S \^-

LETTERS and PAPERS

o N

Agriculture, Planting, &c,

ADDRESSED TO THE

Bath and JVefl of England Society,

FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF

Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

VOLUME II.

■S./l

LETTERS and PAPERS

o N

Agriculture, Planting, &c,

IU1CTIO FROM

THE CORRESPONDENCE

Of THE

Bath and JVejl of England Society

FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF

AGRICULTURE, i| MANUFACTURES,
ARTS, II AND COMMERCE.

-LaioK~

VOL. II.
THE THIRD EDITION.

BATH, PRINTED, BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY,

BY R. cruttwell;

AND SOLD BY C. HILLY, POULTRY, LONDON,

AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS OF BATH, BRISTOL, SALISBURY,

CLOCESTER, EXETER, &C. &C.

M DCC XCII.

m

INTRODUCTION.

THE Preface to the first volume of thefe
papers, and the fubjecl matter of the
whole, fo fully exprefs the nature and defign
of the inftitution of the Bath Society, as to
preclude the neceflity of faying much by way
of Introduction. A few brief Remarks,
however, may not be deemed impertinent.

A late ingenious Writer has juftly re-
marked, that tc Improvements in Tillage
<c arife, in general, from the flow operation
" of doubting experience among men who
" obtain their bread by the fweat of their
M brows, whofe minds are not fufficiently
<c enlarged to adopt, but with relu&ance,
" any deviation from the pradtice of their
<c forefathers, and who are fearful of rifquing

A3 " the

C vi ]

" the moderate certainty they poflefs for the
" profpeft of greater gains which are yet
" unknown."

The truth of this obfervation is evident;
and fhews the utility of Gentlemen's forming
themfelves into focieties, and offering pre-
miums for the introduftion of experiments,
which will fecure the praftical farmer from
lofs in cafe of their failure. And many
Members of fuch Societies being men of
ernfiderable landed property, have a fuffi-
cient influence to propagate the refulting
advantages in their refpe£tive neighbour-
hoods; and have it alfo in their power to
make experiments, which it would perhaps
be imprudent for common farmers to make
at their own rifque.

Such Gentlemen, therefore, as patronize
eftablifhments of this kind, do themfelves

greater

[ vii ]

greater honour than their modelty will per-
mit them to fee it in its full lultre; and are
peculiarly entitled to t&e thanks of th
country. At a very trifling expence they
become the primary means of in creating the
wealth and happinefs of the community,
who feel, through every rank and order, the
beneficial effe&s of every improvement that
tends to increafe the value and the produce
of our lands.

To the Beneficed Clergy alfo, of every
rank, the encouragement of fuch Societies
ought to become the objeft of fpeedy and
, general attention. They are eflentially in-
terefted in whatever tends to promote the
improvement and value of lands, being fure
to partake of the increafed produce, without
the leaft lofs from the failure of any experi-
riment. It therefore feems incumbent on
them to lend their affiftance in fupporting

an

[ *Mi ]

an inftitution which muft increafe the value
of their livings in proportion as its exertions
become beneficial to the publick.

To their feveral correfpondents, (whofe
letters are in general printed in their own
words, and invariably fo with regard to ex-
periments) the Society return their thanks;
and hope the following pages will furnifh
ufeful information to Pra&ical Farmers. —
They alfo hope, by future communications
from fuch Gentlemen as have made Agri-
culture and Planting their employment and
ftudy, to be enabled to continue their publi-
cation in future volumes.

CONTENTS.

C k ]

CONTENTS.

Page

PROPOSAL for further Experiments on the
Advantages of cultivating Carrots I

On the amazing Fertility of a Piece of Ground at

Wantage in Berkfhire 21

Anfwer to Queftions refpecling Vegetation 24

A Supplement to the Anfwer fent to the Secretary of

the Bath Society refpecting Vegetation — 35

Queries propofed by Sir William Langham Jones,

bart. to Robert Proctor Anderdon, efq; with Mr.

Anderdon's Anfwers 48

On the Culture and Courfe of Crops proper for heavy

Clay Lands, and whicji are beft adapted to render

Fallow unneceflary 62

Extract of a Letter from Arthur Young, efq; to the

Secretary 65

Account of a Crop of Potatoes raifed in 1782 68

On the Virtue of A(hes as a Manure 70

Letter from the Rev. Mr. Swayne, of Pucklechurch,

on Grafs-Seeds 76

On watering Meadows, and the Kinds of Water

found mod efficacious for that purpofe 85

On clivers Articles of Norfolk Hufbandry 93

On the Cultivation of Barley 96

On the Advantages of cultivating Turnips, Scotch

Cabbage, Lucerne, &c. ■■ 10 1

[ * ]

Page
On the Utility of thofe Clubs called by the Name of

Friendly Societies, in Country Parifhes 107

Sundry Hints from different Correfpondents .111

On the Rot in Sheep 1 1 7

On laying down Fields to Grafs, and the Kinds of

Grafles moft valuable 120

On the Culture of Rape, or Cole ■ 124.

On the Cultivation of Burnet 128

Cultivation of Madder recommended 132

On the Management of Clay-Lands, and fome of

the Caufes of the Difcouragement of Agriculture 135

On Watering Meadows 141

On Rearing Calves without Milk 153

On the amazing Increafe Grain is capable of, from

dividing and tranfplanting its Roots 156

On the Quantity of Seed-Grain unnecefTarily fown

in the Broadcaft Method 168

On the Nature and Effects of Lime as a Manure 173
On the Nature of different kinds of Soil, and the

Grain, Pulfe, or Grafles, proper to each 178
The Value of Carrots afcertained -, — and Obfervations

on the Premiums offered by the Society 185

On the Nature of Soils ■ 197

Some of the fuperior Advantages of the Drill to the

Broadcaft Hufbandry pointed out 203

On Drilling Turnips with Wheat, drilled between

the Rows 208

On Quick- Hedges , 209

On Planting Wafte Grounds 217

Obfervations on Cow Clover, and Cow Wheat 221

On Cow-Wheat, Cow-Grafs, or Cow-Clover 223

C « ]

Page

On the Profit of Carrots and Cabbages 225

On the Scab in Sheep, with approved Remedies 228

On Preferring J urnips from the Fly • 232

On fowing Turnips and Grain, and on fome of the

Difcouragemcnts to Improvements in Agriculture 235
Obfervations on Rhubarb, and its Culture in England 241
On the care neceiTary in planting Potatoes 244

A Method of fowing Turnip- Seed to prevent the Fly

from taking them ■ 2*46

On the different Species of .Rhubarb 248

On the Culture and Increafe of a new Species of

Horfe-Beans fent from Holland 250

Obfervations on Dr. Tiffot's Letter to Monf. Hirzel 253

General Hints relative to Agriculture. < 262

Obfervations on the beft Method of reftoring worn-
out Soils without Manure 270

On the comparative Utility of Oxen and Horfes in

Hufbandry 275

Sir John Anftruther's Account of a Drill-Plough of
his own Conduction, for fowing different kinds of

Grain 280

To preferve Turnips from Froft 289

To prevent the Blight in Potatoes, to make a Cow
a good Milker, and to preferve Meat from Putre-
faction 293

On the Ufe of Chalk and Sea Weeds 298

A Chart of the Norfolk Husbandry on a light foil ;
being the regular Courfe of Crops on a Farm of
Twelve Fields Arable for Twelve Years 300, 301

A Chart of the Norfolk Hufbandry on a heavy foil ;
being the beft regular Courfe of Crops for Eleven
Years — — 302, 303

[ *" ]

Page

Explanation of the Tables — — 304

An Effay on the Origin and Progrefs of Agriculture

in different Ages and Nations 310

On Planting barren Lands with Wood 345

Defcription of the Model of a Norfolk Plough, fent

to the Society by Mr. Bofweli 351

An Account of the Succefs of a late planted Crop of

Potatoes 356

On eroding the Breed in Sheep and Neat Beafts 358

On the Advantages of cultivating Sainfoin as a food

for Cows 362

On the Turnip Hufbandry r 368

On the Culture of Hemp and Flax 373

Directions for deftroying Rats in Farm- Yards 379

On the Management of Seed Barley in a dry Seafon 381

Directions to the Binder.
Place the Plate of the Norfolk Plough to face p. 351.

LETTERS

LETTERS

TO THE

BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND
AGRICULTURE SOCIETY.

Artiole I.

Propofal for further Experiments on the Ad-
vantages of cultivating Carrots.

[By Arthur Young, efq.]

Gentlemen,

THE publication of your firft volume of Me-
moirs has convinced the world, that you
do not only labour with afliduity ro perfect the
Agriculture of the Counties to whofe ufe your
eftablifhment is more particularly dedicated ; but
that you alfo embrace, in a liberal manner, the
publick good of the whole community. A So-
ciety that does not publifh its tranfactions may
be of a partial, limited, and confined utility, but

can

C * ]

can never difFufe the knowledge it rewards, nor
render the fuccefsful efforts of individuals the
means of general improvement. For want of this
circumftance, the London Society (of which I
have been for fome years an attending member)
has failed in a remarkable degree, of feeing it's
noble and liberal premiums attended with any
confiderable effect. I am, however, happy enough
to add, that they have entered upon that effential
work at lafr, fo that the world may hereafter ex-
pect to partake in that mafs of valuable informa-
tion which they have hitherto been too little
folicitous to fpread.

In your firft volume are two memoirs on the
cultivation of Carrots, an object which always
appeared to me to rank amongft the moll impor-
tant in Britifh Agriculture ; but which, for cer-
tain reafons, has made much lefs progrefs than it's
excellence would lead one to expect. The hiftory
of this branch of our hufbandry is difpatched in
a few words.

It appears from Norderfs Surveyors Dialogue,
publifhed in 1600, that carrots were commonly
cultivated, at that time, about Orford in Suffolk,
and about Norwich in Norfolk; and it is very
remarkable, that the tract of fand between Or-
ford,

[ 3 ]

ford, Woodbridge, and Saxmundham, has, I ap-
prehend, to this day, more carrots in it than all
the rcil of the kingdom put together;* — a (hiking
inilance of the locality of practices in agriculture,
and of that extreme tardinefs with which any
particular branch of cultivation moves from one
place to another.

In the fummer of 1779, I examined that coun-
try with a Ruflian gentleman, to whom I had the
plcafure of explaining the admirable management
of thofe fand farmers; and it was with much fa-
ri.a'a&ion that I found the culture of carrots
rather increafing amongft them than the contrary,
which I took the more notice of, as I had viewed
it ten years before. One farmer had 36 acres,
many of them from 10 to 20, few lefs than 5 or
6, and fcarccly one that was without any. The
(trait, handfome, clean roots are fold at 6d. a
bufliel to London, and all the reft ufed upon the
farm, chiefly for feeding the teams of horfes, at an
allowance of a buihel per horfe per day. Thefe
horfes are of the fined cart breed, perhaps, in the
world, do heavy work, and never have any oats
allowed them when at carrots.

* Perhaps the quantity of carrots raifed in the neighbourhood of
Chard, and brought to that market, may be nearly equal, and the
. fuperior in quality.

In

[ 4 3

In the regifter of my Eajlern Four, I have given
feveral accounts of the experiments on this root
by fundry gentlemen, but mod of them practifed
t&ic l-nibandry in a defultory unconnected man-
ner, inltead of making them the part of a regular
fyftcm.

In countries where turnips are not well efta-
blifhed, it is common to fee a man have a few
acres this year, and none the next; — a fure proof
the culture is little underftood. In the fame jour-
ney I viewed the farm of Mr. Billing, who gained
the premium of the London Society, for carrots,
which he cultivated with great fpirit for a few
years, and then totally dropped them. Thus,
gentlemen, we find that the[ culture of this valu-
able plant has made little or no progrefs, except
in that angle of Suffolk, where it was eftablifhed
two hundred years ago. ,

In order to promote the hufbandry in future,
we mud enquire into the circumftances that have
hitherto retarded it,

I cannot attribute this to the expences of the
crop, though they are high: — Other articles of
cultivation have fpread greatly under expences
double, treble, and quadruple thofe of carrots,

fuch

C 5 ]

fuch as hops: Bcfides, there are many gentlemen,
not to mention fubftantial farmers, who would
difregard the cxpcncc, were they afliired of the
advantage. But the charge is not fo great as
generally thought, when managed with an eye
to an extenfive culture, and not a confined one
for one or two particular objedts. Let us com-
pare them in this refpedt with turnips. Theore-
tical calculations arc rarely fo fatis factory as the
;u;ual tranferipts of experience. I had this year
a field of eleven acres, lix of which were fallowed
for turnips, three under the cluttered potatoe, and
two in carrots ; the lad have colt, me per acre as
follows:

£. s. d.

Rent, tithe, and rates • 170

One ploughing, (double the common price) 080

Seed, four pounds, at is. 6d. c 6 o

Sowing 006

Harrowing - 010

Three hoeings and one weeding 150

Digging up - 1 0100

£3 17 ^

When dug and left on the ground, I confider them

in the fame ftate of preparation as turnips grow-

Vol. II. B ing.

[ 6 ]

ing. I carted, cleaned, topped, and laid up part
of this crop, but thofe expenccs have nothing to
do in the companion with turnips. Before I pro-
ceed, allow me a few remarks.

Fifteen years ago I cultivated carrots upon an-
other farm of this eftate, but I was then ib young
a farmer that my expences ran much higher than
thefe : I had a bailiff who had a great opinion of
contract work ; by his advice I hoed and took up
by the acre. But experience has long fince told
me, that that mode of doing work is as extrava-
gant in any unufual bufinefs, as it is beneficial in
the common routine of a farm. At Woodbridge,
hoeing carrots from general practice has as fixed
a price as turnips, viz. a guinea an acre for three
hoeings ; but where the cultivation is unknown,
day work I have found greatly preferable to con-
tract. I mould however obfervc, that if the fum-
mer had not been remarkably dry, my expence of
hoeing might have been higher, for my foil, a
gravelly, fandy loam, with {tones, is much worfe
to hoe than the pure fands of Woodbridge: the
chief difficulty arofe from the quantity of the
Polygonum aviculare, which was the predominant
weed, fo tough a one that fcarcely any hoe will
cut it. Your correfpondent Mr. Billingfley re-
ports expences which amaze me ; 13s. an acre for

fowing

[ 7 ]

(owing can fcarcely anfwcr; certainly with Mr.
Ducket's drill it might be done for a third of that
tw pence: Digging up 30s. an acre is equally ex-
travagant.

To return: — The turnips were twice fown, a
part of them thrice, but were all eaten by the fly.f
I mud therefore minute what would have been
thcexpences had the crop fucceeded. It is eafy
to do this with great accuracy.

£. s. d.

Rent, tithe, and rates 170

Five ploughings, 4s. each 100

Seven harro wings at different times 040

Rolling with two horfes 004

Seed and fowing 009

Hoeing firft 4s. 6d. fecond 2s. 6d. — — < o 7 *o

The expence of carrots

&

19

1

*7

6

3

Excefs, £0

18

5

•f As foon as I found the fly had begun to attack them, I ga-
thered elder in full bloflbm, and laid it thickly in fpots of the field,
in fome places the flowers mafhed, in others the leaves the lame,
and I added it frefh and frelh ; but no attention of this fort would
preferve me a fingle plant. The fly leemed to devour the plants
as freely in thofe fpots as in any other.

B 2 If

C 8 3

If We call the fupcriority of expence 20s. art
acre, I believe we mall be very near the truth ;
and it mud be at once apparent that the excels of
20s. in expence cannot be the caufe of the cul-
ture fp reading fo little; for, to anfwer this ex-
pence, there are favourable circumftances which
mud: not be forgotten.

17?. They are much more impenetrable to* foft.
I never heard of any damage received by the crops
at Woodbridge, where they are always left in the-
ground to be taken up as wanted. Laft winter
our crops of turnips were univerfally deftroyed;
and they fuller exceedingly whenever a froft is
fevere. This renders carrots fo much more cer-
tain and to be depended on, that no man pof-
felTed of a good crop but muft feel himfelf on
velvet,, while the flock of other men are ftarving.

2 (Uy. They are not fubjecl to any diftempers,
or accidents that approach to the evils of the
anbury and the fly in turnips. They are alfo
fown at a feafon when they cannot fuffer by
drought. Of late years turnips have fuffered fo
much by all thefe attacks, as to have fubjected
the farmers of this county and Norfolk to moft
heavy loF >.

$dly. They

C 9 3

$dly. They lad to a feafon of difficulty, (April)
when flock, and efpecially fhcep farmers are fo
diftreffed, that they know not what refource to
provide; — a circumftance of fuperiority which
every practical farmer mud be ready enough to
admit.

4thly. But perhaps the greateft fuperiority of all
is to be drawn from the nature of fandy foils, the
principles which mould guide their cultivation
being in general mod mifcrably mifunderftood.
On thefe foils there is an inherent defect in the
culture of turnips as commonly carried on. The
true theory of tillage for fand, is to give it tena-
city* but unfortunately the fummer ploughings
and harrowings fo liberally given for turnips are
in the fpirit of the clay culture//vV/&7/7y. Every
ploughing that is given to fand, after the fpring
moifture is over, is certainly mifchievous, in let-
ting the fun deep into the foil, adding to it's
loofenefs, volatilizing, and confequently carrying
off any mucilaginous particles there may be in it,
and letting loofe that degree of adhefion which
the preceding winter's rains might have occa-
iioned. The farmers fubmit to thefc ills, in order
to effect the benefit of deftroying weeds; and
when a fandy field has much couch-grafs (triti-
us) in it, they are forced to repeat their
B 3 {illagq

C 10 ]

tillage to a degree that would make one believe
they wifhed to deftroy every principle of ad he-
fion in the foil. Any hufbandry, therefore, that
would exclude all this tillage, and at the fame
time keep the weeds under, is evidently an im-
provement upon this fy ftem. Upon good fands
there is fcarcely a better practice than fowing
winter-vetches for foiling, and ploughing the land
only once after the vetches for turnips; this ex-
cludes much tillage, but is inferior to carrots,
which admit no fummer ploughing whatever:
One earth given with a trench-plough in March,
and ample hoeings on the furface through the
fummer, feem to be the management of all others
the mod proper for this foil ; and if the crop be
left late in the ground, and the foil be very fandy,
to fucceed it with buck-wheat, for which any de-
gree of cleaning from couch may be given if ne-
cefTary. It muft not from hence be imagined
that I am an enemy to the Turnip Hufbandry;
which, in truth, is one of the greater!: improve-
ments that ever was introduced into the agricul-
ture of this kingdom. I am no more than en-
deavouring to fhew that there are advantages
attending carrots, which do not flow from the
other culture; and which render them an object
of very great confequence, though not to be pur-
fucd to the exclufion of turnips.

When

C " ]

When thefc circiimftances arc confidcrec!, if
will not be found that the excefs of the expence
of the carrot culture can be eftecmed any reaibfl
for their not having been more attended to in this
kingdom. That excefs in fad: vanifhes, for I am
clearly of opinion, that there is no intelligent
turnip fanner that would not give a considerable
portion of it, if not the whole, annually per acre,
on their turnips, to have them infured againft all
thofe failures and accidents to which carrots arc
not liable.

Now, if it be not to be attributed to the ex-
pence, that this cultivation does not extend, it
will neceflarily be aiked, to zvbat is it owing?
My anfwer to this qucftion will be, without hefi-
tation, because the value is not ascertained.
All other objections to a crop become as nothing
when compared to this: For a man to attend
with fome degree of anxiety, much trouble, and
great expence, to procure a produce, which when
gained is of little or doubtful value, is to take
pains to place one's feif in an odious and grating
uion. It is what no man will voluntarily
do. The farmers put wheat, barley, or oats, in
the ground, becaufe they know thofe crops will
certainly repay them, if not a great, at lead: a
moderate profit; They fow turnips and ciovera

becaufe

C « ]

bccaufe a great mafs of general and particular
experience tells them, that in the feeding of any
fort of cattle thofe plants will amply pay them
for any moderate expences. But if you recom-
mend carrots, they at once fay, What are they
worth? How will they pay? The fociety that offers
premiums for the cultivation, or the individual
who recommends it, ought to be able to anfwer
this queftion; and if they cannot do that, they
ought to gain the necefTary knowledge as the firfl
ftep towards diffufing the practice.

The misfortune is, that the value remains yet
unafcertained ; from a general review of the ex-
periments before the publick, a fatisfactory deci-
five knowledge of this point is not to be gained.
As this is a circumftance of confiderable impor-
tance, it will not be improper to give it a flight
examination.

