produce the upright ten-
dency of the leading stem required. The rule is to proceed
with the greatest temperance, taking care never to do too much
in one season, lest, by depriving the tree of its branches, we
enfeeble its vigour and impede its growth.

400 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

The process of pruning has been described, but there is
another part of forest-culture coincident with pruning, and of
equal necessity. This is the thinning out of the superfluous
trees, so as to admit the air, and give room to the trees that are
to remain. The trees, we have seen, have been planted greatly
more closely than they are intended to grow, and many of them
were designed merely to shelter the others during the early
stages of their growth.

Whenever the horizontal branches of trees begin to cross
one another, the process of thinning should commence. This
is to be done by cutting out such a quantity of the inferior trees,
as shall allow a sufficient space between the remainder. The
first thinnings of this kind will be of little value, and will not
repay the expense of clearing them out. Yet it is necessary
that they be cleared away, in order to allow space and air for
those which are left.

From the period when this first thinning is made, the planta-
tion should be gone over every two or three years, and the same
process repeated, observing the simple rule that the boughs
shall never be so close as to interlace. If the plantation con-
sists of a mixture of hard -wood and resinous trees, the whole of
the latter should have been cleared away by the time the wood
is 14 years old or less, and the great mass of it long before.
After this the hard-wood trees should be kept at the distance
from one another of about half their height.

When a plantation consists entirely of resinous trees, they
may be kept much closer together than in the case of hard- wood.
Still it is important, in the case of the resinous trees, that the
thinning be continued frequently, so that they shall not crowd
upon one another. It is by neglect of this point that many
thousand acres of cultivated wood become comparatively use-
less.

The most frequent mistake committed in the management of
mixed plantations of resinous trees and hard-wood, is the al-
lowing of the former to remain until they have choked and en-
feebled the hard- wood. This is done with the design of allow-
ing the resinous trees to remain so long that they may be of

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 401

some value when cut down. This, however, is an error of
practice, by which the value of the hard-wood is lessened, while
the full value of the softer wood is not obtained.

The habits of the resinous trees and the hardwood kinds are
very different ; and when the end proposed is merely the raising
of wood for future profit, the two kinds will be best cultivated
separately. It is not an exception to this principle that firs
and pines are planted along with hard-wood. They are plant-
ed for the purpose of shelter, and they should be removed as
soon as they have served this purpose. It is by allowing them
to remain too long, with the design of combining the profit of
the two classes of trees, that the hard-wood in many mixed
plantations is stifled and rendered useless.

Again, when the end proposed is the profit to be derived
from resinous trees, they are best planted without any mixture
of hard- wood. In this manner a greater quantity, and of better
quality, can be raised from a given space. They can be suf-
fered to arrive at maturity, and then cut down when really of
value ; whereas, if mixed with hard-wood, they would need to
be removed long before they had become of use.

And not only when ultimate profit is looked to should the
two classes of trees be cultivated separately, but in many
cases, in the planting of hard-wood, the same kinds of them
should be planted together. Thus a forest of oaks will be
more valuable if unmixed with other trees. Besides, the oak
possesses the property of springing again freely from old stocks
when cut down. In this manner, after being felled, the planta-
tion is formed into coppice, and made to yield periodical returns
at intervals of 25 or 30 years. In like manner, willows and
poplars are best planted in groups by themselves. In this case
a greater number of them can generally be raised upon a given
space in the situations suited to them; and some of the species
of willows, by being cut regularly, may be formed into osier
plantations and yield successive crops.

These are considerations to be regarded when the object is
the profit to be derived from the wood ; but when the taste is
to be likewise gratified, then the mixed plantation, with its

C c

402 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

varying tints and diversified forms of trees, may claim a pre-
ference over that which, on a mere calculation of profit, would
be chosen.

Different species of trees, whether planted together in groups
or intermingled with others, have each peculiarities with re-
spect to the manner of their growth, the soils and situations
to which they are suited, and, in some cases, the method of ma-
nagement. With these differences the forest planter should be
rendered familiar. But the description of species and the man-
ner of cultivating them, forms itself an extensive branch of rural
economy, which would exceed the limits which could be as-
signed to it in an elementary work. The end proposed here
has been to explain the general practice of planting, and the
management of forest-trees, without entering into the lesser
details, or into a description of the different species which are,
or which may form, the subjects of cultivation.

The following may be enumerated as forest-trees adapted to
cultivation in this country : —

1 . Pinus sylvestris — Wild Pine.

2. Pinus Laricio — Corsican Pine.

3. Pinus Cembra — Siberian Stone Pine.

4. Abies communis — Norway Spruce.

5. Abies Picea — Silver Fir.

6. Abies nigra — Black Spruce.

7. Abies alba — White Spruce.

8. Larix europsea — Common Larch.

9. Larix pendula — American Black Larch.

These are all resinous trees, sufficiently hardy for forest cul-
ture in this country.

Of the hard-wood kinds there may be enumerated —

1. Quercus Robur — Common oak.

2. Quercus sessiliflora — Sessile-fruited Oak.
•3. Quercus Cerris — Turkey Oak.

4. Quercus alba — White Oak.

5. Juglans regia — Walnut.

G. Castanea vesca — Sweet Chestnut.

7. iEsculus Hippocastanum — Horse Chestnut.

8. Fagus sylvatica — Common Beech.

9. Carpinus Betulus— Hornbeam.

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 4< >o

10. Betula alba — Common Birch.

11. Betula pendula — Weeping Birch.

12. Betula lenta — Black Birch.

13. Betula papyracea — Canoe Birch.

• 14. Alnus glutinosa — Common Alder.

15. Salix alba— White Willow.

16. Salix russelliana — Bedford Willow.

17. Salix triandra — Long-leaved Triandrous Willow (for osiers).

18. Populus alba — Great White Poplar.

19. Populus dilatata — Lombardy Poplar.

20. Populus tremula — Aspen.

21. Ulmus campestris — Narrow-leaved Enlgish Elm.

22. Ulmus suberosa — Common Cork-barked Elm.

23. Ulmus montana — Wych Elm.

24. Fraxinus excelsior — Common Ash.

25. Fraxinus americana — White Ash.

26. Fraxinus quadrangulata — Blue Ash.

27. Acer Pseudo-platanus — Sycamore.

28. Acer platanoides — Norway Maple.

29. Tilia europaea — European Lime-tree.

30. Tilia rubra — Red- twigged Lime-tree.

Of the class of smaller trees cultivated for underwood, tin
following may be mentioned : —

1. Corylus Avellana — Common Hazel.

2. Pyrus aucuparia — Mountain Ash.

3. Crataegus Oxyacantha — Hawthorn.

4. Cytisus alpinus — Laburnum.

5. Ilex Aquifolium — Common Holly.

6. Prunus Laurocerasus — Common Laurel.

7. Prunus lusitanica — Portugal Laurel.

When it is wished to form a mixed plantation of these and
other species, they are to be planted of the kinds and in the
proportions which are best suited to the soil and situation. *

The profit to be derived from planting will appear to many
to be contingent and distant, and yet to expend capital on
planting, may be to lay out money to increase at a high rate
of interest. Planting, therefore, may be to the landed proprie-
tor a mode of setting aside a fund for a future purpose, and

* The following is an example of a mixed plantation, in which the larch,

cc2

404

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

an estate may be preserved to a family by capital wisely ex-
pended on this improvement.

But the profit is usually derived from planting land that is
otherwise of comparatively little value. It is not the lands

the spruce, and the wild pine, are designed to serve the purposes of nurses :
300 Oaks, . . . . .20/ Per 1000. L.O (J 0

100 Wych Elms,
150 Ashes,
25 Sweet Chestnuts,
50 Beeches,
50 Sycamores,
50 Weeping Birches,

All these plants should be from 1 \ to 2 feet high when
planted ; but not exceeding 2 feet.
25 Bedford Willows, from cuttings,
25 White Poplars, from 3 to 4 feet high,
50 Hollies, from 9 to 12 inches,
50 Laburnums, from 2 to 3 feet,
50 Mountain Ashes, from 2 to 3 feet,
50 Hazels, \\ foot,
50 Silver Firs, 1 foot high,
500 Larches, 1 foot high,

500 Norway Spruces, from 9 inches to 1 foot high, 3/
1531 AVild Pines, about 9 inches high,

3556, being 3h feet apart,

Expense of planting, — the willows, larches, spruces,
and pines being put into slits, and the others in
holes, . . . . . . 0 16 6

L.2 1 2|

To this is to be added the expense of enclosing, which increases in a great
ratio as the space to be enclosed is lessened. Thus, to enclose the following
quantities of land, in the form of a square, with a stone-wall, at Is. 2d. per
yard in length, will be as under : —

. 12/6 ...

0

1 3

. 12/ ...

0

1 9i

. 25/ ...

0

0 7^

. 15/ ...

0

0 9

12/6 ...

0

o 7i

. 25/ ...

0

1 3

ugh when

. 10/ ...

0

0 3

. 50/ ...

0

1 3

. 20/ ...

0

1 0

. 20/ ...

0

1 0

. 20/ ...

0

1 0

. 17/6 ...

0

0 10-

. 25/ ...

0

1 3

2/6 ..

0

1 3

high, 3/ ..

0

1 6

. 2/ ..

0

3 0i

L. 1 4 8'

Acres.

Total Expense.

Expense per Acre

50

L. 114 16 0

L.2 5 11

10

51 6 8

5 2 8

1

16 4 7

16 4 7

When the space to be enclosed, therefore, is 10 acres, the expense by the
acre is about 2\ times more than when it is 50 acres; and when the quan-
tity is only 1 acre, it is about 7 times more. Hence the error of planting
in patches. This may be done for shelter or embellishment ; but when pro-

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD, 405

that will yield a good profit by cultivation that will yield a
good profit by planting, but those that are otherwise little
productive. Superior soils will produce more valuable wood ;
but, taking into account the loss of rent for the long period of
the age of a tree, it is the class of soils low in the scale of fer-
tility and value that usually yield the largest return for plant-
ing.

In the practice of forest culture we should take care that
the work of planting be executed well. When we employ the
common labourers of the country, the digging of the holes for
the trees may be done by contract ; but the putting in of the
plants should be by days1 labour, in order that the persons
employed may have no interest in executing the work in an
imperfect manner.

In choosing plants in the nursery, care must be taken to se-
lect those that are of a proper size. It is an error to select
plants because they are large. Such plants may perish or be-
fit from the timber is looked for, the difference between planting on the
large and small scale may make the difference between profit and loss in
the plantation.

The expense of planting as above, per acre, is . L. 2 1 2±

of enclosing, when the extent is 50 acres, . 2 5 11

L.4 7 H
Now, the following calculation will show the amount of the cost of plant-
ing, enclosing, and the rent of the land, uj) to the period when the outlay-
may be expected to be repaid ; that is, when the wood has arrived at matu-
rity, and is fit for being cut down : — Let it be supposed that wrood requires
60 years to reach the age of good timber, and that the land is worth 5s. per
acre yearly in its original state, then, rating money at 5 per cent, compound
interest, the amount of 5s. yearly for 60 years is . L. 88 7 1 1

The expense of planting and enclosing, L. 4 : 7 : U} for the

same period, principal and interest, is . . . 81 7 5

L. 169 15 4
So that, if the wood shall be worth L.169 : 15 : 4 at the end of 60 years, the
original capital and the loss of rent will have been repaid. But L.169 : 15 : 4
per acre would be a very low price of wood of 60 years' standing. Five or
six times the amount, independent of the value of thinnings, might be ex-
pected to be derived ; and, therefore, on the conditions supposed, the capi-
tal would be profitably laid out on planting.

406 PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD.

come enfeebled when transplanted from the nursery to the fo-
rest. Yet this is the kind of plants that inexperienced planters
are apt to prefer. Care, too, should be taken that the plants
selected be of healthy growth, and free from forks.

When land has been planted, the ground should be examin-
ed regularly for several years afterwards, and the plants that
may have died replaced. The ground should be kept free of
stagnant water, and carefully defended from trespass during
the early stage of the growth of the trees.

XIII. PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED FOR FORAGE OR
HERBAGE.

Plants cultivated for forage are those which are mown, and
used, either in a green or dried state, as the food of animals.
Plants cultivated for herbage are consumed upon the ground
where they are produced. Certain kinds of plants are better
suited for forage than herbage. But many are adapted to
either purpose, and therefore no distinct line can be drawn be-
tween the two classes.

The plants usually cultivated or employed for forage or
herbage, are —

1. The Tare, and other species of Vetch.

2. Lucerne, and other species of Medick.

3. Sainfoin.

4. Wild Succory, and other plants producing leaves suited for

forage.

5. Clovers, Vetchlings, Melilots, &c.

6. Heaths, Sedges, and Rushes.

7. Rye-grass and other Grasses.

8. Burnet, and other plants producing herbage.

1. The Tare.

The Tare, Vicia sativa, is one of the most esteemed of the
leguminous forage-plants of this country. It is an annual

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR WOOD. 407

plant, indigenous, and hardy. There are several varieties of
it, one of which is distinguished by producing yellow seeds.

The tare, by being sown in autumn or in spring, acquires
habits so different, that many have supposed the spring and
winter tares, as they are called, to be different species. They
are, however, the same species, and do not even constitute bo-
tanical varieties; but, from the different habits of ripening
which they acquire, they should be always sown at the periods
to which they are respectively suited ; that is, the winter-tares
should be sown in autumn and the spring-tares in spring ; for
experiments have shown, that the spring-tares sown in autumn
will frequently perish in the first frosts, while the winter-tares
will continue uninjured. This requires the more attention, as
the seeds of the two kinds are so similar that no means of dis-
criminating them exist.

When tares are cultivated for green food at a late season,
they are to be sown in spring ; and in order to procure a suc-
cession of cuttings during the months of summer and autumn,
portions of the ground should be sown at intervals from the
middle of March to the end of May.

When tares are to be sown in autumn, for early feeding in
the ensuing season, the land frequently receives only one plough-
ing, after which the seeds are sown in the usual manner, and
harrowed. A little further tillage, however, would be bene-
ficial, so as thoroughly to prepare the ground.

When tares are sown in spring, the land should receive a
ploughing before winter, as in the case of pease and beans. It
should be cross-ploughed again in spring, and well-harrowed,
and receive a second ploughing, if possible ; for it is always
well to prepare the surface carefully for the seeds of this plant.
After they are sown, the land should be rolled, to facilitate the
subsequent action of the scythe. If manure had been required
for the crop, it should have been applied in the previous au-
tumn.

Tares should always be sown on land which is in good con-
dition and clean. It is a great error to sow tares on land
which is not in this state. The tares are considered in many

408 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

places as a kind of bye-crop ; hence they are left to struggle
with weeds, and many important advantages attending their
cultivation are lost. The management of the tare in England
is much superior to that pursued in Scotland.

The quantity of seeds sown may be from 3 to 4 bushels to
the acre. When the crop is sown for its seeds alone a smaller
quantity will suffice, as 2\ bushels to the acre.

It is common to mix a portion of some of the cereal grasses
with the tare, the effect of which is to increase the quantity of
fodder; the stems of the grasses rising above the foliage of the
tares, and both growing without interrupting each other. For
winter-tares rye is best suited, for spring-tares oats or barley.

Tares, when used as green forage, are cut after the pods are
formed, but long before the seeds become ripe. Tares, there-
fore, being in the class of crops not allowed to mature their
seeds are not exhausting to the soil. On the contrary, with
relation to the farm, they are to be considered as restorative
crops, from the quantity of manure which the consumption of
them affords. They are exceedingly nutritious, and supply a
larger quantity of food for a limited period than almost any
other forage-crop.

The usual mode of sowing tares is broadcast, though they
are better sown in rows, like the pea and the bean. This, in-
deed, is by no means so essential to the success of the crop as
in the case of the bean and pea, for the produce of the tare is
chiefly the stem and leaves, and the pods and seeds are of little
comparative importance ; the admission of air, therefore, for
the swelling of pods and seeds is not necessary. The plants,
too, cover the intervals of the rows quickly, and so do not
admit of much time and opportunity for tillage during their
growth.

Tares are chiefly cultivated for green forage ; but they may
be also cultivated partially for their seeds. In this case, the
mode of culture is the same as that of the pea. The land should
not be too rich, so as to cause them to run to straw instead of
producing pods ; and it is a good practice to mix a small quan-
tity of beans with them, to support and keep them from trail-

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 409

ing on the ground. The beans, from their difference of size,
are easily separated by riddles from the tares. In the prac-
tice of the farm it is common to cultivate tares for green fo-
rage, and merely to reserve that part of the crop for seeds
which is not used in this manner. They are then reaped,
stacked, and dressed, like pease.

When the tare is cut very early, it may rise again and pro-
duce a second crop ; and even a third cutting is sometimes ob-
tained. In the northern parts of the island, the farmers scarce
ever attempt to produce more than one crop in the season.

Tares are sometimes consumed by penning sheep upon them ;
but the better practice is to feed the sheep from racks. When
the larger animals are fed on this food, it should always be
supplied to them from racks in houses or yards.

All the animals of the farm are fond of this legume, and all
thrive upon it in an eminent degree. Hogs may be fattened
entirely upon it. It is suited to milch-cows, causing them to
give more butter than any other species of food, and it is em-
ployed extensively in the feeding of horses. All the English
agriculturists are impressed with a high opinion of the value
of tares. They are not only casually employed, as in Scotland,
to fill up the intervals between the cuttings of clovers, but they
are often the principal source of feeding from the month of
May to November.

There are several species of vicia, with broad leaves re-
sembling those of beans, cultivated in Germany for the same
purposes as the tare :

1. Vicia narbonnensis — Narbonne Vetch.

2. Vicia platycarpos — Broad-podded Vetch.

3. Vicia serratifolia — Saw-leaved Vetch.

But none of these species is equal in productiveness to the
common tare.

Another of the genus Vicia is Vicia pseuclo-cracca, Annual
Tufted Vetch. This species is of very luxuriant growth, but
flowers at a late season. It is, as yet, untried in the agricul-
ture of this country. It might, perhaps, supply a desidera-

410 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

turn, namely, the affording of a large quantity of green forage
after the pastures have begun to decay in autumn, and before
the turnips and similar plants are ready for use.

Vicia biennis, Biennial Vetch, is a native of Siberia. This
species is of luxuriant growth, and comes early in spring. It
was cultivated by Miller so long ago as 1759, and recom-
mended by him as a plant of great promise ; but no experi-
ments upon it on the large scale are recorded. Its stems have
a certain degree of hardness, and its leaves a somewhat in-
sipid taste.

Vicia st/lvatica, Wood-Vetch, is perennial. It grows in woods
with a stem from 3 to 5 feet high, climbing by its tendrils,
and bearing beautiful little flowers streaked with bluish veins.
The wood-vetch, as its name denotes, is truly the inhabitant of
woods, and, when removed to exposed situations, its size and
productiveness diminish. For this reason, perhaps, it is not
adapted to cultivation.

Vicia Cracca, Tufted Vetch, grows in hedges and bushy
places, climbing also by tendrils, and bearing numerous purple
flowers. It is, like the last, perennial, but is more productive
when removed from its natural habitat. It is, however, late
in growing, and appears to be much inferior in usefulness to
the clovers. It grows on soils of low fertility.

Vicia sepium, Bush Vetch, is a plant growing also in hedges
and bushy places. It is perennial, flowers early, and yields a
good weight of produce. Although its natural habitat is bushy
and shady places, it grows in cultivated fields, and has a some-
what wide range of soils. From these characters, and the trials
that have been made, there is reason to infer that the bush vetch
would be a beneficial addition to the cultivated herbage plants
of this country. There is great difficulty in procuring its
seeds in its wild state, from its dispersing them as soon as ripe;
a character, however, which would probably be changed by
cultivation, as happens in the case of other wild plants.

Of the important genus 1 ricia, about 100 species have heen
enumerated by botanists, and many of them seem to be highly
deserving of experiment for their economical uses.

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 411

2 Lucerne.

This plant, Medicago satim, has been cultivated in Spain,
Italy, and the south of France, and on all the northern shores
of the Mediterranean, time out of mind. It is cultivated in the
countries of the East. It was familiar to the Greeks and Ro-
mans, from whom we derive minute accounts of its nature, pro-
perties, and culture.

Lucerne has a perennial root, and grows, when cultivated,
from a foot and a half to two feet high and more. It is covered
with leaves, downy below, and slightly so on the upper sur-
face : it bears a flower of a fine purplish violet : it flowers in
June and July.

The cultivation of lucerne has been long stationary or retro-
grade in the British islands. In Guernsey and the islands of
the Channel it maintains its reputation, and justly so, the cli-
mate and soil of these islands being suited to the plant. For
the same reason, it is esteemed and partially cultivated in Kent,
and some of the southern counties of England.

The soil adapted to lucerne is deep and of the lighter class,
with a free or kindly subsoil. When these circumstances do
not exist, it is better not to attempt the cultivation of lucerne
in this country.

Two methods of raising this plant have been recommended
and practised. The one is sowing it broadcast in spring, some-
times along with a corn crop, in the same manner in which we
sow clovers, and sometimes without a crop ; and the latter is
the better practice, lucerne not being suited to grow freely
under the shade of other plants. The other method of culti-
vating lucerne is in rows. Lucerne, like other cultivated fo-
rage plants, gradually gives place to the grasses and hardier
indigenous plants. When cultivated in rows, and carefully
hoed, these native plants can be kept down, and the lucerne
preserved for a long period in the ground. But, when sown
broadcast, this cannot be done in the same degree, and the lu-
cerne then does not generally endure beyond nine or ten years.

412 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

This is the main advantage which the row system possesses
over the broadcast, in the cultivation of this plant.

The best period of sowing lucerne is at or before the middle
of April. When sown broadcast, the quantity of seeds to the
acre may be 16 or 18 lb. ; and when sown in rows, 10 lb.

The soil should be well prepared by deep ploughing, and a
previous summer-fallow, or fallow-crop such as potatoes, tur-
nips, or carrots. But when it is wished merely to possess a
few acres of lucerne for the convenience of soiling, it is better
to have the soil deeply trenched and prepared like a garden
bed, and at the same time well manured with dung and lime.

When drilled, the rows need not be more than 18 inches
apart, which will give room for tilling the intervals by the
horse and hand hoe.

After the seeds are sown, care must be taken to keep down,
by means of the hoe, all weeds that spring up amongst the
plants and in the rows.

In the month of August of the first year when in flower, the
crop may be mown, and, after this first cutting, the shoots may
be kept down by a slight pasturing with sheep, but not while
the soil is wet, nor continued till a late period.

Early in the following spring the ground is to be horse or
hand hoed, so that all weeds may be kept down, and the earth
stirred about the roots of the plants. In the month of May
the crop will be ready for the first cutting.

After being cut, it is to be horse-hoed in the intervals. It
will now grow very rapidly ; and, when ready for cutting, is
to be cut again, and, after each cutting, hand-hoed. In this
manner it may be mown four or five times in the season.

It does not, however, arrive at its full growth till its third
year, after which it will yield a large return in rich and early
foliage. But it requires to be manured at intervals, as every
fourth or fifth year. The manure may be farm-yard dung,
spread upon the surface after the last cutting in autumn, or
early in spring.

When the system of broadcast is adopted, the difference in
the method of tillage is, that, in place of the horse and hand

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 413

hoe, the common harrow is used, which, passing over the sur-
face, stirs the soil about the roots of the plants, and drags up
and destroys weeds ; the lucerne itself, having a strong root
striking downwards, is not torn up by this rough treatment,
but, on the contrary, is benefited by the stirring of the soil
round its roots and stems.

This plant is eminently wholesome and nutritive. It is well
suited for milch cows, causing them to yield good and abun-
dant milk. It is perfectly adapted to the feeding of horses^
and this indeed is one of the most common purposes to which
it is applied. It may be used with the like advantage for the
soiling of any kind of stock. It is valuable for the early feed-
ing which it supplies, being in this respect considerably be-
fore the clovers. When we possess a portion of lucerne,
therefore, we can begin to soil at an earlier period than could
otherwise be done.

Portions of lucerne cultivated on the small scale, and with
care, have been found to maintain a great number of animals;
and hence its advocates have formed an erroneous estimate of
its fitness for extended cultivation. But although lucerne is
very productive in itself, it is not a species of crop which is
suited to general culture in this country. It takes three
years to arrive at maturity, and it is very liable to fail from the
attacks of insects in the first year of its growth. It requires
manure to be applied to the surface to keep it productive, and
this is a wasteful mode of applying the manures of the farm.
It requires also a deep rich soil, which is not always to be found.
The limit, then, to which it seems beneficial to confine the cul-
tivation of lucerne, is to that of a small portion, for the pur-
pose of supplying the place of common forage plants in early
spring, and of using it in addition to these during the summer.
With this design a few acres may often be very conveniently
applied to its production ; but beyond this its cultivation can
rarely be recommended in this country. Where the alternate
system of husbandry is pursued, a better method of raising green
food for stock is practised, than applying any part of the farm
constantly to that purpose.

414 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

The most productive of the genus Medicago, is the species
which has been described ; but there are others which are cul-
tivated. Two of these may be mentioned : —

1. Medicago falcata, Yellow Sickle Medick. This is a
smaller plant than the last, and is suited to soils lower in the
scale of fertility. It is cultivated on the poorer soils of Swit-
zerland, and in different parts of Europe.

2. Medicago lupulina, Black Medick, so termed from the
black colour of its seed-vessels when ripe. This is sometimes
termed Yellow Clover, and sown by farmers under that name.
It is also termed Hop Trefoil, from the resemblance of the
heads of its flowers to those of the hop. It is an indigenous
plant, and grows naturally on dry and gravelly soils. It is a
biennial when cultivated. Like most of the leguminous plants
it is nutritive, and readily eaten by pasturing animals. It may
be cultivated for forage or for herbage, when the land is to re-
main only one year in grass.

3. Sainfoin.

Sainfoin, Onobrychis sativa, has a perennial root, is a na-
tive of Britain, and is extensively cultivated for green food
in the chalk and sandy districts of England and France. Al-
though this species has an extensive range of the lighter class
of soils, it is yet, in a peculiar degree, adapted to the calcare-
ous ; hence it is found growing naturally in many open downs
and hilly pastures where the chalk formation exists.

Sainfoin is a deep-rooted plant, with a branching stem,
bearing spikes of beautiful flowers. It grows wonderfully on
rocky soils, stretching its roots to a prodigious depth amongst
the crevices of rocks and open strata. It is, in truth, on dry
rocky soils that the chief advantages of the cultivation of sain-
foin are seen. On a chalky rock, covered with only a few
inches of soil, it will thrive and grow for many years with vi-
gour, where neither corn nor cultivated herbage plants would
cover the surface. Like lucerne, although in a lesser degree,
it is choked, and ultimately extirpated by the prevalence of the

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 415

grasses ; but in a soil perfectly suited to it, as in a chalky
down, it will have a duration perhaps as long as any other
plant. Although best adapted to the calcareous soils, it will
grow upon any light soil which has a free or open subsoil; but
on moist clays it will only last a few years, sometimes not above
two.

Sainfoin may be sown with a crop, in the same manner a*
the clovers and grasses. In the following season, it may be
mown for hay or green forage, although it does not attain its
full maturity until the third year. When this mode of ma-
nagement is adopted, the sainfoin should be mixed with one or
more of the clovers, of which the most suitable for the purpose
is white clover, which will add to the weight of the produce,
without materially interfering with the growth of the sainfoin.

When greater care is thought necessary, sainfoin, like lu-
cerne, may be cultivated in rows, being regularly tilled and
horse-hoed during the summer, and manured at intervals, as
every fourth or fifth year ; but for the most part, it is not
thought necessary to resort to this method of tillage, and the
easier and more convenient practice of broadcast is preferred.

The seeds of the sainfoin are larger than those of the clo-
vers ; and when sown with the cereal grasses in spring, a little
more care is necessary in covering them with the harrow and
roller. The seeds should be of a good and tried kind, and per-
fectly fresh, for old seeds do not vegetate in a proper manner.
The quantity, when sown broadcast, may be 4 bushels to the
acre ; when sown in rows, from 2 to 3 bushels. The best pe-
riod of sowing is in the month of March, although it is some-
times sown in February.

Sainfoin does not bear such frequent cutting as lucerne
When used for soiling, it may be cut twice ; when used for
hay, it should be cut once, and the aftermath depastured. Sain-
foin may be used for herbage as well as for forage, and many
farmers prefer depasturing it in the first year, so that in the se-
cond it may have attained its full growth before it is mown ;
and this is a good practice.

Sainfoin, when it is made into hay, should, like other le-

416 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

guminous forage plants, be cut just when it comes into full
flower. It is not very apt to be injured by heating, and there-
fore may be put up more quickly than other hay plants. The
produce in hay is generally reckoned from 1 to 2 tons to the
acre, in districts where it is cultivated ; and, considering that
it is grown on inferior soils, and that it yields good aftermath,
it will be seen to be a productive plant.

If ground is to be mown for successive years for forage,
then, on such soils as are suited to it, scarce a better crop can
be cultivated than sainfoin, which is easily grown, hardy, and
productive. But, with regard to this particular mode of cul-
tivation, it cannot be at all commended. It is not the most
beneficial mode of raising crops for forage ; for, independently
of the smaller produce, the keeping of land under any one kind
of crop, and manuring it upon the surface, is to deprive the
cultivated land of manures for an object which may be better
attained by other means.

Sainfoin, when sown merely to produce one crop of hay,
and then to be depastured for such a period as may be thought
suited to the nature of the soil, answers well ; but in this case
it is recommended that it be sown with a proportion of white
clover and rye-grass. It is then merely a substitute for the red
clover, and it is a good substitute, for it is a perennial, and
will grow on soils on which the red-clover cannot be profita-
bly cultivated. It is in this way only, it is conceived, that the
cultivation of sainfoin should be much extended in this coun-
try. It may be used as a substitute for red clover, in many
of the sandy, dry, and rocky soils of this country, which are
intended to remain for several years in herbage.

Allied to sainfoin, is French Honeysuckle, Hedysarum coro-
narium. This is a perennial plant ; but, when cultivated in
this country, it becomes biennial. Its flower- stalks sustain
spikes of rich scarlet flowers, sometimes white, which expand
in June and July in the second year, and perfect their seeds in
August or September, after which the roots decay.

This beautiful plant is a native of Italy, and other countries

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 417

of the Mediterranean, where it grows in great luxuriance, af-
fording excellent nourishment to horses, mules, and other ani-
mals. It is generally reckoned too delicate for field culture in
the north of Europe ; but in our gardens it is seen to grow with
surpassing beauty and luxuriance.

4. Wild Succory, &c.

1. The Wild Succory, Cichorium Intybus, is a native of the
British islands, as well as of many other countries. It is of
the natural order Composite^. It produces fine blue flowers,
which open in the morning and shut in the evening. It is cul-
tivated in many parts of Europe. In Lombardy, and other
parts of Italy, it is sown with other herbs, and esteemed as in-
creasing the milk and flesh of cattle. It is there regarded as
nutritious when made into hay ; and is used for feeding horses
and other cattle by summer soiling. In France and different
countries, it is produced extensively for forage and other pur-
poses, and enters into the regular rotation of the fields. Suc-
cory is doubtless capable of being rendered useful as a forage
plant. It is a native, and calculated to withstand the severest
cold. It bears drought well, its large leaves covering the
ground, and its roots striking deep into it. It grows with
great quickness, comes very early in spring, and may be cut
several times for forage in the year. If used for soiling, it will
be ready in all cases before clover, and this would be a great
benefit, as the means of carrying on a system of soiling.

Succory may be cultivated like clovers, and sown at the
same time with corn in spring ; but the mode of growth of the
plant, which is like that of a lettuce, points out a different
manner of cultivation, as more suitable to it. This is by cul-
tivating it by itself, and in rows.

Under this system, the plant could be easily tilled by the
horse and hand hoe. It can be sown at any period from
March to September, and when above ground should be hoed
out to the same distance in the rows as carrots, parsneps, and
similar plants.

D d

418 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

In the second year, it may be cut for forage as soon as it is
ready in spring, and the mowing repeated throughout the year
two or more times, as the crop is ready. Care must be taken
that it do not shoot forth its flower-stems and run to seed.

When the seeds are sown broadcast, either with or without
a corn-crop, the quantity may be from 12 to 14 lb. to the acre ;
but when it is sown in rows, a much smaller quantity will be
sufficient.

The principal use of succory, as a field plant, is for green
forage ; though it may be also depastured. It is not well
suited for being converted into hay, as is practised in Italy.

2. Oriental Bunias, Bunias orientalis, has been recommend-
ed for culture for its leaves. It is of the family Cruciferce, of
which some, as the cabbage and the rape, have been already
described, as yielding abundant green forage. The oriental
bunias differs from these in being a perennial. It grows free-
ly after being cut, though not with so much luxuriance as the
succory. It is a plant of a very wide range of temperature
and situation, growing from Arabia Felix to Siberia.

3. Prickly Comfrey, Symphytum asperrimum, is of a natural
family noted for its mucilaginous produce and emollient pro-
perties, namely, Boragine<&. It is a native of Caucasus. It is
a perennial, is doubtless very productive, and is readily con-
sumed by animals in a green state, and grows freely after being
cut. It is one of many plants worthy of further experiment,
as are likewise two native species, Symphytum officinale, Com-
mon Comfrey, and Symphytum tuberosum, Tuberous-rooted
Comfrey.

4. To this mixed class of plants may be added Ulex euro-
pceus, Common Whin, Furze, or Gorse. This is a shrubby
plant, of which the soft shoots are cropped by animals ; but it
does not form the subject of cultivation in this country, though
in some places, where the plant is produced naturally, its young
shoots are cut off, bruised, and given to horses and other live-
stock. It is exceedingly nutritive, and well relished by animals
fed upon it, and, in the absence of cultivated forage plants,
may be beneficially employed.

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 4I!>

5. Clovers, Vetchlings, Melilots, &c.

Of the genus Trifolium, more than 160 species are enume-
rated by botanists, many of them deserving of the attention
of cultivators. Those that are of most frequent cultivation
for herbage and forage in this country are the Red and White
Clovers.

Trifolium pratense, Red Clover, is a native species, and per-
ennial, but the produce of that which is derived from France
and other countries becomes, when cultivated in this country,
biennial ; though, by being prevented from running to seed, it
frequently lasts to the third year or longer. As, however, in
ordinary cases, it is only a biennial plant, that is, being sown
in one year, and arriving at maturity and dying in the next,
it is not well suited for permanent pasturage. But when the
purpose is to keep the land one year only in forage or herb-
age, there is none of the species of trefoils which has been
found equal to the red clover for largeness of return and early
maturity.

Trifolium repem, Creeping White Clover, is a native spe-
cies, hardy, perennial, and suited to a variety of soil and cli-
mate. No plant known in the agriculture of Europe is so ge-
nerally capable of cultivation as the white clover. There are
varieties of it more or less nutritive and productive. It is
usually mixed with the last species in cultivation, and these
again with one or more of the grasses.

Trifolium hybridum, Hybrid Clover, was so named by Lin-
naeus from his supposing it to be intermediate between the
two last species. It is a native of the south of Europe, but
has been introduced into the agriculture of Sweden and the
north of Germany. It seems to be well deserving of the at-
tention of the agriculturists of this country, being of larger
growth than the creeping white clover, and like it a perennial.
It might, therefore, form a substitute for the red clover in
cases where land is laid down to perennial herbage.

Trifolium minus, Lesser Yellow Trefoil, and Trifolium pro-

Dd2

420 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

cumbem, Hop Trefoil, are frequently cultivated under the com-
mon name of yellow clover ; and are, in practice, often con-
founded with the black medick already described. They are,
however, both amiual plants, and are not deserving of cultiva-
tion.

Trifolium medium, Zigzag Trefoil, is sometimes termed Cow-
grass or Marl-grass. It is a native plant, perennial, and of
easy culture. Its value, however, as a forage or herbage plant
is not very satisfactorily determined.

Trifolium incarnatum, Crimson Clover, is a native of the
southern and central parts of Europe. The colour of its
flowers is a beautiful red. But it is an annual plant, and as it
must be sown in autumn, that it may flower and arrive at ma-
turity in the following season, it is not so well suited to the
system of agriculture practised in this country as the red and
white clovers. A variety of this species termed Molineri,
with pale flesh-coloured flowers, is later in flowering than the
crimson clover, but does not otherwise differ from it.

Trifolium alexandrinum, Egyptian Clover, is, like the last, an
annual plant, and the same remark applies to it with regard
to its suitableness for culture in this country. It is somewhat
later than the crimson clover, but scarcely so productive of
leaves.

It is not here necessary to enumerate other species of Tre-
foil. Those which experience has shown to be suited to this
climate, and the modes of agriculture practised, are the red
and creeping white clover.

Lathyrus, Vetcliling or Everlasting Pea, contains about 60
species, of which 7 are native.

Lathyrus Aphaca, Yellow Vetchling, has been by some
thought to merit attention as a forage plant from the luxu-
riance of its growth. Its seeds, however, are said to be dele-
terious, which we have seen is the case with another of the ge-
nus before described as cultivated for its seeds, Lathyrus sati-
vum.

Lathyrus pratensis, Meadow Vetchling, is common in thickets,
moist meadows, and even in good pastures. Although recom-

\

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 421

mended for herbage by Linnaeus, Haller, and others, it scarce-
ly appears to merit a place amongst the cultivated herbage
plants.

Lathyrus sylvestris, Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea, is a per-
ennial plant, growing in moist meadows. It has a strong
root, and grows with great luxuriance, intertwining with and
overpowering the plants around it. How far it is grateful or
nutritious to pasturing animals, has not been sufficiently de-
termined.

Lathyrus latifolius, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, is a well-
known climber, with peduncles bearing many gay flowers. It
has been suggested by botanists that it might be applied to
agricultural purposes. The plant is perennial, and would yield
an abundant produce ; but experiments are yet wanting to
show how far, by its nutritive properties, it is calculated to be-
come a useful forage plant. It has broader leaves than the
last, but does not differ much from it in habit. The two, if
grown together, would probably yield a large return of pro-
vender.

The other native species do not require especial notice.
Numerous foreign species might be mentioned, as yielding a
great produce in stems and leaves, but their uses for the pur-
poses of the farmer have not been ascertained by experiment.
Of the whole genus, it is to be observed that the characters
are somewhat suspicious. The leaves and stems are often
bitter, and some of their seeds, as those of Aphaca and sati-
vus, slightly poisonous.

Melilotus officinalis, Common Yellow Melilot, King's Clover,
or Hart's Clover, is a native species of easy culture, and though
deemed annual, sometimes remains for more than one year in
the ground. It is a tall plant, growing from 3 to 5 feet hio-h
and more, with a somewhat shrubby stem. It has a certain
bitterness of taste, and a smell similar to that of sweet-scented
vernal grass ; yet it does not appear to be disliked by animals,
and might be cultivated in certain cases for forage.

Melilotus leucantka, White-flowered Melilot, is likewise a na-

222 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

tive species, and of habits and character similar to the last,
though often growing much taller.

Melilotus macrorhiza, Long-rooted Melilot, is a native of
Hungary, and is cultivated in some parts of Europe. It is a
perennial plant, and might yield a considerable supply of green
forage or herbage on certain sandy soils.

Lotus corniculatus, Common BirdVfoot Trefoil, is an abun-
dant plant in the higher natural pastures of this country. It
is perennial, and in the month of June is readily distinguished
by its tufts of yellow flowers. It is a small plant in its natural
habitat, but enlarges by cultivation.

Lotus major, Greater BirdVfoot Trefoil, is by some regard-
ed merely as a variety of the last species ; but its characters
are distinct, and continue so when cidtivated under circum-
stances precisely similar. Both these species, and especially
the latter, merit attention as herbage plants.

Common Broom can hardly be mentioned as a leguminous
herbage-plant, though its young shoots are eaten by stock ; but,
when old, they are too bitter to be used. One of the genus,
however, Cytisus albus, Spanish Broom, is used in the south of
Europe as food for sheep.

6. Heaths, Sedges, and Rushes.

These may be said to constitute a class of herbage-plants ;
they are generally of very inferior nutritive properties, but,
forming a large part of the unimproved pastures of the coun-
try, they are of interest to the agriculturist.

The heaths, Ericece, cover a very large proportion of the
high lands of this island, and are frequently found extending
to the plains. They indicate very generally the existence of
peaty matter in the soil.

Of the native species, the most abundant is Calluna vulga-
ris, Common Heath or Ling, which extends over all the pri-
mary and transition districts of this country. It is a bushy
shrub, growing from half a foot to 4 feet in height. The

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 423

branches of it afford shelter, and its seeds food, to numerous
birds of the grouse kind. Bees collect honey largely from its
flowers, and the honey is of a dark colour, and by many es-
teemed beyond that derived from the lower plains. Almost
every part of the north of Europe abounds with this plant. It
is used in some parts as dried fodder for cattle, and as thatch
for covering houses and cabins. It is formed into ropes and
other things for which straw is used : a decoction of it is em-
ployed for the purposes of tanning : a yellow colour is ex-
tracted from it for dyeing wool : and a species of ale can be
made from its young shoots, mixed with a proportion of malt.
In conjunction with the dried turf in which it grows, it is used
in many places as fuel, though it is not so well suited for this
purpose as the thicker strata of peat.

Sheep, goats, and cattle, will feed on the young shoots of
this and other species ; but they prefer the gramineous plants.
In order to cause the young shoots to spring, it is a common
practice to set fire to the heath. This should be done in regu-
lar divisions over a stock farm, so that successive portions of
young heath shall be obtained for the pasturing stock, By re-
gular burning and close pasturing with sheep, the heath be-
comes less in quantity, and the grasses supply its place. The
process is slow, but often it is the only practicable mode of
improving mountain heaths.

The Cyperaceez, or Sedge tribe, contain numerous species,
which often so nearly resemble the grasses in appearance that
they may be confounded. They are found in marshes, ditches,
and running water. They are found also in heaths, moist
woods, and meadows ; and certain species on sands, and on
the sea-shore. They are a far inferior class to the grasses in
their nutritive properties ; for, while the grasses are noted for
the abundance of sugar and fecula which they contain, the
sedges are remarkable for the absence of these principles.
They are frequently mingled with the grasses, and form a part
of the sward of our natural meadows, and sometimes they
intrude amongst our cultivated herbage-plants, when they are

424 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

to be regarded as weeds. Sometimes, however, the plants of
the sedge-family are important, from their covering large tracts
of country, and affording an abundant coarse herbage. Thus,
the Scaly-stalked Spike-rush, Eleocharis caspitosa, grows on
certain moors and moist heathy places in great profusion. In
the Highlands of Scotland it is called DeerVhair, and occu-
pying extensive tracts almost exclusively, is valued on account
of its spring and summer pasturage.

The cotton grasses, too, Eriopkora, are common in bogs, and
send forth leaves very early in spring. They thus afford an
early herbage in high countries for live-stock.

The Juncete, or Rush-family, occur largely in the moister
pasture-lands of this country. These plants are the most com-
mon indicators amongst us of wetness in the soil. They are
all of an inferior class as herbage-plants, though they are
cropped by cattle in their young state, and in the higher dis-
tricts are frequently converted into hay.

The most common species in low wet meadows are, J uncus
conglomerates, Common Rush, and Juncus effusus, Soft Rush.
They are best got rid of by removing from the soil the wetness,
whether of the surface or substratum, by draining.

A very frequent species in the elevated parts of this country
is Juncus acutiflorus, Sharp-flowered Jointed-rush. This spe-
cies is very common in peaty bogs, forming often the greater
part of their herbage. It is familiarly known under the name
of sprit or sprat. Though animals do not eat it readily, unless
in the absence of better food, yet, being made into hay, it
is eaten largely by the hardier kinds of cattle.

7. Grasses.

The most important of the herbage-plants of this and other
parts of Europe are the grasses. Of these, however, many
are of low nutritive and productive powers, and in cultivated
grounds are hold to be weeds. But some of the less valuable

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 425

kinds require attention on account of their frequent occurrence,
and their adaptation to soils low in the scale of fertility.

1. Anthoxanthum odoratum, Sweet-scented Vernal-grass.
This is one of the earliest grasses of the spring, coming into
flower about the middle of April, and ripening its seeds by the
middle of June. It contributes mainly to give that delightful
fragrance to new-mown hay, so familiar to us. It grows on
almost every soil ; it is not of itself remarkable for its nutritive
qualities, nor does it seem to be peculiarly grateful to cattle,
although eaten by them along with their other herbage. Its
value is chiefly derived from its early growth, its hardiness,
and its property of continuing till late in autumn to throw
forth its flowering stems. It can scarcely form the subject, in
any case, of useful cultivation.

2. Alopecurus pratensis, Meadow Fox-tail. This is a very
generally diffused species, being a native of Britain and of
most parts of Europe. Its herbage is held to be nutritive,
and it appears to be grateful to ruminating animals. It is a
very early grass, is perennial, and constitutes a considerable
part of the richest of our meadows. It does not attain its full
growth for several years, on which account it is not well suited
to the alternate husbandry. The young plants, too, are so
frequently the prey of insects, and the seeds are often so de-
fective, that only an inconsiderable portion of them can be
calculated on arriving at maturity. Notwithstanding of these
things, this plant, on account of its early growth, its perma-
nence in the soil, and the quantity and value of its produce,
deserves to be cultivated when the land is intended for peren-
nial herbage.

3. Phleum pratense, Meadow Oafs-tail. This species is a
native of Britain, though it was first introduced into notice
from Carolina. It is called herd-grass in America, and is
greatly valued there as an herbage and forage plant. It
produces abundance of foliage early in spring, and may be
cropped till a late season. There is none of the grasses more
easily cultivated. It is not a peculiarly good hay-grass, from

420 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

the wiryness of its stem, and the shortness of its aftermath.
But still it may be profitably cultivated for this purpose in
conjunction with other grasses, and deserves to be cultivated
in an especial manner when the object is to produce a sward
of permanent herbage, or even when the land is to remain only
one year in grass.

4. Agrostis alba, Marsh Bent-grass, is one of the species of
Agrostis which grow on moist soils, and which, having gene-
rally creeping roots or stolons, form frequently troublesome
weeds. It sometimes passes under the name of Black Couch-
grass. When it takes possession of wet clayey soils, its roots
penetrate to a considerable depth, and, from their vivacious
properties, it is very difficult to extirpate them. In more
favourable circumstances, the marsh bent-grass grows with
broader leaves, and assumes the appearance of one of the su-
perior grasses. It was under this form that it was introduced
to notice as a beneficial object of cultivation under the name of
Fiorin Grass. It grows naturally in the moister soils, and
extends itself, sometimes to the extirpation of less powerful
grasses, by its creeping roots and stolons. Its best property
as a pasture grass is the late period at which it rises in the
season, affording food when other grasses have ceased to grow,
and in spring also it affords an early herbage. These properties
may render it sometimes expedient to cultivate this plant in
small quantity, mixed with other grasses, when the end is per-
ennial herbage, and especially in the case of irrigated meadows ;
but otherwise it does not possess properties to entitle it to be
ranked amongst the superior grasses.

5. Holcus lanatus, Meadow or Woolly Soft-grass, grows
readily upon all soils, and especially the peaty. It produces a
profusion of light seeds, which are easily dispersed by the wind ;
from which circumstance, when it is once introduced, the soil
is with some difficulty freed from it. It is disliked by cattle,
and refused by them when other herbage can be obtained.
Nevertheless, the woolly soft-grass is not without its useful
properties. It is superior to the heaths and some of the bents
of peaty lands. Its easy propagation, therefore, on such soils

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 427

is in this respect beneficial, that a pasture-grass can be sub-
stituted for the inferior natural produce of the soil. Although
the woolly soft-grass may therefore be sown on the poorer class
of peaty soils, it ought to be excluded from those on which
better kinds can be produced.

6. Holcus mollis, Creeping Soft-grass, is frequently mistaken
for the woolly soft-grass, but is readily distinguished from it
by its awned florets and creeping root. The herbage of this
plant is soft and tasteless, and apparently more disliked by
stock than that of the woolly soft-grass. It is a troublesome
and empoverishing weed, which it should be the study of the
husbandman in every case to extirpate.

7. Arrhenatherum atenaceum, Common Oat-like grass, is the
Avena elatior of Linnaeus, and the Holcus avenaceus of some
other botanists. It is a coarse though a productive grass,
growing rapidly after being cropped, and producing an early
and plentiful herbage in spring. It has been found upon ana-
lysis to contain more of bitter and saline matter than other
pasture grasses, and hence it has been inferred that it ought
not to be cultivated without a large admixture of other grasses.
The juster inference would be that it should not be cultivated
at all. The roots, which are fibrous in the moister soils, be-
come bulbous in the drier, and then the plant is a troublesome
weed, difficult to be extirpated.

8. Poa aquatica, Reed Meadow-grass. This species grows
in situations favourable to it to a great height. It is common
in flat and fenny countries, on the banks of rivers and the
margins of pools. In the fens of Cambridge and Lincoln,
great tracts are covered with this grass, which not only affords
rich herbage in summer, but abundant crops of hay for winter
forage. It contains a larger proportion of sugar than the best
herbage grasses, and is accordingly much relished by pastur-
ing animals. It is, however, too purely aquatic in its habits to
allow of any extension of its culture. It is well suited to the
swamps and fens where it grows naturally, but can scarcely be
cultivated beyond them.

0. Poa Jluitans, Floating Meadow-grass. This plant is

428 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

found in ditches, stagnant waters, and other moist situations,
its stem growing from 1 to 3 feet high. Its seeds are the
manna of the shops, and are gathered abundantly in Poland,
Russia, and some parts of Germany, where they are used as
food. It is found in New Holland, a country abounding in
vast marshes. It has been thought by some that it might
be cultivated in this country. It is to be believed, however,
that it is rather too aquatic in its habits to admit of cultiva-
tion, except in cases where it could be partially covered with
water.

10. Poa annua, Annual Meadow-grass. This species has an
annual root. It continues to flower throughout the spring,
summer, and autumn, and sometimes even in winter. It rarely
attains, even in the most fertile situations, a height of more
than 10 or 12 inches. It is, however, the most prolific of all
the grasses. The only case in which we can suppose this spe-
cies deserving of cultivation, is when other grasses had died
out ; and when, by being sown on the sward of these grasses in
spring or autumn, the annual meadow-grass might be expected
to afford a growth of herbage in a few months.

11. Poa trivialis, Rough-stalked Meadow-grass, is one of
the superior pasture grasses, forming a part of our richest
meadows. Its root is fibrous, and its stems are roughish, and
hence its name. Rough-stalked meadow-grass is nutritive, and
greatly relished by pasturing animals. It requires, however,
situations somewhat sheltered and moist. In dry and exposed
ground its produce is inconsiderable; and this circumstance must
determine, in certain cases, the expediency of cultivating it.

12. Poa pratensis, Smooth-stalked Meadow-grass. This
species is distinguished from the last by its having a creeping
root, and by the sheaths of the stem being smooth to the touch.
It comes early, but, in this respect, it is equalled by other
grasses believed to be more productive, and after being cropped
in summer it grows slowly. It is inferior to the last-mentioned
species, and it may be questioned whether it deserves to be
reckoned amongst the superior pasture grasses.

13. Poafertilis, Fertile Meadow-grass, is a native of Ger-

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 42J)

many, where it Is esteemed one of the superior pasture grasses.
It grows in wet situations, and near rivers. It is said to per-
fect its seeds abundantly. Experiments, however, are yet want-
ing, in this country, on the value and uses of this species.

14. Dactylis glomerata, Rough Cocksfoot. This is a coarse
but very nutritive grass, of early and rapid growth. Although
a native of Britain, its seeds were introduced from Virginia
about the year 1780. It was not, however, cultivated till
many years afterwards. It is justly held to be amongst the
superior pasture grasses, and is suited for forage as well as
for herbage. It is more nourishing in spring than in autumn,
and requires to be closely cropped ; for, when suffered to grow,
it rises in tufts and patches, and loses greatly of its nutritive
properties. Oxen, horses, and sheep, eat this grass eagerly.
Cocksfoot should always be sown in combination with other
grasses, as the rye-grass, the meadow-fescue, and the other
finer grasses.

15. Cynosurus cristatus, Crested Dog's-tail, has a wide range
of soils and situations, and is plentifully produced in most of
our natural pastures. It flowers somewhat late, and its culms,
when it perfects its seeds, become hard and wiry, and are re-
jected by pasturing stock. Although slow in arriving at per-
fection, late in flowering, and not very productive, this grass,
on account of its easy culture, and the thick sward which it
tends to produce, has been recommended for cultivation. This,
however, should only be on inferior sheep pastures, for the
plant is not to be regarded as one of the superior grasses.

16. Festuca omna, Sheep's Fescue-grass, is one of the small-
er grasses growing on dry light elevated grounds. It is en-
tirely an herbage plant, and is only referred to here because
botanists have spoken of it with approbation. It is a grass,
however, which there can be no object in cultivating in arable
soils in this country. The business of the farmer is to stock
his pastures with the best grasses which they are capable of
producing : inferior kinds will quickly tend to occupy the
ground.

17. Festuca duriuscula, Hard Fescue-grass, is likewise one

430 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

of the small grasses suited to the pasturage of sheep. It pre-
vails on the lighter soils, but is found also in good natural
pastures. It is superior in size to sheep's fescue ; but yet it is
not sufficiently productive to deserve especial cultivation.

18. Festuca loliacea, Spiked Fescue-grass, grows in moist
meadows, and is said to be very productive ; but experiments
are yet wanting on its value as an agricultural plant. It rare-
ly with us perfects its seeds ; which, however, would not be
an objection to its cultivation were it otherwise useful, since
seeds, in sufficient quantity, might be obtained from other
countries.

19. Festuca pratensis, Meadow Fescue-grass, is justly ranked
amongst the superior grasses. Although a large it is not a
coarse plant, and does not, like some of the other larger grasses,
form tufts in growing. The leaves are succulent, and readily
eaten by the larger pasturing animals. Its root is perennial
and fibrous. It is found in the natural meadows of our richer
clay-land vales, and may form a part of the pasture of all
land of tolerable quality, laid down to perennial herbage. It
requires, however, a longer time to arrive at its full maturity
than some others of the superior pasture grasses, as the cocks-
foot, and is, therefore, less suited than they to the alternate
tillage.

20. Lolium perenne, Perennial Darnel or Rye-grass, is one
of the most important of the gramineous herbage plants. It is
the most generally cultivated of the herbage-grasses in Europe.
This circumstance it owes to its early maturity, to its wide
range of temperature and soils, and to the abundance and fa-
cility with which it can be raised from its seeds.

However valuable the rye-grass from these qualities be, it
wants certain properties which others of the grasses possess, and
a good permanent meadow, therefore, will best be procured by
imitating the natural process of mixing grasses together. In
this manner, the different kinds coming into flower at different
periods of the year, will better afford a succession of herbage
throughout the season.

The characters of this plant are greatly modified by the ef-

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 431

fects of climate, soil, and culture, and this has given rise to
numerous distinctions, founded on the supposed qualities of the
different sorts. The value of these to the agriculturist is mainly
determined by the number and broadness of their leaves,
their permanence in the soil, and the vigour with which they
grow.

There are two kinds, however, which must be distinguished
from each other in practice. The one flowers for successive
years, and is therefore termed perennial ; the other flowers
in the second year, and, having borne its flowers, the root
decays. This is, therefore, a biennial plant, but it is gene-
rally termed annual rye-grass. It is more productive than the
perennial kind in the year after being sown, and hence, when
the object is to retain the land only one year for a crop of her-
bage or forage, the shorter-lived variety is to be preferred.
There are no means of distinguishing the biennial from the
perennial kinds by their seeds alone, and great losses have been
frequently sustained by mistaking the one for the other, when
the purpose has been to keep the land for several years in grass.
When the land is to remain for more than one year in grass,
the perennial kinds must be sown.

Rye-grass should always be sown with some of the clovers.
Mixed with the red clover, as will be afterwards seen, it is
well suited for hay. No other mode has yet been discovered
equal to this for producing a crop of hay with certainty and
economy, as the experience of farmers in the north of Eng-
land, in Scotland, Flanders, and other parts of Europe, testi-
fies.

21. Lolium italicum, Italian Rye-Grass, is cultivated in Italy,
and other parts of Europe. It is probably in most cases of
biennial duration, but by being cropped or mown before flower-
ing, it may remain for several years in the ground. It repro-
duces itself freely from its seeds, which are scattered imme-
diately on their becoming ripe. It grows with greater luxu-
riance than the common rye-grass, and its nutritive properties
may be inferred from the eagerness with which it is eaten by
animals. It appears to be a very valuable herbage-plant ; but

432 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

farther experiments are yet required to show how far its per-
manence in the ground can be depended on.

It thus appears, that the native grasses which experience has
fully shown to be of the superior class, and suited to cultiva-
tion, are : —

1. Alopecurus pratensis — Meadow Foxtail.

2. Phleum pratense — Meadow Catstail.

3. Festuca pratensis — Meadow Fescue.

4. Poa trivialis — Rough-stalked Meadow-grass.

5. Dactylis glomerata — Rough Cocksfoot.

6. Lolium perenne — Rye-Grass.

To which may now be added, —

7. Lolium italicum — Italian Rye-grass.

8. Burnet, &c.

Burnet, Poterium Sanguisorba, has been frequently recom-
mended, and partially cultivated, as an herbage plant. It is of
the Rose family. It grows naturally on dry and calcareous
soils, with a stem of about a foot or more in height. It is a
very hardy perennial, remaining verdant during the winter,
and yielding an early spring food. It is this that constitutes
the sole value of burnet on the inferior class of calcareous soils
on which it grows, for in weight of produce and nutritive pro-
perties it cannot be compared with the clovers, and other le-
guminous herbage-plants.

The Corn Spurrey, Spergula arve?isis, is cultivated in some
countries for herbage. It is of the Pink tribe of Plants, and
is a native of the Old and New Continents, growing about Que-
bec, and the river Columbia, and plentifully in the gardens
and fields throughout Europe. It is termed Spergula, or Sper-
gularia, from the property which it possesses of spreading its
seeds. It is by all foreign writers extolled as being very nu-
tritious, and giving a rich flavour to butter. It is valued for
its rapid growth. Being sown on the stubble in autumn, it
will produce a crop in the same season. It is with us, how-

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE. 433

ever, regarded as a weed, and, from the smallness of its pro-
duce, can be of no value as an herbage plant under the system
of agriculture pursued in this country.

The Yarrow, Achillea Millefolium, of the natural family
Composites, is a plant which is found in our richer meadows,
and is closely eaten by pasturing animals. The yarrow has, on
this account, been cultivated along with other herbage plants,
though with what precise benefit has not been well deter-
mined.

Ribwort Plantain, Plantaao Icmceolata, has been extensively
cultivated in this country as an herbage plant, under the name
of Rib-grass. It is easily raised, and is eaten in its young
state by pasturing stock ; but no experiment has yet shown
that it ought to take the place of gramineous and leguminous
plants of known value.

Of the various plants which have been enumerated, some are
chiefly adapted to forage, some to herbage, and others may be
employed partly for forage and partly for herbage. Several of
the forage plants, from their habits of growth, are best culti-
vated by themselves, or with a very slight intermixture of
stranger plants. Of this kind are the tare and other vetches
which are mown for forage ; lucerne, sainfoin, when used for
forage ; wild succory, and others. The trefoils, again, and the
other smaller leguminous herbage plants, are best mixed with
some of the grasses ; and it is a point of useful practice, to de-
termine what kinds should be selected, and in what propor-
tions they should be mixed.

The most frequently employed of the leguminous plants for
mixed forage and herbage are the red and white clovers, and
of the indigenous grasses, rye-grass. This grass is well suited
for general culture, arriving more quickly than most of the
others at maturity, producing abundance of seeds, at all times
easy to be obtained, and growing well under the shade of corn.
For whatever period, then, land is to remain in grass after
being sown, it will generally be well to sow such a quantity of

E e

434 PLANTS CULTIVATED OR USED

the seeds of the rye-grass as will produce a crop of that grass
alone, independently of the other grasses which may be mixed
with it.

If the land is to remain for only one year in grass, then the
rye-grass alone will be sufficient to form with the clovers good
forage and herbage ; yet it will add to the value of the pro-
duce even for a single year, to sow with it a small proportion
of the seeds of any of the indigenous grasses ; and of these,
the best for this especial purpose is the meadow catVtail, be-
cause it is the most easily propagated, and arrives the soonest
at maturity.

There may be sown 20 lb. of these two grasses in all, and
10 lb. of red and white clover, of which four-fifths may be red
clover. The proportions may be —

Rye-grass, . . . . 17 lb.
Meadow Cat's-tail, ... 3

— 20 lb.

Red Clover, .... 8

White Clover, ... 2

— 10

30 1b.

A mixture in these proportions will yield a good produce
for one season, whether it is used as herbage or forage.

But if the land is to remain for more than one year in grass,
then a mixture may be made of such of the other superior
grasses as can be procured; while the quantity of the red clover
may be diminished, and some other of the leguminous herbage
plants mixed with the clovers. We may sow in this case 12 lb.
of the rye-grass seeds, which in most cases will be sufficient to
secure a crop of this grass alone ; and we may sow the other
grasses in such quantity that the whole shall amount to 24 lb.
The following may be the proportions :

Meadow Fox-tail, . . . . 3f lb.

Meadow cat's-taU,

Rough Cock's-foot, .... 5

Meadow Fescue, .... 2

Rough -stalked Meadow-grass,

Rye-grass, ....

12

24 lb.

FOR FORAGE OR HERBAGE.

435

To which are to be added :

Red Clover, 2

White Clover, 6

Bush Vetch, Tufted Vetch, or other pe-
rennial leguminous herbage plants, 2

— 10

34 1b.

In the preceding mixture of grasses, the quantity of rye-
grass is equal to about half a bushel ; and with regard to the
other grasses, the proportions are such that each will, in ordi-
nary circumstances, produce an equal number of plants. These
proportions are obtained by computing the number of seeds in
a given weight, and the number of each which, on an average,
is found to vegetate.

Were it wished that the rye-grass should be merely in pro-
portion with the other grasses, and that each kind should pro-
duce an equal number of plants, the following would be nearly
the proportions :

Meadow Fox-tail, 5% lb.

Meadow Cat's-tail, ....

1

Rough Cock's-foot, ....
Meadow Fescue, ....
Rough-stalked Meadow-grass,

• 71
3

■ H

24 1b.

Ee2

( 436 )

VIII. WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

The plants which have been described are those which form
the subject of especial cultivation. The weeds of agriculture
are those which grow amongst the cultivated plants, and which
it is the province of the farmer to destroy. The prevailing
plants of this class vary in every country, and in different parts
of the same country.

Weeds may be divided into two general classes ; those which
propagate themselves solely by their seeds, and which, having
once flowered, perish ; and those which have perennial roots,
and flower and bear seeds for successive years. The first are
annual or biennial plants, according as they require one or two
years to complete the period of their vegetation. The second
are perennial plants, and grow again from the roots, as well as
propagate themselves from their seeds.

In the case of annual or biennial weeds, if the stem is de-
stroyed at the time of flowering, or just before it, the indivi-
dual is destroyed, and its further means to propagate the spe-
cies are taken away ; but in the case of perennial weeds, the
destruction of the stem does not infer the destruction of the
plant, because the plant has the power of propagation from
the roots. From this distinction, it would seem more easy to
destroy annual than perennial weeds, yet this conclusion does
not always hold ; for some of the annual species have such nu-
merous minute seeds, that it is often very difficult to extirpate
them, and when they have got into ground, keep possession
even more inveterately than those which have the power of
springing again from their roots.

Of the perennial weeds, greatly the most troublesome are
those which have creeping roots ; for these extend themselves
below ground, and if any of the parts of the roots remain, these
may give birth to new plants.

Either class of weeds may be frequently destroyed by the

ANNUAL AND BIENNIAL WEEDS. 4.']/

same means, namely, by assiduous tillage of the ground ; but
yet a natural division of them is into such as have annual and
biennial roots, and such as have perennial roots.

1. Annual and Biennial Weeds.

Of weeds which have annual or biennial roots, the following
are the most prevalent in this country.

1. Sinapis arvensis — Wild Mustard.

2. Raphanus Raphanistrum — Wild Radish.

3. Papaver Rhoeas — Corn Poppy.

4. Centaurea Cyanus — Corn Blue-Bottle.

5. Chrysanthemum segetum — Corn Marigold.

6. Pyrethrum inodorum — Cora Feverfew.

7. Sonchus oleraceus — Sow-thistle.

8. Cnicus lanceolatus — Spear Plume-thistle.

9. Arctium Lappa — Burdock.

10. Agrostemma Githago — Corn Cockle.

11. Stellaria media — Common Chickweed.

12. Spergula arvensis — Corn Spumy.

13. Galium Aparine — Goose-grass.

14. Urtica urens — Small Nettle.

15. Lamium purpureum — Red Dead-Nettie.

16. Galeopsis Tetrahit — Common Hemp-Nettle.

17. Euphorbia helioscopia — Sun-Spurge.

18. Polygonum convolvulus — Climbing Buckwheat.

19. Poh_gonum aviculare — Knot-grass.

20. Ervum hirsutum — Hairy Tare.

21. Lolium temulentum — Bearded Darnel.

22. Avena fatua— Bearded Wild Oat.

23. Bromus mollis — Soft Brome-grass.

1. The Wild Mustard, the Charlock of farmers, frequently
springs up in vast abundance in fields of growing corn. It
flowers in May or June, and as it ripens and sheds its seeds be-
fore harvest, it is difficult to extirpate it. Sometimes its flowers
are cut off by a scythe or hook as they rise above the corn in
spring ; and sometimes they are pulled up from amongst the
corn by the hand, which is an unsatisfactory and operose me-
thod. The row culture is. in an especial degree, beneficial in

438 WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

the case of this and similar plants, for the first crops of them
can be cut down by the hoe in spring. But the period most
suitable for destroying the wild mustard is during the summer-
fallow and fallow-crops. Yet under any circumstances it is
difficult to subdue it, its seeds lying for an indefinite period in
the soil until brought by the plough within the influence of the
air. Often it springs up without any known cause, and covers
entire fields. It abounds in fields of turnips, contending for
mastery with the young plants. Other species of sinapis also
spring up in cultivated ground, but this is the most prevalent
and hurtful.

2. The Wild Eadish, or Jointed Charlock, like the wild
mustard has yellow flowers, and grows and sheds its seeds
amongst corn. The two plants, from their similarity, are fre-
quently confounded together, and pass under the common name
of charlock.

3. The Corn Poppy is distinguished in summer by its gay
red flowers. It sometimes rises in large quantities in corn-
fields, especially in soils that are dry, sandy, or gravelly. It
receives the name of red poppy, corn-rose, red-weed, &c.

4. The Corn Blue-Bottle is of a genus which contains seve-
ral species known as weeds. That, however, which is peculiar
to corn-fields is the corn blue-bottle. It grows amongst corn,
but rarely in great quantity, and its presence merely indicates
careless farming.

5. The Corn Marigold is of a genus that supplies our gar-
dens and greenhouses with many beautiful flowers. From the
colour of its flowers it is in some places termed yellow bottle,
in other places gowlands, or yellow gowans. It grows amongst
fields of corn, and may be pulled by the hand. It is not in
this country a very generally diffused weed, being found only
in particular parts. But in some sandy districts of Europe it
prevails to so great a degree as to destroy the crops.

6. The Corn Feverfew or Scentless Mayweed, is generally
classed by farmers, under the name of Mayweed, with two other
plants of similar appearance, Stinking Chamomile and Wild

ANNUAL AND BIENNIAL WEEDS. 439

Chamomile. The corn feverfew rises sometimes in cultivated
land in considerable quantities.

The corn poppy, the corn blue-bottle, the corn marigold, and
the different mayweeds may be said to form a class. They
grow up with the crops of corn, and announce by their beauti-
ful flowers the return of the warmer season. They are not of
the formidable class of weeds, and yet assiduous tillage is re-
quired to eradicate them. They are frequently conveyed to the
farm with the seeds of corn, and then careful winnowing is the
best preventive.

7. The Sow-thistle grows in fields of corn. It is of a family
of plants whose light seeds are widely dispersed by the winds.
But although a common, it is not a dangerous, weed.

8. Spear Plume-thistle is one of a genus of troublesome
weeds, but which are mostly perennial, while the spear plume-
thistle is biennial. It sometimes abounds in old pastures. It
may in all cases be destroyed by cutting it over when in flower,
and before its seeds are ripe.