The moft confiderable practice, and the only
one of common farmers, upon a large fcale, is
that of the fands in the neighbourhood of Wood-
bridge; unfortunately for afcertaining the value
of the root from their crops, the fale to the Lon-
don market always enters into their view in the
cultivation. The ftrait, clean roots are fold at
fix-pence per bufhel at the quays, upon the Wood-
bridge

E '3 3

bridge river, into (hips that carry them to Lon-
don; and the refufe of the crops are what they
feed their horfes with; all wc therefore learn
is, that it will anfwer to fell them at fix-pence,
and that they are a nouri filing and proper food
for horfes, inftcad of oats. But the fale is what
we muft keep clear of, for that is confined to
certain fituations within the reach of very great
cities, as all the fmallcr towns arc fupplicd by
gardeners.

Amongft thofe whofe experiments are pub-
lifhed Mr. Billing ranks foremoft. Here again,
the value of carrots is rather depreciated than
advanced ; for he raifed great crops, had repeated
experience upon a large fcale of their excellence
in fattening oxen and fheep; feeding cows, horfes,
and hogs ; and keeping ewes and lambs in a very
fuperior manner, late in the fpring, after turnips
were gone; but, notwithftanding thefe great ad-
vantages, he gave the culture up; fo that when
I viewed his farm there was not a carrot upon
it; from which we may conclude a deficiency
In value.

In fevcral experiments I regiftered in my Expe-
rimental Agriculture \ but which were not made
with that prccifion which the importance of the

fubjea

t '4 1

fubjcct merited, nor repeated often enough, I
found the value upon an average, of all applica-
tions, to be 13d. a bufhel, heaped meafure; efti-
mating it at 701b. it is il. 14s. per ton.

In my Eiijlern Toury the experiments of feveral
gentlemen on carrots are inferted, and the follow-
ing are their valuations:

per ton.

£. s. d.

Mr. Mellifh of BIyth, a general valuation, 1
horfes, cows, and hogs J *

Mr. Stovin of Doncafter, hogs bought lean,
fatted and fold off

Mr. Moody of Retford, oxen fattened, and
the account accurate — —

Mr. Taylor of Bifrons, faving of hay and

corn in feeding horfes

Mr. Le Qrand of Afh, fattening wethers o 13 9

Sir John Hoby Mill of Bilham, fattening hogs 160

}

}
}

To thefe let me add Mr. Billingfley's experi-
ment in your firft volume, 20olb. 3s. or per ton
il. 13s. 6d.

Now, gentlemen, if we oppofe to thefe accounts
others of gentlemen; and I have met with fuch,
who could not in fome of thefe applications make

their

C '5 ]

their carrots worth any thing; it will appear how
un fettled the real value is.

For inftance: Mr. Stovin by fattening hogs
makes 4I. per ton, and Sir John Mill il. 6s. but
Mr. Edmund Burke, at Beconsfield, could not
make his hogs fatten at all on them; and fome
neighbours of mine have found them fit only, as
they exprefs it, to fcour hogs to death, inftead of
fattening; yet Mr. Le Grand, of Afh, has fold
threefcore porkers, moft delicately fatted (that is
his term) upon them.

When accounts fo extremely contradictory are
before the publick, I am furely juftified in avert-
ing that the value of carrots remains yet unafcer-
tained. It is true, I am much inclined to give
great credit to the accuracy, knowledge, and other
circumstances, with which Mr. Moody appeared to
me to deduce his valuation, which is alfo confirmed
by fevcral other refpeclable authorities; but ftill,
as the experiments, upon which any of thefe gen-
tlemen founded their valuations, were not often
repeated, and under different circumstances, we
muft not confider the refult as perfectly decifive.

No trial could be more completely conducted
than Mr. Lc Grand's upon wethers; but there

arc

[ i6 ]

arc two circumftances which make it doubtful
whether his carrots had entirely fair play. The
fheep appear to have been put lean to them;
whereas it is a fact well known, that if they are
not half fat when put to turnips, no profit will
refult: Qinr, if it be not nearly the fame with
carrots? He gave them alfo as much fine hay
as they would eat : perhaps the fheep will not pay
for this; — the Norfolk practice with turnips is
directly againfl: it.

Upon the whole, we muft confider the informa-
tion before the publick rather as matter of en-
couragement to proceed, than that explicit proof
which prudent and inquifitive cultivators will be
apt to demand.

While this remains the cafe, the greateft fervice
that can be done the publick in relation to carrots,
is to form various experiments with the greaterl
accuracy, in order to afcertain their real value per
ton. What an individual can do in this line is
trifling, when compared with the decifion that
would refult, gentlemen, from your taking it up
with that fpirit which feems to animate all your
undertakings; and as you have a farm for the
purpofe of experiments, this would not be a dif-
ficult one to execute. But whether you attend hy

your

C '7 ]

your officers to the conduct of fuch trials, whether
you incite others by premiums to it, or whether
any of your correfpondcnts attempt it, permit me
to obferve, that there are one or two circumftances
that fhould not be forgotten in the conduct of it.

j/?. If fheep are fattened, the carrots to be only
dug up and left in the field, and the fheep to be
immediately penned within hurdles upon them;
topping, cleaning, and packing up are expenfive,
perhaps more fo than can be paid by fheep; and
the land lofes an ample manuring for barley, of
which farmers know the great value in the cafe of
turnips; the foil muft however be quite dry. If
dirt adheres, they muft be carried to a grafs field.

idly. If oxen are fattened, the carrots to be laid
up and given in ftalls, with good hay in the racks.

-$dly. Whether oxen or fheep are the flock,
they mould be half fat when put to carrots.

^thly. Whether oxen, fheep, or hogs, are fed,
they fhould be weighed alive when they begin the
carrots, and alfo when fat; and the value fhould
be taken when put up by the very beft judges in
the neighbourhood. The -price bought or fold
fhould not always be trufled to. Very good or

C 18 ]

very bad luck (as it is called) has fuch an influ-
ence in buying or felling, that extreme falfe con-
elulions are fomctimes drawn, when fo founded.

5/6/y. When given to horfes, they fhould be
conlidercd as a fubftitute for oats, and the value fo
afecrtained, and not the faving of hay, which was
Mr. Billing's method, becaufe they ought not to
fave any hay. The expence of warning not to be
forgotten, f

If a feries of experiments were made to afcer-
tain the value of carrots in thefe various ufes, and
the refult publifhed, it would do more to efrablifh
the practice than any other meafure whatever; a
practice which I am convinced wants only to be

well known in order to be generally purfued.

n

That no gentleman need be apprehenfive of
fuffering, if he makes fome experiments in order
to afcertain this point, will appear from various
considerations; it may not be improper to men-
tion a few. I have fhewn that they are to be cul-

•j" Whoever would Invent a cheap machine for wafhing carrots
and potatoes in ftagnant water would do a great public fervice;
the London Society offered at my recommendation, in 1776, pre-
miums for fuch a machine; and alfo in 1777, for afcertaining the
value of carrots, potatoes, andparfhips, but. without effect.

tivated

[ '9 ]

rivaled for 4I. per acre, left on the ground for
p. Suppofe the crop only two bufhels at 701b.
each per rod, three hundred and twenty per acre,
or ten tons; it will readily be agreed fuch a pro-
duce is very low to calculate upon, fmcc twenty
tons are common among carrot cultivators. It
appears from Mr. Le Grand's experiments, that a
wether worth 2I. 5s. eats 1 61b. of carrots per day,
and 41b. of hay: Dropping the hay, and calcu-
lating for fheep of lefs than half that fizc, (which
are much more common) it will be perhaps an
ample allowance to ailign them ialb. of carrots a
If they are (as they ought to be) half fat
when put up, they will be completely fattened in
one hundred days. At this rate twenty wethers
will in one hundred days eat eleven tons, or very
little more than one moderate acre.* Now, gen-
tlemen, let it be remembered that it is a good acre
of turnips which will fatten eight fuch wethers, the
common Norfolk calculation ; from which it ap-
pears that one acre of carrots is in this ufe of
more worth than two of turnips.

Further: Let us fuppofe horfes fed with them
inftead of oats; to top, cart, and pack up ten
tons of carrots, I know may be done for 20s.; an

• The late very ingenious Mr. J. W. Baker, found that fat fheep
of aolb. a quarter would eat aolb. of turnips a day.

acre

C *o ]

acre is therefore 5I. Fifty pounds weight of car-
rots are an ample allowance for a horfe a day,- ten
tons at that rate will lad three horfes one hundred
and fifty days, or five months. But thefe five
pounds laid out in oats at 16s. a quarter, will
purchafe little more than fix quarters, which will
lad three horfes, at two bufhels each per week, no
more than two months; which is a moft enormous
inferiority to the carrots.

Thefe eftimates I do not offer as exactly correct;
I produce them only as hints to experimental
farmers, to convince them that no jufb apprehen-
fion of lofs can attend any trials on carrots, pro-
vided the foil be proper for them.

I beg, gentlemen, that you will pardon the
imperfection of this flight fketch upon a fubject,
to exhauft which would demand a volume. If it
prove the means of inftigating others to give
fome attention to this very valuable article of
cultivation, my aim will be fully anfwered.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your obliged and devoted fervant,

ARTHUR YOUNG-

Bradfield-Hall) near Bury^
November > 1781.

Article

C " 1

Article II.

On the amazing Fertility of a Piece of Ground
at Wantage, in Berk/hire.

Sir* tfflton, Jam i, 1783.

AS you were plea fed to receive favourably
fome trifles which I formerly, fent you, par:
ticularly an account of a very excellent fort of
grafs, at Orchelton St. Mary in this county, which
you thought proper to examine on the fpot; I
now trouble you with a few lines refpedting a very
fertile piece of arable.

Palling through Berkfhirc, a few months ago,
I was informed of this ground by fome gentlemen*
farmers. The account they gave me feemed fo
extraordinary, that I was induced to go feveral
miles out of my way to fee it. It is a clofe of
two acres and a half by meafure, fituate at Wan-
tage, and joins the turnpike*road leading from
thence to London. It belongs to Mr. Stirling,
attorney at law; a gentleman whofe principles
and veracity ftand high in the eftimation of his
neighbours. I had no introduction to him but
my curiofity. He with much politenefs and good

Vol. II. C nature

C H 3

nature gave me the following account: — That,
previous to his purchafing this field, twenty-fix
years ago, it was fown with barley five years fuc-
ceflively. That he then planted it the firft year
with beans, and it produced twelve quarters; next
with wheat, of wrhich it produced fourteen quar-
ters; and that he has fown it perpetually every
year fince, except one, when it was laid to clover,
of which, it was computed, he mowed feven tons;
after which he let the haygrafs for five guineas.
Other years it has produced of boiling peafe ten
quarters ; of barley twenty quarters ; and of white
oats twenty^five quarters : their meafure nine gal-
lons to the bufhel.

Mr. Stirling fays, that although this ground
has been fown perpetually every year, except the
one year above-mentioned, it has never been
manured more than once. It had then a thin
dunging for wheat; which grew fo rank that it
was of little value. At all other times the pro-
duce has been very great. The wheat and beans
generally grow to upwards of fix feet high. Mr.
Stirling has it ploughed and fowed by the neigh-
bouring farmers, and feems not to have obferved
any particular mode of cultivation or courfe of
cropping.

The

I '3 ]

The foil is a blackifh loam, from fourteen
inches to three feet deep, on a ftratum of fandy
(tone, which the country people compare to ful-
ler's earth. This done falls to pieces in the air;
but docs not crackle in the fire, diffolve in water,
or ettervefce with vinegar. Mr. Stirling made
an experiment feverai years ago, of planting
beeches in the foil alone, and others in the ftra-
tum alone without any foil, which laft flouriftied
much, and outgrew the other.

Whether this account may prove of any real
utility, by inducing fome curious ^ fpeculatift to
fearch nicely into the component pa/ts of this fer-
tile foil, you will beft judge.

I am, your very humble fervant,

BENJAMIN PRYCE.

Mr. Edmund Rack.

C a . Articxjs

C 24 1

Article III.
Anfwer to Qucjliom refpefting Vegetation.

Sir, Mancheftcr, June 21, 1782.

I Shall cfteem myfelf happy if any thing I have
to fubmit to your confideration, in anfwer to
your queftiohs refpecling vegetation, can afford
you any fatisfaction on that interefting fubjecl:.

i/?. Supposing the opinion to be true, which
almoft univerfally prevails, that arable land, after
having borne a few crops, muft remain fome time
fallow before it is fit to produce the fame courfe
of crops again: Whence proceeds the neceflity of
fuch fallowing;

>

Idly. Does the earth by the growth of vegetables
lofe any particles neceflary for future vegetation?

I (late thefe two queftions together, becaufe the
confideration of the fecond feems properly to be
previous to the rirft.

That the earth, by the growth of vegetables, is
exhaufted of thofe principles which are necelfary
to future vegetation, is abundantly manifeft from

the

[ *5 }

the univerfal experience of mankind. All foils be-
come weaker and poorer in proportion to thecropjj
they have borne. This is not a matter pf mere
opinion, for the moil fertile foils have and may
be made unfertile by conltant cropping, and the
practice of all ages and countries fully evince the
fame: Therefore the true anfwer to this queftion
is, that vegetables do take from the earth they
grow in the particles neceffary to vegetation, and
confequently a temporary barrennefs may be in-
duced by over or a too long continued cropping.

But though it is certain, that rich or fertile
land may be rendered unfertile or barren by ex-
travagant and unrcafonable cropping; it does
not follow that fallowing is abfolutely neceffary
to reftorc its fertility, becaufe the fame end may
be as effectually anfvvered by other means; Fal-
lowing may be neceffary to clean the ground, and
deftroy the weeds which floth or bad huibandry
may have occafioned, and which perhaps could
not be cafily extirpated by any other means; but
it cannot be neceifary to reftore fertility, unlefs
in fuch ikuations as proper manure cannot be
obtained but at prices too exorbitant for the pro-
duce to repay with profit. Arable land may be
fo iituated and circumftanced as to admit of no
amendment from manures; as when tkiey are far

C 3 diftant

I *6 ]

diftant from towns, and deftitute of marie, lime-
ftone, chalk, and every thing that is known from
pra&ice to renovate the fer ility of exhaufted and
impoverifhed land. Here then the only refource
}k fallowing, and the necelTity of it proceeds, firft,
from the principles or particles neceiTary to the
growth of vegetables being exhaufted by prece-
ding crops ; and fecondly, by the want of manures
neceiTary to reftore and replenifh the foil with
thofe principles which the preceding crops had
deprived it of and carried off,

Here, indeed, a very interefting and important
queftion may mfc : — How, or by what means, can
land lying fallow or unoccupied, have thofe par-
ticles neceiTary to fertility reftored? That fal-
lowing has this beneficial cfFect cannot be denied,
becaufe all experience bears indifpu table evidence
to the truth of it. The effect is univerfally ad-
mitted, but the* caufe is the great defuleratum.
It muft be obferved, it is not mere reft that
enriches and invigorates an exhaufted foil. Its
improvement, in general, will be in proportion
to the culture beftowed upon it. This was fully
evinced by the ingenious Mr. Tullj who clearly
demonftrated by facts the great benefit of pulve-
rization But though his practice was right, as
it certainty promoted the fertility of his land, the

principles

[ 2.7 ]

principles he dre*w from it were as certainly
w rorig. - He maintained that pulverization in-
ereaied the pafhire of plants, and fu mimed their
proper pabulum; and concluded earth in its moft
iubtilized ihite was the true food of plants. In
this he certainly erred. He miftook the means
neceiTary to the acquisition- of fertilizing particles,
for the fertilizing particles themfelves. Pulveri-
zation certainly increafes the pafturc, as the rcots
of plants cafily pervade the earth in every direc-
tion, as its adhefion is diminifhed or deftroyed,
and as it renders the foil pervious to rhe ferti-
lizing particles which are continually floating in
the atmofphere. The atmofphere is the great
repofitory, the grand magazine, which contains
the fertilizing principles, and it is from that great
and inexhauftible fource that all the benefit of
fallowing is derived. But pulverization is abfo-
lutely necefTary to prepare the foil for the recep-
tion of thofe particles; for earth in its natural
compact Irate admits neither rain, fnow, dew, nor
any of thofe finer and more fubtilized particles
which are continually floating in the air, defcend
with them to the earth, and are carried off in the
ftreams they form on the furface, together with
fuch other particles as they take up and arrelt in
their way. So that rain, fnow, dew.*, & . which
iink into, an J are imbibed by a weL I

[ f! 3

foil, and enrich the fame, rather impovcrifh a
compact foil, by carrying off thofe adventitious
particles it may happen to have on its furface,
together with thofe that defcend with them from
the atmofphcre. That is, land well cultivated
and pulverized is conftantly enriche'd and im-,
proved by the weather, while that which is neg-
lected not only receives no benefit from the
atmofphcre, but is liable to have what little
chance has beftowed upon it walhed away by ha fly
fhowers and heavy rain, which cannot penetrate
the obdurate furface*

The conclufion then is, Firfl> That the earth
is deprived of certain particles necefTary to vege-»
tation by the growth of plants ; and to rcftore its
fertility, it is necefTary that fuch particles fhould
be reftored. Secondly ; Thofe particles may be
reftored either by the addition of proper manures,
or, in fituations where fuch manures cannot be
had, by a due pulverization of the foil, and ex-
pofing it to the influence of the atmofphere, that
is to fay, by fallowing. Thirdly* that arable land
after having borne a few crops need not remain
fome time fallow before it can produce the fame;
crops again, unlefs in circumftances where ma-
nure is not to be got: for whenever the earth
can be replenifhed tyith fuch fertilizing particles

without

[ *9 3

without fallowing, in that cafe fallowing is evi-
dently unneccflary,

Qiiejlion $d. What arc thofc particles that arc
neceilary to vegetation ?

The purport of this qucftion I underftand to
be, Of what nature or conftitution are thofc par*
tides which enter into the eflcnce of plants, afli-
milatc with it, and increafe their bulk; or, in
other words, which feed and fupport plants in
every ftage of their growth, from their firft cm-
brio (late to that of maturity, or higheft ftate of
perfection?

For a rational folution to this queftion we muft
have recourfe to experience. Indeed no certain
conclufion can be drawn in the extenfive field of
agriculture, from data furnifhed by any other
means. All theories and hypothesis, whofe prin-
ciples originate in the imagination, are as vifio-
nary, deluiive, and untenable, as aerial caftles^
whofe foundations are in the clouds. A man
may think ingenioufly, but he will rarely think
rightly, when he quits the fure guide of expe-
rience to purfue the flights of a glowing fancy,
which has no connection with or relation to the
eftablifhcd laws of nature.

The

[ 30 ]

The daily practice of every hufbandman clearly
fhews, that thofe fertilizing particles, of whatever
they conlift, are to be found in every article of
the vegetable and animal kingdom, that is capable
of fermentation, and c! involution by putrefaction.
The dung-heap, which is a promifcuoils combi-
nation of thefe fubftances, when in the higheft
(late of putrefcence, is perhaps the ftrongeft* and
mod efficacious of any general manure. Were
this to be had in quantities equal to the farmer's
withes, at a moderate price, his fields might be
always fertile, as it would be a fund fufficient to
refrore thofe principles of vegetation which the
mod exhaufting crops could annually take from
the foil. It is a matter perfectly uninterefting to
the practical farmer, by what name the philofo-
phical chymiii may call thofe fertilizing princi-
ples. They may be oils, fait, fulphur, water,
earth, fome or all combined together. The
knowledge of this is of no importance to him.
He is a ftranger indeed to chymical analization,
but he is perfectly acquainted with the grofs fub-
llance, in which thofe particles fo neceffary to
reftore fertility to his exhaufted fields are to be
found; and experience has taught him the beft
feafon, and moft beneficial method, of applying
them for the benefit of his crops. Could the far-
mer procure a fufficient quantity of this manure,

a fallovy

I 31 ]

a fallow to red ore the particles neceflTary to vege-
tation would be unncccflary; the bod might be
replenifhed as faft as the moll 'cxhauiting crops
could weaken it, and in this way the land, inftead
of being impoverished, would be improved, and
the longer it was kept in culture the richer and
better it would grow, as is evidently the cafe of
all land that is cropped and cultivated with dis-
cretion.

This may be called the natural means of pro*
viding the pabulum or food of plants, as properly
as giving grafs to a cow, or hay to a horfe. I Jut
there are other means of improving of foils, which
communicate none~of thefe particles which are
neceflary to the fupport and growth of plants.
This is done by means purely mechanical, by-
rendering fome foils more fufceptible of thofe fer-
tilizing particles which float in the atmofphere;
and others more capable of retaining them during
the (rage of the growth of plants in them, than
they were in their natural (late. Thus a very
ftrong adhefivc foil, which in its natural ftate may
be too compact for mod forts of vegetables to
thrive in, by the proper admixture of gravel or
fand, its ftaple may be fo Shortened and opened
as to favour the admiffion of atmofpherical parti-
clcs, and to encourage the extenfion of the roots

and

t w 1

and tender fibres of the plants that may grow in
them. And a foil which confifts chiefly of gravel
or fund may, by a proper addition of clay, chalk,
marie, or any binding earth, be made capable of
retaining thofe particles ncceffary to vegetation,
which would otherwife pafs through them like
fand through a iieve, and confequently would bq
bellowed on them in vain.