9. The Burdock is a familiar plant whose hooked scales fas-
ten themselves pertinaciously to clothes, and the fur of animals.
It is a biennial plant, seldom injurious, and easy to be extir-
pated.

10. The Corn Cockle or Corn Campion, is of the Pink tribe
of plants. The flour of its seeds mixed with grain injures
greatly the quality. The seeds are heavy, and, on this account,
cannot be separated from corn in the operation of winnowing.
It grows singly, chiefly amongst wheat ; and being easily dis-
tinguished, it can be pulled up by the hand.

11. Common Chickweed is of the same natural family, but
of a different habit of growth. It grows not alone, but thickly
in the parts of fields which are enriched by the dung of animals.
Under careless management it is often a troublesome weed ;
and, in fields of turnips, it will contend for mastery with the
young plants.

12. Corn Spurrey, likewise of the Pink tribe, sometimes
grows thickly in corn-fields, and then it indicates bad condition
of the soil, or careless farming.

440 WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

13. Goose-grass, called also cleavers, catchweed, and goose-
tongue, grows naturally in hedges, but is carried also to the
cultivated fields, where it propagates itself rapidly. Its seeds
are furnished with hooked bristles, which attach themselves to
the fur of animals, and, in this manner, are disseminated. In
some parts of England it is a troublesome weed, but, in other
parts, it is comparatively inoffensive.

14. The small Nettle is an annual plant. It sometimes ex-
tends over cultivated fields, and generally indicates that the
soil is enriched by putrescent substances.

15. The Red Dead-nettle, though termed a nettle, is of the
Mint tribe of plants. It is thus of the same family as the mint,
the marjoram, the sage, and the thyme, plants all harmless
and possessing cordial and stomachic properties. The red
dead-nettle is sometimes frequent in fields, especially near
hedges, and in sheltered places.

16. The Common Hemp-nettle, also of the Mint tribe of
plants, is common in corn-fields. Reapers are sometimes af-
fected by severe inflammation in the hand by grasping it. It
is covered by bristles, and these, on being pressed, emit a poi-
sonous fluid.

17- Sun-Spurge is one of a family of plants which yield a
peculiar milky juice. It is sometimes abundant in corn and
turnip fields.

18. Climbing Buckwheat is, in some places, termed bind-
weed, or bearbind. When in quantity it is apt to overpower
the corn. It is frequently seen twining round turnips and
other plants. Its seeds are said to injure wheat ; but the seeds
are in themselves nutritive, and, if mixed with oats, will not in-
jure their quality.

19. Knot-grass is another of the buckwheat genus, of fre-
quent occurrence ; but it abounds more in waste places than in
cultivated grounds.

20. Hairy Tare is a leguminous plant which frequently oc-
curs in cultivated fields, and then it is a hurtful weed.

Several of the annual grasses are of frequent occurrence in
cultivated grounds.

ANNUAL AND BIENNIAL WEEDS. 441

21. The Bearded Darnel is common in some countries, but
it is comparatively rare in this. It has been condemned as a
poisonous plant for more than 2000 years.

22. The Bearded Wild Oat is often a very pernicious weed.
Its seeds readily drop out when ripe ; and as it ripens sooner
than the cereal grasses, and then sheds its seeds, it is difficult
to extirpate it. It is frequently conveyed with the seed-corn
to the ground, and thus may be propagated on the best manag-
ed farms.

23. Several of the Brome-grasses are found as weeds in our
corn-fields. The most frequent of these is the Soft Brome-grass,
in some places termed goose-grass. The seeds of this plant are
like those of rye-grass, and are propagated along with that
grass. But the plant itself is easily distinguished from the rye-
grass ; and when the latter is to be thrashed for seeds, the
Brome-grass may be picked out by the hand.

The list of this class of weeds might be greatly extended,
but this does not seem to be here necessary. They are all of
them best extirpated by diligent tillage. The better cultivated
a country becomes, the less prevalent and hurtful will be this
class of plants.

2. Perennial Weeds.

1. Ranunculus acris — Upright Meadow Crowfoot, and other Ranun-

culi.

2. Senecio Jacobea — Common Ragwort.

3. Tussilago Farfara — Coltsfoot.

4. Bellis perennis — Daisy.

5. Chr)'santhemum Leucanthemum — Great White Ox-eye.

6. Cnicus arvensis — Corn or Way-thistle.

7. Centaurea nigra — Black napweed.

8. Sonchus arvensis — Corn Sow-thistle.

9. Lamium album — White Dead-nettle.

10. Rumex obtusifolius — Broad-leaved Dock.

11. Polygonum amphibium — Amphibious Persicaria.

12. Urtica dioica — Great Nettle.

13. Agrostis alba — Marsh Bent-grass.

14. Arrhenatherum avenaceum — Common Oat-like Grass.

442 WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

15. Holcus mollis — Creeping Soft Grass.

16. Triticum repens — Common Wheat-grass.

17. Juncus effusus — Soft Rush, and other Junci.

18. Ericea? — Heaths, and other shrubby plants.

19. Filices — Ferns.

20. Musci — Mosses.

1. The Upright Meadow Crowfoot grows in a great variety
of soils and situations. Like most of the dangerous family to
which it belongs, it inflames and blisters the skin. It is too
acrid to be eaten by cattle, unless largely mixed with other
plants ; but so mixed, it is consumed in small quantity, and,
from its abounding in our meadows, is perhaps designed to serve
as a condiment. In common with some others of the genus, it
is termed butter-cup, or butter-flower, from a popular notion
that it gives the yellow colour to butter. It, however, injures
the butter, whose yellow colour is due to the richness of the
pastures, and not to these acrimonious plants.

The Creeping Crowfoot, Ranunculus repens, and Bulbous
Crowfoot, Ranunculus bulbosus, resemble the last in their pro-
perties. They adorn our meadows with their bright yellow
flowers, and are comprehended under the common name of
butter-flower, butter-cup, and sometimes of kingVcup, golden-
flower, &c. The breaking up of grass land for a course of til-
lage is the only means of eradicating this class of weeds.

2. Common Ragwort is a large well-known weed in pasture
fields. It receives many names, as ragwort, ragweed, canker-
weed, &c. It has a perennial root, and grows to the height of
2 or 3 feet. It is best kept down by pasturing with sheep,
which eat it in its early stages. By being pulled up by the
hand, which can be easily done when the ground is soft from
rain, it can be extirpated in grass fields without taking up the
land for a course of tillage.

3. Coltsfoot grows chiefly in moist clays, and especially in
marly soils. Its broad leaves overspreading the surface, it is
very hurtful where it prevails. Tillage and draining, and im-
proving the texture and fertility of the soil, are the means to
be adopted for rooting it out.

4. The daisy, though even-where loved and admired as

PERENNIAL WEEDS. 443

the harbinger of summer, and the ornament of our fields, is, in
the judgment of the farmer, a weed. Where it prevails too
greatly, the land requires to be renovated by a course of good
tillage, and by lime.

5. The Great White Ox-eye, sometimes also called the great
white daisy or moon-flower, often abounds in pastures, and is
only to be extirpated by tillage.

0. Thistles form a class of weeds very formidable to the
agriculturist, from the ease with which they are disseminated
by means of their downy seeds, and the difficulty of eradicat-
ing them. Some of them have deep vivacious roots, and all
of them, on account of their vigorous growth, and their strong
spreading leaves, are injurious amongst the cultivated plants.

The most common of the thistle kind is the corn or way-
thistle. This plant has strong, creeping, and vivacious roots,
the habit of which is to strike down to a great depth in the
ground. If any parts of these roots are left in the soil, they will
again give birth to numerous plants.

The means of extirpating the way-thistle from land is by a
continued tillage and deep ploughing. Even an efficient year's
summer fallow will not always effect this ; for when land has
been thoroughly overrun by the plants, they will spring up in
future years, and require successive years'1 tillage thoroughly
to exterminate them. The lands of various parts of this
country used to be greatly more covered with thistles than
they now are. In some parts of Scotland, they were once so
abundant, that they used to be cut regularly for five or six
weeks in summer to supply food for the wretched cattle of the
day. In well-cultivated districts they have been got under,
though, so great is their tenacity of life and power of pro-
pagating, that they demand constant attention on the best
cultivated farms, and, under negligent management, never fail
to take possession of the soil. New lands brought into culti-
vation are often entirely covered with this species, and a course
of tillage is necessary before it can be subdued.

In the ordinary management of a farm, thistles will some-
times spring up in great abundance with the first crop of oats

444 WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

after grass. In this case, they must be weeded early in sum-
mer, by being cut over near the surface, which is conveniently
done by the weed-hook, (Fig. 117.) The sole effect of this,
however, is to retard the growth of the plant, and prevent it
from running to seed, or contending for mastery with the grow-
ing corn.

Thistles sometimes spring up in great plenty in old pasture
fields. In this case, they should be cut close to the ground at
least once a-year, so as to prevent their smothering the pasture
plants and running to seed. But it is only when the land is
broken up for tillage that effectual means can be used for de-
stroying them. Instruments, indeed, have been devised for
pulling up thistles from the ground, but the roots of the plant
are too easily broken, and the smallest portion left in the soil
will spring again.

The thistle not only grows from its creeping vivacious roots,
but is widely disseminated by its light downy seeds. Thistles
therefore ought to be cut down before being permitted to per-
fect their seeds ; and they should never be suffered to grow in
waste places and hedges, whence their light seeds may be car-
ried to poison the neighbouring fields. Further, when they
have been cut down at an advanced stage, they should not be
left on the ground, for, like many composites, they will mature
their seeds though separated from the ground.

7. Black Knapweed is one of a class of thistle-like plants. It
is termed horse-knot, and receives many other local names. It
is a hurtful weed in pastures where it prevails, increasing much
by the roots, and being extirpated with difficulty.

8. The Corn Sow-thistle is a frequent plant in corn-fields,
distinguished by its tall steins and large yellow flowers : but
it is not usually a very hurtful weed.

9. The White Dead-Nettie is occasionally common in corn-
fields. Having a strong, creeping, perennial root, it should be
carefully extirpated. This is one of the Mint tribe of plants
before referred to.

10. The Dock genus comprehends a variety of species known
to the farmer as weeds. These plants produce a large quan-
tity of seeds, which they readily mature. The seeds are heavy

PERENNIAL WEEDS. 445

and though diffused by the smaller birds, to which they serve
as food, they are uot so readily disseminated by the winds as
those of the thistle kind. They, however, vegetate freely when
they fall on the ground, and produce plants, which, when once
allowed to extend their roots in the soil, it becomes difficult to
exterminate. The roots are vivacious, and, if cut into pieces,
the separate parts will send forth shoots. It is more easy,
however, to raise up the roots of docks than of thistles by
means of instruments, which receive the lower part of the
stem in a cleft, and being used as a lever, wrench the plant
from the ground. But the only effectual method of extirpa-
ting docks, as of most other weeds, is by summer fallow or
cleaning crops. The seeds of docks are often conveyed to the
farm mixed with grass-seeds. When this takes plac?, the
docks will frequently establish themselves with the grasses, and
grow vigorously the second year. They should be then pulled
up by the hand, so as to prevent their running to seed and
further overspreading the ground. The species of docks are
very numerous. The most common is the broad-leaved dock,
which is found in every country of Europe. In this country,
it generally indicates a good soil.

11. Amphibious Persicaria is of the same natural family as
the docks. On damp deep soil it is sometimes very abundant,
overspreading the surface when the land has been left in grass.
The prevalence of this plant generally indicates the need of
draining.

12. The Great Nettle is frequent in waste places, under
walls, and in hedge banks. This species grows over all Europe,
and is found from Barbary to Siberia and Japan. In this
country it generally indicates a good soil. When it takes root
in pastures, it is very difficult to extirpate it. It forms patches
on which other plants will not grow. It may sometimes be
destroyed by cutting the plant, so as to enfeeble it, and some-
times it is dug up by the roots. But when it prevails in pas-
ture grounds to any extent, the proper remedy is a course of
tillage.

Several of the gi-asses are known as weeds, which, from their
creeping or vivacious roots, it is difficult to extirpate.

44G WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE.

13. The Marsh Bent-grass extends itself not only by its
creeping roots below the surface, but by its stolons or suckers
above ground. Others of the genus extend themselves in the
same manner in wet situations. They receive the names of
black couch, black twitch, or black wrack.

14. The Common Oat-like grass has bulbous roots, whence
it is called by farmers knot-grass. It is a very troublesome
weed in many soils. The little bulbs when detached from the
root, grow again, so that very careful tillage is required to ex-
tirpate the plant when it takes possession of a piece of ground.

15. Creeping Soft-grass is another plant, which, when it
takes possession of ground, is not easily rooted out. It has
a strong creeping root : but the species is comparatively rare.

16. Common Wheat-grass or Couch-grass, is called likewise
quick or wrack, and receives many other names. It is the
most abundant of the perennial weeds of corn lands. Its roots
are creeping, and every part of them left in the ground will
grow ; and hence the difficulty of extirpating the. plant. The
most effectual mean of doing so, is by frequent ploughing and
harrowing, and collecting the roots by the hand. This consti-
tutes, as was formerly seen, an important part of the process
of the summer fallow, and preparatory cleaning crops. There
is no weed which requires so constant a vigilance on the part
of the husbandman as the creeping wheat-grass ; but it is well
that, in contending with this perpetual enemy, he is compelled
to give a more assiduous tillage to his land than he might
otherwise be induced to do.

These different grasses are frequently all confounded under
the name of couch, quick, and wrack, — names sufficiently indi-
cating their characters.

17. The Soft Rush, with other Junci, are all to be regarded
as weeds when they prevail amongst the better plants. They
indicate wetness, and are only to be effectually removed by
draining.

18. The Heaths are a widely extended family, covering a
large part of the north of Europe. Where they intrude
amongst the cultivated plants they axe to be regarded as
weeds.

PERENNIAL WEEDS. 447

Many other shrubby plants are found in unimproved land,
and one of the first objects of cultivation is to extirpate them.
Fallowing and liming are the usual means by which this class
of plants is destroyed.

The Whin is one of the class of shrubby weeds. It re-
quires continued culture thoroughly to extirpate it ; for, after
being apparently subdued, it will spring up again in great
numbers, and for successive years. When the land is in grass,
the young shoots may be sometimes pulled up by the hand,
after the land has been saturated by rain. But when whins
have thoroughly established themselves in the soil, and extended
their roots, they must frequently be hoed up before the plough
can act. The land being then ploughed with a good furrow,
the remaining roots are torn up, and the plants at length de-
stroyed. On elevated sheep-farms, whins should be encouraged
rather than destroyed, for in such situations they afford shelter
and food.

Broom is a shrubby plant for the most part more easily ex-
tirpated than the whin, though in certain situations it grows
with great pertinacity. It affects the lighter soils.

Brambles, and other shrubs of the Rose family, are often the
possessors of unimproved soils. Certain species of the bramble
are very tenacious of their situation. These plants are de-
stroyed by the same means as the whin ; and the like remark
applies to all the larger shrubs.

19. Another class of weeds is the acotyledonous, or flower-
less plants, at the head of which stands the Fern. Of the
fern or fern-like plants, there are many species in this country.
They grow chiefly in mountainous tracts of natural pasture.

20. The last in order of the weeds are the Mosses. These
plants are altogether innutritions. They often intrude exten-
sively on pasture-ground, and supplant the herbage-plants.
The best remedy in all cases is a course of tillage, and the ap-
plication of lime.

The list of perennial weeds might be greatly extended.
They differ in their characters and habits of growth, but they
are all of them eradicated by careful tillage, chiefly during
the period of the summer fallow and cleaning crops.

( 448 )

IX. MANAGEMENT OF GKASS LANDS.
1. Forage.

The produce of land which is designed for the feeding of
animals may be consumed in three ways : — It may be eaten
upon the ground where it grows ; it may be cut down and
given to animals while it is yet green, which is termed soiling ;
or it may be dried in order that it may be preserved, when it
is termed hay.

The plants employed for these purposes are the different
forage and herbage plants which have been enumerated, some
of which are chiefly applicable to herbage, some to green or
dried forage, and some to either of these purposes.

The clovers and similar leguminous plants mixed with grasses,
may be applied alike to forage and to herbage. They form
what in common language are termed the artificial or cultivated
grasses ; and land, when producing them, is commonly said to
be in grass.

The seeds of the grasses and leguminous plants are to be
sown in spring, in the manner before described, upon the sur-
face of ground sown with the cereal grasses. When the crop
of corn had been sown in autumn, the seeds of the clovers
and grasses are sown in spring amongst the growing crop, the
harrows passing over the surface with a double turn. When
the corn itself is sown in spring, the grass seeds are also sown,
just before the last turn of the harrows, and then the roller is
frequently employed to complete the process. The seeds are
sown either by the hand, or by the broad-cast sowing machine,
which regulates better the quantity, and sows them with more
regularity. Care must be taken that the seeds of the grasses
be sound and of the proper kinds, and that those of the clovers
be fresh and well ripened, which will be shown by the shining
appearance of the seeds ; and great care must be used that
those of either kinds be free from the seeds of weeds.

FORAGE. 449

The proportion in which the different kinds of clovers and
grasses may be sown together, is chiefly dependent upon the
longer or shorter period for which the land is to remain in
grass.

The seeds of the clovers and grasses may be sown in autumn
as well as in spring, without any corn crop ;%and this practice
has been recommended, in the case of laying down land to
permanent grass, as being calculated to afford a quicker and
better sward : and so indeed it may do ; but then it is by the
sacrifice of a crop of corn, which is too great to be disregarded
in the practice of the farm. Cases may exist in which the value
of permanent herbage is so great, with relation to that of corn
and other crops, that this sacrifice may be made ; but, in the
great majority of cases, the advantages to be derived from
the practice will in nothing compensate the increased expen-
diture. There is no difficulty, under good management, of
getting the seeds of grasses and clovers to vegetate under the
shade of corn in sufficient quantity to stock the ground ; and
in the forming of the meadow, therefore, there can seldom be a
reason for deviating from the simple and economical practice
of sowing the seeds of the herbage and forage plants along with
the crop of corn.

The seeds, when sown, quickly vegetate, the plants springing
up under the shelter of the larger crop ; and in autumn, when
it is reaped, they will be seen to be covering the surface.

In autumn, the ground may be slightly pastured with sheep ;
but heavy cattle, which would injure the surface, should not
be put upon it, and sheep only for a short time. During the
period of winter, the land should remain untouched.

In the following season, the plants may be consumed in
either of the three ways that have been mentioned : —

1st, They may be depastured with live-stock.

2d, They may be mown two or more times during the sea-
son for green forage, and the aftermath depastured.

3d, They may be made into hay, and the aftermath depas-
tured.

When they are to be employed in the first of these ways

Ff

450 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

namely, for herbage, they may be depastured either by sheep or
the larger cattle. Sheep may be put upon them in April or
sooner, while they are yet short ; but cattle should not be put
upon them till the plants afford a full bite, which will usually
be in May.

There is no period in the growth of these plants, at which
they will afford so early and rich an herbage as in this, the
second year after they are sown, or when, in the language of
farmers, they are one-year old grass. They will feed the larger
cattle perfectly. But it is to sheep that they are in a peculiar
degree adapted ; and, in the practice of the farm, the larger
cattle are usually put upon the old grass, while the sheep are
fed upon the young grass.

Whether, in any case, a field of young grass shall be applied
to herbage or forage, is dependent on considerations of expe-
diency and profit. If there shall be stock upon a farm re-
quiring good and early grass, it may be most advantageous
to use the new grass for herbage : in certain cases it may be
more advantageous to employ it in soiling ; in others to con-
vert it into hay ; and in the practice of the farm a portion of
it may be applied to all these purposes.

When the grasses and clovers, or any other forage plants,
are to be used for soiling, they are mown with the scythe and
earried directly to a house or yard, and put into a crib or rack,
the animals being at the same time well littered with straw so
as to be kept dry.

A field of young grass intended to be mown is managed
thus : — When the land is sufficiently dry in spring, it is rolled
so as to prepare the surface for the action of the scythe ; and
should any loose stones be upon the ground, they are gathered
by the hand previous to rolling, and thrown into carts driven
slowly along the ridges. Sometimes the ground may be too
soft to bear the carts, and in this case the stones may be laid
in little heaps in the furrows until it is convenient to remove
them. These operations should take place in the end of March,
or as early as possible in April.

In the northern parts of the country, it is usually the be-

FORAGE. 4o1

ginning of June before the process of mowing can be begun,
but in the southern parts mowing may commence several weeks
earlier. The field, or part of a field, reserved for the purpose,
is then mown daily in such portions as are required for each
day's feeding, and the forage given in its green and juicy state
to the feeding animals. While the field, or portion of the
field, is thus being gone over, a second crop will have been
springing up. Beginning then with the part which had been
first mown, the ground is again to be mown daily until it is
passed over a second time. In this manner, two crops or cut-
tings will be obtained, and in favourable situations three.
Should there be an interval between the cuttings, that is,
should the second crop not be sufficiently ready after the field,
or part of the field, has been passed over, then some food must
be provided for the feeding animals in the mean time. The
best provision in this case is the tare, which is one of the rea-
sons for cultivating this plant on farms where soiling is prac-
tised.

The practice of soiling has certain advantages over the more
common system of allowing the animals to find their own food
in the fields. Their provender is brought to them, and none
of it is wasted by their treading it down, while they are freed
from that disturbance to which all animals are subject in sum-
mer and autumn from insects. It is found, accordingly, that
the larger animals feed well under this system, and that a
smaller space of ground will be sufficient for feeding an equal
number.

As a country becomes rich, highly cultivated, and populous,
soiling is the manner of feeding which will naturally prevail.
Hence it is practised in this country in the neighbourhood of
cities where the land can be kept fertile ; and it is the system
adopted in some of the richer parts of Europe, and in an espe-
cial degree in the Netherlands, whence we have derived it.

But although soiling be the most profitable system of feeding
where it can be adopted, yet in this country it is in many cases
not practicable, and in certain cases not expedient.

The cases in which it is not practicable, are when land does

f f2

4:v2

MANAGEMENT OF CRASS LANDS.

not possess a sufficient degree of natural or acquired fertility
to produce good and early crops of grass, or when sufficient
straw to litter the animals during the period of feeding cannot
be obtained. A large proportion of the land of this country
will yield an adequate quantity of grass for herbage, but not
sufficiently early and good for regular soiling.

The cases in which soiling is not expedient, although it may
be practicable, are when the animals to be fed require exercise
to keep them in health and in a growing state. Thus oxen are
the better for moderate exercise in their first or second year.
Young horses absolutely require it ; and even milch cows, al-
though they may be fed in the house or yard, maintain their
health better in the fields. To the habits of the sheep, the
confinement of the house or yard is entirely unsuited : and
although in some parts of Europe the system of soiling sheep
is practised, it ought to make no progress in a country abound-
ing in pastures like Britain. A case in which soiling may be
applied in all arable farms in this country is that of feeding the
working cattle of the farm.

The next and most common method of applying the sown
grasses and clovers is as dried forage or hay, in which state they
can be preserved and given to the stock in winter, or at other
times.

When the sown grasses and clovers are intended for hay, the
land is to be cleared of stones and rolled in spring, as in the
case of green forage. And when the plants are in full flower,
but before the seeds are ripe, or even before the flowers of the
clovers have in any degree begun to fade, the crop is to be
mown.

The plants, by the action of the scythe, are laid in swathes,
with their heads lying pretty regularly in one direction. The
swathes lie for a short time to wither : and are then turned
gently over by a fork, or the handle of the hay-rake, in such a
manner that they shall not be broken and spread abroad. In
24 hours or more afterwards, they may be put into small heaps
or cocks on every third or fifth ridge, according to the bulk of
the crop, the ground being at the same time carefully raked.

FORAGE. 453

It is a good practice to put up the hay green in these first
cocks, and then to enlarge them by adding two together. If
at this early stage they undergo a degree of incipient fermenta-
tion, it is no matter. It is in the later stages of the process
that heating or fermentation becomes hurtful.

When the hay has become dry in the cocks, the period of
which will depend upon the weather, they are made into ricks
in the fields. The cocks are dragged together by a horse with
a rope, one end of which is attached to one of his traces, and
the other end being put round the base of the cock, is fixed to
his traces on the other side. He is then made to pull forward
the cock to the place required ; and in this manner two or
more of them may be dragged forward at once.

The ricks are made by a person standing upon them to
build and compress them. They are formed with a conical
top, and are each bound down with a rope made of the hay it-
self. In this state they may resist a considerable fall of rain ;
but the hay is not to be suffered to remain longer in the ricks
than is necessary to dry it in a sufficient degree to fit it for
being stored in a larger stack. When the hay is sufficiently
ready, which will be denoted by its feeling dry when the hand
is thrust into the rick, it is carried in the large sparred cart
(Fig. 52) to the place where the hay-stack is to be formed,
which is most conveniently, in the barn-yard, near the stables.

The hay-stack may be built in a circular or oblong form ;
the latter is the most convenient when the quantity of hay is
large. A number of persons being placed on the stack to build,
the hay is forked up to them, and the stack, by the treading
of their feet upon it, is compressed in proportion as it is raised.
In 24 hours it will have considerably subsided, and in a day or
two afterwards it is thatched with straw, and bound down with
straw ropes ; the loose hay of the exterior having been pulled
carefully out all around, so that the whole shall present a neat
appearance.

Hay, when put into a large mass of this kind, will undergo
a slight degree of heat ; but in the case of the clovei*s and
grasses, the slighter the degree of heat at this period the bet-

434 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

ter, and hence the necessit}7 of a previous preparation of the
material as careful as the state of the weather will allow.

Often great difficulty is experienced in the processes of the
hay-harvest by the wetness of the weather. In such a case the
farmer is obliged to watch the intervals of favourable weather,
and employ every practicable means to forward the operations
and secure the crop.

Some recommend the strewing of salt upon the hay, as the
building of the stack proceeds. This is a good practice, as it
corrects the tendency to fermentation, and renders injured hay
palatable to stock.

In the making of hay, the great end to be aimed at is to
prepare it as quickly as possible, and with as little exposure to
the weather, and as little waste of the natural juices as circum-
stances will allow. When we are enabled to do this, the hay
will be sweet, fragrant, and of a greenish colour.

It is not usual to cut more than one crop of hay from the
same ground in the year, although the second crop of the
grasses and clovers may also be made into hay. It is never,
however, so good as the first crop in weight and quality; and,
besides, the late period of the season renders the preparation of
it difficult or precarious. For these reasons the proper system
is to depasture the aftermath, and not to make it into hay.

Wherever the system of the cultivated grasses is perfectly
understood, they will never be mown for hay more than once.
The first year's aftermath, and all the subsequent years' grass,
so long as the land remains untitled, are to be used for herbage
alone.

The produce of hay varies greatly with the quality of the
soil and state of the season. About 2 tons per acre may be
regarded as a good crop, but often the produce is greatly more,
and then the crop is considered to be a great one. Hay, in
the field-rick, weighs somewhat better than 112 lb. per cubic
yard ; after being compressed in the stack, it weighs from 140
to 180 lb., and when old about 200 lb.

Clovers, besides being raised for pasture or soiling, are some-
times cultivated for their seeds. In this case the clover to be

FORAGE. 455

cultivated should be sown by itself, pastured with sheep till
pretty late in May, and then allowed to grow and ripen its
seeds. When the weeds are fully ripened, the crop is cut
down, and formed into very small cocks, which, after being
thoroughly dried, are carried home, and put into stacks until
thrashed. The process of thrashing is a somewhat trouble-
some one, from the difficulty of separating the seeds from the
capsules. It is usually done by the flail ; and the seeds may
be winnowed in the same manner as grain, but with sieves
adapted to the purpose. This species of cultivation, however,
has narrow limits in this country. The crop is a great ex-
hauster of the soil, and, from the late period of ripening and
the extreme dryness to which the plants must be brought, it is
a somewhat precarious crop, even in the more favourably si-
tuated parts of the island. For these reasons the greater part
of the clover seeds consumed in this country is imported.

The grasses too, are frequently cultivated for their seeds.
In this case the particular grass to be cultivated should be
sown by itself. It should be dried and stacked like a crop of
corn, and thrashed and winnowed. When a crop of this kind
is cultivated, it should be regarded as an exhausting crop, and
the land treated as if it had borne a crop of corn.

Sometimes the seeds of rye-grass are procured by a more
partial process. The hay being put into cocks in the usual
manner, it is thrashed just before being put into the larger
ricks. The thrashing is performed in the field on a moveable
floor of boards, placed upon a coarse canvass cloth. In this
case the hay should be slightly beat by the flail, so as to de-
tach the best ripened seeds without too greatly injuring or
breaking the stems. The seeds are then put into sacks, and
carried to the granary, on the floor of which they are spread
and turned over as occasion requires. When dry, they may
be dressed; or they may remain mixed with the chaff till
spring. The hay, however, is always injured where this sys-
tem is practised, both because it is deprived of the seeds, and
because it is necessary to allow the plants to stand for a longer
time to ripen than would otherwise be required.

4~)ft MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

No method of producing hay has been found comparable to
that of the cultivated grasses. Under this system, the forage-
plants are cut when in their state of most luxuriant growth,
and no manure is laid upon the surface in order to produce the
hay ; the manures being applied to the preparatory fallow or
green crops, in which case they are covered by the plough and
rendered entirely available. Yet over the greater part of Eng-
land, land is kept permanently in grass for the purpose of
mowing it, manure being applied from time to time to the sur-
face. This system has become the very habit of the country,
and, by the general adoption of it, beyond a question a vast
public loss is sustained. The practice of the cultivated mea-
dow was probably introduced into England by the Romans,
and at a long subsequent period was made more fully known
by the Flemings ; and yet by far the greater part of all the
hay produced in this island is derived from perennial meadows,
and thus an expensive method of production substituted over a
whole country for one more cheap and efficient. Certain pecu-
liarities in the state of property in England, the effect of tithes,
and the relative expense of keeping land in tillage and under
grass, seem to have contributed to this so general substitute of
the natural for the cultivated meadow. From habit, too, a
preference is given to the hay thus produced. It is supposed
by many to be more suited to keep horses in wind ; and it may
be so in the case of horses put to great speed, as the hunter
and the race-horse ; but, for the mere purpose of feeding, it
cannot be doubted that the produce of the cultivated meadow,
consisting of the superior grasses and clovers alone, in their
young and most juicy state, must be greatly superior to that
of the older grasses, mixed as they always are with a class of
inferior plants. But if the large application of capital and the
waste of land, for the production of this species of food, are to
be regretted, in no other country are the farmers so diligent
and so experienced in the management of the hay itself as in
England.

The grasses to be mown are ready in the month of July,
and they are cut down when the greater number of them have

FORAGE. 4.37

come into flower. When the land is of good natural quality,
or when a ready command of manure exists, it may be mown
every year for hay. But it is more common to mow it every
alternate year, or every third or fourth year, according to its
quality. It is then pastured in the intervening years, and in
this way it is less exhausted than when mown every year.

Land subjected to this species of culture requires to be ma-
nured at intervals upon the surface. When it is mown every
year, the manures should be repeated every second or third
year ; but when it is occasionally pastured, the manuring may
be less frequent.

The manures used may be of all the kinds applied to land
in tillage. That most commonly employed in practice is the
common manure of the farm-yard, well rotted. This is spread
thinly and regularly over the surface, generally at the rate of
7 or 8 tons to the acre. The period of laying it on is various ;
some preferring to spread it in October, others after the hay
is cut in July or August, and some in spring.

The grass, when mown, is soon afterwards tedded, or spread
abroad with a fork, so as to be exposed to the sun and air. It
may be turned over one or more times, and while yet green
put into little cocks. The manner of collecting the grass to-
gether is by raking it into rows, technically termed wind-rows,
the hay-makers in bands following each other with rakes until
they have thus collected the whole into rows. They are then
easily able, by hand labour, to form it into the small cocks
described.

These first cocks are afterwards to be spread abroad, and,
being exposed for a time, formed into larger cocks, termed
sometimes bastard-cocks. In the county of Middlesex, where
extreme attention is paid to the appearance and quality of this
species of crop, the bastard-cocks are again spread abroad, and
formed into yet larger cocks ; after which they are carried
home, sometimes on the fourth or fifth day. The object of
this repeated spreading abroad, and forming into cocks, is to
secure the hay in the shortest time, and with the least waste
of its natural juices. This, indeed, is aimed at in all cases of

45& MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

making hay, but the details of practice are modified by the
state of the weather, and vary in different parts of the coun-
try. Sometimes, to economize labour in these operations, hay-
tedding and hay-raking machines are employed. The hay-
tedding machine consists of rakes placed on a sparred cylin-
der, to which motion is communicated from wheels. The hay-
raking machines are of different construction. One nearly si-
milar to that represented in Fig. 124. may be used.

Although the raising of hay on the natural meadow must
be regarded as expensive, when compared with the raising of it
on the cultivated meadow, yet there are soils and situations
to which the practice is entirely suited, and in which it is the
best mean at the command of the farmer of obtaining dry fo-
rage.

One of these is the case of marshes, swariips, or bogs, pro-
ducing naturally rushes, sedges, and the larger grasses. These
marshes are of every degree of natural fertility, sometimes
producing chiefly the Carices and Junci, and at other times
producing the grasses of wet ground, as the Poa aquatica, Poa
jluitans, Agrostis alba, and other plants of marshes.

The lowest for the most part in the scale of fertility of these
wet grounds, and yet of great importance in the elevated dis-
tricts where they abound, are those which consist of a thick
bed of peaty matter. These are usually termed bogs, and the
produce consists chiefly of rushes, as the sharp-flowered joint-
ed rush, and others. This species of hay is greatly less nutri-
tive than that of the cultivated or finer natural grasses. It is
generally regarded as a little superior to the straw of wheat,
barley, or oats, and will, for the most part, bear cutting but
once in the year. It is too coarse for sheep, but is adapted
to the winter provender of cattle. To these it affords a valu-
able resource in all the more elevated pasture districts of this
country.

As the soil of the marsh improves, so for the most part
does the natural produce which it yields. In flat and alluvial
tracts the hay of the marsh is often valuable, even where cul-
tivated forage can be otherwise obtained. It is frequently.

I OK AGE. 45.9

therefore, a question of expediency, whether a marsh shall be
broken up for tillage or allowed to yield its natural plants. It
may produce a great deal of manure without requiring any ;
it may furnish a valuable resource to wintering stock ; and it
may not be capable of being fitted for cultivation but by a con-
siderable expenditure of capital.

The manner of preparing the hay of marshes, is similar to
that of preparing the hay of the grasses already described,
except that greatly less nicety is required. The rushes or
grasses, after lying for 48 hours or more, should be tedded
well, so as to receive the influence of the sun and air. After
this operation, which is usually repeated once or oftener, the
hay should be put into small cocks, and, when sufficiently dried,
put into ricks, to remain in them till the danger of fermenta-
tion is removed, when it may be carried home and formed into
a stack. A slight fermentation in the stack may take place
without injury, but care must be taken that this be not carried
so far as to injure the hay.

There is another case in which perennial grass land, though
not marshy, may be beneficially employed to produce hay.
This is in elevated pasture districts, where cultivated forage
cannot be obtained. In such situations, hay must be procured
for the stock during falls of snow, and then the only means of
obtaining it may be to set apart a portion of the herbage-land
for mowing. This is a case produced by the peculiar circum-
stances of sheep-farms ; and it does not invalidate the general
principle, that hay is best produced on the cultivated meadow.

One other method, indeed, of producing natural hay free
from all objection on account of the waste of manures, is yet
to be considered. This is Irrigation ; but irrigation applies to
the production of herbage as well as dry forage, and we may,
therefore, first consider the management of land in the state
of perennial herbage.

2. Pasturage.

Much of the land of this country has never been cultivated,
but produces without cultivation the herbage plants peculiar

4G0 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

to it ; such are all our mountain pastures, and the unimproved
surface of the lower plains.

It is an error to apply the term waste to lands of unculti-
vated pastures. They are in no degree waste, but are em-
ployed in producing the species of food which, in the circum-
stances in which they are placed, may be the best which they
are suited to produce. It may be supposed that, by cultiva-
tion, they will yield a more abundant produce, but it is always
a question of prudence, whether the profit in cultivating them
will be greater than that derived from them in their natural
state.

A primary improvement of which lands unsuited to culti-
vation are susceptible, is freeing them from stagnant water.
This is for the most part to be effected by affording an outlet
to the water in channels cut in the most convenient places.
This should never be omitted where the land is of sufficient
value to repay the expenses ; and it is rare, when land is of
sufficient fertility to produce the grasses at all, that the ex-
pense of giving an outlet to the surface water will not be re-
paid by the increased value of the herbage-plants produced.

A species of draining, which has been practised to a great
extent in some of the mountain districts of this country, is by
means of narrow drains, about a foot in depth, made by the
spade alone, carried along hollows, wherever the water is likely
to be interrupted. By this species of draining, an important
improvement, at no great expense, has been effected in many
mountain pastures ; and the tendency to rot, one of the most
fatal disorders to which sheep stock on wet lands is liable,
lessened or removed.

Another method of improving the natural pastures of an ele-
vated country is enclosing. In this way the animals of a farm
are confined to the pastures which are suited to them, and per-
mitted to feed undisturbed. And a great improvement of all
elevated pasture lands is shelter for the stock ; and judicious
planting, accordingly, is one of the means of increasing the
value of exposed pastures.

But land is not only left in grass in parts of the country in-

PASTURAGE. 4(jl

capable of cultivation, or in cases where cultivation would not
repay the charges incurred, but much even of the better land
is kept in grass, when it is found that in that state it yields
a more safe and steady profit than if cultivated. It is also,
in all cases, a renovation of the productive powers of culti-
vated land to allow it to remain for a period in grass ; and
hence a large proportion of the whole country remains in that
state.

The animals that may be pastured in all lands under grass
are our different kinds of herbivorous stock. Cattle and horses
require a large quantity, and, though they prefer the finer
grasses, are satisfied with a coarser herbage than sheep. Hence,
a rule of the farm is, to put sheep on finer and shorter grasses
in preference to cattle and horses, and cattle and horses upon
the larger and ranker pastures.

Whatever be the animals that are turned out to pasture,
the rule is, that the pastures shall never be overstocked ; that
is, that there shall always be a sufficient quantity of food for
the animals.

When animals are kept in the fields during the months of
winter, they must of necessity remain there till the herbage
rises in spring. But when they are not kept throughout the
winter in the field, they are not usually put to the pastures in
spring till these are sufficiently advanced to receive them. The
usual period is April or May when our various animals are
put into their respective pasture-fields for the summer.

The benefits of freeing lands from injurious wetness have
been adverted to in the case of upland pastures. They are
yet greater in the case of the pastures of the plains, inasmuch
as the relative value of the land is greater. In this case, not
only should surface-water be carried away by ditches and open
drains wherever necessary, but under-draining should be re-
sorted to, to free the land of wetness. By removing under-
water, a more valuable species of herbage is produced, and the
tendency to produce inferior plants lessened.

In the management of land kept in pasture, no manuring is
required to maintain its fertility, which will be increased and

462 MANAGEMENT OF CiRASS LANDS.

not diminished by the effects of pasturing. Any species of ma-
nure, however, will add to the productiveness of land in grass ;
and when, from any peculiar cause, it is thought expedient to
manure land in grass, the best kind of manure is usually lime,
or composts of earth and lime. These are simply spread upon
the surface, when vegetation has become inert at the fall of the
year, or before it has become vigorous in spring.

The surface of land kept in grass becomes uneven from se-
veral causes. One of these is of yearly occurrence, the labour
of the mole. In spring the mole-hills should be spread regu-
larly by the hoe or spade ; and, to prevent the animals from
becoming numerous, they are taken in traps.

Another creature, too, scarcely known in some parts of the
country, but very troublesome in others, is the ant. The hills
raised by the ant are unsightly and hurtful, and there is great
difficulty in driving the little creatures from the habitation
which they have so carefully constructed. The hills, forming
little eminences like small hay-cocks, will sometimes cover a
large part of the surface. The methods recommended for de-
stroying the ants are, raising the sods containing them by the
spade, and burning them in heaps ; or, just before winter, di-
viding the ant-hill with the spade, and laying the contents up-
on the surface.

The chief injury, however, which land when left long in grass
is apt to sustain, is the decay of its herbage by the springing
up of inferior plants. The most common of these are the
Musci, Mosses.

The mosses are altogether innutritious. They occupy the
place of the herbage plants, and thus render the pasturage of
less value. They are most apt to grow where the soil is infe-
rior and moist.

The best method of destroying this class of plants is by-
draining and liming ; and old grass-land, when overgrown by
these and other unproductive plants, should be taken up and
undergo a course of tillage.

When it is inconvenient to break up the land, or when it is
wished for any good reason to retain it in grass, the improve-

PASTURAGE- 46S

ment of the sward may be attempted without tillage, although
this will be found to be more expensive and less effectual.
Rakes and harrows, with close-set teeth, may be employed to
pull up the mosses ; but this, which is merely a palliative,
leaving the cause of the production of the plants unremoved,
should be accompanied with draining, when necessary, and
the application of calcareous matter to the surface. A some-
what more efficient mode of improvement is, to pare off the
surface with the spade to the depth of a few inches, and then,
after stirring with the harrow the soil below, to replace the
sod. The productive powers of old turf will be renovated by
this process, and especially if any lime or calcareous manure is
applied before the sod is replaced.

When land is kept in grass, weeds of various kinds may
tend to occupy the ground in place of the more useful herbage.
The smaller kinds of these can only be eradicated by impro-
ving the ground itself. The larger weeds, as thistles, docks,
ragweed, and others, should be pulled up or cut over when
they come into flower, or before it. The best instrument for
the latter purpose is a little spade, carried in the hand, by which
the stem of the weed is cut at or below the surface. The
scythe, too, must be used, to cut down such plants as tend to
overshadow the ground ; and this should always be done before
they have ripened their seeds. Whins, when old, must be hoed
up, Avhich is generally an unsatisfactory operation ; but young
whins may frequently, when the weather is moist, be pulled up
by the hand. All suckers of trees, too, should be pulled up as
soon as they appear.

The very detail of these circumstances, however, shows the
expediency of taking up old turf for a course of tillage when-
ever it tends to produce injurious plants. It is in this way
only that they can be thoroughly eradicated, and their place
supplied by better herbage.

40*4 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

3. Irrigation.

The fertilizing effect of water on the earth is one of those
natural phenomena which everywhere force themselves upon
the attention of mankind. Water is seen to be essential to
vegetable life. In those climates where evaporation is the
greatest, nature has generally provided the most plentiful sup-
ply of this fluid, in rains and dews. But the rains often oc-
curring at a particular season of the year, are insufficient for
the life and nourishment of useful plants during the remainder,
and the art of the irrigator is therefore necessary to produce
fertility. Without the artificial conveyance and distribution
of water, some of the most fertile countries in the world could
not have supported their inhabitants ; and the earliest husband-
men accordingly knew and practised the watering of lands as
an art. In Egypt, where the great inundation of the Nile soon
taught the inhabitants the value and uses of irrigation, this art
is known to have been practised on a scale of surpassing magni-
tude ; and the canals and vast artificial lakes of that celebrated
people, though less enduring, are more praiseworthy monu-
ments of their genius, than all the temples and cemeteries with
which they have covered their country. From the valley of the
Nile, it is to be believed, the knowledge of the art would be
extended to many countries. To the Greeks and the Romans
it was well known, and the rustic writings of the latter abound
with allusions and rules relating to the watering of land.
Without water collected by art, rice, which furnishes food to
the greater part of the human race, could not be cultivated ;
and over the vast regions of Southern Asia, accordingly, the
watering of land from rivers, brooks, Jakes, and wells, is a labour
essential to the support of the inhabitants. In all the southern
countries of Europe, the art is more or less practised. It is
there that the water is conveyed in little channels to the corn
fields, to the vineyards, and to the olive-trees. The conducting
of it from the rivers and canals, and measuring it out in deter-
mined quantities, form, in several parts of Italy, a nice part

IRRIGATION'. 465

of the science of engineering. In Piedmont, and the whole
valley of the Po, the water is frequently paid for by the hour,
and the utmost care is bestowed in economising so precious a
substance.*

The main object of irrigation, however, in all the intertropi-
cal countries, and in the warmer parts of the temperate zones,
seems merely to be to convey to the ground that quantity of
water which is necessary for the growth and nourishment of the
plants to be produced. Sometimes, as in the ca.se of rice, the
earth must be saturated for successive months, and, in others,
merely watered at intervals, during the periods of greatest
evaporation. In all these cases the main purpose is the same,
namely, to supply the deficiency of water in the soil ; and this
creates a great distinction between that species of irrigation
which has been described as called for by the wants of man
over so great a part of the globe, and that to which we apply
in England the term watered meadow.

In the latter case, the purpose is not to supply the deficiency
of water in the soil, for the water is conveyed over the sur-
face at those times, namely the months of winter, when there
is an excess, and not a deficiency of moisture. Nay, it is held
necessary in every well-formed watered meadow, to drain the
ground very thoroughly of all subterraneous water. Nor is
this the only distinction between the two kinds of irrigation.
In the one, the water is generally allowed to stagnate until it
shall have saturated the soil ; in the other, it is never allowed
to stagnate, but is maintained in a constant flow over the sur-
face.

In one respect the two kinds of irrigation may serve a com-
mon purpose, that is, by the deposition of mud or other ferti-
lizing matter upon the surface. The principal effect, we may
believe, which the Nile produces in its periodical overflowings,
is the supplying to the soil of the mere element of water, with-
out which an arid soil, in a country where the rain is scarcely
known, would hardly produce any thing. But this effect is

* Paper by me in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.

4GU

MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

plainly greatly increased by the large quantity of mud which
the river deposites. In the case, too, of the watered meadow,
the water may, in like manner, deposite a fertilizing sediment ;
but this, though it always adds greatly to the effect, is not es-
sential to the producing of it ; and waters entirely free from
all perceptible sediment, are yet successfully employed in the
case of the watered meadow.

In the watered meadow, a stream of water is to be conducted
to the surface, and caused to flow over it in a constant manner ;
the meadow to be watered, for the most part lying upon the
bank of the river from which the water is conveyed, and form-
ing a flat surface, or rather a gently inclined plane. To the
highest part of this inclined surface, the water is conveyed in
what is termed the main conductor, either by building a wear
or dam across the river where the water is to be taken off, or by
bringing it from a higher source. In the following diagram,
A represents the main conductor, and B the wear or dam.

IRRIGATION. 467

From the main conductor, and as nearly as possible at right
angles to it, are taken off the various feeders, ccc, &c. These
consist of small trenches 4 or 5 inches in depth, made widest,
as a foot or 16 inches, where they issue from the main conduc-
tor, and gradually lessening as they recede from it. They may
be formed at the distance from each other of 40 feet, or less,
being nearer where the soil is stiff and retentive, and further
distant where it is loose and porous.

The water is thus conveyed to the surface of the meadow.
But it is necessary that it should maintain an equal flow over
the ground, and so be carried off as quickly as it is admitted.
This is done by means of the main drain dd, formed at the
lower part of the meadow, and the several smaller drains, eee,
&c. passing between the intervals of the feeders, in the manner
shown in the figure. These small drains are of the same di-
mensions as the feeders, but are larger where they enter the
main drain, and become gradually smaller as they recede from
it. The main drain convoys the water back to the river from
which it was taken.

But often this main drain becomes in its turn the main con-
ductor to another meadow on a lower level. For the water which
had floated the upper meadow being collected in this drain, can
be carried from it by means of feeders in the manner described,
and again collected in a drain below : and in this manner vari-
ous meadows may be successively floated by means of the same
water. And even where the lower meadows are nearly on the
same level as the higher, it is still expedient to resort to this re-
peated collection of the water in drains, for it is found in prac-
tice difficult to preserve the equal flow of the fluid over a very
large extent of ground.

In order to keep the water as it descends through the feeders,
at the necessary level, and to cause it to overflow the surface,
it is interrupted in its course by what are termed stops, placed
in the feeders. These sometimes may consist of small pieces
of plank, each resting on two little stakes ; but oftener they are
merely sods placed in the feeders, which are sometimes fixed
down by wooden pins. It is the province of the person who

og2

468

MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

superintends the meadows, when floated, to adjust these stops
in such a way as to maintain an equal current over the ground.
Further, in order to convey the water quickly from the feeders
to the drains, the surface of the meadow is generally formed into
low ridges, the feeder being on the top of the ridge, and the
drain in the hollow, a transverse section of which would appear
thus : —

Fig. 171.

Here b represents the feeder, and a a the drains. In the language
of the irrigator, the interval from b to a is termed a pane ; and
in Fig. 170 the space ii, which is left for a carriage-way above
the main conductor, is termed the main pane, and is watered
from the main conductor.

This is the most perfect form of the watered meadow. But
when the inclination of the plane of the surface is considerable,
a different principle must be adopted, for the conveyance and
distribution of the water. In this case, the feeders are not
carried longitudinally through the meadow, but across the line
of the descent, in the manner shown in Fig. 172. Here the
several feeders are filled as before from the main conductors ;
but the water having overflowed the lower side of the banks, is
not discharged into smaller drains, as in the former case, but in-
to the next feeder lower down ; and is thus conveyed from feeder
to feeder, over the entire space of the meadow. This species of
irrigation is termed catch-work, and, as it can be adopted where
the surface is too much inclined to admit of the flat meadow,
it is frequently practicable where the other is not, and is often
combined with it in the same meadow where there are inequa-
lities of surface.

The process of floating the meadow commences generally in
the month of October, being as soon as possible after the after-
math has been consumed, or the last crop of hay removed. The
water is kept upon the ground for periods of a fortnight or three
weeks at a time. It is then let off, and the ground laid perfect-

IRRIGATION".

469

ly dry for five or six days ; and this process of alternate flooding
and drying is continued generally during the months of Novem-
ber, December, and January, care being taken to let off the
water when it begins to freeze. As the spring advances, and
the grasses shoot forth, the periods of watering are shortened,
so that the flooding shall not last above five or six days at a
time. In the southern counties of England, the meadows are
ready for the reception of stock of all kinds in the middle of
March ; but more to the north, where the grasses do not make
such early progress, the flooding is generally continued during
the whole month of May. After this, it is discontinued for the
season, and one or more crops of hay are produced. Flooding
during the months of summer produces a rapid and rich vege-
tation. But it is by summer flooding, where it is practised,
that the fatal disease of rot is introduced, so that no sheep
should ever touch the meadows which have been flooded during
the summer months.

Fig 172-

470 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

The theory of the process of irrigation has not been satis-
factorily explained. That the effect is not produced by the
mere supply of deficient water, appears not only from the pe-
riod at which the water is admitted, and when in our climate
the soil is always saturated with the fluid, but from the cir-
cumstance, that the effect is not produced when the water is
allowed to stagnate, and sink down in the soil, but when it is
kept in a current over it. When the water is suffered to stag-
nate, the soil tends to produce carices, junci, and other sub-
aquatic plants ; but when it is kept in motion, and drained off
at intervals, the finest grasses peculiar to the soil and climate
are produced. Neither does the fact of the deposition of mud,
or other fertilizing sediment, explain the phenomenon ; for
however such depositions may increase the effect, it is likewise
found that water, without the least perceptible sediment, may
be employed with success. It has been supposed, that the
water acts beneficially, by maintaining the soil at a higher
temperature. Water at a temperature of 40° is of a greater
specific gravity than at a lower temperature ; and hence, as
the water tends to the freezing point, the warmer portion of it
is next to the ground." Much, however, cannot be ascribed
to this cause, in a current so shallow and constant as that
which passes over the watered meadow. It is probable, there-
fore, that the main effect is produced by a mechanical action
of the water, acting upon and bringing nourishment to the
fibres of the roots of the plants.

England is perhaps the country in which the watered mea-
dow, as the mean of producing hay or herbage, is the best un-
derstood, and the most extensively pursued. There is no rea-
son to doubt that this art, like so many others, was derived
from the Romans ; and circumstances have conduced to its ex-
tension in England even more than in Italy.

England is well suited to the production of the common
grasses. These grow with a closeness and variety in the spe-
cies unknown in more southerly countries, and with a vigour

; Sir Humphry Davy's Agricultural Chemistry.

IRRIGATION. 471

which ceases in higher latitudes. The rivers, too, in Eng-
land, particularly in those parts most celebrated for this branch
of husbandry, are generally turbid, and, flowing through a fer-
tile and cultivated country, are enriched by the animal and
vegetable matters which they receive in their progress, and
thus not only irrigate, but manure the lands to which they are
conveyed. The counties of Gloucester and Wilts have long
been the most celebrated for their irrigation ; but there are
now others perhaps not inferior to them in the extent and per-
fection to which the practice has been carried. In the north
of England, the practice almost ceases ; and on the Scottish
side of the Tweed, it is yet hardly known as a branch of the
rural art.

The causes that have prevented this extension of the prac-
tice of irrigation to the north of England and to Scotland, are
to be sought for rather in circumstances peculiar to those parts
of the island, than in any indisposition on the part of the agri-
culturists there to adopt beneficial improvements. The useful
effects of irrigation decrease with the diminished temperature
of the climate. The rivers in the north generally flow through
a smaller tract of cultivated country, and thus do not in the
same degree receive those enriching substances which aid the
purpose of irrigation ; neither do their banks generally present
those extensive flat plains so favourable to the art in the chief
irrigating counties of England. But, hardly less than even
the effects of climate and natural causes, a circumstance exists
which retards the progress, and lessens the comparative im-
portance, of irrigation in the northern parts of the kingdom :
this is the general establishment of the alternate system of
agriculture, and the economical means thereby afforded of pro-
ducing hay by the clovers and cultivated grasses. The more
costly system of tillage adopted in the greater part of England
gives a higher relative value to land kept permanently in grass,
and to the hay of the indigenous grasses, than in districts
where a rotation of crops and cultivated herbage is extensivelj
• practised.

Although, for these reasons, the same value will never be a<

472 MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS.

tached to the watered meadow in the cultivated parts of Scot-
land, as in such counties of England as Wilts and Gloucester,
it is to be desired that the art of irrigation were better under-
stood in Scotland than it now is. Even in the best cultivated
districts, there Anil always be pieces of land which may be ad-
vantageously used for the raising of hay as an addition to the
provender of cultivated farms ; and in the mountainous dis-
tricts, forming the greater part of the whole country, where
tillage on any considerable scale is difficult, inexpedient, or
impracticable, the raising of hay for the support of live-stock
during the severities of winter is an object of primary import-
ance ; and, in this respect, the resources of the watered mea-
dow may frequently be made available with the best results.
The effect of water, applied on the principle of the artificial
meadow, is in all cases admirable, with regard to the produc-
tion of indigenous grasses. Its effect is speedily to eradicate
heath, and those mosses or lichens which infest the surface
and repress the growth of the nutritive plants ; and, in all our
mountainous districts, there is abundance of flat low land, bar-
ren, or productive only of the worst herbage in its natural
state, which admits of irrigation from the innumerable rivers
and streams by which such districts are traversed.

The formation of the surface of a watered meadow is a work
demanding practical skill ; and no one should think of attempt-
ing such a work, but under the direction of persons possessed
of the required experience. The diagrams which have been
given above illustrate the principle, but they do not in any de-
gree exhibit the numerous variations that are required to suit
the inequalities of the surface, the varying supplies of water,
and other diversities of circumstances and situation.

Besides the watered meadow, properly so called, there is a
species of irrigation which deserves the greatest attention,
where local circumstances are favourable to it. This is when
the liquid refuse of towns can be conveyed in drains or sewers
to the land. This may be termed a species of liquid manuring
rather than irrigating ; yet it is found that the principles of
the watered meadow, with respect to the mode of distributing

IRRIGATION. 473

and carrying off the water, are as applicable here as when the
water is free from perceptible sediment.

Another species of irrigating is termed Warping. But the
object of warping is merely the deposition of mud from turbid
water, and it is therefore conducted on principles entirely dif-
ferent from those adopted in the case of the watered meadow.
It is usually the water of the tide in flat rivers that is employ-
ed for the purpose of warping. This is admitted by sluices,
and having deposited the earthy matter which it contains, it
is allowed to escape. In this manner, by repeated depositions,
a large quantity of earthy matter is left behind, and a new soil
by degrees formed. On the estuary of the Humber, where
this operation is carried on on the largest scale, the water, ren-
dered turbid by the meeting of the tides and the fresh- water,
is conducted for miles inland, and, in the course of a single
season, about a foot of the richest soil is added to the former
surface.

( 474 )

X. THE REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

I. THE HORSE.

1. Species and Varieties.

In the genus Equus, naturalists comprehend 6 species, or ani-
mals nearly allied : —

1. Equus caballus — The Horse.

2. Equus hemionus — The Dziggithai.

3. Equus asinus — The ass.

4. Equus quagga — The Quagga.

5. Equus zebra — The Mountain Zebra.

6. Equus Burchellii — The Zebra of the Plains.

Of the species enumerated, those which have been domesti-
cated in Europe are Equus caballus and Equus asinus, and a
hybrid produced by these two species.

The Ass has been the servant of man from the earliest re-
cords of the human race. He has come to us from the South
and East, and it is there that he is seen in his perfect state.
Were we to judge of the value and importance of this creature
from the feeble services he is able to render us in the oppressed
and degraded state in which he appears in this country, we
should form a very false estimate of his importance. He is the
inhabitant of the desert, and an invaluable servant in the burn-
ing regions in which Nature has fitted him to exist. But yet
more than this, he is endowed with the power of propagating a
race of creatures of the highest importance to the inhabitants of
many countries. The Mule, as an animal of burden in a rocky
and precipitous country, far exceeds the horse or any other
animal ; and countries would remain separated from each other
by impassable barriers, were it not for the matchless sagacity,
patience, and surefootedness of the mule.

It is only, however, in the south of Europe, and in an especial
manner in Spain, that the mule is to be regarded as important

THE HORSE. 475

in the rural economy of Europe. Yet he is capable of being
cultivated in the north of Europe, and possesses the hardy pro-
perties which fit him for innumerable kinds of lighter labour ;
and he can be maintained on far inferior feeding to the horse.
There is difficulty indeed in rearing him to the same perfection
in the colder parts of Europe as in the warmer, because the
male parent, the Ass, cannot be brought to perfection in cold
countries ; and when the stallion is employed, the progeny,
termed a Hinny, is never equal to the true mule.

The Horse, then, is that alone of the genus which interests
us in this country as the subject of cultivation. The horse is
strictly herbivorous, and more scrupulous with respect to the
food he consumes than the ox. His stomach is comparatively
small, and he eats often. He sleeps very little, and frequently
standing, for which purpose Nature has made a peculiar provi-
sion in the form of his limbs. In sleeping he is startled by the
slightest motion.

The horse is vastly modified in his form and characters by
the physical condition of the countries in which he is natura-
lized. If fed in a country of plains and rich herbage, he tends
to become large in his form ; and such is the character of the
horse of the plains of Northern Europe, as of Holstein, Eng-
land, and other countries abounding in rich herbage. But in
an elevated country, where the herbage is scanty, the size and
form of the horse vary with the circumstances in which he is
placed. There he becomes small, hardy and capable of sub-
sisting on the scanty herbage with which the mountains supply
him. No contrast between animals of the same species can be
greater than that between the horse of the mountains and the
horse of the plains. The pony of Norway or the Highlands of
Scotland, as contrasted with the huge horse of the Lincoln-
shire fens, presents such extremes of strength and size, that it
is difficult to believe that creatures so different can be of the
same species. Yet all this great diversity is produced by a
difference in the supplies of food, as influenced by the effects of
situation. Nor is this peculiar to the horse ; the domestic ox
and the sheep are subject to the same law. and in a no less re-

476 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

markable degree. These animals are essential to the subsist-
ence of the human race, and, by a beneficent provision of Na-
ture, they are formed to adapt themselves to the circumstances
in which they are placed.

The horse fed on the arid plains and scanty herbage of
warmer countries, assumes characters and a form entirely dis-
tinct from those of the large and massy animals fed on the rich
pastures of temperate countries. It is from this cause that the
large horse of England and the northern plains of Europe con-
trasts in a striking manner with the lighter shape of the horse
of other regions. As we pass from the northern to the southern
parts of Europe, this change of form and character appears,
but yet more when we have crossed into Africa. There the
horse of the desert displays the light form and agile shape
which fit him for his condition. We see that he is here the
creature of the circumstances in which he is placed. The hea-
vy horse of the plains of Germany and England could no more
subsist on the dry and scanty herbage of Arabia than on the
heaths of Norway. The species would perish in conditions so
different did Nature not provide a remedy, by adapting the
animal to its condition.

The ancient horses of the north of Europe must have con-
sisted either of the smaller horses of the mountains or of the
larger horses of the plains. The horse which was chiefly em-
ployed for common uses, for war, for the tournament, and
even for the chase, seems to have been of the latter kind.
This appears from the accounts and representations given of
him, and from the form which he yet retains when unmixed
with the blood of the lighter races of the South and East. It
is to this intermixture that the technical term blood is applied.
Importations long ago took place of horses from Spain, from
Barbary, and the Levant ; and, at a later period, from Arabia.
The African and Arabian horses accordingly have given their
characters to the blood horse of England and its innumerable
varieties.

The animal in which this effect of blood is the most remark-
able is the English race-horse. For the combination of speed

THE HORSE. 477

with the necessary strength this creature can scarcely be sur-
passed. He forms, however, a race of artificial creation, ad-
mirably suited for a particular purpose, but not otherwise de-
serving of cultivation, except from this, that it is the stallions
of this race that continue the excellence and purity of the pa-
rent stock.

The superior class of riding-horses generally termed the hun-
ter, is perhaps the finest race of horses known. It combines
the blood of the Arabian, and other races of the South and
East, with the powerful form of the horse of the north of
Europe, in a much happier proportion than the race-horse.

From the hunter downwards to the races where no mixture
of southern blood can be traced, the gradations are innumer-
able. It is in this class that our road-horses and hackneys,
the horses employed in our coaches and carriages of all kinds,
nay, often in the mere labour of heavy draught, are contained.
It forms the most numerous class of horses in the country.
But a large proportion is bad, having lost the hardiness and
strength of the native race, without having arrived at the
speed and other qualities of good breeding.

The remaining class of horses consists of those in which no
mixture, or a very slight one, of stranger blood is found. These
are the ponies of our mountains, or the larger horses of the
plains. It is these last that interest the farmer as the animals of
labour, and to them we commonly apply the term cart-horse, or
farm-horse.

The variations produced in this class of horses by different
effects of food and management are very great. But some-
times classes exist of them in sufficient numbers, and with cha-
racters sufficiently permanent, to allow the term breeds to be
applied to them. The most commonly enumerated of these
breeds are : —

1. The Old English Black Horse.

2. The Clydesdale Horse.

3. The Cleveland Bay.

4. The Suffolk Punch.

The Old English Black Horse may be said to be the native

478 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

horse of the richer plains of England. He is chiefly bred in
the midland counties from Lincolnshire to Staffordshire. These
horses are of large size, with the breast broad, the thighs and
fore-arm large and muscular, and the legs somewhat short.
It is this variety which supplies London with those enormous
dray-horses, which excite the wonder of strangers. The defect
of this breed is the too great size of the individuals, their
consequent slowness of motion, and their comparative want of
action. These faults, however, may be corrected, and have
been so very generally ; and the true black horse of England
affords the materials of an excellent breed. Mr Bakewell was
aware of its value, and made it the basis of his improvement
of the draught-horse.

The Clydesdale is the breed of the central plains of Scot-
land, though cultivated in elevated districts. The horses of
this breed are less than the heavy black horses of the midland
counties ; they draw steadily, and are generally free from vice.
They are reared by the farmers of the district, and have good
justice done to them with respect to feeding and light work
while in the hands of the breeders. It is to the good treat-
ment of them when young that these horses owe so much of
their usefulness. Although, like the English black horse, some-
what deficient in action, they have properties which render
them a safe and useful class of farm-horses.

The Cleveland Bays are so named from a district of York-
shire, wiiere they are reared, but they are now, in truth, bred
over the whole of Yorkshire and Durham. This breed has
more or less of blood. It possesses good action, and in this
respect is superior to the black horse and the Clydesdale.
It is said that the Cleveland bay has degenerated, but it is
rather to be believed that it has partaken of that tendency to a
lighter form, which the wishes of farmers favour. Excessive
strength in the individual has every-where become less valued
than the power of active labour; and, partaking of this change,
there is little reason to say that the Cleveland bay has de-
generated.

The Suffolk Punch is so termed from its round or punchy

THE HORSE. 479

form. This breed is supposed by many to be produced by a
mixture with the horses of Normandy, which, from the simila-
rity of characters, is probable. The Suffolk punch is not usu-
ally a tall horse, though compact, useful, and of exceedingly
good action. This breed is in great request in the counties of
Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex, where it is preferred to every
other for the plough. The Suffolk punches have been long
remarked for the trueness with which they perform their work,
and in an especial degree for their steady exertion at a dead
pull. The breed has been crossed by the Cleveland bays, and
many suppose that its genuine character has been deteriorated
by this cross.

The Old English black horse, the Cleveland bay, and the
Suffolk punch, are frequently crossed with horses of high blood,
and the result is often animals of unequalled strength and
beauty for the carriage, and sometimes for the saddle and the
chase.

2. Form.

An examination of the form of the horse requires a cursory
one of his anatomical structure.

The bones of an animal form, it may be said, the founda-
tion on which is erected the edifice of the living machine.
They mainly give to it its form and proportions. Their va-
rious parts, connected by flexible ligaments, are capable of all
the varieties of motion fitted to the condition of the animal.

Motion is given to the bones by means of muscles or fleshy
fibre : but the flesh of animals is not a mere stratum coverino-
the bones, as some might suppose. Every muscle is a distinct
organ, consisting of innumerable parallel fibres, forming, as it
were, a fleshy band, stretching from bone to bone, or from
muscle to muscle, and each serving its peculiar function.

These muscles are of vast power when under the influence of
the vital principle. By contracting, they give motion to the
bones and other parts. Each muscle consists of long threads
or fibres, seemingly bound together by mesh-work. These

480 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

fibres, in so far as the eye, assisted by very powerful glasses,
can discover, are resolvable into minuter filaments. A number
of these filaments may be said to form a fibre ; a number of
these fibres to form a fasciculus or bundle of fibres ; and a
number of fasciculi to form a muscle.

Muscles assume a variety of form suited to their peculiar
functions. Sometimes they are flat, extending over a consider-
able space, and often they form a fleshy band, swelling out in
the centre, and becoming small and tendinous at the points of
their attachment to the bones.

Fig. 173.

Not only is a class of muscles employed in giving motion to
the bones, but a numerous class is employed within the body
in giving motion to the organs of nutrition, as the heart and
the stomach. Anatomists enumerate in all about 400 muscles,
a number wonderfully small when we consider their functions,
and the infinite variety of motion in the animal ; for, from the
motions of the limbs to the expression of the face and modula-
tions of the voice, all is moved by this machinery of surpassing
beauty and simplicity.

The bones, although harder than the muscular structure,
are, like it, the parts of a living machine, furnished with their
bloodvessels and nerves. They give to the animal its pecu-
liar form, and, acted upon by the muscles, its power of pro-
gression.

The following figure represents the connexion of the prin-
cipal bones of the horse : —

THE HORSE.

48i

Fig. 174.

C, C, Cervical vertebrae.

D, D, Dorsal vertebra?.

E, E, Lumbar vertebrae.

A, Bones of the cranium.

B, Bones of the face.

H, Sacrum, or rump-bone.
J, J, Bones of the taiL
E, F, Ribs.

G, Sternum, or breast-bene.

I, Os innominatum.

Q, Os Femoris, thigh-bone or
haunch-bone.

S, Bones of the leg.

R, Patella, or stifle-bone.

T, Tarsal bones, or bones of the
hock.

U, Metatarsal bones of the hind-
leg.

V, Phalangeal bones, or bones of
fetlock, foot, &c.

K, Scapula, or shoulder-blade.

L, Humerus.

M, Fore-arm.

N, Carpal bones.

O, Metacarpal bones.

P, Phalangeal bones —

1. Withers.

2. The elbow.

3. Point of the hock,

4. Hip-bone.

The series of bones to which the others may be regarded as
attached, is the vertebral or spinal column. This, in man, is
erect, forming what is termed the back-bone. It is a pillar of
bones, flexible and of great strength, serving to support the
head and chest. These bones or vertebrae are jointed or arti-

Hh

482 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

dilated together, with a certain power of motion, and firmly
bound by strong cartilage. Each vertebra has a cavity pass-
ing through its centre, so that, when all are united together,
there is a continued canal passing along the whole column.
It is within this canal that the continuation of the medullary
part of the brain, or spinal marrow, is enclosed. Radiating
from this, and passing through foramina or holes in the co-
lumn, are nerves destined to give sensation and motion to the
muscles and other organs.

In man the number of vertebrae is 24, in the horse 30 ; in
man the column is erect, in the horse it is horizontal, to suit
the position of a quadruped.

Of the vertebrae, those peculiar to the neck are termed cer-
vical ; those belonging to the back, and from which the ribs
arise, dorsal ; those belonging to the loins, lumbar. In man
there are 7 cervical, 12 dorsal, and 5 lumbar, vertebrae : in the
horse there are 7 cervical, 18 dorsal, and 5 lumbar, vertebrae.

These vertebrae have each projections termed processes, which
are designed for the attachment of muscles, and of which the
upright are termed spinous processes. In the horse, the spi-
nous processes next the neck are very large, forming what are
called withers. To them are attached muscles and ligaments
which support and give motion to the head and neck ; and
large withers are connected with the power of active motion
in the horse.

Jointed or articulated to the first of the cervical vertebrae is
the head, containing the brain and the principal organs of sense.
The bones of the head are divided into two classes, those of the
cranium or skull, and those of the face. The bones of the
cranium are distinct pieces, firmly united, and many of them
dovetailed into each other, and forming a cavity fitted in the
happiest manner for the protection of the vital organ within.
The manner in which the cranium is articulated to the upper
vertebra, is analogous to that in which the vertebrae themselves
are united together. The cranium may be said to be itself a
vertebra, its parts being merely expanded and enlarged so as
to form a cavity for containing the brain.

THE HORSE. 48o

In man the cranium and face are round : in the horse they
are elongated, in order that the mouth may collect food. The
head in man is nicely poised upon the summit of a column :
in the horse, in order that it may reach the ground, it is pen-
dant. In the horse, its great weight is supported by powerful
muscles, and by a strong ligament extending from the head to
the spine. It is for the better attachment of this ligament and
muscles, that the withers of the horse are large: in man withers
are not required.

The prehensile organ of the horse being the mouth, and not
as in man the hands, the length of the cervical vertebrae must
be so much greater in the horse than in man, that he may be
able to reach the ground and collect his food. Although the
number of cervical vertebras in the horse is the same as in man,
their length in the horse is much greater.

The spinal column becomes larger towards the base, when it
gradually diminishes. This portion of it forms what is termed
the sacrum : the bones of it are not jointed, but united so as to
form one bone. The vertebral canal is continued into the sa-
crum, and sends forth nerves to the lower extremities. In
man the sacrum is terminated by 4 or 5 little bones united
together : in the horse these bones extend to a greater length,
forming the caudal vertebrae or tail.

Rising from the several dorsal vertebrae are the ribs. These
bones are flat, bent, and elastic, and terminate in cartilage.
Some of them are united directly to the sternum or breast-
bone ; these are termed true or sternal ribs. Some are not
united directly to the sternum; these are termed false or
asternal ribs. In man the number of dorsal vertebrae and
consequently of ribs, is 12 on each side. In the horse the num-
ber of dorsal vertebrae, and the number of ribs accordingly on
each side, is 18, of which 9 are true ribs and joined to the
sternum, and 9 asternal ribs. The other bones connected with
the spinal column are those of the pelvis, to which is attached
the bone of the thigh. Connected with the spinal column also
by muscles, is the scapula or shoulder-blade, to which is at-
tached the humerus.

Hh2

484 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

The pelvis is at the lower part of the spinal column in man,
and at the hinder part in the horse. It is a large irregular-
shaped cavity, formed by the ossa innominata and other bones.
It is within this cavity that the foetus is developed and nou-
rished. A prominent bone of the pelvis is the ilium or hip-bone.

Into a cavity of the os innominatum on each side is inserted
the os femoris or thigh-bone, which is the largest bone of the
body. The thigh in man is altogether detached from the
trunk ; in the horse it forms apparently a part of it. This is
required by the different position of the animal, and the bone
has sufficient facility of motion in the position in which it is
placed. In man it stands vertical ; in the horse it is bent,
which prevents the animal from being raised too high above the
ground. In this position, too, he has a greater power of pro-
gression. When he moves the limb backwards it describes a
large arch of a circle. Now, were the thigh placed perpendicu-
lar to the ground, it will appear from the figure that, when
stretched backwards, it would describe a smaller arch of a cir-
cle. Its length, therefore, combined with its bent position, con-
duces to the vast power of progression of the animal : and the
comparative power of motion in horses is very much dependent
upon the length of this part. This greater length of the thigh-
bone, again, is indicated to the eye by the distance from the hip-
bone backwards, forming what are termed the hind-quarters.
Jockeys, accordingly, always look to the size of the quarters as
connected with the rapid power of progression of the horse.

Next in order are the bones of the leg, consisting first of the
patella or stifle bone, corresponding with the pan of the knee
in man, and next of the two bones, the tibia and fibula, united
in the horse, and forming the leg properly so called, and cor-
responding with the leg in man. The leg of the horse should
be long in proportion to the lower parts of the limb.

The further bones of the limb correspond with the bones of
the heel, the foot, and the toes of man. The bones of the heel
in man are termed the tarsal bones ; of the foot, the metatarsal
bones ; and of the toes, the phalangeal bones. In man the
tarsal bones are in number 7, the metatarsal 5, and the pha-

THE HORSE. 48.5

langeal 14. In the horse, the bones corresponding to the tar-
sal, metatarsal, and phalangeal bones, are likewise, as in man,
many ; and this number of bones adds to the flexibility and
elasticity of the limb.

Man, however, standing erect, requires a large pediment of
support. The bones of the foot therefore are made to rest
upon the ground. But the horse, having four limbs of sup-
port, does not require this large pediment. The metatarsal
bones of the horse are therefore extended, in order to give length
to the limb. The phalangeal bones form the fetlock and other
parts, giving to them flexibility and elasticity ; and the lower-
most only of the phalangeal bones are brought into contact
with the ground. These last are not separate as in man, but
together, and defended with horn. The horse, therefore, may
be said to stand on his toes ; and if any person will attempt
to walk on all-fours, he will find that the toes will touch the
ground, while the bones of the foot will be raised up.

The bone of the horse termed the point of the hock, corres-
ponds with the great bone of the heel in man. To this is at-
tached powerful muscles ; and the size of this bone, therefore,
as giving space to the attachment of muscles, is connected with
good action in the horse, and is therefore one of the points
looked at by jockeys.

The bones of the other extremity of the horse correspond
with the arm, the fore-arm, the wrist, the hand, and the fingers
in man. In man the hand forms the prehensile organ, and a
great flexibility is given to the different bones which form it.
In the horse these bones form the limbs of support. They are
not designed to seize objects, but to support the weight of the
animal before, — to be raised from the ground when he pushes
himself forward by the extension of the limbs behind, — and to
receive his weight when he again reaches the ground.

The scapula or shoulder-blade is in the horse, as in man, a
large flat triangular bone, placed upon the ribs, and connected
by means of muscles with the head, the ribs, and the spine. In
man, the two scapuke are kept from approaching each other
by the clavicle or collar-bone. From the form and position of

■±80 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the horse, this approximation cannot take place ; and there is
therefore no collar-bone in the horse.

Into a cavity of the scapula is jointed on each side the hu-
merus. But the humerus, or arm from the shoulder to the el-
bow, is in man detached as it were from the body ; while in the
horse it seems to form a part of it ; and in this position it has
sufficient power of motion. It is bent, as will.be seen from the
figure, — an admirable and necessary provision to lessen the
shocks which the animal receives on bringing his limbs to the
ground; for by this flexure they act the part of a spring.
Were these bones vertical, the limb would be shattered when
it struck the ground.

The shoulder of the horse should be oblique, and the hume-
rus relatively short. The obliquity of the shoulder is a point
connected with action in the horse ; and the reason why the hu-
merus should not be long will appear from the function which
it has to perform. When the animal moves the limb forward
to raise it from the ground, the humerus has to describe an
arch of a circle ; but the muscular power being sufficient, the
shorter radius describes an equal arch with a longer.

The next of the bones are two, the radius and ulna united
together in the horse, forming the fore-arm in man, and what
is termed the fore-arm in the horse. The termination of the
ulna, corresponding with the elbow, forms an important point
of the horse, because to it are attached powerful muscles for
the movement of the limb. Jockeys accordingly look with
attention to the size of the elbow of the horse.

The remaining bones of the limb correspond with the bones
of the wrist, the hand, and the fingers, in man, termed respec-
tively the carpal, metacarpal, and the phalangeal bones.

The carpal bones of the horse are commonly called the bones
of the knee ; but these bones do not correspond with the knee,
but with the wrist, of the human body. They are 8 in num-
ber in the horse as well as in man. In man, they give flexibi-
lity to the hand ; in the horse they give flexibility to the limb
of support.

The next bones are the metacarpal bones. These correspond

THE HORSE. 48?

with the bones of the hand in man : but in man they form a
part of a prehensile organ ; in the horse they are extended in
order to give length to the limb.

The bones of the fetlock and foot correspond with the pha-
langeal bones, or bones of the finger in man. They are distinct
in man ; they are together in the horse, and, touching the
ground at their extremities, are defended by horn.

The horse, abstracted from his neck, and viewed in profile,
is contained nearly within a square, of which the body forms
one half and the limbs form one half. In this respect the form
of the horse differs greatly from that of the ox, the body and
limbs of the ox, abstracted from the neck, being included in a
rectangle, in the manner to be afterwards shown, and the body
forming a greater proportion of the rectangle than the limbs.
This circumstance would alone account for the greater power
of progression of the horse than the ox.

In the horse, while sufficient space must be given in the size
of the body to the respiratory and nutritive organs, this space
must not be too great, because then the body will bear too
large a proportion to the limbs for the purpose of active mo-
tion. In the ox the larger the proportion of the fleshy matter
of the body to the limbs the better.

In the case both of the horse and the ox, the large expanded
chest indicates a disposition to fatten ; but if this be carried too
far in the horse, he will be incapable of active motion. Such
a form may suit the dray-horse, when a large force is to be
thrown upon the collar ; but would be unsuited to those cases
in which we require the power of active motion, or, in technical
language, action.

In a horse where speed alone is required, the chest must not
be too broad ; but in a horse in which we require active mo-
tion, combined with endurance, there should be a sufficient
breadth of chest ; and a medium, therefore, is what is desired
in the hackney and the hunter. In the farm-horse, the chest
should be broad ; because in the farm-horse we require the
power of draught, and not of speed.

The chest of the horse behind the shoulders should be deep ;

488 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

his back, when we look for strength without sacrificing this to
mere speed, should be short ; the ribs should approach near to
the pelvis, as indicating strength, though, if speed alone be
required, this point may be sacrificed. The fore-arm and hind-
leg, to the joints, should be muscular, and below the joints ten-
dinous. The trunk should be barrel-shaped, but somewhat
elliptical, and gently enlarging from the breast backwards.

3. Rearing and Feeding.

In the breeding of the horse, it is important that the parent
of either sex be free from disease. It is well known to all
breeders, that the diseases of the parents, as well as their good
properties, are transferred to their offspring. In breeding, at-
tention should be paid to the female as well as to the male pa-
rent, else disappointment may result with respect to the form
and properties of the progeny.

A mare is capable of receiving the male at an early age ;
but it is an error to commence breeding from any mare before
strength has been acquired, and her form developed ; and this
will rarely be sooner than at three or four years of age.

The mare comes into season in spring : she goes with young
about eleven months, although with an irregularity, even to the
extent of several weeks on either side of that period. The most
convenient time for her receiving the male is in May, that she
may foal in April, when the herbage begins to spring. From
the time she receives the male till that of foaling, the farm mare
may be kept at her usual work. She will give notice of the
period of foaling, by the extension of the udder, and other
symptoms, and she may then be released from work.

In general, little difficulty or danger attends the parturition
of the mare. She rarely requires assistance ; but, should diffi-
culty really arise, from the particular position of the foetus, it
is well, if possible, to obtain the assistance of a veterinary sur-
geon, lest the mare be injured by unskilful and violent means.
As soon as the mare has foaled, she should be placed with
her young, cither in a house, or, what is better, in a pasture-

THE HORSE. 489

close, with a shed to which she may go at all times. It is ne-
cessary, at this period, to supply her with nourishing food.

It is better that the mother be kept in a field, and permitted
to suckle the young undisturbed. But yet she may be put,
without danger or injury, to moderate work within a short time
after foaling.

For a time, the foal should be shut up in a house during the
hours of work, which then should not be too long ; but, after
the colt has acquired a little strength, it may be permitted to
follow the mother even when at work in the fields. Many, in-
deed, do not approve of this practice, on account of the chance
of accidents to the foal. But accidents seldom occur, and the
foal has an opportunity of taking milk more frequently, is the
better for the exercise, and becomes used to the objects
around it.

In 9 days or more after foaling, the mare will be again in
season, and may receive the male. In 6 months the foal is to
be weaned, which is done merely by separating it from the
dam. It is then best put in a field : the mother is then put to
her ordinary work, and treated as usual.

At the time of weaning, and during all the period of its
growth, the foal should be liberally fed. Bruised oats, meal,
or any farinaceous food, may be given to it. It is not necessary
or proper that it be pampered ; but it is important to its growth
and vigour, that it be supplied with sufficient food.

The male foal intended for agricultural purposes must be
castrated ; and the best period for performing the operation is
at the age of 12 months. Some do it before weaning, but it is
better that it be delayed till the masculine form of the animal
has been more developed.

If the colt be intended for the saddle, it is well that from
this period it be accustomed to gentle handling by the person
who feeds it, for this is a mean of rendering it docile and good-
tempered. But however this be, nothing but kindness is to be
shown to these young creatures, and any thing like rough treat-
ment is to be carefully avoided.

The colts are kept in their pastures during the summer, and

490 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

when these fail before winter, the animals may be put into a
yard with sheds, and plentifully littered with straw, like the
young oxen upon the farm. They may receive straw for half
the winter, and hay towards spring when the straw becomes
dry and unpalatable ; and turnips, or any green food, should
be supplied to them freely throughout the winter. It is a great
error to starve colts, for this injures their growth and vigour
in a degree far beyond the value of the increased food required.
Although they may be confined in a yard in the manner de-
scribed, it is greatly better, where convenience allows, that
they have a piece of ground on which they may run in winter.
This is favourable, in an eminent degree, to their health, and
the state of their feet.

But, however the colts are managed in winter, as early in
spring as the pastures will allow, they are to be turned out to
graze in the fields, where they are to be kept during summer ;
and in the following winter put again into the yards or pad-
dock; and treated in the same manner as before.

And they are to be treated in a similar manner in the fol-
lowing summer and winter ;• after which, namely, when three
years old, they will be in a condition to be broken in, and, if
draught-horses, employed in the work of the farm. They may
be taken up for training even in the third autumn of their age,
though at this period the work should be very gentle.

A farm-horse usually receives little training, though it is
better that a partial training, as in the case of the horse in-
tended for the saddle, be given. But whether this be done or
not, the colt should have a bridle with an easy bit put upon
him for a few days, and allowed to champ it for an hour or two
at a time in the stall. The harness being then put upon him
by degrees, he may be trained to the different labours required
of him. In general, the farm-horse, working with his fellows,
is easily brought to be obedient.

But when a farm-horse is four or five years old before he is
put to work, or if he is a stallion, or if he shows any vice, a
little more care may be proper, and a partial training, as if he
were intended for the saddle, given him. And if he is a valu-

THE HORSE. 491

able horse, and fit also for the saddle and the carriage, the
more complete the training given to him the better.

The art of training the horse for the saddle is now well un-
derstood, and the rude and violent practices of former times are
generally abandoned by all who have any competent knowledge
of the subject. In every case, gentleness and kind treatment
are to be strictly observed in the management of the colt. He
is first to be taught his duties, and corrected afterwards only
when necessary to enforce submission. Fear, in the training
of the horse, is that feeling with which he is soon endued, that
he is under the dominion of a more powerful agent, whose will
he cannot resist. Implicit submission is to be enforced, gently
in so far as instruction is concerned, but by calling into action
the principle of fear, when this is required to produce obedi-
ence. Decision and firmness, with a resolution to be obeyed,
after the horse has been fairly taught the duties that are re-
quired of him, are altogether distinct from violence and cruelty.
Nothing is so destructive to the temper of a horse as useless
coercion, and all the defects of temper, when they exist in the
young horse, arise, in the great majority of cases, from inju-
rious treatment. But we are here chiefly to consider the ma-
nagement of the horse as an animal of labour.

The farm-horse demands, neither in the training nor in the
feeding, that nicety which is required in the case of the horse
designed for rapid motion or irregular labour. He requires
merely to be maintained in good order, never to be worked be-
yond his power, and never to be allowed to fall, in condition,
below the work which he is to perform.

The stable for the farm-horse, as for every other, should be
spacious and well ventilated. It is a great error to suppose
that horses require a close, warm stable, to preserve them in
health. To keep them fully sheltered, and free from the ac-
tion of any cold current, is all that is requisite. The horse is
well suited to bear an equal temperature, but not sudden
changes produced by artificial means. Farm-horses regularly
worked have been known to be kept throughout the coldest
winters in mere sheds, not only without injury, but with

492 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

greater benefit to their health than if they had been closely
confined.

Next to ventilation in importance, is cleanliness of the stable.
No filth should be suffered to accumulate, but every day the
stable should be cleaned out, with the same attention for the
farm as for the saddle horse. In the farm-horse stable, every
ploughman should have a small fork, a curry-comb, a brush, a
mane-comb, and a foot -picker. (Figs. 82, 83, 84, 85.)

Light should be admitted into every stable, to a certain ex-
tent. But in the case of farm-horses, which are only in the
stable during the hours of rest and feeding, less light is neces-
sary than in the case of the saddle-horse, which passes a great
part of his time within doors. The light required for the farm-
horse stable is that which is sufficient to allow the workmen to
perform their duties in the day-time. Sometimes there is a
room adjoining the stable for holding the harness, but it is per-
fectly convenient and sufficient in practice, to have the simple
furniture of the farm-horse hung on pins in the wall behind
each pair of horses.

The food of the horse in this country consists of herbage, or
green forage, as clovers and sainfoin ; of dried forage, as hay
and straw ; of various farinaceous substances, as oats, barley,
pease, and beans ; and of the succulent roots of plants, as the
potato, the turnip, the carrot, the parsnep, and the beet. Of
the grains given to the horse, the most generally employed in
this country, and that which is regarded as well adapted to his
strength and spirit, is the oat.

The oat is, for the most part, given to the horse without any
preparation, though it is sometimes bruised, which is always
beneficial, by rendering it more easily masticated and digested.
It is usually given in portions at a time, familiarly known un-
der the term feeds, the measure of which, however, varies in
different districts. A feed in some places consists of a gallon,
being the eighth part of a bushel, and weighing, upon a me-
dium, about 4^ lb.

Two gallons in the day, or 9 lb., are considered to be good
feeding when the horse is on dry food, and not on hard work ;

THE HORSE. 493

when on hard work, the quantity may be increased to 3 gal-
lons, and when on light work, and green food, it may be re-
duced to 1 gallon, and sometimes altogether withdrawn. But
on an average, 2 gallons in the day, that is, about 90 bushels
in the year, will be sufficient in every case for the working
horse of a farm. In practice, too, it is not the superior but
the lighter oats that are given to the farm-horses. These are
the light corn formerly described.

Oats may be given to horses reduced to a state of meal, but
this is only practised in the case of gruel given to a sick horse.
To induce a horse to take gruel, it is put into a pail and placed
beside him, so that when thirsty he may drink of it.

Meal is sometimes given with cold water to horses, when
travelling. This is a refreshing feed to a horse on a journey,
and a safe one when the chill is just taken off the water ; but
it is chiefly employed in journeys when time is of importance,
and it is accordingly rarely given in the case of the farm-horse,
who should always have time given him to feed.

When oats are kept in a damp state, fungi grow upon them,
and they acquire a musty smell and bad taste. They should
never be given in this state to a horse, but should first be kiln-
dried, so as to expel the moisture and destroy the fungi.

Barley is more nutritious than oats, although, in the prac-
tice of this country, it is not so much approved of in feeding.
But over all the Continent, barley is the most common food of
the horse. If bruised and mixed with chopped straw or hay,
it is an excellent provender. But the most common method
of giving barley to horses in England is in what is termed a
mash. The barley in this case is boiled in water, and the whole
is then allowed to stand until it is sufficiently cool. The mash
forms admirable feeding for a sick horse ; it keeps the bowels
open, and is nutritive, without being heating.

Wheat is rarely used for the feeding of the horse, the proper
destination of wheat being the food of man. The only case, in
general, in which wheat, with a regard to economy, can be ap-
plied to the feeding of the horse, is in that of light wheat,

404 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

which, being made into a mash, may be given to a sick horse in
the same manner as barley.

Beans form an esteemed food for the horse. They are some-
what more astringent than oats, and correct the tendency to
laxativeness when it exists. They should in all cases be bruis-
ed, and mixed with other farinaceous food.

The pea is similar in its feeding properties to the bean, and
is even supposed to be more nutritive. It is, however, a dan-
gerous food to be given in too great quantity, from its tendency
to swell in the stomach. It should, like the bean, be bruised,
and given along with other food.

The details in the manner of feeding the farm-horse neces-
sarily differ according to the practices of different districts.
The following is a system, simple, efficient, and capable of
being reduced to practice upon every farm : —

When the pastures, or other green food, fail in autumn,
which will generally be by the beginning of October, the horses
are to be put on hard food. They should receive at this period
an allowance of hay at the rate of 20 lb. in the day, with 2 gal-
lons of oats ; or, in place of a portion of the oats, they may
receive at night a feed of steamed food, consisting of potatoes,
or any other roots, mixed with a little corn, and seasoned with
salt. The whole quantity may be a peck, weighing about 12 lb.
The quantity of potatoes that corresponds in nourishment with
oats, is in the proportion of about 15 lb. of raw potatoes to 1
gallon of oats.

In the months of November, December, and January, when
the days and the time of labour are short, the hay may be
withdrawn, and the horses, in place of it, fed on straw, of which
the best, when it can be obtained, is that of beans or pease.
Next to these in quality is that of oats. The straw of wheat
and barley is in this country only used as litter, though, were
it to be cut into chaff, it could be advantageously used as
fodder.

At this time the horses should receive 2 gallons of oats in
the day ; or the quantity of oats may be diminished, and a

THE HORSE. 4i).*>

portion of steamed food given at night. They should receive,
as before, two feeds, one in the morning before going to work,
and one at mid-day, and their steamed food at night. By the
beginning of February, they should again be put on hay, in
preparation for their harder work in spring. At or before the
time of sowing the oats, that being the commencement of the
season of active labour, the horses should receive their full al-
lowance of 3 gallons of oats in the day, or, in place of a por-
tion of their dry oats, a corresponding allowance of steamed
food. They should be fed three times in the day, a feed of
oats being given in the morning, a feed at mid-day between
the intervals of work, and at night they may either receive
their third feed of dry oats, or a corresponding quantity of
steamed food mixed with their oats.

They are to receive this full allowance of hay and corn until
about the beginning of June, when they may receive green
food, on which they are fed during the remainder of the season,
their daily allowance of oats being reduced to 1 gallon.

Three methods of feeding them on green food may be adopt-
ed : — they may be turned out to pasture in the fields ; they
may have green forage cut and brought home to them in the
yards or stalls ; or they may be fed in the intervals of work on
green food, and turned out in the evening to the fields to pas-
ture.

When the first of these methods is adopted, that is, when
the horses are simply pastured, they are merely turned out to
the field at night after work ; they are caught again, or driven
home to the stables, in the morning, and then again turned
out after the morning's work, which may be about 10 o'clock,
and allowed to feed till the afternoon's work, which may be-
gin about 1 o'clock ; they are then caught and again set to
work.

The defects of this mode of management are apparent. Time
is lost in taking the animals to and from the field during the
intervals of work ; and then, having to gather their own food,
they have too short a time for rest and feeding during the in-
terval.

4!m; rearing and feeding of animals.

The second practice mentioned is, to turn the horses out to
pasture at night after work, but in the interval in the middle
of the day, to give them cut green forage, which is brought
home, and given to them in the stall or stable. In this man-
ner they feed at leisure, undisturbed by insects, and having
their food collected to them, waste no time in gathering it in
those hours which are suffered to elapse between the labour of
the morning and that of the afternoon. This is an approved
method of managing the horses of the farm. Their health is
the better for their being kept out at night, while the advan-
tage of this is combined with the economical practice of soil-
ing.

The other method of feeding is, to keep the horses con-
stantly in the stable, or in a yard with sheds, and to feed them
entirely on green forage. There is economy with respect to
feeding in this system, and though it would seem to be scarcely
so conducive to the permanent health of horses, as to give
them a run out in the fields in the summer nights, yet it is
found to be perfectly suited to the habits and condition of
the farm-horse. Where it is practised, it is better to keep
the horses in yards with sheds, than to confine them entirely
to the stables. To carry on a system of soiling where clover
and rye-grass are the forage plants employed, a quantity of
tares, equal to \ acre for each horse, should be sown, to be
given to the horses in the intervals between the first and second
cutting of clover, or when they are engaged at hard work in
harvest, or at other times.

In the northern parts of this country, farmers cannot gene-
rally begin to cut clover till the 1st of June ; but in the south-
ern part of the country, the soiling can be commenced much
earlier. When there are many horses, one man may be em-
ployed to do the work of cutting and putting the cut forage
in bunches, and it should be taken home by a spare horse, so
as to be ready when the horses return from work. One man
will put into bunches a quantity sufficient for 20 horses, and
each horse will consume upon an average about 200 lb. in a
day.

THE HORSE. 4!)<

When the horses are turned out to the fields at night, and
kept on cut forage during the day, they should be put into
their stables by the beginning of September, and kept in the
house during the night, receiving green forage if it is yet upon
the farm, or else receiving hay. By the 1st of October they
should generally be put upon hay and corn.

This, then, forms the circle of feeding of the horses of the
farm : — They are put on hard food by the beginning of Oc-
tober, receiving hay and a medium allowance of oats. In the
months of November, December, and January, their hay is
withdrawn, and they are put on straw, receiving a moderate
allowance of oats. In February, they are again put on hay,
with a full allowance of oats, until about the commencement of
June, when they are put on green food, with a lessened allow-
ance of oats, and either fed entirely on cut forage, or pastured
during the night, receiving cut forage during the intervals of
work in the day.

In the practice of feeding farm-horses, the utmost care must
be taken that they never be allowed to get out of condition.
In this case, not only are they unable to perform their work,
but it requires a much greater expense to bring them again
into order, than it would have required to keep them so.

In feeding horses, even when upon hard work, a practice has
been introduced of feeding the horses entirely on boiled or
steamed food, with chopped hay and straw. The proportions
of the different kinds of food employed in this maimer are not
subject to rule. But about \ in weight of the whole may con-
sist of the chaff of straw, \ of the chaff of hay, £ of bruised or
coarsely ground grain, and £ may consist of steamed potatoes.
To this should be added about 2 oz. of common salt. From
30 to 35 lb. of this mixed provender, or on an average 32^ lb.
in 24 hours, will suffice for any horse.

Two methods may be adopted in the giving of this food.
Either the whole substances may be mixed together, and a cer-
tain proportion given to the horses three or four times in the
day ; or the dried food alone may be given during the first

I i

41*8 BEARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

part of the day, and the steamed food mixed with a portion of
the dried food in a mess at night.

In the first case, that is, when the whole mess is to be mixed
together, the potatoes or other steamed food are first to be
prepared, then weighed and mixed with the chopped straw or
hay, and with the bruised oats. The quantity for 24 hours
being mixed and prepared, the proportion for each horse is
to be weighed and set apart in its proper pail, and given to
each horse at three or more times, as shall best suit with the
work with which he is engaged, taking care that considerably
the largest quantity shall be given at night.

When this method of feeding is adopted upon a farm, it
should be confined entirely to the months of winter, for the
horses of a farm will always be best and most economically fed
during the months of summer on pasture and green forage.

From the mixed nature of our husbandry, the habits of the
people, and the attention paid to the rearing of the horse, a
long and general preference has been given to this animal for
the labours of the farm. In certain districts of England the
ox is still the more common beast of labour ; but in by much
the greater number, the ox is either unknown as an animal of
draught, or employed only partially as an assistant.

The ox is a less expensive animal to rear to the age of labour
than the horse ; his subsequent cost of maintenance is smaller ;
he requires less care and attendance, and he is less subject to
accidents and diseases. He has this further advantage over
the horse, that, at a certain age, when unfit for labour, he can
be fattened, whereas the horse declines after a time, and be-
comes useless. But the ox, though well suited for a slow and
steady draught, such as the plough demands, is not so well
adapted for active motion or distant carriages as the horse.
Although patient of labour, he sinks under extreme fatigue,
and is not capable of those sudden exertions which the diver-
sified operations of our agriculture require. The horse there-
fore, which unites force of draught with quick action, facility
of travelling, and the power of bearing great fatigue, is in

THE HORSE. 49.9

these respects better suited than the ox to the varied labours
of an extended farm. As agriculture, accordingly, has improved,
the use of oxen has given place to that of horses for the com-
mon purposes of the farm.

Being thus employed as the principal or only animal of
draught on farms of this country, being in universal demand
for carriages of every kind, and for the innumerable purposes
to which he is adapted, the breeding and rearing of the horse
form an important branch in the rural economy of this island.

The demand for horses for the saddle, for the lighter and
more rapid carriages, and for the heavier labours of every kind,
is exceedingly great. The vast supply required is furnished by
the land of the country. Either the farmer directly rears the
animals, or he raises the food by which another class of traders
is enabled to rear them. The greater number of horses is
produced on the farms of the country, and they consume the
produce upon the ground until they are of an age to be used.
The exceptions are the cases of those particular kinds of horses,
as the race-horse and the finer animals for the saddle, that de-
mand an especial attention.

II. THE OX.
1. Species and Varieties.

Of the ox kind 8 species are enumerated by zoologists —

1 . Bos urus — The Aurochs, the Bison of the ancients.

2. Bos bison — The Bison, or Buffalo of America.

3. Bos moschatus — The Musk Ox.

4. Bos frontalis — The Gayal.

5. Bos grunniens — The Grunting Ox.

6. Bos caffer — The Cape Buffalo.

7. Bos bubalus — The Common Buffalo.

8. Bos taurus — The Domestic Ox.

Of these species, the Aurochs, the Bison of America, the
Musk Ox, and the Cape Buffalo, have not been domesticated.
The Gayal and the Grunting Ox are both cultivated in Asia,

i i 2

500 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

but have not been introduced into Europe, in which the only
species reared are the common Buffalo and the Domestic Ox.
The Common Buffalo, a native of the warmer regions, has
come to us beyond a question from Eastern Asia. He seems
to have been introduced into Italy about the sixth century,
and is now an important animal in the rural economy of that
country. He is used by the Italians as food, and as the beast
of labour, and may be said to form the riches of the inhabi-
tants in many parts of the country. He is cultivated, too,
in (Greece and Hungary. He prefers moisture and the rank
herbage of marshes. The milk of the female is good, but the
flesh is held in less esteem than that of the common ox. The
pace of the animal is sluggish, but from the low manner in
which he carries his head, throwing the weight of his great
body forward when pulling, he is well suited for heavy draught.
But this is not a property sufficiently important to cause the
introduction of the buffalo into the agriculture of Northern
Europe, and he is not likely, therefore, to be carried beyond
the countries where he is now reared.

Of all the species the Domestic Ox is the most generally
diffused, and the most valuable. He has existed in a domesti-
cated state beyond all the records of history and tradition, and
naturalists can but conjecture from what parent-stock he has
been derived. Like all the animals necessary to the subsistence
of man, he suits himself in a wonderful degree to the circum-
stances in which he is placed. Where food is scanty, he scarce
exceeds the size of the deer, but where it is abundant, he reaches
to enormous size. He is found from the equator almost to the
limits of vegetable life, and is every where subservient to the
wants and conveniences of the human race.

The female is in a remarkable degree subordinate to the in-
terests of mankind ; she is every where docile, patient, and hum-
ble. Milk, which forms so nutritive an aliment for the human
species, is yielded by her with an abundance and facility un-
known in the case of any other animal. She has a more capa-
cious udder, and larger mammas, than any creature known to
us. She has four teats, although she gives birth to but one

THE OX. .501

young. Like the sheep and goat she yields milk freely to
the hand, although far more abundantly ; whilst many other
animals refuse their milk, unless their own young, or some
other animal, be allowed to partake of it by sucking them.

From the earliest times Great Britain has been remarkable
for the excellence and numbers of her sheep and oxen, and
owes no little part of her opulence to this cause. The varieties
of those animals are greatly diversified, both by the different
natural circumstances in which they are placed, and by the
effects of art in changing their properties and form. To these
varieties is usually applied the term breeds.

The main divisions of breeds of oxen in this country is into
those of the mountains and those of the plains.

Of the breeds of the mountains, the most characteristic and
numerous are those of the Highlands of Scotland. These ani-
mals, although differing in size and useful properties, are, with
the exception of those inhabiting some of the northern islands,
united by certain characters, which bring them under the
common denomination of a breed. Their general character is
that of a small and hardy race, adapted to a country of heaths
and high mountains. The best and largest are those which
are produced in Argyllshire and the Hebrides, which may be
traced to the superior herbage and milder climate of the western
coast ; and in certain cases to the greater care bestowed on
breeding. In the more steril parts of the Northern Highlands
they are of smaller size and less perfect form.

In the Shetland Islands there exists a peculiar race, bearing
a certain resemblance in character and form to those ancient
cattle which seem to have been spread over a great part of this
country when covered with wood, and of which the remnants are
yet preserved in a few places, as at Chillingham and Lanark.
The Shetland oxen, when pure, are of good form ; but they have
been greatly injured by crossing. Their horns are short, and
their skin soft ; their flesh is finely marbled, in this respect
excelling that of any of our breeds of cattle. The females are
better milkers than alpine cows usually are, and are remarkable
for the early period at which they arrive at maturity and re-

502 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

ceive the male. They afford admirable first crosses with su-
perior males, as with the short-horns.

The cattle of all the Highlands of Scotland are reared in
vast numbers, and brought at different ages to the Lowlands,
where they are fattened for the supply of the various markets
of consumption throughout the country. In this manner they
are spread over every part of the kingdom, and are held in gene-
ral estimation for their hardy properties, and the goodness of
their flesh. No race of cattle can be better suited to the physi-
cal circumstances of the country in which it is reared than this
hardy mountain race ; and what is to be desired with respect
to its improvement, is not a change of breed, but judgment
in rearing from the same breed, so that the individuals may be
brought to the greatest perfection in size and disposition to
fatten, which the circumstances of the country will allow.

The oxen in Wales have, in like manner, the characters
which might be expected in a country of mountains ; but they
are of various size and aspect, dependent upon the productive-
ness of the pastures, the care with which they have been treat-
ed, or their more or less intermixture with stranger blood.
The best of the breeds of Wales are those of Glamorgan and
Pembrokeshire. Those of the higher country are of smaller
size and wilder character. These last are remarkable for the
large size of their fore-quarters, and the extreme lightness of
their hind-quarters.

In Ireland the varieties of the cattle are very great, but a
large proportion consists of a race having the characters of a
mountain breed.

Of the larger breeds of the lower country, the first to be men-
tioned is the Long-horned. This variety extends over the richer
parts of Ireland and the western parts of England, and was once
the most generally diffused of the larger races. The individuals
are distinguished by the length of their horns, and generally
by the horns bending downward. It is frequently termed the
Lancashire breed, from its having been the prevailing one of that
county ; but it extended in great numbers northwards through
Cumberland and Westmoreland, eastwards into Yorkshire,

THE ox. 503

and southwards to Leicestershire, Warwickshire, and others
of the midland, and even the southern counties. In Yorkshire
the district of Craven, lying on the confines of Lancashire, was
long celebrated for its breed of long-horns, and afforded bulls
to other parts of the country. In the earlier part of the last
century, Mr Webster of Canley, in the county of Warwick,
was a distinguished breeder of this variety. His stock obtain-
ed the name of the Canley breed, and maintained its reputa-
tion for a considerable period. But to the Canley breed, and
partly derived from it, succeeded the Dishley breed, so named
from Robert Bakewell of Dishley, in the county of Leicester,
who, soon after the middle of the last century, began those
improvements in live-stock, which exercised so great an influ-
ence, not only on the long-horned breed of cattle, but on all
the races of the domesticated animals of this country. Mr
Bakewell chose, as the basis of his intended improvements, the
long- horned breed as it then existed ; and, by long perseverance
and skilful experiment, communicated to it the properties re-
quired of early maturity and disposition to fatten. The pre-
cise steps which he followed in the course of his experiments are
unknown. It has been supposed by some that he crossed the
native long-horns with some other variety. This, however, is
in no degree supported by an examination of the breed which
he produced, which is the long-horned in all its essential cha-
racters, and evidently derived from the pre-existing stock.

The older race of long-horns, and great numbers yet remain
with the same characters, were distinguished by the thickness
of their skins, by the length of their hair, by the largeness of
their hoofs, and by a general heaviness of form. They were
deep in the fore-quarters, and comparatively light in the hind-
quarters. They weighed well in proportion to their size.
Their milk, though not large in quantity, was rich in cream,
and hence they were not unsuited to the dairy. They were of
all colours, but had usually a streak of white along the back.
They were hardy, docile, and by these properties suited to
heavy labour. From the thickness of their hides, and the

504 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

length of their hair, they were well adapted to feeding in a,
moist climate, and on ordinary pastures.

The labours of Bakewell, and of others who pursued the
same course of improvement, removed the main defects of the
older breed of long-horns. But although the improved breed
possessed many excellent qualities, it has not maintained its
place in public favour. The individuals, indeed, are kindly
feeders, and do not require peculiar nicety of treatment ; but
the quality of the flesh is inferior, the fat accumulates too much
on the posterior parts, and the females are bad milkers. For
these reasons chiefly, the Dishley breed has lost the favour with
which it was once received, even in the districts where it was
most cultivated. Bulls, however, still continue to be exported
to Ireland by a few breeders who have kept up the purity of
the ancient stock.

The next to be mentioned of the larger breeds is distinguish-
ed from the last by the general form of the animals, and by
the size and position of their horns. They are termed the
Short-horned breed, although the character derived from their
horns does not alone distinguish them from other varieties.
They are believed to be derived from Holland, or Holstein.
It is certain at least, that importations from this part of the
Continent were made at several times, and may be supposed to
have modified, if not changed, the characters of the native
stock.

The true districts of the short-horns, are the counties of
Durham, York, and Lincoln, though in the latter county the
variety assumes a coarser form. The counties of York and
Durham had been in an especial degree long noted for the at-
tention paid to live stock of every kind ; and the district upon
the Tees, the river separating these two counties, had been in an
especial degree distinguished. It appears, too, that more than
one importation of cattle from the Continent had taken place
into this or the adjoining districts during the early part of the
last century ; and hence the cattle in this part of England were
long and familiarly known under the name of the Dutch or

THE OX. 50,5

Holstein breed. The breed came also to be distinguished as
the Teeswater breed, which name it still retains.

During the last century, various individuals distinguished
themselves as breeders of the Teeswater short-horns. At a
period comparatively recent, Messrs Charles and Robert Col-
ling of Darlington, in the county of Durham, proceeded with
yet more success to complete the improvement of the breed.
By judicious and happy selection, the former of these gentlemen
did for the short-horns what Mr Bakewell long before had done
for the long-horns. But his improvements were made on a better
basis, and the result was a superior class of cattle. It was
not, however, till about the year 1800, that the reputation of
the improved variety was fully established, and that it began
to supersede other breeds in every part of the country. It
received very generally the name of the Durham breed, and the
animals are familiarly known by the name of Durhams.

The short-honied differs from the long-horned breed in the
more square and massy form of the animals. Their skins are
thinner, their hair more short, and generally they attain to a
greater size. The quality of their flesh is superior to that of the
long-horned, and the females are better milkers.

But besides the more highly improved variety of short-horns,
there are large classes of animals of the name which remain
either without intermixture, or with a partial one, with the blood
of the recent breed. Of this class are many of the Holderness
cattle, so named from the district of Yorkshire where they are
reared. They are a large race, resembling in their characters
the Teeswater previous to the improvement of Colling. They
are of sound constitutions, not unapt to fatten, and are in the
first rank of dairy cows of this country. But generally, the
Holderness have been more or less crossed by the Durhams.

A similar class of short-horns is proper to the adjoining fens
of Lincolnshire. These, in the language of Smithfield, are
termed Lincolns. They have been long noted as a large coarse
race of oxen. But the interest of breeders has almost univer-
sally led them to diminish the size and increase the fatten-
ing properties of the animals, by a mixture with the blood of

506 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the more cultivated kinds. The Lincolns, like the Teeswater,
have frequently received the name of the Dutch breed, evincing
the universal traditionary opinion as to their origin, or at least
as to the effect produced on the native stock, by the foreign
importations.

There are thus two breeds of cattle in this country, both
breeds of the plains, and very greatly distinguished from one
another. The Lancashire or long-horned, brought to perfection
by Bakewell, and the short-horned or Teeswater, brought to
perfection by Charles Colling.

The next to be mentioned of the larger breeds is the Here-
ford. This race is proper to the rich district of old red-sand-
stone, which comprehends the county of Hereford. An affinity
is usually endeavoured to be traced between the Hereford and
the Devon. This affinity, however, is by no means striking in
the modern Herefords, and if the relationship exists at all, the
Herefords must be held to be intermediate in blood between the
Devon and other varieties. But whatever be the early history
of the Hereford breed, it has long acquired characters pecu-
liar to itself, and ranks as a distinct breed. The Hereford, how-
ever, owes its celebrity to recent changes. Its great improver,
or rather it may be said the founder of the modern breed, was
the late Mr Tomkins, Kingspion, near Hereford. From a
very humble stock of cows, by changes or crosses which he
never chose to reveal, Mr Tomkins formed the beautiful
breed from which the modern Hereford takes all its charac-
ters.

The Herefords are of the larger class of oxen. They are
of a red colour, with white faces, and more or less of white on
other parts. The tendency of modern breeders has been to
breed more to the white colour of the stock. The Herefords
are of high estimation amongst the breeders of England, where-
ever they prevail. The quality of the flesh is good, and on
this account it is much valued in the markets of Bath and
London. The females are small as compared with the size to
which the oxen reach, a character likewise possessed by the
Devons. They partake, too, of the character of the Devon

THE OX. o07

and other allied breeds, in being bad milkers, on which ac-
count the Herefords are exceedingly ill suited to the pur-
poses of the dairy. Although of a less agile form than the
Devons, their steady strength, combined with a sufficient de-
gree of activity, suits them well for the draught. On com-
paring them with the short-horns, the principal superiority of
the latter which strikes the eye, is the larger size from the hook-
bone backwards, and the greater depth of the hinder quarters.
The Herefords excel the short-horned in the shoulder.

The Devon forms a beautiful and peculiar variety, proper
to the district which extends from the British Channel through
the high lands of Devonshire. They may be said to be of a
family which is widely diffused, since cattle of very similar
characters are found on the banks of the Don and elsewhere.
In England they are in their state of greatest purity in the dis-
trict of North Devon, but extend with some change of charac-
ter to South Devon, and the adjoining districts. They have a
resemblance in general form to the wild cattle of which men-
tion has been made. Their skin is of an orange-yellow, and
they are distinguished by their hair of bright red, and by their
eyes being surrounded by an orange-yellow ring of the colour
of the skin. They are more allied to the lighter breeds of ele-
vated countries than to the larger breeds of the plains. Their
general form is light and graceful. Their skins are soft, their
horns of medium length, very fine, and bending rather up-
wards. They are gentle, active, and above all our oxen suited
to active labour, from the lightness of their form. The cows are
small as compared with the oxen, and like the other females of
Alpine breeds, they are exceedingly deficient in their power of
yielding milk. The South Devons are of larger size, and less
symmetrical form.

The Devons have communicated more or less of their cha-
racters to various of the breeds of the southern counties. The
Sussex may be said to be merely a variety of the Devon breed;
but the individuals are of larger size and coarser form than
the true North Devons. They have not been cultivated with
the same attention to purity of blood as the North Devons ;

508 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

though the exertions of particular breeders have shown them
to be susceptible of a high degree of improvement. They are
nearly as active in the plough as the Devons, with a great-
er weight of body. They are not of such uniform colour as
the Devons, being frequently marked with white.

Minor varieties might be traced to an affinity with the
mountain breeds on the one hand, or the long-horned, the
short-horned, or the Devon, on the other. Some of them are
distinguished by being destitute of horns. Circumstances of
soil and herbage may doubtless give rise to this peculiarity, in
the same manner as to colour and other minor characters ;
but, in general, the prevalence of this character in particular
districts may be ascribed to the choice, by breeders, of such
individuals as have no horns, and to their breeding from these
until the peculiarity comes at last to be confirmed in the
breed.

In several parts of England, there are families of oxen des-
titute of horns ; but the most remarkable hornless breed of Eng-
land is the Suffolk Duns. They extend, but more or less modi-
fied in their character and form, to the counties of Norfolk, Suf-
folk, Cambridge, and Essex. The prevailing colour used to be
a mouse-dun, and thence their distinctive name ; but they are
now of many various colours. They are hardy, and good
milkers, but have only in the hands of a few breeders been
brought to any considerable perfection of form. They bear
some resemblance to the Galloway cattle of Scotland, and it
has been supposed that they are a variety of that breed pro-
duced by the long intercourse between the Scottish drovers
and the Suffolk and Norfolk feeders. It is probable, at least,
that this circumstance has given a character to the native
breed. They are termed home-breds in the market of Smith-
field.

The Galloway breed is proper to the mountainous tract of the
south-west of Scotland, forming the high land of the counties of
Wigton, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries. In size and characters
the Galloways are a mountain breed. They are distinguished by
the peculiarity of being destitute of horns, though it is believed

THE OX. 509

by some that the cattle of this district were formerly a horned
breed. They may be supposed to have been the same as the
cattle of the adjoining counties of Westmoreland and Cumber-
land, acclimated in a country where their peculiar characters
have been formed. They are indifferent milkers, though yield-
ing good cream, in which respect they resemble the long-horns.
They are well suited to the pastures and moist climate of the
districts in which they are reared. They are hardy, docile,
and good feeders. Large numbers of them are sent annually
to Norfolk, and being fattened in the English pastures, supply
the markets of the districts, or are carried to Smithfield, where
they are known and greatly valued. This breed being adapted
to the nature of the district, and the state of its agriculture,
every care should be bestowed in increasing its good properties,
by selection of the best individuals of the same race. The
breed has suffered from want of attention, and in some cases
has been injured by injudicious crossing ; but the attention of
the Galloway breeders, it is to be believed, will now be kept
alive to the expediency of preserving and improving this staple
production of the district.

The breeds of Scotland to the north of the Frith of Forth,
are more or less allied to the parent stock of the mountains,
but with characters modified by the physical circumstances of
the districts in which they have been naturalized.

On the lower parts of Aberdeenshire and other northern
counties on the coast, the breed is essentially that of the High-
lands, but of larger size, from the more favourable circumstances
of the country in which it is cultivated, and in a few cases by
the effects of partial crossing. The best of these cattle are
supposed to be the hornless breed of the northern part of
Aberdeenshire, termed the Buchan breed. The horned Aber-
deenshire forms a coarser race of animals, and is now losing
favour.

In the county of Forfar there has long existed a distinctly
marked variety, to which has been given the name of the Angus
breed. It is proper to the red sandstone district which consti-
tutes the plains and less elevated districts of Forfarshire. The

510 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

individuals resemble the Galloway in size, in general aspect, and
in the peculiarity of being destitute of horns, and there can
be no doubt that crosses with the Galloways have produced
this resemblance. They have thinner skins, and less hair than
the Galloways ; their bodies are less deep, and they rarely
possess the fineness of rib which distinguishes the southern
breed. The modern Angus, however, is assuming an almost
new character, by the care and skill bestowed on its improve-
ment by some distinguished breeders.

The cattle of Fifeshire are much mixed ; yet a considerable
proportion possesses such characters as to indicate a common
parentage. They are generally of a coarse defective form ;
but they are hardy, and the females are good milkers. Tradi-
tion refers to early importations into Fifeshire of cattle from
other parts. The Falkland breed, so called from the royal
palace of that name, is believed to have been the result of one
of those importations of cattle made during the occasional re-
sidence there of one of the kings of Scotland. However this
be, the Falkland breed appears to have been distinguished by
characters of its own, and to have communicated these cha-
racters more or less to the cattle of the adjoining district.
This fine variety has been unfortunately nearly lost in its state
of purity. Where individuals remain whose characters enable
us to trace them to it, they show great resemblance to the
black dairy cows of Holland ; from which it appears that the
old Falkland breed of Fifeshire was of Dutch, and not, as is
commonly supposed, of English origin.

To the south of the Frith of Forth, the breeds generally
consist of a kind of short-horns, many of them very defective,
unless where the blood of the improved short-horns has been
introduced. But there is a breed to the south of the Forth,
the Ayrshire, which presents peculiar characters, and has been
cultivated with care.

This breed, deriving its name from Ayrshire, extends to the
adjoining counties of Lanark, Dumfries, Renfrew, Dumbarton,
and elsewhere. It manifests certain points of resemblance to
varieties of the short-horned breed ; but all its essential cha-

THE OX. 511

racters of form connect it with the Alderney. The resem-
blance is so great that a Jersey cow might sometimes be mis-
taken for an Ayrshire one. The cows of the district of Dun-
lop are said to have been the first celebrated for yielding milk ;
and tradition asserts that the cows of that district were crossed
by Alderney bulls. This, then, may be inferred to be the true
origin of the dairy breed of Ayrshire ; but it is probable that
males of the Holderness or other short-horned varieties have
been also introduced, and given certain characters to the na-
tive stock, though at what time such intermixtures took place,
or how far they affected the characters of the existing stock,
is unknown.

The Ayrshire, as now cultivated and improved, is well de-
fined in its characters : The animals are delicate in their homs
and limbs, their fore-heads are narrow, their shoulders thin,
and their fore-quarters light. This is a form which is valued in
the female as indicating a disposition to secrete milk ; but it
does not correspond with the form of an animal which indi-
cates a disposition to grow to a great size, and feed readily. It
is, however, as a dairy breed that the Ayrshire is to be re-
garded ; and by the attention of the breeders to the characters
required, they have succeeded in producing a breed exceed-
ingly well suited to the purposes of the dairy.

The fanners of the West of Scotland set a high value upon
this breed, and they do so with reason. For a main object
with them being the dairy, the breed is well suited to this
purpose. But where the principal end is feeding, the Ayr-
shire must be held as occupying a secondary place in the
breeds of this country. They fall short of the Devon, of the
Sussex, and yet more of the Herefords and the short-horns.

A breed termed the Alderney, is cultivated in the Islands
of the Channel. Of this race the finest are supposed to be
produced in the Island of Jersey, where they form the riches
of the inhabitants, and are attended to with extreme care.
They are small and ill shaped, when regarded as feeding
animals. Their skin is of a rich orange yellow ; and the fat as
well as the milk and butter partake of this colour. They are

.312 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

highly valued for the dairy, but are rather to be esteemed for
the fine quality of the milk than for its abundance. The purity
of the breed, in Jersey, has been preserved by jealous laws,
prohibiting the introduction of foreign animals. Great num-
bers of the cows are exported to England, and insensible crosses
have thus been produced which are to be traced in the Eng-
lish dairies.

It is not necessary to enumerate further the minor varieties
of cattle to which the term breeds may be applied. Those
with which the principal races of the country are more or less
allied, may be said to be, —

1. The Mountain breeds, comprehending those which are na-
turalized and reared in the more elevated parts of Scotland,
Ireland, and Wales.

2. The Long-homed breed, prevailing chiefly in the western
parts of England, and the plains of Ireland, and of which the
most improved variety is the Dishley.

3. The Short-horned breed, more peculiarly belonging to the
eastern parts of the country, and of which the most improved
variety is the Durham.

4. The Devon, peculiar to the south of England, to which
is allied the Suffolk, and, by a more remote affinity, the Here-
ford.

5. The Alder ney, peculiar to the islands in the British Chan-
nel.

2. Improvement of Breeds.

The breed must be adapted to the means, natural or ac-
quired, possessed of supplying food. Art and an improved
system of tillage do much in supplying the food of herbivo-
rous animals. By cultivation we can change the nature, and
increase the abundance, of the food supplied. But in many
cases, tillage is only practicable or expedient to a limited de-
gree, and then the natural pastures of the country must furnish
the main supplies of food. In a mountainous country, where

THE OX. 513

the principal food is natural herbage, and where the means do
not exist of obtaining artificial food, it would be vain to at-
tempt the rearing of a large and fine breed of oxen. We
must, in such a case, be satisfied to rear a race, of hardy pro-
perties, of small size, and capable of subsisting on coarse her-
bage.

Where, again, art or the natural fertility of a country ad-
mits of supplying sufficient food, the study of the breeder
should be to select a race of animals, the best that circum-
stances will allow him to rear.

Having fixed on the kind of breed which is the best suited
to the circumstances of the district or farm, the practical ques-
tion to be determined, is the manner in which a proper breed
should be obtained, or the old one improved. There are three
methods which may be adopted for this purpose : —

1. The entire change of the existing stock, and the substitu-
tion of a different breed, females as well as males.

2. The retaining of the old breed, male and female, and im-
proving them by breeding from the best animals of the same
breed.

3. The improving of the breed by crossing with males of a
different breed.

When the nature of a farm allows, the most speedy and the
best method certainly of attaining the end is to change the
stock, and to substitute females of the improved one from
which it is proposed to breed. In this manner the purpose
will be effected at once, without the labour or loss of time of
improving a defective stock.

The second method is the retaining of the existing stock,
and improving it by a selection of the best individuals of the
same breed. This is the method which ought to be adopted if
the breed already existing is sufficiently suited to the natural
circumstances of the farm, and to the method of cultivation
which can be pursued upon it.

The third method is that of crossing, that is, the retaining
of the females, and the employing of males of a different breed.
This method has often led to disappointment, from the nature

K k

514 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

of the crosses attempted, especially where the crosses have
been violent, as between animals of very different characters.
The first cross in general will be good, but in breeding from
the progeny of this cross, expectation will often be disappointed.
Not only do the good qualities of the first cross not always re-
main in the progeny, but often there are found in it defects
which cannot be traced to the parents.

This, however, generally arises from injudicious crossing,
and from unacquaintance with the principle on which the crosses
of different animals should be conducted. When a cross is
made, it should be with a male of a superior breed ; and in this
case the first cross will be almost always a good animal. To
secure the full benefits of the cross, however, we should not
too hastily resort to the males of the inferior stock, because it
might be found, that, while we had injured the original breed,
we had not substituted a better in its stead. The general
rule, therefore, should be, to cover again the first cross with a
superior male of the same breed, and so on, until the good
character of that breed became permanent in the progeny.
This is said to be breeding up to the superior stock.

In crossing, the essential characters of form are imprinted on
the offspring by the male ; and it is surprising in how great a
degree this imprinting of better characters takes place, when a
male of superior breeding is employed. A first cross between
a short-horned bull, for example, fully bred, and a very ordi-
nary cow, produces, not only often, but generally, a fine ani-
mal, with an extraordinary aptitude to fatten. Many of the
very fat animals that receive premiums at the cattle-shows in
this country, are extreme crosses of this kind. But the bene-
fit may end with the progeny, if we do not again cover with a
male of the same superior breed, and so on until the good cha-
racters become permanent.

When a breeder, then, is to improve his stock by crossing,
he ought to select a male of undoubtedly superior blood. And
he should not generally, after the first cross, resort to the males
of the inferior breed, but to those of the superior one, until he
has formed, as it were, a breed for himself. There are, indeed.
numerous cases in which a sin<_rle mixture of better blood will

THE OX. 515

do good, as with those inferior breeds which have no fixed cha-
racters. These will be improved by even the slightest inter-
mixture with the blood of a better race ; and a farmer who is in
a district where this class of animals prevails, may safely avail
himself of a good male, in the same manner as a breeder of
horses would do, although the stallion were of a different cha-
racter from the native stock. The cases where crossing of any
kind is to be attempted with caution, are, when a breed of
established good characters, or of characters which fit it for the
nature of the country and the state of its agriculture, already
exists.

In crossing, then, the rule is, to breed from a male of supe-
rior stock ; and, fortunately, in this country we have now a
breed of such established character, that no mistake can arise
in the selection of males. These have been formed to our hand,
with all the care that art can bestow in improving the form of
feeding animals. There is no need, therefore, for those mis- •
taken attempts at crosses which were sometimes made with
males of questionable characters, as between an Ayrshire cow
and a Galloway bull, and vice versa. We can predicate nothing
securely of the progeny of such crosses as these, the effect of
which will probably be to destroy the good properties of either
breed, as the aptitude to yield milk of the Ayrshire, and the
hardy and feeding qualities of the Galloway. But in crossing
with a breed so highly cultivated as the short-horned, the
breeder has the assurance that he will produce animals of large
size and good feeding properties. He is to consider, indeed,
whether he has the means at his command of rearing the larger
animals ; and if this be so, it will be better that he at once
form his stock upon the best model, than run the hazard of
wasting time and capital on questionable crosses.

And it must be regarded as highly important as a mean of
improving the live stock of Great Britain, that a breed has
been formed, by long-continued selection and care, which may
always be resorted to, to effect the purposes required, in the
same manner as recourse is had to horses of known pedigree, to
communicate their characters to the progeny. In this manner

K k2

•>1G REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the labours of those who have improved the short-horned
breed, have extended far beyond what the original breeders
contemplated. They have not only improved a peculiar breed,
but have furnished the most efficient means that can be used
of improving the live-stock of the entire country ; and it is to
be trusted that the breeders of this class of animals will have
encouragement to maintain the characters of the breed with as
much care as is used in the case of the race-horse, seeing that
it is for a far more important end.

But having selected the breed, or having fixed on the means
to be employed for forming it, a point to be determined is the
maimer of maintaining or improving it, by the selection of good
individuals male and female ; for it is to be observed, that it is
equally determined, in the case of the ox as of the horse, that
the properties of the parents are conveyed to the offspring.
The male undoubtedly acts the principal part in impressing
his characters on the young. But the form of the female is of
the utmost importance ; and if we hope to arrive at success in
breeding, the form and characters of the female must be no
more neglected than those of the male.

Now we might breed either from animals nearly allied to one
another in blood, as brothers and sisters, parents and their off-
spring, technically termed breeding in-and-in, or from animals
of different families. By the latter method are produced ani-
mals more hardy and less subject to disease ; by the former,
we are frequently enabled to produce animals of more delicate
form, and greater fattening properties, and above all to give a
greater permanence to the characters of the parents in the off-
spring. It is known, that Bakewell and other breeders were
enabled, by this system, to give and perpetuate the peculiar
characters of their stock. These first improvers, indeed, found
the practice to be, to a certain extent, necessary, because they
could not resort to the males of other families, without employ-
ing inferior animals, and so impairing the properties of their
own breed.

It is to be observed, that the breeding and continuing to
breed from animals very near of blood, produces animals which

THE OX. 517

have a greater tendency to arrive at maturity, and to become
fat. This seems to result from a tendency to premature age
in the animal, which thus more quickly arrives at its maturity,
of bone and muscle, and so begins sooner to secrete fat.

The system, however, of breeding from animals near of
blood, has its limits. Nature will not be forced too far for our
purposes. It is known that, although this joining of animals
closely allied diminishes the size of the bones, and gives a ten-
dency to fatten to the progeny, it renders them also more de-
licate and subject to diseases. Although, then, this near
breeding may be carried to a limited extent between very fine
animals, for the purpose of rendering their qualities permanent
in the offspring, we do a violence to nature when we carry it
too far. The progeny, along with their early maturity and
aptitude to fatten, become feeble ; the cows cease to secrete
milk in sufficient quantity to nourish their young ; and the
males lose their masculine characters, and become incapable of
propagating their race.

When, therefore, the stock of any farmer has become too
nearly allied, he ought not to fail to change his males, and
procure the best of the same breed. This is essential to pre-
serve the health of the stock for any time. Great losses have
been sustained by breeders who have carried the system of
close breeding too far, with the design of pushing the improve-
ment of their breed to its limits.

A character of a breed not to be neglected, is size of the in-
dividuals. Although large animals consume more food than
small animals of the same species, yet they do not consume
food in proportion to their greater size ; and hence the benefit
of rearing the larger animals, if the natural or acquired pro-
ductiveness of the farm will allow it. But although size be an
important element in the character of a breed, there is another
property to which that of size is subordinate, namely, that of
a disposition to quick fattening and early maturity. This pro-
perty depends not on size, but on a different class of charac-
ters.

518 BEARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

3. Form.

The principal purpose in rearing oxen in this country, is to
produce flesh. The rearing of females for milk is, doubtless,
also important ; but, in the great majority of cases, this purpose
is regarded as subsidiary and subordinate to that of feeding.

There are certain external characters which indicate a dis-
position in the animal to feed, and certain characters that show
that the animal has less of this property, and does not quickly
arrive at maturity. These characters are familiar to breeders,
and a knowledge of them is readily acquired by practice and
observation. But before attending to these characters, it will
be well to consider in what really consists the property of quick
and easy feeding.

The flesh of an animal, it has been said, consists of muscles.
A muscle is a combination of threads or fibres, bound to-
gether by a sort of minute mesh-work, to which the term cel-
lular tissue has been applied. Each thread or fibre is divided,
so far as the eye assisted by powerful glasses can discover, into
smaller fibres still. A number of these smaller fibres or fila-
ments forms a fibre ; a number of these fibres forms a fascicu-
lus, or bundle of fibres ; and a number of these fasciculi forms
a muscle. Now, surrounding the fibres, the fasciculi, and the
muscles, is the unctuous substance, fat. The same matter is
formed between the muscular substance and the skin, and sur-
rounds, or is intermingled with, the various viscera within the
body. It surrounds, in large quantity, the heart, the kidneys,
and other organs.

The muscular fibre grows with the animal, and is essential
to its existence and power of motion. When the animal ar-
rives at its full growth, little further addition can be made to
the muscle ; but it is otherwise with the growth of fatty mat-
ter. When the food which the animal assimilates by the ac-
tion of its organs, is no longer needed to be converted into
muscle, it is converted into fat, and this being intermingled
with and surrounding the fibres, the fasciculi, and the muscles.

THE OX. 510

the muscles become enlarged. By feeding an animal, then, we
have little power over any increase of the muscular substance,
but we have a great one over the fatty substance, which, along
with the muscle, forms food.

Now, an animal that arrives soon at maturity with regard to
the growth of his fleshy fibre, and tends readily to secrete fat,
is the kind of animal best suited to the purposes of the breeder
and feeder. Such an animal is said to be a quick grower, and
kindly feeder.

These properties seem mainly to depend on the power of di-
gestion possessed by the animal. And the external characters
which indicate this are a capacity of chest for containing the
respiratory organs, and of trunk for containing the stomach
and other viscera employed in the process of digestion. This
we may infer from the effect ; for, in all cases, it is found that
the property of quick feeding is combined with a capacious
chest and a round body. An animal of this form requires a
less quantity of food to produce a given increase of weight,
than one whose chest is narrow and whose sides are flat. When
we look for a feeding animal, therefore, we require that his
chest shall be broad, and his ribs well arched ; and where this
form exists, the back will likewise be wide and flat. We re-
quire, too, that the body shall be large in proportion to the
limbs, or, in other words, that the limbs shall be short in pro-
portion to the body.

Further, it is seen, that, in animals indicating a disposition
to fatten, there is a general rotundity of form, — as where the
neck joins the head, the shoulders the neck, and so on, — and
that there is a general fineness or smallness of the bones, as of
the limbs and head. The limbs being short, the neck is not
required to be long, and shortness of the neck, therefore, is a
character connected with a disposition to fatten.

In the case of the horse, it was seen that the body abstract-
ed from the neck and head is comprehended within a square,
the body occupying about the half of the square. But, in the
case of the ox, the body is comprehended within a rectangle,

520

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

as in the following figure, and the body occupies more than
the half of the rectangle.

The figures given show the difference between the general
form of the horse and the ox.

Fig. 175.

CC Cervical Vertebrae.
DD Dorsal Vertebrae.
EE Lumbar Vertebrae.

A Bones of the Cranium.

B Bones of the Face.

H Sacrum or Rump-bone.

JJ Bones of the Tail.
FF Ribs,

G Sternum or Breast-bone.
I Bone of the Pelvis.

Q Os Femoris — Thigh-bone.

R Patella — Stifle-bone.

S Bones of the Leg.
T Tarsal Bones, or Bones of the Hock.
U Metatarsal Bones of the Leg.
V Phalangeal Bones, or Bones of the Foot.
K Scapula — Shoulder-blade.
L Humerus.
M Fore-arm.
N Carpal Bones.
O Metacarpal Bones.
P Phalangeal Bones.

2. Hip-bone, Huckle or Hook-bone.

In the one case, there is the outline of an animal fitted for
speed ; in the other, of an annual with great bulk of body, and
unfitted for active motion. The horse, which occupied too
much of the square, would be regarded as of bad form. In
the ox, the more of the rectangle which the body occupies, the
more does the form approach to that required by the breeder.

The tendency to early growth and kindly feeding is likewise

THE OX. 521

indicated by the touch. This property is known to graziers
and breeders, who are all familiar with the soft and delicate
feel of a good animal. They call it a mellow feel, the meaning
of which it is more easy to conceive than define. It is a certain
softness combined with elasticity of the skin. The difference
between the skin of a coarse animal and one possessing the
peculiar softness here referred to, can, by a little practice, be
easily discriminated.

The same characters which indicate a disposition to fatten
in the ox, indicate it in the other domesticated animals. The
fineness of the bones, — the largeness of the body as compared
with the limbs, neck, and head, — the broadness of the chest,
— the roundness of the body, — and the soft and elastic touch,
— indicate in all cases this property."

4. Rearing and Feeding.

The period of gestation of the cow is about 40 weeks, vary-
ing somewhat according to the constitution of the animal. She
is sometimes capable of receiving the male during her first year,
but he should not be admitted to her until after she has com-
pleted her second year.

* The following are several of the popular characters which are generally
given as indicating the feeding powers of the ox : — 1. The head should he fine
and tapering to the muzzle, which should be thin. 2. The neck should he
free from coarseness, large where attached to the shoulder, and tapering to
where it joins the head. 3. The breast should be wide, and projecting well
in front of the fore-limbs. 4. The shoulder should be broad, but joining
without abruptness to the neck before, and to the chine behind. 5. The back
and loins should be straight, wide, and flat. 6. The girth behind the shoul-
ders should be large : the ribs should be well arched, and the distance be-
tween the last rib and the hook-bone small. 7- The hook-bones should be
far apart and nearly on a level with the back-bone : from the hook-bone to
the rump the quarters should be long and straight. 8. The belly should
not hang down ; the flanks should be well filled up ; the legs should be fleshy
to the knee and hock, but below the joints they should be tendinous. The
tail should be on a level with the back, broad at the top, and tapering to
near the extremity. The hoofs should be small ; the horns fine and pointed,
and1 slightly attached to the head, the ears thin, the eyes prominent and
lively.

522 REARING AND FEEDING OV ANIMALS.

Some time after having produced her young, the cow mani-
fests a desire to receive the male. This continues for a few
days, and returns at intervals of a fortnight or three weeks.
When the male is admitted to her, she is generally at once
impregnated. Should this not be so, the instinctive desire re-
turns, and she must again be taken to the male until she has
been impregnated, which is known by the ceasing of these pe-
riodical returns.

It is important to the breeder of feeding cattle that the
calves should be born early in the season, so as to afford the
means of bringing them well forward upon the summer grass.
The proper season for calving is in the months of January,
February, and March. When the period of producing the
young has arrived, the cow is to be attended to with care, kept
in the house, and the birth of the young waited for and assist-
ed when necessary. The position of the foetus is with the
head couched between the fore-legs. When it is otherwise
the birth is more difficult, and generally the calf must be turn-
ed into the proper position. This is done by the hand, the
cow being laid on her side, and gently raised from behind by
hoisting. But in general the parturition of the cow is easy.

The calf, on being born, is to be carried away and placed
loose in a pen or crib with clean dry litter. The cow should
not be suffered to touch or recognise her young, as this only
tends to render her uneasy and distressed by the separation.
The cow should then be milked and fed with some nourishing
food. A sheaf of barley answers the purpose very well, and
some nourishing gruel should also be given. An excellent
food for some time previous to calving, and some time after-
wards, is linseed boiled, or bruised oil-cake dissolved in warm
water.