Lime, I apprehend, confidered as a manure^
is chiefly to be regarded for its mechanical pro-
perties; for neither in its quick or effete irate
doth it contain any of thofe nutritive particles
necefiary to the growth and increafe of bulk in
plants. Indeed, when judicioufly ufed, it may as
an alkali ferve to unite and combine the oils it
may happen to meet with in the foil with aqueous
or humid particles, for it ftrongly attracts both^
and forms a kind of faponaceous mixture highly
replete with fertilizing particles. But the various
methods ufed in manuring with lime plainly (hew
t-he farmers in general act upon no certain or fixed
principle, but conduct their practice by the cuf-
torn and ufage of the country, without being able
to aftign any reafonable ground for their expec*
rations of a crop, otherwife than a fettled belief
that their land would be unproductive without
it / while others are free to declare, that they

could

t 33 |

cmrtd never perceive that they derived the lea ft
advantage from it.

J
Lime in fomc ftates, and under fbme circum-
fiances, is lb very different a thing from lime in
other ftates, and under other circumltances, thai
unlcfs its condition be pretty accurately defcri*.
bed, it is fcarcely poffible to treat intellig
about it. There are fcarce any two bodies which
difljbr more in their properties, than the proper-
ties of quick lime do from thofe of effete lime;
therefore, to affert any thing of the virtue of
lime, either as a medicine or a manure, without
defcribing its ftate and condition, and the cir-
cumltances of ufing rt, is to fay nothing that is
intelligible, or that can convey the lead bene-
ficial information. The fubject, however, is wor-
thy of the inoft thorough inveftigation, though
it appears to have been very little attended to
by the practical farmer or philofophical experi-
menter. With fome, it is the fine qua non of
fuccefsful practice; with others, a certain heavy
expence attended with no kind of advantage.
Where its greatefr effects are faid to have been
experienced, I believe it is more owing to a for-
tunate concurrence of circumftances than to the
fkill of the hufbandman, acting upon principles
deduced from the reafon and nature of the thing.

However,

C 34 3

However, as hi many counties it is the farmer's
chief, almoft only dependance, and attended with
a heavy expence, it is furely of great moment,
that its principles of acting fhould be better
imderftood, and its virtue more fatis factor ily
afcertained; which, if leifure permits, may be
attempted in fome future paper.

If you think thefe remarks worthy of the notice
of your refpectable fociety, I beg you will pre*
fent them with my refpectful compliments.

lam, Sir,
With much refpect and efteem,

Your moll humble fervant,

JOSEPH WIMPEY.
Mr. Edmund Ratk.

Article

C 35 3

Articlc IV.

A Supplement to the Anftver fait to the Secretary of
the Bulb S pcclivg Vegetation , &c.

And read before the Liicrary and Pbilofopbical Society of Man-
cbtjier, the id of July 1782.

[By Mr. JOSEPH WIMPEY.]

AS truth and ufefulnefs arc the ultimate ob-
jects of philofophical enquiry, the writer of
the anfvver prefumes to hope, the candid focicty
will indulge him with an opportunity of endea-
vouring to obviate the objections made to it, that
appear to him to be groundlefs.

Queflion. " If arable land, after having borne
" a few crops, mud remain fomctime fallow be-
" fore it is fit to produce the fame courfc of
* crops again; whence proceeds the neceflity of
" fuch fallowing? Docs the earth, by the grdv 1
" of vegetables, lofe any particles necefTary for
" future vegetation, &c.?'^

To this it was anfwered : — c< That the earth, by
" the growth of vegetables, docs lofe certain |
" tides necefTary for future vegetation, is a fact

« well

C 36 3

rc well known to every practical hufbartdfnanj
" for there is no land, though it may be ever fo
" fertile, but by conftant cropping may be ex-
fC haufted, and reduced to a ftate of barrennefs*
" But it does not follow, that fallowing is abfo-
u lately nccefTary to reftore its fertility, becaufe
•' where a fufficient quantity of manure can be
•J obtained, its fertility may be reftored without
<c fallowing. And on this fcale of management,
" the longer land may be under cultivation, it
w would be fo far from being impoverifhed by it,
cc that it would be in a conftant ftate of progreflive
u improvement."

To this it was objected, by a very refpectable
and ingenious member prefent, (the Rev. Mr.
Hall) that the opinion was not well founded, for
he had known inftances wherein fertility could
not be reftored by manure, and mentioned fome
garden or gardens within his own knowledge.
To this the' writer replies, the objection fuppofes
what the pofition does not afTert or maintain*
Had it been afferted, that the fertility of land in-
creafeth in proportion to the quantity of manure
laid upon it, the objection might have been good;
but he knows little of vegetation, or of the im-
provement of land, who knows not that it may be
rendered unfertile, at leaft for a time, by laying

too

t 37 3

too large a quantity of dung upon it; and per-
haps of the two evils, a furfeit may be more per-
nicious than a faft.

Should it be aflTcrted, that animal food and
vinous liquors give nourifhment and ftrength to
human bodies j the objection would be deemed
frivolous, which mould aflcrt that in (lances fre-
quently happen of their cauiing iirknefs and fur-
feits, and becoming loath fome to the ftomach.
This would be no argument againft the truth of
the pofition ; but a very jufr. one, that the belt
things may be abufed, and their value deflroyed
by a prepofterous ufc of them.

A gentleman's gardener keeps no account of
profit and lofs for his mafter. His intereii often
depends upon the goodnefs of his crops, and his
credit always upon the magnitude and beauty of
his fruit, &c. but it is no object with him, whe-
ther a cucumber or a pound of potatoes (land his
mafter in five farthings or five millings, or whe-
ther a melon or a pine-apple coll him a penny or
a pound. His ambition is to excel. The plea-
fure of making computations, and the advantages
attending them, he fagacioufly leaves to thofe
\vh >tn it may more nearly concern. However,
fliould we enquire into the foundation and fup-

Vol. I. D port

C 33 3

port of his art, it would appear that his principal
dependance is upon manure, for till his foil is
rendered fertile, his art and his labour would be
fruitlcfs and vain. Surely it is no argument, that
proper manure will not reftore fertility to an ex-
hauftcd and debilitated foil, becaufc it will not
produce iimilar effects in thofe which have been
already drenched and furfeited with too much.
A gardener is generally profufe in the ufe of
dung, as long as he finds it will force his crops;
but the time will come, when by this means the
foil will become fo rich, light, and porous, that it
would bear nothing but a mufhroom or a fungus,
a pompion or a gourd.

The products of nature and of art have each
their ne plus nil 'ra, and the efforts of the latter are
univerfally circumfcribed by the former; and per-
haps there is no article in either, which under
different circumflances, as quantity may be pro-
portioned, may not be a medicine or a poifon.
And this, it is prefumed, will ever hold true both
in the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

Every one knows the upper flratum of mould,
which is found on the furface of all fertile foils,
is that in which fertility chiefly refides, and it is
equally certain, that the more conftantly land is

under

[ 39 ]

under cultivation, this upper ftratum will be pro-
portionably increafed by the more frequent addi-
tion of manure, and the roots and items of the
plants that grow in and upon the fame; and
therefore, as was faid, conftant culture improves
and not impovcrifhes land, as its fertility is gene-
rally, perhaps it may with truth be faid always,
in proportion to the depth of this adventitious
ltratum; for it is by no means an original or pri-
mitive earth, but a combination of vegetable and
animal matter, or of one of them feparately, pro-
duced by putrefaction and diflblution, which being
by culture intimately blended with the original
foil, perhaps fand, or gravel, &x. of themfelves
barren, a fertile foil is at length procured with
increafing powers, as cultivation is multiplied
and extended.

The practice of the kitchen gardeners, near the
metropolis, and in the vicinity of mod market
towns, will at once illuftrate and confirm the
doctrine here advanced. They frequently raife
three or four crops annually on the fame ground,
and fupport fuch an extraordinary cxhauftion
folely by culture and manure. The rent of their
land is too high to admit of fallowing, and the
goodnefs of their crops plainly fhews it does not
Hand in need of it. Labour and dung anfwer

D 2 every

[ 40 ]

every purpofe. And I have been informed, much
of their land, which was not worth more than
20s. an acre twelve or fourteen years ago, is now
worth, at leaft, half fo many pounds : — So much
has it been improved by the culture and manure
bellowed upon it, without the lead advantage
from fallowing.

0

As to the electric property of plants, men-
tioned by one of the members, how much fo ever
its theory may have been fupported by men of
learning and ingenuity, it has been long repro-
bated as vilionary and chimerical by practical
hufbandmen, it being repugnant to, and contra-
dicted by daily experience.

Let a fertile foil continue to be planted with
any one kind of grain whatever, 'till its ftrength
be exhaufted, and no longer capable of bearing
that particular grain, it will be found equally in^
capable of producing a crop of any other kind
which requires an equal degree of fuftenance.
Should a fertile field be fown firft with wheat,
then with barley, then with oats, and then with
rye, it would be found fuch field would bear
neither turnips nor clover, 'till its fertility was re*
ltored either by manure or by fallowing. And
fhould it be planted with wheat or barley only9

feverai

[ 41 ]

fcvcral years in fucccflion, 'till its ftrcrigtH
exhaufted, it would be equally incapable of I

ing any other fort of grain, roots, or gr.dfes, as
if it bad borne each in fua rding to the

llfual courfc of cropping; which thews that
fertility of land may be as COtnpl \haufted

by any one plant as by them all, which could not
poflibly happen, if the particles of nouriihment
each drew were only proper to each, and could
not be abforbed by any other.

It is true, fottie kinds of plants exhauft and
impoverifh the foil much fader than others; as
perhaps three crops of wheat would impoveriih
the land it grew on, as much or more than four
of barley; but yet, if planted with cither 'till it
would bear no longer, it would be found equally
incompetent to the growth of every other kind of
plant, excepting fuch unprofitable ones as are the
natural produce of ftcrile foils.

The true conclufion therefore is, if land be ex*
haufted, whether by the growth of one particular
kind of plant, or of many kinds in fucceflion,
its fertility mutt be reftorcd before it can bear
a profitable crop of any other kind of vegetable,
though it had not been planted with it for an age
before.

D 3 The

C 42 ]

The queftion ends with afking, <c Does the
" earth attract any thing inimical to vegetation?
" And if fo, what is it ?

That fome earths may be more favourable to
vegetation than others, and that fome may be im-
pregnated with fteely or other poifonous matter
that may be inimical to vegetation, is very eafy to
conceive ; but that a foil, in itfelf fertile, fhould
attract any thing from the plants that grow in it,
that is inimical to future vegetation, I cannot
conceive.

It is true, a very learned and ingenious member
(Dr. Percival) feemed to doubt, if I underftood
him right, whether the earth might not attract
fomething from the plants growing in it that might
be prejudicial to it; for, faid he, reafoning by
analogy, why is it not probable, that vegetables
in this refpect may fuffer like animals? For my
own part, I muft acknowledge, I do not know
that either the one or the other are fubjecl: to any
thing, during the different ftages of their growth,
that militates with or is inimical to their own
well-being.

Nor can I conceive what the obfervation means,
unlefs it be, that the refpiration and perfpiration

of

[ 43 3

of animal 1 when collected in a confined or

very clofe place, where little or no frcfli air
gain admittance, form a putrid atmofpherc too
noxious and deadly for animals to fubiiil in. In
this fenfc, indeed, vegetables may fuffer equally;
for freih air is as necelfary to fupport vegetable as
animal life, one being as incapable of fubiifting
without it as the other. But thefe evils rcfult
from accidental circumltanccs, and not from any
fixed law of nature, the wifeft provifion having
been made for clearing the air of noxious efflu-
via, and fupplying it univerfally with neceffary
vivifying principles.

According to fome late difcovcries in natural
philofophy, the (economy of nature, in thisrefpect,
is tranfcendently beautiful and aftonifhing; for
thofe excrementitious vapours that would foon
render the air putrid and poifonous, are quickly
abforbed by the vegetable kingdom, and the air
purified and made fit for refpiration.

The animal and vegetable kingdoms fcem to be
the mutual fupport of each other, with this diffe-
rence only; the latter is abfolutcly ncceflary to
the fupport of the former, but the former not to
the latter, it having a refource within itfelf, ami can
fubiiil without it, though evidently not to equal

advantage.

[ 44 ]

advantage. Thus vegetables arc the immediate
food of thofe animals which entirely fubiift upon
them, and mediately of the carnivorous race by
the fupport of thofe they live uporu

But though the vegetable kingdom is in a great
meafure fuftained by the animal, I mean thofe
raifed on lands in high cultivation, yet for the
molt part they might be fuftained by feeding on
their own itock; for vegetables, thoroughly re-
duced by putrifaction and difTblution, become the
proper pabulum and fupport of a new generation
of vegetables, but this is by no means the cafe in
refpedt to animals.

Analogy here then Teems to afford no founda-
tion for the opinion, that the earth may attract
fomething from the prefent growth of vegetables
inimical to the growth of. thofe which may fuc-
ceed them. Indeed the fuppofition involves a
contradiction j for it is within the compafs of every
one's knowledge, that land is frequently planted
with fome kinds of vegetables, to be ploughed in
by way of manure to promote the growth and fe-
cure a profitable crop of others. Thus buck-
wheat, rye, clover, and fometimes the green of
turnips, &c. are ploughed in to manure and pre-
pare the land for wheat, and perhaps, in many

cafes

C 45 ]

cafes and fituations, it is the cheapen1 and mod
profitable of all manures whatever; but if, as the

fuppofition dates, the earth, during the growth of
the prefent, con: .v difordcr that may prove

inimical to the liicecrding crop, the practice could
not produce the expected benefit, but mud prove
univerfally detrimental, which is contrary to all
experience.

The plain truth then feems to be this: — All fer-
tile foils contain panicles nccetfary to the growth
of vegetables. — All vegetables in their growth
necelTarily take from the earth as many of thofe
particles as are ufeful to their growth and fupport;
by which means the mod: fertile foil will in time
become poor, that is to fay, when it is exhaufted,
or nearly exhaufted, of fuch ncceffary particles.
But thefe neceilary particles may be fupplied, and
fertility refiored, by the growth of more vegeta-
bles, provided the crop be not taken off from the
land it grew on, but fuffered to remain upon it,
or rather at a proper ftage of its growth ploughed
into it. This clearly proves then, that the earth
docs not attract any thing inimical to vegetation
during the growth of plants, but that it is truly
enriched and improved by their growth, if they
are fuffered to remain there. After all, an inqui-
sitive mind may find fomething very furpriling in

an

[ 46 ]

an enquiry concerning the nourifhment and growth
of vegetables, and perhaps much more fo in re-
flect to animals.

Every one knows, that all richly cultivated
lands, whether fields or gardens, arc made fertile
by manure; and that the richeft of all manures
are thofe fubftances, whether animal or vegetable,
which have pafTed through the bodies of animals.
The excrements of animals then are the richeft
and mod nourifhing food of vegetables ; therefore
it is very reafonable to fuppofe, and experience
confirms it, that they attract them copioufly in
their fubtilized ftate as they float in the air. But
is it not truly aftonifhing, that materials, the moft
oftenfive and difgufting one can conceive, mould,
by the wonderful chemiftry of nature, be con-
verted into plants, leaves and flowers, moft curi-
oufly beautiful, which charm, delight, and ravifli
the tafte, the fight, and the fmell ?

Should we carry our fpeculations a little fur-
ther, our aftonifhment will be greatly increafed.
Of what does the nourilhment of man confift?
From what fource are his mod favourite viands
derived? Is it not eafy to conceive, or rather^ is
it poflible not to perceive, that a few months be-
fore they might exift under a form and in cir-

cumftances

C 47 ]

currvftances the mod loathfome and ofienfive.
Excrements the mod grofs and detefted may foon
aflume the plcafing verdure of a richly enamelled
field, be devoured by the bleating flock, and con-
veyed a fecond, yea, a tenth time into the fame
ftomach and bowels in the form and fubftancc of
the Mem of an innocent lamb. What a mortifying
confidcration this to the pride of a prince, who can
never be certain that the laft meal he made was
nor, and the next will not be, on the excrements of
a beggar; or, what is (till infinitely worfeand more
difgufting, on the putrid remains of a polluted
nymph, who made her lad groans in the horrid
manfions of the Lock !

Article V.

TO THE SECRETARY.

Sir, ' Caverulifi-Square) April 6, 1782.

ON my fhewing you Mr. Anderdon's anfwers
to fome queries I had put to him, you ex-
prefTed a defire to have them, that they might be
inferted in the fecond volume publifhed by the
focicty. I wrote to him for his approbation of
your propofal, and inclofe you his anfwer; and
I make no doubt but you will comply with the

terms

C 48 ]

terms* he requires. I have fent you a fair copy of
them for that purpofc.

I have introduced the Norfolk plough, with
great fuccefs, into our part of Wiltihire, making
fome fmall alterations therein; fo that I now only
ufe two horfes where I formerly ufed four; it will
foon become univerfal amongft us.

I am, youi 's fincerely,

W. L. JONES.

Queries propofed by Sir William Langham Jones,
Bart, to Robert Proclor Anderdon> Efq; with Mr.
Anderdon s Anjwers.

ift. \ T how much an acre does the adjacent
jljl land of the fame quality let?

idly. Are the ftones much, or any, impediment
to'the fuccefs of the experiments?

$dly. Does Mr. Anderdon think that the fame
advantages might be expedled from the horfe-
hoeing hufbandry when tried on flinty ground, as
from his ftoney land?

• Thefe terms were, that Mr. Anderdon fhould have the revifal
of his anfwers previous to their publication, which have been com-
plied with. '

+thly. At

[ 49 1

^thly. At what di (lance arc his rows of wheat,
and alfo the plants in each row?

v. Is the fame row planted every fecond or.
every third year?

dthly. Does he manure the ground ? If fo, how
often, and what is the manure he ufes ; and how
often in the year is the fallow ploughed ?

7//>/v. How many years has the wheat-field
been under this courfe of hufbandry ?

8/Wy. Does the faid field become more fertile
according to Mr. Tull's principles, though no
manure is put upon it; or does Mr. Anderdon
think that it is wprfted by fuch a mode of crop-
ping it?

ytbly. What may be the produce of an acre
thus tilled? And how much more does he think
it would produce, if cropped according to the
common mode of hufbandry?

lo/bly. If he thinks the berry [kernel] better
and heavier, and fo liable to fmut or H.ght, ai
if the land were tilled in the ufual manner?

E in

t so 1

nthly. Whether, on the whole, he has reafon
to prefer this new to the old mode of huibandry;
and whether he thinks any confiderable tracts of
land could be managed upon the principles of
the new huibandry ?

12/blj. With refpect to Mr. Anderdon's ex-
periments on graffes, Which does he think will
be the beft to feed fheep with; and how many
more will an acre of fuch grafs maintain, than it
would if in meadow, and cut and given to them
to eat?

i$thly. What grafs does he think belt for cows,
and what for horfes? And whether on the whole,
confidering the difference of the expence, it is an
object to turn good meadow or pafture ground
into fuch a mode of cultivation ?

i \thly. Whofe ploughs, &c. does Mr. Ander-
don ufe; and what authors does he recommend
to any defirous to try the horfe-hoeing and drill
huibandry?

ANSWERS.

17?. FROM five (hillings to twelve millings
per acre.

idly. The

C 5» 3

idly. The ftoncs in Mr. Anderdon's lands arc
calcarious; and he has an idea (but mud leave
it to chymifts and philofophers to decide upon
the fact) that their effervefcence, on the change of
weather, contributes to the fermentation neceflary
to vegetation.

%dly. Mr. A. has had no experience himfelf om
flinty land ; but unlefs the (tones are fo large as
to obftrucl. the operation of the plough and horfe-
hoe, he thinks fuch lands well adapted to the
horfe-hoeing huibandry, the loofe ftones, at leaft,
aflifting to keep them in a more conftantly plough-
able (late, (which is abfolutely neceflary to fuc-
ceed in that mode) and moft probably alfo aflifting
vegetation, in the manner fuppofed from the lime-
ftone, orotherwife.