In mountainous countries the cow may be permitted to suckle
her calf during the months of summer ; and a practice similar
to this is frequently adopted with the breeds of the plains. But
where a good breed of cows exists, the young should at once
be separated from the dam and fed from the pail. The first
milk drawn from the cow is viscid, and is peculiarly fitted for

THE ox. .523

the nourishment of the young ; for which reason each calf
should first be fed by the milk of its own dam.

The quantity of milk given to the young animal should be
as much as it can consume, which will be found to be some-
what more than a wine gallon in the day. The quantity which
it can consume, however, will gradually increase to 2 gallons
more, or 3 gallons in all ; and this feeding may be continued
for 12 weeks, when the animal is to be put into the course of
being weaned, and in one month more completely weaned. The
milk given to the calf is new milk, that is, milk directly from
the cow. The milk, however, may be economised, by employ-
ing substitutes to a limited extent, and, in this manner, the
milk of one cow be made to rear more than one calf. The
best substitutes are farinaceous food, as meal and porridge.
Linseed or oil-cake can be given ; by using a little of these dis-
solved in the milk, its nourishing properties may be increased
to any degree required. The calf should be fed three times in
the day, regularly at a fixed hour.

After twelve weeks, the use of new milk may be given up
and skimmed milk substituted, making it lukewarm, and the
quantity gradually lessened ; and in the course of one month
more, that is, in four months in all, the animal may be entirely
weaned.

This indeed is more liberal feeding than is usually deemed
necessary ; yet it is a great error to stint animals in their food
at this age, with the view of economising milk. It is from this
cause that so many stunted animals are to be seen in the hands
of breeders, that never afterwards attain to a good size, nor
acquire a disposition to fatten.

During the period of feeding with milk, the animals will be
taught by degrees to supply themselves with food. For this
purpose, when the season is not sufficiently advanced, a bunch
of sweet hay, or any green herbs, should be placed within
reach of the animals ; and a little salt may be given, which
they will soon learn to lick, when placed beside them. If the
weather allows, they may be turned into a yard for a few hours
in the day, and after a time, when the weather becomes mild,

524 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

into a little paddock containing sweet grass, housing them at
first at night, until they shall be fully hardened to the air.

The males, when not intended for propagating, may be cas-
trated when 30 days old. The operation is easily performed,
by two incisions with a sharp knife. An analogous operation
is sometimes performed upon the female, when she is intended
for feeding ; but the more approved practice is to preserve her
entire.

The weaning of the calf, it has been said, may take place at
the end of four months. The calf is then merely turned into
good pasture during the remainder of the season, and fed like
the other stock, and generally along with the cows or feeding
oxen ; and, as in the case of all growing animals, it should be
allowed ample food.

The subsequent treatment of calves necessarily depends up-
on the nature of the farm, and the species of food which can
be supplied. Where there is nothing but coarse pastures and
inferior hay, and when no turnips or cultivated forage can be
raised, then the stock of the farm must be suited to these cir-
cumstances.

The breeders in such cases are generally merely the rearers
of the animals. These, when they have reached a certain age,
are disposed of to another class of farmers, who have the means
to feed them. A great proportion of the lands of Britain and
Ireland is better suited for breeding in this manner than for
feeding ; and a large exportation of animals takes place from
all the breeding farms and districts to be fed elsewhere. The
feeders purchase the cattle at such age as suits their purposes,
and keep them on their farms for such a period as they find
expedient. This is a division of labour in the breeding and
feeding of live-stock perfectly natural, and in an eminent de-
gree favourable to the interests of individuals and the country.
It is in this manner that each district and farm is applied, with
reference to the production of live-stock, to the purpose to
which it is best adapted.

In cases where no other food can be supplied than the na-
tural produce of the farm, the same care and delicacy in rear-

THE ox. 525

ing are not necessary or practicable, as under a more artificial
system of feeding. The cows, in such cases, are usually per-
mitted to suckle their young. During the first winter, the
young animals receive such pasture and natural hay as the farm
affords. In the following summer they are kept on the coarse
pastures of the farm; in the following winter they are maintain-
ed as in the former one, and so on until disposed of to the
feeder, which may be in the second or third, or even sometimes
the fourth, year of their age. The sooner cattle, under these
circumstances, can be brought to maturity, the better is it for
the interests of the breeder.

The system of breeding, however, where the nature of the
farm is such as to afford a supply of proper food to the ani-
mals, and where the finer class of stock is kept, is altogether
different. In this case, the principle of the system followed, is
to afford a full supply of food to the animal, from the birth to
the time that it is transferred to the butcher. This principle
applies to all animals intended to be fattened.

The calves, after being weaned, are put, it has been said, on
good pasture, and fed for the remainder of the season. When
the herbage fails in autumn, which is generally by the end of
October or beginning of November, the animals should be put
in straw-yards, with sheds, into which they may retire for
shelter. The number put into one division or yard should not
be too great, though this is less important at this period of
their life than afterwards. Calves to the number of 20 may
be kept together in one yard, provided they have plenty of
room ; but when animals are of a large breed, it is better that
the number should not exceed 10.

The yards should have pure water in each, conveyed to them
by pipes, and retained in troughs, to which the animals can
have access at all times. Each yard should have, along one at
least of the sides, shallow troughs, formed of wood or stone,
for the purpose of holding turnips, and similar food. The
yards should be so dry, that the animals may not be incommo-
ded. The arrangement of these yards, with their sheds, will
be seen in the design of farm buildings afterwards given. Be-

>26

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

fore bringing the calves home for the winter, the yards should
be bedded with a layer of coarse straw, or dried stems of plants
of any kind. In the middle of each of these yards should be
placed one or more racks (Fig. 176), for containing straw, and
preventing its being strewed about. The best kind of straw is
oat-straw, and the rack should be kept constantly supplied.

Fig. 17C.

A quantity of turnips (for this we may suppose to be the
species of green food used) must be put into the troughs in the
morning ; again a quantity at mid-day ; and, lastly, a quantity
in the evening, before night-fall.

The calves must receive a full allowance of turnips, that is,
they must receive as large a quantity as they can consume.
At the same time, the racks must be kept always filled with
straw, and some litter sprinkled, wherever necessary, over the
yards, so as to keep them dry. When straw fails, hay must
be supplied, and in place of turnips, should these also fail, po-
tatoes or other succulent food.

In the month of May, generally about the middle of it, in
the northern parts of this country, but several weeks earlier in
the more southern parts, the pastures will afford sufficient
food for the young stock, which have now completed their first
year, and are, in the language of farmers, yearlings, or one-
year old. Until the grass is fully ready, the animals should
on no account be turned out to the pastures, and care must be
taken that the grounds are not overstocked, lest the animals be
in any degree stinted in their food. They should at this period
bo gaining fat as well as growth ; and no greater error in the

THE ox. 527

management of feeding cattle can be committed, than to al-
low their progress to be in any degree checked by the want of
sufficient food.

After pasturing for the summer, and at the same period as
in the former year, namely, before the end of October, the ani-
mals, still yearlings, are taken up from grass.

In the case of the finer breeds, the animals may now be
prepared for the butcher ; for which they will be ready in the
following spring, after being fully fed during the winter, or
after having received some grass during the following summer.
This is the perfection of rearing and feeding oxen, and the
practice shows how great must be the superiority of a breed
that can be fattened at this early age. It is only, however,
the finer classes of animals, and that under a perfect system of
feeding, that can be thus early matured. The more common
case is, that they require one winter's feeding more before they
are ready for the butcher ; and it will be better, therefore, to
proceed upon this supposition in describing their further ma-
nagement.

The year-olds, then, are to be taken up from grass as soon
as the pastures begin to fail in October or November. They
are put into yards with shelter-sheds as before ; but, in place
of 20 in a yard, there should not be more than 10, the animals
being now of larger size, and more apt to interfere with one
another in feeding ; and they are to be treated in the same
manner as during the first winter. They are to be well litter-
ed, to be fed three times in the day with turnips, and to receive
their full allowance of straw.

It must be observed, however, that this is the period in the
age of the animal at which a slight i-elaxation may be made in
the system of full feeding, — not that it is well to relax in any
degree, but that in practice, with the common supply of food
which can be obtained on a farm, it is frequently necessary to
do so. But wherever food can be obtained to carry on the
system of full feeding during the second winter as during the
first, it should be done ; for the importance is very great of
keeping the animals not only growing, but fattening, from their

•>28 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

birth to their full maturity. But if the feeder is unable to carry
on the same system of feeding during the second winter as during
the first, he may limit the quantity of succulent food, as to the
half of the quantity of turnips which the animals, if unrestrict-
ed, would consume, giving, however. In all cases, an unlimited
quantity of dry provender, in general, however, the necessity
for the reduction of the quantity of the richer food is much
less than is supposed, for if substitutes for the turnip cannot
be obtained, the quantity of stock may be reduced to the means
possessed for carrying it on in a proper manner.

In all cases, then, the study of the feeder, must be to carry
on the feeding animals with a full allowance of good food from
their birth to their maturity. But the period at which he can
relax a little in this system of full feeding, and substitute more
common provender, is in the second winter. Yet even while
he does relax to the extent of diminishing the more feeding
food, he must take especial care that the animals, if they shall
not gain fat, shall lose no part of their former condition. It is
opposed to all the true principles of breeding to allow animals
to fall off from the condition at which they had arrived.

It is not necessary, however, after the first winter, to give the
same high feeding to the females intended for breeding, as to
the males. The object proposed with the females intended
for breeding, is not to render them fat, but to maintain them
in a healthy and growing state. This is to be done, not by
giving them a full allowance of the richer food, but such a
portion of it only, as, joined to the more common provender of
the farm, will maintain them in a healthy state. When the
yearling steers are to be carried on during their second win-
ter, on a modified, and not a full allowance of richer food,
then the heifers need not be separated from them, because both
are to be fed in the same manner ; but when the steers are at
this time to receive full feeding, then the heifers are to be put
into a yard with a shed by themselves. They should not be
tied to stakes, according to the common practice, but kept in
yards with sheds. In the following summer they are pastured
alone: with the older cows, and receive the male as soon as

THE OX. 529

they are ready to do so, which, in the case of heifers, is later
than in that of older cows. When winter comes, they are to
be put into their separate pen again, and fed as in the first
winter, and when within a few weeks of the period of calving,
they may be tied up gently in their stall, or be put into a se-
parate box.

But to return to the feeding stock : — The yearling steers are
fed in their yards, either with their full allowance of straw and
green food, or else with a full allowance of dried provender,
and a modified allowance of green food. By the month of May
they have completed their second year, and are now termed
two-year-old steers. When the pastures are fully ready for
them, they are turned out to feed, and are kept in these
pastures until the herbage fails in autumn, when they are to
be taken up once more and fed on green food in the fullest
quantity in which they can consume it.

Two methods may be adopted in this final feeding of the
animals. They may either be tied in the house, having a trough
or manger to feed from, or they may be kept in small yards,
with open sheds attached.

In the first case, that is, when confined to the Fig- 177-
house, and fed from a trough or manger, the ani-
mals are tied by the neck to upright posts. The
best method of attaching them is by a light chain,
which encircles the neck, and is fastened to a ring,
moveable upon a stake. In this manner the ani-
mal has the power of raising and lowering his head
with such freedom as permits him to lie down.

But instead of a series of upright posts, it is
better that each animal have his own stall. A
partition of wood at the heads of the oxen, or, a very good
substitute, a broad stone, is placed between each animal. A
bar of iron is then fastened to the stall, with a ring moveable
upon it, to which is fixed the chain which goes round the neck
of the animal. In this manner each ox is prevented from in-
terfering with the provender of his neighbour, in the manner
shown under the head Farm-buildings.

Ll

530 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

The other system of feeding is in small yards, with sheds.
Each shed with its yard should be of a size to contain easily
2 oxen, or, if it is made of a size to hold 4 oxen, there should
be a division between each pair, so that more than 2 shall not
be together ; and in the open yard, and close to the wall, should
be fixed troughs for holding the provender.

Under this system of feeding, the animals have more freedom
than when fed in close houses; and that moderate exercise,
which, without impeding their fattening, tends to keep them in
health. They receive the benefit of the sun and air, and have
always the shelter shed to retire to. They have the power of
going to their food at all times, even during the night, and
this food being in the open air, is kept always fresh. The
treatment of the cattle, too, in these sheds and yards is easy, and
the injurious effects to the animals obviated of any deficient
ventilation, or any want of care in the management. And ex-
perience has fully shown that the finest animals may be fed in
these sheds, better even than in the warmest house, when they
are tied to the stake.

But the latter practice of feeding is the more common ; and
it is the most necessary, too, to be described, because it re-
quires greater attention on the part of the keeper.

When the cattle are for the first time to be fixed to their
stakes, some care is needed to induce them to go forward. Gentle
means must be employed ; they must be somewhat tightly tied
at first to prevent their turning round ; and watched for a time,
lest they injure themselves by struggling. They must be well
littered, and the turnips placed in the low manger of the stall
before them.

Early in the morning the first operation to be performed is,
to remove the dung from behind the cattle, and to place the
turnips in the stall, the stems and tap-roots having been pre-
viously cut off. While the cattle are feeding, the dung is to
be wheeled out of the house, and deposited in the yard or dung-
pit. When the turnips are eaten up, a little good oat-straw
or hay may be placed before the animals ; and they being now
littered, will soon lie down and chew the cud.

THE OX. 531

At mid-day they are again to be fed as before, and again be-
fore sunset, a little provender of hay and straw being placed
before them after each meal ; and finally, the keeper, before
retiring for the night, is to examine them with a light, see that
all is right, stir their litter, and place a little hay or straw be-
fore them. Under this system the oxen will be fully fed, and
induced during the intervals of feeding to lie down, and left to
repose during the night ; or they will take a little dry food,
should they be inclined to feed. Early in the morning the same
process recommences ; and the utmost regularity is to be ob-
served in these operations, for the animals know the precise
time of feeding, and become restless when it is not observed.
Careful feeders currycomb their cattle in feeding, and in all
cases observe that the skin is kept free from vermin, or other
impurity.

Frequently the turnips are cut into slices by the turnip-slicer,
(Fig. 46.) This, though not essential, is very beneficial, by
enabling the animals to take the turnips more easily into their
mouths, and masticate them. In spring the white turnips de-
cay, and then there should be a succedaneum, first of yellow,
and next of Swedish, turnips, which last retain their juices the
latest in spring.

If the animals are kept in the yards with shelter-sheds, the
principle of feeding is the same as that described ; but the
dung in this case is not removed from the animals, the litter
being spread above it.

An ox of 50 or 60 stones weight will consume about a ton
of turnips in the week, or about an acre in 24 weeks. If he
thrive well, he will gain in weight 14 lb. or more in the week.

Sometimes cattle, especially when tied to the post, are apt to
be choked by a piece of turnip sticking in the throat. In this
case, the common practice is, to endeavour to push the piece of
turnip gently, but firmly, down into the stomach by means of
a flexible stalk, terminating in a round bulb of wood or bone.

The feeding with turnips is the most simple and economical
method practised in this country. Turnips, however, cannot
in all cases be raised in sufficient quantity, and in some cases

l12

532 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

they cannot be produced at all, and then, if a system of feeding
is to be carried on, recourse must be had to other substances.

Mangel-wurzel, the carrot, the parsnep, and the cabbage, are
all suited to the purpose of feeding ; and the manner of con-
suming them is so similar to that of the turnip, that when the
mode of applying the one is known, that of using the others
is easy.

Potatoes are also a nourishing food for ruminating animals.
When given raw, they are applied in the same manner as the
turnip ; but care should be taken to begin somewhat gradually,
because this food is apt to scour and injure cattle at first.
Potatoes and turnips may, with great advantage to cattle, be
given at the same time. Different kinds of food seem to have
an exceeding good effect in promoting the tendency to fatten of
all cattle ; and in the case of feeding with potatoes and turnips,
one meal of the former, and two of the latter, in the day, will
be found to be a good arrangement. Potatoes steamed may be
given to oxen ; but steamed food is never of the same advantage
to ruminating animals, as to animals with single stomachs, as
the horse and the hog.

Bruised corn and meal are occasionally employed in feeding ;
but these are expensive, and only subsidiary to more common
food.

Another species of feeding is the refuse of the distillery.
This consists of the grains of malt after distillation, and of the
wash or liquid refuse, and wherever these can be obtained, they
may be applied to the feeding of cattle with success. They
form a very nutritive food, rejected often at first by the animals,
but afterwards consumed by them with eagerness. The grains
may be given at the rate of from a bushel to a bushel and a
half in the day, with a proper supply of dry food ; the liquid
portion, or wash, is drunk by the animals. The refuse of the
brewery is in like manner used for the fattening of oxen.

Oil-cake is one of the substances employed in feeding. It is
highly nutritive, is greatly relished by cattle, and it never fails
to increase their tendency to fatten when given with their other
food. It may be given in quantities of 2 lb. or more in the

THE OX. Do*i

day, along with any other food. It is frequently given with
hay alone, and the quantity that will feed an ox, is from 12 to
15 lb., with half a stone of hay in the day ; but this is an ex-
pensive feeding, and the better mode of using oil-cake is to
give it in small quantities, with less costly provender. It may
be given with great benefit along with turnips. In this man-
ner the turnips upon a farm may be economised, and a much
greater number of animals matured upon it than would other-
wise be practicable.

Salt should be given to feeding animals. The use of this
universal condiment in the feeding of oxen, has been known
from the earliest times. The quantity given may be from 4
to 5 oz. in the day to old oxen, to yearlings from 2 to 3 oz.,
and to calves ^ oz. All oxen will soon learn to take it if placed
within their reach.

The general method of feeding oxen in this country in sum-
mer, is in the fields in the manner described ; and this is the
more simple and easy method, and that which is the most
likely to be generally followed in a country abounding in pas-
tures. The practice of soiling, however, has been often recom-
mended, and partially adopted, in the feeding of oxen. But
this has usually been in favourable situations with respect to
productiveness of the soil. It is not a practice well suited to
very young stock, which require moderate exercise, and do not
grow so well when kept and fed in this manner, as when allow-
ed to pasture in the fields. Soiling, therefore, when it is prac-
tised in any case, should generally be confined to the older
stock, at the period of their final feeding.

The best method of keeping oxen when soiled is in the same
small sheds and yards as are employed for feeding on turnips.
The food must be carried home, and given to the cattle from
racks, in moderate portions at a time. They must be fed three
times, and may be fed four times, in the day ; and they should
be kept carefully littered. Between the period of consumption
of the first crop of clover or other green forage and the second,
there is sometimes an interval. At this time, therefore, there
must be a supply of other food, as of tares, which, if sown in

534 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the preceding March, will be ready at this time, and will carry
on the cattle until the other forage is ready for being cut a se-
cond time.

The rearing and feeding of cattle has been described from
the birth to the maturity of the animals ; but deviations from
the modes described necessarily take place : — The breeder, in
the case of certain farms, is not the feeder : He merely rears
the animal to the maturity of age, or degree of fatness, which
the nature of his farm allows, while other persons complete
the process of feeding, in the manner which their peculiar si-
tuations render profitable or expedient.

The hardier breeds of the mountains are in general request
for being fed in this manner. They are generally purchased
lean before winter, and taken to all parts of the low country.
They are there fed on straw, or coarse natural hay, during
the first winter, with merely such an allowance of green food
as can be spared ; and they are either grazed and fattened in
the following summer, or fed for another winter and summer,
as suits best with their age and condition.

And not only the mountain breeds, but lean cattle of all
kinds, in a more or less advanced state of age and fatness, are
in the course of being transferred ; and a great part of the
profit of farmers depends upon the skill with which, on the
one hand, they make their purchases, and, on the other, effect
their sales of stock.

Calves, instead of being reared to maturity in the manner
described, are frequently disposed of in a fattened state when
young. The calves, under this system, may be transferred
soon after their birth to the butcher, or they may be fed for a
longer period on milk. In the latter case, they are rarely
good veal in less than 5 or 6 weeks, and the most approved
period for keeping them is 10 weeks. They are fed liberally
on milk ; but linseed cake and other feeding substances may
be also employed. The cribs in which they are kept should
be perfectly dry, well littered, and ventilated.

THE OX. 535

5. Weight of Oxen.

The parts of an ox to which the term offal is usually applied
are the head and feet, the tallow, the hide and horns, and the
entrails.

The fat of an ox, it has been said, is that unctuous sub-
stance which is intermingled with, and surrounds, the muscles
and other parts. That which grows internally is mostly term-
ed tallow, from the uses to which it is applied. The tallow
is generally considered to be of the same value, weight for
weight, as the flesh of the fore-quarters ; and so likewise is the
hide. These and the other parts, termed offal, are commonly
regarded as forming about one-fifth of the value of the animal.
When beef is said to be sold at a certain price sinking the
offals, the meaning merely is, that the whole price of the ani-
mal is reckoned upon the carcass alone ; hence, when beef is
sold at a certain price sinking the offals, that price is more
than if it were sold without including in it the price of the
offals.

That portion of the ox which is used for food, exclusive of
the offals, is usually termed the quarters, because the animal,
on being cut up, is divided into four parts or quarters. The
most esteemed parts for food are the hind-quarters. These
weigh somewhat less than the fore-quarters ; though the more
perfect the form of the animal is, the more nearly do the fore
and hind quarters approach in weight.

Practice enables persons to judge of the weight of animals
by the eye alone ; but it is convenient to be able to ascertain
the weight by measurement. This may be done with consider-
able correctness in the following manner : — When the animal is
standing in a natural position, measure his length in feet from
the foremost upper corner of the shoulder-blade in a straight
line to the hindmost point of the rump; then measure the
girth or circumference immediately behind the fore legs ; mul-
tiply the square of the girth by the length, and this product
by .238, which will give the weight of the quarters in stones of

536 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

14 lb. each. This rule has been arrived at, by regarding the
body of the animal as a cylinder, and determining, by experi-
ment, what proportion, on an average, the actual weight of the
quarters of animals bears to the cylinder.

Another method of ascertaining the weight of fat cattle, is,
by weighing them when alive, and multiplying the gross weight
by .605.* This rule has been arrived at, by determining, from
an average of cases, what proportion the dead weight of the
four quarters is found to bear to the living weight of the
animal.

6. Diseases of Oxen.

The diseases of the larger ruminating animals are not of
very frequent occurrence, although they are often dangerous
and fatal.

A malignant distemper, termed Murrain, has sometimes
made dreadful ravages among the cattle of many countries, re-
turning for successive years to the same country, and sweep-
ing entire generations of cattle away. In the early part of
the 17th century, it long raged on the Continent of Europe,
and when it visited this island, continued its ravages for many
years. But happily, since the period of its first introduction,
its occurrence has only been partial and local.

Cattle are subject to inflammatory diseases, which receive
various names, as quarter-ill, black-quarter, showing-of-blood,
&c. Bleeding at the commencement of these diseases is pro-
per ; but the subsequent treatment depends upon the stages
of the disease at which the remedies are applied, and other
circumstances.

Cattle are subject to colds, which frequently terminate fa-
tally, Colds are brought on, amongst other causes, by sudden
changes of temperature, whether of the atmosphere or of the
place of feeding of the animal. Bleeding may in most of these

* Paper in Quarterly Journal of Agriculture by Mr Fergusson of Wood-
hill.

THE ox. 537

cases be proper, and in all cases shelter should be afforded, and
warm food supplied, as mashes, boiled turnips, and the like.

Cattle are subject to different diseases, which receive the
general name of cholic, or gripes. Diarrhoea and dysentery
are also diseases of cattle, and many diseases might be men-
tioned ; but it would be of no avail to enumerate them, with-
out entering into lengthened details.

In general, what falls within the province of the farmer may
be comprehended under the head of food and general treat-
ment. The medicines which he should venture to administer
should be cautiously given. Where violent inflammatory dis-
eases attack the animal, he may always venture to bleed in the
first stage ; when costiveness occurs, he may administer some
laxative medicine ; when diarrhoea or looseness occurs, he may
give some laudanum, and in all cases mashes of boiled or steam-
ed food. The bleeding of the ox, it is to be observed, should
always be large. It may be continued until the animal ap-
pears to stagger, but then, or whenever the pulse is affected, it
must cease.

One of the most frequent diseases of cattle, with regard to
which the farmer has to act upon the instant, is hoven, or in-
flation of the rumen. The paunch, or first stomach, of rumi-
nating animals, is of large size, and as the green food which is
taken into it is frequently charged with moisture, the stomach
is not only overloaded, and unable to carry on its functions,
but the mass fermenting, air is generated, by which the sto-
mach becomes so distended, that either a rupture of it takes
place, or the animal dies of suffocation. This disease most
frequently occurs when animals are turned into rich succulent
pastures, particularly of clovers, when charged with the morn-
ing dews.

Sometimes powerful stimulants are given to assist the action
of the stomach, and these are often sufficient ; or a hollow
flexible tube is introduced into the stomach through the mouth,
that the air may be permitted to escape. Should this opera-
tion not succeed, then an opening must be instantly made
through the left side into the paunch. This is usually done

.538 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

by a pen-knife, while a quill, or something similar, is intro-
duced, to allow the air to escape. But recently the stomach-
pump has been employed for this and other diseases, and with
the best effects. It is fitted to withdraw instantly the con-
tents of the stomach, and also to inject liquids, so that, when
the mass of the stomach is too hard, the matter may be first
diluted by injected liquids, and then withdrawn. The stomach-
pump is also suited to various diseases of the horse, and may
be formed of smaller size for the sheep ; so that by means of
this instrument, the lives of many valuable animals may be
saved upon a farm.

7. The Dairy.

Milk is a secreted liquid intended for the nourishment of
the young of mammiferous animals, and to this end it is emi-
nently adapted. By agitating this substance, it separates into
two parts, a fluid and a solid. The solid part is butter, having
the properties of an expressed oil. The fluid part is merely
the milk deprived of its butyraceous part ; and when it is ob-
tained by the operation of churning, it receives the name of
butter-milk.

But, if milk is left at rest for a time, it becomes acescent,
and coagulates. This coagulation takes place of itself ; or it
may be produced by adding certain substances to the milk, as
acids, alcohol, the juices of certain plants, and the gastric juice
of animals. The coagulated portion of the milk is curd; which,
when the liquid is expressed from it, forms cheese. The liquid
that is thus separated is termed whey. Whey, therefore, is
milk deprived of its caseous or cheesy matter.

Again, milk, if left at rest for a time, separates into two
parts; a more oily part, which rises to the surface, and is
termed cream ; and a more serous part, which, when the cream
is removed, is termed skimmed milk. A portion of the cream
still remains attached to the more serous milk, and the latter
is a nutritive substance, employed largely as human food, and
for the feeding of calves and other animals.

THE ox. 539

It is from the oily or creamy part that butter is derived. It
may be allowed to rise to the surface, and then, being removed
from the more serous part, be churned, or the whole, namely,
the serous and creamy part, may remain mixed together and
be churned. In either case butter will be obtained. In the
first case, the butter will be of better quality ; in the second,
it will be produced in larger quantity.

The caseous or cheesy matter may be obtained by coagula-
tion from the serous portion of the milk alone. But in this
case it is less rich and grateful ; for when all the creamy part
remains with the milk, a portion of it unites with the cheesy
part. Hence, when it is wished to procure good cheese, the
creamy part is not removed from the milk before coagulation.

The manner of separating either the butyraceous part of the
milk by agitation, or the cheesy matter by coagulation, is so
easy, that it is not surprising that the means of doing so should
be every-where known and practised. Butter and cheese form,
in all the temperate parts of the world, extensive articles of
food ; but in warmer countries, the oil of plants is largely used,
in place of the oily part of milk.

In the practice of the dairy in this country, milk may be
disposed of in three ways.

The first is in the form of milk for food ; and this is the
most profitable where, from the nearness of the market, and the
demand for the produce, it can be adopted. In the vicinity of
towns, accordingly, dairies are formed merely for the produc-
tion of milk ; and these usually form the largest class of dairy
establishments. But the sale of milk in its fresh state is ne-
cessarily limited to a certain circle around the different markets
of consumption.

The next and most profitable production of the dairy is but-
ter in a fresh state. This circle is more extended than that
of milk alone, because butter can be preserved longer, and con-
veyed to a greater distance.

At a greater distance still the produce of the dairy consists
chiefly of cheese, or when butter is produced, it is salted for
preservation, and not disposed of in its fresh state. It is for

540 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the combined production of cheese and butter that dairies are
usually made ; and a dairy, that it may fulfil these purposes,
should consist of several apartments : —

1. The milk-room.

2. The work-room.
S. The store-room.

The milk-room is intended to contain the milk previous to
obtaining from it the cheese or cream. It should have its
windows to the north, and be so formed as to preserve a cool
and equal temperature. It should be well ventilated, kept dry
and clean, and be as much as possible removed from the efflu-
via of putrid substances. The windows should be formed of
gauze-cloth, which may exclude flies but admit the air, and
protected from mice and accidents by a grating of wire. This
apartment should be kept cool in summer, but in winter heat-
ed by a stove or otherwise, so as to maintain a temperature of
from 50° to 55°.

The work-room is that in which the different manual opera-
tions are performed. It is to be fitted up with a boiler to boil
water and heat milk, and it should be of sufficient size to al-
low of performing the operations of churning, cheese-making,
washing the dairy vessels, and the like. But when the dairy
is of the larger size, there should be more than one apartment;
namely, one for churning, one for making the cheese, and one
for cleansing the vessels.

The store-room is intended merely to keep the cheeses when
made. It may be placed wherever convenient, and should
have a certain degree of warmth, without being too much
heated or lighted.

The utensils required for a dairy are : —

1. Milking-pails, which may be formed of wood: 2. Sieves
of hair or wire-gauze, for the purpose of passing the milk
through and retaining the impurities : 3. Vessels for holding
the milk until the cream rises upon the surface, and a vessel for
containing the cream : 4. Flat dishes of willow, ivory, or horn,
for the purpose of skimming the cream from the surface of the
milk : 5. A churn : 6. A wooden vat or tub, in which the milk

THE OX. 541

is placed when the curd is coagulated : 7- A cheese-knife, for
the purpose of cutting or breaking the coagulated curd, that
the whey may be separated : 8. A vessel perforated with holes,
in which the curd may be placed, that it may be broken, and
the serous matter further separated : 9. Wooden vessels, with
perforated side and bottom, in which the curd is placed for
being compressed : 10. A cheese-press.

The utensils more especially employed for the making of
butter are the dishes for holding the milk until the cream se-
parates, the skimming dishes for removing the cream, a vessel
for holding the cream, and the churn.

The dishes for containing the milk are made of various sub-
stances, as marble, slate, tinned iron, earthen ware, and wood.
Lead is sometimes employed, but improperly, as it may be
acted upon by the acid of the milk ; and so likewise may iron,
if not defended by a coating of some substance. The milk
may either be contained in one large vessel or trough, with a
stop-cock at the bottom so that the milk may be withdrawn,
leaving the cream in the trough, or it may be put in separate
shallow vessels. These last have been recently made of cast-
iron, smoothed within and coated with tin ; and more recently
zinc has been employed. Either of these substances is supe-
rior to the more common material, wood. They are more easily
kept clean, and sooner cooled, which contributes to the more
ready separation of the cream.

Churns are of different construction, the most common of
which is that of a plunge-churn, moved by the hand. The
form of this domestic instrument is every-where known. It
consists of a cylindrical vessel of wood, placed upright ; and
the agitation is given to the milk within by a perforated board,
which nearly fits the cylinder, and to which is attached a long
handle. This being moved up and down, agitates the milk
until the butter is separated.

Sometimes in place of a cylinder standing upright, there is
employed a small barrel placed horizontally, and sometimes a
square box. Through the box or barrel there passes a wooden

542

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

axle, to which arms are attached, and motion being given by a
handle, the milk is agitated and the butter separated.

Sometimes in the larger class of dairies, the churn is driven
by machinery. The best principle of construction, it is con-
ceived, is that of the plunge-churn, by which a greater agita-
tion is given to the milk, and the operation more effectively
performed, than by arms revolving in a uniform direction.
The following figures represent a churn of this construction.

Fig. 178.

THE ox. 543

If a water-power is not at command, the machinery may be
driven by a single horse attached to a shaft at the outside of
the building. Motion is conveyed by a lying shaft to the wheel
A, and this, by the pinion B, gives motion to a shaft, on which
is a crank D, as seen in Fig. 179. By this crank, and the con-
necting rod K, motion is conveyed to the beam E, which is thus
alternately raised and depressed. To this beam is attached
the handle F at the two points of the cross-handle G and H.
This handle passes through a hole in the lid of the churn I,
and to the lower part of it is fixed a circular perforated board,
filling the greater part of the churn. Motion being given to
the machine, the handle is raised and depressed, and, by a ra-
pid succession of strokes, the milk is speedily churned. In or-
der to render the strokes longer or shorter, as may be wished,
the end of the connecting-rod K can, by means of the screw L,
be moved nearer to or further from the centre of motion of the
beam. When it is nearer to the centre, the end of the beam
makes a larger sweep, and longer strokes are given by the
handle. The size of the churn may be sufficient to contain 70
gallons of milk or more ; or, there may be two churns, with
handles attached to the same beam. This machine has been
found to be greatly superior in efficiency and despatch to any
that had been before in use.

Butter may be obtained either by separating the cream from
the milk and then churning it, or by churning the milk and
cream together. By the first method the best butter is ob-
tained ; by the second, the largest quantity.

When the first method is practised, that is, when the cream
is churned by itself, the milk, immediately on being brought
from the cow, is put into vessels to cool. These vessels may
either be the large trough referred to, or the shallow separate
vessels. The milk is put into the trough or vessels from 5 to
6 inches deep ; it remains undisturbed for a period of not less
than 24 and not more than 48 hours, the medium being 36.
The cream which has risen to the surface is then separated
from the milk ; in the case of the larger trough, by having the
milk withdrawn by a stop-cock ; and in the case of the smaller

.544 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

vessels, by the cream itself being skimmed off by a flat dish.
The cream is then put into a vessel until a sufficient quantity
of it is collected. Fresh portions of cream are added to this
vessel as they are procured from successive milkings, and the
whole soon acidifies.

After a sufficient quantity of cream has been collected, it
is put into the churn, is then churned, and in the space of
about an hour, the butter will be separated. The best tempera-
ture of the cream for the separation of the butter appears to
be about 60°, and in cold weather it may be raised to this
temperature, or somewhat higher, by the addition of some hot
water, or, when the small churn is used, by plunging the churn
in hot water.

The butter is now removed, and is carefully washed and
kneaded in cold water until all the milk is separated, which
will appear by the water coming off pure. After this the but-
ter is fit for present use, or it may be salted for preservation.

This is the method practised when the cream is churned se-
parately, but when the cream and milk are churned together,
the practice is somewhat different : —

In this case, all the milk of one milking of the cows is put
into the cooling- vessels, so that it may cool down to the tempe-
rature of the milk-house. It is then, with the cream, put into
a large barrel, where it becomes acid, and a slight coagulation
takes place. It may remain in the barrels from two or three
days to a week ; and when a sufficient quantity is collected it
is put into the churn, and, after being churned a few seconds,
is raised to the temperature of from 70° to 75°, by the addi-
tion of hot water. Some do not add hot water ; but the prac-
tice is not injurious, and saves labour. In two or three hours,
when the hand-churn is used, and in an hour or an hour and
a-half when the larger churn, driven by machinery, is employ-
ed, the milk will be sufficiently churned.

By thus churning the whole milk and cream together, a
larger quantity of butter-milk will be procured, and of better
quality, than when the cream is churned separately. The
butter-milk procured in this manner is but slightly acid, and
is a wholesome and agreeable food to those who are used to

THE OX.

545

it ; and it is perfectly nutritious, all the caseous matter of the
milk still remaining.

When the churning process is completed, the butter is, as
in the former case, removed and kneaded in cold water until
all the milk is separated and the water comes off pure. In this
state it may be formed into rolls for present use, or salted for
preservation.

The other preparation of milk is cheese. — Cheese consists of
the caseous matter of milk united to a certain portion of the
oily or creamy part. This oily portion adds to the flavour
and richness of the cheese, and hence, when good cheese is
wanted, the cream should not be separated. Cheese, however,
can be made from milk from which the cream has been removed ;
and it is then termed skimmed-milk cheese. It may even be
made from butter-milk, in which the cheesy part entirely re-
mains. But then, the creamy part being more withdrawn than
in the case of skimmed-milk, the cheese wants still more the
properties and flavour which are valued in this species of food.

For the making of cheese, the utensils usually required are :
— a large tub, in which the milk is coagulated, and the curd
broken ; the cheese-knife, sometimes of wood and sometimes of
iron, with one or more blades for cutting the curd and allow-
ing the whey to separate ; wooden dishes for removing the
whey ; generally another wooden vessel perforated with holes,
for further expressing the whey ; small circular vats, in which
the cheese is placed that it may be compressed; and finally, the
cheese-press.

Cheese-presses are of different forms. They are generally
made to act upon the curd by the continued pressure of a
weight. The most simple, perhaps, is a long beam, made to
act as a lever, the cheese to be compressed being placed in its
vat, between the weight and the fulcrum, thus —

Fig. 180.

AI m

546

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

But more complex forms of the cheese-press, and, in some
cases, more convenient, may be adopted. The following figure
represents a press, in which the weight is attached to a lever,
and acts on a board which is placed above the curd, by a series
of intermediate wheels and teeth :

The coagulation of the Fig. isi.

milk is produced by various
substances, but the most ap-
proved is rennet, which is
prepared from the stomach
of a young calf. This sub-
stance may be obtained as
follows : —

The stomach of a new-
killed calf, with its contents,
consisting chiefly of coagu-
lated milk, is to be taken.
The matter of the stomach
is to be preserved, separat-
ing merely any indigested

substances, as straw and the like, that may be mixed with it.
It will add to the quantity of rennet obtained to feed the animal
largely with milk, some hours before it is killed. A few hand-
fuls of salt are to be put into the stomach and all around it.
It is then to be rolled up, and hung near a fire to dry ; and its
quality will improve by hanging it up a year or more before it
is used. It is the gastric juice in this rennet which produces
the coagulation of the milk.

When the rennet is prepared for use, it is cut into small
pieces and put into a jar, with a handful or two of salt. Wa-
ter, which had been previously boiled and cooled again, is then
poured upon it, and allowed to remain for two or three days.
It is then drawn off, and a second infusion made, but with a
smaller quantity of water. This also remains a few days, and
being withdrawn, the two liquors are mixed together, strained
through a cloth, and put into bottles, to be used when required.

The usual manner of making cheese is the following : —

THE ox. 547

The milk is put into a large tub, and this as soon after being
obtained from the cows as possible. If there is a sufficient
number of cows upon the farm to produce one cheese at a milk-
ing, the process is performed immediately on the milk being
brought from the cows. The milk, after being strained through
a sieve, is put into a vat, and while yet warm, a table-spoonful
or two of the rennet is mixed with it, after which the coagula-
tion soon takes place.

But if there be not a sufficient number of cows to make a
cheese each time they are milked, then the milk, as it is brought
from the cows, is put into the milk-vessels until as much is
collected as will form a cheese. When the cheese is ready to
be made, the cream is skimmed off, and as much of the milk is
heated separately as, when added to the mass again, will raise
it to about 90°. The cream which has been separated is then
either mixed with this heated milk, and so liquefied and dis-
solved in it ; or it is not added to the general mass until the
heated milk has been added.

The curd being fully formed, it is cut in various directions
with the cheese-knife, so as to allow the whey to exude ; and
the whey is then lifted out in flat dishes, the curd at the same
time undergoing a gentle pressure. The curd is then cut into
small pieces by the cheese-knife, and put into a sieve or vat with
holes, and then repeatedly cut, pressed by the hand, and bro-
ken, until it ceases to give off any serous matter. It is last of
all cut very small by the cheese-knife, and a quantity of salt,
in the proportion of about half an ounce to a pound of cheese,
being mixed with it, it is wrapped in a piece of cloth, and then
put into a small wooden vessel with circular holes at the sides
and bottom, and placed in the cheese-press.

The time during which the cheese remains in the press is de-
pendent upon the nature of the cheese and the degree of pre-
vious manipulation which it had undergone. In some of the
finer and richer cheeses, the pressure is very slight, and in some
cases the cheese-press is altogether dispensed with.

But in ordinary cases, the cheese being wrapped in a cloth,
and put into its vat with a board above it to fit the vat, remains

m m 2

548 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

in the press from one to two hours. It is then taken out, bro-
ken again by the hand, wrapped in fresh cloth, and replaced
in the cheese-vat ; and sometimes it is not broken, but merely
reversed. It may then be taken out every five or six hours,
and the cloth changed. After being pressed in this manner for
two or three days, the operation will be complete. The cheese
may then be kept in a warm place for some time till dry, and
ultimately placed in the store-room for preservation.

But great variations take place in the manner of performing
the operation of the cheese manufacture ; and certain districts
are distinguished by their peculiarities of practice. In Eng-
land, more care is generally employed than is thought neces-
sary under the system of management adopted in the dairy-
districts of Scotland.*

The richness and flavour of cheese very much depend upon
the quantity of cream which the milk contains. In some of
the districts of England most celebrated for rich cheese, the
cream of one milking is skimmed off and mixed with the en-
tire milk of the subsequent milking. In this way the milk
which produces cheese has its own cream and that also of a
previous milking.

It is a frequent practice to colour the milk, so as to give a
red tinge to the cheese. This is now generally done by a pre-
paration of the red pulp surrounding the seeds of the arnotta
tree. This adds nothing to the goodness of the cheese, but the
mixture is harmless.

The residuum, after the separation of the curd, it has been
said, is whey. The substance is chiefly employed to feed hogs,
and is exceedingly well suited to that purpose.

These are the principal details which it is thought necessary
to give regarding the preparation of these salutary and nutri-
tive substances. By means of the dairy, a larger quantity of
nutriment can be obtained from the consumption of an equal
quantity of herbage than by any other species of feeding. The
dairy forms an important branch of public industry, and con-

* Account of Cheshire by Mr Holland. Account of the Dairy Husbandry
of Ayrshire by Mr Aiton.

THE OX. 549

tributes in a material degree to the support of the inhabitants
of this and other countries of Europe.

In the practice of the farm, where the main end is rearing
animals for feeding, the kinds of animals will be selected for
breeding which are the best suited for that purpose ; and the
production of milk will be regarded as secondary and subordi-
nate. But when the principal end is the production of milk,
then animals will be selected the best adapted for yielding rich
and plentiful milk.

The form of animals that are best fitted to arrive at early
maturity and secrete fat, differs in some respects from that
which indicates a disposition to secrete and yield milk. A
dairy-cow, like a feeding animal, should have a skin soft and
mellow to the touch, — should have the back straight, the loins
broad, the extremities small and delicate ; but she need not,
as in the case of the feeding animal, have the chest broad and
prominent before. She should rather have the fore-quarters
light, and the hind-quarters relatively broad, capacious, and
deep ; and she should have a large well- formed udder. There
should be no breeding in-and-in, as in the case of a feeding
stock. The purpose in rearing cows for the dairy is not to
produce animals that will arrive at premature age, but such as
are hardy and of good constitution. By long attention to the
characters that indicate a disposition to yield milk, the breed
of Ayrshire has become greatly more esteemed for the dairy
than other animals much superior to them in size and feeding
qualities.

With respect to the manner of feeding the cows of the dairy,
the most economical, perhaps, is feeding them entirely on
green forage during the summer, and in winter on carrots, po-
tatoes, parsneps, and cabbages ; or chaff and similar substances
steamed ; or coarse meal, bruised beans, and other farinaceous
food ; or distillers1 wash, and other nutritive substances. This
is the manner of feeding adopted in the large dairy establish-
ments of towns ; and it is the practice pursued in various parts
of Europe.

But in a country of abundant pastures and enclosures, the

550 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

cows may be allowed to pasture in summer, and be only stall-
fed in winter. This is the practice adopted in most of the
dairy districts of this country. During the heat of summer,
however, the cows should be housed during the heat of the
day, and fed at that time on green forage, and turned out to
pasture only in the cool of the evening.

In winter, the cows of a common dairy may be fed on cab-
bages, potatoes, and the like ; and it is a good practice in
many cases to steam a portion of their food, and to mix salt
with it, at the rate of from 2 oz. to 3 oz. in the day for each
cow.

In summer, the cows are either milked in the field, or they
are driven gently home to the dairy and milked close to it.
Many skilful dairy-farmers prefer this practice, in order that
the time of the milkers may be saved, and the milk transferred
speedily to the vessels of the dairy. The cows, when in full
milk, should be milked three times in the day, and at other
times twice in the day will suffice.

The quantity of milk yielded by cows varies greatly with the
health, constitution, and treatment of the animals. After
calving the cow yields her milk in the largest quantity. She
after a time yields less and less until she approaches the pe-
riod of bringing forth her young, for six weeks or more pre-
vious to which she tends to become dry ; and this natural pro-
vision should be favoured, and not prevented, as is sometimes
attempted. If a cow is not in calf, she continues to yield milk
for a long period, sometimes for several years.

On a well managed dairy-farm, where a proper breed of
dairy-cows exists, and where the cows are fed on herbage and
green forage in summer, and stall-fed in winter, the average
yearly produce may be reckoned at from 600 to 800 gallons
for each cow. Somewhat more than 2 gallons of milk will
yield about 1 lb. of butter ; and about 1 gallon of milk will
yield 1 lb. of cheese.

( 551 )

III. THE SHEEP.
1. Species and Varieties.

The origin of the domestic sheep has been sought for by na-
turalists in various wild races : —

1. Ovis musimon — The Musmon.

2. Ovis ammon — The Argali.

3. Ovis tragelaphus — The Bearded Sheep of Africa.

The Musmon of the Mediterranean islands is yet found
wild in Corsica and Sardinia, in the mountains of European
Turkey, in Crete, and other islands of the Archipelago. It
does not differ greatly in its characters, but it differs widely
in its habits, from the domestic races of Europe.

The Argali or Wild Sheep of Asia, inhabits the mountains
of Central Asia, and the elevated plains of Siberia northwards
to Kamschatka. It has horns of great length ; its colour is
gray, and it is covered with wool beneath a close hair.

The Bearded Sheep of Africa is found in Barbary and the
mountainous parts of Egypt.

To these wild races might be ' added Ovis montana, the
Rocky-mountain Sheep of America, an animal of great size,
and inhabiting the mountainous parts of North America. But
it is believed that the Rocky-mountain sheep of America is not
specifically distinct from the argali of Asia.

These are the wild animals of the race of sheep that have
been yet discovered. Which of them, if any, has given rise to
the domestic races has been matter of dispute. In different
countries different kinds of sheep are domesticated, and may
have been derived from the wild races in the countries where
they are found, and in some cases produced by intermixtures
which cannot be traced.

The domestic sheep of Europe is usually termed Oris aries.
The female goes with young twenty-one weeks, and generally
brings forth her young in spring. She produces nnfi, and often

552 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

two, but rarely more than two, at a birth. She yields milk
in quantity sufficient to nourish her young. Her milk pro-
duces little cream ; but the quantity of caseous matter which
it yields is comparatively large. This, when made into cheese,
is wholesome, but strong-tasted.

The sheep appears to attain his most perfect state as to size
and form in the temperate zone. He is there covered with
wool, whereas in warmer countries he is more covered with
hair, as he also partially is in the colder countries, where his
size is likewise diminutive. The wool of the sheep for the most
part falls off and is renewed every year ; and the period of its
falling off is early in summer.

In its natural state the sheep has horns ; but in the domes-
ticated races the horns frequently disappear, and the most
valued breeds are entirely destitute of them. The sheep is a
very hardy creature with regard to the effects of temperature,
its thick coat of wool defending it well from cold and moisture.
It has been known to live for a long time under snow. It is a
harmless and timid creature, and in its domesticated state is
dependent upon man for protection and food. In mountainous
countries, however, where it is less domesticated, and must
trust greatly to its own resources, it manifests its instinctive
powers of self-protection. It scratches up the snow with its
feet in search of food : it is conscious of an impending storm,
and takes the means to secure itself from its violence : it is
wary and vigilant, and numbers have been known to combine
for defence against beasts of prey. But though, under these
circumstances vigilant, and in cases of necessity bold, all the
habits of this creature lead it to submit to the dominion of
man, and from the earliest times accordingly it has been the
subservient instrument of our race.

Whether the wild race of sheep be all of one species, as
some naturalists suppose, or of different species, as others
maintain, the domestic races with which we are familiar in
this island are of one species ; and what we term breeds are
merely varieties produced by different conditions of situation,
food, and culture.

THE SHEEP. 553

1. The Shetland and Orkney breed.

2. The Welsh breeds.

3. The Black-faced Heath breed.

4. The Cheviot breed.

5. The Southdown breed.

6. The Ryeland breed.

7. The Horned varieties of the Fine-woolled Sheep of Norfolk,

Wiltshire, and Dorset.

8. The Merino breed.

9. The Dartmoor and Exmoor breeds.

10. The Old Lincolnshire breed, the Romney-marsh breed, and the

Devonshire Notts.

11. The New Leicester breed.

12. The Cotswold breed.

The Shetland and Orkney sheep exist in the islands from
which they take their name. They are essentially the same
in the various islands, though, in most cases, they have been
more or less crossed with stranger blood. The pure breed is
of the variety of short-tailed sheep, which exist in Norway and
other parts of the north of Europe. They are amongst the
least of our races of sheep. Their fur consists of a fine soft
wool, mixed more or less with hair. It is of various colours,
white, black, or yellowish-brown ; and often it is of a mixed
colour of white and black. It is the Shetland variety which
is the most noted for the fineness of its wool. All these sheep
are hardy, and suited to the exposed country and barren pas-
tures where they are reared. They would doubtless enlarge
in size were they naturalized in a lower country ; but it does
not appear that any purpose of useful economy would be served
by extending them to other parts of the country. It is rather
to be desired that the native stock shall be improved, or a
superior one substituted.

The sheep of Wales form several groups. One of these is
found in numbers on the slaty mountains of South Wales. The
sheep are of small size and peculiar form, the hinder extremi-
ties being long, as if to fit them for vaulting as well as running.
The ram has generally thin white horns ; the females are des-
titute of horns. The wool is short, soft, and much mixed with

554 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

hair, and underneath the chin the hair prevails so greatly as to
form a kind of beard. The colour of the fleece is frequently
dun, brown, or black, and, like the other sheep of Wales, the
animals tend to throw off the wool of the neck and shoulders
early in spring ; for which reason these parts are clipped be-
fore winter, and hence it is, too, that the practice of " wool-
gathering11 still exists in Wales. These little sheep are ex-
ceedingly wild and shy. They rise on their hind legs to browse
like goats, and they crop the tops of shrubs and grasses.
Their mutton is excellent, and numbers of them are fed in all
the adjacent plains for the consumption of the capital and
other opulent towns. The Old Radnor Sheep resemble these
in their general characters, but they are somewhat larger in
size, and superior in form. The old Radnors, however, are
scarcely now to be found in a state of purity, and the modern
Radnors are the result of crosses between the ancient race and
the Shropshire and other sheep of the lower country.

The Black-faced Heath Sheep are the natural inhabitants
of a country of mountains and heaths. Their wool, though
shaggy and coarse, is light, weighing from 3 to 4 lb. the fleece.

They are of the smaller class of sheep, but hardy, bold, and
active : they have horns, and the legs and faces are black :
they feed readily when brought to good pastures, and their
mutton is in great esteem.

This race of mountain sheep is found on the moorlands of
Yorkshire, on the highlands of Cumberland and Westmore-
land, on the mountains of the south of Scotland, in Argyllshire,
and all northwards through the Western and Central High-
lands. The best examples of the breed are usually found in
Tweeddale and the adjacent districts.

For an elevated and rugged country, where the chief pasture
is heath, this breed is exceedingly well suited. The objection
to it is the little value of the fleece, which is the coarsest of
the wools produced in this country. This circumstance has in
many districts caused a substitution of the Cheviot for the black-
faced breed. But although the Cheviot breed is superior to
the black-faced in weight and value of the wool, it is not pos-

THE SHEEP. 555

sessed of the same hardy qualities, and the black-faced may
therefore be cultivated with advantage in situations to which
the Cheviot is unsuited.

The black-faced breed though well defined, loses many of
its characters when naturalized in a low, marshy, or less heathy
district. Its wool becomes less coarse ; the darkness of its
colour diminishes ; its legs and face become spotted and gray ;
and its horns sometimes disappear. Hence this breed is in
some places so changed in its external characters as to have
lost much of its resemblance to the parent stock.

The next to be mentioned of the mountain breeds is the
Cheviot, so termed from its being reared in the mountains
round Cheviot ; whence it has been very widely extended to
other elevated districts.

The Cheviot sheep are heavier than the black-faced. They
are without horns, and the wool is fine. They are hardy, ac-
tive, and well suited to an elevated country.

The mountains where this race of sheep is indigenous, though
high, are mostly covered with green sward, and thus differ
from the heathy mountains of other parts. The nature of this
range of pasturage may have contributed to give its peculiar
character to the breed, and considerable care has for many
years been bestowed by breeders on its improvement. In these
improvements, attention having been more directed to the form
and size of the animals than to the quality of the wool, the
latter has increased in quantity though it has diminished in
fineness. The Cheviot breed presents somewhat different cha-
racters, according to the nature of the country where it is
reared, and the views of breeders. In those cases where arti-
ficial food can be supplied in considerable quantity, breeders
prefer a larger form of the animal, with shorter legs. On more
elevated pastures, and under less favourable circumstances,
they are chosen of a lighter form and with longer limbs.

The properties to be desired in a mountain breed are, that
it shall be hardy, of good form, of sufficient size, and with
good wool; and for a combination of these qualities, the

556 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

mountain breed of the Cheviots has certainly not been surpas-
sed in these islands.

The Southdown is a breed of fine-woolled sheep, extensive-
ly spread over the south-eastern counties of England. They
may be said to be proper to the chalky districts, although now
carried to other parts. They are without horns, their legs
and faces are gray, and until improved by breeding, they have
the light fore-quarters of mountain sheep. Their wool is short
and of good quality, and their flesh is of excellent flavour.
They are kindly feeders, and well suited to an extensive range
of the lighter soils.

These sheep have been reared from time immemorial on the
chalky soils of Sussex, whence they have been spread into
other districts ; and their general diffusion has effected a great
change on the short-woolled breeds of this country. A con-
siderable proportion of the breed has been little improved ;
but another part has been brought, by the care and skill of
breeders, to the highest perfection of form and fattening pro-
perties. But in these improvements attention having been
mainly directed to the properties of form, the fineness of the
wool has been somewhat diminished, though its quantity has
increased.

The Eyeland, forming the ancient breed of Herefordshire, is
early mentioned amongst the fine-woolled sheep of England.
This pretty breed has nearly merged in the crosses that have
been formed with it, and remnants only of the pure Ryelands
remain. They are of small size and destitute of horns. Their
wool is exceedingly fine, weighing about 2 lb. the fleece. They
are kindly feeders, and their mutton is excellent. The Rye-
lands were extensively crossed with the Spanish Merinos soon
after the introduction of the latter into England, and the pro-
duce was brought into notice under the name of Merino-Rye-
land or Anglo-Merino. Great exertions were made to ex-
tend this new cross ; but though good wool was produced,
the breed itself quickly declined in favour. The effects of these
and other crosses, are still to be traced in a mixed race of de-
scendants. But it is to be regretted that the old breed should

THE SHEEP. 557

now be so nearly lost. The defect of the Ryeland was the
smallness of its size, but by judicious crossing, this defect
might have been corrected in the progeny, and the Ryeland
made the basis of a useful breed of fine-woolled sheep.

Certain varieties of short-woolled sheep in England form a
group more allied to the sheep of the mountains, lower moors,
and downs, than to the larger sheep of the plains. These are
the horned sheep of Norfolk, Wiltshire, and Dorset.

The Norfolk is a remarkable race of sheep occupying chiefly
the higher lands of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge. They
are a powerful race of animals, with long muscular limbs, and
with horns which in the male are very long and twisted.
Their legs and faces are entirely black ; their wool is short
and fitted for the making of cloths. They are of a wild and
restless habit. They afford admirable first crosses, for the
markets of consumption, with the Leicester and Southdown
sheep, and in an especial manner with the Southdown ; but
from the effects of this system long continued, the pure old
Norfolk is in danger of being lost as a separate variety.

The Old Wiltshire at no distant time occupied nearly the
whole of the county of that name. They are now almost extinct
as a separate variety, having merged in the crosses that have
been made with them, or given entire place to the Southdowns.
They were the largest of the fine-woolled sheep of England.
They were of an exceedingly coarse form. Their heads were
large, their limbs thick, and the rams had strong horns.
Their fleeces weighed about 2\ lb. ; but their bellies were al-
most destitute of wool. They were very slow feeders, but
their mutton was good, and the wethers arrived at consider-
able weight.

The Dorset breed, so named from the county of Dorset,
has been carried to other parts chiefly within a circuit round
London. The male and female have short horns ; their legs
and faces are white. Their wool is good, weighing from 3 to
4 lb. the fleece and upwards. They have a resemblance
in form to the Spanish Merinos. The females are prolific
and abound in milk, and are remarkable for their tendency

558 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

to receive the male at almost any season. On this account
they are employed to yield lambs for winter consumption;
but the rams employed for this purpose are not usually the
Dorset, but the Leicester or the Southdown.

Allied to the Dorsets, and employed for the same purposes,
are the pink-nosed Somerset. These are believed to yield
a larger lamb, but not to be such good feeders or nurses as the
true Dorset.

The Spanish Merino breed, now partially naturalized, was in-
troduced into this country in the year 1788. Soon afterwards
the rams were made to cross the Ryeland, the Southdown, and
other fine-woolled breeds of England. King George III. had
introduced rams of the Merino breed from Spain, and culti-
vated it with care. In the year 1804, the sales which then
began of his Majesty's stock attracted great attention to the
breed ; and, in the year 1811, a society was formed for the
purpose of encouraging and extending it.

The result of the crosses with the native sheep did not fulfil
the expectations formed. The wool of the native sheep was
indeed improved in quality ; but this was accompanied by de-
fects in the characters of the animals themselves not to be
compensated by the increased value of the fleece. The sheep
of the mixed breed nearly all proved defective in their forms,
slow feeders, and less hardy than the parent stock.

But it must be observed of these experiments, that they
were too casually pursued, and too hastily abandoned, to
be decisive. It was only by long perseverance that a new
breed, from such dissimilar parents, could be supposed to be
formed.

Flocks, however, of the pure Merinos have been preserved,
and the progeny of these has remained superior to the new or
cross-breeds. The naturalized Merinos retain their natural
characters, though the wool becomes longer and heavier than
in Spain, and the body more large. But the entire form of the
Merino as a feeding animal is bad, the animal small, and the
return in mutton deficient both in quantity and value. It is
vain that some breeders still contend for the superiority of the

THE SHEEP. 559

pure Merinos ; the general judgment of farmers is against them,
and with perfect reason.

Could the breeders of this country look more to the fleece
than the weight and value of the animal, as in Spain and the
parts of Germany where the Merinos have been naturalized,
the culture of the breed might become profitable. But the
breeder in England finds it his interest to direct attention main-
ly to the weight and value of the flesh ; and while this is so, it
will be more advantageous that this country import the wool
of other countries, than that the feeders either adopt an inferior
animal, like the Merino, or sacrifice the more essential proper-
ties of the native sheep.

A class of mountain sheep to be mentioned consists of two
remarkable groups, the Dartmoor and the Exmoor, so named
from the districts which they respectively inhabit. The one
is found on the high granitic range around the forest of Dart-
moor ; and the other on a no less sterile tract at the source of
the river Exe, on the confines of Somersetshire. The Dartmoor
sheep have white faces and legs, and the males have horns.
They produce excellent mutton, which has been long known in
London under the name of Oakhampton mutton, the animals
being killed there, and their carcasses carried thence to London.
But the term Oakhampton mutton is applied also to the Ex-
moor sheep killed at the same place, as well as to the crosses
between these two breeds respectively and the larger sheep of
the lower country. These wild little sheep are reared in their
native pastures of heath, and fattened in the lower country.
They are gradually disappearing in consequence of the effects
of crossing. They are chiefly crossed by the Southdown or
Leicester, and the crosses with the Leicester are preferred.
The Exmoor are yet smaller, more mid, and more untractable
than the Dartmoor. Both males and females have horns,
with white faces and legs. Their wool is long and soft. The
males are distinguished by a beard beneath the chin. These
sheep are, like the Dartmoor, rapidly disappearing by the
effects of crossing ; they are giving place to other breeds, and

oCO REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

especially to the Cheviots, which have been introduced into
this district with great advantage.

The races of sheep that have been referred to may be said
to be proper to the mountains, lower moors, and chalky downs.
The sheep of the lower country are usually of a larger size,
and more productive of flesh and wool, and they are all desti-
tute of horns.

The breeds of this class to be here referred to are the Old
Lincoln, the Romney-Marsh, the Devonshire Notts, the New
Leicester, and the Ootswold.

The Old Lincoln formed a race of coarse heavy sheep, bear-
ing an enormous fleece of long wool. In this respect they were
the most remarkable sheep in Europe. But few of the ancient
stock remain, nearly all having been crossed more or less by
the lighter sheep of modern times. These crosses, however,
are still a very weighty race of animals, and afford large sup-
plies to London and other markets of consumption. They are
fed in numbers on the rich marshes of the Thames and else-
where. They frequently weigh from 50 to 60 lb. per quarter.

The Romney-marsh is the term applied to the race of heavy
sheep kept from time immemorial on the alluvial tract on the
southern coast of Kent termed Romney-marsh. The sheep of
this rich tract are large, yielding a heavy fleece of long wool.
The older Romney-marsh sheep, though esteemed by the
butchers, were regarded as being very defective in form ; as
having narrow breasts, large bellies, and coarse extremities.
It is long since they have been crossed by the new Leicester,
which had the effect of diminishing their size and lessening the
quantity of their wool, but of improving their general form,
and giving them a better disposition to fatten. It was found,
however, that, besides the decrease of weight and deterioration
of the fleece, the cross breed was less suited to the cold open
pastures of the marsh. They were driven into the ditches by
the strong south-westerly gales. The breeders of the Romney-
marsh, therefore, now abstain from crossing, and endeavour to
revert more to the characters of the original breed.

THE SHEEP. 561

The Devonshire-Notts formed a race of long-woolled sheep
proper to the lower parts of Devonshire. There used to be
two varieties, the Dun-faced Nott, and the Bampton-Nott.
They formed a clumsy race of sheep, with thick skins, bearing
long close wool. They are now nearly extinct in their pure
state, having been almost universally crossed by the New Lei-
cester. These crosses have been singularly beneficial, the re-
sult being a race of long-woolled sheep of great size and good
form. Many of the sheep of Devonshire are now to be ranked
amongst the largest in the kingdom.

To these breeds might be added others which may be rather
said to have once existed than to be now found. Such were
the Old Warwickshire, the wool of which resembled that of
the New Leicester, the Old Leicester, which has merged in
the modern breed, and the Old Teeswater, which in like man-
ner has had its characters entirely modified by the effects of
crossing. These last were the long-woolled sheep of the dis-
trict of the Tees. They were a very large race of sheep, ar-
riving at great weight, and being very prolific of lambs. The
wool produced was long and heavy to the fleece. The traces
of this breed are now only to be recognised in the flocks of
a few breeders, distinguished by the superior size of the ani-
mals.

The New Leicester is frequently termed the Dishley breed,
from having been produced by Robert Bakewell of Dishley, in
the county of Leicester. This gentleman was the son of a con-
siderable farmer, and, about the year 1755, began to turn his
attention to those improvements in the form of animals, by
which he became so distinguished. The precise steps which he
followed in the forming of his breed of sheep are not known,
as he chose to observe an entire mystery on the subject, and
left not a single written memorial behind him of his curious and
important experiments. It has been supposed that he derived
some of his first sheep from Lincolnshire, and this is rendered
probable by an admission in one of his own letters ; but it is
rather to be believed, that the Warwickshire and other long-
woolled sheep of the midland counties, were resorted to as the

N n

562 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

chief basis of his unrivalled stock. It may be too, that there
was a slight intermixture with the blood of some of the finer
woolled sheep, of which the records are now for ever lost. But
whatever were the steps which Mr Bakewell pursued, it was by
breeding from animals of the form required, until he arrived at
the properties aimed at, in the progeny, that he gradually cor-
rected the defects, and improved the form, of the animals. He
was well aware of the external characters which indicate a dis-
position to fatten, and, by a steady course of selection continued
during a lifetime, he obtained animals of superior feeding pro-
perties to any that had been before cultivated. By constantly
breeding, too, from individuals of his own flock, and conse-
quently near of blood to one another, he gave a permanence to
the characters of his breed which it retains to the present
hour. Mr Bakewell adopted the practice of letting out his
rams for the season, and this contributed to the general dif-
fusion of his breed. Successors to Mr Bakewell have con-
tinued the same system, and bestowed the utmost care in
maintaining the purity of their flocks; and thus, from the
county of Leicester as a centre, this breed has spread to every
part of England where the breeders have thought fit to receive
it. It has entirely changed the character of the greater part
of the long- woolled breeds of this kingdom, and been mainly in-
strumental in causing that substitution of long-woolled for
short-woolled sheep, which has taken place to a great extent
throughout England.

The sheep of the New Leicester breed are inferior in size to
the other varieties they have supplanted. The wool is but of
moderate quality, and in weight it falls short of that of the lar-
ger breeds. The value of the breed, therefore, does not con-
sist in the size of the individuals, or the quality or abundance
of their wool, but in early maturity and aptitude to fatten. In
these latter properties the New Leicester has not been surpassed
by any other breed of cultivated sheep.

The Cotswold sheep, although the inhabitants of low hills,
must be classed with the sheep of the plains. They inhabit
the calcareous tract of country which forms the east part of

THE SHEEP. 060

Gloucestershire. They are of massy form and bear long wool.
The older breed has been universally crossed with the New Lei-
cester, and has been lessened in size, although doubtless improv-
ed in form. But the modern Cotswolds are still a very weighty
race of sheep. Their wool is longer than that of the New
Leicester, but not so line. They are hardy, prolific of lambs,
and good nurses, and the lambs are early clothed with a thick
fleece. They have a tendency to accumulate fat on the rump.
They are nothing like so perfect in form as the New Leices-
ter, but their hardiness, prolificness and size, give them a claim
to attention amongst the superior breeds of this country. The
system of crossing with the New Leicester began about 50
years ago ; but for a considerable period past, the tendency
of breeders has been to preserve the breed from further inter-
mixture, and to revert to the standard of the older race.

The breeds of sheep, then, of this country, may be divided
into two classes, — the sheep of the mountains, lower moors,
and downs, — and the sheep of the plains.

The sheep of the first class have sometimes horns and some-
times want horns. The finest of them have no horns, namely,
the Cheviot and the Southdown. One of them, the black-
faced heath breed, has coarse wool : the Dartmoor and Ex-
moor sheep, have long but not coarse wool ; and all the others
have short wool.

Of the moorland and down breeds, as they may be called,
the hardiest is the black-faced heath breed, and this property
points it out as the most suitable for a high and rugged country,
where artificial food cannot be procured.

The breed next to this in hardy properties, but surpassing
it in the weight of the individuals, is the Cheviot. Where
the pasture contains a sufficiency of grasses, this breed deserves
the preference over any other known to us for a mountainous
country.

The next breed meriting extensive cultivation is the South-
down. This breed is suited to a lower range of country than
the Cheviot and heath sheep. To the chalky and sandy downs.

N n 2

504 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

where it is indigenous, no breed can be better fitted, and it
may be carried far beyond these limits : but it is unsuited to
the more rough and elevated pastures, to which the black-
faced and Cheviot are adapted.

These are the moorland and down breeds, which appear to
be the most deserving of cultivation in this country. Of the
larger breeds of the plains, the New Leicester is well adapted
to general cultivation ; and, wherever an improved system of
tillage is established, may be introduced.

2. Improvement of Breeds.

The breed of sheep to be reared in any case must be select-
ed according to the nature of the pastures, and the artificial
means possessed of supplying food. If a mountain breed is
selected for rearing on a low arable farm, then the advantage
is lost which the farm possesses of producing a larger and finer
class of animals. If, on the other hand, a lowland breed is car-
ried to a mountain farm, an error of a different kind, but yet
more hurtful, is committed ; for a fine stock will be ruined if
placed in circumstances where it cannot be maintained.

The breed, then, being selected which is the best suited to
the circumstances in which it is to be placed, the province of
the breeder is to breed from the best individuals.

Disposition to fatten, and early maturity, are the properties
most regarded in sheep to be reared for food. But the pro-
perty of yielding good and abundant wool is not to be disre-
garded ; and there is another property essential in the rearing
of this class of animals, namely, hardiness and sound health of
individuals.

In the case of the sheep as of the ox, refinement in breed-
ing may be carried too far, and with more danger. By breed-
ing from animals near of blood, the same means exist in the
case of the sheep as of the ox, of giving that prematurity of
age which produces fineness of the bones, and a disposition to
fatten. But it is attended, too, with the same effect, of ren-
dering the animals more delicate, and subject to diseases. It

THE SHEEP

565

seems a violence done to nature, when carried too far, and tho
animals show the effects of it by becoming too fine in their
skins, by ceasing to produce wool in sufficient quantity, by the
females ceasing to yield milk, and by the males becoming at
length unable to continue their species.

Whenever, then, the sheep of any flock become too near of
blood, the breeder should resort to the best animals of another
family, but of the same breed, to continue his stock. This
species of crossing is now easy, since there is scarce any of the
cultivated breeds of which superior males may not be procured
from other flocks. In the case of the New Leicester, so widely
diffused and highly improved, no necessity can exist for breed-
ing from animals too nearly allied*

3. Form.

In the sheep, as in other animals, certain external charac-
ters indicate a disposition to fatten, and at an early age.
Other characters indicate a disposition to produce wool, and
the quantity of wool, it has been said, is not to be disregarded
in the rearing of the sheep. But the main purpose in rearing
the sheep in this country being for food, the province of the
breeder is to accomplish this object with as little sacrifice as
possible of the secondary qualities.

A property that indicates a tendency to fatten in the sheep
as in the ox, is a general rotundity of form and fineness of the
bones. The chest should be broad, the ribs well arched, and
the back and loins accordingly broad, flat, and straight. The
sheep, like the ox, occupies, independently of the neck and
head, nearly a rectangle, and the larger the proportion of this
rectangle which the body occupies, the more perfect is his form
as a feeding animal. His body, therefore, should be large in
proportion to his limbs, or, in other words, his limbs should
be short in proportion to his body ; his breast should be well
forward, and his belly straight ; his head should be small and
his ears thin ; his limbs to the joint should be fleshy, below
delicate and covered with short hair : his skin should be soft

566 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

and elastic ; his wool soft to the touch, thick, and coming well
forward to the face, but not covering it : his face and forehead
should be covered thickly with short hair, and his eyes, as in-
dicative of health, should be lively.

4. Rearing and Feeding.

In the rearing and feeding of sheep, the system to be adopt-
ed must depend upon the nature of the farm, and the kind of
stock. The treatment of mountain-sheep in an elevated coun-
try is, of necessity, very different from that of the larger sheep
on an arable farm. It is the rearing and feeding of the latter
which may be first considered.

The female sheep are ready to receive the ram in October,
or sooner ; but the precise period is determined by the forward
condition and constitution of the animals. A medium period
is from the 5th to the 10th of October, in which case the ewes
will begin to lamb previous to the beginning of March, and
the principal period of lambing be in the early part of that
month.

To prepare the ewes, they should receive good feeding for a
time previous to the male being introduced ; and, for this pur-
pose, they may be turned upon the stubbles where the young
grass is for a fortnight before. The ram is put into the field
where the ewes are pasturing, and herds along with them. He
covers them as they come into season ; and 1 ram is consider-
ed sufficient for 80 sheep. In order to show what females
have received him, and what have not, it is usual to smear his
breast with pigment, which appears upon the fleeces of such
ewes as he has covered ; and if more than one ram is with the
flock, then, by smearing the rams with different-coloured pig-
ments, as red and blue, the progeny of each is known. Such
ewes as have not received the ram may be taken from amongst
the breeding-stock and fed for the butcher.

Rams are fit to propagate their species in the autumn of the
second year. Well-fed females will receive the male even in

THE SHEEP. 567

their first year ; but the proper period is in the October of the
second year.

The food of sheep is herbage, upon which they feed during
summer. In winter, when the pastures fail, the feeding-stock
are fed on a full allowance of turnips, or other succulent food ;
but the ewes are suffered to pasture during the entire winter,
and merely receive such an allowance of other food as is re-
quired to keep them in condition. During hard frosts and
snow, they may receive hay, which may be either given to them
from racks, or simply spread upon the ground. They thus
pasture in the fields, receiving hay when occasion requires,
until within a few weeks of the period of lambing, when they
should receive an allowance of turnips, or other succulent food,
laid down in the fields where they are pasturing.

When the period of lambing arrives, every vigilance is ne-
cessary on the part of the shepherd. He must be at all times
at hand to assist the births. He must take his necessary rest
only during the day, and for the shortest time possible, when
his place can be supplied. When a house is not at hand, co-
vered pens must be erected in the fields, and the ewes, when
about to lamb, brought to the pens.

The birth of the young must be assisted, but not precipi-
tately. The proper position of the foetus is with its head
couched between its fore-legs. In other positions the birth is
difficult, and it generally becomes necessary to turn the fostus,
which is done by elevating the ewe from behind. Experien-
ced shepherds are acquainted with these duties.

When the young is born, it is to be immediately recognised,
and licked by the dam, and assisted to the teat when neces-
sary. When the lamb of any ewe dies, another should be sup-
plied to her ; either one of the twins of another ewe, or one
that has lost its own dam. Sometimes much difficulty is ex-
perienced in getting the ewe to adopt another lamb ; and cases
even occur, when the ewe, from some unknown cause, deserts
her own young. In proportion as the ewes have lambed, they
should, if possible, be transferred with their young to a field
of new grass.

5b'8

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

An operation to be performed upon the lambs is castrating
the males which are not to be reserved for rams. This may
be performed in a few days after the birth, generally in 8 or 10
days. It is done by the shepherd, with an assistant to hold
the animal, and, at the same time, it is usual to cut off a por-
tion of the tail. The operation is performed on lots of the
lambs, and not on each singly as it reaches a certain age. It
is well that it be performed early, the difficulty and danger
increasing with the age of the animal, and that the weather at
the time be dry, and, if possible, cloudy and mild.

The lambs continue with the ewes sucking them till the pe-
riod of weaning, which generally takes place by the middle of
July. Weaning is simply performed by removing the young
from their dams, and keeping them for a time so far asunder
that they may not be disturbed by their mutual bleatings.

When the lambs are weaned, the ewes should be milked for
the purpose of relieving their udders and running them dry
by degrees. Three milkings will generally suffice, though,
should any particular cases require more, it is the province of
the shepherd to attend to them. Supposing the lambs to be
weaned in the evening, the first milking may take place in the
following evening, or in 24 hours ; the next at an interval of
36 hours ; the last at an interval of 48 hours. When the
ewes are to be milked, they are driven into a narrow pen, the
milkers, with pails, milking the ewes from behind; and on
each ewe being milked, she is turned round in the pen by an
assistant, the milkers continuing their work until the whole
are milked.

After being weaned, the lambs receive the name of hoggets,
or hogs, the rams being termed tup-hogs, the castrated males,
wether-hogs, the ewes, ewe-hogs.

The wether and ewe hoggets are now pastured together for
the remainder of the season. When winter approaches, or ra-
ther when the pasture fails towards the end of October or be-
ginning of November, the hoggets, male and female, are to be
put on a full allowance of turnips. The turnips can either be
conveyed to the ground where the animals feed, or the simpler
process be adopted, of penning them upon tlie turnips.

THE SHEEP.

569

When the sheep are penned upon the turnips, they are con-
fined to a given space, generally sufficient for them to consume
in one week. The temporary fences used for penning them
consist either of wooden hurdles, or nets, the latter being the
most economical and convenient. In this space the sheep con-
sume the turnips, and when they have eaten them close to the
ground, the remaining portions of Fig. m.

the bulbs are picked up by means

of the hoe, Fig. 182, so that the
sheep may be enabled to eat them
wholly up.

When they have consumed one space, the pens are shifted
to another, in such a manner as to leave the ground already
cleared open to the animals for walking over and resting upon.
A rack, Fig. 183, should be placed in the field with hay.

Fie. lfO.

1

Sometimes when young sheep are penned till late in spring,
they find difficulty, from their teeth becoming loosened, in eat-
ing the turnips. In this case, the turnip-slicer (Fig. 46) may
be employed, and then the sheep may be brought from the
turnip-field, and have the turnips laid down to them in a field
of dry sward.

The'young sheep or hoggets are in this manner fed on turnips
till the grass is ready in spring. This will be early in April,
or, in the southern parts of the country, in March ; for sheep
do not require the same full herbage as cattle, and may there-
fore be turned out at an earlier period to the fields.

Should the turnips fail before the pastures are ready, then
the young sheep are to be carried on by substitutes, as hay, or
even corn. It is rarely, however, necessary on a well-ordered
farm to resort to this costly species of feeding ; yet, when ne-

570 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

cessary, it must be done, since this inconvenience is less than
the evil of suffering the stock to lose condition.

The period of shearing sheep depends upon the forward con-
dition of the animals. When fat, the old wool begins to come
off more early than when they are less forward. Good condi-
tioned sheep may be shorn in May, but always early in June ;
the precise period being denoted by the state of the wool,
which comes readily off when plucked, and which would fall
entirely off were it not shorn.

About eight days previous to shearing, the sheep are driven
to a pool, if possible in a running stream, and three or more
persons are to stand in this pool. The sheep are brought for-
ward to a pen on the bank, and lifted into the pool one by
one. The first of the persons in the pool seizes the sheep by
the wool, and keeping it on its back, plunges it well from side
to side. He passes it on to the person next in order, and he
in like manner plunges the animal in every direction. This
person then passes it on to the third, who examines the fleece
as well as circumstances will allow, plunging the sheep at the
same time, and thus finishing the operation. The animal is
thus passed through the hands of three persons, and sometimes
more ; but the last should be a trusty person, such as the
shepherd himself, whose duty it is to see that the fleece is com-
pletely washed and freed of sand and impurities.

This description has a reference to young sheep or hoggets,
whose management we are now considering ; but the same me-
thod is applicable to all the sheep upon the farm, young and
old, with this difference, that the ewes, which are at this period
suckling their young, have the lambs separated from them
during the process of washing.

The sheep being washed, are driven to a clean pasture, and
when the fleece is dry, which it will be in a few days, if the
weather is good, the sheep may be shorn ; but it is better that
seven or eight days should elapse before shearing them, in which
case the yolk of the wool is renewed.

When the sheep are to be shorn, they are driven to a pen or
other enclosed space, and brought one by one to the shearers.

THE SHEEP. 571

The sheep to be shorn is first placed upon his rump, and Fig 184
the shearer, with the shears (Fig. 184), beginning at the
neck, clips in a circular direction down the belly towards 7ft
the back. The animal is then laid on his side, and kept j/f
down by the leg of the shearer, who clips the fleece all
round to the back. Turning the animal on the other side,
he clips in like manner round to the back ; then raising the
sheep, he clips the part of the fleece not yet cut away, and so
lets the animal go, taking care that it shall not entangle itself
with the fleece. The fleece, as soon as it is shorn, is taken
away by an attendant, spread out, neatly rolled up with the
inner surface outmost, and then deposited in some dry place,
until it is packed in the wool sheets.

When the animals are shorn, they are frequently marked
with a stamp (Fig. 185.) dipped in boiling tar, to dis- Fig- m'
tinguish the kinds and ages of the sheep. This kind of
mark, though convenient, is injurious to the wool.

After the operation of clipping, the young sheep are
termed shearling sheep ; the castrated males, shearling <^>
wethers ; the females, shearling ewes ; the rams, shearling tups
or rams. But it is common to apply to them at this period
the following terms : — The shearling wethers are termed din-
monts ; the females are termed gimmers ; and the rams are
still termed shearling rams ; and these names the animals re-
tain until they are shorn of their second fleece in the following
year.

The shearling ewes or gimmers are, after being shorn, kept
at grass for the remainder of the season, and they receive the
rams in October in the manner described.

The shearling wethers or dinmonts are soon after shearing
fit for the butcher. They are then about one year and three
months old. If of the Leicester breed, they will weigh 16 lb.
or 18 lb. the quarter, and their fleeces will weigh 7 lb. each
or more.

But should the pasture be inferior, the breed bad, or the
stock not in sufficient order, or should the state of the markets
render it inexpedient to sell, then the dinmonts may be kept

572 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

upon the farm for one winter more. In this case they are pas-
tured precisely as when they were hoggets during the remainder
of the season ; and when in autumn the pastures again fail,
they are penned on turnips, and treated in the same manner
as in the previous winter.

The dinmonts are frequently sold fat before they have com-
pleted the entire winter's feeding. But it is more common to
keep them during the winter on turnips, to put them upon
good and early grass in spring, and to dispose of them after
they are shorn. They are then two years and two or three
months old, and have yielded two fleeces to the breeder. They
will weigh at this age from 25 lb. to 30 lb. the quarter or more,
and their fleeces will weigh about 8 lb.

These and other sheep, after they are shorn of their second
fleece, are termed two-shear sheep : the males not castrated are
simply tups or rams ; the males castrated are wethers, and the
females are ewes. It is more profitable to be able to feed off
sheep when shearlings than to retain them till they are two
years old. The former is the perfection of feeding ; but it is
a perfection attainable on every arable farm in this country
on which turnips can be raised, and a superior breed of sheep
maintained.

In the practice of the farm,rthen, the male sheep are disposed
of either after having yielded one fleece, or after having yielded
two fleeces. Such of the ewes as are reared on the farm, but
are not to be employed for breeding, may be treated in the
same manner.

But with respect to the ewes upon the farm kept for breed-
ing, it is necessary, after they have borne lambs for several
years, to dispose of them, and to supply their place by younger
ewes reared upon the farm. A certain number of gimmers
being each year added to the breeding stock, an equal number
of the oldest ewes are disposed of, and thus the number of
breeding sheep is maintained.

And not only are all ewes which have borne the required
number of lambs to be disposed of in this manner, but all
breeding sheep, of whatever age, that are not healthy, or that

THE SHEEP. 573

are of a defective form, and their place is to be supplied by
the younger and better stock reared upon the ground.

These, then, have been the principal points of practice in
the management of a sheep-stock reared upon the farm : The
female stock, like the males, were suckled by the dams till July ;
they were then weaned, and pastured with the wether-hogs
during the remainder of the season, when they were put toge-
ther with the wether-hogs on turnips before winter ; they were
fed on turnips till April, when they were turned out to pas-
ture along with the wether-hogs ; early in June they were
dipt ; in the month of October they were joined to the rest of
the ewe stock, supplying the place of the older ewes that have
been disposed of ; and after this time they are treated in all re-
spects as breeding ewes, and kept upon the farm till they have
borne lambs for three or four years. The males, it has been
seen, were castrated a few days after birth, — were weaned in
July, when they received the name of wether-hogs, — were pas-
tured during the remainder of the season, and were then, toge-
ther with the ewe-hogs, penned on turnips ; in the following
April they were put on grass, and by the beginning of June
they were washed and dipt ; they then received the name of
dinmonts, when they were fat, and ready to be sold as soon af-
terwards as convenient : Or when, from the deficiency of feed-
ing or other cause, they were not then ready for the butcher,
they were again pastured during the summer, a second time
penned on turnips, and generally pastured till they were dipt
the second time, when they were wethers and in high perfec-
tion with regard to growth and feeding.

Sheep, especially when fat and loaded with wool are often
unable to rise when they have fallen upon their backs in any
hollow place, and they will perish if not relieved in time. To
guard against these and all other accidents, sheep must be re-
gularly tended. They must be examined at least twice in the
day ; they are to be cleaned when necessary, by cutting off
clotted wool, and above all things they are to be guarded
against the attacks of maggots. In the latter case, a decoction
of tobacco mixed with spirits of tar, and in some cases a solu-
tion of sublimate of mercury, are the remedies commonly em-

.")74 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

ployed. Their heads are frequently injured by the attacks of
flies : for which a little tar spread upon the wound is the most
frequent and the best remedy.

In the whole treatment of sheep, gentleness is of great mo-
ment. The worrying and harassing of them by dogs is never
to be thought of. In upland pastures the faithful dog is es-
sential to the shepherd ; in an enclosed country the necessity for
employing him is greatly lessened, and he is always to be used
with temperance and humanity towards the flock.

The treatment of a lowland stock has been described, where
the breeder is likewise the feeder; but sometimes the object of
the breeder is not to feed the stock which he rears, but, after
having brought it to a certain age, to dispose of it to others
who will feed it.

Sometimes, on the other hand, the design of the farmer is
not to breed sheep, but to buy them from others whose interest
it has been to rear and not to feed them. The effecting of
these sales, on the one hand, and the making of these purchases
on the other, constitute one of the branches of farming as a
business. But it is a branch which cannot be taught by rule,
but must be learned by practice.

One of the branches of sheep-farming, in which the breeder
is likewise the feeder, is the rearing of lambs and selling them
when fattened. The lambs are fattened by the milk of the
mothers, and are merely disposed of when they are ready for
being killed. The feeding of the lambs in the house for early
consumption is also practised, and in some parts has been
brought to a system. This branch of management need not
be described. The sheep of the Dorset breed are valued as
being the best suited to yield early lambs in this manner.

Grass in summer and turnips in winter, with a little hay for
the ewes, have been spoken of as the food of sheep. The basis
of this system is the turnip crop. But, in certain cases, this
mean of support may fail or be wanting, and it then becomes
necessary to resort to other substances. Potatoes, mangel-
wurzel, and other roots, may be eaten by sheep as well as by
oxen ; and cabbages and rape are perfectly suited to the pur-
pose of feeding them.

THE SHEEP. 575

All kinds of farinaceous food are consumed by sheep. When
corn is given, it is the common practice to lay down the sheaves
unthrashed, when the sheep readily separate the grains from
the straw.

Brewers'' grains may be given to sheep ; and they will con-
sume this nourishing substance readily. Oilcake, too, is well
calculated to fatten sheep, and may be used occasionally where
cheaper methods of carrying on the stock are wanting.

Attempts have sometimes been made to soil sheep during
summer, in the same manner as horses and oxen. This prac-
tice is common on the Continent, where the sheep are kept in
pens and littered ; but it has made no progress, nor is it likely
to make any progress, in England, so much more simple and
economical is the turning out of the animals to pasture in the
fields.

Besides common food, there is a condiment, Salt, of great
importance to sheep, as to all domestic animals, but which is
too much neglected in the rural economy of this country. If
laid on flat stones or in troughs, the animals will quickly find
their way to it, and will be seen to wait for their daily portion
of salt with as much eagerness as for their periodical supplies
of food.

I have spoken of the management of a lowland breed of sheep.
It is necessary to consider also the treatment of the animal
under circumstances entirely different ; that is, when reared and
pastured in a country where cultivated food is either wanting
or to be procured in limited quantity.

The Cheviot sheep are reared in an elevated country. But in
the places where they are produced, turnips and the cultivated
grasses may generally be supplied in certain quantity.

In the rearing of this breed, the rams are usually put to
the ewes from the middle to the 20th of November, so that
the lambs shall begin to drop about the first of April. The
ewes generally receive no further feeding during the period of
gestation than hay in falls of snow. This may be supplied to
them from racks, or simply laid upon the surface of the snow.
The ground is frequently covered with snow for six weeks ; but
it is sometimes covered for twice that period. During the

576 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

winter, therefore, a store of hay should be in reserve for three
months1 consumption, and this may be calculated at the rate
of I4 lb. for the ewes and older sheep, and 1 lb. per day for the
younger sheep. Should the winter be mild, what is left remains
till the following season.

Where turnips are raised, these are given also to the breed-
ing stock. The ewes receive them during falls of snow, and in
an especial degree when the lambing season arrives and during
its continuance.

When both hay and turnips are to be supplied, it will be
proper either to give them at the same time, that is, a portion
of hay and a portion of turnips each day, or to begin with hay
and end with turnips ; for to begin with turnips and end with
hay is to cause the sheep to pass from succulent food to one
which is less grateful, so that a time elapses before the animals
are reconciled to the change. But when turnips are given, and
hay supplied at the same time, the sheep take to this variety
of feeding very readily.

The process of lambing in these high districts demands
the utmost vigilance of the shepherds. They must never be
absent night nor day, but relieve one another, and inspect the
flock at short intervals, so as to assist the parturition of the
ewes when necessary.

Sometimes the lambs at their birth are so weak that they
cannot rise to the teat, and thus perish or are forsaken by the
dams. The shepherd assists them in such cases, and frequent-
ly takes the ewe with her young to a house or place of shelter,
where they can be attended to. When the ewes have twins,
and thus have two lambs to nurse, it is usual to give them a
more liberal supply of food. For this purpose it is convenient
to have an enclosure of early grass near the place of lambing
or the shepherd's cottage, to which ewes with twins, such as
have too little milk, and such as are sick or infirm, or from
any cause require more attendance than the rest of the flock,
may be taken. Though various ewes produce twins, it is re-
garded as a favourable circumstance in the case of this class of
sheep when one lamb can be reared for each ewe of the flock.
It is well when 19 lambs can be reared for every 20 ewes.

THE SHEEP. OH

As soon as the weather is favourable, after a considerable
number of the ewes have lambs, they are collected into a fold,
and all the males castrated, except such as are reserved for
rams : and the sooner the operation is performed after the
lambs are a few days old the better.

When the period of shearing arrives, which is known by the
wool being fully grown, the sheep are washed, sometimes by
men standing in the pool, who wash each sheep separately, in
the manner before described ; or, when the flocks are large, by
causing them to swim two or three times through the water to
the opposite bank. After being washed, they are kept as much
as possible on ground where they are preserved from rubbing
on banks, or otherwise soiling their wool. In two days, if
there be no rain, they may be shorn, but it is better to wait
seven or eight days. The wool is shorn in the manner before
described, and stored in a proper place till packed in sheets.
As soon as each sheep is shorn it may be marked with a stamp
dipt in boiling tar. The mark is made on different parts of
the body, as the near shoulder, the far shoulder, the near rib,
the far rib, so as that the different kinds and ages of the sheep
can be known at a glance.

About the middle of July the lambs are weaned, when such
lambs as are to be disposed of are separated from the remain-
der and sold. The lambs, now hoggets, are put on such good
pasturage as the farm affords, and supplied, if possible, with
turnips throughout the winter, at the rate of a cart-load for 7
or 8 scores in the day.

Some farmers still milk their ewes for a few weeks ; but the
more approved practice is to milk them only for a few days,
merely to relieve the ewes of their milk by degrees.

Before winter, it is a general practice, the utility of which is
experienced in a very elevated country, to smear the skins of
the sheep with a mixture of tar and butter. The practice in-
deed is found to deteriorate the wool, by staining it, and ren-
dering it unfit for receiving the brighter colours in dyeing. It
is found, however, conducive to the health of the stock in an
inclement country, destroying vermin, of itself an important
object to the health of sheep, and acting to a considerable de-

o o

578 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

gree in defending the animals from cold and moisture. The
mixture is prepared by boiling the butter, and mixing it with
the tar, and sometimes by adding some milk ; the proportions
employed differing according to the practice of different farms
and districts. In some places 6 lb. of butter to 1 gallon of tar
are considered sufficient for 20 sheep. The period of smear-
ing is the end of October or beginning of November, that is,
before the rams are admitted to the ewes. The method is, to
place the animal upon a stool, Fi«- 186-

Fig. 186, to separate the wool, ^^^^^^^^^^
and with the end of the finger |I^^M^^^g^i^^^^^

to smear the skin longitudi- H1^111 IMI11 WSBM

nally from head to tail. One
man will smear from 20 to 25
sheep in a day.

It is a general error on merely stock farms to plough up too
much of the land for crop, or to intersperse the cultivated land
with the range of the sheep pasture. The object of tillage on
such farms is to raise turnips and clover-hay, for keeping the
stock throughout the winter months, and, this being attained,
the farmer ought rarely to carry his system of tillage further.

In many cases, indeed, the farmer of a mountain farm has
also a sufficient quantity of lowland ground to combine the
practice, both of rearing sheep and feeding them. This, when
it occurs, is beneficial ; but when it does not occur, the pro-
per occupation of a mountain farm is to rear sheep, and not
to feed them ; and the general principle of management is to
sell the sheep which are reared to the feeder as soon as they have
come to tolerable maturity, that is, either after the first win-
ter, when hoggets, or after the second winter, when dinmonts.

Reared in yet more elevated districts than the Cheviot, are
the Black-faced heath sheep. These are the hardiest of all our
races of sheep, and in the parts of the country where they are
principally cultivated, they must depend chiefly or entirely on
the natural herbage of the farm.

The rams are generally put to the ewes after the middle of
November, and one ram is assigned to sixty ewes or less. The
lambs intended for wethers are castrated somewhat later than

THE SHEEP. 579

the other sheep : they are weaned late in July, and the ewes
milked sometimes for a few weeks. The sheep are shorn from
the end of June till the middle of July ; and when they are to
be washed, they are driven to a pool or deep stream, and forced
to leap from the bank. This being a very wild race of sheep,
the same delicacy of management is not necessary or practi-
cable as in the case of the more docile breeds of the plains.
They are shorn in the same manner as the other sheep ; and
opportunity is then taken to place upon them their distinguish-
ing marks. In all cases they should be smeared ; for though,
as in the case of the Cheviot sheep, the wool is injured by the
process, this is more than compensated by the benefits result-
ing to the flock.

The food of these hardy sheep is in summer and winter the
same ; and all that can be generally done is to supply them
with some coarse hay during long-continued falls of snow.
They are sold at the ages which suit the nature of the farm
and the convenience of the breeder.

The management of the other kinds of down or moorland
sheep need not be detailed. These breeds are generally in low
situations, where the difficulty of procuring food is compara-
tively little. The nearer the management of this class of sheep
approaches to that of the larger sheep of the plains, already
described, the more perfect will it be.

5. Diseases of Sheep.

The diseases of these valuable creatures are sometimes of a
very formidable nature, and baffle all the means of remedy
which are known to us. Of these diseases the most dreaded is
rot, which often extends over whole districts of a country.

It is known that this disease is favoured or produced by a
humid state of the soil and atmosphere. It is in wet seasons
that it prevails the most, and is the most fatal. By drain-
ing land the tendency to it is lessened or taken away. Often
sheep are rotted by pasturing on the wet parts of the farm,
whereas if kept from these parts they remain free from disease.

oo2

580 REARING AND FEEDING! OF ANIMALS.

Nay, a single sheep that has a disposition to pick up its food
in moist places will die, while the others will not be affected.

The animal affected does not all at once show symptoms of
disease ; for sometimes it remains a considerable time in appa-
rent health, and long after it has been removed from the place
of infection, droops and dies. Sheep are every year purchased
in seeming health, and yet after a time they are found to be
affected. A moist and even luxuriant autumn is dreaded above
all things by the owner of sheep ; for the seeds of infection are
then often spread to appear in the following spring, or after
the lapse of a longer period.

The signs of rottenness in sheep are familiar to all shepherds.
The animal becomes emaciated, its eye becomes dull and glassy,
a black purging generally takes place, the wool, on being pull-
ed, comes readily away from the skin, the breath becomes fe-
tid, and the urine is small in quantity and high coloured. As
the disease proceeds, the skin is marked with spots, and the
emaciation increases continually, until the sheep dies. In short,
the term rot expresses truly the state of the animal. The dis-
ease proceeds with various degrees of rapidity ; sometimes it
attacks the entire flock suddenly, and sometimes its progress
is gradual, and it affects only a given number of individuals.
Graziers often avail themselves of the period of the animals
beginning to decline to rid themselves of an infected stock.
During the first period of being tainted, the sheep have fre-
quently a strong tendency to feed, and if killed in time the
flesh may not be perceptibly affected.

In all cases of rot the disease is accompanied by a morbid
state of the liver. During the progress of it, the fluke, a small
animal, Fasciola kepatica, appears on the parts connected with
the liver and the gall-bladder. At first the number of these
creatures is small, but as the disease advances they increase,
and before death are generally very numerous. In the last
stage of the disease they have extended to the stomach and
other parts.

Frequently the disease terminates favourably, the inflam-
matory action going off without destroying the parts. But
even in this case the taint is rarely removed, and years after-

the sheep

581

wards, when the animal has been fattened and killed, the
liver has been found to be diseased, the flukes being in great
numbers.

The best preventive of rot is to render the soil dry ; hence
on all sheep pastures, the importance of draining. But should
the disease, in spite of all precautions, appear, then we should,
without loss of time, remove the sheep to a drier pasture, and
supply them liberally with proper food. It is only, however,
in the early stages of the disease, that a change of food will
usually avail. If the disease has proceeded to a considerable
extent, even though it should not have evinced itself by any
great change in the external appearance of the flock, the ani-
mals will often perish hourly amidst the most wholesome food
with which they can be supplied.

Of all the medicines that have been proposed for this fatal
disease, salt alone is that whose virtue has been established by
any satisfactory testimony. The beneficial effect of salt in the
prevention and even cure of rot, has been confirmed by the
observation of farmers in this and other countries.

Salt indeed will not in all cases prevent or cure the disease ;
for sometimes the tendency to it from particular causes is too
strong to be counteracted, and, when it has once attacked the
flock, too violent in its progress to be arrested. But though
salt is not a specific, it is the best means of remedy with which
we are acquainted.

If salt be placed near the animals in troughs or on flat stones,
they will eagerly lick it, and when disease threatens them, it
may be given to them in any quantity in which they will con-
sume it ; for it is then seen that they are obeying a natural
instinct in having recourse to the remedy ; and in a wet season
when disease may be apprehended, no one should grudge the
trouble of so cheap and simple a precaution.

Much has been written upon the subject of this disease, but
all that has been written has nearly left us where we were with
regard to the remedy. It had been long known that wetness
of the soil, however produced, gave rise to rot ; that the best
preventive was pasturing on dry ground and giving sufficient
food, and that the best remedy where disease appeared was a

.58:2

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

change of pasture. To these results of old experience is to be
added, the using of salt.

Another disease, arising from a different cause than the rot,
but like it ending in emaciation, and the death of the animal,
is provincially termed pining. This disease is accompanied
by a costive state of the animal, whereas the rot is never accom-
panied by costiveness ; and in the rot the liver is always affect-
ed, while in the pining the liver is sound.

This disease seems to arise from the want of exercise, and
from the animals feeding on very dry pastures. Before the
extensive draining of the pasture-lands, where it is now found,
the disease was unknown. The rot was then common ; but with
the draining of the lands the rot disappeared, and this new dis-
ease took its place. The former practice of management in
the districts where the disease now prevails, was to keep the
sheep in flocks, which were moved about along their allotted
range of pastures. They are now, under a more approved sys-
tem of management, suffered to spread over a large extent of
pasture ; and thus they are not obliged to take exercise, but
are allowed to feed more on a given spot of ground.

A change of place and food is the preventive or the remedy ;
and if a change of food is resorted to in time, it is generally
sufficient to arrest the progress of the disease. Even a removal
to a fresh heath will sometimes accomplish the purpose, but
the proper and effectual remedy in all cases is a change to a
more rich and succulent pasture. The disease is sometimes very
fatal, destroying entire flocks like a pestilence.

Sheep are subject to a long and frightful train of inflam-
matory diseases. In all such cases, however they may affect
the animals, bleeding should be at once resorted to, as the
only mean of subduing the disease, and giving a chance of
safety. The eye-vein is that usually opened in bleeding the
sheep ; but all shepherds should be taught to bleed from the
jugular vein, as being the most suitable. The quantity of
blood abstracted must vary with the age and strength of the
animals. The rule, in the case of the sheep as in that of the
ox, is to bleed freely. The process may be continued Until the
pulse itself is affected, when it must be instantly stopped.

THE SHEEP. 583

Purgative medicines, too, ought to be given to the sheep, in
the ease of this class of diseases, and of these the most ap-
proved are, Epsom salt in the proportion of from 4 to 6 oz.,
and about half that quantity, or a little more, of Glauber's
salt. Common salt is often applied in country practice with
the effect desired. On the part of shepherds, it is to be ob-
served, there exists a prejudice against the administration
of medicines to sheep, doubtless from their having observed
the little effect usually produced. But this prejudice should
not be permitted to operate where the lives of sheep are in
eminent hazard, as is the case in all inflammatory diseases.
It is beyond a doubt that by prompt bleeding, and the judicious
application of purgatives, the lives of many thousands of these
valuable creatures may be yearly saved to this country.

Amongst inflammatory putrid fevers to which sheep are
subject, one, termed braxy, is very destructive in various parts
of the country. The progress of this disease is very sudden
and violent. Of the remedies to be employed, bleeding and
purging are plainly those which the nature of the disease
points out. This disease seems generally to be caused by bad
food, and the most efficient preventive is known to be good
feeding. Turnips or other succulent roots given to young
sheep feeding on natural pastures are always beneficial ; and
it is to be observed, that in proportion as the treatment of
sheep in a country has improved, this dangerous malady has
diminished.

Diarrhoea and dysentery are diseases of sheep. Diarrhoea
is frequently produced by too sudden a growth of grass in
spring, and it most frequently affects young sheep. It may be
generally cured by removing the animals to drier pasture ; and
a little corn may be always given with good effects.

Dysentery is a more serious disease, and is often very destruc-
tive. In this disease, bleeding is plainly required to subdue the
inflammation, and purging to carry off the peccant matter in
the intestines. Hay may be offered and a few sheaves of corn
laid down, and the use of mashes will in an especial manner
be found beneficial.

Sheep are liable to various cutaneous diseases. The princi-

584 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

pal of these is termed scab ; and it is indicated by extreme
itching and eruptions of the skin. When introduced into a
flock it may be attended with very serious effects, unless check-
ed by efficient remedies.

The most common remedy for the disease is sulphur mixed
with some unctuous substance to fix it on the skin. One of
the best receipts perhaps is a decoction of tobacco and spirit
of turpentine, with the addition of a little soft soap and sul-
phur vivum. The decoction of tobacco may be obtained by
boiling the tobacco in brine or salt water. The liquid when
prepared is applied from a vessel like a teapot with a spout,
or from a bottle with a quill passed through the cork. A
person lays the wool back in lines so as to expose the skin,
and pours out the liquid along the lines upon the skin. But
when the distemper is very violent, a mercurial preparation
may be required. This is now to be obtained in apothecaries'*
shops under the name of sheep-ointment. It is made in balls,
and when used is dissolved in oil, and applied to the skin of
the animal.

Sometimes infected sheep will find their way into the best
managed flocks ; but every care must be taken to keep the
disease from breaking out, or to cure it as quickly as possible
when it appears. The infection of a diseased flock is left be-
hind it upon the hedges and pasture fields, and therefore pre-
caution is to be used before a fresh flock is turned into fields
where infected sheep had been recently feeding.

Another disease of sheep is the foot-rot, which is an inflam-
mation of the foot, followed by an ulceration and destruction
of the hoof. The disease chiefly prevails in wet seasons, or in
soft grounds. It is a very painful disease, causing the entire
lameness and loss of condition of the animal. Certain grounds
are noted for communicating the foot-rot ; and as it appears
amongst the pasturing stock season after season, such grounds
are commonly said to be infected with the foot-rot. The
opinion that it is of a highly infectious nature is universal
amongst farmers and shepherds. But however circumstances
may seem to favour this opinion, some have conceived that
it is more consistent with effects observed to regard it as con-

THE SHEEP. 585

nected with the state of the pasture-grounds. Yet it is diffi-
cult to resist the evidence, that, having been produced, it is
conveyed to others of the flock by contact with the ulcerous
matter of the diseased foot.

Although painful and destructive to the good condition of
the animal, this disease is not absolutely fatal, except under
entire neglect, in which case the animal becomes unable to
seek his food, crawls upon his knees, and, worn away by
exhaustion, perishes. But if early attention be paid, the
disease admits of remedy. In the first place, let all the in-
fected part of the hoof be pared away, and the ulcerous matter
removed, and then let the foot be washed with soap and hot
water, and let the surface be dressed with some caustic, of
which the best is muriate of antimony. In incipient cases, by
simply paring the hoof and cleansing it with soap and water,
and then dipping it in boiled tar, the progress of the disease
will be arrested.

The next disease to be mentioned is of frequent occurrence.
This is hydatids, staggers, or water-in-the-head as it is fre-
quently termed. The cause of this disease is a parasitic
animal, a hydatid, which is found in the brain of sheep. It
enlarges in size, and, if not removed, ultimately destroys the
animal. This creature when distended with fluid resembles a
round sac filled with water, and hence it was long supposed
to be water, and the disease, in consequence, termed water-in-
the-head.

When the hydatid is in the brain, the animal affected shows
great symptoms of distress ; he leans his head to one side,
mopes by himself, continues turning round, and finally dies.
The remedy for this disease is to reach the hydatid, and to
extract it, or at least to perforate it in such a manner as to
destroy its vitality. When it is situated at the surface of the
brain, the part feels soft, and it may be reached by a sharp
instrument, as a common awl or gimlet, or the hydatid itself
may be extracted. This may be done by the trephine. Shep-
herds perform the operation in a rude manner by a sharp knife.
A small portion of the skull is so cut, as to be raised up like

58G REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

a lid. The hydatid being exposed, is pulled out by pincers,
and the fluid absorbed by a sponge or piece of linen. The
skull is then replaced, and dressed with common tar put upon
a piece of soft leather.

Often the hydatid may be reached by a wire thrust up the
nostrils, and it is remarkable that this operation frequently
succeeds in the hands of shepherds.

Sheep are liable to the attacks of various animals. One of
these, a species of aphis, termed the sheep-louse, is very com-
mon, and chiefly prevails where the sheep are in an unhealthy
condition. It is of a flat form, and attaching itself to the throat
and other parts, occasions much irritation. Tar, turpentine,
or tobacco liquor, are the substances chiefly used to destroy this
animal, and any simple mercurial preparation is effectual.

But the most pernicious enemy that attacks sheep is the con-
mon sheep maggot, the larva of a species of flesh-fly. The fly
having deposited her eggs on the skin of the sheep, the larvse
are hatched in great numbers, and grow with amazing quick-
ness. They commonly appear about the root of the tail, or
wherever filth has allowed the fly to attach her eggs, and
thence they spread over the entire body, consuming the skin,
and eating into the flesh. The sheep, when attacked, manifest
a strong sense of suffering. They frequently run with violence,
until at length, overpowered and exhausted, they lie down and
perish.

It is in moist and warm seasons of the year that the sheep-
maggot is chiefly produced. Constant vigilance is then de-
manded on the part of the shepherd, so that all foulness of the
wool shall be dipt away ; and the sheep must be daily inspect-
ed, lest this dangerous enemy establish itself. The maggot is
effectually destroyed by a solution of corrosive sublimate, and
in its early stages by less potent applications, as by urine and
lime.

We must remember that the sheep, in his domesticated state,
is yielded up to the care of man ; his natural instincts are
blunted, and he is unfitted to use those means of preservation
which in his wild state he might possess. He is the prey of a

THE SHEEP. 587

multitude of enemies, against which he has no defence ; and the
more artificial his condition is, the more is he dependent on our
care.

6. Wool.

Hair is an appendage of the skin of the mammalia. It
consists of fine filaments growing from beneath the skin, to
which it serves as a covering ; it is nearly the same in its che-
mical composition as horn and feathers ; it is kept flexible and
moist by an oily secretion from the skin ; it is furnished with
bloodvessels, like all the other organs of animals. Being in-
tended chiefly as a covering to the animal, it abounds the most
under those circumstances where it is most required. Qua-
drupeds are more or less covered with it, and for the most part
in the greatest degree where the cold is the greatest. Man is
slightly supplied with this universal defence ; but he is enabled,
by his reason, to adapt the hair of other animals to his use.

When the hair of animals is very thick and strong, it forms
spines and bristles ; when more fine it forms hair commonly
so called ; when it is fine, and at the same time curled, it is
termed wool. It is this curling property of the wool which
renders it more suitable than any other species of hair for be-
ing woven into cloth. The fur of animals consists of a mixture
of hair and wool, but the latter is often in very small quantity.

The wool principally used for the purpose of forming cloths
is that of the domestic sheep ; and we know that this substance
has been so employed from the earliest records of the human
race. But the wool of various other animals is applied to
the same purpose, as of the camel, the lama, and the goat.

Wool frequently loses its curling property, and passes into
hair. In the warmer regions the fur of sheep is more hairy
than in the colder, apparently because a less thick and matted
covering is required for the protection of the animals. Hair
also is found, and sometimes in large quantity, intermixed with
the wool of sheep in cold and temperate countries. This in-
termixture of hair unfits the wool for many manufactures, and

588 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

it is a process of art to separate it from the wool. By neglect
in the treatment of the animal, the proportion of hair increases;
by care and more complete domestication, the quantity of hair
diminishes.

The wool of sheep, like the hair of other animals, is periodi-
cally renewed, the older hair falling off, and a new growth tak-
ing its place. In the case of the sheep, this renewal of the wool
usually occurs once in the year, and at the beginning of the
warm season. It is at this period that we anticipate the natural
process by shearing or cutting off the external part of the
fleece. In some countries the fleece is not shorn, but is pulled
off; and in certain conditions of climate and the animal, the
wool remains for more than one year. This is especially ob-
served in the Merino. The manner in which the wool is re-
newed seems to be by a fresh growth from the same roots, and
by the old portion breaking off.

Wool, like every kind of hair, grows quickly when cut. We
may shear our sheep, therefore, more than once in the year, and
the wool will grow again. But, in this country, it is never
thought expedient to shear the wool more than once in the
year, and the proper period is always when the old fleece is
about to fall off, that is, at the beginning of summer. The
precise time is very much dependent on the condition of the
animal. When fat, the wool tends to fall off more early than
when the animal is lean. Frequently disease, and especially
disease of the skin, causes the animal to lose its fleece.

The wool of lambs is sometimes shorn, but this is a practice
not to be followed in a cold climate. The sheep of this
country ought never to be shorn until the second year of their
age.

The wool of sheep is sometimes black or brown, and the
wool of all the less cultivated animals tends more or less to a
dark colour. Some of our sheep, even of superior breeds, have
black faces and legs, as the Southdown ; and, in all these
breeds, there is a tendency to a mixture of black wool with the
white. This is an imperfection in the wool, the black piles not
being fitted to receive the dyeing colours.

THE SHEEP. 589

From notices in ancient writers, there is reason to believe
that the former colour of sheep was more frequently black or
brown than it now is. But if the least attention were paid to
the choice of rams, it is easy to suppose that the white colour
would ultimately prevail in the domestic sheep of almost all
countries ; and, from the earliest times, it would be known
that black wool was not fitted to receive those beautiful colours
which so much please the taste even of the rudest nations.
But, in this country, although we have frequently sheep bear-
ing black wool, there is no inducement to propagate the pecu-
liarity in the race, and hence black rams are never used.

Wools are distinguished from one another by the length,
which is termed the staple of the wool, and by the fineness, of
the pile or filaments.

In this country, the length or staple of the wool is an im-
portant distinction, because it is this which, in a great mea-
sure, fits it for a certain manufacture. When the wool ex-
ceeds 3 inches in length, it is termed long wool ; when it falls
short of 3 inches it is termed short wool. The long wool is
chiefly applied to the manufacture of worsteds ; the short wool
to that of woollen cloths. These two kinds of wool are also
distinguished by the peculiar manner in which they are pre-
pared for being spun into thread.

The long wool, which is employed for the fabrication of
worsteds and other fabrics, is passed in a peculiar manner
through combs, with fine steel teeth. The design in this pro-
cess is to assort and lay together the filaments of the wool
somewhat in the same manner as in the case of flax, previous
to the process of spinning. That wool may be suited to this
operation, it must have a considerable degree of length as well
as of strength of pile, so that it shall not be broken when
passed between the teeth of the comb. It is the long and
stronger wools that are usually treated in this manner, and
hence the long wools of this country are familiarly termed
combing wools.

The wools, on the other hand, intended for the manufacture
of woollen cloths, undergo an entirely different preparation

500 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

previous to being spun. They are not kept entire and assorted
in lengths, but are broken into minute pieces, and mingled
together in every direction. This is done by the operation of
what is called carding.

Upon a board, let it be supposed, with a handle attached, is
fixed a great number of crooked wires or teeth bent in one di-
rection. These are partially filled with wool. Another board
or card of a similar kind is then pulled, so that its teeth shall
pass through amongst the teeth of the other ; and, by the re-
peated action of these two cards, the wool is broken into mi-
nute pieces, which, from the crisping or curling property of the
wool, hook themselves together, and, by a peculiar art, are
formed into long rolls, or rovels as they are technically called.
These rovels, consisting thus of the minute and broken parts
of the wool hooked together, are in a state to be spun, and may
be said to form the rudimentary thread. This is the process
termed carding, which on the great scale is performed by ma-
chinery ; and the short and more delicate wools being suited
to this process, they are accordingly termed carding wools.

We have thus two classes of wool ; the long wool, also term-
ed combing- wool, used for the manufacture of worsteds ; and
the short wool, also termed carding-wool, used for the manu-
facture of cloths.

But, by improvements recently made in the machinery for
the woollen manufacture, wool that was formerly deemed only
suited for carding, may now be prepared by the comb. Thus, the
Southdown wool, which was entirely appropriated to the card,
is now likewise prepared by the comb, and consequently may
be employed for a different class of fabrics. On this account,
short wool is not now entirely synonymous with carding wool,
although it may be always prepared by that means.

Wool, subjected to the carding process, ought to possess
certain qualities. 1st, It ought to have that peculiar crisping
or curling quality which distinguishes wool from hair, so that
when broken into minute pieces, each part may curl at its ex-
tremities, and all the parts be hooked together, and form what
has been termed the rovelling ; 2d, It ought to be free of hairs,

THE SHEEP. 591

for these not possessing the curling property, will not amalga-
mate with the other parts, and so will injure the future fabric.

Wool ought to be soft to the touch and pliable, the fila-
ment, too, ought to be regular, that is, it ought to be cylindrical,
or rather a scarcely perceptible cone from the root to the ex-
tremity. Further, it ought to have that peculiar property to
which the term felting has been applied.

This latter property consists in a tendency in the filaments
to unite or adhere when pressed together. We avail ourselves
of this property of hair in the manufacture of hats, which are
formed of the wool and down of animals. By pressure and
moisture, all the parts adhere so closely as to become a com-
pact mass. The same property is applied in the manufacture
of cloth, by pressure and moisture, after the cloth is woven,
by which means the filaments and threads contract, adhere
closely together, and do not unravel when cut. This is a pro-
perty of great estimation in woollen cloth, and certain wools
possess more or less of this property of felting, or cohering to-
gether.

Woollen threads, after being woven into cloths, are subjected
to the action of the fulling-mill. The object of this operation,
which consists in beating the cloth in water, along with clay,
is to free it from the oily matter with which it is mixed. It
serves, however, the further purpose of felting the woollen sub-
stances, which contract under the operation.

The process of felting seems to depend upon the peculiar
form of the filament. Though important and necessary in the
case of woollen cloths, it is not so in the case of certain wor-
sted fabrics, as flannel. It is not then desired that the fabric
shall contract and cohere like cloth, but that it shall maintain
a certain openness of texture ; and the wool is more or less
deprived of its felting property in the combing process/"'

* Mr Youatt, in his valuable Treatises on the Domestic Animals, con-
tained in the Library of Useful Knowledge, has shown that wool is beau-
tifully serrated, the serratures being produced by fine lamin£e which rise
from the filament in tiers of minute scales all round, somewhat resem-
bling leaves. Mr Youatt has further very clearly shown, that the felting

592 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

The properties to be chiefly regarded in wool, then, are, —

1. The length of the pile, or filaments, which chiefly deter-
mines the peculiar species of manufacture to which it is ap-
propriated : 2. The curling or crisping property : 3. The soft-
ness of the wool ; with respect to which it is to be observed,
that certain soils seem to communicate a greater or less de-
gree of hardness to the filaments. The Saxon wools are noted
for the property of softness ; in a peculiar degree the Austra-
lian ; and, amongst the native wools, the Shetland : 4. The
pliability of the filaments : 5. The regularity of the filaments
and the absence of hairs : 6. The peculiar property termed
felting.

Not only are fleeces thus different in the quality of their
wool, but each fleece contains wool of different qualities with
respect to fineness. It is the separating of these different sorts
from one another that constitutes the process of stapling.

The stapler divides the wool of the fleece into nine, ten, or
more different sorts, to each of which he gives appropriate
names. The operative part of this process is one of nicety,
and to which men are trained, as to the other mechanical arts,
by a careful apprenticeship. In this country, the stapling or
assorting of wool is sometimes performed by the manufacturer,
but chiefly by persons termed wool-staplers, who purchase the
raw material from the grower, and dispose of it, after it is as-
sorted, to the manufacturer. The process of stapling is best
carried on in the districts where the manufactures themselves

property of wool has a constant relation to the number and form of these
lamina?. Thus, on comparing a fibre of the Merino wool of Saxony with
that of the Southdown, he found that the former, which is far superior in
fineness and felting properties to the latter, was §±5 of an inch in diameter,
and contained 2720 serratures in the space of an inch ; while the Southdown
fibre was ?i5 part of an inch in diameter, and contained only 2080 serra-
tures in an inch ; and farther, that the serratures of the Southdown wrool were
rounder and less acute than those of the Saxon. Numerous other examples
equally conclusive are given of the relation existing between the number
and form of the serratures, and the felting properties of the wool : and it
is impossible to appreciate too highly the skilful observation and patient re-
search, by which Mr Youatt has been enabled to establish those interesting
facts.

THE GOAT. 593

are established, both because of the superior skill and experi-
ence which the workmen there possess, and because of the
staplers being thus able to supply the manufacturer with that
precise kind of wool which the wants of a present market may
require.

IV. THE GOAT.

The species of the genus Copra enumerated by naturalists
are, —

1. Capra segragus — The Wild Goat.

2. Capra ibex — The Ibex.

3. Capra caucasica — The Caucasian Ibex.

Of these the Capra wgragus is believed to be the original
of the many varieties of the domestic goat.

The Goat appears to form the connecting link between the
sheep on the one hand, and the antelope tribes on the other. It
is a lively creature, full of seeming caprice in its motions, and,
although fitted for a life of liberty, yet easily domesticated, and
becoming attached to its protectors. It is the natural inhabit-
ant of a mountainous region ; it delights to stand on the sum-
mits of rocks ; it climbs the steepest ascents with ease, and, in
springing from crag to crag, alights securely on the very verge
of the precipice. Its feet, which are hollowed out, and have
sharp edges, are nicely suited to this condition of life. It is
not fond of feeding on the herbage of plains, but deserts them
to browse on the heaths, shrubs, the wild thyme, and other
plants of the mountains. It is not well adapted to a country
of enclosures, because it browses upon the twigs of hedges, and
escapes over the barriers intended to confine it.

It is in wild rocky countries, therefore, that the goat is chiefly
reared ; but often it is domesticated in the plains for the pro-
duction of milk, for which the female goat is eminently adapt-
ed. She gives a great quantity of milk for so small a creature,
and that rich, nourishing, and light. Like the cow, she yields
it freely to the hand, and for a long time. She is readily

P p

")J)4 REARINC; AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

taught to suckle the young of other animals, and becomes at-
tached to her adopted offspring. She feeds readily in situations
where the cow could not subsist, and this is a quality which
gives a high value to the goat in many countries.

But in this island, the cultivation of the goat is limited and
partial. It is chiefly confined to the mountainous parts of
Wales, to parts of the remoter Highlands of Scotland, and to
the little farms of the poorer peasants of Ireland, whose scanty
possessions will not support a cow. In such a case as the last,
the goat is a valuable creature, being easily and quickly reared
to maturity, and feeding on herbs which other animals would
reject.

The great objection to the rearing of the goat in this coun-
try is the want of demand for its flesh. Even the kid, whose
flesh is known to be so delicate and nourishing, is in no estima-
tion amongst us, and hence all the other properties of the goat
are insufficient to render it an object of profitable production.
But the goat, although it never can be so valuable here as in
the dry and rocky countries of the south of Europe, does not
deserve that entire neglect with which it is treated. It arrives
early at maturity, and is very prolific, bearing two and some-
times three kids at a birth. It does not produce wool, but its
hair may be shorn, and is of some little value ; and its skin, and
especially that of the kid, is in demand. It browses on heaths,
and on plants rejected by other animals ; and thus might, in
certain situations, be fed in addition to other flocks, without
injuring the herbage. The flesh of the old goat is indeed
tough and strong-tasted, but it may be salted, and dried like
bacon, as in Wales ; and with respect to the flesh of the kid,
this is not surpassed by that of the finest lamb. The goat,
therefore, might certainly form an addition to the comforts of
the cottagers of this and other parts of Europe, by supplying
them with cheap food and milk.

( 595 )

V. THE HOG.

1. Species and Varieties.

Of the genus Sus three species are peculiar to the Old Con-
tinent and its islands ; —

1. Sus babyrussa — The Babyroussa, confined to the Indian Ar-

chipelago.

2. Sus larvatus — The African Boar, a very fierce and powerful

creature, living in holes, and never yet domesticated.

3. Sus aper— The Wild Boar.

Of these species, the most widely distributed, and the most
important, is the Wild Boar. He is found in Europe, Africa,
Asia, and the islands of the Eastern seas. He is the parent
stock of the domestic hog and its varieties.

The wild boar is a bold and powerful animal. He dwells
for the most part, in moist and shady situations, and he feeds
chiefly on plants and roots. In a state of nature his senses are
acute, his ears very moveable, and his touch and smell so deli-
cate, as to lead him to his food below ground, which he grubs
up with his strong and flexible trunk, and this faculty he re-
tains when in a state of slavery.

The female carries her young about four months, and she is
rarely seen with the males but in the rutting season. She
suckles her young for several months, and retains them near
her for a considerable time afterwards, to defend them. When
assailed, she protects her offspring with amazing courage, and
the young reward her cares by a long attachment. She is
sometimes seen to be followed by several families, forming a
troop, formidable to their assailants, and destructive, by their
ravages, to the cultivated fields. A remarkable contrast with
the long cares of the female, is the solitary habit of the adult
male, who will even, at their birth, destroy his own young, — a
singular instinct of nature, given for some purpose that is un-
known to us.

Although the domestic hog loses many of the characters of

pp2

596 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

the wild race, he retains enough of them to prove his affinity ;
and all question upon the subject of his origin is removed by
the change produced upon his progeny by domestication.

One of the most remarkable circumstances in the history of
the domestic hog is, his general distribution over so many coun-
tries and distant islands, where no trace of any wild animal of
the species exists in record or tradition. He was found ex-
tensively in the islands of the South Sea, when first visited by
European voyagers, furnishing the principal animal food of the
natives ; and he exists in vast numbers in China, and the islands
of the East. But what is remarkable, he is not indigenous in
America, but was carried thither by the Spaniards ; and he is
not found amongst the quadrupeds of New Holland, though
he has now multiplied greatly there. This universal diffusion
he seems to owe to his extraordinary fecundity, his adaptation
to every climate, and the facility with which he may be trans-
ported from one place to another.

The hog, though chiefly herbivorous in his natural state,
may be fed equally well on animal food. It is this which ren-
ders him the most easily and cheaply reared of all the domestic
quadrupeds.

Like the horse, the ox, and the sheep, the hog is affected in
his character, size, and form by the physical state of the coun-
tries in which he is naturalized. But he is more the creature
of artificial feeding than the sheep, the ox, or the horse ; and
hence his size is not so much dependent on the nature of the
country in which he is reared. To the variations produced on
him by external causes, we apply, as in the case of other ani-
mals, the term breeds.

The breeds of this country, as may be supposed, are very
numerous. Those which may be referred to as illustrating the
differences of size and character in the animals, are the follow-
ing:—

1. The native hog of the Highlands of Scotland.

2. The Chinese hog1.

3. The old English hog.

4. The Berkshire hog.

5. The Suffolk hoe.

THE HOG. 597

The native breed of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
consists of a small race, of a dun colour, with erect ears,
rounded back, low shoulders, and with coarse bristles along the
spine. They resemble the wild hog in their general form. They
are usually left to search for their own food ; and they will graze
on the hills like sheep, and find their way to the shore on the
ebbing of the tide, to feed on sea-weeds. They are far infe-
rior to the improved varieties of the lower country ; but they
fatten when supplied with proper food more readily than their
rough exterior would indicate.

The Chinese hog is of the widely extended Siamese breed
of the East, a race which extends from the Continent to the
islands of Sumatra, New Guinea, and others, and to all the is-
lands of the South Seas. The true Siamese breed has the
skin of a rich copper colour, but, like all the domesticated ani-
mals, the colour varies with conditions of climate, food, and
culture. In China the colour is often white, and it is with the
varieties derived from China, that we are the most familiar in
this country.

The Chinese hog is for the most part less than the common
swine of Europe, but it is distinguished by its peculiar apti-
tude to fatten. Its bones are small, its limbs short, its ears
erect, its skin and bristles soft, and its general aspect deli-
cate.

The introduction of this race has insensibly produced a
great change in the character of all the breeds of this coun-
try. It has been made to cross the greater number of them.
It has diminished the size, but removed the former coarseness
of form, and increased the aptitude to fatten. The pure breed
is little cultivated, and it is through the medium therefore of
its crosses with the native stock, that its value is chiefly
known. In this respect, the introduction of the Eastern hog
into England has been singularly beneficial.

The Old English hog may be held to be the type of the an-
cient swine of England. It is distinguished by its great size,
its lank form, and its pendent ears. Remnants of this unim-
proved vac? are yet to be found, but for the most part they

•l08 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

have given place to the more improved varieties. Although
of defective form and slow feeders, the females are admirable
nurses of their young : and when crossed by improved males,
as the Berkshire, they produce a progeny possessing the apti-
tude to fatten of the male parent, with the large size of the
dam.

The Berkshire was the earliest of the improved breeds of
England, and is now the most generally diffused of all others.
It has been undoubtedly formed by a mixture of the blood of
the Eastern hog with the ancient swine of the country. The
great improver of this breed was Mr Astley of Oldstonehall.
The modern Berkshire, however, is of less size than the older
breed ; but still the animals are usually of the larger class of
swine. Their common colour is a reddish-brown, with dark
spots ; but many of the modern breed are nearly black, mani-
festing their nearer approach to the Siamese character ; and
sometimes they are black, broken with white, indicating the
effects of the cross of the White Chinese. The Berkshire are
justly regarded as one of the superior breeds of England, com-
bining good size, with aptitude to fatten ; and their flesh is
fitted for pork or bacon.

In Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and other eastern counties,
there are breeds of a large size, of a white colour, and with pen-
dent ears. They have been all more or less affected in their
size and characters by crossing. A variety termed the Suf-
folk, is so named from the county of Suffolk, which has long
produced great quantities of pork, chiefly for the supply of
London. The Suffolk hogs have been crossed again and again
with the Chinese, or descendants of Chinese crosses, so as
to reduce the size for the purpose of suiting the taste of the
consumers. The Essex breed has the same general character
as the Suffolk ; but generally with thinner skins, and bristles
approaching more to hair.

The same system of crossing has been applied to all the
former breeds of England, as the Rudgwick, the Cheshire, the
Shropshire, so that the characters applied to these varieties by
former breeders can scarcely be now traced in the progeny.

THE HOG. 59$

A breed has been lately received termed the Neapolitan.
The animals are of small size, of a round and delicate form :
their skins are of a coal black colour, and at the first intro-
duction they are almost destitute of bristles ; but when several
times bred in England the bristles come. They have a great
aptitude to fatten, and have on this account been received with
favour, and they produce good crosses with the native stock.
They are probably of African origin.

In Scotland there are various mixed kinds. On the east
coast the farmers prefer the small and kindly feeding hogs ; on
the west coast, where the dairy prevails, and the curing of ba-
con is established, they prefer the larger breeds. In Ireland
vast quantities of hogs are reared, which used to be of a large
size and coarse form. But within the space of a few years, a
prodigious improvement has taken place in this part of the
live stock of Ireland. This has been effected chiefly by the
introduction of improved males of the best English breeds, as
the Berkshire and the Suffolk.

2. Form.

The same external characters indicate, in the hog, a dis-
position to fatten as in the other live-stock ; and there is no
other animal which can be made by cultivation to present so
great a combination of these characters, or which can be so
easily improved in its form-, from the facility with which it re-
ceives the character of its parents, and from its rapid powers
of increase. The chest should be deep and broad, the ribs
largely arched, the neck short, and the head and limbs small ;
the bristles should be soft, approaching to hair, and the skin
soft and elastic.

3. Rearing and Feeding.

The sow goes with young 112 days. She is fit to receive
the male in the first year of her age, and the latter is able to
propagate his species at the same early period, but he should

BOO REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

be 12 months old before he is admitted to the female. The
female produces from 5 to 10 or more at a birth, and she can
easily be made to produce and rear two litters in the year ;
and she may even rear five in two years. She is ready to
receive the male soon after the birth of her young ; but the
time should be chosen which allows her to produce her litter
at the most convenient season. Thus, if she is to be made to
litter twice in one year, the first should, if possible, be pro-
duced about the beginning of February, and the second about
the beginning of August, so that the last litter may gain full
strength before the arrival of cold weather.

When the sow is with young, she should not be wholly con-
fined to a pen, but be suffered to walk at large in a yard or
other convenient place, care being taken that, as the time of
producing her young draws on, she shall not be crowded with
others, lest she be injured by their feet.

The time when she is about to produce her litter will be
known by her carrying straw in her mouth to make her bed.
Before this, however, she should have been separated from her
fellows and carefully littered. The straw should be short, and
not in too great quantity, lest the pigs, nestling beneath it un-
perceived by the dam, be crushed by her when she lies down.

While nursing, she should be well fed, and the pigs accus-
tomed to feed from a trough on milk, whey, or any liquid
food, mixed with a little meal or bran. In 30 days the males
may be castrated, and a like operation, though not absolutely
necessary, may be performed upon the females at the same
time.

During the period of nursing, the dam and her young should
be lodged dry and warm. They should be fed three times in
the day with whey, milk, and a little water slightly warm,
mixed with bran, meal, or any farinaceous substance, and when
the pigs are in the course of feeding from the troughs, the
mother may be allowed to go at large for an hour or two.

In six weeks, if they are well fed, the pigs may be weaned,
but should they not have been well fed, eight weeks will bo
required. When weaned, they are to be fed three times a day

THE HOG. O'Ol

with wheat-bran, barley-dust, or any farinaceous food, mixed
with water warmed to the temperature of the mother's milk,
and with whey, or other refuse of the dairy or the kitchen. In
a few weeks they will begin to eat potatoes, turnips, and all
other food.

The young pigs are sometimes disposed of when sucking the
dam. In other cases they are sold when weaned to persons
who design to feed them ; and in other cases they are fed by
the breeder himself.

When they are fattened by the breeder, two modes of feed-
ing may be adopted. They may be either suffered to go at
large, or they may be kept in pens and houses. By the first of
these methods, after being weaned and fed for a period till
they are able to shift for themselves, they are turned abroad
to pick up what they can in the straw-yards, a little green
food, as tares or clover during summer, and turnips or potatoes
during winter, being supplied to them. They do not, under
this management, receive any more expensive feeding until they
are put up finally to be fattened, when they are confined for a
few weeks, and fed on farinaceous and other food. The pigs
intended for this species of management should be the best of
the smaller varieties; and they may be killed for domestic
use, or disposed of when of 7 or 8 stones weight. All the ac-
commodation required under this system of management, is a
few pens with sheds ; first, for the breeding swine when nursing
their young ; and second, for the pigs which are in the course
of being fattened.

In all cases upon a farm, a certain number of pigs may be
kept at large in this manner for picking up the waste of the
farm-yards. But the regular course of management, and that
to be adopted where the feeding of the animals is carried on on
the larger scale, is to have separate feeding houses for the pigs,
in which a greater or lesser number can be kept.

The same general principle of feeding applies to the hog as
to the other domestic animals. The breeding stock is to be
kept in good order, but not over-fed ; the feeding stock is to

GQ'2 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

receive a full allowance of good food from the period of wean-
ing until it is fat.

The food of the feeding pigs is every kind of animal refuse,
as that of the dairy and kitchen. Roots of any kind, raw and
boiled, will be eaten by them ; but it is better that this species
of food be boiled or steamed. Bran steamed or boiled, is like-
wise a nourishing food for pigs ; beans and pease bruised may
be also given to them ; and brewers'1 grains and wash furnish
one of the best kinds of food that can be supplied. Hay or
dried fodder is not relished by this class of animals : they re-
quire food of a moist and succulent kind, and therefore, though
they dislike dried forage, they will not refuse hay and even
straw if chopped and boiled. They feed on green food of all
kinds ; and hence clover, lucerne, and tares may be employed
in feeding them in summer, though to fatten them finally some
farinaceous or other nourishing food will be required. They
will also graze like sheep or oxen, but grass consumed in this
maimer is not the natural food of the animal, which consists
of roots rather than of herbage. The feeding of pigs on her-
bage, is merely to carry them on for a time till more fattening
food can be procured for them. When fed on herbage, a ring
must be passed through the cartilage of the nose, to prevent
their following their natural instinct of ploughing up the ground,
but the same purpose may be more effectually served, by di-
viding the tendons by which they are enabled to move the
snout. Acorns and beech-mast are a favourite food of the
hog, but these are rarely furnished in sufficient quantity for
the purpose of feeding, though in cases where there is access
to woods producing these fruits, hogs may be turned into fo-
rests with advantage. All kinds of spoiled or waste fruits
may be given to them ; and in the cider districts accordingly,
the refuse of the cider press is employed for feeding them. In
short, the animal is omnivorous, and there is not any species
of animal or vegetable food which may not be given ; and in
the case of no other of the larger animals accordingly is the
process of feeding so simple.

THE HOG. 60S

Pigs ought to be fed three times in the day, and the troughs
in which the food is placed should be emptied before a fresh
supply is given, and kept perfectly clean. It is well to vary
their food, to mix it with water or other liquid, and not to
overload them by too much at a time. It is a great error to
leave these animals in a state of filth and neglect. The hog is
not a filthy animal by choice ; he delights in a clean bed ;
he will wallow indeed in the mire like the elephant, the rhino-
cerus, and other pachydermatous or thick-skinned animals to
which he belongs ; but this is not because he prefers filth, but
because he loves coolness and moisture.

There are two purposes for which pigs may be fattened. The
one is to yield pork, which may be used either fresh, salted, or
pickled, and the other is to produce bacon, which is prepared
by salting and drying the flesh. When fed for pork, which is
the most convenient system in the practice of the farm, the
pigs may be reared to the age of 6 or 8 months ; when intend-
ed for bacon, they must be reared to a greater age and size, as
10 or 12 months. When the object is pork, the smaller class
of early-feeding pigs is to be preferred ; when bacon is desired,
the larger class should be cultivated.

In the case of feeding for pork alone, it has been computed
that, upon a regular farm, with a supply of tares and clovers
to the animals in summer, and of potatoes and turnips in win-
ter, and with no other feeding than the refuse of the barn,
milkhouse, and kitchen, one pig may be fattened in the year
for every 6 acres of land under corn crop. Thus, supposing
there are to be 240 acres in corn crop, the quantity of pigs fed
annually upon the farm might be 40. To feed this stock, in
addition to what they can pick up in the straw-yards, about an
acre and a quarter of clover, and an equal quantity of potatoes
during winter, will be sufficient. To keep up the number, 3
breeding swine will be required, of which two should be sold
in each year, their place being supplied by an equal number of
younger ones reared upon the farm. The surplus beyond the
quantity of 40, which it is proposed to feed, may be disposed
of when weaned. This is a method of management practicable

G04 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

upon ordinary farms, without any interference whatever with
the food and attention required for the larger stock. *

Another method of management may be adopted. This is
to take only one litter of pigs from each sow, to sell the pigs as
soon as they are weaned, and immediately afterwards to feed
the swine. This will be a very profitable species of manage-
ment, provided there is a sufficient demand in the district for
so many pigs when weaned.

Mr Henderson, in his Treatise on Swine, recommends this
system. He calculates that 1 sow for every 7? acres upon a
farm, may be reared and fattened in this manner. He pro-
poses that the breeder shall purchase, in the first place, 20 sow
pigs and 1 boar pig, which had been born the beginning of
June. In the following June all the females will have had
pigs. These they are to suckle for about two months. The
pigs are then to be sold just when weaned, except 21, namely,
20 sow pigs and 1 boar pig ; these being selected from those
which are of the handsomest shape, so that the subsequent
stock may be kept good and uniform. The farmer will now be
in a situation to go on without farther outlay of money for
stock. In a month after the pigs are weaned and sold, the
sows themselves are to be put up to feed. This will be about
the beginning of September. The male must be then admitted
to them so as to render them quiet and apt to feed, and in two
months they will be fat and of large size.