^thly. He drills two rows, a foot afunder, on a
ridge five feet wide, of courfe leaving intervals
of four feet for horfe-hoeing. The feed is fhed
in the rows promifcuoufly, but regularly, by
Willy's drill-plough, at the rate of from two pecks
to a bufhel per acre; and he is of opinion, that
the medium between the two is preferable to ei-
ther extreme, if the land be well tilled, and the
feed fown in proper feafon, having due time for
the plants to tiller.

$tbfy. The

C 52 ]

$tbly. The wheat is drilled on the fame ground
every fecond year; and Mr. A. continued that
mode to advantage eleven fucceffive years, in the
ground above alluded to; his tenth crop produ-
cing eighteen bufhels an acre, and his eleventh
crop fixteen bufhels per acre, after great de varia-
tion from mice, the crop remaining in the mow
almoft two years.

6fbly. He manured the ground for the firft
crop with twelve hogfheads of lime per acre, and
eight putt or cart loads, of this country, of rot-
ten dung, to three acres and a quarter, at the ex-
pence of 20s. 4d. per acre. For the fixth crop
he manured again with twenty hogfheads of lime
an acre, mixed with forehead -earth* and the rub-
bifh of an old lime-kiln, at the expence of il. 19s.
an acre : And he ufed no other manure for eleven
crops, except about twenty loads of earth and
rubbifh at another time, on a fmall portion of
the field w7here the natural foil was remarkably
thin, which, if charged to the whole field, would
not be 2s. per acre at the utmoft : the whole ex-
pence of manure for the eleven years amounting
to nearly 5s. 7d. per acre per annum.

Mr. A. has fometimes ploughed or horfe-
hoed his alleys only twice during the growth of

his

• Head-lands digged up.

S3 ]

his crop, but it fhoukl be repeated three or four
times at lead; the earth cannot be kept in too
friable a ftate. When the Grop is in early enough,
and the weather will permit, (as this year 1781)
he has ploughed or horfe-hoed before Chriftmas;
then he ploughs again as early as he can in the
fpring; a third time when the ear begins to fwell
in the ftcm; and a fourth time immediately before
the blofTbm is come out, or as foon as it is gone:
And thefe four ploughings, or horfe-hoeings/ he
thinks abfolutely neceilary to do juftice to that
mode of hufbandry, yet is forry to fay, to his lofs,
he has feldom fully complied with them.

7/fr/v. Eleven years, as above; the' lafi: crop
was reaped in autumn 1779.

%thly. Mr. A. finds his ground, with the ma-
nure as above-mentioned, greatly improved, and
is of opinion, that, after the above mode of crop-
ping for eleven years, had he carried no manure
on the ground, it would have been rendered more
fertile than at the beginning; but he does not
think he fhould, in fuch a cafe, have had crops
fo profitable as with manure; yet he thinks it
abfolutely necefTary to avoid manuring fuper-
abundantly for wheat crops, left they mould run
to ftraw, and thereby become unprofitable.

Vol. II. E 9thly. The

[ 54 ]

ythly. The crops have been from nineteen
bufhels to nine per acre : the average of the
eleven crops fourteen bufhels per acre per annum.
The crops of wheat in the fame parifh, take the
good ground with the bad, (and fome runs to a
pound an acre) for the eleven years in queftion,
Mr A. has been well informed, were on an average
not more than fifteen bufhels an acre. It mould
be obferved, by the drill mode, you have the ad-
vantage of faving a bufhel or more of feed per acre,
as wTell as of having a wheat crop every year, and
keeping your ground clean and in good heart.

N. B. When the crop was only nine bufhels
an acre, it happened from fteeping the feed ac-
cording to Reynolds's method, which was over-
done, by which means two bufliels were increafed
to three, and a very wet feafon following, the feed
was in great part burft and deftroyed.

i otbly. The berry or grain is certainly larger,
fuller, and more perfect, confequently heavier in
every fenfe.*

As the fmut has not affected Mr. Anderdon's
crops, and attacks chiefly weak corn, and as you

• This perfectly ngrees with the accounts from Norfolk, of the
wheat crops that have been fet in that county.

may

C si ]

may in this mode of hufbnndry fow foon after
harveft, and horfe-hoc almoft at pleafure; he
thinks it mod likely to contribute to its preven-
tion, removal, or cure. Change of feed, and
brining it, are alfo recommended to prevent it.

For the blight, as there are feveral forts, arifing
for the mod part from poverty, all fuch Mr. A.
fuppofes the horfe-hoe might remedy; but as to
that fpecies which arifes from plenitude, he fup-
pofes this hufbandry muft be, in a degree, liable
to, as well as the old; yet he thinks frequent
horfe-hoeings, as they retard the immediate growth
and nattily running up of the plant, would in the
progrefs, if repeated with judgement, ftrengthen
the ftem, and abate, if not prevent, that weaken-
ing and falling of it, which might otherwife occur
from repletion and hafty growth.

J-Iis corn has been (lightly attacked by the ruft
or mildew, but never yet fo powerfully as his
neighbours in general at the fame time.

uthly. Mr. A. thinks the drill plough, judici-
oufly ufed, a very great acquifition to agriculture.
He is of opinion, from experience, that the ufe
of it is the beft method, not only for putting in
wheat feed in the horfe-hoeing or Tullian method,

E 2 but

C 56 3

but alfo when the whole field is feeded with that
grain, fovving it in fuch cafe in equidiftant rows,
nine or ten inches or a foot afunder. In that way,
it is beft too for feeding ground with barley,
oats, or vetches. The feed will be lefs, the crops
more certain and larger. It is alfo beft for put-
ting in turnip feed, and horfe (or tick) beans,
both of which he would recommend to be fown
in (ingle rows, three feet afunder, horfe-hocing
the intervals; peafe may be better fupported in
double rows, a foot afunder, on five-feet ridges.

Succeflive horfe-hoed crops of wheat are pro-
fitable; but he is rather inclined to think the
horfe- hoeing hufbandry would be mod profitably
carried on by a change of crops ; and that tur-
nips on a good fallow, drilled in fingle rows,
three feet afunder or more, 'till the ground is
in perfect tilth, would be a good crop to begin
with; and if dung or other manures can be had,
they can fcarcely, for that crop, be too plenti-
fully applied ; but on reclaiming large extents of
land, muft in great meafure be difpenfed with.
Then mould follow fuch drilled crops as beft
fuit the foil and fituation, and the farmer's occa-
fions, whether according to the Tullian mode,
or in equidiftant rows; and fhould it be barley
or oats, in the latter way, it will be remarkably

favourable

C 57 ] ,

favourable to the grafs feeds, if any are fown with
them. But a great refpecl and confideration
ht always to be had in favour of the Tullian
mode, bond the vaft advantage arifing from the
ground being ctaw fS \u-eds, which advances in
proportion to the length of time the ground
has b«e» well managed under that mode, and
not been made foul by carrying into it the feed
of weeds with dung or other manure: There-
fore Mr. A. ftrongly recommends it to the
fanner, whofe ground is well adapted to wheat
crops, to introduce them in the courfe of crops
in the Tullian mode, and to take two, three, or
four fucceiiive crops, which may as well be taken
as one.

Mr. A. is of opinion, there are in England
millions of acres of land uncultivated, and badly
cultivated, that would admit of being greatly
improved upon the principles of the New Hus-
bandry, not too haftily or incontiderately exer-
cifed. It always, in the firft place, requires a
fallow and perfect tilth; if very foul and rough,
it fhould have two years fallow before it is crop-
ped; and if very poor, it will require and pay
amply for fome manure, if attainable. But the
plough and manure may often be too much for
corn crops ; and it is abfolutely ncceflary to fuit

E 3 your

[ 58 ]

your crops to the nature of your foil, and the
ftate it is in. He imputes the fmall progrefs the
drill-plough has made in agriculture to the want
of attention to thofe particulars, arifing chiefly
from the adventurer's being too fanguine and
hafty to execute his new project, and actually do-
ing it before his ground is in order; of courfe
the crop fails, and the drill-plough is no more
heard of.

\ithly. Mr. A. is not acquainted with any
grafs fit to cut and give to fheep in preference
to their feeding on the ground allotted out to
them in parcels by hurdles, where convenient or
necefTary; for which purpofe he knows no artifi-
cial grafs fuperior to meadow. If lucerne or
fainfoin were cut and carried to them, they would
eat the leaves and not the ftem. But Mr. A.
thinks Burnet fo healthy a grafs for fheep, that he
earneftly recommends it to all farmers to inter-
fperfe fome of it in every field fovvn with grafs
feeds, to remain in pafturc; for he conceives it
to be warm and aftringent, having put fheep that
have fcoured into fuch of his fields as abound
with it, by which they have foon been vifibly
benefited. At the fame time Mr. A. as earneftly
difTuades farmers from fowing it alone, (unlefs to
fave their feed) becaufe he never found any cattle

fond

I 59 ]

fond of it alone ; but it pafTcs very well in com-
mon with other grafTcs.

I'pbly. For horfes, cows, and all black cattle,
to be cut and carried to them to eat, he thinks
Lucerne preferable to any other grafs ; and that
an acre of it in good ground, where it thrives
well, will, from early in May to Michaelmas,
maintain twice the number of cattle that an acre
ood meadow will. But the lucerne field is,
in elUct, a ftubble from Oclober to May.

Next to lucerne, for the above purpofe, comes
Sainfoin or Frcnch-grafs, but its produce in the
fummer is buc little more than half as much as
that of the lucerne; yet you may winter-feed the
fainfoin with flicep 'till Chriftmas, and with other
cattle 'till Candlemas; but if you flock it later in
thefpring, you deftroy your crop, the cattle eating
the crown of the root and killing the plant.

But for the cultivation of thefe, or any other
grafTes, by way of railing fodder for cattle; (or for
any other purpofes) Mr. A. has not an idea it
would anfwer to deftroy good meadow, or very
good pafhirc, which, from Candlemas to May,
(the fcarceft time of the year) is the mofr. valuable

of

I 60 3

of all, and ought to be held in the higheft efti-
mation.*

l^tbly. He ufes the patent plough for general
ploughing, and often in the intervals of his drilled
crops, but more frequently there lefTer ploughs,
nearly on the fame principle, fometimes with,
fometimes without a mould-board, according to
the ftate of the ground and the crop; — the Kentifh
fhim; — fometimes Hewitt's horfe-hoe; — at others
a kind of double cultivator or zull, with mould-
boards extendible at pleafure; — fmall harrows for
the intervals or alleys; — Willy's horfc drill-plough,
which he has ufed fifteen or fixteen years, with-
out the ex pence of fo many millings to keep it in
order. He alfo ufes a fpiky roller to reduce hia
heavy clay lands, when perfectly dry only.

As to books, Mr. A. would recommend Tull's
EfTay on the principles of Vegetation and Til-
lage, to learn the principles of the New Hufban-
dry, which are very rational, and in general well
explained by him; though his practice may pro-
bably be improveable by Jome change of crops,

* As to the virtues of Burnet : — Mr. A's cows, in a dry fum-
mer when grafs was fcarce in the meadows, were put into an old
hiily pafture, where burnet grows naturally, in cohfequence of
which the cows produced an amazing increafe of milk.

and

[ 6. 3

and Jome manure. He would alfo recommend
Dr. Home's principles of Agriculture and Vege-
tation; Dr. Hunter's Georgical EfTays; Randal's
Semi-Virgilian Hulbandry; Young's Tours, and
alfo his Experimental Agriculture; though he has
been very unfuccefsful in his (juvenile) attempts,
according to the Tuiiian mode, and differs from
Mr. A's prefent opinion, in refpect to the necef-
fary quantities of feed-wheat, in which he thinks
full, on a fair trial, well managed, on ground
in the neceifary perfection of tilth, would be
found nearer the mark: Nor ought Dr. Harm's
Kllays on Hulbandry to be forgotten. But Mr.
A. has preferred the fowing of lucerne in rows>
horfe-hoeing the intervals, to the Doctor's mode
of planting, and finds it anfwer well. He alfo
thinks Duhamel's and Chateauvieux's experiments
in Geneva, and Wynne Baker's in Ireland under
the direction of the Dublin Society, well worthy
the attention of every pupil in the drill hulbandry.

A*TICtf

C 62 ]

Article VI.

On

the Culture and Courfe of Crops proper for
heavy Clay Lands, and which are beft adapted
to render Fallozv unneceffary.

[By an Essex Farmer.]

Mr. Rack,

THE courfe of crops bed adapted to prevent
the neceflity of fallowing our heavy clayey-
lands is (with a little alteration) that you have
mentioned in your laft letter,* provided fuch lands
are rich enough to bear thofe crops. It is cer-
tainly a principal part of good husbandry to fuit
the land with an agreeable change or courfe of
crops: but fotne of our ftrong or ftiff clay lands
are (6 poor, that let the change be what it will,
if we take more than two crops after a good fal-
low, it impoverifhes the land to fuch a degree,
that a fummer fallow will not reftore it to its for-
mer ftate. Experience has fully proved that fuch
farmers as take but one crop, to a good fallow,
off fuch lands, find it anfwer their purpofe beft.
Many of our lands are fo poor, that the fecond
crop does not pay the ufual expence, confidering
how much it hurts the next fore crop.

» Sec Courfe of Crops in following letter.

An

. C 63 ]

An experienced farmer knows his land, com-
paratively fpcaking, as he knows his horfes. If
his horfes are in good condition, and occafion re-
quire it, they are able to go a double journey,
if nothing unufual befals them. In like manner
we know our lands, if they are in good condition,
and it pleafes God to fecond our endeavours with
a fuitable feafon, will yield a good crop; but if
we know that our land is not in condition to bear
a good crop, we had better fallow it. There is
no profit in a bad crop; for although it colts
little, it not only yields little, but leaves the land
in worfe condition than it was before fuch crop.
I now occupy a field which yielded me eight good
crops fucceflively in as many years ; though before
I took it, by being too often cropped, and by
carclefs management, it became fo foul as to pro-
duce only eight bufhels of wheat per acre. This
change was effedled by keeping it clean, by fca-
fonable ploughings, and a fuitable courfe of crops.
Firft, I made a fallow, and manured it with dung.
My courfe of crops were,

1. Turnips; 2. Barley; 3. Clover; 4. Wheat.

I then ploughed up the land, and gave it four
dry tilths, with a fowing tilth before I fowed it
in the fpring. My fifth crop was oats; the fixth,

clover

C 64 ] ,

clover and rye-grafs; the feventh, peafe; and the
eighth, barley. But this land lies near a large
town,* and had been mended with town-dung for
many years. I ploughed it as deep as the foil
would admit. The foil was a mixed one, confid-
ing of clay and under loam; and part of it had a
gravelly bottom, neither too dry nor too wet.

It appears to me, that in many inftances, it is
the fbitable mixture of manures that makes the
improvement, rather than any thing elfe we can
account for.

We find the chalk and clay are as poor foils
as any we know of: Yet I have found that by
mixing thefe properly, and laying fuitable quan-
tities on as poor land as any in EfTex, the land
yielded as good a crop as any I ever ploughed.
I am therefore of the opinion there might in the
fame manner be found a proper manure for our
ftirT clays; and when it is made rich enough, the
courfe of crops you have mentioned would do
very welL

I am trying experiments to find a proper mix-
ture of manures for this purpofe; and when I
have fatisfied myfelf, I will inform you what it is.

• Booking.

I fcave

C 6j ]

I have fecn oivour poor lands a courfe of crops
that have anfwered as well as could be expected
for Cut h foils. After a good fallow,

1 Barley, 4 Vetches, fed all fummer,

2 Clover, fed all futnmcr or as long as there was

3 Wheat feed.

Then, by ploughing, get it into good order for bar*
ley, and fome for wheat; which, by this agreeable
change, did beyond expectation.

I am, &x.

J. L.

Article VIII.

Extraft of a Letter from Arthur Toung, Efqi
to the Secretary.

BradfieM-Hal], Nov. 27, 1782.
Mr. Rack,

r I ^HE Turnip Hufbandry, wherever well in-
-*• troduced, has proved equal to the great
objed of the entire exclufion of the fummer fal-
lows, and is one leading ftep to the fetting them
univerfally afide.

I can

C 66 ]

I can eafily conceive that, as Hufbandry im-
proves in your counties, fummer fallowing, oftener
than common, will be efteemed an improvement;
and an improvement with which your farmers,
like thofe of Scotland, may fet down contented.

But it ought to be a great object with the Bath
Society, to attempt at once perfeft hufbandry,
which may poflibly be as eafily introduced as the
other. This perfect hufbandry is to banifh fal-
lows from wet ftrong lands, as turnips have ba-
nifhed them from dry ones.

The only general crop that will effe& this, is
Beans. Suppofe, therefore, the Society mould
offer a premium for a courfe of crops to render
fummer fallowing unnecefTary on ftrong lands,
leaving the rotation of crops tc the candidate;
only fpecifying the following as praclifed in dif-
ferent parts of the kingdom with great fuccefs :

1 Beans i Beans i Cabbages

2 Wheat 1 0ats 2 Oats

3 Beans 3 Clover 3 Clover

4 Wheat 4 Wheat 4 Wheat

5 Beans 5 Beans 5 Beans

6 Wheat 6 Oats 6 Wheat

With

[ 67 1

With refpectto wheat, if the land be good, the
mere article ofleflening the quantity of feed, fa
profufely thrown away in the broadcaft method,
will increafe the crop. But would not this effect
arife from fimply fowing a lefs quantity, as it is
much cheaper than fctting by hand ? Much more,
might I afk, would it not flow from Mr. Ducket's
huibandry? That of trenching (very mallow)
clover leys, fo as to admit his furrowing plough,
and by that means drill as fmall a portion as you
plcafe, at nine inches equidiftant.

Till this experiment is made very accurately,
I am only convinced, that the farmers hitherto
have ufed too much feed, and that fowing lefs is
beneficial. The pradice of fetting by hand does
not fpread much here, but in Norfolk it does.

I am, with great regard,

Your mod obedient fervant,

ARTHUR YOUNG.

ARTlCLg

C 68 ]

Article IX.
Account of a Crop of Potatoes raifed in 1782.
[By a Gentleman Farmer in Wiltmire.]

Mr. Rack,

JN compliance with your requeft, I fend you an
account of the culture and produce of a field
of potatoes laft year.

The field was four acres and a half, the foil
very poor, being light, loofe, and fandy, not worth
more than 1 os. per acre ; it had been laid down
with grafs two years. In January, I carried on
ten waggon loads of dung per acre; and the month
following folded it over with my fheep, and then
ploughed it as deep as the ground would bear,
and harrowed it fmooth.

In March I planted my potatoes, 18 bufhels
per acre: I had them cut in two, three, or four
pieces, according to their fize, and let them in
with iron bars, in ranks two feet afunder, and one
foot diftant in the ranks. They were of the large
white kind, with large eyes, but I know not the
name. Soon after they were up I had them hand-
hoed,

I 69 ]

hoed, and a little while after horfe-hoed them.
The horlc-hoc I 11 fed was fo confrrudted as to
earth the in up at the fame time, and performed
the work fo well, that I think it contributed
greatly to the fucceis oi* the crop. Nothing more,
was done 'till the latter end of October, when I
began taking them up.

The produce was four hundred and eighty
bufliels per acre, or one hundred and fixty facks.
Any pcrfon bringing facks, and taking them on
the fpot, had them for four ihillings per fack.

The cxpences of feed, planting, cutting, hoe-
ing, and taking up, were as follows per acre ;

£■ '• d.

Eighteen bufliels planted per acre, at 2s. — « 116 o

Cutting the faid 1 8 buihels 060

Hand-hoeing 4s. horfe-hoeing 2s. per acre 060

Planting per acre 080

Expence of taking up per acre 280

Total £.5 4 o

N. B. The expence of pitting and carrying

home not included.

Produce 160 facks per . acre, reckoned onhn

at+S. ufack f32 ? °

Vol. II. F I wifli

C 70 ]

I wifli it were in the Society's power to recom-
mend ftrongly and effectually the culture of at
leaft an acre or two of potatoes annually in every
parifh* for the ufe of the poor only; as they could
not be faid to want food, if they had a plenty of
this valuable root.

I am, &c.

Feb. 27, 1783,

J. A.

Article X.

On the Virtue of AJhes as a Manure.

[By a Correfpondent Member.]

Gentlemen-,

FROM the enquiries I made when at Bath laft
winter, I find that afhes are but little ufed as
a manure in the Weitern Counties. As I have
fome reafon to believe this neglect is owing to the

• We cannot but earneftly recommend this gentleman's propofal
as an exceeding good one. Were country parifhes, where the
poor are numerous, to plant potatoes at their own charge, and
have them delivered out as a part of the weekly allowance made to
paupers, it might have a good effect, and be the cheapeft method
©f relieviug many of the poor, ia winter efpecially.

ufe

C v 1

ufe and virtue of afhes not being generally known,
J beg leave to otter you a fevr remarks on the fub-
jeft, wliich arife both from my own obfervation,
and from the accounts given by thofe who have
experienced the advantages arilinj from the ufe of
afhes judicioufly applied to their lands.

All afhes produced from vegetible bodies con-
tain fixed fait, blended with the earth) particles;
and from thefc it is, that the alkaline falts, called
pot-afh, pcarl-afh, &c. are extracted.

Mortimfr tells us, that afhes of all kinds con-
tain in them a very rich fertile fait, and that,
therefore, they are the bed of any manures for
cold land, efpecially if kept dry, and the falts be
not wafhed away by the rains. One load of dry
attics will be equally efficacious with -two loads
that have been kept wet. Two loads of the for-
mer will be fufficient for an acre. And that they
are very efficacious is experienced by many per-
fons in the Eaftcjm and Northern counties, where
great improvement has been made by burning
ferny ftubble, bean (talks, heath, furze, and ledge.

Coal-afhes are fomewhat different in their na-
ture, and being of a calcarious quality, are par-
ticularly beneficial to four ftirT foils: — for this
F 2 purpofe

[

]

purpofe they aite very fuccefsfully ufed in the

neighbourhood
other great cities
fuel. They

as

)f London, Norwich, and fome

where coals are generally burnt

open and meliorate clayey lands,

and correct theirjungenial qualities.

They are
order grounds
earth; as is well
London.

like vife very ufeful in bringing into
fhich have been dug for brick
known in the neighbourhood of

they plough th
fow horfe- beans

After fpreadir r thefe afhes on the clay bottoms,

m in, not very deep, and then
or fometimes lay them down

with ray-grafs, which moftly fucceeds very well.

Mortimer and Bradley both agree, that fea-
coal allies are the beft and moft lading manure
for cold lands ; and the fitted to kill worms and
other infects.

Even fo early as in Mr. Worlidge's time they
were looked upon as excellent compoft, when
mixed with hoirfe-dung. And he tells us, that
they kill mofs and rullies in moift grounds.

Ames from kilns, where ftraw and furze arc
burnt, are a very good manure for moft kinds of

foil.

[ 73 ]

foil. Many farmers ufe them as a top-d reding
for corn and grafs, but they fhould never be laid
on in windy weather. They fucceed bed juft
before rain or fnow falls, as thefe warn them into
the foil.

Peat-afhes are alfo a very good manure, efpe-
cially if mixed with lime before they are fpread.

Ellis, in his Modern Husbandry, has judici-
oufly obferved, that there is a confidcrable diffe-
rence between the afhes of lean peat and thofe of
the fatty kind.

If barley be fown fo late as in May, lean peat
allies in particular rhay be applied over it, or
harrowed in with the grain. But afhes burnt
from fat black peat, fuch as is dug about New-
bury in Berkfhire, and in fome parts of the Ifle
of Ely, are of fo fulphureous a nature, that far-
mers are afraid to lay them on their barley; nor
do they drefs their wheat with them till late in
the fpring.

The earth, of which thefe rich afhes are made,
is taken from a black moorifh ground, with nar-
row wooden fcoops, which bring it out in the
form of a long brick. After being dried, they
F 3 are

[ 74 ]

arc burnt in large heaps, admitting as little air to
the fire as poflible.

The great ufe of thefe afhes was difcovered near
eighty years ago; but, like fome other things,
they foon fell into difgrace by injudicious ma-
nagement; fome people imprudently laid them
on their lands in too large quantity at a time, by
which means their corn was burnt. But after-
wards they found that about eight bufhels were
fufficient to be fown over an acre of wheat, peafe,
turnips, clover, rape, or fainfoin; and this as
early as poflible.

Thefe afhes contain at lead double the quantity
of fulphur that is found in any other. And
therefore, if fown too thick, and a dry feafon
fhould enfue, they are apt to burn the tender fi-
bres of the corn. They deflroy Hugs, on peafe
crops and other grain, better than any thing. But
no danger need be feared from the afhes of peat
or turf which grow on fandy bottoms, and con-
tain the roots of thyme and heath.

Soap-afhes are a compofition of wood-afhes and
lime, which remain after the foap-makers have
drawn off their ley or lees.

Two

C 75 ]

Two loads of thefe allies are fufficient for an
acre of arable land; and by the afliftance of this
manure, the ground will not only yield a large
crop, but may be Town condantly without fal-
lowing for many years together. They fhould be
laid on in the beginning of winter, that the rain
may the more eaiily diflblve and warn them in.
Sir Hugh Plait tells us, that by manuring a
piece of barren land in Middlefex with thefe allies,
in the year 1 594, he obtained an excellent crop of
fummcr barley.

I have in many experiments found great advan-
tage from the foaper's allies on cold four meadow
land, and am fully convinced, that if any farmer
can procure them, including carriage, at the ex-
pence of twelve millings a waggon load, they will
be the c heaped and mod profitable manure he can
lay onfuch foils.

I am, &c.

J.B.

Article

c 76 a

Article XI.

From the Rev. Mr. Swayne, of Pucklechurch, Glocefler-
Jhire> with Specimencs of Grafs Seeds.

Mr. Rack,

THE parcels which accompany this contain a
quantity of the fine Bent Grafs feed in the
blade, and a little of the Crefted Dog's-tail; which,
with what I have before tranfmitted to you, com-
plete a fmall collection of the grafs feeds, for
which a premium has been offered by the Society
for thefe three years pad.

The difficulty of collecting them has been
much greater than I at fird apprehended. But as
a feparate cultivation of the good grades appears
to me to be a great dedderatum in the fydem of
agricultural improvements, and as the Society
had hitherto failed of obtaining any feed to be-
gin their experiments with, I was determined to
procure, this feafon, if poflible, fome feed of each
of the forts advertifed in the Society's lift.

In this purfuit, from the earlieft part of the
fpring, I made my obfervations on the feveral
grades, as they occurred to me in my walks about

• the

[ 77 ]

the fields. I remarked thofe particular fields and
meadows where each fort grew in the greater!:
abundance. I picked fpecimens of each when in
full bloom, and carefully compared them (being
myfelf but a novice in Botany) with the defcrip-
tions of the grades given in Dr. Withering's
Botanical arrangement. I examined them in their
growth from time to time, and, when ripe, at-
tended to the gathering them witfi unremitting
application.

Had I not taken thefe methods, notwithstand-
ing my great defire to accomplish this my fa-
vourite fcheme, I mould, moft probably, have
been unfuccefsful ; or, if not w holly unfuccefs-
ful, fliould have collected fo fmali a quantity as
would have been unworthy of the Society's ac-
ceptance : for the early grafles, fuch as the Annual
Poa, Vernal and Meadow Foxtail, though very
confpicuous when in bloflbm, and indeed more
fo than many other grades ; yet, when their feeds
ripen, are wholly overtopped, and almoft obfeured
by the tall oat, rough cockfpur, meadow fefcue,
and other fuyounding grafles, which being na-
turally of a taller growth* and fpringing in a
warmer feafon, confequently vegetate with much
greater luxuriance.

If

C 7« ]

If I had neglected to cultivate an intimate
acquaintance with them in their flowering ftate,
I fhouki, mod likely, have been deceived by
their appearance at feed time, and have gathered
improper fpecies. This I fufpected, and there-
fore took that neceflary precaution to guard
^againft it. Befides, the feeds of molt of the grafTes
fall from the hulks within a very fhort time after
they are ripe, and many of them before to ap-
pearance they are fo: fo that if they are not care-
fully and conftantly watched, a few days neglect
will deprive you of the opportunity of collecting
them for the whole feafon. This, I am afraid,
will prove an obftacle not eafily to be furmounted
in the cultivation of fome of thefe grafTes ; though
there are others of them, which I believe will be
found the mod valuable, that do not come under
this predicament.

Even with all my care and attention I have not
fucceeded to my wifhes. I could have wifhed to
have prefented to the Society a much larger col-
lection of the whole; being apprehenfive, from
the total deficiency of former years, that I fliall
at prefent prove to be the only labourer in this
harveft. But there is one fort, viz. the Meadow
Foxtail, in which I have been particularly unfor-
tunate; and this, through a defect: which I had

no

[ 79 1

no fufpicion of at the time of its bloflbming. At
that time I had remarked this fpecies to be pc.
culiarly beautiful and fiourifliing; but, on rub-
bing out the hulks, when I judged the feed to
be approaching to ripenefs, I found almoft every
feed-vcfTcl occupied by a foft fubftance, of a deep
yellow or orange colour, no ways refembling a
feed. On applying the microfcope, this fubftance
proved to be a congeries of animalcules; which,
being (hook out on a fheet of white paper, and
feparated from each other, difplayed the exact
fhape and motion of thofe infects which are often-
times found in hams and bacon, and which are
known among houfewives by the name of hop-
pers. The flies likewife, which thefe caterpilllars
produce, were found to be very like the hopper-
flies, only infinitely fmaller.

I examined this grafs on many different foils
and (ituations, but it ftill prefented the fame ap-
pearance. This deterred me from any farther
attempts to collect it this feafon; as it had been
to no purpofe to have .gathered a large quantity
of draw, without the chance of obtaining fome
feed from it.

Whether it is ufual for it to be infefted with
thefe infects in every feafon, I am not at prefent

able

C 80 ]

able to difcover. But this I am allured of, that if
it be not an extraordinary circumfiance, it will for
ever prevent the railing of this grafs by feed from
becoming a general operation in agriculture.

i
I beg leave to fubjoin a few remarks on each of
the grafles I have collected, in the order they
were found to ripen, with the view that they may
probably be of fome little ufe to the perfon who
is to direct: the cultivation of them.

* lft. The firft was the Annual Poa.

Of this I gathered a quantity fo early as the
month of April. Its feeds drop off before they are
dry, and to appearance before they are ripe. The
utmoft care is therefore ncceifary in gathering the
blades, without which very few of the feeds will
be faved. It ripens from the middle of April, to
fo late, I believe, as the end of October; but
moftly difappears in the middle of the fummer.
It grows in any foil and fituation, but rather af-
fects the made.

idly. The fecond was the Vernal.

This colt me more labour and time in collect-
ing, than either of the other forts, owing to its
being furrounded with taller graffes at the time of
its ripening, and being almoft hid among them.

If

[ 8i 3

If it be not carefully watched when nearly ripe,
and gathered within a few days after it comes to
maturity, great part of the feed will be lo(r.
The twifted eladick awns, which adhere to the
feed, lift them out of their receptacles with the
lead motion from the wind, even while the draw
and ear remain quite erect. It was found moflly
in the moid parts of meadows ; very little of it on
dry padures. It flowers about the beginning of
May; and is ripe about the middle of June.

%dly. The Meadow Foxtail.

This occurred in mod meadows, particularly
near hedges. It flowers fomewhat later than the
Vernal, and is ripe the latter end of June.

4/Wy. The Flote Fescue.

This was found only in pools, wet ditches, and
other very fpringy places. Its feeds drop off with
the lead touch, before they are nearly dry. It
flowers the latter end of May, and is ripe in June.

Sthly. The Great Poa.

This grafs affects chiefly the dry parts of mea-
dows; though it is to be found on mod good
padurcs. It is more retentive of its feeds than
either of the grades I have met with; it may

therefore

t 82 1

therefore be fuffered to remain 'till the ftalks are
quite dry. It bloflbms the beginning of June,
and its feeds are ripe in July.

6th!y. The Common Poa.

This I mould rather call the Great Poa; the
flowering ftalks being of a much taller growth
than the former: but this the Linnaean fyftem
forbids. One of the fpecifick characters of the
Common Poa [Poa trivialis] in that fyftem is, that
it contains only three florets in each little fpike,
which perfectly agrees with this grafs: whereas
the Great Poa [Poa Pratenjis] is defcribed as con-
taining Jive, which anfwers to the former. I have
obferved this grafs to grow in great abundance,
even to the exclufion of almoft all other kinds, in
thofe places in meadows over which the water
has been conftantly flowing the whole winter.

I am quite of opinion that this is the grafs
which the very ingenious Mr. Anderson, in his
Difquilitions on Agriculture, wifhes to diftinguifh
by the name of the Vernal foft Grafs, and which
he is certainly miftaken in fuppofing to be the
HoIchs Lanatus of Hudfon.

This very accurate defcription leaves me no
room to doubt that it is this \cry grafs, viz. the

Common

L 83 ]

Common Poa. The cicumdance of its flouriih-
ing fo much when almoft condantly overflown*
feems to premife, that it will prove a mod valuable
grafs for water meadows. It flowGrs the beginning
of June, though fomething later than the former,
and ripens the beginning of July. The panni-
cle and (talks may not be permitted to (land till
they are dry like the former, but mud be gathered
before the feeds are fcarcely ripe, or the greateft
part of them will be fcattered on the ground.

Ithly. The Sheep's Fescue.

I apprehend this to be the mod valuable graft
of all. It was obferved to grow and thrive on
lands o f all qualities and in all fituations, from
the dried upland padures, to the very moid parts
of meadows. It does not part with its feeds till
fome time after they are ripe, and even quite dry.
It makes the thicked and clofed pile of any * of
them, and fends up but few flower-dalks in pro-
portion to its leaves. I am almod perfuaded,
that this grafs will hereafter become as generally
cultivated as Ray-grafs is at prefent. It flowers
in June, and is ripe in July.

%th!y. The Meadow Fescue.

This was found univcrfally in meadows and
rich padures ; it is rather a coarfe grafs, and does

not

C 84 ]

not retain its feeds near fo well as the former.
It flowers in June, and is ripe in July.

ythly. The Yellow Oat.

This abounded chiefly in dry paftures. It re-
tains its feed better than fome other of the grafTes;
flowers in June, and is ripe in July.

lothly. The Crested Dog's-Tail.

This is a very common grafs, affecting rather
dry land ; and is the eafieft of the whole group to
collect a quantity of feed from. It flowers in
June, and is ripe in July.

Laftly. The Fine Bent.

This grafs, the fecond in the Society's lift,
flowers and ripens its feed the lateft of them all.
It feems to be loft the former part of the year,
but vegetates luxuriantly towards the autumn.
It appears to be fond of moift ground. It retains
its feed till full ripe; flowers the latter end of
July, and is ripe the latter end of Auguft.

I am, your humble fervant,

G. SWAYNE.

Pucklechurch, Sept. 15, 17B1.

P. S. I have

C «5 3
P. S. I have prcfcrved fpecimens of the above
grades, and fevcral others collected this fummcr,
which I fliall beg your acceptance of, as foon as
an opportunity prefents itfclf of transmitting them
with fafety.*

Article XII.

On watering Meadows -, and the Kinds of Water
found mojl efficacious for that Purpofe.

PiddktMtiy March 8, 1783.
SIR,

MY experience and knowledge of the fubjecl:
you are, in the name of the Society, fo flat-
tering as to requeft me to give, are very much at
their fervice.

To the queftion, " What water do the farmers
" in your county prefer?" 1 can eaiily anfwer,
<c That which has run fome courfe, particularly

• Thefc Specimens, with confiderable additions, have fince beta
lent to the Society, and an honorary Premium of a piece of Plate,
value Ten Guineas, unanimoufly voted at the Annual Meeting ia
1786, and prefented « to the Rev. George Swayne, for his cle-
* gant fpecimens of GraiTcs and collection of Grafs Seeds/'

Vol, II. G when

[ 86 -\

when it has been aflifted by the run of farm-yards,
arable-lands, fheep- Heights," &c. &c. This is the
general opinion of the watermen and farmers
here; they all agree that the lefs the water is
ftrained, and the nearer they take it from the
river, the better it is, and the more it enriches
the meadows, particularly when aflifted by the
run of yards, &c.

When they are aflced to explain " What they
mean by being lefs ftrained?" They fay, it is when
the water is taken immediately out of the river,
ftream, &c. and conveyed upon the land, running
direclly off by the drains into the river again.
If, inftead of returning into the river, it be again
conveyed upon the lands below, and thus repeated,
it is then faid to have been ftrained, and not fo
efficacious; but if it be taken out of the ftream
again, after it has run fome way in the courfe, it
is then called head-water, and ufed with fuccefs.
This is nearly the general idea of the country. I
own it has never been fatisfa&ory to me, and I
juft hinted as much in the EfTay.

If an enquiry be made, " Where, and which
" are the beft water-meadows?" The anfwer is,
Thofe above us. Enquire there: Thofe above us
are better than ours, for the water has not been fo

much

C 87 1

much Jlrained. This muft, if repeated, foon carry
us very near the fpring-head.

I beg to be underftood, that when I mention
the fpring-head) the particular fpot where the
fpring rifes is not meant, but as far below it as
there is any appearance of fprings in or near the
bed of the ftream, which will oftentimes in fmall
rivulets be one, two, or more miles, below the
fpring-head. Nor is there a moment's doubt but
that at a very confiderable diftance below, there
are many very good water-meadows equal to thofe
higher up, but not in general; the variety of foil,
(for fome may be found better there than at the
fpring-head) and other local circumftances, I pre-
fume, occafion it.

This fubject has often engaged my attention
when I have been in meadows formed of a variety
of foils. Every one readily admits, that the fame
water, at the fame time, will have different effects
upon different foils; fuch as, a cold clay; a warm
fand, or gravel; and a boggy, deep, corky foil;
therefore fomething muft be attributed to the foil.

To explain myfelf more fully, I beg leave to
clafs the lands capable of being watered by fmall
ftreams, or rivulets, into three divifions.

G 2 The

C 88 3

The firft, are thofe lands which lie at or near
the fpring-head. The foil of this divifion is ge-
nerally a light loam, tolerably firm though wet,
and not more than from fix inches to a foot deep;
the under-ftratum a fpringy gravel. This clafs (as
I faid before) extends often much farther down the
Ilream in fome vales than others.

The fecond divifion I begin to diftinguifh where
the foil gets deeper and heavier, often inclining
to a clay or clayey loam, with fome gravel in it.
(This fpecies is very cold, a!id the graffcs fpring
late.) Under this clafs may be reckoned a black,
fpungy, loofe, corky foil; the ftrcam here (which
before was fmall) becomes larger confiderably, and
the lands on each fide, which before were narrow,
now fpread to a confiderable breadth. Under this
divifion the larger quantity of water-meadow in
this country falls.

The third divifion is compofed of thofe lands
which lie flat, the foil very deep and loofe, often
a morafs, the bed of the river a bottomlefs ooze; a
wear cannot well be ereded acrofs it, nor the water
drained off; little ufe is therefore ever made of it.

Upon lands of the firft divifion, the water,
though moftly perfe&ly clear, iffuing immedi-
ately

C 89 ]

atcly from the fprings, and without any foreign
affiilance, has an amazing effect; the fertilizing
quality is really aftonifhing. Meadows under this
defcription, if eaten quite bare in the month of
May, will, in jive, J/x, or /even weeks, have as
much grafs in them as the mower can throw out
with his fey the;* from one to two and often three
good waggon-loads an acre. Add to this, the
herbage being better, is of more value, and the
meadows juftly efteemed the bed.

Lands of the fecond divifion are certainly greatly
benefited by the water being thrown over them,
perhaps as much as the other, confidering the dif-
ference of the two foils in their natural (late.
This water having received all the advantages of
the run of farm-yards, ftreet dirt, arable lands, &c.
the produce is very great. The quality, and in-
deed the quantity, is (I believe) always in propor-
tion better or worfe, as the foil and fituation ap-
proach the firft or third divifion.

Lands under the third defcription, I have had
no experience in. I have hardly ever heard that
any thing is made of them. Their produce is
rufhes, fedge, and a coarfe three-fquare grafs.

* Half-a-crown an acre is the price generally given for mowing.

G 3 I think

[ 90 ]

I think it reafonable to believe, that the fecond
divifion of land is greatly improved by the water's
having been aflifted by the adventitious increafe of
the running of farm-yards, &c. falling into it in its
paffage. And it is probable, that the firfl divifion
•would be improved, if the fecond divifion of water
could be conveyed upon it ; but whether equally fo
as with its own water, is a queftion.

I think I am juftified in faying, that the fecond
fort of land would be vaftly improved by the firfl:
divifion of water being thrown over it. I ground
my opinion upon an obfervation I have frequently
made, that in a feries of dry weather, when the
ftream from the fprings, as I imagine, could not
have received any foreign aid, being conveyed over
lands of the fecond divifion, and as clear as if it
had ifTued immediately from the fpring-head, the
vegetative powers, particularly if in warm weather,
have been fo wonderfully exerted, that in a few days
a beautiful verdure has fucceeded a parched rufty
appearance. Here I think a queftion arifes,
" Whether the foil, or the quality of the water,
contribute moft to make the firfl: divifion of land
better than the fecond?" And I fhould be very
glad to fee a rcafon given, why perfectly clear wa-
ter being thrown over the meadows in the warm
months, and kept there a few days too long, not

ftagnated,

[ 9i ]

ftagnated, (hould, when drawn off, leave a thick
fcum upon the grafs, which foon becomes fo glu-
tinous, as to attain a fubftance not unlike white
lqather ?