Pigs, it has been said, may either be used for pork, fresh,
salted, or pickled, when they will be ready in 6 or 8 months,
or for bacon, when they will be ready in 10 or 12 months.

In the case of pickling pork, the carcass is to be cut in
pieces, and may be packed in kits containing from 1 to 2 cwt.
Salt is then dissolved in water, so as to form a strong brine,
and this being boiled, is cooled again and poured upon the
pork so as to cover it. This simple process prepares the pork
for market, so that the preparation of it may be carried on with
the greatest facility upon the premises of the farmer.

When the animals are designed for bacon, the operation is

* Brown on Rural Affairs.

the hoc. GO;"!

performed by cutting the body so as to separate the haras or
legs from the flitches or sides, the body for this purpose being
cut first along the back-bone and then transversely. The hams
and flitches are then laid on boards, sprinkled with saltpetre,
and covered with salt. They are then separately salted again,
and at length put in a chimney or smoke-house to dry. The
proper period for curing bacon is in the cold months, namely,
from the middle of September to the middle of April.

Private families in the country may supply themselves with
fresh or pickled pork by very easy means : — Let a good sow
be procured of the early feeding kinds, as the Berkshire or
Chinese cross. This sow will produce from 15 to 20 pigs
every year, and these pigs may be rendered sufficiently fat
for domestic use when 4 or 5 months old. It is unnecessary
to keep a male if one amongst the neighbouring farmers of
the same breed is to be found. Let a small house be formed
sufficient to hold 2 pigs at once, and for convenience as near
the kitchen as possible. Let a pig be killed every three weeks,
the oldest being taken first, and his place being supplied by
another. With attention, the animal will be ready in six
weeks after being put up. In this manner a family may be
supplied with fresh and pickled pork plentifully throughout
the whole year, and at a very small expense. During the hot
months the pork may be pickled in a cold cellar, in a manner
sufficient for household use ; or a portion, if wished, may be
converted into small hams like those of Westphalia *.

When we regard the numbers of mankind fed upon the flesh
of this animal, it must be seen that he occupies an important
place in the domestic economy of countries. His flesh is per-
fectly nutritive, and, from its ready reception of salt, it is bet-
ter fitted for preservation than that of any other animal. It is
thus eminently adapted for sea-voyages, for which purpose it is
largely used. It forms a great part of the animal food of the
labouring classes of Europe. The hog is truly the poor man's
stock, since it may be raised by the cottager, as well as by the

* Henderson on Swine.

G0() REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

breeder on the larger scale. There is no animal which, in
proportion to the food consumed, yields so great a quantity of
muscle and fat. His flesh indeed may not be so profitable as
that of the sheep and the ox, but this arises from the facility of
production, and the consequent tendency of the market to be
overstocked.

To the settler in a new country, the hog is the most valuable
of all the larger domestic animals used as food. He is beyond
every other quickly multiplied, reared, and brought to the re-
quired maturity. The clearers of land in the American forests
could hardly subsist during their first year of labour and dan-
ger without this creature.

And in our own country it is a great error for a farmer,
however extended his concerns may be, to disregard this branch
of farm-stock ; it is to him a source of household economy and
comfort. He can raise the most delicate pork for use at all
times, and with the greatest facility, and will always derive a
sufficient profit by the sale of the remainder, to repay him for
his feeding, and induce him to give attention to this branch of
economy.

VI. THE RABBIT.

Of the genus Lepus, the species to which the term Rabbit is
usually applied are : —

1. Lepus cuniculus — The Common Rabbit.

2. Lepus tolai — The Siberian Rabbit.

3. Lepus americanus — The American Rabbit.

That which forms the subject of cultivation in the north of
Europe is the Common Rabbit.

The rabbit is a subject of considerable attention in some
countries. It is reared partly for its fur, which is employed
chiefly in the manufacture of hats, and partly for its flesh.
It is a wonderfully prolific creature ; it will breed seven times
in the year, and produces from 5 to 10 young at a time.

THE RABBIT. 007

Were its numbers not thinned by a multitude of beasts of
prey, as the fox, the weasel, the polecat, and the hawk, it
would soon overspread the face of the country ; but these ani-
mals, to which it serves for food, retain it within its due limits;
and as if for a further security against its excessive multiplica-
tion, the male parent is endowed with the propensity to destroy
his own offspring.

At the age of six months, the rabbit is able to propagate.
The female goes with young 30 or 31 days. Previous to
bringing forth her young, she makes a bed of down, which
she pulls from her own fur. She tends and suckles her young
with surprising solicitude, and never leaves them except for ne-
cessary food. She conceals them from the male, lest, obeying
his natural instinct, he should destroy them.

The flesh of the rabbit is, in some countries, much esteemed.
In England it is little valued, although still the consumption
of the great towns is considerable.

The rabbits with us are of two kinds : the wild rabbit, which
is reared in warrens, in a state of comparative liberty ; and the
tame rabbit, which is reared and fed in yards and houses.

The fitting soil for the warren is sand, and the best situation
for it, sandy downs, which are of little value for tillage. War-
rens are of every variety and extent. When not naturally
stocked, they may be stocked at the rate of 3 couples to the
acre, there being 1 male for every 7 or more females. The
warren should be enclosed by a wall, so as to prevent the depre-
dations of the rabbits on the neighbouring fields. The ma-
nagement of the warren itself is simple. It is to be protected
from dogs and beasts of prey, while mice, rats, and other ver-
min are to be destroyed. The rabbits are themselves caught
in traps and nets, and sent to market in such quantities as
they are produced. They are generally disposed of by the
dozen or hundred, and their fur is of the most value from Oc-
tober to January.

It is generally found that the rabbit-warren in this country
is a very unproductive species of property. At the present

003 HEARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

price of the animals, there is scarce any inducement to pre-
serve existing warrens, and none to form new ones.

If the rabbit, then, is to be cultivated in this country for
profit, he must be reared in the house or yard, and then the
variety to be selected is the tame or domestic rabbit.

The domestic rabbit is larger than the wild, and is greatly
diversified in size and colour. His flesh is more white and
delicate than that of the wild rabbit, but generally less valued,
because possessing less of the game flavour.

The variety chosen for breeding should be of the larger
kinds. Those termed the French and Turkish rabbits are
much esteemed. The rabbit selected for breeding, we are
informed by the breeders of them, should be wide in the loin
and short-legged. It thus appears that the external characters
which indicate a disposition to fatten in the other domestic
animals, indicate the same property in the rabbit.

In the management of the rabbit, the utmost attention must
be paid to ventilation, cleanliness and food. The animals
are most conveniently kept in boxes, or compartments termed
hutches, one above the other round the room. Each hutch
intended for the does should have two divisions, one for feed-
ing and the other for sleeping. Those are single which are
intended for the use of the weaned rabbits, or for the bucks,
which are always removed from the female after copulation.

There should be little troughs in the hutches for the food,
which consists of corn, hay, roots, and green plants, or any
farinaceous substance. Boiled potatoes are an excellent food
for the rabbit, as for every kind of herbivorous animal.

The female, when the time of parturition approaches, makes
her nest, for which hay is to be furnished her. She bites it
with her teeth into the requisite size. She generally produces
from 5 to 10 young. At the end of six weeks, the male is
again admitted to her, and the young ones weaned, or she is
allowed to suckle them for two weeks more.

They are either sold from the teat, when they are extremely
delicate, or they are kept on for a certain period and fattened.

DOMESTIC FOWLS. 609

Good and nourishing food is to be supplied to them, and three
months' feeding is generally considered necessary to feed them
properly.

From the statement given, it will appear that the rearing
and feeding of the domestic rabbit is extremely easy, and that
there is no class of animals so prolific. The cultivation of the
animal, however, can only be carried on successfully where there
is a demand for the produce. But if it were the habit of the
people, the rearing of the domestic rabbit by various classes
in this country would furnish, at little expense, a grateful
change of wholesome and nourishing food.

VII. DOMESTIC FOWLS.

The domestic fowls reared in Europe for food are compre-
hended under two divisions :

1. Gallinaceee, the Cock kind, comprehending the Common Cock,

the Turkey, the Guinea-fowl, the Peacock, and the Pigeon.

2. Palmipedes, the Web-footed kinds, comprehending the Duck..

the Goose, and the Swan.

1. The first in importance of the gallinaceous fowls, is Pha-
sianus gallus, the Domestic Cock. To what region we owe
this creature is unknown. He is found from the equator to
the limits of the temperate regions. In Asia and its islands he
is very abundant, and sometimes of large size and great beauty.
The large cock of the forests of the East, termed the Jungle-
Cock, is one of the species or varieties in its wild state, and is
supposed by some naturalists to be the origin of the domestic
kinds.

The male of the domestic species, were we not daily fami-
liarized to the sight of him, would appear to be a very graceful
bird. His gait is erect, his eyes are sparkling, he is armed with
spurs for his defence, and he is endowed with a courage which
often causes him to die rather than yield to an enemy.

The female is remarkable beyond all other birds for her
fecundity ; she continues to lay eggs throughout a great part

Qq

610

REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

of the year ; the period in which she ceases to do so, or does
so very sparingly, is that of moulting, which generally lasts
from one to three months. After having laid a certain number
of eggs, the desire of incubation takes place. This is indicated
by strong emotions, and a peculiar cry ; and she will sit on any
eggs that may be presented to her. Many expedients, some of
them very cruel, are practised to check the instinctive passion,
so as to cause the animal to lay eggs rather than to hatch.

It is remarkable that while some of the females show this
desire in the strongest manner, others scarcely manifest it, or,
showing it, it quickly leaves them. Hence, while some are en-
gaged in producing eggs, others are ready to serve the office
of mother, and on this account there is no kind of the domes-
tic fowls that can be propagated so quickly, and in such num-
bers.

The period of hatching is 21 days. The female during this
time manifests increasing watchfulness. She will scarcely be
induced to forsake her charge, even by the most pressing claims
for food, and hence food should be placed within her reach.
The number of eggs which one mother is allowed to hatch, is
generally from 10 to 15.

The young is gradually nourished within the shell. It lies
without motion ; its position is remarkable ; its breast is to-
wards one end of the egg, which is formed large for that pur-
pose ; its legs are bent forward to the breast; its head is couch-
ed beneath one of its wings ; and its beak rises from between
the wing and the back.

When the time of its maturity is at length arrived, the de-
sire of life and motion awakes. The little creature employs its
beak, thus singularly placed, for the purpose of breaking its
covering. It is heard to tap the shell ; the emotions of the
mother increase as she listens to the attempt of the young to
come forth. The beating of the beak is generally continued
for 2 hours, sometimes for 6 hours, and sometimes for a longer
time. At length the shell is broken, and the young is enabled
to come forth from its marvellous mansion.

The anxious mother has no milk to give to her young when

DOMESTIC FOWLS. Oil

they come into day ; but Nature has provided for all their
wants. The mother teaches the young to find their food al-
most as soon as born, and their little bills are sufficiently hard-
ened at their birth to pick it from the ground.

The change of nature in the parent is very remarkable.
From the most timid of creatures, she now becomes fierce and
courageous ; she will attack the largest animal in defence of
her young ; she watches them with surprising solicitude ; she
shelters them under her wings, and leads them where food is
to be found. After a time her cares cease ; she gradually re-
covers her natural timidity ; she finally resumes all her habits,
and leaves her long-cherished offspring as if never to know
them more.

The varieties of the common fowl in this country are very
numerous, and are distinguished from one another by their
size, colour, and fecundity.

The Game-fowl is a very singular creature on account of its
habits. Its size is less than that of the common kind ; but
the symmetry of its limbs is greater, and the beauty of its
plumage is remarkable when not mutilated for the barbarous
sport for which it is destined. Its flesh is white, and esteemed
beyond that of all the common kinds for its delicacy and fla-
vour ; but the singular pugnacity of its disposition, which shows
itself at the earliest period of life, deters all breeders from
rearing it except for the purpose of gaming. Whole broods,
scarce feathered, become blind from continued fighting ; and a
very small number, accordingly, of any brood can be reared.
Neither can they be employed to cross the common fowls, be-
cause they never fail to convey the same pugnacity of disposi-
tion to the offspring.

This singular temperament of the animal has been known, and
turned to a barbarous purpose, from the earliest times ; but
whatever may be the design of this peculiar nature of the ani-
mal, it cannot be imagined that it was intended to minister to
the cupidity and evil passions of gamblers in a cock-pit. The
cruel sport, therefore, to which the nature of the animal gives
rise, should be proscribed by public feeling.

The Dorking fowls, so named from a town in Surrey, in the

Q q 2

612 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

neighbourhood of which they are raised, are the largest and
finest of our domestic breeds. Their colour is wholly white ;
their body is capacious, and they are prolific layers of eggs.
They are distinguished by having five claws on each foot.

Equal to the Dorking in estimation are the Poland fowls.
Their colour is black, their heads flat, and surmounted with a
crown of feathers. They are a very useful variety, prolific of
eggs, but less inclined to sit than those of any other breed.

The Bantam is a little Indian breed, very delicate to eat,
but, from the smallness of its size, not of any economical im-
portance.

The Chitagong or Malay fowl, is the largest breed that has
been yet brought to this country ; but the flesh is regarded as
inferior to that of the Dorking and Poland.

When it is wished to form a breed of fowls, the breeding
should be from a young stock. Hens are at their prime at 3
years old, and decline after the age of five. The best period
to commence breeding is in spring.

The methods of feeding fowls are various. The most com-
mon, is to suffer them to range about the homestead, in which
case they are termed barn-door fowls.

Whether the fowls are suffered to go at large, or are confined,
there should be a poultry-yard, where they may be regularly
fed, and this should be on dry ground, and well gravelled.
There should be water in the yard, and it should be sheltered
from the north and east. There may be put in the yard a
quantity of dried sand, that the animals may indulge the pro-
pensity so natural to them of rolling or basking.

There must likewise be a house for the animals to roost and
hatch. In this should be placed perches, to which they may
ascend by steps without flying, and these perches should be
placed on a range or level, and not one above the other ; and
round the interior should be placed boxes for the fowls that
are hatching. When there is only one house, the boxes for
the web-footed fowls should be below, and those for the hens
above, protected by little boards in front, and with steps by
which the fowls may ascend.

The common fowls of a farm may usually be suffered to go

DOMESTIC FOWLS. <Jl3

at large, care, however, being taken that they shall be regu-
larly fed in the poultry-yard morning and evening. But when
fowls are reared in large numbers for sale, feeding-houses
must be employed, in which are troughs with water and food
placed all around, so that the animals may feed constantly
without interruption. Poulterers know how to feed fowls with
great expedition ; and their method seems to be to give every
kind of nourishing food. It is indeed under every circum-
stance the rule of experienced feeders, to give the animals a
full allowance of food from their birth to their maturity. The
same rule applies to them in this respect, as to other animals
reared for food.

Wheat, barley, and oats, are all employed for the feeding
of poultry. Poultry, indeed, will feed on any kind of farina-
ceous substance, and the better the quality of the food, the
more will the animals profit by it. And not only will they feed
on farinaceous food, but on animal substances, as grease, suet,
and milk ; sugar and treacle, too, are consumed by them ; and
it is by this kind of mixtures that poultry-feeders are enabled
to produce so rapid a degree of fatness.

The cramming of poultry consists not only in feeding with
these substances, but in forcing them down the throats of the
animals. The ingredients employed are made into little balls,
and the fowls are kept in coops, and crammed night and morn-
ing. In this way they are fattened in a very short time.

Eggs are an extensive product of common poultry. They
form an object of vast consumption, and are produced in num-
bers not to be computed. Mr Lawrence, in his work on
Poultry, states that from 5 Poland hens he obtained, in 11
months, 503 eggs, weighing, at the average of 1 oz. 5 drams
each, 50^ lb.* From this will appear the great production of
animal food from this source. To preserve eggs, the pores of
the shell should be rendered impervious to the air. Unctuous
substances of different kinds are employed for this purpose, as

* Practical Treatise on Breeding, Rearing, and Fattening Domestic Poul-
try, &c, by Mr Lawrence, under the assumed name of Moubray.

014 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

suet melted, oil, and the like. Other substances are employed,
as water saturated with lime and salt.

2. The Turkey, Meleagris gallo-pavo, is a native of America.
He was found by the Spaniards, both in a wild and domesti-
cated state ; he was named the Indian Cock, and sometimes
the Peacock of the Indies ; he seems to have been introduced
into this island soon after the discovery of America.

In his wild state, the colour of the turkey is black, variegated
with bronze and glossy green ; and his quills towards the ends
are tipped with white. By domestication he acquires that va-
riety of colours which we see him to possess. In his native
woods, the turkey is found in large flocks ; he roosts upon
the highest trees, and becomes an easy prey to the hunter ; he
retires before the progress of the settler, taking refuge in the
boundless forests of the interior.

The turkey is an important addition to the domestic fowls of
Europe. There is but one species of the domesticated turkey,
but great varieties, distinguished chiefly by their size and
colour.

The turkey is more tender, and difficult to rear, than the
common domestic fowls. The hen lays a considerable number
of eggs in spring ; the period of her incubation is 30 days ; and
from 10 to 15 eggs are usually assigned to one female. She will
sit upon her eggs frequently without the desire to leave them,
and hence the propriety of supplying her with water and food
while sitting. Her cry at the period of maternal solicitude is
plaintive and expressive, but she treats her young with less
seeming care than might have been looked for. She travels
with them very fast to great distances, and often leaves them
straggling behind her ; hence it is usual to confine her to a coop
till the young have acquired strength to follow her. And fre-
quently even, on account of her wandering habits, her eggs
are given to be hatched by a common hen. She is wonderfully
vigilant when birds of prey appear ; and by a peculiar cry,
gives the alarm to her brood, which instantly seek for shelter,
or couch themselves upon the ground.

As soon as the young are hatched, they must be withdrawn
from the nest, and kept warm. The hen and brood must

DOMESTIC FOWLS. 615

then be housed for some time, after which she must be cooped
during the day in the open air, till the young acquire strength
to follow her. During this period the young are fed on fari-
naceous food, kneaded with water, and mixed with cresses,
nettles, or other green herbs, cut small. Though they are
tender at first, yet when half-grown, and well feathered, they
become hardy, and will range abroad, providing themselves
with insects and other food ; but care must be taken that they
be well fed when let out in the morning, and when they return
in the evening. It is to be observed, that if a large wood be
near, the creatures, with the instinct of their race, will stray
towards it, without any seeming wish to return.

When they are put up for final feeding, sodden barley, or
the meal of oats, barley and wheat, are their appropriate food.
A common practice is, after they have been allowed to glean in
the stubble-fields in autumn, to put them up for fattening. A
good weight for a turkey is 15 lb. ; but they are sometimes fed
to 20 and even 30 lb. The process of cramming is also adopt-
ed with the turkey, and thus it is compelled to become fat in
the shortest time. The eggs of the turkey are regarded as
delicate by those who are used to them, but they are not much
an article of consumption.

3. The Pintado or Guinea-fowl, Numida Meleagris, is a
native of Africa, where it is found in vast flocks ; but it is now
diffused over every part of Europe, the West-India Islands,
and a great part of America. The pintado is a restless, noisy
bird ; the female lays numerous eggs, which are smaller than
those of the common hen, but esteemed much more delicate ;
like other gallinaceous birds, she is apt to secrete her eggs until
she has produced her brood.

The pintado is an agreeable variety in the poultry-yards of
Europe, liked by some for its flesh, and by all for the delicacy
of its eggs ; but it is of little economical importance. The
chicks are very tender, and should not be produced too early
in spring. They are generally hatched by the common hen,
who either covers a larger number of them, or is found to be a
more careful nurse than the pintado herself.

616 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

4. The Peacock, Pavo cristatus, need scarcely be mentioned
as a bird of economical use. Pea-hens and pea-chicks, indeed,
are occasionally used for food, but this splendid creature is,
and ought to be, regarded solely as an object of beauty. The
advantages to be derived from rearing it for food are not to be
thought of.

5. The Common Pigeon, Columba livid, is of a race of birds
multiplied throughout the warmer and temperate regions ; but
it is in the warmer regions that they attain to their greatest
size and beauty of plumage. They have been in all ages the
favourites of mankind, to which their innocence and beauty
seem to give them a peculiar claim. But if it be as farmers
that we are to regard the pigeon, the beautiful favourite, un-
fortunately, cannot attract much of our regard. Nothing be-
yond the gratification of luxury can be derived from the culti-
vation of the domestic pigeon for food. In vain has it been as-
serted that pigeons do not feed upon green corn, cannot dig into
the earth with their bills, do little harm to the cultivated crops,
and consume only the seeds of injurious plants. The experi-
ence of farmers shows that the damage done by these crea-
tures to our various crops of wheat, pease, and beans, is very
great ; and certainly the waste is in no degree compensated
for by the quantity which the animals afford of human food.

Yet, as pigeons are in demand as objects of consumption,
and as they afford a luxury and convenience to those who live
in the country, the subject of their management is, like every
branch of husbandry, deserving of attention. If pigeon-houses
are to exist at all, those who possess them should know how
they are to be best managed, so that the largest return may
be derived from them. Though there is scarce any branch of
the management of the domestic fowls more misunderstood,
yet the essential rule of management is simple. Its principle
consists in regular feeding, in giving sufficient space to the
birds, and in paying a strict attention to cleanliness.

The next in order of the domestic fowls are the Web-foot-
ed. These birds, when domesticated, become enlarged in their

DOMESTIC FOWLS. 017

form, and wholly the creatures of their new condition, though
they still remain partial to an aquatic situation, swimming
with facility, and feeding on fish, insects, and the leaves and
grains of aquatic plants. They are hardy, easily propagated
and fed, and afford a rich and savoury food.

1. The Wild Duck or Mallard, Anas boschas, is the original
of the common domestic species. It is widely diffused over
the world, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and America. These
birds live in the marshes, lakes, and rivers of the North in in-
credible multitudes. In autumn, they migrate southwards in
numerous bodies, the greater part returning in spring to their
former haunts, though large flocks and scattered pairs remain
and breed in the morasses and rivers of lower latitudes.

The wild duck in its natural state is a wonderfully shy and
cautious creature. It breeds once in the year, the pairing
time commencing about the end of February, and each couple
living apart amongst the reeds of lakes, rivers, and marshes,
where they breed. Nothing can be more tender than the care
of their offspring by these birds. The nest is formed on the
ground, generally in a tuft of reeds or rushes, bent into form,
and lined with the down of the parents. The incubation lasts
30 days ; when the female quits her charge for food, she covers
up the eggs, the male in the mean time keeping watch near
the nest ; and when she returns, she approaches cautiously,
winding that she may avoid discovery. The young burst their
shells nearly at one time, and in a few hours the parents con-
duct them to the stream, where they at once begin to swim,
and feed on herbs and insects ; and at night they are gathered
together under the wings of the dam. In three months they
can fly ; and in three months more their growth and plumage
are complete.

The domestic duck adapts his habits to his new condition.
He no longer retires with one female to pair, and tend his
brood, but becomes polygamous ; and he loses the caution and
sense of danger which distinguish him in his wild state. Still,
as in the wild state, by means of his nicely-formed bill, he finds

618 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

in marshes and elsewhere the food that is suited to him. He
feeds alike upon animal and vegetable substances ; on the
spawn of fish, and the larvaj of insects ; upon grass, the seeds
of aquatic plants, and even sea-weeds. These birds may be
said to be omnivorous, and this it is which, with their hardy
qualities, renders them so easy of culture.

The duck begins to lay her eggs in February, and, obeying
her natural instinct, she will, unless confined, lay them abroad,
and conceal them. During the period of hatching, she requires
no other care but to be kept undisturbed. When she wants
food, she will go in search of it, covering up her eggs as in the
wild state. When the young are hatched, they should be al-
lowed to remain in the nest so long as the dam chooses ; after
which she may be put into a coop in the open air during the
day for a short time. She should then have a full allowance
of good food and water, while the young should likewise have
a flat dish put down to them with water frequently renewed,
with a proper supply of meal or other farinaceous food.

A common hen is frequently substituted for the natural pa-
rent to hatch the eggs of the duck. But wherever there are
any pools of water, the proper nurse is the duck herself; she
conducts her young to their natural element, and brings them
from it when it is time, while, when a hen is the nurse, they
disregard her signals on the bank, and do not themselves know
when to return.

The feeding of these fowls is easy. In certain situations,
they are allowed access to their natural haunts, the marshes
and the bogs, where they feed ; and when they are to be ulti-
mately fattened, they are fed for a short time on farinaceous
food.

As in the case of other fowls, there are also breeds of the
common duck more or less valued ; and there are some singu-
lar varieties, as the hook-billed duck, reared in aviaries and
poultry-yards.

The Mallard is the original of the ducks usually reared for
economical purposes. Other species, too, are sometimes do-

DOMESTIC FOWLS. 019

mesticatecl. One of these is the Chinese duck, Anas galeri-
culata. A large species is the Muscovy duck, or, as he ought
rather to be called, the Musk duck, Anas moschata, a native of
Paraguay, and the neighbouring provinces. He there perches
on trees by the sides of rivers and marshes, and breeds several
times in the year ; he is very shy in his wild state, but readily
submits to domestication ; he is larger than the common spe-
cies, very prolific, and easily fattened.

2. The Wild Goose, Anas anser, is another of this valuable
family, widely extended over the world, and susceptible of en-
tire subjection to the will of man.

Like the wild duck, this fine animal quits the swamps of the
vast wildernesses of the North on the approach of winter, and
migrates far to the South. From 50 to 100 individuals are
often in flight together, at a vast height, sometimes beyond the
reach of vision, and only recognised by their shrill voices. All
have witnessed the surprising regularity of their flight ; the
leaders forming the apex of an angle, and cleaving the air, as
it were, for those that follow. They pursue their lofty flights
from vast distances, and when they alight for food or rest, they
station sentinels, to guard them from surprise.

Part of them remain to breed in the lakes, rivers, and fens
of lower latitudes, but the greater number of them return to
the boundless regions of marsh and forest whence they had
taken their flight, and where they can rear their young in se-
curity.

The domestic race of this species generally loses the desire of
escaping, although a few instances occur of the tame joinino-
the wild race. The tame variety is reared in every civilized
country. Its habits render it an easily cultivated animal, and
it is an object of great economical importance in the districts
of fens and marshes, which are the most suited to the rearing
of it.

The period of incubation is from 27 to 30 days, and the
female covers conveniently from 11 to 15 eggs. She manifests
the period by carrying straw in her mouth, and then a nest
should be prepared for her in a secure situation. During the

<)20 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

time of hatching, the male stands a watchful sentinel, and will
fiercely attack the largest animals that approach the nest.

After the young are brought from the nest, the dam may be
penned with them on a spot of dry grass, while farinaceous
food, water, and any wholesome green herbs, must be supplied.
After a short time, the dam and her brood should be allowed
to forage for themselves in the fields and marshes. They are
perfectly herbivorous, and will graze like sheep. Those who
are favourably situated with respect to the means of rearing
these fowls, seldom give them any more attention, than to drive
the broods, with the dams, to the contiguous fens or marshes
where they feed.

In situations less favourable, more attention must be paid
to the feeding of them. They must be well supplied with food
like other fowls, but it constitutes the particular facility of rear-
ing these animals, that not only farinaceous substances, but
every kind of edible herbs, as turnips, potatoes, the refuse of
the garden, and the like, may be given to them. They may
be soiled, too, on clover and tares ; and when being fattened,
steamed potatoes, meal mixed with milk, and the like, may be
given to them.

The young are either disposed of at a month or G weeks old,
when they are termed green-geese, or they are retained till
after harvest, and fed upon the stubbles, when they are termed
stubble-geese. If they shall not be sufficiently fattened on the
stubbles, they must be put up to feed, all that is necessary in
this case being, to give them plenty of water and constant food,
and to litter them carefully with straw.

Besides the produce in flesh, there are derived from this ani-
mal down and feathers, both those of the wings, which are
made into writing-quills, and those of the body, which are
applied to different uses. This has given rise to the dreadful
barbarity of plucking the animals, which is sometimes done
five times in the year.

The only really important species reared in this country is
that which has been described ; but peculiar varieties or breeds
are distinguished and valued according to their size and quali-

DOMESTIC FOWLS. G21

ties. Of these, the most esteemed are the Spanish and the
Embden geese. These varieties are both white in their colour,
and of good size.

Other species of the goose have been introduced into our plea-
sure-grounds or poultry-yards, as curious or ornamental. The
Egyptian goose, or Bernacle, Anas wgyptiaca, is remarkable for
the veneration paid to it by the ancient Egyptians. The Chinese
goose is a pretty animal, more graceful, and somewhat smaller,
than the common kinds. The Canadian goose, Anas canaden-
sis, too, has been domesticated in different parts of Europe,
and becomes as familiar as the common kind.

3. The Domestic Swan, Anasolor, has in this country ceased
to be regarded as food, and is now preserved solely for the
beauty and majesty of his form, with respect to which he is the
noblest of all the water-fowls. He feeds like the goose, but is
more aquatic in his habits. He is gentle and familiar to his
keepers, eating his food from the hand ; but while engaged in
the rearing of his brood, he is fierce and dangerous to be ap-
proached. He is a bird of great courage, but is never the as-
sailant of others.

( G22 )

XL GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

I. BUILDINGS OF THE FARM.

The buildings of the farm are to enable the farmer to thrash
and prepare the produce of the ground for use ; to preserve
his corn and other seeds ; to prepare and collect manures ; to
keep his working cattle ; and to divide, shelter, and feed his
other live-stock.

For the economy of labour, the buildings of the farm should
be as near as possible to the centre of the cultivated grounds;
for most of the produce of the farm being, in the first place,
conveyed to the farm-buildings, and the manure carried from
them to the fields, it is important that the parts of the farm
shall not be so distant from the buildings that time shall be
wasted by the men and working- cattle in travelling.

But, although a central situation of the farm-buildings is
as much as possible to be aimed at, it is often necessary or ex-
pedient to sacrifice this convenience, in order to secure others.

A primary object is, the obtaining a sufficient command of
water for domestic purposes, and the use of the live-stock.
This cannot be obtained in every situation, and convenience of
position, therefore, in the buildings, must often be sacrificed, in
order to obtain the necessary supplies of water. Sometimes
water can be procured in sufficient quantity by sinking wells ;
but it is always better that it be obtained by a constant flow
or current, that the stock of the farm may be supplied at all
times without the labour of pumping. Where a brook or ri-
vulet of any kind does not exist, water can be frequently con-
veyed to the buildings from a distance in drains or pipes. And
when farm-buildings are to be erected, a preliminary examina-
tion of the means of procuring this necessary material must
never be omitted. Besides the supply of water for domestic
purposes, and the use of the live-stock, it is often important to

BUILDING. 023

have it in sufficient quantity for a water-power. However be-
neficial, then, it be to place the farm-buildings in a centrical
situation, this object must be often sacrificed in order to secure
other advantages.

The extent and arrangement of the different parts of farm-
buildings depend on the nature and size of the farm, and on
the species of management to be pursued upon it. The prin-
cipal parts of the farm-buildings, are, the barns, the stables, the
cow-houses and other feeding-houses, the shelter-sheds, the
granary, and the cart-shed.

Figure 187, which is the ground-plan and elevation of a set
of farm-buildings, is designed to illustrate the general principles
of the arrangement of this class of buildings, without showing
those deviations which circumstances may require, or those de-
tails of practice which demand the attention of the architect.
The size and arrangement of the buildings here shown are in-
tended for a farm of the larger class, and have a direct refer-
ence to the species of agriculture which has been explained in
this work.

The most convenient disposition of the out-houses of a farm,
suited to a mixed system of tillage and the feeding of live-
stock as practised in this country, is in the form of a long rect-
angle, open at one side, generally to the south, so as to admit
the air to the cattle in the yards, and allow sufficient sunshine
to them in winter. This is a point of practice which demands
the more attention, as scarce any error in the erecting of this
class of buildings is more common with architects than to
crowd the different parts of the buildings together, under the
idea of giving to them greater compactness, as if a few square
yards more, taken up in necessary buildings, were of importance
upon a farm.

The Barns being the part whence the straw for fodder and
litter is carried to the stables, feeding-houses, and sheds, they
should be placed so as to afford the readiest access to these dif-
ferent buildings. It is common to place them as near the centre
of the range as the general arrangement of the other buildings

G24

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

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BUILDINGS. 625

will allow. In the design in the figure, in which A and B re-
present the barns, this principle of arrangement is observed.

Where a thrashing-machine is employed, and upon such a
farm as we are now considering, we may proceed upon that
supposition, the barn for thrashing consists of two apartments,
the one above the other. In the upper apartment is placed
the unthrashed corn, as it is brought from the stacks. The
sheaves are carried up to it by means of an easy gangway
on the outside. At one end of it is the thrashing-machine,
which extends down to the lower apartment. In the upper
apartment is placed the table on which the sheaves are spread
out, and the feeding-board at which the man stands who feeds
in the corn. Below this apartment is that part of the barn
termed the dressing-barn, into which the grain is received from
the thrashing-machine, and where it is winnowed and prepared.
Turning to Fig. 42, which represents the thrashing-machine,
the space at M is that which corresponds with the upper apart-
ment of the barn ; that at N with the lower part or dressing-
barn. In Fig. 187, A is these parts of the barn, and connected
with them is the house .r, for the moving power which we may
suppose to be steam.

Connected with these apartments is a long building, termed
the straw-barn. In this the straw is received as it falls from
the machine, and is piled or stored for use. This building
should be of sufficient size to contain the produce of two stacks
or more. To allow sufficient space for this purpose, it is bet-
ter that there be no loft or granary in this apartment, but that
the whole space, from the floor to the roof, be left free. In
the figure B is the straw-barn.

Adjoining the thrashing-barn should be a granary, for the
purpose of holding corn and seeds of all kinds. On no large
farm can a granary be dispensed with. It is usually an upper
apartment, and may extend over any convenient portion of the
building near the corn-barn. In the design in the figure, it ex»
tends over the shelter-sheds, C, C, C, C.

The Shelter-sheds are open sheds, which have yards in front.
In these yards are placed moveable racks (Fig. 176) for hold-
it r

626 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

ing the straw, or other dried provender, which the animals re-
ceive ; and there may be fixed racks, for holding hay. There
is further placed in the yards troughs of wood or stone for con-
taining the turnips or other roots given to the stock ; and in
every yard there should be a trough for containing water. In
Fig. 187, tt t, &c. are the troughs for containing green food ;
u u u u, the racks for hay.

The Cow-houses should be laid out with attention to venti-
lation and cleanliness. They should be causewayed, with an
open channel behind the animals, having such descent as to
carry off the liquid.

The common method of attaching cows in these houses, is
to upright posts placed in a row, at the distance of about 2
feet from the wall. Round each post is a moveable ring, to
which is attached a chain which passes round the neck of the
animal. When attached in this manner a space of 4 feet be-
tween each post will suffice. The space seems to be confined
enough, and yet experience shows that large cattle may be con-
fined in a still narrower space, without apparent inconvenience.
The animals feed from a low manger, formed for the most part
merely by a raised edge of stone 6 or 8 inches high, between
which and the wall the food is placed. Sometimes there is a
narrow pathway between this manger and the wall of the build-
ing, by which the food can be more easily placed before the
animals : and this is a convenient and proper arrangement,
though it increases somewhat the expense of building, by en-
larging the size of the roof.

Sometimes a yet more perfect system is adopted. Each cow
has a separate stall, the stalls being divided by low partitions
formed of flat stones or boards, of just sufficient size to keep
the cows from interfering with one another. To these parti-
tions are fixed vertical rods or bars of iron, moving upon each
of which is a ring, to which is attached the chain which passes
round the neck of the animal ; and, further, these stalls are
divided by low partitions from the pathway along which the
food is conveyed. The following figure represents this method
of construction.

Here AAA are the partitions between the cows ; BBB,
the upright iron rods, to which are fixed the rings and chains
bbb ; CCO are the raised edges or curb-stone of the man-
gers ; DDD are the low partitions separating the mangers
from the pathway by which the food is conveyed to the several
stalls, the food, of whatever kind, being thrown over these
partitions into the mangers. The same species of stalls may
be applied to the feeding of oxen.

In Fig. 187, the cow-house D is placed next to the barns,
and shows the arrangement of stalls here described. There is
a yard in front, to which the cows may be turned out for a
short time in the day for air and water.

The feeding oxen may have houses of the same construc-
tion. But oxen may also be fed in little yards, with sheds at-
tached to which they can retire ; and this is an approved
method of feeding even the finest and largest oxen. In each
yard should be a trough for holding the turnips and other food.
Where turnips are used, no water is required, but where dry
food is employed water should be in every yard. In the figure
two ranges of these sheds are shown, E E E, &c. being the
sheds, eee, &c. the yards. One of these sheds and yards Ff,
may be used for holding the bull : another J, made into a
house for calves receiving milk. Should close houses and stalls
be preferred, these may be substituted, the arrangement of the
other buildings remaining as before.

Connected with the cow-house and feeding places, there may
be a house for steaming or boiling food. A convenient posi-

ri-2

G28 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

lion of this house is H, as shown in the figure. Adjoining to
this may be a house I, for containing potatoes and other roots,
and it is convenient also where turnips are employed in feed-
ing, to have covered sheds in which a certain quantity of tur-
nips may be put for present use. In the figure, G represents
a convenient position for these sheds.

The Stables must be of a size sufficient for the number of
horses employed in working the farm. Each horse should
have his own stall. There should be a range of racks above
for holding hay, and a manger with a sparred bottom below for
holding green food, as tares and clover, and a close manger for
holding corn and steamed food. It is better, for the thorough
ventilation of a stable of this kind, that there be no hay-loft
above, but that the whole space to the roof be left free.

Connected with the stables, may be a house for holding hay
for present use. In this is kept a store of hay, to prevent the
necessity of going constantly to the hay-stack when hay is
wanted ; and this method of keeping it is convenient, by obvia-
ting the necessity of a loft above the stables. In the figure,
M is the hay-house, and L L the stables on each side of it.

Besides the stables for the work-horses, there ought to be on
every considerable farm a stable with a few stalls for saddle-
horses. Every occupier of a large farm must have a horse, as
essential to economy of time in his business, and there should
be a spare stall or more for young horses in the course of train-
ing. In the figure, N is the saddle-horse stable. In the
figure are further shown a spare house for a mare and foal /,
and a shed m for colts, open to the yard n' ; in which yard, or
in an adjoining one, n, is also deposited the dung from the dif-
ferent stables.

One of the necessary houses of the farm is a shed for holding
the implements. This is made of a size to contain the carts,
ploughs, and other implements, when not in use. In the figure,
O is the Cart-shed.

On every farm there should be sufficient accommodation for
the swine. The houses for this purpose may consist of little
sheds opening on small yards. These may be disposed in any

BUILDINGS. 629

part of the range of buildings which shall be convenient. In the
figure, hhhk are the sheds, and ti h' h' h\ the open yards in
front ; but the number may be extended to the degree required.

A Poultry-house or two with yards may also be erected, one
for the gallinaceous, and one for the web-footed fowls, though
one house and yard properly arranged will generally suffice.
In the figure, K K are the poultry-houses, and kk the yards.

On a considerable farm, too, there ought to be a small lock-
ed house for holding tools, as saws, planes, hatchets, and the
like. This not only preserves these smaller implements, but
keeps them in one place, and prevents loss of time in search-
ing for them. Q, in the figure is the Tool-house.

On any large farm it is also convenient to have a carpenter's
and blacksmith's shop, at which workmen may be employed
when required. A good deal of time will be saved by these
means, when the blacksmith and carpenter reside at some dis
tance. In the figure, P is the carpenter's shop ; S the smithy,
and R a small house for containing coals.

On a large farm, too, there should be one or more spare
rooms, there being many little things to be done upon a farm
which cannot be classed under any general kind of work, and
for which it is convenient to have separate apartments. In
the figure, the spare rooms are marked T and V. It may be
well, too, that a trusty person reside at some part of the range
of buildings.

An important point to be attended to, is to convey the ne-
cessary supply of water to the different yards. When the sup-
ply is obtained in sufficient quantity from a running stream,
little difficulty exists in conveying it to the troughs in the yards
and other parts of the buildings. But when water must be
raised from a well, it should be conveyed in the first place to a
large cistern, raised to the necessary height, so that it may be
brought from this cistern in pipes to the smaller cisterns or
troughs. The supply can bo nicely regulated by means of ball
or floating cocks in the troughs, so that none of it shall be
wasted. In the figure i ?', i i, are the troughs in the larger
yards. There should be similar troughs in other parts, as one

630 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

in the yard n' for the colts, one or more in the yard d for the
cows, and, when the oxen are fed on dried food, a number to
supply each of the yards, e e, &c.

Another object not to be neglected is to convey away the
surplus liquid of the stables and feeding-houses. This may be
done either by drains under ground, or by open paved chan-
nels, and these should lead to a common sewer or discharging
conduit, which should be of sufficient height and width to al-
low a person to go up it and clean it. This general conduit
should lead to one or more tanks or basins to which the liquid
may be conveyed. Either this liquid may be pumped up from
the tanks, and conveyed in barrels to the ground to be manu-
red, or the tanks may have earth, litter, and other substances
placed in them to absorb the liquid. The direction of the
large sewer is shown by the line v v, in the figure, and is laid
out on the supposition of the ground being flat. Should it be
otherwise, it must be laid out to suit the inequalities of the
surface. The letters y y show the situation of the tanks.

These various buildings, it is to be kept in mind, are de-
signed for a farm of the larger class, and where the accommo-
dation is supposed to be complete. When the farm is smaller,
not only may the different buildings be diminished in size, but
several of them may be dispensed with. It is to be observed,
however, that although on a smaller farm the same accommo-
dation is not required as on a large one, yet the buildings can-
not be reduced in proportion to the diminished size of the
farm. Small farms, accordingly, always require a greater com-
parative extent of building than large. The buildings, too, of
which this general description has been given, are designed
for a farm partly employed in breeding, and partly in feeding.
Deviations from the general design, therefore, will be rendered
necessary, in the case of peculiarities affecting the mode of ma-
nagement.

Thus, a farm where the chief object is the dairy, will re-
quire increased accommodation for the milch cows, and less
for other kinds of cattle. The chief object of attention in a
dairy farm being the milch cows, the accommodation for them

BUILDINGS. 631

should be commodious and complete. Ventilation, cleanliness,
and water, are essential to the health of animals so much con-
fined as the cows of a dairy. The dairy itself, or the houses
for preparing the milk, should be at some distance from the
cow-houses and effluvia of the yards, and either connected
with, or very close to, the dwelling-house.

When a farm is near a large town, the buildings must be
suited to this peculiarity of situation. On such a farm, the
rearing and feeding of live-stock may not be carried on at all,
and only the raising of vegetable produce for sale attended to.
The buildings required for such a farm need be few and simple.
No feeding and shelter-sheds are required, and there is no need
of that extension of the range of buildings which is necessary
in the case of a rearing and breeding farm.

Another class of farms, again, may be purely stock-farms.
On this class comparatively few buildings are required. These
are principally sheds for shelter to the young cattle, and low
sheds with yards for penning sheep when occasion requires.
There should be a spare house or two for different purposes,
as for holding wool, the extent and nature of which will depend
entirely upon the kind of farm.

Besides the out-houses of the farm, there are required a
dwelling-house for the farmer and houses for his labourers.
The farm-house, in extent and accommodation, must general-
ly be suited to the circumstances of the occupier ; and the la-
bouring man, when he resides upon the farm, should possess,
in so far as his cottage is concerned, those decencies and com-
forts which are suited to his condition.

II. ARTIFICIAL DIVISIONS OF THE FARM.

Where a country is entirely in tillage, it is of less import-
ance that farms be divided by artificial barriers ; but wherever
live-stock is kept, this is essential to the proper keeping of the
animals, and to the profitable occupation of the grounds : and

632 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

besides the purpose of retaining and separating animals of dif-
ferent kinds from one another, and of defending the cultivated
crops from injury, fences serve the purpose of sheltering the
fields, and, when accompanied by ditches, of draining the
ground.

The fences of the farm may consist either of stone-wall, or of
live-fence, or of a combination of the live-fence and stone-wall,
and sometimes even of an open ditch, a mound, or a rail.

The stone-wall may either be formed of stones built without
cement, or it may be built with mortar like common masonry.
But the last of these methods is rarely practised with the
common fences of a farm. The cementing of the stones with
mortar adds, indeed, to the durability of the wall, but then
the expense is too great in common cases. The wall, there-
fore, for the ordinary purposes of the farm, may generally be
built of stones alone, though sometimes with a little mortar
merely for cementing the coping, and occasionally for pinning
or closing the interstices of the outside. When stones can-
not be obtained, brick may be substituted.

The materials for building the dry-stone wall, as this kind
of wall is termed, may be sandstone, whinstone, or any other
stones of sufficient durability. Loose stones taken from the
surface, termed land-stones, answer sufficiently well, if they be
of proper size, and not too much rounded ; but in the latter
case, they present too smooth a surface, and cannot be kept in
their places without mortar.

The implements to be used in building the dry-stone wall
are, a mason's hammer, a spade or shovel for clearing the
ground for a foundation, a pick or mattock, and a frame of two
upright posts fixed together, so as to correspond with a verti-
cal section of a portion of the wall. (Fig. 189.)

The line of the intended fence being fixed upon and marked
on the ground, the stones for building should be brought for-
ward, and laid down on both sides, if possible, of the line of
fence, but, if not, on one side.

Pins being fixed in the centre of the space to be occupied

FENCES,

633

by the wall, the workman proceeds thus : — He carries his wood-
en^frame to some distance along the line to be built upon ; he
sets it perpendicular, which he is enabled to do by means of a
plumb-line attached to it, and he fixes it in this position in a
simple manner, as shown in the figure. He then fixes another
similar frame at the place where the wall is to commence ; he
stretches two cords between these two frames on the outside,
and as these cords correspond with the outside of the wall at
a given height, he has a guide for building it of the required
dimensions. After having built one portion, he uses only one
frame, the wall itself serving afterwards the part of a frame ;
for the cords being fixed to both sides of the wall, and then at-
tached to the frame which is placed in advance, the workman
has, as before, a guide by which he proceeds in building.

Fig. 190.

The foundation of the wall should be laid on firm ground,
and when there is not green sward to build upon, the loose
earth should be taken out by the spade, until a solid founda-
tion is arrived at. In building, the largest and flattest stones
should be used for the foundation ; and it
is very desirable, if the materials used will
allow, to place stones at intervals of suffi-
cient size to lie across the breadth of the
wall, so as to bind the wall together, and
render it more secure. (Fig. 190).

Different kinds of coping may be placed upon the wall, to
defend it. One of these consists merely of turf, two sods being
laid upon the wall, with the earthy sides placed towards each

C34

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Fig. 191.

other. Another species of coping
consists of large stones, which, be-
ing closely built and wedged to-
gether, are cemented by mortar.
This is a complete and durable
species of coping ; but when it is
used, a row of flat stones should
be laid on the top of the wall im-
mediately beneath the coping, and
made to project a little on each
side of it (Fig. 191).

A wall, sufficient for the purposes of the farm, may be 32
inches wide at bottom, 16 inches wide at top, and, including
the coping, 4^ feet high. Such a wall, exclusive of the expense
of procuring and bringing forward the stones, may be built at
from 4^d. to 5d. the yard in length, at the present rate of la-
bour in this country ; and 2 good cart-loads of stones will
suffice for building a yard.

The advantages of the stone-wall, as compared with the
live-fence, are, that it becomes useful as soon as made ; that
it can be formed in situations so unfavourable with respect
to soil and climate, that the thorn and other plants cannot be
raised ; that it requires no nursing, nor the other expenses of
cleaning and pruning which attend the live-fence ; that it is
not injured or destroyed by the trespasses of sheep and other
animals, as the live-fence frequently is in the early stages of its
growth ; and that it occupies little room, and does not injure
the growing crops, by harbouring birds and other animals.
For these reasons, there are many cases in which the stone-
wall is the best species of fence. It is in an especial degree
suited to an elevated country. Nothing, indeed, is more to
be desired in such a country than to obtain shelter ; and live-
fences, where they can be reared, afford a certain degree of
shelter, by breaking the force of winds. But as live-fences grow
for the most part feebly in very elevated situations, they there
perform but imperfectly the purposes of shelter. In such cases,
shelter is better obtained by the planting of wood, which is bu-

FENCES. 635

perior to fences in affording the means of improving the climate
of a bleak country.

But again the live-fence, accompanied with ditches, has its
advantages in the situations where it can be reared. Not to
speak of it as an object of beauty, in which it far surpasses
the stone-wall, it affords shelter, and, in combination with the
ditch, the means of carrying off water from the ground.

For this kind of fence, different plants of the Rose family are
employed. These are armed with sharp spines, and, branching
out in innumerable directions, form dense bushes. Of these plants,
the most esteemed is Crataegus Oxyacantha, the Hawthorn.

The hawthorn is easily produced from the seeds of its fruit
or haw. It is best raised in the nursery, and, after being 2
years transplanted from the seed-bed, in the manner of forest
trees, planted in the line of the fence.

The ground upon which thorns are to be planted, should un-
dergo a complete preparation by deep ploughing, or trenching
with the spade, and by a thorough manuring. Attention to
this preparation is very important, and will, in many cases,
constitute the difference between success and failure in forming
a thorn-fence. When the ground is tolerably full of vegetable
matter, lime may be used as a manure. But where the soil is
poor, both lime and dung should be employed, and it is gene-
rally advantageous to apply them twelve months or more be-
fore the thorns are planted.

Having fixed upon the line of the fence, it may be laid off
by means of poles, like the ridges of a field, and marked upon
the ground. The instruments used in the practical operation,
are a common reel and line, like that of gardeners, and a rod
of wood of about 0 feet in length, divided into feet and inches,
with a piece of wood fixed at right angles to the end of it, so
as to measure off with facility the breadth of the ditch, in a
direction perpendicular to the line laid down. The instru-
ments for working are a common spade, a narrow-pointed sho-
vel, a common mattock, and a foot-pick.

The line of the side of the ditch along which the thorns are
to be set being marked out by the rod and line, and notched
by the spade, the workman takes off a part of the earth from

636

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

the surface of the intended ditch, and lays it along the future
line of thorns, this earth being laid about 6 inches back from
the notched line, so as to leave what is called a scarcement ;
or, if there be sward, a row of sods are in like manner to be
laid 6 inches back from the notched line, with their grassy
sides undermost. He then beats down the earth or sods thus
laid with his spade, so as that the outer surface shall be in the
line of the future mound, and sloping a little backwards in the
manner shown in the following figure, so that they shall be
highest next the ditch. It is upon the row of earth or sods
thus placed, technically termed the thorn-bed, that the thorns
to be planted are laid. A further portion of the surface of the
ditch is then stript off, and thrown behind the thorn-bed.

The thorn plants have, in the mean time, been prepared in
the following manner : — -Each plant, with its roots and fibres
as taken out of the ground, is grasped by one hand, while, with
a sharp knife, the stem is cut through by a cut inclining up-
wards, so as to leave, exclusive of the root, about 8 inches of
the stem. The plants being thus prepared, may be put in the
earth again until they are ready to be planted. This is done
that they may be protected from frost, for the process of plant-
ing being performed in winter, every precaution is to be em-
ployed to prevent the young plants from being injured.

When a sufficient space of ground is ready for being plant-
ed, the plants are to be placed firmly upon the thorn-bed, so
that, when the mound is made, they may project a very little
beyond the surface, or rather just reach it. The distance at
which they may be planted from one another, may be about 8
inches. While one or more persons are employed in laying the
thorns, another is to shovel up from the ditch the loose mould
immediately next the surface, and place it upon the stems of
the plants. This earth being compressed by the foot, the
plants will bo firmly fixed in Fig- 195

their position, and so covered
as to be out of the reach of jjjjl^^^^fi
danger from frost. A section §/ " —
of the bank will appear at this Mm/,
stage of the process, as in Fig. 192.

FENCES.

G37

A considerable portion being done in this manner, the ditch is
to be cleared out to its full depth,
and the earth thrown upon the
bank. The mound is then to
be rounded at top, and beat all
around by the shovel. A trans-
verse section of the work when
finished, will appear as in Fig. 193.

This completes the formation of the hedge and ditch. The
ditch should be narrowed to a spade-breadth at bottom, and
the sides made to slope at an angle of 45°. The mound will
occupy a somewhat larger space than the breadth of the ditch.
The ditch must be so laid out and formed, as to permit the
descent of water. Where there are slight inequalities, it must
be made deeper at one part than another, and if necessary, the
earth must be wheeled away from the part where the ditch is
deep, to make up the mound where the ditch is shallow ; and
sometimes, in the case of passing a hollow place, the water must
be carried away by a drain, cut through the mound and under-
neath the thorns into the adjoining field.

It is a very common practice in making the ditch and hedge,
to leave the scarcement or little space between the thorns and
the edge of the ditch ; but some do not approve of this scarce-
ment, conceiving it to be unnecessary, and to favour the growth
of weeds. The advantage, however, of leaving the scarcement
is, that it tends to prevent the earth from falling down into the
ditch, and leaving the roots of the plants exposed.

The proper time for performing the operation of planting,
is from October to the beginning of March, that is, during the
period when vegetation is inert.

Following the practice that has been described, failure will
be rare, except in situations entirely unsuited to the growth of
the thorn. The plant, it will be seen, is set on mould in a
manner best suited to favour its growth ; and the stem being
laid nearly horizontally, and covered with earth, shoots forth
fibres at every part, and becomes itself a root.

In place of one mound and ditch formed in the manner de-

i.V-nl GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

scribed, two ditches are sometimes formed, with a mound be-
tween, and two rows of thorns. This kind of fence, however,
is only mentioned that it may be condemned. It occupies
more room than the single mound, creates nearly double the
expense of management, and is not so favourable to the growth
of thorns. The only case in which a double row of thorns and
ditch of this kind should be formed, is in hollows, where two
ditches are required for carrying off water.

The fence, then, as described, is a mere bank of earth with
a ditch, which animals can pass over. In its first stage, it
forms of itself a feeble barrier, and is subject to be destroyed
by animals passing over it. It must, therefore, be defended
until it becomes an effectual barrier ; and this is done by means
of rails or paling.

Paling consists of horizontal rails, nailed to posts or stakes,
placed vertically, and driven into the ground. It may be made
with either two or three horizontal rails. The latter number
is preferable, and necessary where sheep are feeding.

The rails are formed either of sawed or split wood. When
the trees are small, they may be split, but when they are of
sufficient size they should be sawed, for this makes the neatest
and most durable paling. Wild pine, spruce, larch, or any
other of the pine kind, will answer ; and the quantity of these
trees in all parts of the country is now so great, that they can
be every-where obtained with facility, and at a low price.

Of the same material the stakes are formed. These are
made about 4g feet long, and sharpened to a point. They are
driven into the ground with a mall to the depth of about 15
inches, and set at the distance of 5 or 6 feet from one another.
The horizontal rails are attached to them by stout nails.

Another species of temporary fence, which may sometimes
supply the place of paling, is formed in the following manner :
Posts or stakes, as for paling, are driven into the ground, and
branches of trees, or brushwood of any kind, are warped or
wattled round the alternate stakes. The but-ends of these
branches are placed upon the ground in warping them, and an
inclination is given to them as in the figure. A light spar

FENCES. 6*39

along the top will render this spe- F'g# '?*•

cies of fence very complete. It will
last as long as paling, and is more
economical, since the bushes and
branches are of little value.

One set of paling will generally last sufficiently long to allow
the fence to attain to the necessary height and strength. It
is to insure this that the paling should not be put up sooner
than is really required, so that, if the land be under a course
of tillage, the paling need not be put up until it is again laid
down to grass.

The rails for the protection of the fence may be placed upon
the top of the mound. This forms an effectual barrier, in so
far as it prevents animals from passing over ; but it does not
prevent animals that may be pasturing on the thorn side of the
field from reaching the young plants. They will rarely, in-
deed, do much injury, unless they pass over ; but all injury
may be guarded against, by placing a row of paling along the
edge of the ditch itself, so as to prevent access to it. In this
way, indeed, there are two rows of paling, which increases the
expense ; but these rows need not in this case have each more
than two bars, and if it is important to rear an efficient fence,
without the risk of failure, it may be better to do the work in
this manner. For the most part, however, when there is a
good ditch, one row of paling of three bars on the top of the
mound will be found sufficient.

The hedge, mound, and ditch being formed, there is next to
be considered the manner of managing the fence. The imple-
ments required for this purpose are, first, those for weeding,
and second, those for cutting or lopping the branches or twigs.

For the first of these purposes, that of weeding, a simple
instrument will suffice, namely, a small spade, usually termed
a hedge-spade, with a handle about 3^ feet long, and a blade
about 5 inches broad (Fig. 197.)

The instruments used for lopping or cutting may be three :
The first is a slightly bent knife fixed to a handle, for cutting
off the ends of the twigs or branches by an upward stroke

040

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

(Fig. 196) ; or, in place of this, may be employed shears ; but
the knife, it is conceived, is equally efficient, and more expe-
ditious.

The next instrument is one of the same form, but of greater
weight, and with a shorter and more slightly curved blade
(Fig. 195). This instrument may weigh about 6 lb. ; it is em-
ployed for cutting through the stems of thorns. The other in-
strument is a light axe, which is employed for the same pur-
pose.

Fig. 195.

Fig. 196.

Fig. !97.

The first object of attention, after the thorns are set, is the
young plants, which, we have seen, have been buried in the
ground, with one end just projecting to the surface. These
will generally pass through to the day when they have begun
to grow, but should they not be able to make their way
through, the earth is to be gently stirred with the hand or a
stick, so as to open a way for them, taking care, however, not
to rub off any of the buds.

During the first year of their growth, the plants will require
little cleaning, and no pruning. Should weeds, however, spring
up in quantity in the first year, they must be hoed down. The
manner of hoeing is simple : The hedger, with his small spade,
stands in the ditch, and with light horizontal strokes cuts down
the weeds about the thorns. He may also, if necessary, pro-
ceed along the top of the mound, and, working downwards,
cut such weeds as he may not be able to reach from below.
After this, the same process of cleaning should be performed
at least once every year, and generally twice. The work may

FENCES.

G41

be done at any period in the year when the weeds are grow-
ing ; but when the fences are young, it is a good rule to per-
form the operation before the weeds rise in summer amongst
the twigs of thorns.

The weeds that infest hedges are grasses of different kinds,
of which the most troublesome and difficult to be extirpated is
couch-grass. Other plants, as docks of different kinds, thistles,
and chiefly the way-thistle, chick-weed, dead-nettle, goose-grass,
common rest-harrow, wild mustard, tufted vetch, and many
others, form the common weeds of hedges.

The other process in the management of the hedge is that of
pruning. This is intended to cause the plants to grow bushy
and thick, so as to form a barrier to animals. It is simply per-
formed by means of the light knife (Fig. 196.)

During the first year of the growth of the hedge, it will re-
quire, it has been said, no pruning ; the second year, after the
fall of the leaf, pruning may be begun ; and it is to be observed,
that in all cases of pruning, the proper season is when vegeta-
tion is inert, and not when the sap is ascending. The thorns
at this stage are to be prun-
ed lightly, with an upward
stroke of the knife, a small
portion also of the shoots of
the top being lopped off. The
same process is to be annu-
ally repeated, keeping the
whole narrow at top, broad
near the bottom, and inclined from the bottom upwards in the
manner shown in Fig. 198.

When the thorns, under this system of yearly lopping the
lateral branches, and slightly cropping the top, have reached
the height of 4 or 5 feet, two methods of management may be
adopted. Either the whole may be allowed to grow to the
height to which it will naturally grow, the only further pruning
being to cut off such of the lateral branches as are overshadow-
ing those beneath ; or the process of pruning may be continued

s s

Fig. 198.

642 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

yearly, so as to keep the hedge at the proper height, namely,
4 or 5 feet.

This, then, is the simple management of the thorn fence : — It
is, or ought to be, every year weeded once or twice ; and it is to
be regularly pruned, so as to render it bushy, until it gets to a
certain height, when it may either be allowed to grow up to its
full size without further pruning, or be kept by an annual
pruning at a uniform height. The former method is sufficient
with the fences of a farm, but the latter makes the neater and
more bushy fence, although it is the more expensive.

Under this management, the fence will continue vigorous for
a long period. But when at length, from any cause, it gets
thin at the root, or shows symptoms of feeble growth, or when,
having reached its natural size, the lower lateral branches begin
to fall off, a simple method of renewing it is to be practised.

In this case, the whole thorns are to be cut down to within
a few inches of the ground, employing either the heavy cut-
ting-knife (Fig. 195), or, when the stems are very strong, the
axe.

In employing the cutting-knife, the hedger stands in the
ditch with his right hand towards the thorns, and cuts upwards
with a back stroke with his right hand. The stroke must in
all cases be made obliquely upwards, and not downwards ; for
the effect of the latter method would be to shatter the lower
part of the stem, and subject it to injury from wetness. When
the axe, instead of the knife, is used, the workman stands in
a different position. His left hand is now next the hedge, and
he uses both hands in cutting ; the stroke, however, as before,
being made obliquely upwards. But it is only when the stems
are very thick and old, that the knife will not effect the pur-
pose.

When the thorns are thus felled to within a few inches of
their roots, the ground around the stems is to be carefully
cleaned by digging ; and the further operation to be perform-
ed is to clean out the ditch, and replace before and around the
thorns the earth which had been drawn into the ditch by con-

FENCES.

643

tinued weeding. The stocks of the thorns will now be nearly
covered to the top. Fig. 199 shews the state of the fence be-
fore the ditch is cleaned out ; and Fig. 200 when the operation
is completed.

Fig. 199. ¥ie- 300.

jMftm^

In a very short time after this operation, shoots will spring
from the old stems with vigour, and thus the fence will be re-
stored, when it will appear as in Fig. 201. There may be cases,
indeed, in which shoots Fig. 201.

will not spring from the
old stocks. This indi-
cates that the hedge has
lived its natural term, and
is the irremediable effect
of age ; but in all cases in
which the hedge possesses sufficient vigour, this method of re-
newing it will be attended with the effects desired.

And in cases in which a thorn-hedge is seen to have suffer-
ed from previous neglect, this simple mean may be employed
to restore it. In this case also, the opportunity is taken to fill
up blank spaces in the line of the thorns. For this purpose,
the earth in the blank spaces should be completely taken out,
and the spaces filled with fresh soil ; and in place of the haw-
thorn, the crab may be planted, as being better calculated to
succeed under such circumstances.

In place of planting new thorns to fill up a blank, a prac-
tice sometimes resorted to is, in the second year after the new
shoots have sprung up, to take one of them on each side of the
gap, and, bending them down, to fix them with a crooked stick,
to the ground, in the manner practised by gardeners. Some
earth being then laid upon the twigs, they will soon spring up,

Ss2

(544 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

and fill the interval of the gap, espe- Fj m

cially if the earth of the gap has been
filled with new soil, well dunged and
limed. A gap renewed in this man-
ner will appear as in the figure.

When hedges are lopped down to the ground in the manner
described, they must be protected until the new shoots have
attained a certain size, as in the case of new fences. But it is
not usually necessary to have recourse to paling, because the
thorns cut down furnish themselves material for forming a suf-
ficient fence, termed a dead hedge.

A dead hedge is thus formed : — The workman cuts the stems
of the thorns into lengths of 3 or 4 feet. He forms bundles of
these, mixing with them the smaller twigs, and compressing
them so that they shall adhere together. Another person with
a spade, working on the line which the dead hedge is to occu-
py, takes up a sod or spadeful of earth ; and a bundle of twigs
being handed to him, he places the but-end of the bundle in
the hole made by the spade, and leaning against the earth
thrown out. He then lifts another sod or spadeful of earth,
and places it upon the but-end of Fig. 20a

the first bundle, compressing it firm-
ly with his foot ; and in this manner
he forms the line of the fence. The
fence, when finished, appears as in
the figure ; and a proper situation for it is on the mound im-
mediately behind the thorns.

The plant which has been especially referred to as calculated
for the hedge, is the hawthorn. But there are two other plants,
similar in appearance, which are sometimes cultivated, either
separately or intermixed with the hawthorn. These are, Pru-
nus spinosa, the Sloe, and Pyrus acerba, the Wild Apple or
Crab. Both of these plants grow readily, and bear cutting,
ut they are not so well suited for cultivation for hedge-plants
as the hawthorn.

A plant sometimes cultivated for hedges, though destitute of

FENCES. 645

spines, which so particularly fit the hawthorn for its purpose,
is the Beech, Fagu syltatica, which forms a tolerably good
fence, from the mass of twigs which it sends forth when it is
restrained in its upward or lateral growth by pruning. The
Hornbeam, too, Carpinus Betulus, is equally well suited for
the hedge as the beech, and is sometimes cultivated for that
purpose.

The properties which fit the beech and the hornbeam for the
hedge are, the facility with which they can be produced, the
manner in which they bear pruning, and their fitness to grow
on land somewhat low in the scale of fertility. Sometimes the
beech is mixed with thorns, every second or third plant being a
beech. Good fences may be produced in this way, but, in ge-
neral, the simple thorn is the best defence against cattle, and
an intermixture of other trees and shrubs injures its utility.
The beech and the hawthorn being of irregular growth, and tho
beech the most rapid, the latter tends to prevent the growth of
the thorns, and often extirpates them altogether.

The Alder and the Willow form tolerable fences on marshy
ground, and grow on soils where the hawthorn could not be
produced ; and they may thus, in some cases, be beneficially
substituted for the thorn. They may be twisted together, for
which their pliable branches peculiarly adapt them.

The Holly, Ilex Aquifolium, has in some cases been substi-
tuted for the thorn. It makes an impenetrable fence, bears
cropping well, and its verdure does not suffer in the severest
winter. The objections to the culture of this hardy plant are,
the slowness with which it grows, and the difficulty of raising
it. The holly, indeed, does not grow so quickly as the thorn,
but yet it can be raised in most situations if proper care be be-
stowed. Not bearing transplanting well, it may be raised from
seed on the spot where it is to grow.

Another plant, indigenous, easily cultivated, and growing
even on moors, armed too with spines, and an evergreen, will
suggest itself as a fitting plant for the hedge : this is the Com-
mon Whin or Gorse, Ulex ewopa us.

A hedge of whin may be formed thus : — A mound (Fig. -04)

646

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

is to be made 6 feet broad at bottom, 20 inches wide at top,
and about 6 feet high. Each side is to be built firmly with
sods, taken from the spot, the middle is to be filled up with loose
earth, and the top rounded over. A shallow ditch is to be left
on each side of the fence with an interval or scarcement of 10
or 12 inches between the ditch or wall of sod. The whin-seeds
are to be sown along the top of the mound, while the earth is
yet fresh and moist. A pound of seeds will sow about 200
yards, and the best season for sowing the seeds, and conse-
quently for making the fence, is during the months of March
and April. This species of fence becomes complete in the
second year after it is made, and therefore requires no rails.
The whins should be pruned once every year : upon attention
to this the success of the hedge mainly depends ; and the pro-
per period of pruning is in the month of June. The whin-
hedge formed in this manner, is one of the cheapest fences
that can be made. The roots of the whins will penetrate
through every part of the mound, and prevent it from crumb-
ling down, and the dense bush, formed at the height of 6 feet,
will be sufficient to prevent the wildest sheep and cattle from
passing over.

Fig. 204.

With this facility of growth, cheapness of production, and
seeming fitness of the plant for its purposes, it will reasonably
be inquired why it is that the whin is so little used as a hedge-

FENCES.

647

plant in this and other countries. The chief reason is unfortu-
nately a good one — the want of durability. Although a native,
and, under certain circumstances, hardy, it is very apt to be
destroyed by frost. It cannot, therefore, be depended upon as
a permanent fence. Its duration indeed can be greatly pro-
longed by regular pruning, but, under the best management,
the whin is comparatively of short duration as a useful fence.
When, therefore, a cheap and immediate fence is required,
without especial regard to the time it is to last, the whin will
answer the purpose well.

The fences described are the stone-wall and the live-fence ;
but sometimes the two may be combined together, and form
efficient fences.

The most common of these is formed in the following man-
ner : — A mound and ditch are to be made in the way already
described, but the one side is Fig. 205.

to be a wall of stone, of half the
breadth of a common wall, and
44 feet high, as shown in the
figure. This fence is therefore
secured on one side, and re-
quires only a row of two-bar pa-
ling on the other side to secure
the hedge in its young state.