I have juft feen a letter from Mr. Young, fay-
ing, that Dr. Priestley has given a new theory
of vegetation, by his phlogifton, contrary to his
opinion ; and as the Dodlor quoted page 1 1 of the
Treatife on Water-Meadows, in fupport of it,
Mr. Young wifhes me to inform him, " Whether
I did not know inftanccs to the contrary?" I am
by no means equal to the tafk of entering into the
merits of the difpute. My experience juftifies
me to declare, that I have feen as great improve-
ment upon land watered with quite clear water
as I ever did by thick muddy water.

I have had the pleafure to fee a copy of Mr,
Wimpey's letter to you: I am happy to find the
fubjecT: treated in fo mafterly a manner; and am
not furprized to find him differ fo much from
me in what he fays upon land fprings; they proba-
bly have not fallen fo much under his obfervation.
I write from fads that are every day under my eye.

You will be pleafed to obferve, upon the whole,
I by no means declare that the run of farm-yards,

L 9* ]

&c. is not aflifting; quite the reverfe: I believe
it does a great deal. All I contend for is, that
clear water appears at and near the fpring-head to
have every advantage the other has below, and that
the quantity of herbage is greater, and the quality
better. The reafon I fubmit to the curious; but,
viewed in every light, the quantity of land of the
firft divifion is fo fmali compared with the fecond,
that in point of national utility there can be no
doubt.

And I candidly own, that there are fprings
Wiling out of the bogs in heaths, of which no ufe
is made, becaufe, they Jay », the water has no enrich-
ing quality belonging to it ; but there the foil is a
deep bog inclining to a morafs, and, excepting in
the winter, little water iflues out.

I am, Sir,

Your moft obedient humble fervant,

GEORGE BOSWELL.

P. S. The part of the country I am fituated in
is every where furrounded by chalk hills, fome near
the fprings, and no where more than two miles
diftant (vifible.)

Article

I

C 93 3

Article XIII.

On divers Articles of Norfolk Hujbandry.

[By a Gentleman Farmer near Norwich.]

Dear Sir,

N anfwer to your enquiry about the fetting of
wheat: — From my own obfervations near home,
and the information of others from different parts
of this county, I find it is become general, and this
year almoft univerfal, owing in part, perhaps, to
the high price that grain now bears.

We have neither hit upon, nor indeed attempted
any other courfe of crops on our ftrong heavy lands
than thofe we pra&ife on our light foils. Turnips
well hoed twice are equally cultivated upon both,
and without any material inconvenience to the far-
mer, or injury to the land. On the light foils, we
feed them oif with flock in the field where they
grow: On heavy wet lands, we draw them and
carry them off in light carts, to be eaten either in
fome grafs or unploughed Hubble field, or in the
houfes or yards at home.

I prefer the latter practice much, and have al-
ways ufed it, although the greater part of my farm

would

t 94 ]

would very well admit of feeding them where they
grow. My reafons for preferring this latter method
are, that there is no wafte of the turnips ; — that the
food comes equally frefh to the beafts every day; —
that the protection from cold and wet weather,
which the cattle enjoy in houfes, or well fenced and
fhedded yards, (as mine are) contributes very much
to their health and fattening, (much more fo, in-
deed, than is generally conceived ;) and that by this
means I collect and preferve all their dung to be
laid on fuch fields, and at fuch times as will be
moft beneficial to the enfuing crops. Thefe advan-
tages are all loft in the method of feeding off the
turnips on the fields ; for even half the dung of
the beafts, feeding in the fields in the depth of win-
ter, is loft by being dropt under the hedges or trees,
to which, after filling themfelves, they flee for fhel-
ter and warmth.

The expence of carting away an acre of turnips
depends on the goodnefs of the crop, and is from
ten to fifteen fhillings; which, although it is much
more than faved in the prefervation of the turnips
from wafte, yet inclines the covetous and indolent
to feed them off the land ; for they flatter them-
felves they have no wafte while they have lean
fheep or bullocks, which will eat up the offal that
the fat ones have left, not confidering how much

better

[ 95 ]

better their fecond or lean flock would thrive with
clean and frefh food.

You afk me, if beans and wheat, alternately,
would not obviate the neceflity of fallowing heavy
lands, and prove for a confiderable length of time
a beneficial mode of cropping the ground. As I
have not experienced the practice, I can only con-
jecture, and tell you, that fome little time fince I
intended to have tried the experiment on two pieces
of (tiff wet ground, which I have laid tografs; and
that I have very little doubt but that, if the bean
crops be fometimes manured for, and always well
hoed, this mode would be a moil profitable one,
and, for any reafon I can fee to the contrary, might
endure forever; but (till, as it does not raife winter
food for cattle, I mud, for the fake of their dung,
prefer turnips to it, wherever they can be raifed.

I am, Sir,

with finccre regard and efteem,

Your moll humble fervant,

T. B.

Article

[ 96 ]

Arlicle XIV.

On the Cultivation of Barley.

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Norfolk.

Gentlemen, £ — m, Jan. 4, 1781.

THE method of raifing barley is in general
fa well underftood, that it may perhaps be
thought impertinent in me to offer any thing on
that head. But as the gaining a knowledge of the
different modes of practice in different counties
feems to be one part of your defign, I will take the
liberty of fending you a few hints relative to this
branch of huibandry.

The bed foil for barley is that which is dry and
healthy, rather light than ftiff, but yet of fufficient
tenacity and ftrength to retain the moifture. On
this kind of land the grain is always the beft-bodied
and coloured, the nimbleft in the hand, and has
the thinned rind. Thefe are qualities which re-
commend it moil to the maltfter. If the land be
poor, it mould be dry and warm ; and when fo, it
will often bear better corn than richer land in a
cold and wet fituation.

In

C 97 ]

In the choice of your feed it is needful to ob-
ferve, that the bed is of a pale lively colour, and
brightifh cad, without any deep rednefs, or black
tinge at the tail. If the rind be a little fhrivelled,
it is the better: for that flight flirivelling proves
it to have a thin (kin, and to have fweated in the
mow. The necefllty of a change of feed, by not
fowing two years together what grew on the fame
foil, is not in any part of hufbandry more evident
than in the culture of this grain, which, if not
frequently changed, will grow coarfer and coarfer
every fucceeding year.

It has generally been thought that feed-barley
would be benefited by deeping; but liming it
has, in many inflances, been found prejudicial.
Sprinkling a little foot with the water in which
it is deeped, has been of great fervice, as it will
fecure the feed from infects. In a very dry feed-
time, barley, that has been wetted for malting,
and begins to fprout, will come up fooner, and
produce as good a crop as any other.

If you fow after a fallow, plough three times at
lead. At the fird ploughing, lay your land up
in fmall ridges, and let it remain fo during the
winter, for the frod lo mellow it; the fecond
ploughing fliould be the beginning of February.

In

[ 98 3

In March fplit the ridges, and lay the land as flat
as poflible, at the fame time harrowing it fine.
But in ftrong wet lands (if you have no other for
barley) lay it round, and make deep furrows to
receive the water.

I have often taken the following method with
fuccefs: On lands tolerably, manured, I fowed
clover with my barley, which I reaped at harveft ;
and fed the clover all the following winter, and
from fpring to July, when I fallowed it till the
following fpring, and then fowed it with barley
and clever as before. Repeating this method every
year, I had very large crops: but I would not re-
commend this practice on poor light land.

We fow on our lighted lands in April, on our
moid lands in May; finding that thofe lands which
are the mod fubject to weeds produce the bed
crops when fown late.

The common method is to fow the barley-feed
broadcad at two fowings; the fird harrowed in
once, the fecond twice; the ufual allowance from
three to four bufhels per acre. But if farmers
could be prevailed on to alter this practice, they
would foon find their account in it. Were only
half the quantity fown equally, the produce would

be

I 99 ]

be greater, and the corn lefs liable to lodge: for
when corn (lands very clofe, the (talks are drawn
up weak, and on that account are lefs capable of
refitting the force of winds, or fupporting them-
felves under heavy rains.

From our great fuccefs in fetting and drilling
wheat, fome of our farmers tried thefe methods
with barley, but did not find it anfwer their ex-
pectations, except on very rich land.

I have myfelf had eighty (talks on one root of
barley, which all produced good and long ears,
and the grain was better than any other; but the
method is too expenfive for general practice. In
poor land, fow thin, or your crop will be worth
little. Farmers who do not reafon on the matter,
will be of a different opinion; but the fact is in-
difputable.

When the barley is fown and harrowed in, the
land mould be rolled after the firft fhower of rain,
to break the clods. This will clofe the earth about
the roots, which will be a great advantage to it in
dry weather.

When the barley has been up three weeks or a
month, it is a very good way to roll it again with

a heavy

£ ioo ]

a heavy roller, which will prevent the fun and air
from penetrating the ground to the injury of the
roots. This rolling before it branches out, will alfo
caufe it to tiller into a greater number of ftalks; fo
that if the plants be thin, the ground will be thereby
filled, and the ftalks ftrengthened.

If the blade grows too rank, as it fometimes
will in a warm wet fpring, mowing is a much
better method than feeding it down with fheep,
becaufe the fey the takes off only the rank tops;
but the fheep, being fond of the fweet end of the
ftalk next the root, will often bite {o clofe as to
injure its future growth.

By attending to what I here recommend, many
of our farmers ufually get forty bufhels of barley
per acre from land of no extraordinary quality.
On fome that is rich, I have had fifty-two bufhels
without manure; but I never fow more than ten,
and often only eight pecks of feed per acre.

lam, &c.

J. S.

' >'

Article

Article XV.

On the Advantages of cultivating Turnips^
Scotch Cabbage^ Lucerne^ &c.

[By a Gentleman Fanner in Hertfordfhire.]

Gentlemen, H — n, March 6, 1781.

BEING difappointed of feeing your fecretary
when I was at Bath laft month, I take the
liberty of communicating by letter, a few obfer-
vations, which I intended to have made to him,
on the number of cattle and fheep which may be
fed on crops of turnips, turnip-rooted cabbages,
and Scotch cabbages, of a certain given weight,
by which the comparative value of fuch crops may
be accurately eftimated.

When fheep are allowed as many turnips as they
will eat, (which mould always be the cafe while
they are fattening) they will on an average confumc
near twenty pounds each, in 24 hours.

An acre of turnips twice hoed will, if the land
be good, produce about fifty tons; which will
on the above calculation, maintain one hundred

Vol. II. H fheep

C 102 ]

fheep fifty-two days. My fheep weigh in general
twenty pounds a quarter.

Turnip-rooted cabbage will produce from
twenty-five to thirty tons per acre; and for Spring-
feed are certainly the mod valuable crop within
the whole circle of hufbandry. They are invul-
nerable to froft, either in or out of the ground.
When farmers are in the greateil diftrefs for fheep-
feed, during the months of March and April,
thefe are an unfailing fupply, and afford more
milk for the lambs than any other food whatfo-
ever. They are alfo a firmer and more fubftan-
tial food than turnips, even if the latter could
be had good in that feafon. I have kept them
out of the ground near twelve months, through
the extremes of heat and cold ; and at the end
of that time, a very few excepted, they were all
found.

As the roots of this plant are firmly fixed in
the earth, it is leaft trouble to feed them off; but
if you want to plough early, they may be drawn
with a prong, and, if thrown on a dry pafture,
they will keep equally good for fheep in the
fpring. An acre of turnip-rooted cabbage will
maintain one hundred fheep a month, and fome-
times five weeks.

Scotch

[ w>3 3

Scotch cabbages, if they be the true flat-topt
firm kind, are never affected by froft, a few of
the outfide leaves excepted. On land not worth
more than twelve (hillings per acre, I have had
fifty-four tons per acre. . An ox will in common
eat about two hundred pounds in 24 hours. —
Twenty oxen therefore may be kept near five
weeks on an acre of cabbages of that weight; but
as the crops in general are not fb large, we will
reckon only a month, which will be cheaper than
a fcore of oxen can be kept on any other food.

A fheep of twenty pounds a quarter will eat
fifteen pounds of Scotch cabbages in twenty-four
hours. An acre will therefore maintain two hun-
dred fheep a full month.

When cows and oxen are fed with cabbages,
their dung is more in proportion than when fed
with turnips, which go off more in urine; or than
with hay, which is of too dry a fubftance. If the
cabbages are planted in rows three feet apart, the
intervals may eafily be kept free from weeds by
the horfe-hoe, and the roots of the plants will
receive great benefit by the ground being thus
loofened about them. Cabbages, being a melio-
rating crop, do not impoverifh the land nearly (6
much as grain,

H 2 I will

[ l<>4 ]

I will now add a few remarks on Lucerne, a
plant which merits every poflible encouragement.
Some years fincc I divided a field of two acres
into four parts, and fowed it with Lucerne, in the
following manner:

i ft part, in drills three feet afunder.
2d part, in drills two feet ditto.

3d part, in drills one foot ditto.

4th part, broadcaft.

The foil was equal throughout the field. The
feed was fown on the 24th of April; on the ]6th
of Auguft I cut the whole field, and weighed the
produce of each part feparately.

That fown in three-feet drills produced only
about half the weight of that fown broadcaft, and
the reft in proportion, leffening as the width of
the rows increafed. Having been taught to be-
lieve, that the three-feet drills would produce moft,
I was difappointed in finding that crop to be the
leaft of any in the field, and too haftily repro-
bated the drill method of fowing it. I was how-
ever advifed by a gentleman, who underftood the
culture of this grafs better than myfelf, to let the
whole field remain three years, to give it a fair

trial,

[ ios ]

trial, before I paiTed judgment. I did fo. The
fecond year the difference was greatly in favour of
the three-feet drills; and in the fourth year they
had a very decided fuperiority. I then found the
true Hate of the cafe to be as follows: —

During the firft year the plants in every part of
the field were nearly equal in goodnefs; but as
there was a much greater number of them on an
equal fpace of ground in the part fown broadcaft,
the crop mud of courfe be heavieft there; thefe
plants being as good the firft year as afterwards.
But in the courfe of three years, the plants in
the three- feet drills became much ftronger, fpread
amazingly, and nearly filled up the fpaces between
them; the produce of one root being more than
that of any ten roots in the broadcaft part, which
by (landing too clofe were impoverifhed, and
could not increafe in bulk like the others.

In the fourth year, the produce of the three-
feet drills was more than double the broadcaft,
and being adapted to the horfe-hoe, were kept
free from weeds, and earthed up at a fmall expence
in comparifon of the other.

At the end of the fourth year, I ploughed up
the broadcaft part, and planted itafrefh with roots

H 3 from

[ io6 ]

from the one-foot drills, in rows three feet apart.
The firft feafon I thought they feemed ftunted,
and would come to nothing, but the following
fpring they fhot forth vigoroufly, and were nearly
cquai to the other.

Tranfplanted Lucerne never produces any thing
the firft feafon; but in the fecond, it is generally
as good as that of three years growth which has
never been moved.

Weeds are the greateft enemy to Lucerne; and
the eafieft and cheapeft way of keeping the crop
clean, is to fow it in drills of fufficient width to
admit the horfe-hoe; which not only deftroys
them at the leaft pofTible expence, but greatly
promotes the growth of the plants, by earthing
them up in the operation.

I am, &c.

J.D.

Article

[ 107 3

Article XVI.

On the Utility of thofe Clubs called by the Name
of Friendly Societies, /';; Country Pari/bes.

Gentlemen,

1HAVE been a Subfcriber to your Society from
its firft Inftitution, although, from the remote-
nefs of my fituation, it has not been in my power
to attend more than one of your meetings. Ha-
ving however conftantly received your Annual
Premium Books, I have with pleafure feen a num-
ber of the premiums judicioufly offered, not only far
the advancement of Agriculture, Planting, &c. but
alfo as rewards for long-continued Induftry and
good Behaviour in Servants, &c.

As I venerate every attempt, either in Societies
or in Individuals, to promote ufeful knowledge,
improvements in the neceflary arts, and happi-
nefs in collective and civil Society, I wilh to
point out one fubjecl: which feems in a particular
manner to merit your attention and encourage-
ment:

This is, the eftabliftiment of Parochial Friendly
Societies among handicrafts-men and poor labour-
ers.

C 'OS 3

ers. Where thefc have been eftablifhcd, and con-
ducted by prudent rules and regulations, they have
proved very comfortable rcfources to many indivi-
duals, when age or affliction has difqualified them
for labour, and alfo leffened parochial expences.

The Funds raifed by thefe Societies may be
confidered as fo much money faved from the ale-
houfe, to be applied in times of neceflity to the
beft of purpofes; and as each member contributes
only three-pence a week, it is fcarcely felt by indi-
viduals. But the advantage and relief which /even
Jhillings a week affords to the fck, the lame, and
the aged, is very comfortable; and they are thereby
freed from the painful neceflity of applying to
their parifhes for fupport.

As thefe Friendly Societies are founded on one of
the wifeft maxims in the code of human policy;
— namely, that it is cafily in the power of the many
to help the few ; I think they merit publick encou-
ragement and fupport. Therefore if your finances
will admit, you cannot, perhaps, beftow a few
guineas better than in offering a premium to the
following import: —

u That a premium of guineas will be

given to the mod numerous Society of this kind,

of

[ J°9 ]

of not lefs than forty members, which (hall, within
the year 1783, be eftablifhed by labourers and
handicrafts-men, in any country town or parifli
where no fuch Society is at prefent inftituted.
The faid premium to be claimed as foon as the
faid Society, of not lefs than forty members, has
fubiiftcd one year.

" All claims to be accompanied with a certi-
ficate figned by the Minifter and Churchwardens
of the parifh, containing an account of the num-
ber of actual members, and their names and occu-
pations."

I have pre fumed to offer the above propofal on
this principle, that whatever tends to make our
labouring poor induftrious and good ceconomifts,
while in health, and to render them comfortable
when under affliction, is worthy your confideration ;
and that thefe Friendly Clubs or Societies have fuch
a tendency is, I think, felf-evident.

A poor man, flattered with the hope of receiving
feven (hillings per week in any future ficknefs,
will either work extra hours for the three-pence
he has to pay, or fave it from the ale-houfe. After
he has been fome years a member, it becomes ha-
bitual, and the fear of lofing all the money he has'

paid

paid in, by forfeiting all the advantage he as a
member is entitled to in cafe of accidents or illnefs,
will operate ftrongly in preventing him from de-
clining his fubfeription.

I have talked with many poor men who are
members of fuch Societies, and they all tell me
they live as well as before, and find no difference
at the year's end from having paid three-pence a
week to their Club; — to ufe their own language,
u they don t feel it." — But in times of ficknefs, when
they could not labour, they have joyfully felt the
comforts which their little public fund yielded them.

You will pardon me, Gentlemen, for dwelling fo
long on the fubjeel:; but as it ftrikes me forcibly,
I wifh to imprefs your minds with correfpondent
ideas of its utility.

I am, yours, &c.
Wilts. J. B.

[The |fociety fully agree in opinion with this benevolent correfpon-
dent, refpecling the utility of Friendly Societies amongft the poor,
and proper attention will be paid to his letter previous to the publica-
tion of their next lift of premiums.!

Article

C '» 3

Article XVIL

SUNDRY HINTS,
Communicated by different Correfpondents.

Gentlemen,

IN the year 1740, the Sieur de la Revere, at
Paris, obtained a patent for making flannels,
velvets, and other fluffs, of the cottony down of
the Apocynum, or Dog's-bane. When I was in
France about the year 1767, 1 faw fome of this
manufactory, and found that it anfwered very well,
cfpccially when a little wool was mixed with it
before fpinning.

I alfo found that this cotton had long been
highly efteemed there for fluffing eafy chairs, fet-
tees, and (tools, and alfo for quilts, which ren-
dered them very light and warm, the down being
very elaftick.

The great quantities of this down or cotton
which our hedge-rows produce every autumn,
might, I think, be applied to fome fuch ufes in
this country, as it appears to be of the fame kind
as that ufed in France.

I beg

[ "2 ]

I beg leave, therefore, to propofe, that your
Society may direct a trial to be made; and if it
fucceeds, that a premium may be offered for bring-
ing it into common ufe.

W.I.