Another species of combined fence is what is termed a sunk
fence, faced up with a dry-stone wall, as in the following figure.
The base of the wall is 2 feet, and on the top is laid a coping of
turf of 1| foot thick. The thorns, when the wall has reached
the proper height, are laid ho-
rizontally, and the stones so
built that there shall be an
aperture for each thorn, at the
distance from one another of
9 or 10 inches. The thorns
laid in this manner will shoot
through the apertures between

Fig. 206.

G48 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

the stones. This kind of fence is suited to situations in which
one side is safe from trespass, as round plantations ; and as a
security against any animals attempting to scale it, whins may
be sown along the top of the mound.

Another point to be considered with relation to the fence is
the Gate. The properties of a good gate are, that it shall
combine with lightness the necessary strength, so that an equal
quantity of materials shall produce the strongest gate. The
strongest gate would be a solid piece of wood like a door, but
this would not fulfil the other condition of lightness. Instead
of the solid mass of wood, a set of horizontal bars will fulfil
the purposes required. These bars must be at such a distance
from one another as to prevent the passage of animals, and so
connected as to be firmly bound together.

In the gate represented in the figure, there are five horizontal
bars, connected together by a diagonal from the lower to the
higher corner. This construction, it is conceived, will fulfil,
sufficiently near for practice, the purpose of giving the parts of
the gate the greatest strength with a given weight of materials.
Sometimes upright braces are nailed to the gate, but these are
not essential.

The gate may be hung upon two hinges ; or the heel of the
gate may rest in a socket placed in the ground, as in the
figure. The bars should taper towards the fore part, so as to
be lightest there, which diminishes the tendency of the fore
part to fall down. For a gate, when we regard its tendency
to sink down at the head, may be considered as a bended lever,
of which the fulcrum is at B, the power at 0, and the weight
the centre of gravity of the gate, which, in the case of the gate
being of uniform materials, will be represented on the lower
bar at A. Hence by increasing the length of BC in propor-
tion to BA, the power of the hinge at C to support the weight
of the gate is increased ; and this power is further increased
when the gate is made heavier at its posterior part, so as to
bring the centre of gravity nearer to B. In practice, there-
fore, the hinges should be kept at as great a distance from each

FENCES.

049

other as possible, and the gate should be made light towards
its anterior part.

Fig. 207.

I !

In the figure there are shown five horizontal and two upright
bars. The extremities of the horizontal bars are mortised into
the two outer upright bars. The diagonal consists of a plank
nailed to the one side, and abutting on the upper bar ; and on
the other side may be nailed an upright brace. The horizontal
bars taper from the hinder part of the gate to the fore part.
The length of the gate may be 9 feet, the height over the
horizontal bars 3 feet 9 inches, the lower bar standing about
six inches from the ground.

The posts may consist of wood, and should be well sunk in
the ground ; and any coarse kind of timber of sufficient strength
may be employed ; or, what is better, when they can be pro-
cured of the proper size, single stones of granite, greenstone,
or any of the harder rocks. The band of the hinge should
pass through the wood or stone, as shown in the figure, and be
fixed by a bolt or screw-nut on the opposite side. The band
of the latch and hinge should in like manner pass through the
post or stone, and be fixed by a screw-nut.

The latch may be of various forms ; that shown in the figure
is a spring of 2 feet in length, to which at right angles, as is
more distinctly seen at c, Fig. 209, is fixed a piece of iron,
which passes through the upright bar of the gate. This piece
of iron, by means of two joints, acts as a lever when the hand
is placed upon it, and withdraws the latch.

050

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Sometimes it is convenient that a gate shall shut of itself
when opened. A good gate of this construction is represent-
ed in Fig. 208. The upper hinge of the gate is fixed to the
upmost bar, and is received into a socket in the hinge, as seen
at b, Fig. 210. The advantages of making the upper hinge
move in a socket are, that while space is given to it to move,
it is firmly supported in its place ; and that the means are af-
forded of causing it to move smoothly by pouring a little oil
into the socket. The lower hinge is formed upon the principle
of affording two pivots or points of support to the lower part
of the gate. It consists of two iron plates placed horizontally,
the one a little above the other, the upper being fixed to the
post and the lower to the gate. From the lower part of the
upper plate project two small cylindrical pieces of iron, placed
perpendicularly as seen at a, Fig. 209. These are received in-
to the grooves or hollows of the under plate, so that the gate
rests upon the two upright pieces of iron as pivots. The gate,
when shut, has thus three points of support, namely, the socket
of the upper hinge and the two lower pivots, the former of
which is thus placed at the vertex, and the two latter at the
base of an isosceles triangle ; from which construction it results,
that the gate is only in a state of equilibrium when, being shut,
it rests upon both the two lower pivots ; when opened accord-
ingly it must tend to regain its former position.*

Fig. 20&

* Paper by me iu Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.

GATES.

651

Fig. 209.

This construction, however, is not good in the case of the
ordinary gates of a farm. They are apt to be torn off the
hinges by the passing of loaded carts.

All the mortises of a gate, and the parts at which the dia-
gonal and braces cross the bars, should be carefully coated with
white lead ; and after the parts of the gate are joined together,
the whole should receive two coats of oil paint.

Farm gates have sometimes been made wholly of hammered
iron. The only objection to this kind of gate is, that it is apt
to be bent. The wooden gate of a good construction answers
its purpose as well as can be wished.

In speaking of the fence, I have said nothing of that which
we are apt to associate with it, as its almost universal accom-
paniment, the hedgerow tree.

Were we to estimate the value of hedgerow trees by considera-
tions of beauty alone, they would be beyond all price. Nothing
gives so clothed and lively an aspect to a country as these beau-
tiful objects; and the cultivated scenery of England is, on this
account, amongst the richest any- where seen. The taste for
this species of planting in England is universal, and is riveted
by habit and the earliest associations.

The practical farmer, however, feels from experience that in
the hedge the forest-tree is out of its place. Its spreading
roots interfere with and destroy the thorn, and its branches
overshadowing it are also hurtful ; and more than this, it ex-
tends the fibres of its roots into the adjacent fields, and, the
branches overhanging the corn in its vicinity, exclude the air
which is necessary for the healthy growth of plants, and the
labours of harvest.

G52 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

If profit, and not the gratification of taste, is to be regarded,
trees should be planted, not in hedgerows, where all the value
at which they will arrive will rarely balance the yearly loss
which they produce, but in groves, belts, or masses, where the
trees will really become of value as timber, without injury to
the fences and cultivated fields around. Were the loss sus-
tained in England by the excessive multiplication of hedgerow
trees to be reduced to calculation, it would exceed belief.

III. CAPITAL NECESSARY FOR THE FARM.

The capital necessary for a farm is the sum which a farmer
must possess, in order that he. may carry on his business. This
partly depends on the customary degree of credit in a country.
The farmer does not usually pay ready money for all the com-
modities he requires, but trusts to that degree of credit which
is common in his business. And the same remark applies to
almost every class of traders in this country. A merchant rare-
ly limits his trade to the extent of his ready money, but trusts
to that degree of confidence which exists ; and in this way the
greater part of the trade of this country is carried on.

In like manner, the person who enters to a farm may not find
it necessary to possess all the capital which would be required
were he to pay for every thing ; yet the nearer his funds ap-
proach to this condition, the greater will be his security. Too
many engage in extensive farming on a loose and imperfect es-
timate of the funds required, and find, when too late, that
they have miscalculated their means.

A want of the necessary funds is often more injurious to a
farmer, than even an obligation to pay a high rent. With an
inadequate capital, he is impeded at every step. He cannot
render justice to his farm ; he must often bring his goods pre-
maturely to market to supply his wants, and he will pay largely
for the credit which he is compelled to seek. The farmer who
lias ready money at his command has, like every other trader,
a great advantage over one who is forced to seek credit, and

GATES. 653

will be enabled to make a profit on many transactions on which
the other would sustain a loss.

While, therefore, it cannot be contended that a farmer, who
lives in a country where credit is the soul of commerce, is not
to avail himself of this benefit, yet he must be careful not to
miscalculate its effects ; and, at all events, and like every pru-
dent man, he must make himself acquainted with the real
amount of his pecuniary obligations. This is the true princi-
ple on which the capital required for a farm should be com-
puted. The sum to be determined is that which the farmer
has to advance, before a quantity of produce is raised upon
the farm sufficient to replace the advance, and supposing all
payments to be in money.

But the amount of necessary advances differs greatly ac-
cording to the nature of the farm, the mode of management
to be pursued upon it, the period of entry and the time of pay-
ing rents, the manner of paying labourers, and a multitude of
circumstances dependent on local practice. To calculate the
amount of capital, therefore, required in any case, it is neces-
sary to limit the calculation, not only to a certain district, with
a certain set of local customs, but to a given farm, managed in a
given manner. All, therefore, that can be done, in the case of
calculating the amount of capital required for a farm, is to give
an example of the manner of making such a calculation under
certain supposed conditions.

In the following calculation, the assumption is made of a
farm situated in the south of Scotland. This district is se-
lected, because there a beneficial combination exists of the
practice of tillage and rearing live-stock ; because a good sys-
tem is established with respect to the time and manner of pay-
ing rents and labourers ; and because the system of agriculture
adopted there is in accordance with that which has been de-
scribed in the present work. In giving the calculation of the
farming capital required under the system adopted in this dis-
trict, it will be necessary that its peculiar local usages be sup-
posed adhered to. These do not, indeed, apply to other parts

054 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

of the country; but the calculation could not otherwise be
made correct, and it would not, therefore, serve as an example
of the manner of making such calculations, which must be
done, in the case of each farm, with a strict reference to the
circumstances peculiar to that farm.

The farm is supposed to contain 500 acres, to consist partly
of clay and partly of turnip-soil, and to be managed in a five
years1 rotation, thus : —

1st, 100 acres in corn, namely, oats.
2d, 100 acres in fallow, fallow-crops, and tares, namely,
60 acres in turnips.
30 acres in summer fallow.
5 acres in potatoes.
5 acres in tares.

100

3d, 100 acres in com, with which are sown clover and rjTegrass seeds,
namely,

60 acres in barley after turnips.

40 acres in wheat after summer fallow, potatoes, and tares.

100

4th, 100 acres in young grass, namely,

28 acres for hay and green forage.
72 acres for pasture.

100
5th, 100 acres in grass in its second year for pasture.

500 acres.

Under this system of management, the crops will succeed to
one another in the order mentioned ; and the farm will every
year be in five divisions, namely, 100 acres in oats, 100 in fal-
low, turnips, potatoes, and tares ; 100 in wheat and barley,
100 in young grass, and 100 in grass in its second year.

The period of entry is assumed to be on the 15th day of
May with respect to the land in grass, and the land to be in
summer fallow, turnips, &c. ; and to the land bearing corn
crops, when these are removed from the ground in autumn.
This species of entry, with certain variations, prevails over

CAPJTAL. G55

a considerable part of England. The principle of it is, that
the out-going tenant shall have a crop in the last year of his
possession, or, as it is termed, a way-going crop ; but that in
the month of May of the same year, he shall give up to the
entering tenant all the land in grass, and all the land which, in
the regular course of management, would be in fallow or fallow-
crops, and which the entering tenant accordingly works for his
own use. The out-going tenant having sown his crop, has no
further use for the houses upon the farm, and these, therefore,
the entering tenant takes possession of in May.

Under this supposition, the entering tenant has no corn-crop
in the first year of his possession. He reaps the first crop of
corn in the second year. We may assume, that this crop is
not really available to him till about the middle of November
in the second year, that is, till 18 months after his entry. But
the crop upon an arable farm being the chief fund of a tenant
for paying his rent, and replacing his advances of all kinds, we
may assume that it is not till his crop is really available, that
the fund advanced by him as farming capital has been replaced.
To calculate his advance of capital, therefore, we are to reckon
all the charges to which he has been subjected during the first
18 months of his possession, deducting, however, any sales of
produce which may have been made during that time. These
advances will be conveniently divided into classes, as Imple-
ments of the Farm, Live-Stock, &c.

1. Implements of the Farm.

The first calculation to be made with respect to the imple-
ments of the farm, relates to the number of ploughs to be kept
regularly at work in tilling it. Upon this depend the number
of horses to be employed, and the number of ploughmen.

The manner of determining the number of ploughs or teams,
is by ascertaining the extent of ground to be kept in tillage,
and by assigning for this such a number of ploughs or teams,
as experience shows to be necessary for working the farm.

(J.)G GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Under a perfect system of labour, one man works two horses ;
and this team will do all the labour required in the proportion
of one pair of horses for every 50 acres kept in tillage. In
the lighter class of soils, one pair of horses will work 60 acres ;
but it will be better to assume 50 acres as a medium. On the
farm, then, to which the present calculations refer, 6 pairs of
horses will require to be at work, there being in tillage each
year three of the five divisions of the farm, that is, 300 acres.
The number of ploughs will accordingly be 6, and that of har-
rows and various other implements will bear a certain propor-
tion to this number of ploughs : —

6 Ploughs (Fig. 7) at from L.3, 10s. to L. 4^ — average

L.3, 15s L.22 10 0

But ploughs may be constructed also of wood,
which answer the purpose perfectly well. The
expense of these will be from L.2, 16s. to L.3.
6 Pairs of harrows made of wood (Fig. 16), at L.l, 7s. 8 2 0

1 Roller (Fig. 23), 12 0 O

There may be further added :

1 Grubber (Fig. 21), . . L. 10 0 0

2 Pairs of lighter harrows for sowing

grass seeds, . . . 2 14 0

L.12 14 0

But the grubber, though a highly useful, is not an
absolutely necessary, implement of the farm, and
need not be included in the amount of capital ;
and for the same reason the lighter harrows for
sowing grass-seeds may be omitted.
1 Broadcast sowing-machine (Fig. 31), . . 10 10 0

1 Turnip sowing-machine (Fig. 35), . . 0 0 0

Besides which, the nature of some farms may re-
quire,—

1 Machine for sowing corn in rows,

(Fig. 29), . . L.10 0 0

1 Bean-barrow (Fig. 32), or better
the machine (Fig. 33), the price
of which is now, . . L. 1 10 0

L.ll 10 0

Carried forward, L.59 2 0

CAPITAL.

657

Brought forward,
2 Hoeing-ploughs (Fig. 36),
2 Turnip horse-hoes (Fig. 37), with mouldboards

(shown in Fig. 38), .
] Thrashing-machine of 6 horse power (Fig. 42), .
This is upon the supposition that horses are em-
ployed ; but should water or steam be used,
there will be an increase in the first cost, al-
though a great economy in the subsequent ex-
pense.
1 Winnowing machine (Fig. 44), .
1 Turnip-slicer (Fig. 46),

And although not absolutely necessary, there may
be, —
1 Chaff-cutter (Fig. 48),
1 Steaming-apparatus (Fig. 49),
And, though less important still,
1 Corn bruising-machine,

12 Single horse-carts (Fig. 51),
6 Sparred carts, without axle and wheels (Fig. 52),

1 Water-cart (Fig. 54),
Churn and other utensils of the dairy,

This may be the amount when the dairy is the
affair of the household ; but, where a regular
dairy is established, a corresponding set of im-
plements must be obtained.

2 Wheelbarrows (Fig. 56), .

1 Handbarrow (Fig. 57),

2 Spades (Fig. 58), .
6 Broad-pointed lime-shovels (Fig. 59),
4 Narrow-pointed shovels (Fig. 60),
1 Mattock (Fig. 61),
1 Pick-axe (Fig. 62),
1 Foot-pick (Fig. 63),
1 Mall (Fig. 68),
1 Hammer (Fig. 67),
1 Sledge (Fig. 66),
1 Axe (Fig. 65),
1 Saw (Fig. 64),

.59

2

(t

6

0

0

9

0

1)

100

0

0

.

5 10

0

. .

1 10

0

T, there may

L.7 0 0

10 0 0

7 io o

L.24 10 0

.

120 0

0

Fig. 52),

24 0

0

.

9 0

0

.

10 0

0

,

2

0 0

•

0

5 6

0

9 0

f. 59),

1

10 0

0),

0

18 0

0

5 0

.

0

5 0

.

0

7 o

0

2 O

.

0

3 0

0

4 6

.

o

4 6

0

5 O

Carried forward,

L.351

0 6

T t

058 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Brought forward,

6 Three-pronged forks (Fig. G9),

6 Small three-pronged forks for spreading dung (Fig. 70),

2 Dung-drags (Fig. 77),

2 Mud-scrapers (Fig. 78), .

6 Forks, long (Fig. 71),

6 Forks, short (Fig. 72),
10 Wooden-rakes (Fig. 74),
10 Turnip-hoes (Fig. 75),

2 Turnip-pickers (Fig. 182),

1 Spade for cutting turnips (Fig. 47),

2 Hedge-knives (Figs. 195 and 196),
1 Hedge-spade (Fig. 197), ....
4 Scythes, 3 long (Fig. 76), and 1 short, with straps

and stones, .....

12 Sickles (Fig. 119), ....

1 Hay-knife (Fig. 79), ....
10 Weed-hooks (Fig. 117), ....

2 Throw-crooks (Fig. 126),
2 Long ladders of the respective lengths of 24 feet and

16 feet (Fig. 80), ....

4 short ladders, 8 feet (Fig. 80),
4 Poles for laying off ridges,
20 Binders for cattle (Fig. 177),
2 Pair of sheep-shears (Fig. 184),

1 Stool for sheep (Fig 186),

2 Sheep-racks (Fig. 183), ....
4 Straw-racks for cattle (Fig. 176),
1 Cane probang, .....
1 Stomach-pump, .....
1 Marking iron for sheep (Fig. 185),

10 Sheep-nets of 70 yards each,
200 Hardwood stakes, ....

1 Grindstone (Fig. 81), ....

1 Weighing-machine for wool and grain, with a set of

weights, . . . . . 2 0 0

1 Steelyard for weighing hay and straw, only ne-
cessary on certain farms, . L.10 0 0
Tubs for pickling wheat, .
Vessel for holding grease,
Cart-harness for 12 horses (Fig. 55),

Carried forward

L.351 0

C

1 8

0

0), 1 1

0

0 6

0

0 7

0

0 18

0

0 15

0

0 12

6

0 14

2

0 4

0

0 5

0

0 7

0

0 3

0

1 9

0

0 12

0

0 4

6

0 5

o

0 3

o

2 0

0

1 4

0

0 4

0

1 10

0

0 9

0

0 4

0

2 4

0

1 12

0

0 7

0

3 3

0

0 2

0

6 0

0

0 15

0

1 0

0

o 7

0

0 1

6

41 2

0

L.424 19

2

CAPITAL.

059

| (Fig. 82),

Brought forward,

Plough-harness for do. (Fig. 14),

Ropes for 6 corn-carts,

Saddle-horse furniture,
1 Corn-chest,
1 Corn-chest for saddle-horse stable,

6 Currycombs for farm-horse stable,

1 Currycomb for saddle-horse stable,

7 Brushes (Fig. 83),
7 Mane-combs (Fig. 84),
7 Foot-pickers (Fig. 85),
7 Small Forks (Fig. 73),
6 Pair of mouth-bags,

2 Stable lanterns,

2 Hand lanterns,
1 Pair of horse-scissars (Fig. 86),

1 Oil-flask, .

3 Water-pails,

2 Riddles for wheat,
2 Riddles for barley,
2 Riddles for oats (Fig. 132)
1 Slap-riddle (Fig. 131),

1 Sieve,

2 Close-sieves (Fig. 133),

1 Corn-measure (Fig, 134),

2 Wooden shovels (Fig. 135)
2 Brooms,
2 Barn-sheets,

100 Sacks, to contain 4 bushels each,
1 Load-barrow (Fig. 136), .

4 Sparred barrows for carrying corn (Fig. 130),

Or the canvass -carriers, 4 at 3s. each (Fig. 129),
L.0:12:0.

.424 19

2

12 0

0

1 10

0

6 4

6

2 10

0

1 0

0

0 7

0

0 14

0

0 3

6

0 3

6

1 1

0

3 0

0

0 10

0

0 4

0

0 1

6

0 1

6

0 12

0

0 5

0

0 4

0

0 4

0

0 1

8

0 3

6

0 3

0

0 10

0

0 4

0

0 0

6

1 0

0

10 0

0

0 10

0

5 0

0

Amount of Implements, L.473 7 4

2, Live Stock.

The farm, it has been seen, is to be managed by 6 pairs of
horses, regularly employed in ploughing, and in other labours
of the farm.

Besides the regular teams, there should be a spare horse,

t t 2

660 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

which may be a breeding mare. The uses of a spare horse
are, that by it many little operations can be performed, — as
carrying water, going to market for articles required for house-
hold use or the farm, bringing home green forage and the like, —
without breaking in upon the regular labours. It is necessary,
too, on such a farm, that the farmer have a saddle-horse, as
being indispensable for that economy of time which on every
considerable farm must be studied.

The stock of horses may be therefore stated thus : —

13 Work-horses, at L.30, . . . L. 390 0 0

1 Saddle-horse, . . * . 30 0 0

L. 420 0 0

To keep up his stock of horses, the fanner should endeavour
to rear one colt every year. Now, the colt being broken in
after he has completed this third year, there will be 3 colts on
the farm in addition to the stock mentioned ; so that the re-
gular stock of horses upon the farm after a time will be, —

13 Farm -horses.
1 Saddle-horse.
3 Colts.

17

The next class of live-stock consists of sheep and cattle.
To determine the number and kinds of these, we must consi-
der, 1st, The quantity of land which can be assigned for keep-
ing them after the horses are supplied ; and, 2d, The mode of
management which it will be expedient to pursue.

The quantity of land in grass, it has been seen, is —

Of young grass, .... 100 Acres.

Of grass in its second year, . . . 100

200

The quantity of the young grass required for hay and forage
to the horses may be thus computed : —

CAPITAL. 66*1

13 Farm-horses, at 22 lb. of hay each, per day, for 5

months, ..... 383 Cwt.

1 Saddle-horse, hay for 9 months at 14 lb. per day, 33f

41(5|
Add for ewes in winter, colts, and contingencies, 177J

594

To produce this quantity there will be required, at the rate of 33 cwt.

to the acre, ..... 18 acres.

And, to soil the farm-horses, at the rate of | acre

each, there will be required . . 9f acres.

For the saddle-horse

— 10

28
The young grass in all is . . . .100

Wliich leaves to be depastured of the young grass 72

And there are of grass in its second year to be depastured, 100

Making of grass to be depastured in all, 172

This ground may be depastured partly with sheep, partly
with cows, and partly with oxen in the course of being reared
and fed. It is usual, when there is young grass upon a farm,
to give it, as being the richest and most succulent, only to the
ewes with lambs, and to the stock, whether of sheep or oxen, in
the course of being finally fattened. But we may suppose, in
the special case of the farm in question, that the whole of the
spare young grass, 72 acres, is depastured by sheep ; and that the
whole of the older grass, 100 acres, is depastured by the cows
and oxen. We have first to consider the number and kinds
of sheep which 72 acres of new grass, together with such a
supply of turnips as will suffice for the sheep in winter, can
maintain.

Now, it is conceived that this quantity of pasture, with a
proper supply of turnips, will, upon land of good quality, main-
tain a regular breeding stock of 120 Leicester ewes, that is,
0 scores, in the following manner : —

The ewes, amounting to 120, may be expected, under a pro-
per system of management and feeding, to produce each year,

062 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

iu the months of March and April, such a number of lambs as
that 180 shall arrive at full maturity ; and these lambs, for the
sake of easier calculation, may be supposed to consist, one-half
of males, and one-half of females.

In the month of July, after being weaned, these lambs re-
ceive the name of hoggets or hogs. There are, therefore,
upon the farm, in each July, of sheep produced in the same
year: —

90 wether-hogs.
90 ewe-hogs.

180

The ewe and wether hogs, under the system of management
before explained, are to be penned together on turnips during
the first winter. They will consume about 13| acres of tur-
nips, that is, f of an acre for every 10 sheep ; and if we allow
1| acre for the ewes in the season of lambing, there will be
15 acres in all of turnips consumed by the sheep.

Now, the ewe and wether hogs are penned on turnips till the
month of April, when they are turned out to the fields to pas-
ture. In the beginning of June they are shorn, and then they
receive the names, — the male-sheep, of dinmonts ; and the fe-
male-sheep, of gimmers. The dinmonts are now to be sold,
and as many of the gimmers as it is not necessary to keep up-
on the farm for breeding.

The regular breeding stock upon the farm is 120 ewes ; and
these ewes may be supposed to be kept on the farm until they
have borne each lambs for three successive years. Under this
system, one-third of the ewes, that is 40, will be disposed of
each year, and their place will be supplied by 40 young ewes
or gimmers raised upon the farm.

Now, after shearing the sheep in June, there were 90 male-
sheep or dinmonts to be disposed of; and of young ewes or
gimmers, there were 50 to be disposed of, the other 40 being
reserved to receive the ram in October, and supply the place
of the 40 old ewes.

Under this system of management, then, the ewes add, in

CAPITAL.

663

each year, to the stock of sheep, 180, and an equal number of
sheep are disposed of, namely ;

90 dinmonts ;
50 gimmers ;
40 old ewes.

180

The sheep-stock on the 15th of May in each year, will there-
fore stand thus : —

120 ewes, with their lambs ;
90 wether-hogs ;
90 ewe-hogs.

To which add,
2 rams.

302 sheep, with 180 lambs.

These, then, are the kinds and numbers of sheep which the
fanner ought to procure when he takes possession of the grass-
land of his farm on the 15th of May. But it may be difficult
or impossible for an entering tenant to procure at once the pre-
cise kinds of stock which he requires. All that he can do,
therefore, is, to make the nearest approach to it that circum-
stances will allow, so that he may as soon as possible be able to
bring his stock into the regular course of management which
he proposes to adopt. He may purchase at his entry, —

120 Leicester ewes, with their lambs, at 60s., . L.360 0 0

40 Ewe-hogs, which will supply an equal number of

the worst of the old ewes in the same year, at 30s., 60 0 0

2 Shearling rams, . . . . 10 0 0

162 L.430 0 0

This, then, may be supposod to be the capital advanced for
sheep-stock in the first year.

The next class of stock consists of the cows and oxen. For
these there are to be assigned 100 acres of grass for pas-
ture, and such a quantity of turnips as will maintain and feed
them.

CG4 GENERAL ECONOMY OK THE FARM.

It may be assumed that there are 10 cows kept upon the
farm, and that these 10 cows, besides supplying the household
dairy, will rear 20 calves.

Now, the manner of management may be that formerly de-
scribed as applicable to a stock of oxen. The 20 calves, in the
first year, after being weaned, are pastured, and fed on turnips
and straw ; in the second year they are pastured, and in the
second winter likewise fed on turnips and straw. They might
then be killed fat ; but we may suppose, so as to render the
management here pointed out practicable upon every farm pro-
ducing turnips, that they are pastured for a third summer, and
put to feed during their third winter, at the conclusion of which
they will have completed their third year, and be, in the lan-
guage of fanners, three years old. A part of these will be
heifers, but it will be unnecessary to embarrass the calculation
with this supposition, and therefore we may suppose them to
be all males.

Under this system of management the stock of oxen, on the
loth of May in each year, will be : —

10 Cows.

20 Calves.

20 One-year-old steers, that is, steers that were calved in the pre-
ceding year, and have now completed their first year.

20 Two-year-old steers, that is, cattle that have completed their
second year, and are to be fed on turnips in the following
winter.

20 Three-year-old oxen, feeding on turnips, and now quite fat.
But these may, perhaps, have been disposed of before the
15th of May.
1 Bull.

91
The number of cattle belonging to the farmer, to be pastured
upon the farm in each year is, —

10 Cows.
20 Calves.

20 One-year-old steers.
20 Two-year-old steers.
1 Bull.

"71

CAPITAL. 665

And this, therefore, is the stock to be purchased on the 15th
of May in the year of entry. It may not, perhaps, be practi-
cable to get the precise kinds of stock required in the first year,
but a near approach to it may generally be made. It may,
therefore, be supposed that the capital advanced in the first
year for this class of stock is, for —

10 Cows, calved, and which have received the male, L.120 0 0

20 Calves, . . . . . SO 0 0

20 One-year-old steers, at L.7, 10s., . . 150 0 0

20 Two-year-old steers, at L. 12, 10s., . . 250 0 0

1 Bull, one year old, . . . 15 0 0

71 L.565 0 0

Here is to be noticed a matter of entirely local usage with
respect to the manner of paying the regular servants of the
farm. They are paid partly in money, but chiefly in produce ;
and one of the articles of produce is food, winter and summer,
for a cow. Each cottager, then, keeps his cow, an admirable
arrangement, conducive in an eminent degree to the physical
comforts of the labourer, and deserving of universal imitation
in the British Islands. We shall see, in the sequel, that there
are 9 regular cottagers upon the farm. Besides the pasture
required for the 71 animals before enumerated, therefore, there
must be a sufficient quantity for the 9 cows, the property of the
cottagers, that is, for 80 cows and oxen in all.

The quantity of grass-land to be depastured is 100 acres,
which will suffice, if the land be of good quality, to pasture
the quantity of cows and oxen mentioned. But they will also
require the following quantities of turnips : —

20 Calves will require -j acre each, . . 5 acres.

20 One-year-old steers, f acre each, . . 15

20 Two-year-old steers put to feed, 1 acre each, 20

19 Cows, including' those of the cottagers, about \ acre each, 4i
IBull, i

80 45

If to this be added the 15 acres required by the sheep-stock, it
will be seen that the division of the farm which is to be in tur-
nips every year will suffice for keeping and feeding the stock.

GOG

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

The next class of live-stock is attended with no difficulty,
namely, the swine. These will soon breed up to the quantity
required. At the entry in May, there may be purchased, —

2 Breeding swine at L.2,
1 Young boar,

L.4
1

L.5 0 0

The remaining class of live-stock consists of poultry. This,
like the last, will quickly breed up to the numbers wished for.
In the first year may be purchased, —

20 Chickens, . . . . L.l 10 0

12 Ducks, . . . . . . 0 18 0

3 Geese, . . . . . . 0 12 0

3 Turkeys, . . . . . 0 15 0

L.3 15 0

The capital, therefore, advanced for the different classes of

live-stock will be as under : —

1. Horses,

2. Sheep,

3. Cattle,

4. Swine,

5. Poultry,

L.420 0 0

430 0 0

565 0 0

5 0 0

3 15 0

L.l 423 15 0

3. Seeds.

Previous to the period when the farmer takes possession in
May, there ought to have been sown the grass and clover seeds
on the division of the farm which, in the regular course, is to
be sown with them. The out-going tenant, however, has no
interest in sowing these seeds, of which he does not reap the
benefit ; but the entering tenant either sows them, or pays the
cost of them to his predecessor. Now, supposing the same ro-
tation to have been hitherto adopted as is now to be adopted,
there will be a division of 100 acres to be sown with grass
seeds, namely, that which is in wheat and barley.

CAPITAL. 667

100 acres sown with perennial ryegrass seeds, at 1 bushel per acre,
and 3s. per bushel, . L.15 0 0

Clover seeds, 10 lb. per acre, at lOd.

per lb. . . . 41 13 4

L.56 13 4

And in the second spring there will be an equal

quantity to be sown, . . . 56 13 4

Tares to be sown in the first year for horses
and pigs : —

5 acres, at 3 bushels per acre, = 15 bushels at 5s.

per bushel, . . . L.3 15 0

A similar quantity in the second year, 3 15 0

Arrangements too should be made in the first
year to plant potatoes ; and here it is to be ob-
served, that, by the practice before referred to of
paying the labourers in kind, each cottager is
allowed to plant a quantity of potatoes, equal to
about £ acre. The farmer himself may plant, —

If acres for household use, at 24 bushels per acre,

at Is. 4d. per bushel, . . L.2 16 0

1 acre for pigs, . . . 1 12 0

2\ acres for cottagers, . . 0 0 0

5 acres

The further seeds to be sown in the year of
entry are —

60 acres turnips, at 2 lb. per acre, = 120 lb. at

9d. per lb. . . L.4 10 0

The same quantity in the following year, 4 10 0

7 10 0

4 8 0

9 0 0

There is no corn to be sown in the spring of
the year of entry ; but in the autumn of the same
year, the division of the land in summer-fallow,
namely, 40 acres, is to be sown : —

40 acres of wheat, at 3 bushels per acre, = 120

bushels 6s. 8d. per bushel, . . 40 0 0

Carried forward, L.174 4 8

668 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Brought forward, L. 174 4 8

In the spring of the second year are to be
sown the oats and barley, namely, —

100 acres of oats, at 5 bushels per acre, = 500

bushels at 2s. 8d. per bushel, . . 66 13 4

60 acres of barley, at 3 bushels per acre, = 180

bushels at 3s. 8d. per bushel, . . 33 0 0

L.273 18 0

4. Manures.

The dung made in the preceding winter has not at the pe-
riod of entry been applied to the land, because the land to be
in turnips and summer-fallow, to which, in the regular course,
it would be applied, are not yet ready to receive it. In the
practice of the district in question, there is an almost general
stipulation in the leases that this dung shall be given to the
entering tenant, who either receives it free of charge, or pays
his predecessor the value.

Making this latter assumption, the quantity of dung may be sup-
posed to be 1000 tons, which, at 6s. 3d. per ton, L. 312 10 0

A tenant does not always lime his land in the
first year of his possession, and yet it is often very
important that he should do so. Let it be sup-
posed that he limes 40 acres in the summer of the
first year, and an equal quantity in the summer
of the second year.

30 acres, at 144 busbels per acre, = 11520 bushels
at 3d per bushel, prime cost, L. 144 0 0

Tolls and other charges, the distance

being supposed 12 miles, at the

rate of Ud. per bushel, . . 60 0 0

204 0 0

L.516 10 0

CAPITAL.

669

5. Labour.

The farm-servants, it has been said, are paid partly in pro-
duce and partly in money. The cost to the farmer may be
computed thus, though the value to the receiver is considera-
bly more : —

Money,

GO bushels of oats, at 2s. 8d.
18 bushels of barley, at 3s. 8d.
6 bushels of pease, at 4s.
Food in harvest,
Allowances in travelling, &c.

L.2

10

0

8

0

0

3

G

(t

1

4

0

1

5

0

0

10

0

Outlay,
Grass and winter food for a cows . L. G 0 0
Carriage of coals, 4 cart-load, . 110 0

Ground for potatoes, 1000 yards of a

drill, — about I acre, . . 0 10 0

L.1G 15 0

8 0 0
L.24 15 0

Besides a
&c.

house, a small garden, permission to keep a pig, fowls,

Applying this calculation to the wages of the ploughmen
and other cottagers, the outlay in money to them and the
other labourers will be : —

6 Ploughmen, at L. 16, 15s. per annum for 18

months, . ... L. 150 15 0

1 Principal servant or overseer, L. 5 per annum

more than the others, for 18 months, . 32 12 G

1 Shepherd, wages the same as the overseer, . 32 12 G

1 Hedger, employed chiefly in hedger-work, but

also in other work upon the farm, . . 25 2 6

1 Man to take care of the cattle in winter, and do
any common work in summer, at 10s. per week
for 18 months, not a cottager, . . 39 0 0

Females and young persons are employed in hoeing
turnips and other work. Their wages for 18
months may be . . . . 60 0 0

Carried forward,

L. 340 2 G

670 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Brought forward, L.340 2 0

The entering tenant takes possession of the
land to be worked for fallow and fallow crops in
May. But, previous to this time, it ought to have
received at least one ploughing, for which the en-
tering tenant pays those who have laboured it : —

100 acres fallow, at 7s. per acre, . . 35 0 0

The other items of outlay on labour are : —

Mowing hay, 18 acres, at 2s. 6d. . L. 2 5 0
The same the second year, . . 2 5 0

4 10 0

Expense of the harvest work in the second year, that

is, for the first crop reared by the new tenant, 87 0 0

Keeping up the iron- work of horses and implements,

at the rate of L. 3 per pair of horses, — 1^ year,

L.27.
But the implements being new, the half of this

will suffice for the first 18 months, . 13 10 0

Carpenter- work, on the same principle, . . 13 10 0

Additional blacksmith and carpenter- work, . 5 0 0

Saddler's-work, at the rate of L. 1 per pair of horses

for 1| year, . . . . . 9 0 0

Shoeing saddle-horse for 1| year, . . 1 10 0

Keeping houses in repair for 1^ year, L. 7, 10s.

One-half for the first 18 months, . . 3 15 0

Incidental expenses, drugs to live-stock, oil for lamps,

candles, tolls, expenses of marketing, &c. . 16 0 0

L.528 17 6

6. Maintenance of Horses.

The annual expense of a working-horse, according to the
method of keeping horses formerly described, may be calcula-
ted thus : —

Oats, 91^ bushels, at 2s. 8d. per bushel, . . L. 12 3 4

Green forage, f of an acre, at L. 6, . . . 4 10 0

Hay for 5 months, at from 20 lb. to 22 lb. per day,

say 22 lb. = 29| cwt. at 3s. 6d. per cwt. . 5 3 3

Tares, | acre at L. 6, . . . • 1 10 0

L.23 6 7

CAPITAL.

G71

The outlay on feeding horses, for the first 18 months, may
be calculated as under : —

Hay for three weeks after entry for 13 horses, at 22 lb.

per day, = 63 i cwt. at 3s. 6d. per cwt.
Hay for saddle-horse after entry, 4 cwt. at 3s. 6d. .
Oats for 13 horses for the first year, at 91J bushels

each, = 1186^ bushels at 2s. 8d.
Oats for 44 months in the second year, until the crop

can be made available, = 438| bushels, at 2s. 8d.

per bushel, .....
Oats for saddle-horse for 1 year and 44 months, == 125

bushels, at 2s. 8d. ....

L.9 7
0 14

158 3 4

58 10 0

16 13 4
L.243 7 11

7. Burdens.

Window and saddle-horse duty
Statute-labour, 1 year,
Poor-rates,
Insurance, 2 years,

L.2 15 9

5 0 0

15 0 0

9 0 0

L.31 15 9

ABSTRACT.

The various items of capital enumerated are as follows : —

1. Implements,

2. Live-stock,

3. Seeds,

4. Manures,

5. Labour, &c.

6. Maintenance of horses,

7. Burdens,

L.473 7
1423 15
273 18
516 10
528 17
243 7
31 15

To this sum should be added the expense of furnish-
ing a dwelling-house, . L.200 0 0
Family expenses for 1^ year, . 150 0 0

4
0
0
0
6
11
9

L.3491 11 6

350 0 0

Amount of outlay, L.3841 11 6

072 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

PRODUCE SOLD.

Those parts of the produce of the farm sold during the first
18 months, and which must be taken into account, are : —

20 Two-j-ear old cattle, which, after being wintered

on turnips, may be reasonably supposed to weigh

65 stones, at 6s. per stone, . . . L.390 0 0

40 Old ewes, at 40s. . . L.80 0 0

The same for the second year, . 80 0 0

160 0 0

50 Gimmers at 27s. . . . . 67 10 0

90 Dinmonts, at 32s. . . . . 144 0 0

50 Pigs, which may be reared each year to 7 stones
each, at 3s. 6d. per stone, . L.61 5 0

One-half year more, . . 30 12 6

L.91 17 6

But during the first 18 months the calculation

may be one-half, . . . 45 18 9

Produce of dairy, which, besides rearing calves, may
be supposed to be at the rate of 35s. per cow per
annum — 1^ year, . . . . 26 5 0

There will be 162 fleeces of wool sold the first sea-
son, viz. —
120 Ewes, at 6£ lb. each, . . 780 lb.

40 Ewe-hogs, at 7i lb. each, . 300

2 Young rams, at 8 lb. each, . 16

1096 lb.
There will be 302 fleeces the second year,
viz.
120 Ewes, at 0£ each, . 780 lb.

180 Ewe and wether hogs, at

7Ub. • • • 1350

2 Rams, at 9 lb. . . 18

2148

3244 lb.
3244 lb. of wool, at Is. per lb. . . . 162 4 0

Amount of produce sold, L.995 17 9

CAPITAL. 073

Amount of outlay during the first 18 months, L.3841 11 6
Produce sold, .... 995 17 9

Net capital, L.2845 13 9

The net capital required for a farm of 500 acres is thus at
the rate of L.5 : 13 : 10 per acre. But the calculation is made
on the supposition that no rent is paid until the crop is reaped.
If the rent shall be paid before the crop is made available to
the tenant, there will be an addition equal to the rent to the
sum to be advanced.

IV. EXPENSES AND PRODUCE OF THE FARM.

The capital necessary for a farm is the fund which ought to
be available to the possessor, that he may carry on his busi-
ness : the annual expenses of a farm are the necessary charges
to which a farm is subject. A very convenient period for
determining the annual expenses of a farm is from May to
May, but it may be done also from November to November,
or indeed from any one period in the year to the same period
in the following one, so as to comprehend the charges of the
entire year.

To calculate the average charges of a farm, the same data
are assumed as in calculating the capital, namely, that the
farm consists of 500 acres, and that it is managed, with respect
to rotation of crops and the number and disposition of live-
stock, in the manner already explained.

The first consideration, and a large charge in the calcula-
tion of farm expenses, is Rent. Ingenious reasonings have
been employed to show, that rent is necessary to equalize the
profits of land of different degrees of fertility ; that, in every
country, it is a charge as necessary as the wages of labour :
but here we have only to consider the fact, that rent is a charge
upon all who farm the lands of others in this country.

u u

674 GENERAL ECONOMY OP THE FARM.

The amount of rent should be such as to leave to the occu-
pier a sufficient interest upon the capital advanced by him.
This will in some degree depend upon the general rate of in-
terest in the country, so that, cwteris paribus, rent should rise
as the rate of interest falls. Thus, supposing that, when money
is at 4 per cent, the farmer required 16 per cent, on his capital,
when the general rate of interest has fallen to 3 per cent, he
should receive 12 per cent. The advances of the farmer have
been calculated at L.2845 : 13 : 9, and there being deducted
L.350 for family expenses and the furnishing of a dwelling-
house, the capital upon which interest should be charged is
L.2495 : 13 : 9, upon which sum 16 per cent, is L.399 : 6 : 2.
Taking this as the farmer's return, and assuming certain rates
of farm produce after mentioned, the rent of the farm to which
these calculations refer will be L.985 : 1 : 3.

I. EXPENSES.

The various kinds of outlay in money on a farm may gene-
rally be classed under five heads : — 1. Rent and burdens ; 2.
Stock purchased ; 3. Seeds purchased ; 4. Manures ; 5. Labour
and minor outlays.

The amount of these is the outlay in money. The wages of
the labourers indeed may be paid in produce, or partly in pro-
duce and partly in money ; but it is better, in calculating the
outlays upon a farm, to consider the wages of the labourers as
a payment in money. What is consumed upon the farm, the
produce of the farm itself, as seeds, corn, and hay for horses,
turnips, and the like, ought not to be regarded as an outlay,
but as a diminution of the produce of the farm. When the
outlay in money is known, the farmer has merely to deduct
this from the produce of the farm which he can bring to
market, to ascertain his profit. The following calculations,
then, show the annual expenses of the farm, including the
wages of the labourers, in money ; and it is to be kept in mind,
that these calculations are, as in the case of those regarding

EXPENSES AND PRODUCE.

675

capital, nothing more than an example, and that they have an
especial reference to local usages, and to a condition of the
fanner which applies only to a given district.

1. Rent and Burdens.

Rent, ....

Burdens, viz.

Window and saddle-horse duty,

Statute-labour,

Poor-rates,

Insurance,

L.985 1 3

L.2 15 9

5 0 0

10 0 0

4 10 0

22 5 9

L.1007 7 0

10 Calves, at 30s.

2. Stock Purchased.

L.15 0 0

3. Seeds Purchased.

60 acres turnips at 2 lb. per acre, == 120 lb., at 9d., L.4 10 0
5 acres tares, at 3 bushels per acre, = 15 bushels at

5s., 3 15 0

100 acres ryegrass seeds, at 1 bushel per acre, = 100

bushels, at 3s., . . . . 15 0 0

100 acres clover-seeds, at 10 lb. per acre, = 1000 lb., at

10d., 41 13 4

L.64 18 4

4. Manures.

It may be assumed that the whole land is limed once during the first
10 years of the lease, at the rate of 50 acres annually : 500 acres
at 144 bushels per acre = 72,000 bushels, at 4^d. per bushel,
= L. 1275. This, for 20 years, supposing 20 years to be the
duration of'the lease, will be, per annum, . L.63 15 0

And further, there may be supposed to be laid out an-
nually, for foreign manures, as bone-dust, rape-
dust, &c. . . . . 25 0 0

L.88 15 0

uu 2

676

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

4. Labour, &c.

6 Ploughmen, wages as before, L.16, 15s. each, L.

1 Overseer,

1 Shepherd,

1 Hedger, .

1 Person to take care of cattle, &c, at 10s. per week,

Hoeing, haymaking, &c.

Mowing hay, 18 acres at 2s. 6d.,

Harvest Work, 200 acres, .

Carpenter's work for implements, at the rate of L.3 per
pair of horses, ....

Iron-work for implements, at the same rate,

Saddler's work, at the rate of L.l per pair of horses,

Shoeing saddle-horse, ....

Additional iron and carpenter work, not included in
the above, .....

Keeping houses in repair, . . . .

Expenses of carrying grain to market, supposing the
distance to be 12 miles, carrying fuel to servants,
marketing and delivery of stock, farriery, and mi-
nor charges, .....

100

10

0

21

15

0

21

15

0

16

15

0

26

0

0

40

0

0

2

5

0

87

0

0

18

0

0

18

0

0

6

0

0

1

0

0

7

0

0

5

0

0

32 16 6
L.403 16 6

ABSTRACT.

1. Rent and burdens,

2. Stock purchased,

3. Seeds purchased,

4. Manures,

5. Labour, &c.

L.1007 7 0

15 0 0

64 18 4

88 15 0

403 16 6

L.1579 16 10

II. PRODUCE.

There remains to be considered what, on this calculation of
expenses, may be the annual return of such a farm. This may
be comprehended under two divisions — Vegetable Produce,
and Live Stock.

EXPENSES AND PRODUCE. 0/7

1. Vegetable Produce.

Bushels.

100 acres of oats, at 48 bushels per acre, . . 4800

The quantity consumed upon the farm is —

For seech .... 500 bush.
For work-horses, . . . 1186J

For saddle-horse, . . 91?

For colts, hogs, and poultrv, . 60

18374

Leaving for sale, 2962i

29624 Bushels, at 2s. 8d., . . . L.395 0 0

40 acres of wheat, at 24 bushels per acre, 960 bush.
Deduct for seed, 3 bushels per acre, 120

840
840 Bushels, at 6s. 8d., . . . 280 0 0

60 acres of barley, at 42 bushels, per acre, 2520 bush.

Deduct for seed, 3 bushels per acre, 180

2340
2340 Bushels, at 3s. 8d., . . . 429 0 0

Net annual return of Vegetable Produce, L.1104 0 0

2. Live Stock.

The sale of horses upon some farms is a source of profit ;
on a regular farm, however, it will be safer not to calculate
upon the profit derived from the breeding of horses, but rather
to suppose that the horses reared are just sufficient to repair
the casualties, and replace the tear and wear of the original
stock.

The produce of the dairy, after rearing 20 calves, may be calculated

at 35s. per cow, or . . . . L. 17 10 0

50 Pigs may be supposed to be sold or used each year,

fed to 7 stones, at 3s. 6d. per stone, . . 61 5 0

Poultry, . . . . . ^ 7 10 0

20 Three-year-old steers, after being wintered on tur-
nips, supposed to weigh 65 stones each, at 6s. per

stone, ..... 390 0 0

40 Old Ewes, at 40s. . . . . 80 0 0

Carried forward, L. 556 5 0

G78 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

Brought forward, L. 556 6 0

50 Gimmers, at 27s., . . . . 67 10 0

90 Dinmonts, at 32s., . . . 144 0 0

Wool, 2148 lb., at Is., . . . 107 8 0

Net annual return of Live-stock,

ABSTRACT.

Vegetable produce,

Live-stock, ....

5k, L. 875

3

0

L. 1104
875

0
3

0
0

L. 1979

3

0

. L.1979 3 0
1579 16 10

. L.399

6

2

If, from the gross produce as above,
Be deducted the expenditure in money,

The net return to the farmer will be,

Out of this sum the farmer must maintain himself, and bear
the hazard of bad debts, unforeseen losses, and the general ca-
sualties of trade. Should the produce be less, or the capital
or expenses greater, the amount of rent will be in a corres-
ponding degree diminished.

V. OPEEATIONS OF THE FARM IN THE ORDER OF TIME.

The operations of the farm, connected with tillage and the
management of live-stock, have been described ; but we have
yet to consider these operations in the order of time in which
they succeed to each other. This review will tend to render
more precise a previous knowledge of details, and to obviate
that perplexity which is often experienced by those who are
brought to the study of practice for the first time, and see
so many different labours carried on together, and without ap-
parent order. It will here suffice to detail the most important
of these labours, as they occur in a well-ordered farm, em-
ployed partly in tillage, and partly in the rearing and feeding
of live-stock, and managed according to the system of agricul-
ture which has been especially described in this work.

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OP TIME. 67$

November.

The month of November may be said to be the commence-
ment of the farmer's year. By this time the labours of his
harvest have been concluded, and his produce has been se-
cured ; and he is now proceeding to prepare the ground for the
crop of another season. There are to be considered the state of
the farm at the commencement of this month with respect to
labour and live-stock, and the principal operations during its
continuance.

Live-stock. — The cattle may be supposed to consist of cows ;
of a certain number of calves ; of a certain number of the steers
and heifers of the preceding year, termed therefore one-year-
olds, as having completed their first year, but now approaching
to the end of their second year ; of a certain number of steers
and heifers which have completed their second year, and are
therefore termed two-year-olds, though now approaching the
end of their third year ; and of a bull. The two-year-old steers
and heifers are now arrived at maturity ; the heifers intended
for breeding have received the male in the course of the sea-
son, and the older steers are ready for final feeding.

As the month of October had advanced the pasture had be-
gun to fail, and before the termination of the month the va-
rious cattle had been put in their respective houses, yards, and
stalls.

The cows which had borne calves in the early part of the
year, had been put in the cow-house and tied in their respec-
tive stalls, — straw, and a limited proportion of succulent food,
as turnips, having been supplied to them.

The calves which were born in the early part of the year
had been put in one or more yards with sheds, had been well
littered, and had received straw as their provender, with a full
allowance of turnips.

The steers and heifers of the preceding year, now turned
their first year, and approaching the end of their second year,
had also been put into yards with sheds. They had likewise

G80 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

been plentifully littered, receiving straw as provender, with a
full allowance of turnips.

The older cattle, namely, those that have completed their
second year, had been treated thus : — Such of them as were
heifers, to be retained for breeding, had been separated from
the males in the preceding spring, had received the male as
they came into season in spring and the early part of summer,
and, being with calf, had been put into yards with sheds, to be
tied to their respective stalls, when within a few weeks of calving.
The steers again, which are now to be finally fattened, had
either been tied in stalls, or put in pairs into yards with sheds,
in either case receiving a full allowance of turnips or other
nourishing food.

The bull had been put into a shed or yard by himself, re-
ceiving straw for provender, and a sufficient supply of turnips.

Such may be supposed to be the arrangement of the cattle
at the commencement of the month of November. The same
treatment with respect to them is to be continued during the
entire month : — The cows and heifers are to receive straw, with
a modified allowance of turnips ; the calves and steers straw,
with a full allowance of turnips.

The sheep again, consisting, it may be assumed, of a regular
breeding stock of ewes, may be supposed to have been arranged
and treated thus : — The ewes, consisting partly of sheep that
had borne lambs, had, by the 10th of October, the rams ad-
mitted to them. At the beginning of November, the rams
and ewes are still pasturing together, receiving no other food
but grass ; and by the middle of the month the rams are with-
drawn.

The lambs born in spring, now termed ewe and wether hogs,
had, on the failure of the pastures in October, been penned on
turnips. At the beginning of November they continued penned
on turnips, the province of the shepherd being to attend to
them as well as to the other sheep, and to shift the pens when
necessary.

The horses in the month of October had been put upon their
full allowance of hay and corn. At the beginning of Novem-

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. G81

ber they are receiving full feeding, but before the middle of
the month, when the hours of labour become short, the hay
may be withdrawn, and the allowance of oats reduced to the
half of the former quantity.

By the beginning of the month the colts had been put into
their yards, or into a paddock with a shed, receiving straw as
provender, with any succulent roots, as turnips and potatoes.

The swine and poultry are receiving their usual food. The
pigs are fattened at all times ; and the poultry receive their re-
gular supplies of food in their yard ; and as the same method
of management continues throughout the year, the feeding of
this class of stock need not be again adverted to.

Labour. — As soon as the season of harvest was over, and the
crop secured, the operation had been begun of ploughing the
stubble-land — that is, the land which, having borne a crop of
corn, is intended to be in summer-fallow, or fallow-crops as
turnips and potatoes, in the following year. At the beginning
of November, then, the stubble-land is being ploughed, and
this operation is continued throughout the month, the horses
being kept regularly employed at this work, unless interrupted
by frost or snow, or otherwise necessarily engaged.

The thrashing of the crop is now carried on, so as to supply
straw for litter and provender in a regular manner to the cattle.
The corn is prepared and carried to market, that being retained
which is required for feeding the stock upon the farm.

At the commencement of and during the month, turnips are
carried home in carts to the stock in the houses and yards, every
two or three alternate drills being taken up for the cattle, while
the remainder is left in the ground for the sheep which are
penned in the field,

This is the fitting season for pruning hedges, cleaning ditches,
and performing other operations upon the live-fence. Hedger
and ditcher work are, therefore, carried on during all the month
of November, and draining and any kind of work by the spade.
The work of the hedger is continued in winter when the wea-
ther allows, in spring, in the early part of summer, and in au-

682 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

tumn ; and draining and other spade-work are carried on at
every convenient season. These labours of the farm therefore
need not be afterwards referred to.

Winter being now at hand, it will be prudent to secure a
supply of fuel, which the horses may be employed to bring
home when they are not otherwise occupied.

These, then, have been the principal labours of the farm
during the month of November, which may be said to be the
first month of the winter quarter : — The cattle and sheep of all
kinds have been receiving their winter food ; the horses, from
a full allowance of hay and corn, have been put upon straw and
a smaller allowance of corn ; the operation of thrashing has been
carried on ; the horses have been chiefly employed in plough-
ing the stubble-land for the fallow-crops and summer-fallow of
the next year ; the hedger has been engaged in pruning and
repairing the hedges, and spade-work when required has been
going on ; and a supply of fuel has been provided against ap-
proaching winter.

December.

Livestock. — The cows are in the cow-houses ; the young cattle
in their yards ; the feeding cattle in their houses or yards as
before ; and they are all kept and treated in the same manner
throughout the month.

The ewes are, as before, on grass, but in snows or hard frosts
they receive an allowance of hay. The ewe and wether hogs
are penned on turnips as before, and are kept so during the
month.

The hours of day-light, and consequently of labour, being
short, the horses are still fed on straw, and receive their modi-
fied allowance of corn. The colts are in their yard or paddock
receiving straw, with an allowance of green food, and are kept
so during the month.

Labour. — The ploughing of the stubble-land continues du-
ring this month when the weather allows ; and, in ordinary

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 683

circumstances, it may be calculated that all the land intended
for fallow and fallow-crops has been ploughed before the ter-
mination of the month.

Thrashing is continued throughout the month so as to sup-
ply the stock regularly with straw, and the grain is carried to
market in proportion as it is got ready. The wheat and bar-
ley-straw is used chiefly for litter, and the grain is sold. The
oat-straw is used for fodder, but instead of all the oats being
sold, a portion of them may now be stored in the granary for
the purpose of being used for seed in spring. This too is the
time of delivering the grain to the servants, when the practice
of paying them in kind is followed.

A quantity of turnips should be pulled to be ready for the
cattle in case of frost and snow. A portion should be placed
either in a store in the open air, or, which is better, under a
shed. Those given to the older feeding stock should be cut
by the turnip-slicer.

Towards the end of the month, should the weather not ad-
mit of ploughing, the carts are to be employed in carrying out
dung from the yards to be piled in heaps in the fields in which
the turnips and other fallow-crops are to be grown in the fol-
lowing year.

During the month of December, then, the stock of all kinds
have been on their winter food ; the horses have been on short
days' work, and on their winter allowance of corn and straw ;
they have been employed in ploughing the remainder of the
stubble-land, in bringing home turnips to the stock, in car-
rying corn to market, and towards the end of the month in
taking out dung from the farm-yards.

December may be said to be the dead season of the farmer's
labour, and yet it is not without its objects of interest and so-
licitude. The farmer is engaged in realizing his profits ; his
animals of different kinds are feeding under his care ; and he
is soon to look to the more active labours of spring.

684 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

January.

Live-stock. — The cattle are still in their houses and yards,
and are fed as during the last month ; turnips being brought
home and a store kept in reserve as formerly. Some of the
cows may calve during this month, especially towards the end
of it. They are to be well attended to at this time ; and the
calves separated from them at the birth and fed on new milk
three times in the day.

The ewes are on grass-land receiving hay when the weather
renders it necessary. The ewe and wether hogs continue pen-
ned on turnips as during the previous month.

The horses are on straw, and are receiving their short al-
lowance of corn. The colts are in their yard or paddock, and
are fed as before.

Labour. — The stubble-land intended for fallow and fallow-
crops may be supposed to have been ploughed by the end of
the last month. The land in grass, intended to be sown with
oats in spring, may now therefore be begun to be ploughed, and
the horses kept engaged in this operation when the weather al-
lows, and when they are not otherwise necessarily employed.'

Corn is to be thrashed to furnish straw for provender and
litter, as during the preceding month. Wheat and barley are
to be sent to market as usual, and the storing of oats for seed
may be continued.

Turnips are brought home to the cattle in the houses and
yards as formerly ; and dung, when the weather will not admit
of ploughing, is carried out from the yards.

These, then, have been the principal operations in the month
of January : — The cattle have been fed on straw and turnips
as in the former month ; the ewes have been kept on grass, re-
ceiving hay during hard frost and snow ; the ewe and wether
hogs have been penned on turnips as before ; the horses have
been kept on straw and their short allowance of corn ; the
thrashing of the corn has been proceeding ; the grass-land in-

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 685

tended for oats has been ploughed as the weather has allowed ;
and the dung has been carried out of the yards.

February.

Live-stock. — The cattle are in their houses and yards, and
are fed as during the last month. The cows will calve during
this month, and must be carefully attended to.

The ewes are on grass ; but after the middle of the month
they should have turnips carried to them in the fields in which
they are pasturing, so as to prepare them for the lambing sea-
son by the middle of next month. The ewe and wether hogs
are penned on turnips as before.

By the middle of the month, if not sooner, the horses should
be put again upon hay, and receive their full allowance of corn,
in preparation for their work in spring. In place of straw, the
colts may now receive hay.

Labour. — The ploughing of grass-land intended for oats pro-
ceeds during the month, and it is usual that the land which is
to be first sown shall be first in the order of being ploughed.

Corn as before is thrashed, so as to afford straw regularly
for provender and litter. The corn which is still for sale is
carried to market ; the oats which it is yet necessary to reserve
for seed are stored. Barley, too, may now be stored, in pre-
paration for the sowing of barley in April.

The land from which turnips has been cleared is now to be
formed into ridges ; and in frosty weather, when the ploughs
cannot work, the dung is to be carried from the yards to the
fields as formerly.

If spring- wheat is to be sown upon the land that has been
in turnips, it may be done when the land is dry and the wea-
ther favourable ; and should there be beans to be sown, the
land may be worked and the beans sown when the ground is
dry.

The following, then, have been the principal operations in
the month of February : — The cattle have been kept in their

686 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

houses and yards, feeding as formerly ; the cows have been
attended to when calving ; the young sheep have been on tur-
nips, and the ewes have received turnips after the middle of
the month ; the horses have been put on their full work, and
have received their full allowance of food; corn has been
thrashed in proportion as the stock has required straw for pro-
vender and litter ; the grain has been sold, or stored for seed ;
the land in grass has been ploughed for oats ; the cleared tur-
nip-land has been formed into ridges, and where spring wheat
was to be sown, that has been done ; if the weather has al-
lowed, the land intended for beans has been worked, and the
beans have been sown ; and in frosty weather dung has been
carried out from the yards.

March.

Live-stock. — The cattle are still in their yards, and feeding
as before. During the month all the cows may be supposed
to have calved. The additional calves required are to be pur-
chased, the best and earliest that can be obtained.

The ewe and wether hogs are on turnips as before. The
ewes will now begin to lamb. They have been hitherto re-
ceiving turnips, but as they lamb they are transferred with
their young to new grass. The male lambs are castrated in
lots when about eight days old.

The horses are on full work, and are receiving their full al-
lowance of hay and corn. The colts are receiving hay.

Labour. — The corn is thrashed throughout the month to
supply straw. The grain is sold, except such of the oats or
barley as are required for seed, or the purposes of the farm.

If any of the grass-land intended for oats has not yet been
ploughed, it must now be done, and any turnip-land cleared of
turnips, and not yet ploughed, must now be ploughed.

The oats are now to be sown as soon in the month as the
land is sufficiently dry ; the late ripening sorts being the first
in the order of sowing, and next the more early.

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 687

Tares are to be sown in portions, at intervals of ten days or
a fortnight, so that they may be ready in succession in sum-
mer and autumn. The land intended for potatoes may now
be cross-ploughed. Towards the end of the month, if the wea-
ther and state of the ground allow, the grass and clover seeds
may be sown amongst the growing wheat. The land is to be
harrowed, and it may at the same time be rolled ; but the roll-
ing may be delayed until the month of April. The dung in-
tended for the early-sown turnips should now be turned over,
to hasten the putrefactive process.

These, then, have been the principal operations of the month
of March : — The cattle have been fed on straw and turnips as
before ; the calves have been fed on new milk ; the young sheep
have been fed on turnips ; the ewes, after lambing, have been
transferred with their young to new grass ; the horses have
been fully worked and fed ; the corn has been thrashed, and
barley stored for seed ; any remainder of the grass-land not
yet ploughed has been ploughed, and also any land cleared of
turnips ; oats have been sown, and tares in portions at inter-
vals ; grass and clover seeds, if the weather has been favour-
able, have been sown amongst the growing wheat; and the dung
for early turnips has been turned.

April.

Live-stock. — The cattle are still in their yards, and are fed
as before ; the calves are receiving milk, with such nourishing
substances in addition as may enable the milk of each cow to
bring up two calves.

The ewes are now on new grass with their lambs. At the
commencement of the month, the ewe and wether hogs are still
on turnips, but by the middle of the month they are removed
from turnips and put on grass.

The horses are at full work, and receive a full allowance of
hay and corn. The colts that have reached their third year
may now be taken up and trained to work ; or they may be

088 GENERAL ECONOMY OP THE FARM.

allowed another summer's grass, and be taken up for training
in autumn. Mares will foal during this month.

Labour. — If any part of the oats had not been sown during
the preceding month, they are now to be sown ; if the grass
and clover seeds had not been sown amongst the growing
wheat, they are now to be sown.

The potato-land which had been cross-ploughed in the pre-
ceding month, is to be ploughed again, harrowed, and other-
wise worked, and the potatoes are to be planted.

The land which had been for some time cleared of turnips
and ploughed, receives a second ploughing or a seed-furrow ;
that which is just cleared may receive only one ploughing.
The barley is sown, the grass and clover seeds are sown and
harrowed, and the land is rolled. If the wheat-land had not
been rolled at the time of sowing the grass-seeds, it is now
rolled.

The land in new grass, and intended to be mown, is to have
the stones upon the surface gathered, and to be rolled.

The barley being sown, and that as early in the month as
possible, the preparation of the land for turnips commences ;
but it is proper that the land intended for summer-fallow
should also at this time receive one ploughing, so as to keep
down the growth of weeds, and facilitate the subsequent pre-
paration of the ground ; therefore the whole land intended for
summer-fallow and turnips is now to be ploughed, — the land
intended for turnips in the first place, and across ; the land
intended for summer-fallow lengthwise, so as to preserve the
former ridges.

In preparing the land for turnips, that intended for the early-
sown kinds is to be first worked, and care must be taken that
the dung to be applied be in a proper state of preparation. If
the dung is not so, the heap must be turned a second time ;
and the heaps intended for the later-sown turnips must also be
turned.

The cattle being in their yards during the whole of this

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 689

month, the thrashing of corn, so as to yield straw for provender
and litter, has been proceeding as hitherto.

These, then, have been the principal operations in the month
of April : — The cattle have been fed in their yards with straw
and turnips ; the calves have been receiving milk ; the ewes
and lambs have been fed on new grass, and the ewe and wether
hogs, after having been fed on turnips till about the middle of
the month, have been put also on grass ; oats have been sown,
if they have not already been sown ; the potato land has been
planted ; the land cleared of turnips has been ploughed, and
the barley and the grass and clover seeds have been sown ; all
the land which it is necessary to roll has been rolled, namely,
the barley-land, the new grass-land intended for mowing, and
the wheat-land which had not been previously rolled ; the land
intended for turnips and summer-fallow has been ploughed,
and the heaps of dung for turnips have been turned ; and corn
has been thrashed in the quantity necessary to furnish straw
for the live-stock.

May.

Live-stock. — At the commencement of the month, the cattle
are in their yards and are fed as before.

By the middle of the month, the former year's calves, now
yearling steers, and the two-year-old steers, if the grass is suf-
ficiently advanced, are turned out to pasture ; the cows are
turned out to pasture ; and here it may be observed that if
there are any of the two-year-old cattle which are heifers from
which it is wished to breed, they must be separated from the
steers of the same age and placed amongst the cows, and when
they come into season, if they have not already done so, they
must receive the male. During this month the older cows should
all have received the male, so that they may calve in the fol-
lowing February.

With respect to the feeding oxen now turned their third
year, and consequently three-year-olds, these may be fed du-

x x

690 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

ring the month as long as there are turnips sufficient for them,
and then sold.

During: this month the mares should all have received the
male, so that they may foal in the subsequent month of April.
The colts are turned out for the season to grass.

As the weather becomes warm, the sucking calves may be
turned out to a small paddock. After being weaned in their
fourth month, they are turned out to feed for the remainder of
the season, along with the cows and feeding stock.

The sheep of all kinds at the commencement of the month
were on grass, and they continue to be pastured in their re-
spective fields during the month. By the end of it, the fat
sheep, if ready, may be washed and shorn, or else these opera-
tions are deferred till the beginning of June.

The horses are in their stables and receive their full allow-
ance of hay and corn.

Labour. — Should any of the barley not have been sown du-
ring the last month, it must now, together with the grass seeds,
be sown ; and if the stones have not been gathered from the
new grass, this must be done.

The land planted with potatoes is to have the drills levelled
by the harrows passing over them. But the main labour of
this month is the preparation of the land for turnips, which is
to be done for the different kinds of turnips respectively, in the
order in which they are to be sown ; the first in the order of
sowing being the Swedish turnips, the second the yellow tur-
nips, and the third the white.

The land then intended for Swedish turnips, which had
been cross ploughed in the preceding month, is to be again
ploughed, harrowed, rolled, cleaned, and made ready for being
formed into drills ; and the dung being applied, the seeds are
sown.

The working of the other turnip-land is then to be proceed-
ed with, so that it may be ready for being sown at the begin-
ning of June. This land had received one ploughing in the
month of April; it now receives another ploughing, and is

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 691

thoroughly worked by harrowing, rolling, and gathering of
weeds ; and if this be not sufficient, it receives further plough-
ings, with such harrowing, rolling, and gathering of weeds as are
sufficient to prepare it for being formed into drills.

The preparation of the land for turnips will usually occupy
the month of May, and may lead into the month of June, but
every effort which the state of the weather allows should be
used to get the land as far as possible prepared during the
month of May.

In this month the operation of thrashing has become partial ;
and towards the middle of the month when the cattle are turn-
ed out to grass it may be said to have nearly ceased for the sea-
son. The barn-yard of the farmer, indeed, may be generally
considered to be cleared in this month, except to the extent of
such stacks as may be reserved for thrashing for litter in sum-
mer, and for affording straw for thatching the new stacks when
harvest arrives.

The middle of this month is the usual period for farm-ser-
vants to enter to their new situations, or change from the old.
It is then, too, that the farmer will most conveniently balance
his yearly accounts.

The more active period of the household dairy begins with
the month of May, and continues till the end of October, when
the cows are put on their winter food.

During this month the land in oats should be weeded,
bands of females or young persons passing along the ridges with
the weed-hook.

In the month of May, then, the following have been the
principal labours of the farm : — The sheep have been kept at
grass during the month, and towards the middle of it the cows
and steers have been turned out to their respective fields ; the
fat cattle have been disposed of; the cows have received the
male, and so likewise have the mares ; the calves receiving milk
have been turned out to their little paddock : if any barley
land has not been sown, or stones have not been gathered, it
has now been done ; the preparation of the turnip-land has
been proceeded with, and the early-sown turnips have been

xx2

692 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

sown ; the potato-drills have been levelled ; the corn has been
weeded ; the thrashing of corn has been carried on in so far as
it has been necessary ; and the operations of the household
dairy have been attended to.

June.

Live-stock. — The cows and steers are pastured in the field
during the month. All the calves will be weaned during this
month, and turned out to graze for the remainder of the sea-
son. Such of the cows, heifers, and mares as have not received
the male now receive him.

At the beginning of the month the horses should receive
green forage, and towards the middle of it they may be put
at night in the pasture field.

At the beginning of the month the ewes with their lambs,
and the ewe and wether hogs, are at grass in their respective
enclosures ; and at or before the beginning of the month they
are washed, and in eight days afterwards shorn.

In ten days, or as soon as convenient after shearing, the
wether hogs, now dinmonts, and such of the ewe hogs, now
gimmers, as are not to be retained on the farm for breeding,
may be sold.

The wool which has been shorn is to be put in a dry place,
and sold as soon as a market offers.

Labour. — The turnip-land, in so far as it has not been work-
ed during the previous month, is to be now worked. As soon
as it is ready to be formed into drills, the dung is to be spread
and the seeds sown, the yellow turnips now being the first in
order of being sown, and then the white.

The potatoes are to be horse and hand hoed.

The summer-fallow is to receive its cross-ploughing, and
then to be well harrowed, all weeds being carefully gathered.
After this, the further working of the summer-fallow proceeds
as expeditiously as the nature of the weather and state of the
labour upon the farm allow. The turnips are to be horse and

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 693

hand hoed for the first time. Lime is also being got forward
to the land which is to be limed.

These, then, have been the principal operations of the month
of June : — The cattle have been put to grass ; the females not
yet covered have received the male ; the horses have been put
on green forage ; the sheep have been shorn, and the dinmonts,
and the gimmers not reserved for breeding, have been sold ; the
wool has been disposed of as a market offered ; the turnip-land
has been worked, and the turnips have been sown ; the potatoes
and turnips have been horse and hand hoed ; the summer-fallow
has been worked, and lime got forward.

July.

Live-stock. — The whole of the cows, oxen, and weaned calves,
are at grass, and are kept so during the month.

The horses continue to receive green forage during the day,
and may be permitted to pasture in the fields at night ; and
this method of feeding may be continued during the month.
But their work having become easy towards the middle of the
month, their allowance of corn may be lessened.

At the commencement of the month the ewes with their
lambs are in their former fields of grass ; by the middle of
the month the lambs are weaned ; and from this time forward
the lambs, now termed hogs, are kept separate from the breed-
ing ewes.

Labour. — In the early part of the month the ha)r, when
ready, is mown ; it is worked, put into cocks, and then into
ricks in the field ; or else it is carried at once from the cocks
to the stack.

In the mean time, the fallow-land is worked as the state of
the weather allows. It received its first ploughing lengthwise,
in April ; it received its next ploughing across, immediately
on the preparation of the turnip-land being finished, when it
was well harrowed and worked; it is again ploughed, and
further harrowed and cleaned : and it is ploughed again,
worked and formed into ridges. When thus prepared, it is

G94 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

ready to receive the dung, which being spread, is covered by
a ploughing.

During this month, too, lime is brought forward to the fal-
low-land. It is laid in large heaps in the field to be slacked ;
it may be applied at the same time at which the dung is ap-
plied, or at a later period.

During the month, the turnips are again horse and hand
hoed ; and, by the end of the month, they may be set up by
the double mould-board plough. The potatoes, too, during
this month are horse and hand hoed, and by the end of the
month they are set up.

These, then, have been the principal operations of the month
of July : — The lambs havabeen weaned; the hay has been mown,
worked, and placed in ricks ; the fallow-land has been worked
and dunged, and lime has been brought forward ; and the tur-
nips and potatoes have been horse and hand hoed.

August.

Live-stock. — The cows, steers, and calves, are at grass, and
are kept so during the month.

The ewes are at grass in their own fields, and the ewe and
wether hogs in theirs. The old ewes which are to be sold may
now be selected from the rest of the flock, and marked for that
purpose by the marking-iron ; and, at the same time, all the
other sheep may have their distinguishing mark put upon
them.

The horses are receiving green forage, and, when the first
crop of clover is consumed, they may receive tares until the
second crop is ready. They may still be allowed to remain in
the fields at night.

Labour. — In so far as the working of the fallow-land has not
been performed during the last month, it is now to be done.
Should the turnips not have been set up during the last month,
they are now to be set up.

The hay, when ready, is to be brought home to the barn-
yard and stacked.

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. (195

The corn now becoming ripe, preparation is to be made for
thatching the stacks, by forming the straw into bunches and
making straw-ropes. Reapers having been engaged, the ope-
rations of the harvest are commenced and earned on in pro-
portion as the corn is ripe. The corn that has been reaped,
is, as soon as it is ready, carried home to the barn-yard and
stacked.

These, then, have been the principal operations during the
month of August : — The cows, steers, and calves, have been
kept on grass ; the old ewes intended to be sold have been se-
lected and marked, and all the sheep have been likewise mark-
ed ; the labouring of the turnip-land and summer-fallow, in so
far as it was not done in the preceding month, has been com-
pleted ; the hay has been carried home to the barn-yard and
stacked; the straw, in preparation for the thatching of the
stacks, has been got ready, and the harvest operations have.
been begun and proceeded with.

September.

Live-stock. — The cows, calves, and steers, are all at grass,
and are kept so during the month. All the sheep are likewise
at grass during the month ; but before the end of it, the old
ewes which had been marked for sale may be sold.

The horses are kept on green forage. As the month ad-
vances they are taken up from grass at night, and kept in the
stable; and, at the end of the month, they are put again on
hay~and hard food.

Labour. — The reaping of the corn, in so far as it is not
completed, proceeds with activity during this month, and it is
carried home to the barn-yard as it becomes ready.

The lime, if not previously applied, is laid upon the sum-
mer-fallow land, which then receives the seed-furrow, and is
sown.

These, then, have been the principal labours of the month
of September : — The old ewes have been sold, and, towards

696 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

the close of the month, the horses have been put on winter
food ; the operations of the harvest have been carried forward ;
lime has been applied to the fallow-land ; and the wheat has
been sown.

October.

Live-stock. — At the beginning of the month, the cows, calves,
and steers are at grass, but as the month advances the cows
may be taken up at night and receive green forage in the
house.

Before the 10th of the month the ra^ns are admitted to the
ewes and gimmers.

At the commencement of the month, the ewe and wether
hogs are still at grass, but towards the end of it, when the pas-
tures fail, they are penned on turnips.

Towards the end of the month, too, as the pastures fail, the
cows, calves, and steers are put finally into their winter-houses
and yards ; namely, the cows into their cow-house ; the calves
into a yard with sheds ; the year-old steers, if not ready to be
finally fattened, likewise into yards with sheds ; and the two-
year-old steers into their stalls, or into small yards and sheds ;
the bull into a separate yard and shed ; and the colts into their
yard or paddock.

Labour. — If the wheat had not been sown during the last
month, it is now to be sown.

After the stubbles are cleared of corn, the operation of plough-
ing the stubble-land commences, and is proceeded with till all
the land intended for fallow and fallow-crops is ploughed.

The cattle being put into their respective yards, the process
of thrashing for fodder and provender commences, and is con-
tinued throughout the winter.

These, then, have been the principal operations of the month
of October : — The male has been admitted to the ewes and gim-
mers ; the ewe and wether hogs have been put on turnips ; the
cows, calves, steers, and colts, have been put into their respec-

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 697

tive yards and stalls ; the ploughing of the land to be in fallow
and fallow-crops has been carried on, and the thrashing of the
corn has commenced.

The whole of this series of labours may be said to be com-
prehended in four periods, corresponding with the four quar-
ters of the year, — winter, spring, summer, and autumn. The
winter quarter comprehends the months of November, Decem-
ber, and January ; the spring quarter, the months of Febru-
ary, March, and April ; the summer quarter, May, June, and
July ; and the autumn quarter, August, September, and Octo-
ber ; each of these periods being distinguished by labours pecu-
liarly its own.

During the winter quarter, the cattle of different kinds are
put into their yards, houses, and stalls, and fed on straw and
turnips, or other succulent food, and the horses are put on
their winter provender, consisting of straw, with a short allow-
ance of corn. The breeding ewes having previously received
the male, are kept on grass, and receive hay in hard frosts and
snow, and the young sheep are penned on turnips.

The main employment of the horses, is ploughing the stub-
ble-land for the next year's fallow and fallow-crops, and plough-
ing the grass-land, which is to be sown with oats in spring ;
they are further employed in taking corn to market, in bringing
turnips to the stock in the yards and stalls, and, after the
quarter is somewhat advanced, in carrying dung from the yards
to the fields which are to be in fallow and fallow-crops.

Hedger and ditcher work, and draining and spade-work of
all kinds, proceed during this and the other quarters.

In the spring quarter, comprehending the months of Fe-
bruary, March and April, the cattle are kept in the yards with
their allowance of straw and turnips, or other succulent food ;
the cows calve, if they have not done so in the last quarter.
The ewes, when the period of lambing approaches, receive tur-
nips ; about the middle of the quarter they lamb, and are then

608 GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM.

put on new grass ; and the young sheep are kept penned on
turnips till April, when they are turned out to pasture for the
season.

The labour of the farm now becomes active ; the horses are
put upon their full allowance of corn and hay ; the oats are
sown ; the potatoes are planted ; the barley and grass-seeds are
sown ; the land in wheat and barley, and the land in new grass,
are rolled, and that intended for summer-fallow and fallow-
crops receives its first spring ploughing. During this quarter,
too, the thrashing of corn is carried on ; and the dung is taken
from the yards.

The summer quarter comprehends the month of May, June,
and July. Soon after the commencement of the quarter, the
fat cattle are sold ; the cows and cattle in the yards are turned
out to pasture ; the cows and mares that have not received the
male, receive him. As the quarter advances, the calves are
weaned and turned out to graze ; the sheep are washed and
shorn ; the young fat sheep are disposed of, and the wool is
sold ; and, before the conclusion of the quarter, the lambs are
weaned.

The labour of this quarter commences with bringing forward
any part of the spring operations not completed, and afterwards
consists chiefly in working the turnip-land, in hoeing turnips
and potatoes, and in preparing and manuring the summer-fal-
low. The hay, too, is mown and ricked. Regular thrashing
ceases soon after the commencement of the quarter. The horses
are put on green food, and, after the labour of tilling the tur-
nip-land is over, they are put upon a short allowance of corn.
This too, and the following quarter, are the active season of
the household dairy.

The autumn quarter comprehends the months of August,
September, and October. The cattle are kept on grass during
this period till towards the conclusion of it, when they are put
in their houses and yards, and fed on straw, and turnips or
other succulent substances ; the horses, too, are put upon their
winter food. The ewes are kept in their enclosures; and, about
the middle of the quarter, the oldest and worst of them may

OPERATIONS IN THE ORDER OF TIME. 699

be sold, their place being supplied by the younger ewes, which
had been retained for that purpose ; the breeding ewes receive
the male ; the lambs, now ewe and wether hogs, are kept in
their enclosures until the end of the quarter, when they are
taken from grass and penned on turnips.

The labours of the quarter commence with bringing forward
the work of the former quarter, and in securing the hay ; the
reaping and stacking of the corn proceed ; the wheat is sown ;
the stubble land is begun to be ploughed : And thus again be-
gins the circle of the labours of the Farm.

INDEX.

( 3?03 )

INDEX.

Abies alba, .

. Page 402

Apple, ....

Page 375

Balsam ea,

374

wild,

• 6¥

communis, .

. 373, 402

Apricot, ....

375

nigra, .

402

April, operations of

. 687

Picea, .

. 374, 402

Arachis hypogoea,

354

Absorbent powers of soils.

. 18

Arctium Lappa,

. 30, 437

Acacia, ....

372

Arenaria rubra,

28

Acerinese,

. 361

Argali,

. 551

Acer platanoides,

403

Arrhenatherum avenaceun

z, 427, 441

pseudo-Platanus,

. 403

Arrow-grass, marsh,

29

saccharinum, .

360

Artemisia vulgaris,

. 370

Achillea Millefolium, .

. 30, 433

Artichoke, Jerusalem,

332

^Esculus Hippocastanum,

402

Arts, plants used in the,

. 381

Africa, bearded sheep of,

. 551

Arundo Phragmites,

29

African boar,

595

Asclepias syriaca,

. 348

Agrostemma Githago, .

. 437

Ash, blue,

402

Agrostis alba, . 29, 426,

common,

. 403

vulgaris

28

mountain,

381, 403

Aira casspitosa,

. 29

white, .

. 403

caryophyllea,

28

Ashes of coal,

72

cristata,

. 28

of peat,

. 72

praecox,

28

of wood,

53

Alcohol,

. 376

Asia, wild sheep of,

. 551

Alder, common, .

402, 645

Aspen, .

403

Alluvial soils,

. 6

Ass, ....

. 474

Almond,

. 354

Astragalus boeticus, .

384

Almond tribe,

. 375, 379

August, operations of,

. 694

Alnus glutinosa,

. 402

Aurochs,

499

Aloe, ....

348

Avena brevis,

. 254

Alopecurus geniculatus,

29

elatior,

427

pratensis, .

. 30, 425

fatua,

. 437

Alumina,

. 14

nuda,

254

Aluminous soils,

16

orientalis,

. 254

American earthnut,

. 354

sativa, .

254

rabbit,

606

strigosa, .

. 253

America, rocky mountain s

leep of, 551

Axe, ....

141, 657

Ammophila arundinacea,

. 30

Amygdalaceffi, .

376

Babyroussa,

. 595

Amygdalus persica,

. 375

Bacon, . . . .

603

Anas aegyptiaca,

621

Ball in wheat,

. 242

anser, .

. 619

Balm, .

384

boschas, .

617

Balsam, Canadian,

. 374

canadensis,

. 621

Carpathian,

374

galericulata,

619

Hungarian,

. 374

moschata, .

. 619

Barley, . . . .

244

olor,

621

diseases of,

. 253

Animal manures,

. 39

hummeller, .

252

Animals, rearing and feedi

ig of, 474

Nepaul,

. 247

Anthoxanthum odoratum,

425

pearl, .

253

Ants,

. 462

period of sowing,

. 249

704

INDEX.

Barley, place in the rotation,

249

Bernacle, ....

. 621

pot, .

253

Beta cicla, ...

360

produce,

253

vulgaris,
Betula alba,

330, 360

quantity of seed,

. 251

361, 403

reaping,

251

lenta,

. 403

six-rowed,

. 246

papyracea,

403

six-rowed, black,

247

pendula, .

. 403

six-rowed, battledore,

. 248

Bigg, ....

247

six-rowed, naked,

247

Birch, black, . . .

. 403

six-rowed sprat,

. 248

canoe,

403

straw, •

253

common, .

361, 403

two-rowed,

. 245

weeping,

403

two-rowed, black,

245

Bird's-foot trefoil, common, .

. 422

two- rowed battledore,

246

greater, .

422

two-rowed, naked, .

. 245

. 499

two-rowed sprat,

246

Bitter principle,

366

uses,

. 253

Bitterwort, ....

. 371

Barn utensils, .

145

Black couch-grass, .

426

Barrow, hand,

. 139

Blight, ....

. 241

load,

228

Blight in the turnip,

301

wheel,

. 139

Blood-horse,

. 476

sparred,

224

Blue-bottle, corn.

438

Battledore barley,

. 246

Blunt-leaved sphagnum,

. 28

Bean, ....

266

Boar, African,

595

common, .

. 266

wild, ....

. 595

culture, .

272

Bcetian milk-vetch, .

384

diseases,

. 276

Bog-asphodel, Lancashire, .

. 28

drilling, .

268

Bone-manure, .

. 56,68

Essex-ticks,

. 267

Bordeaux turpentine,

. 374

flat-ticks,

267

Boring-rod,

192

Heligoland,

. 267

Bos bison, ....

. 499

horse,

267

bubalus,

499

long-podded,

. 266

caffer, ....

. 499

manuring,

270

frontalis, .

499

May, ....

. 267

gruniens,

. 499

Mazagan,

266

moschatus,

499

period of sowing,

. 271

taurus, ....

. 499

place in the rotation,

267

urus, ....

499

produce,

. 275

Bramble, ....

. 447

quantity of seed, .

272

common dwarf,

384

reaping,

. 275

rust,

276

Brassica campestris, . 288,

302, 350

soil for,

. 267

campestris,Napo-bras

sica,288

sowing, .

269

Napus, . . 288,

302, 350

small-ticks,

. 267

Napus esculenta,

288

straw,

276

oleracea,

288, 305

tick, ....

. 267

oleracea caulo-rapa,

28

Bean-barrow,

111,656

praecox, . . 288,

302, 350

Bearded-sheep of Africa,

. 551

rapa, . 288, 302,

350, 360

Bed-straw, lady's,

359

. 93

smooth-heath, .

. 28

for flax,

339

white-water, .

29

Brewing, ....

. 380

yellow,

. 28

Brier, sweet, . . .

384

Beech, common, 354, 375,

402, 644

Broadcast sowing-machine,

107, 656

Beer, ....

376, 379

Brome-grass,

. 441

Beet,

330, 361

soft,

441

culture, .

331

Bromus mollis,

. 437

mangel-wurzel, .

330

Brooklime,

29

period of sowing,

331

Broom, common, 348, 370,

422, 447

preparation of land, .

. 330

Spanish, .

348, 422

root of scarcity,

330

Bruchus granarius, .

282

uses, ....

. 332

Brush, horse,

144, 659

Bell-flower, round-leaved,

28

Buckbean,

370

Bellis perennis,

. 441

Buckthorn, yellow-berried,

. 359

Bent-grass, fine,

28

Buckwheat, ....

50, 285

marsh, . 29,

426, 446

climbing,

440

Bere, ....

247

common, .

. 285

INDEX.

705

Buckwheat, notch-seeded,

period of sowing,
ploughing green for

manure,
produce,
quantity of seed
soils for,
stems of,
Tartarian,
uses,
Buffalo,

American, .
Cape,
common,
Buildings,

bailiff's house,
barn,

blacksmith's shop,
boiling-house,
carpenter's shop,
cart-shed,
cow-houses,
dairy,

dressing-barn,
elevation of, .
extent,
feeding-sheds,
granary, .
ground-plan,
hay-house,
pig-houses, .
poultry-house,
sewer, .
situation of,
shelter-sheds,
spare house,
stables,
straw-barn,
tanks, .
tool-house,
turnip-sheds,
water for, .
Bunias, oriental, .

orientalis,
Burdock, common,
Burnet,

Burning, pairing and .
Burnt-corn, . .
Butter-cup, .
Butter-wort, common,

Cabbage,

American,

broccoli,

cauliflower,

chou a mille teti

cow, .

Drumhead, .

greens,

Jersey cole, .

Kohl-rabi,

large Scottish,

manure,

mode of culture,

period of sowing,

Savoy, .

thousand-headed,

■288,

628,

30

286
286

287
287
286
286
287
286
287
499
499
499
500
622
629
623
629
627
629
628
626
630
625
623
623
627
625
623
628
629
629
630
622
625
629
628
625
630
629
628
629
418
418
439
432
177
241
442
29

:m, ?A!>

306

305, 306

305, 306

. 306

306

. 306

305

. 305

305, 306

. 306

306

. 307

307

. 305

305

Cabbage, turnip-stemmed,
uses, .
Yorkshire,
Calcareous gravel, .
sand, .
soils,
Calluna vulgaris,
Camelina, cultivated,
Camelina sativa, .
Campanula rotundifolia
Campion, corn,
Canadian balsam,
goose, .
Canary-grass,
Canker in the turnip,
Canabis sativa, .
Canvass- carrier, .
Cape buffalo,
Capital,

Burdens,
Implements,
Labour,
Live-stock,
Maintenance of hor
Manures,
Produce,
Seeds,
Capra regragus, .
caucasica, .
ibex,
Caraway,

Carbonate of Lime, .
Carboniferous rocks,
Cardamine pratensis,
Carex, .

arenaria,
sea, .
Carpathian balsam, .
Carpinus Betulus,
Carriages, wheel,
Carrot, .

Altringham,
cultivated,
. culture of,
long-red, .
manure,
orange,
preparation of land,
produce, .
quantity of seeds,
soil for,
uses,
wild,
Carses,
Cart, .

harness,
sparred or corn,
turn-up,
water,
Carthamus tinctorius,
Carum carui,
Castanea vesca,
Castor-oil plant .
Catabrosa aquatica, .
Catch-weed,
C'atstail, meadow,
Caucasian ibex, . .

. 288

300

. 306

68

. 68

16

9, 27, 422

349, 352

. 352

28

. 439

374

. 621

265

. 301

342

224, 659

500

. 652

671

. 655

669

. 659

es, 670

. 668

672

. 666

593

. 593

593

. 383

. 15, 68

. 60

29

28^ 29, 458

30

. 30

374

402, 644

132

. 324

324

. 324

325, 326

. 324

325

. 324

324

. 326

326

. 324

32b

. 324

6

133, 657

138, 658

136, 657
135

137, 657
359

. 381

402

. 354

29

. 440

30, 425

593

m

INDEX

Cecidomyia Tritici, . . . 242

Centaurea Cyanus, . . . 437

nigra, . . . 441

Cereal grasses, . . 210, 379

drilling, . . . .211

reaping, . . . 212

sowing, .... 210

stacking, ... 219

thrashing, . . . 222

weeding, . . . 212

winnowing, . . . 225

Cetraria islandica, ... 27

Chaff-cutter, . . . 129, 657

Chalk, 15, 60

Chamomile, stinking, . . 438

wild, ... 438

Charlock, 437

jointed, ... 438
Cheese-press, .... 545

Chemical analysis of soils, . 12

Cherry, 375

Chestnut, horse, ... 402
sweet, . . 371, 376, 402
Chick-pea, .... 284
Chickweed, common, . . 30, 439
Chinese duck, .... 598

goose, .
Chisel, pruning,
Chlorite-slate,
Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum

segetum,

Churn, .... 541, 657
Cicer arietinum, .... 284
Cichorium Intybus, . . 384,417

Cider, 376, 377

Clay-marl, 19, 68

Clays, . . . .
Cleavers,

Clothiers' teasel, .
Clover, creeping white,
crimson, .
Egyptian, .
seed,
harts,
hybrid,
king's,
red,
yellow,
Club-moss, common, .
Cluster-pine,
Cnieus arvensis,

lanceolatus,
palustris,

Coal, ashes of,
Cocculus indicus,
Cock, domestic,
Bantam,
breeding,
Chitagong,
cramming,
Dorking,
eggs, .
feeding, .
game- fowl,
Jungle, .
Malay,
Poland, .

621

389

16

441

437

2

44(1

381

419

420

420

4.54, 15.3

. 421

419

. 421

419

. 414

27

. 374

441

30, 437

29

370
609
611
610,612
611
613
611
613
612
611
609
611
611

Cockle, corn,

. 439

Cocksfoot, hairy,

265

rough,

30, 429

Coffea arabica,

384

Coffee-plant,

. 384

Cole, . . . 288,

302, 350

Collier, the,

. 276

Coltsfoot, ....

442

Columbia livia,

. 616

Colza, ....

302, 350

Comb, mane,

144, 637

Comfrey, common, .

418

prickly, .

. 418

tuberous-rooted,

418

Composts, ....

66, 73

Conifers, ....

372

Coriander, ....

354, 382

Coriandrum sativum,

354, 382

Corn, blue-bottle,

. 438

feverfew,

438

marigold, .

. 438

measure,

227, 637

poppy,

. 438

rose,

438

Corylus Avellana,

375, 403

Cotton-grasses,

349, 424

Cotton, broad-leaved, .

. 28

common,

28

hares-tail,

. 28

plant, .

349

Couch-grass,

. 446

black, .

426, 446

Cow,

501, 521

dairy,

549

quantity of milk of,

. 550

Cow-grass,

420

Crab,

. 644

Cradle-scythe, .

215

Crakeberry,

. 27

Crataegus Oxyacantha, .

403, 614

Crocus, saffron,

. 359

Crocus sativus,

359

Crops, preparing of land for,

. 163

succession of,

198

Croton tinctorium,

. 359

officinal,

359

Crowberry, black,

. 27

Crowfoot, bulbous, .

442

creeping,

. 442

upright meadow,

442

Cucumber, ....

. 376

Cucurbita Pepo,

375

Cultivators, .

. 9d

Currycomb,

144, 659

Currant, black,

. 384

tribe, .

375, 379

Cynosurus cristatus,

. 429

Cytisus albus, .

422

alpinus,

. 403

scoparius,

348, 370

Dactylis glomerata,

30, 429

Dairy, ....

538

apartments of, .

. 540

butter,

538, 543

butter-milk,

538

cheese,

538, 545

INDEX.

707

Dairy, cheese-knife,
cheese-press, .
churn,
cream,
curd, .

feeding cows. .
kinds of cows,
milk,

quantity of milk,
rennet,

skimmed-milk,
utensils of,
whey, .
Daisy,

great white,
Darnel, bearded,

perennial,
Daucus carota,
Dead-hedge,
Dead-nettle, red,

white,
December, operations of,
Deer's hair, .
Dibbling wheat,
Digging, ... .

Digitaria sanguinalis,
Dipsacus fullonum,
Diseases of rye,

of wheat,
Distillation,
Distilled liquors, .
Ditch,
Dock, ....

broad-leaved,
Dog's tail, crested,
Domestic economy, plants
Domestic fowls, .
Dourra,
Drag, dung, .
Drag, ....
Draining, .

boring rods, .
Elkington's,
Essex,

in mountain pastu
surface, .
tile, .
wedge,
Drains,

covered, .
open, .
sheep,
Drilling cereal grasses,
Dry-stone-wall,
Duck, Chinese,

domestic, .
feeding, .
habits,
hook-billed,
Muscovy, .
musk,
wild, .
Dung,

Dung-drag, .
Dung, farm. See Manure
Dung of birds,
Dust brand,

. 541
545, 546

. 541
538
538
549

. 549
538

. 559
546

. 538
139, 540

. 538
442

. 443
441
430
324
644
440
444
682
424
238
160
265
381
244
241
380
376
637
444
44.5
429
used in, 381
609
261
143
100
182
192
192
194
460

. 184
191, 194

. 197
192

. 183
182, 460
. 460
211
632
619
617
618
618
618
619
619
617
169
143

55
241

Dutch ashes,
Dye-plants,
Dyer's oleander, .

weed,
Dziggithai, .

Earth-nut, American,
Egyptian goose, .
Elater segetis, .

Eleocharis csespitosa, . . 28,
Elm, common cork-barked,
narrow-leaved English,
Wych, . .
Elymus arenarius, .
Empetrum nigrum,
Equisetum arvense, .
Equus asinus,

Burchellii,
caballus, .
hem ion us,
quagga, .
zebra,
Ergot, .
Erica cinerea, .

tetralix,
Ericea, .... 422,
Eriophora, . • - • 349,
Eriophorum augustifolium
polystachion,
vaginatum,
Ervum ervilia,

hirsutum,
Lens,

monanthos, .
Esparto rush,
Euphorbia helioscopia,
Euphrasia officinalis, .
Everlasting pea, broad-leaved,

narrow-leaved,
Expenses of the farm,
Extirpators,
Eyebright,

Faba vulgaris, .
Fagus sylvatica,
Fallow-crops,
Fallow, summer,
Fallowing, .
Farm-buildings,
Farm, operations of,
Fasciola hepatica, .
February, operations of,
Felspar,
Fences,

brushwood,

combined,

dry-stone-wall,

gate,

live, .

paling, .

stone-wall,

sunk,
Fermented liquors,
Fern, . . . -
Fescue-grass, hard,

meadow,

y y2

54
355
359
357
474

354

621

259

424

403

403

403

30

27

29

474

474

474

474

474

474

244

27

27

441

424

28

28

28

283

437

283

284

348

437

29

421

421

673

96

. 266

402, 645

. 163

163
. 163

622
. 678

580

685
. 14

632
. 638

647
. 632

648
. 635

638
. 632

647
. 375

447
. 429
30, 430

08

INDEX.

Fescue, sheep's, .

spiked, .
Festuca duriuscula,
loliacea,
ovina,
pratensis,
Feverfew, corn,
Fevers of sheep,
Fibres, plants cultivated for,
Filices, ....
Fine bent-grass, .
Finger-grass,
Fingers-and-toes, .
Finlaison's harrow, .
Fiorin-grass,
Fir, Scotch,

silver, ....
Fir-tribe, ....
Flax, . . . 333,

breaking, .
culture of, .
dew-rotting,
for seeds,
heckling, .
lily, Iris-leaved, .
New Zealand, .
period of sowing,
place in the rotation,
preparation of the land,
produce, .
pulling,
purging, .
quantity of seed, .
rippling, .
scutching,
soils for,
steeping,
Fluke, ....
Food, apparatus for steaming,
Foot-pick, ....

picker, ....
Forage, ....

hay, ....
herbage,
management of,
mowing,
plants,

period of sowing, .
second crop,
seeds for,
soiling,

when for seed,
Forks, long, ....
short,

three-pronged, .
Fowls, domestic,
Fox-tail grass, floating,

meadow,
Fragaria vesca,
Fraxinus americana,
excelsior,
quadrangulata, .
French honeysuckle, .
Fruits, plants cultivated for,
Furze,

Galeopsis Tetrahit,

. 429
430

. 429
430

. 429
30, 430

. 438
583

. 333
442

. 28
265

. 301

97

29, 426

372

374, 402

. 372
349, 352
339
336
339
340
340
348
348
335
334
335
340
337
28
336
337
340
334
338
580

. 130
140, 658

. 144
448
452
450

450, 452

451, 452
. 406

448

. 454

434, 448

450, 451

454
. 142

1-12
. 141

6(59
. 29
30, 425
. 375

403
. 403

403
. 416

375
. 41!!

. 437

Galium Aparine,

437

pa lustre, .

29

saxatile,

28

verum, .

' 28

,359

Gallinacese,

609

Gallinaceous fowls,

609

Gate,

648

Gayal,

449

Genista anglica,

27

Gentiana lutea, .

370

purpurea, .

371

rubra, .

371

Gentianese,

370

Gentian, yellow, .

371

Gilliflower, sea,

30

Glechoma hederacea .

370

Glycyrrhiza glabra, .

381

Goat,

593

domestic,

593

flesh of,

594

habits,

593

milk, ....

593

wild,

593

Golden-cup, ....

442

Goose, Canadian,

621

Chinese, .

621

domestic,

619

Egyptian, .

621

Embden,

621

feathers, .

620

food,

620

habits,

620

Spanish,

621

wild, ....

619

Gooseberry,

376

,379

Goose-grass, ....

437

,440

Goose-tongue, .

440

Gorse,

4 1 8

645

Gossypium, ....

349

Gourd-tribe,

376

Graine d'Avignon,

359

Grain, machine for bruising,

130

Gram,

284

Grano marzalano,

241

Grape,

360

Grasses, ....

424

cereal,

210

379

for seed,

455

management of,

455

Grass-lands, hay of, .

457

forage,

448

irrigation,

464

management of, .

448

456

manuring,

457

pasturage, .

459

permanent,

456

Grass-seed harrow,

94

Grass-seeds,

239

Gravel, calcareous,

68

Gravelly soils, .

7

Greenweed, needle,

27

Green vitriol, .

63

Grindstone, ....

144

Grossulacea?,

370

Ground-ivy, ....

370

Grub,

242

259

Grubber, ....

96

656

I>fi}EX.

709

Grubber, action of the, . . 160

Finlaison's, . . . 97

Kirkwood's, . • 98

Grunting ox, ... 4S9

Guinea-fowl, .... 615

Gums, 372

Gypsum, .... 63, 67

141,
139,

89,

Hainault scythe, .
Hair,

Hair-grass, crested,
early,
silvery,
turfy,
Haltica nemorum,
Hammer, .
Handbarrow,
Hand-hoe,
Harebell,
Harrow, the, .

Finlaison's, .

grass-seed, .

iron, ....

Harrowing,

Hawkweed, common mouse-ear,
Hawthorn, .... 403,

Hay, ^

mowing, . . . 452,

of bogs, ....
of elevated pasture districts,
of marshes, . . . 458,
of permanent grass-land, .
produce, ....
second crop,

stacking, ....
weight of, .
when for seed,
working,
Hay-knife,
Hay-rake,
Hazel,

Heath, common, ....
cross-leaved, .
fine-leaved,
Heath-grass, decumbent,

Heaths, 27,

Hedge,

dead,
knife,
spade,
Hedge tools,
Hedgerow tree,
Hedysarum coronarium,
Heifer,
Helianthus annuus,

tuberosus,
Hemlock spruce,
Hemp,

breaking, .

culture of,

heckling, .

narcotic properties of, .

soil for,

place in the rotation, .

period of sowing,

preparation of land,

produce, •

452,

354, 376,

342,

217

587

29

28

28

29

301

657

657

142

28

656

97

94

95

158

28

635

452

457

451 ;

458
45! I
457
454
454
452
454
454
457
143
142
403
422
28
28
29
446
635
644
640
640
145
651
416
528
353
332
372
349
346
343
346
342
342
343
343
3 13
346

Hemp, quantity of seeds, . 343,
steeping, .
taking up the crop,
Hemp-nettle, common,
Herbage plants,

seeds for,
Herd-grass,
Hieracium Pilosella,
Hinny,
Hoe, hand, .
Hoeing implements, . 114,

Hog,

bacon, . . • 603,
Berkshire, .
breeds,
Cheshire,
Chinese,
English, old,
Essex,
feeding,
flitches,

food, . . • 600,

form,
habits,
hams,
Highland,
Lincolnshire,
native,

Neapolitan, .
old English,
number to be kept,
pickling of pork,
pork, . • • 603,

rearing,
Rudgwick,
Siamese.
Suffolk, .
Yorkshire, .
species,
varieties, .
Holcus avenaccus, .
lanatus,
mollis, .
Holly, common,
Honeysuckle, French,
Hop," .
Hop trefoil,
Hordeum distichon,

disticho-zeocriton,
gymno-distichon,
gymno-hexastichon
hexastichon,
hexastichon-zeocriton
vulgare,
zeocriton,
Hornbeam, .... 402.
Horse,

anatomy, .

Arabian,

blood,

breeding,

breeds,

cart,

Cleveland Bav,

Clydesdale,

comparison with the

farm, .

346
345
344
440
406
434
425
28
475
142
657
595
604
598
596
598
597
597
598
601
605
602
599
596
605
597
598
597
599
597
603
604
604
599

597

1
598
595
595
427
4-2' >
442
645
416
385
414
245
246
245
247
246
248
948
246
645

476
488
477
477
178
478
198
177

710

INDEX.

Horse, food of,

492

King's cup, ....

. 442

form, ....

477

Kirkwood's grubber,

98

habits of,

475

Knap-weed, black,

. 444

hackney,

477

Knife, hay,

143

hunter, .

477

Knot-grass, ....

440, 446

mode of feeding,

494

Kohl rabi,

288, 305

old English black, ,

477

pony, ....

477

Labour, implements of manual,

race,

476

Laburnum, ....

. 4U3

rearing,

488

Ladder, ....

144

road,

477

Lady's-smock, common meadow, 29

stable,

491

Lamb, ....

567

steamed food,

497

Lamium album, .

. 441

Suftblk punch, .

478

purpureum,

437

training,

491

Lancashire Bog-asphodel, .

. 28

varieties, .

474

Larch, American black, .

402

withers, .

482

common, . . 371

, 374, 402

Horse-hoes, ....

114

657

Larix europsea,

374, 402

knot,

444

pendula,

. 402

tail, corn, .

29

Lathyrus, cultivated,

284

Hot-lime, . . . .

60, e

Aphaca,

. 420

Hummeller, barley,

252

latifolius,

421

Humulus Lupulus, .

366

prat en sis,

. 420

Hungarian balsam,

374

sativus,
sylvestris,

284

. 421

Ibex,

593

Laurel, common,

403

Caucasian,

593

Portugal,

. 403

Iceland moss,

27

Lavandula spica,

381

Ilex Aquifolium,

40*3

,645

Lavender, ....

. 383

Implements of the farm,

75

Leguminous plants, .

266

for hoeing, .

114

Leicester willow,

. 371

for preparing fooc

l", •

127

Lentil, ....

282

of manual labour,

139

bastard,

. 283

prices of, .

656

common,

283

Indian cock,

614

one-flowered,

. 284

saw, ....

398

Lepus americanus,

606

Indigo, ....

355

cuniculus,

. 606

Indigofera, ....

355

tolai,

606

Iris-leaved flax-lily,

348

Levelling ground,

. 173

Iron,

16

machine for,

173

harrow,

95

Lias,

22,60

ores of, ...

16

Lichen rangiferinus,

28

oxide of, .

16

Lily tribe, ....

. 348

sulphate of,

68

Lime, . . 15, 3

4, 60, 170

Irrigation,

464

carbonate of,

. 60

catch-work,

468

hot,

. 60,66

kinds of, .

465

hydrate of, .

. 61

meadow,

466

mode of applying, .

63

nature of, .

464

phosphate of,

. 68

theory of,

470

quantity applied, .

64

warping,

473

sulphate of,

. 67

Isatis tinctoria,

355

Limestone,

magnesian,

15

22,66

January, operations of,

684

mountain,

. 60

Jerusalem artichoke,

332

Limetree, European,

403

Juglans regia,

375

, 402

red-twigged,

. 403

July, operations of, .

693

Ling, ....

9, 27, 422

June, operations of,

692

Linseed oil,

. 341

Junceae, ....

424

Lint, ....

340

Junci,

*28

,458

Linum catharticum, .

. 28

Juncus acutiflorus,

. 29

,424

usitatissimum,

333, 352

conglomerates,

29

,424

Liquid manure,

. 43

effusus, . . 29,

424

,447

Liquorice,

383

squarrosus,

29

smooth,
Live-fence,

. 383
635

Kidney-bean, .

282

cleaning out ditch,

. 642

Kidney-bean, common,

283

cutting,

642

INDEX.

711

Live-fence, dead hedge, . . 644

filling up banks, . __ 643

implements for, . 635, 639

making, . . . 635

paling, . . . 638

period of making, . 637

plants for, . 635, 644

pruning, . . . 641

weeding, . . 641

whin, .... 645

Load-barrow, .... 228

Loams, .... 2, 10

Lolium italicum, . . . 431

perenne, . . .30, 430

temulentum, . . 437

Lotus corniculatus, . . . 422

major, .... 422

tetragonolobus, . . 384

Louse-wort, pasture, . . 29

Lucerne, 411

Lupine, 50

white, .... 285

Lupinus albus, . . . 285

Lychnis Flos-Cuculi, . . 29

meadow, ... 29

Lycopodium clavatum, . . 27

Lyme-grass, upright sea, . . 30

Machine, break, . . . 339

for bruising grain, . ]30
for levelling ground, . 173
for raising stones, . 176
for thrashing, . 117, 657
for winnowing, 124, 657

oil-bruising, . . 351

rippling, . . . 337
for sowing, . . .102
beans, . 110, 656
broadcast, 107, 656

in rows,
turnips,
Madder, ....
Magnesia,

sulphate of,
Magnesian limestone,

soil,
Maize, ....
harvest-labours of,
mode of cultivating,
uses of,
Mallard, ....

Mall

Malt, ....

Malt-dust, .

Malting, ....

Mane-comb,

Mangel-wurzel,

Manna, ...

Manual labour, implements

Manures,

analysis of, .
animal, .
ashes of coal,
fuel, .
peat,
wood,
blubber.

103, 656

112, 656

356

. 16

0

22, 60, 66

. 16

261

263

262

263

617

141, 657

380

52

380

144

330

265

139

39

39

39

72

72

72

53

of,

Manures, bones, .

bruised bones, .
buck-wheat,
calcareous gravel,

sand,
clay-marl,
compost,
coral,

dung of birds,
Dutch ashes,
farm-yard, .
feathers, .
fish, .
flesh, &c.
folding sheep,

fypsum,
air .

horn, .

leaves of trees,

lime, .

magnesian limestone

malt-dust,

marl, .

mineral, .

mixed,

night-soil,

oil-cake,

peat,

plants ploughed in,

potassa, .

rape-cake, .

rock-marl,

salt,

saltpetre,

sea-weed,

shell-marl,

shells, .

skin,

soda, .

soot,

street,

sulphate of magnesi

sweepings of roads,

urine,

vegetable, .

wool,

woollen substances,
Maple, Norway. .

sugar, .
Marble, ....

March, operations of, .
Marigold, corn,

Marl,

clay,

rock, ....
shell,
Marl-grass, ....
Marsh-trefoil, .
Marshes, ....
Mat-grass, :

weed, ....
Mattock, ....
Maw-seed, ....
May, operation of, .
Mayweed, scentless,
Meadow, natural.
bogs, .

11"

56
68
287
68
68
69
66, 73
68
55
54
42
57
55
55
58

57
57
51
60
66
52
69
59
72
54
51
53
50
70
51
69
70
70
52
69
68
56
70

42

39

56

57

403

360

i, 60

686

139

34

69

69

69

420

370

458

27

30

657

365

689

l.".S

158

158

L2

INDEX.

29, 265,
29,

Meadow, of elevated districts, .
marshes,
mosses,
swamp, .
watered,
Meadow-grass, annual,
fertile,
floating
reed, .
rough-stalked, 30,
smooth-stalked,
lady's-smock, common, .
Medicago falcata,
lupulina,
sativa,
Medick, black,

yellow sickle,
Medlar,

Meleagris gallo-pavo,
Melica ccerulea, .
Melic-grass, purple, .
Melilot, common yellow,
long-rooted,
white-flowered,
Melilotus leucantha,
macrorhiza,
officinalis,
Melon,

Menyanthes trifoliata,
Meslin,

Mildew of wheat,
Milk- Vetch, Boetian,
Mill, oil, .
Millet, .

common,
Indian,
Mineral manures.
Mint family of plants,
Mixed manures,
Mole, ....
Moon-flower,
Moor, ....
Moss, Iceland, .

rein-deer, .
Mosses, ....
mode of destroying,
Mould, ....
Mountain ash,

limestone,
pastures,

draining of,
modeofimpro

ving, .
live-stock for,
Mouse, ear hawkweed, common,
Mud-scraper, ....

Mugwort,

Mule, .
Muriate of soda,
Musci, .
Muscovy duck,
Musk duck, .
Musk ox, .
Musmon,
-Mustard, .

black,
white,

447,

381,

. 17

442,

349, 351,

351,

. 351,

458
458
462
458
466
428
428
427
427
428
428

29
414
414
411
414
414
375
614

27

27
421
422
421
421
421
421
376
370
244
241
384
351
260
260
260

59
349

71

462

443

5

27

27

462

462

1

403

60
460
460

460
461
28
143
370
474
, 70
462
619
619
499
551
382
382
382

Mustard, wild, . . . .437
Myrtle, 372

Naked barley, • . . 245, 247
Narcotic principle, . . . 362
Nardus stricta, ... 27

Narthecium ossifragum, . . 28
Natural meadow, . . . 458
pastures, . . . 460

draining of, 460, 461
live-stock for, 461
Natural pasture, manuring, . 462
mode of impro-
ving, . 460, 462
Navew, wild, . . . 288, 350
Nectarine, .... 375

Needle-greenwood, ... 28
Nepaul barley, , . . 247

Nerium tinctorium, . . . 359
Nettle, Chinese, ... 347
great, . . 30,347,445
hemp-leaved, . . 347
Siberian, . . . 347

small, .... 440
white-leaved, . . . 347
New red sandstone, . . 22

New Zealand flax, . . .348
Nicotiana, .... 362

rustica, . . . 362
tabacum, . . 363

Night soil, 54

Norway spruce, . . . 373
November, operations of, . . 679
Numida Meleagris, . . . 615

Nursery, 385

Nutrition of plants, . . 17

Oak,

Oat,

common,
sessile-fruited,
Turkey, .
white, .

Angus,

bearded wild, .

black, .

blue,

bristle-pointed,

common, .

common white, .

diseases, .

dun,

Dutch,

early Angus,

Friesland,

grey, .

naked,

place in the rotation

period of sowing,

Poland,

potato,

produce,

quantity of seed,

reaping,

red, •

short,

soil for.

371, 375
402
402
402
402
253
256
441
255
255
253
254
256
259
255
256
256
256
255
254
257
258
256
255
258
258
258
255
254
254

INDEX.

13

Oat straw,

Tartarian,

uses,

white,
Oak-like grass, common,
October, operations of,
Oil-bruising machine,
Oil-cake,
Oil, linseed,

of turpentine,

olive,
Oil, plants cultivated for,

poppy,
Oils, fixed,

volatile,
Oily grain, .
Oleander, dyer's,
Olive oil,
Onobrychis sativa
Oolite,
Opium,

poppy,
Ores of iron,
Orge ce'leste,
Oriental bunias,
Oryza sativa,
Osiers,
Ovis ammon,

aries,

mon tan a,

musimon,

tragelaphus,
Ox, . .

Aberdeenshire,

Alderney,

Angus,

Ayrshire,

black-quarter,

bones of,

breeding,

breeds, .

Buchan,

calves,

calves fattened,

Canley,

cholic, .

colds,

crossing,

dairy,

Devon, .

diarrhoea, .

diseases,

Dishley,

domestic,

Durhams, .

Dutch,

dysentery,

Falkland,

feeding, .

feeding in yards,

Fifeshire,

form,

Galloway,

gripes,

Grunting,

habits,

Hereford,

Highland,

51,

2.59
254
259
255

427, 446
. 674
351

341, 353
341
373
354
349
353
349
349
354
359
354
414
60
364
364
17
247
418
264
403
551
551
551
551
551
499
509
511
509
510
536
520
514
501
509
522
534
503
537
536
513
538
507
537
536
503
500
505
504
537
510
527
530
510
518
508
537
499
500
506
501

Ox, Holderness, .... 505

Holstein, .... 505

hornless, .... 508

hovens .... 537

improvement of breeds, . 512

Irish, .... 502

kinds of food, . . . 531

Lancashire, . . . 502

Lin coins, .... 505

long-horned, . . . 502

murrain, .... 536

musk, .... 499

quarter-ill, .... 536

rearing, .... 521

Shetland, .... 501

short-horned, . . . 504

showing-of-blood, . . 536

species. .... 499

stall feeding, . . . 529

soiling, .... 533

Suffolk duns, ... 508

Sussex, .... 507

Tees-water, .... 505

types of breeds, . . 512

varieties, .... 501

weight, .... 535

Welsh, 502

wild cattle, . . . 507

Ox-eye, great white, . . . 442

Oxide of iron, .... 16

Paling, 638

Palmipedes, .... 609

Panicum miliaceum, . . . 260

Papaver, .... 353, 364

Rhceas, .... 437

somniferum, . 353, 364

album, . 364

nigrum, 364

Paring and burning, . . 177

Parsnep, .... 327, 360

large Jersey, . . 327

period of sowing, . 328

preparation of land . 328

seeds, . . . 328

soils for, . . . 320

uses, . . . 32.0

Pastinaca sativa, . . 327, 361

Pasturage, .... 459

mountain, . . . 460

Pasture-lands, . . . 460

draining of, . . 460

Pasture, louse-wort, . . 29

Pavo cristatus, .... 616

Pea, broad-leaved everlasting, 421

narrow-leaved everlasting, 421

Pea, 276

boilers, .... 282

common white, . . 277

cultivated garden, . . 276

culture of, ... 279

diseases, .... 282

early Charlton, . . 277
early gray, . . . .277

gray, .... 276

golden Hotspur, . . 277

harvest management of, . 280

14

INDEX.

Pea, manuring, .

. 280

Plough, subsoil, . . . 164

pearl,

277

Ploughing, 146

period of sowing,

. 278

Plum, .... 375,379

place in the rotation,

278

Plum-thistle, march, . . 29

preparation of land for,

. 279

spear, . . 30, 439

produce, .

281

Poa annua, . . . 428

purple winged,
quantity of seed,

. 384

aquatica, . . 29, 427, 458

279

fertilis 428

soils for,

. 278

fluitans, . 20, 265, 427, 458

straw,

282

pratensis, .... 428

Suffolk,

. 277

trivialis, . . . 30, 428

uses,

281

Polygonum amphibium, . 29, 441

Peach, ....

. 379

aviculare, . . 437

Peacock,

616

convolvulus, . 437

of the Indies,

. 614

emarginatum, . 286

Pear, ....

375, 377

Fagopyrum, . . 285

Pearl barley,

. 253

tafaricum, . . 286

Peat, ....

2, 35, 52

Polytrichum, common, . . 28

Peat, ashes of, .

71

commune, . 28

Peaty soils, . . . .

2,8

Pomaceae, 377

Pedicularis sylvatica,

29

Poplar, great white, . . 403
Lombardy, . . . 403

Peelcorn, ....

. 254

Perry, . . .

377, 378

Populus alba, .... 403

Persicaria, amphibious,

29, 445

dilatata, . . .403

Petty whin,

27

tremula, . . . 403

Phalaris canadensis, .

. 265

Poppy, .... 349, 353

Phaseolus vulgaris,

284

corn, .... 438

Phasianus gallus,

. 609

opium, . . . 353, 364

Phleum pratense,

30, 425

red, . . . .438

Phormium tenax,

. 348

sleep-bringing, . . 353

Phosphate of lime,

67

Pork, 603

Pick, foot, ....

140, 657

Porter, 379

Pick-axe,

140, 657

Pot-barley, .... 253

Picker, foot,

. 144

Potassa, 17, 69

Pickling wheat,

235

Potato, .... 309, 360

Pigeon, common,

. 616

American early, . . 313

Pigs, ....

600

autumn planting, . . 321
Bedfordshire kidney, 313

Pilcorn, ....

. 254

Pine, cluster, .

374

Breadfruit, . . .313

Corsican, .

. 402

Cape of Good Hope kidney, 313

Siberian,

402

culture, . . . 318

swamp,

. 373

curl, .... 323

wild, . .

372, 402

diseases, . . . 323

Pinguicula vulgaris,

. 29

early champion, . . 313

Pintado, ....

615

early red, . . . 313

Pinus australis, .

. 373

early shaw, . . . 313

Cembra,

402

forcing, . . . 313

Laricio,

. 402

Lancashire pink, . . 313

Pinaster,

374

late champion, . . 313

Pinea,

. 374

manure, . . .317

Pumilio,

374

mode of planting, . 311

sylvestris,

372, 302

ox-noble, . . .313

Pistacia Terebinthus,

. 374

period of planting, . 318

Pisum arvense,

. 276

planting, . . . 317

sativum,

276

preparation of land, . 316

Pitch,

. 373

procuring of new varieties 313

Plantago lanceolata,

433

produce, . . . 321

Planting, ....

. 388

quantity planted, . . 318

by slits,

389

red- apple, . . . 313

by holes,

. 389

soil, . . . .311

period of,

391

starch, ... 321

Plants, cultivation of,

. 210

Surinam, . . . 313

nutrition of,

17

taking up crop, . . 319

Plough, . . . .

76, 656

uses, .... 322

breast,

. 177

Poterium sanguisorba, . . 432

harness,

iiii, 659

Prices of implements, . . 656

small,

115, 657

Produce of the farm, . . 673

INDEX.

15

Prunella vulgaris,

. 29

Rattle, common yellow.

. 29

Pruning, ....

387, 391

dwarf red,

29

instruments for,

393

Reaping cereal grasses,

. 212

Prunus Laurocerasus,

. 403

Red rattle, dwarf,

29

lusitanica,

403

Red-weed, ....

. 438

spinosa,

. 384, 644

Reed, common,

29

Prussic acid,

. 375

common sea,

. 30

Puccinia graminis, .

241

meadow-grass,

29

Pumpkin,

. 375

Rein-deer moss, .

• =1

Purging flax,

28

Rent, ....

675

Purple melic-grass,

. 27

Reseda Luteola, .

. 357

Pyrethrum inodorum,

437

Resins, ....

372

Pyrus acerba,

. 644

Rhamnus infectoria,

. 359

aucuparia,

403

Rhinanthus Crista-Galli,

29

Malus,

. 375

Rhus Catinus,

. 372

Coriaria,

372

Quagga, ....

474

Rib-grass, ....

. 433

Quartz,

. 14

Ribes grossularia,

375

Quassia, ....

370

rubrum,

. 384

Quercus alba,

. 402

Rice, ....

264

Cerris,

402

Ricinus communis,

. 354

Robur,

. 402

Riddle, ....

227

sessiliflora,

402

Rippling machine,

. 337

tinctoria,

. 357

Robin, ragged, .

29

Quick, ....

446

Rock marl, ....

. 68

Quicklime, .

15, 62

Rockv Mountain sheep of America, 557

Quince,

. 375

Roller, ....

100, 656

Rolling, ....

160

Rabbit, ....

606

Root of scarcity,

. 330

American,

. 606

Rosa rubiginosa,

384

common, .

606

Rosacea, ....

. 379

flesh of,

. 607

Rose family,

372

French,

608

Rubia tinctorum,

. 357

habits, .

. 606

Rubus arcticus,

384

Siberian,

606

Rumex acetosella,

28

tame,

. 607

obtusifolius,

. ' 441

Turkish,

608

Rush, ....

29, 424

warren,

. 607

Esparto,

348

wild, .

607

family,

. 424

Race-horse,

. 476

heath,

29

Radish, ....

349, 351

scaly-stalked spike, .

. 424

common,

. 351

sharp-flowered jointed,

424, 458

wild,

438

soft ....

29, 446

Ragged Robin,

. 29

Rushes, ....

458

Ragwort, common, .

442

Rust in the bean,

. 276

Rails, ....

• 617

in the pea,

282

Rake, hay,

142

in wheat,

. 241

horse,

. 217

Rye,

stubble,

. 216

period of sowing,

243

Ranunculus acris, .

441

soil for,

242

bulbosus,

. 442

straw,

. ' 244

Flammula, .

29

uses, ....

. 244

repens,

. 442

Rye-grass,

30, 430

Rape, ... 2!

58, 302, 349

annual,

. 431

manuring,

303

Italian,

. 431

period of sowing,

. 304

biennial, .

431

place in the rotation,

304

perennial, .

. 431

preparation of land,

. 302

soils for, .

302

Saccharum officinarum

360

uses, .

. 304

Saffron, ....

- 359

Rape-cake,

51,351

bastard,

359

Rape-dust, .

. 351

crocus, .

. 359

Raphanus,

351

Sage, ....

384

Raphanistrum,

. 437

Sainfoin, ....

. 414

sativus,

351

Salix alba,

403

sativus oleifer.

. 352

. 27

Raspberry,

376

Russelliana,

403

716

INDEX.

S:ilix triandra,

. 403

Salt, common, .

. 17,70

Saltpetre

. 69

Sand, calcareous,

68

Sandstone, new red,

22

Sandy soils,

. ' 6

Sandwort, purple,

. 28

Saw, ....

141, 6.57

Saw-fly,

. 301

Saw, Indian,

398

Scaley-stalked spikerush, .

. 28

Scissars, horse, .

144

Scotch fir, ...

. 372

Scraper, mud, .
Scythe,

143

. 142

cradle, .

215

Hainault,

. 217

Sea carex,

30

gilliflower,

. 30

lyme-grass, upright,

30

reed, common,

30

rushy wheat-grass,

30

weed, . . . .

. 52

Secale cereale,

243

Sedges,

. 458

Sedge-tribe,

423

Seedlings,

. 386

Seeds, plants cultivated for

their, 210

Self-heal, ....

29

Senecio Jacobea, .

. 441

September, operations of,

695

Serpentine, .

16

Sesamum,

354

Setaria, German, .

. 260

germanica, .
Italian, .

260

. 260

italica,

260

Sharp-leaved sphagnum,

. 28

Sheep, ....

551

Anglo-Merino, .

. 556

Bampton nott,

561

bearded of Africa,

. 551

black- faced heath,

554

braxy,

. 583

breeds, .

552

castrating lambs, 5(

"8, 577, 578

Cheviot,

554

Cotswold,

. 562

Dartmoor,

. 559

Devonshire nott, .

561

diarrhoea, .

. 583

dinmonts,

571

diseases,

. 579

Dishley,

561

domestic,

551

Dorset,

. 557

Dun-woolled,

554

dysentery,

. 583

ewe-hogs,

568

ewes.

. 566, 572

Exmoor,

559

fattening lambs,

. 574

fevers, .

. 583

food, . 5G7, 5

75, 576, 579

foot-rot, .

. 584

form,

.56.5

gimmers,

. .571

Sheep, habits, .

557

hair, ....

. 587

hoggets,

568

hogs,

. 568

hydatids, .

. 585

improvement of breeds, 564

lambing, . 566,

576, 578

marking, . . 571.

577, 579

Merino,

5£8

Merino- ry eland,

. 556

milking . 568,

577, 579

New Leicester,

561

Norfolk, .

. 557

Old Leicester,

561

Old Lincolnshire,

. 560

Old Radnor,

554

Orkney,

. 553

penning on turnips,

. 568

period of shearing, 570

577, 579

pink-nosed Somerset,

. 558

pining,

. 582

properties of breeds,

563

Radnor Old,

554

ram admitted, . 566

575, 578

rams,

571, 572

rearing in an elevated

coun-

try,

. 57.5

rearing on arable farms, 56d

Rocky-mountain, of

Ame-

rica,

.5.57

Romney-marsh

. 560

rot, ....

. 579

Ryeland,

.5.56

salt for.

. 575

scab,

584

shearing, . . 571,

577, 579

shearling,

.571

sheep-louse,

. 586"

sheep-maggot,

.586

sheep-ointment,

. 584

smearing,

577, 579

soiling of,

. 575

Southdown, .

556

Spanish, .

. 558

species, .

551

staggers, .

. 585

Teeswater, .

561

treatment of, .

. 573

tup-hogs,

568

tups,

. 572

two-shear,

572

varieties, .

. 552

washing,

570

water-in-the-head, .

. 585

weaning,

568, 577

weight of,

. 572

Welsh, .

553

wether- hogs, .

568

wethers, .

. 572

Wiltshire, .

557

wool,

. 587

Zetland,

553

Sheep's sorrel,

. 20

Shell marl,

69

Shovel, broad-pointed,

140, 6.57

narrow-pointed,

1 ID, 657

wooden, .

. 2'.':

INDEX.

<n

Siberian rabbit,
Sickle, ....
Sieve,

close, .
Silica,

Siliceous soils,
Silver tir, .
Sinapis,

alba,
arvensis,
nigra, .
Sledge, ....
Sloe,
Smut,

in wheat, .
in barlev,
Soda, .

muriate of,
Soft-grass, creeping,
meadow, .
woolly,
Soils, . . .

absorbent powers of
alluvial, .
aluminous, .
calcareous,
chemical analysis,
clayey,
clays, .
ferruginous,
gravelly,
heathy,
improving, .
loams,

magnesian, .
mode of distinguishin
moors, .
mould,
peaty, .
sandy,
siliceous,

vegetable productions,
Solaneae,

Solanum tuberosum,
Solidago odora,
Somerset pink-nosed, ,
Sonchus arvensis,

oleraceus, .
Soot, ....
Sorghum vulgare,
Sorrel, sheep's, .
Sow, ....
Sow-thistle, .

corn,
Sowing, machines for, ,
beans, .
broadcast,
cereal grasses,
in rows, .
turnips,
Spade,

labour,
Spartium junceum,
Spear plume-thistle,
Spearwort, lesser,
Spergula arvensis,
Sphagnum acutifolium,

606

. 213

227, 659

227, 659

14

. 16

374, 402

. 351

351, 382

. 437

361, 382

141. 657

384, 644

235

, 241

253

17, 70

17

427, 445

426

426

1

18

6

16

16

12

4

2

17

7

27

33

2

16

31

5

1

2,8

6

16

23

309

310, 360

384

558

441

437

72

260

29

599

438

444

102

110

107

210

103

112

140, 657

162

. 348

0,439

29

432, 437

Sphagnum, blunt-leaved,

. 28

obtusifolium,

. 28

sharp-leaved, .

28

Spike-rush, ....

. 424

scaly-stalked, .

28

Spirits of turpentine, .

. 373

Sprat-barley,

246

Spruce, black,

. 402

hemlock,

372

Norway, .

373, 402

white, .

402

Spurrey for manure, .

. 51

corn, .

432, 439

Stable for horses, .

. 491

utensils of,

144

Stachys palustris,

. 29

Stacks, ....

219

pillars and frame for,

223

thatching,

221

Statice Armeria, .

. 30

Steaming food, apparatus for,

130, 657

Steers, ....

528

Stellaria media, .

30, 437

Stipa tenacissima,

348

Stone-wall, ....

. 632

Strasburg turpentine,

374

Straw-basket,

. 210

Straw-hats,

241, 244

Straw- rope twister,

. 226

Strawberry,

376, 379

Street manure,

. 72

Stubble-rake,

216

Subsoil, ....

1, 3, 36

calcareous .

4

earthy,

3

plough,

164

rocky, .

• o

siliceous,

4

Succory, wild, .

384, 417

Sugar,

. 360

cane,

361

maple,

• 361

plants,

360

Sulphate of iron, .

62,67

of lime, .

. 66

of magnesia,

69

Sumach, ....

. 372

Summer-fallow,

163

Sunflower, . . . .

353

Sun-spurge, ....

. 4-40

Sunk-fence,

647

Surface-draining, .

184, 190

drains, open,

. 182

covered,

. 183

Sus aper, ....

595

babyroussa, .

. 595

larvatus,

595

Swallow- wort, Syrian,

. 348

Swamp pine,

373

Swan, domestic, .

. 621

Swedish turnip,

288

Sweet-brier,

. 384

Sycamore,

403

Symphytum asnerrimum, .

. 418

officinale,

418

tuberosum,

. 418

Syrian swallow-wort,

34»

■lii

INDEX.

Tannin, 371

Tar, 373

Tare, 406

hairy, 440

spring, .... 407

winter, .... 407

Tea, 383

common, .... 383

Thea viridis, .... 383

Thinning, 400

Thistle, 443

corn, .... 443

way, .... 443

Thrashing cereal grains, . ._ 223

Thrashing-machine, . 117, 657

Thread, plants cultivated for, . 333

Thrift, 30

Tile-draining, . . . 191, 194

Tilia europsea, .... 403

rubra, 403

Tillage, simple operations of, 146

removing obstructions to, 173

Tobacco, 362

common green, . . 362

Virginian, . . . 362

Trees, 402

Amentacese, . . • 385

Coniferse, .... 385

hardwood, . . 385,402

hedgerow, .... 651

kinds of, .... 402

mixture of, ... 404

planting, . . • 388

pruning, .... 391

resinous, . . 385, 402

seedling, .... 386

soft-wood, . . • 385

thinning, . . • .400

transplanted, . . . 388

underwood, . . . 403

Trefoil, birdsfoot, . . . 422

hop, • • • 414,420

hybrid, . . . .419

lesser yellow, . . 419

zigzag, .... 420

Trifolium alexandrinum, . . 420

hybridum, . . 419

incarnatum, . . 420

incarnatum Molineri, 420

medium, . . . 420

minus, . . . 419

pratense, . . 419

procumbens, . . 420

repens, . . . 419

Triglochin palustre, . . .29

Triodia decumbens, . . 29

Triticum sestivum, . ■ . 229

atratum, . . . 231

compactum, . . . 230

compositum, . . 230

hordeiforme, . . 232

hybernum, . . . 230

junceum, • . . 30

monococcum, . . 232

polonicum, . . 233

repens, . . • 442

spelta, . . . 232

Triticum turgidum, . . . 231
zea, .... 232

Turkey, 614

food of, . • . . 615
habits of, . . . 614
Turnip, . . . 288,350,360

common, . . . 288
cultivating for seed, . 300
culture of, ... 297
depressed, . . . 289
diseases, . . . 300
fly, . 301

fusiform, ... 289
fusiform common, . . 289
globe, .... 289
globular, . . . .289
manuring, . . 292,294

mode of using, . . 299

Norfolk, ... 289
period of sowing, . . 297
preparation of the land, 290
quantity of seed, . 296

round, . . . .289
soils for, . . . 290
Swedish, . . . 288,290
tankard, ... 289
yellow, . 289

Turnip-slicer, . . . 127, 657
Turnip-sowing machine, . 1 12, 656
Turnip-spade, . - . 128, 658

Turnsole, 359

Turpentine, .... 373
Bourdeaux, . . 374
Cyprus, . . 371

oil of, ... 373
spirits of, . . 373

Strasburg, . . 374
Venetian, . . 374

Tussilago Farfara, . . . 441
Twitch, black, .... 446

Ulex europaeus,

416,

645

Ulmus campestris,

403

montana,

403

suberosa, .

403

Umbellifera,

353

Uredo caries,

242

segetum, . . 241

253

,259

Urtica canadensis, .

347

cannabina,

347

dioica,

347

441

nivea,

347

urens,

437

Vegetable manures,

39

Venetian turpentine,

374

Vernal-grass, sweet-scented,

425

Veronica Beccabunga,

29

Vetch, annual-tufted, .

409

biennial,

410

broad-podded,

409

bush, . .

410

narbonne,

409

saw-leaved,

409

tufted, .

410

Vetch, wood,

410

Vetchling, meadow, .

420

INDEX.

719

Vetchling, yellow,

. 420

Wheat, rivet,

. 231

Vicia biennis, ....

410

soil,

234

cracca,

. 410

spelt,

. 232

narbonensis,

409

straw, .

240

platycarpos, .

409

summer, .

. 229

pseudo-cracca,

409

turgid,

231

sativa,

. 406

uses,

. 240

sepium, ....

410

winter,

230

serratifolia,

. 409

Wheat-fly, ....

. 242

sylvatica,

. 410

Wheat-grass, common, .

446

Vine, .... 361, 375, 376

sea rushy,

. 30

Vitis vinifera, . . . 361, 375

Wheelbarrow, .

139, 657

Vitriol, green, ....

62

Wheel- carriages,

. 132

Whin, . . . 418,

Waggon

Wall, drystone,

. 133

fence,

. 645

632

petty,

28

advantages of,

. 634

Whorl-grass, water,

. 29

building,

632

Wild apple,

644

coping,

. 634

boar, .

. 595

dimensions of,

634

cattle,

507

expense of,

. 634

duck, ....

. 617

implements for,

632

Willow, .

371, 645

Walnut, . . . 354, ;

.76, 402

Bedford, .

. 403

Warping,

473

dwarf silky,

27

Water-cart,

. 137

long-leaved triandrous, . 403

Watered meadow, .

466

white, .

403

Web-footed fowls,

. 616

Wine, ....

376

Wedge-draining,
Weed-hook,

197

Winged-pea,

. 384

. 212

Winnowing cereal grasses,

225

Weeding cereal grasses, . .

212

machine, .

124, 657

Weeds of agriculture, .

. 436

Winter barley,

247

annual and biennial, .

437

Wireworm, ....

. 259

perennial,

. 441

Withers, ....

482

Weevil,

243

Woad,

Weighing machine,

. 144

plants cultivated for,

385

Weight of cattle,

535

planting, .

. 388

by measurement, .

. 535

pruning,

391

by weighing when alivt

, 536

thinning, .

. 400

Weld,

357

Wooden shovel,

228

Wheat, ....

. 228

Wool,

. 587

compact,

230

black,

588

cone,

. 231

carding,

. 590

barley-like,

232

combing,

589

dark spike,

. 231

felting,

. 591

diseases of, .

241

long, .

589

duck-bill,

. 231

properties of,

. 590

Egvptian, .

230

staple of,

589

Far, ...

: 232

stapling,

. 592

gray, ....

231

short,

589

gray polard, .

. 231

Woundwort, marsh,

. 29

hoeing,

239

Wrack, ....

446

Lammas, .

. 230

black,

. 446

one-grained,

232

pendulum,

. 231

Yarrow, common,

. 30, 433

period of sowing, !

»35, 237

Yearlings,

526

place in the rotation, '

>35, 257

Yellow clover,

. 414

pole rivet, .
Polish, .

231

. 233

Zea mais,

261

produce,

240

Zebra, mountain,

. 474

quantity of seed, .

. 236

of the plains,

474

reaping,

240

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15

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