Trifling as the fubjecT on which I addrefs
you may at firft view appear, 1 flatter myfelf you
will not deem me impertinent in wifhing to have
a remedy pointed out for an inconvenience which
has long been felt and complained of.

Gravel walks are fome of the mod ufeful and
necelTary ornaments in gentlemen's gardens; but
the difficulty of keeping them clear from green mqfs
is very great.

I therefore fubmit to your confideration whe-
ther it might not be expedient for you to offer a
fmall premium for the difcovery of a cheap, eafy,
and effectual method of deftroying it, and pre-
venting its growth.

A GARDENER.

I am of the opinion that crops of graffes, as
well as grain, might be much improved, and the

quantity

L "3 ]

quantity confiderably increafed, by a change of
(oil and littiation, or, in other words, by changing
the feed.

I fome years fince fowed a fmall field with marl
grafs feed, which I procured from a gentleman
in Kent, and the crop was much fuperior to that
of another field fown with the fame kind of grafs
which had been raifed in the neighbourhood; al-
though the foil, and the quantity of feed fown per
acre, were the fame.
I

There are myfteries in the nature and progrels
of vegetation, which no theory can account for^
While the effects are evident, the caufe remains
inexplicable. Experience therefore is our beft
director, and that feems uniformly to prove the
utility of a change of feed in almoft every pro-
duction of our fields as well as gardens.

J. W.

The following compofuion being an excellent
colouring for pales, gates, rails, barns, and other
outhoufe doors, &c. I take the liberty of recom-
mending it to your Society in particular, and to
the publick in general : —

Melt

[ "4 ]

Melt twelve ounces of refin in an iron pot or
kettle; add three gallons of train oil, and three
or four rolls of brimftone; and when the refin
as much Spanifh brown, or red, or yellow oker,
and brimftone are melted and become thin, add
(or any other colour you want) fir ft ground fine
with fome of the oil, as will give the whole as
deep a fhade as you like. Then lay it on with a
brufh as hot and thin as you can. Some days after
the firft coat is dried, give it a fecond. It will pre-
ferve plank for ages, and keep the weather from
driving through brick-work.

W. T.

As a proof of the furprifing advantages that
attend the planting or fowing wheat in drills, and
the immenfe faving of feed by that method, I beg
leave to mention the following inftance, which
fell within my own obfervation ; —

Some years fince, Mr. Wheatly, of Morden,
in the county of Cambridge, planted an acre of
land with wheat, leaving a foot fpace between
every two kernels : The whole acre took up half
a peck and one pint of feed, and the produce was
thirty-nine bulhels.

Many

[ Wj 3

Many of our beft farmers are now got into the
method of planting their wheat as they do in Nor-
folk, and their fuccefs has overcome the mod
obf linage prejudices which the common people en-
tertained againft fo excellent a practice. They
generally plant about two pecks per acre by hand,
and moftly on clover lays, at five (hillings and fix-
pence expence. Your fociety can never turn their
attention to a more interefting object ihan the ren-
dering this practice general; and fb far as their
endeavours to extend it are fuccefsful, they will
deferve the thanks of the nation.

R. M.

To preferve Seedling Turnips from the Fly.

To a quart of turnip-feed add one ounce of
brimftone finely powdered, putting both into a
bottle large enough to afford room to fhake them
well together every day for four or five days previous
to fowing ; keep the bottle well corked. This has
by long experience been proved never to fail.

G. K.

Method of dejlroying Weevils in Wheat.

Monsieur de Brosses, firft Prefident of the
Parliament of Dijon in France, finding that the

infects

in feds called Weevils had got among fome wheat
at one of his farms, tried almoft every method to
get rid of them, but in vain, for his granaries
ftill continued infefted with this voracious infect.
At length, being informed of a method to deftroy
them, which was quite fimple, and not expenfive,
and which had been practifed with fuccefs in the
province of Poictou, he fet about it in the folio w-
lowing manner :

He got fome live lobfters, which he threw on
the wheat that was infefted, and in four hours time
the weevils came out from all parts, difperfing
themfelves over the wTalls in fuch numbers, that in
many places they were quite black with them ; and
by this means they were all eafily deftroyed.

The fmell of lobfters, particularly if left till
they (link, always proves fatal to thefe infects, and
yet will not in the leaft affect the corn. This
remedy fhould be ufed as foon as the weevils
appear, or begin to make their nefls.

Article

C "7 ]

Article XVIII.
On the Rot in Sheep.
[By a Gentleman Fanner near GMonbury.]
Centlemev,

HAVING examined many fheep infedled with
the difeafe in the liver called the rot, I beg
pcrmiilion to trouble you with a few remarks
thereon, and which are principally intended to
excite farther enquiry into the nature of this fatal
malady.

That it is occafioned by the infects found in
the liver, and which are called flukes, is very
evident: but to account for their coming into the
liver is not fo eafy.

I am of the opinion that they arc fwallowed
with the flieep's food while in the egg ftate. The
common, or moft obvious objection to that opinion
is, that this infedl is never found but in the liver,
or fome parts of the vifcera, of fheep that are
difeafed more or lefs* and that they muft there-
fore be bred there.

Vol. II. I But

C "8 ]

But this objection will lofe its force, when we
confider that many infects undergo feveral changes,
and exift under forms extremely different from
each other. Some of them may therefore appear,
and be well known under one fhape, and not known
to be the fame under a fecond or third. The fluke
may be the laft ftate of fome aquatic animal which
we at prefent very well know under one or other
of its previous forms.

If this be admitted, it is eafy to conceive that
fheep may, on wet ground efpecially, take multi-
tudes of thefe ova, or eggs, in with their food;
and that the ftomach and vifcera of the fheep
being a proper nidus for them, they of courfe
hatch, and, appearing in their fluke or laft ftate,
feed on the liver of the animal, and occafion this
diforder.

On killing a fheep lately, which was feemingly
in good health, I examined the vifcera carefully,
and in fome of the paflages leading to the liver,
(which appeared turgid) I found a whitifh thick
liquor, which appeared to be all in motion. On
applying a pocket glafs, I found it contain thou-
fands of thefe flukes, which were apparently juft
hatched, and about the fize of mites. Thefe, if
the fheep had not been killed, would probably

have

[ "9 3

have foon obtained their ufual fize, and proved its
deftruction.

I am therefore of the opinion, that if experi-
ments were made by fome of the faculty, to dis-
cover what would moft fpeedily kill thefe infects
when taken frefli and alive from a difcafed liver,
it might lead to the difcovery of fomething that
might have the fame effect when given internally
as a medicine. We find worms can be deftroyed
in the bodies of animals, and why not the fluke in
the liver of a fheep?

Mr. Miller fays, that parfley is a good remedy
for the rot in fheep: Suppofe a ftrong decoction of
this plant, or the oil extracted from its feed, were
given to thofc difeafed, it might pofllbly be of fervice.

I am, 6cc.

J. C.

Street, near Glaflonbury.

I 2 Article

[ I2° ]

Article XIX.

On laying down Fields to Grafs, and the Kinds
of Graffes mofl valuable.

[By a Correfpondent in Suffolk, to the Secretary.]
Sir,

IN anfwer to your enquiries refpecting our me-
thod of laying down fields to grafs, and the
feveral ipecies of grafTes mofl: profitable, be pleafed
to accept the following remarks, which I hope will
not be wholly unfatisfactory to your ingenious and
publick-fpirited Society.

The latter end of Auguft, or the beginning of
September, is the beft feafon for fowing grafs-
feeds, as there is time for the roots of the young
plants to fix themfelves before the fharp frofts fet
in. It is fcarce neceffary to fay, that moift wea-
ther is bell for fowing; the earth being then warm,
the feeds will vegetate immediately; but if this fea-
fon prove unfavourable, they will do very well the
middle of March following.

If you would have fine pafture, never fow on
foul land. On the contrary, plough it well, and
clear it from the roots of couch-grafs, reftharrow,
fern, broom, and all other noxious weeds. If

thefc

[ "I ]

thefe arc fuftercd to remain, they will foon get
above, and deftroy your young grafs. Rake thefe
up in heaps, and burn them on the land, and
fpread the afhes as a manure. Thefe ploughings
and harrowings fliould be repeated in dry wea-
ther. And if the foil be clayey and wet, make
fome under-drains to carry off the water, which,
if fuffcred to remain, will not only chill the grafs,
but make it four. Before fowing, lay the land as
level and fine as pofiible. If your grafs-feeds arc
clean, (which mould always be the cafe) three
buftiels will be fufficient per acre. When fown,
harrow it in gently, and roll it with a wooden
roller. When it comes up, fill up all the bare
fpots by frefli feed, which, if rolled to fix it, will
foon come up, and overtake the reft.

In Norfolk they fow clover with their graffes,
particularly with ray-grafs; but this fliould not
be done, except when the land is deiigned for
grafs only three or four years, becaufe neither of
thefe kinds will laft long in the land. Where
you intend it for a continuance, it is better to
mix only fmali white Dutch clover, or marie
grafs, with your other grafs feed, and not more
than eight pounds to an acre. Thefe are abiding
plants, fpread clofe on the furfacc, and make tlic
ell feed of any for cattle. In the following
1 3 fpring^

[ I22 ]

fpring, root up the thirties, hemlock, or any large
plants that appear. The doing this while the
ground is foft enough to permit your drawing
them by the roots, and before they feed, will fave
you infinite trouble afterwards.

The common method of proceeding in laying
down fields to grafs . is extremely injudicious.
Some fow barley with their grafTes, which they
fuppofe to be ufeful in fhading them, without
confidering how much the corn draws away the
nourifhment from the land.

Others take their feeds from a foul hay-rick,
by which means, befides filling the land with
rubbifh and weeds, what they intend for dry foils
may have come from moift, where it grew natu^
rally, and vice verfa. The confequence is, that
the ground, inftead of being covered with a good
thick fward, is filled with plants unnatural to it.
The kinds of grafs which 1 would choofe to cul-
tivate in pafture lands, are, the Annual Meadow,
Creeping and fine Bent, the Fox-tails, the Crefted
Dog's-tail, the Poas, the Fefcues, the Vernal
Oat-grafs, and the Ray or Rye-grafs. I do not,
however, approve of fowing all thefe kinds toge-
ther; for not to mention their ripening at diffe-
rent times, by which means you can never cut

. {hern

[ i*3 3

them all in perfection and full vigour, no kind of
cattle is fond of all alike.

Horfts will fcarccly eat hay which oxen and
cows will thrive upon; fheep are particularly fond
of fome kinds, and refufe others. The Darnel-
grafs, if not cut before feveral of the other kind?
are ripe, becomes fo hard and wiry in the ftalks,
that few cattle care to eat it.

Such gentlemen as wifh a particular account of
the above-mentioned grafles, will be amply grati-
fied in confulting Mr. Stillingfleet on this fub-
jecfl. He has treated it with great judgment and
accuracy, and thofe who follow his directions in the
choice of their grafles will be under no fmall ob-
ligation to him for the valuable information he has
given them.

The principal thing in the choice of grafles is,
to fow only fuch in the fame field as ripen nearly
at the fame time.* By this means you will get
finer hay than by any other method, and have
much lefs trouble in making it.

I am, your mod humble fervant,

.:. i

* Of what kinds thefe are, the reader will find an account in tho
Hcv. Mr. Swajne'i Ycry ingenious letter, page 76 of this volume*

Article XX.
On the Culture of Rape, or Cole.
[From a Correfpondent Member in Eflex.]
Gentlemen,

PURSUANT to your requeft, I take the ear-
lieft opportunity of giving you an. account
of the method in which rape-feed is cultivated in
this county, where it is raifed in large quantities,
and to great advantage.

This plant will do on almoft any foil, but fuc-
ceeds beft on thofe that are deep, with a clayey
bottom, with manure and deep ploughing.

We generally plough up the fallow early in the
fpring, and let it lie till the latter end of March.
We then plough it again, after which we harrow
it down, and lay on a coat of manure. After this
is fpread, we crofs-plough it again in May, and
get it in fine tilth by the end of June.

About the firft of July, or the firft rain after
that time, we fow the feed, about half a peck on
an acre. The feed is fcattered with three fingers
broadcaft, and the land lightly harrowed and rolled.

In

C "5 ]

In September, we hoe it in the manner we do
turnips, fetting the plants out at about a foot
diftance, and clear out the weeds. This hoeing
cofts three ihillings an acre, but it renders the
plants much ftronger than they otherwife would
be, and makes them produce more feed.

If any part of the field mifs, we fill it up with
plants from the thicker part, in the latter end of
O&ober, or beginning of November, which an-.
fwers much better than tranfplanting them in
January; for in the latter cafe, fliould a fharp
froft fucceed, they would be moftly killed from
not being rooted; otherwife the fevered froft in
this climate will not injure them.

The produce is from three to fix quarters per
acre, and the price laft year was from twenty to
twenty-two pounds per laft.

The plants when young are in great danger from
flugs, who prey on them voracioufly. The beft
way of preventing this is to ftrew over the plants
a mixture of flaked lime, and wood-afhes; ten
bulhels of lime, and fifteen of afhes, are enough
for an acre. This not only deftroys the infects,
but promotes the growth of the orop greatly, fo
that it gets to a ftrong head before winter.

I 3 ^

In the month of September, we cut and threfh
it on a floor made in' the field, and covered with
a large cloth or waggon- tilt. The Itraw and chaff
are burnt for the fake of the afhes; but fometimes,
when the ftalks are very il'ong, we ufe them for
inclofing fences in our farm-yards, to proteft: the
cattle from winds in winter.

The idea that rape impoverifhes the foil feems
to be a mi (taken one; for we get very good crops
of wheat after it. This plant mould not, however,
be fown two years together on the fame land. It
always does beft after beans, turnips, or cabbages.

Mod of our farmers let the reaping, threfhing,
dreffing, and putting the feed up for market, to-
gether with making' the floor, at fix-pence per
bufhel; and when the crop is good, the men make
great wages of it at that rate.

If the feed be large, black, and free from red
ones, we reckon it good. If the crop be kept long
before it is fold, it mould be laid very dry, other-
wife it will lofe its colour, and be much damaged.

Some of our farmers fow rape-feed merely for
the fake of the winter-feed it affords our cattle.
It is the mod flattering of any winter feed for

fheep.

C 127 ]

fliecp. They will thrive more on rape-feed plants
in one month, than on turnips in two, if put in
foon after Michaelmas. In this cafe, when the
crop is fed off, we plough it up early in the fpring,
and always have a good crop of barley. But this
method is not generally pradrifed; for it requires
great care and pains to clear the land of the rape-
feed plants, which would, if not dcflroycd, foon
grow up above the barley, and injure the crop.
And befides, whenever rape-feed is at a tolerable
price, it is not making the moft of it to feed it off.

There is one thing to be obferved in ploughing
for rape, which in general is little attended to; and
that is, when you plough for fowing, plough north
and fouth, if your field will admit of it; and then
the land when fown will lie full faced to the fun,
:\m\ receive a greater fhare of its influence.

The greatclt inconvenience that attends this
plant is, that its ftraw is neither good for (lover
or manure; but we burn it into pot-alh to tole«*
rablc profit.

If thefc few hints prove in any degree fatisfac-
tory, it will give pleafure to

Your's, &c.

JJirch near Colchcitcr. J. B.

Article

C »8 3

Article XXI.

On the Cultivation of Burnet.
[From a Correfpondent in Kent, to the Secretary.]

Sir, Jan. 15, 1783.

YOUR letter of December 20, reached me in
due courfe, wherein you inform me that
Burnet is a grafs but little cultivated in Somer-
fetfhire, and requeft my thoughts on its ufefulnefs.
I fhall at all times be happy in communicating
any thing that may tend to promote the views of
a Society eftablifhcd on fo liberal a plan as that of
Bath; and therefore it is with pleafure that I com-
ply with your wilhes, fo far as the knowledge of
the fubjedt will admit.

Burnet is not generally cultivated in this county;
but fome of our moil intelligent farmers have
railed it of late years with confiderable fuccefs.

I apprehend that one principal caufe of its not
having been more attended to, is the goodnefs
of our foil, which will produce other crops that
in general pay better than Burnet. But this is a
rcaibn which ought not to operate in countries

which

[ I29 ]

which abound with poor land, to which this plant
II better adapted than many others.

The ^cultivation of this grafs is attended with
one principal advantage, bcfidcs that of not re-
quiring a rich foil; which is, that it proves an
c\ beD cut winter pafture when hardly any thing
die vegetates.

I might indeed mention feveral others; touit,
It makes good butter. It never blows or fwclls
cattle. It is fine pafturage for fheep; and will
flouriih well on poor, light, fandy, or ftony foils,
or even on dry chalk hills.

The cultivation of it is neither hazardous nor
expenfivc. If the land be prepared as is gene-
rally done for turnips, there is no danger of its
failing. After the firft year, it will be attended
with very little expence, as the Hat circular fpread
of its leaves will keep down, or prevent the growth
of wetfds.

On the failure of turnips, either from the fly,
or the black worm, fome of our farmers have
fown the land with Burnet, and in March follow-
ing had a fine pafture for fheep and lambs.

It

[ w* ]

It will perfect its feed twice in a fummer; and
this feed is faid to be as good as oats for horfes;
but it is too valuable to be applied to that ufe.

It is fometimes fovvn late in the fpring with
oats and barley, and fucceeds very well : but we
moftly fow it fingly in the beginning of July,
when there is a profpecl of rain, on a fmall piece
of land ; and in October following, tranfplant it
in rows two feet apart, and about a foot diftant
in the rows. This is a proper diihmce, and gives
opportunity for hoeing the intervals in the fuc-
ceeding fpring and fummer.

After it is fed down with cattle, it fhould be
harrowed clean. Some horfes will not eat it freely
at nrft, but in two or three days they are generally
very fond of it.

It affords rich pleafant milk, and in great plenty.

A gentleman farmer near Maid (tone fome years
fince fowed four acres, as foon as the crop of oats
was got off, which was the latter end of Auguft.
He threw in twelve pounds of feed per acre,
broadeaft; and no rain falling until the middle
of September, the plants did not appear before
the latter end of that month. There was how-
ever

I V 1

ever a good crop, and in the fpring he fet the
plants out with a turnip-hoe, leaving them about
a foot diftant from each other. But I prefer the
drill method, as it faves more than half the feed.
The land was a poor dry gravel, not worth three
(hillings an acre for any thing elfe.

The fevered froft never injures this plant; and
the oftcner it is fed the thicker are its leaves, which
fpring conftantly from its root.

With refpect to the drill hufbandry, it is much
on the increafe with us both in wheat and turnips,
and fucceeds to admiration. Many of our belt
farmers adopt the Norfolk method, and hoe be-
tween the rows, which is found fo advantageous,
that it mud certainly in time make its way over
the whole kingdom.

We often fow turnips between the rows of drilled
beans, which fucceed well, as the beans do not
check their growth.

I am, Sir,
Your mod obedient fervant,

H.D.

Article

[ *3* ]

Article XXII.

Cultivation of Madder recommended.

[By a Gentleman in Dorfetihire.J
Gentlemen,

BEING a fincere friend to your inftitution, I
beg leave to communicate a few thoughts on
your premium for the cultivation of Madder;
which I think is a very juft one, for two reafons:

Firft\ It is certainly confident with true na-
tional policy, to cultivate every thing confumed
cither in food or manufactures, to which our foil
and climate is favourable. And fecondly, becaufe
Madder, while it yields a confiderable profit to
the planter, cleans and meliorates the foil in a
remarkable degree.

The vaft fums annually paid to the Dutch for
this article, proves the neceility, in point of found
policy, that we are under of railing it at home.
The too commonly received idea, that we cannot
equal the Hollanders in this branch of agricul-
ture, is erroneous. It has indeed been proved
totally falfe by the fuccefsful experiments of Mr.
Arbuthnot, who carried it to the greateft per-
fection,

t *33 ]

fection, with much advantage to himfclf, at well
as to the publick.

There Nis a certain degree of indolence, not to
fay prejudice, among the farmers in general, with
refpect to every thing out of their common line
of practice, and efpecially with refpect to matters
on which trials have been unfuccefs fully made.
This has been ftrikingly difplayed in the article
under confideration. About fixteen years fincc,
the London Society offered a premium of five
pounds an acre, on all lands planted with Madden
This, it was expected, would have rendered the
cultivation of it general; but the proper method
of railing it being then imperfectly underftood,
the experiments of a few perfons failed ; and this
fo far difcou raged others, that little further pro-
grefs was made in this important article of con-
fumption. The farmers could not, or at lead
would nor, fee the difference between a crop fail-
ing through improper management^ and through a
natural unfitnefs of foil or climate, which would
in all cafes operate againft it.

But Mr. Arbuthnot was not weak enough to
be governed by this miftaken prejudice. He faw
what the errors were which had occafioned fomc
of the planters of Madder to be unfuccefsful, and

Vol. II. K determined

C 134 ]

determined to avoid them by undertaking it on a
new plan, and profecuting it with a fpirit becom-
ing its importance.

The attention he gave to every particular of
foil, fituation, feafon, manure, &c. overcame every
difficulty, and enabled him to cultivate Madder
with great fuccefs and advantage on foils not re-
markable for. their fertility. The experiments he
made are faithfully recorded in Mr. Young's
Eaftern Tour, and I beg leave to recommend them
to your coniideration as a Society.

As you have very judicioufly taken fome land
to make experiments in Agriculture upon, under
the direction of your own Committee, I beg leave
to propofe Madder as one objedt particularly
worthy your attention. If you cultivate it on
Mr. Arbuthnot's plan, I doubt not but you will
be equally fuccefsful; and that your experiments
may prove of great utility in fetting an example
to others, which they may probably be induced to
follow. I beg your excufe for this liberty.

And am,

Your mod obedient fervant,

Dorfetfhirc, J. M.

March 12, 1780.

Article

[ '35 3
Arlicle XXIII.

On the Management of Clay-Lands, and fomc
of the Caiifcs cf the Difcourage?ne?it of Agri-
culture.

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Eflex.]
Sir,

I Received your letter, and in anfwer thereto,

(hall give you an account of the bed method

we have in manuring and cropping our very
ftrong or ftiff clays.

We begin by making a good fallow: What I
mean by a good fallow is, to turn in the Hubble
as foon after harveft as an opportunity offers. In
the fucceeding fummer, plough it four or five
times clean, and as deep as the foil will admit of;
at leaft fo deep as to turn up the thiftle roots, and
the fpear-grafs, that lie in the good foil.

The fecond year fow barley; the third year
make another good fummer fallow; the fourth
year fow rev its, (red lammas wheat;) and in the
month of March throw in ten pounds of red clo-
ver-feed per acre ; the fifth year feed it all fummer
• with horfes and fheep; the fixth year make a good

K % fallow.

[ '36 ]

fallow. You will find the pooreft clays will, by
this method of heating them, get better without
any manure.

But fuch clay lands as are well improved, and
will bear it, we treat in a different manner. After
a good fallow, we fow barley with clover, and
feed the clover till the middle of June; then fhut
out the cattle, and feed the clover. At Michael-
mas we break it up, and fow wheat, harrowing
the wheat in. Where the clay lands are good,
we have found the following courfe of crops for
twenty years do very well : —

i ft Tear, Fallow 1 1 th, Clover

2d, Barley with clover 12th, Wheat

3d, Clover-feed 13th, Fallow

4th, Wheat v 14th, Barley

5th, Fallow J 5th, Beans, or peafe

6th, Barley 16th, Wheat

7th, Peafe, or beans 17th, Fallow

8th, Wheat 1 8th, Barley

9th, Fallow 19th, Dittof

10th, Barley and clover 20th, Wheat, or barley.

t If the land be tired with clover, fow Tares [Vetches] and
feed them.

This

C '37 ]

This courfe of crops I confine only to ftrong or
ftiff clays. The principal manure we have yet in
ufe is town dung, and the dung that arifes from
farm-yards, mixed with earth dug up on the bor-
ders or under the hedges. What I wifh to have
undcrftood by clay, is only fuch as is well filled
with chalk-ftones, whether large or fmall. All
ftiff foil, without chalk-ftones, we call loam, or
brick earth. Thefe foils we mend with clay, and
find the grcateft improvement from it.

Now, as it appears to me that your Society have
a real defign to encourage agriculture, I beg their
candid attention while I point out a few things
by which many of the beft farmers in our county
(and probably in your's alfo) are difcouraged from
making many improvements which might otherwifc
take place.

Firft\ With refpedl to the method of letting
farms. Many Noblemen and Gentlemen of large
landed property, to favc thcmfelves the trouble
of examining into the real value of their eftates,
and of letting them properly, employ flewards to
tranfadt this bulinefs with their tenants. It fre-
quently happens that thefe flewards are gentlemen
brought up to the law, who have never had much
opportunity of knowing the value of land by ex-
K 3 perienccj

[ 138 ]

perience, and can much better word a leafe> than
afcertain the proper rent of the eftate.

Thefe ftewards, therefore, take the opportunity
of letting the farms, as a jockey would fell a
horfe; and are always determined by the higheft
bidder. If an experienced farmer will not give
them their price, perhaps they find a tradefman,
or a young man eager to get into bufinefs, that
will; and it fignifies little to them who the tenant
is, if they can but pleafe their employers by railing
the rent. By this means the tenant, having taken
his farm too dear, is foon ruined, and the farm is
again to let.

Sometimes an old tenant, rather than be turned
out, will agree to give more rent than he can
afford; but after finding he cannot get forward,
and is not permitted to leave his farm till the leafe
•expires, he leaves off improving it, and makes the
-beft he can of it with the lead expence. By this
means the eftate itfelf is injured, and many of our
ufeful labourers are unemployed, who, for want of
work, enlift into the King's fervice, and leave then-
families to be maintained by the parifh.

I have feen divers inftances, wherein by the in-
duflry of a family, in the courfe of a leafe, a farm

has

[ J39 ]

has been fo" much improved, that the old tenant
at the expiration of his leafe has offered a fourth
more rent than he gave before, rather than be
turned out ; but becaufe he would not fubmit to
give much more rent than he could really afford,
to get a decent living for his family, he has been
turned out, notwithftanding he had fo much im-
proved the eftate, and the farm let fo dear to a
ftranger that it has nearly ruined him.

Thefe few things are among the many difcou-
ragements to improvements in agriculture; and
they naturally occafion a few queries relative to the
fubjeft

I would therefore afk fuch gentlemen as wifli to
encourage agriculture,

Firfti Whether it would not be more for the
intereft of thofe who have eflates, were they to
vifit their tenants themfelves, and to take with
them one or more of the moft adlive and expe-
rienced farmers they can find, whereby they might
be well informed whether their eftates are over-
rented or not ?

idly. Whether they are well farmed or not;
and if not, to point out to their tenants how they

may

[ HO ]

may with advantage to thcmfelvcs manage for the
better in future?

$dly. Whether, where it appears that a tenant
is induftrious and opprefTed, it would not be more
to his own inte^eft to encourage him?

4/6/y. I would afk, with all due fubmiflion,
whether this would not be more likely to encou^
rage agriculture than the prefent practice of fcrewr
ing up rents to the higheft pitch poflible; or even
than in introducing, at a great expence, many very
ingenioufly contrived implements of husbandry,
many of which, though they may amufe and en-
tertain the curious, are not adapted for ufe to the
practical farmer?

I mean not, however, to difcourage the ufe of
fuch newly-improved implements of hufbandry as
are calculated to expedite labour and leflen expence^
but fuch only as are merely theoretical.

I will juft add, that we find the watering of
meadow and pafture land attended with great ad-
vantage, and the cheapcfl amendment we have.

lam, &c.

p d, Effex. * * *

Article

C Hi ]

Article XXIV.

On Watering Meadows.

IT having been a point much difputed, which is
the bell water for throwing over meadows, that
which comes frefli from the fprings, or that which
has run a confiderable courfe above ground, we give
the following extracts from divers letters fent to the
Society on the fubjecl, without prefumingourfelves
to determine on the point in difpute.

I.

I apprehend that in moft of the flat parts of
this county hot- fprings may not abound; and that
in places where there are any, their virtue is not
known \ fo that the inhabitants (without choice or
consideration, in many inftances) ufe only that wa-
ter which has run fome way, and is become foul
by floods. But in the neighbourhood of Chard,
and doubtlefs in many other places in the county
where the benefit of good fpring-water is known,
it is preferred, and the farmers flood their meadows
with it immediately from the fprings, finding its
eficdp fo fertilizing as fufficiently to maintain their
meadows in good heart, without any other aid.

Near Taunton. R. P. A.

II.

I should have anfwered your letter fooner, but
wifhed to know the opinion of fome of my friends
on the fubjecl:. On enquiry, I find that their fenti-
ments coincide with my own; and are as follows: —

That water running from a fpring, or out of a
rock, is often preferred to water from a river that
has paired fome way. I apprehend, however, that
this is not always the cafe; but fometimes quite
the reverfe. Springs coming immediately from a
rock, or from the earth, are, I apprehend, of very
different qualities. A fpring coming from a lime-
Hone rock, I mould think by much the beft for
watering meadows, which is the cafe at Orchefton
in Wilts, where that famous grafs grows,* which
produces an amazing crop in thofe feafons when
the meadow can be watered with the fprings gufh-
ing out of the limeftone rocks. At other times,
when the fprings are low, the land does not pro-r
duce more than a third of the quantity.

It is underflood by the farmers here, that water
is very much impoverifhed by watering a great
many meadows on the fame ftream; and that
thofe meadows at the head of the ftream are much

* Sec an account of this grafs, vol. i. p. 93 ?

* the

[ '43 3

the beft on that account, except where there arc
a great number of farm-yards draining into it;
which, in my opinion, makes up in part at lead for
the deficiency.

Maningford. J. A.

III.

Water feldom, if ever, promotes vegetation,
unlcfs it be in a mixed or heterogeneous ftate. It
is therefore necciTary, previous to the flooding of
meadows, to examine of what nature and quality
your water is. All water that palTes through beds
or veins of minerals, or which contains calcarious
nitre, copperas, allum, &c. is highly prejudicial to
grafs lands. But water that iflues from chalk
cliffs, or limeftone rocks, or fand and gravel, is
in general friendly. The beft teft is its foftnefs,
which may eafily be known.

The quantity of water that is let over the land
ftiauld be in proportion to the nature of the foil,
and the heat of the feafon. If the foil be fandy,
gravelly, or chalky, and the declivity confiderable,
the more water is wanted, and it mould remain the
longer, especially if the weather be warm, and it
be a fouth afpedt.

If

C H4 ]

If your water has run a long courfe above
ground, the fouled is the beft$ but that coming
immediately from chalk or lime rocks is warmelr,
and much to be preferred to foul muddy water
in general. I muft however obferve, that water
in a (late of putrefaction is poifon to vegetables,
and therefore ought never to be ufed for this

purpofe.

S. B.

Water when carried over meadow-lands a fter
heavy rains, depofits a fertilizing fediment, which
enriches the foil, and turns the mould blackifh.
It alfo promotes the fpeedy putrefaction of every
vegetable and animal fubftance found in the earth,
and thereby contributes to the melioration of the
foil under the fward or turf.

Care fhould however be taken, that the quan-
tity of water brought on the land be only enough
to give vigour to the plants, without overchar-
ging their veffels. Never water your lands in very
hot weather; for when the veffels of the plants
are filled, by the heat caufing it to afcend fud-
denly a fudden cold morning will greatly injure

the herbage.

D'

If

£ '45 ]

If the fpring proves dry, paftures may be wa-
tered as foon as the frofly feafon is over. But if
the winter has been fevere, and the earth remains
moift, no current of water mould be admitted till
the earth is fettled, and the furface becomes dry ;
for the gentlcft ftream would carry off the fme
mould loofened by the froft. After the grafs
ihoors, and the feafon becomes mild, water fpa-
ringly. In the fummer never water but in great
drought, nor even then, unlefs the water be per-
fectly clear and fwect; for muddy water would
render the grafs foul, and give it a bad tafte.

The bed water is that from clear warm fprings,
and the fofter the better; but if that cannot be
had, brooks which are become foul by running id
a muddy channel, will be the next beft: for a
ftream which continues clear after it has run a
considerable way above ground, is generally cold,
and impregnated with metallic, or mineral parti-
cles, both which are deftru&ive to vegetation.

J.F.

V.
On the receipt of your letter, I confulted my
meadow floaters, who arc unanimoufly of the
opinion, that the fooncr the water is thrown over

the

t H6 ]

the meadows after it rifes out of the fprings, the
more efficacious it will be.

We have no fprings on the hills in this part of
the country, as in the neighbourhood of Bath;
but our meads are full of them, and we apply the
water ifTuing therefrom as foon as poffible to the
lands. We find fpring water is better for this
purpofe than river water, on account of its being
warmer in winter, and cooler in fummer.

Ramfbury. W. J.

VI.

I have a range of meads lying nearly on a level
by the fide of a little river, which runs near
thirty miles before it reaches my lands. And in
the upper part of my meadows a fpring rifes of
very clear foft water. Being defirous of proving
which would be mod beneficial to the land, Ihave
divers times in different years tried both.

In a wet winter, I can eafily* at flood time,
when the river is very foul and muddy, float all
my meads by opening the bank by the river fide.
This I have done feveral times, and a great deal
of fediment has been left behind on the retiring
of the water. In this cafe, I have generally had

a large

t '47 ]

a large crop of grafe the fucceeding fummer, but
1 have always found it more rank, and the hay
Ms fweet, than at other times.

When I have turned the water of my fpring
over the land, I have found the produce equally
great, and the hay much finer and fwecter than
in the other inftance. I have alfo obferved, that
thofe meads which firft received the water from
the fpring, were mod luxuriant; and thofe which
it ran over 1 aft the leafl fo. I am therefore of
the opinion, that the beft and moft fertilizing
water for meadow land, is that which iflues im-
mediately from warm foft fprings.

W. M.

The following very ingenious letter on this fub-
ject we give entire :

VIL

Dear Sir, IVoolhampion^ Jan. 22, 1783.

I esteem myfelf much honoured by the no-
tice the gentlemen of your Society have been
pleafed to take of my poor, but very willing en-
deavours to add my mite to promote the views of

their very ufeful inftitution. To your prefent

queflions,

Firji.,

[ i48 ]

Firft\ " What kind of water have you found
moft efficacious?" &c. I anfwer, That which has
firft run a confiderable way as a brook or rivulet,
or rather as a large and rapid river.

I formerly occupied fome water-meadow not
many miles diftant from this place, where there
is a great deal of land watered from the Kennet,
a very confiderable river which rifcs at a village
of that name not far from Marlborough. The
occupiers of thofe lands are uniformly of opinion,
that the more thick, turbid, and feculent, the
water is, the greater will he the benefit to be
derived from the ufe of it; and the opinion is
certainly well fupported both by reafon and ex-
perience. Hafty mowers, and very heavy rajns,
dilute the manure, and wafh away the fine pul-
verized earth from the adjacent lands for many
miles round; fo that as the waters increafe, and
become more rapid, they alfo become more re-
plete with fertilizing matter, as is vifible to the
eye by the quantity of fcum, mud, and fine earth,
remaining on the furface when the water is drawn
off. The benefit derived from flooding may in
general then be computed, ceteris paribus, from
the quantity of feculent matter depofited by the
water, for it is, I believe, invariably found to be
in proportion thereto.

Secondly:

[ 149 ]

Secondly; " Is the water of land-fprings?" &c.
I apprehend no certain particular anfwer can be
given to this general qucftion.

The effects of the water of land-fprings mufl
depend upon the nature of the ftrata through
which it pafTes, and may be beneficial or other-
wife to vegetation, as that might be if applied
in fubftance. Calcarious earths, in general, are
friendly and conducive to vegetation; and from
thence it fecms probable, that water iduing from
limeftone-rocks would promote the growth of
vegetables in proportion to its impregnation by
the calcarious matter.

The effects of limeftone- water have never fallen
within my obfervation; but from what I have
obferved of land-fprings, I have often thought
the benefit from them was nothing more than
from the fimple flued as a conftituent part nece'C-
fary to the accretion of all bodies, abftracted from
every principle of nutriment but what is contained
in water as fuch only.

However, there cannot be a doubt, but different
fprings arc impregnated with different qualities,
the particulars of which cannot be known but from
obfervations of their effects.

Vol. II. L MMfr

[ 'So ]

Thirdly; "Which ever is preferred, or found
bed, why is it fo?" &c. The anfwer to the firft
part of this queftion is contained in the anfwer
to the firft queftion. It is fo, becaufe it fupplies
more copioufly that matter or fubftance which
is the pabulum, or food of plants, and what is
the material fupport of vegetation, without which
it would as neceflarily ceafe, as an animal would
die without food. And,

Fourthly ; " What is the modus operandi of the
benefit arifing from the floating of meadows?"

Perhaps this queftion, ftrictly and philofophi-
cally fpeaking, is as little capable of a fatisfaclory
anfwer, as, What is the efTence of matter, or that
fubftance which fupports its extenfion, folidity,
figure? &c. That heat and moifture are the
fine qua non of vegetation, is abundantly manifeft ;
for it is univerfally certain, that neither feeds nor
roots, if kept perfectly dry, will ever vegetate; and
if kept wet without heat, they corrupt and rot,
but never grow.

Heat and moifture, therefore, are two univerfal
agents indifpenfably neceflary to the life and
growth of plants; but how far either or both
fupply the principles or material fubftance which

caufes

[ '5' ]

caufcs the accretion, and increafe of bulk and fize,
or by what mode of operation it derives princi-
ples from dead, inert, (linking, corrupted, and
impure fubftanccs, and converts them into parts
of living organized bodies, which charm the
fight, the fmell, and the tafte of animals, and fur-
oiih aliment for their comfortable fubfiftence, is
perhaps beyond the utmoft ftretch of human un-
derstanding to conceive.

It is in every one's experience, that the excre-
ments, and corrupted fubftances of animals, when
properly digefted, are the mod powerful pro-
moters of vegetation; and plants fo produced
become the wholefome and necefTary fupport and
food of man: So that what was lad year a poi-
fonous, putrid mafs, is this, by the wonderful
chemiftry of nature, and a rapid circulation thro*
a fyftem of organized bodies, converted into a
fubftance endued with life, fenfation, &c. If that
fhould be doubted, they certainly are necefTary to
the fupport of life, fenfation, &c. And perhaps
it is not a jot more conceivable how a poifonous,
putrid fubftance fhould be converted into whol-
fome nourifhment for the fupport of living animal
fubftance, than it is for the former to be converted
into the latter; that is, a dead inert fubftance into
a living and active one.

L 2 By

[ ** ]

By creation is commonly meant the production
of fomething out of nothing ; or the calling of
fomething into being which had no exiftence be-
fore. But by propagation and generation, is
meant the exiftence of fome being as derived
from another. But is fuch generation any thing
more than a real tranfmutation of one thing into
another? Every cherry-ftone virtually contains
in it more of thofe trees, and of that fruit, than
ever exifted together at any one time in the world.
Is it impoftible to conceive, that the feminal prin-
ciple of the kernel fubftantially contains fuch an
infinity? What then, but extraneous matter, under
a very different heterogeneous form, being circu-
lated through a fyftem of pipes of organized matter,
can produce fuch an infinite number, and immenfe
magnitude, of any clafs of living beings, from a
principle originally too minute to be vifible to
the eye?

The earth may be conceived to be the matrix
of vegetation: and the hufbandman certainly
knows from experience, that by impregnating it
with certain fubftances, by laying them upon it
at proper feafons, a foil naturally fterile may be
rendered fertile. So a meadow floated with water,
copioufly abounding with putrefcent particles, and
fubftances impregnated therewith, would infalli-
bly

C '53 ]

bJy be benefited thereby; the modus operandi of
which may literally, though in a grofs fenfe, b$
certainly imputed to the aclion of the fertilizing
matter depofited by the water in the form of an
unctuous fediment, in the fame manner as all lands
are benefited or improved by the acceflion of ma-
nure, by whatever means it is depofited there.

I am, dear Sir,

With great refpecl: and efteem,

Your mod humble fervant,

JOS. WIMPEY.

Article XXV.

On Rearing Calves without Milk.

Sir, H -/, April 24, 1783.

LOOKING into the premiums offered by the
Society this year, I find the eighteenth is a
Silver Cup, value fix guineas, to the farmer, who,
from January 1783 to January 1784, fhall rear
the greater! number of calves, not lefs than five,
without milk; and who fhall difcover to the So-
ciety the belt and cheapeft method of fo rearing
them.

L 3 Such

[ iS4 3

Such a difcoveiy being a defideratum in hus-
bandry, and valuable as a likely means of caufing
a greater tnumber of thofe profitable animals to be
annually reared; I have lately, I hope, been fur-
nifhed with that information, which will bid fair
fully to attain the end propofed, as much from
the very great facility of the pra&ice, as from the
cheapnefs of it.

Riding out a few weeks ago, I accidentally
parTed through a turnip-field, in the occupation
of a tenant of mine, in Wreningham, (a parifh
adjoining to this) where feeing feveral fine healthy
weanling calves of this year, I enquired of him,
who then happened to be there, how long they
had been turned into the field, and whether they
were left abroad during the night ; when he gave
me the following account : —

" That his method was, and had been for many
years, to wean his calves from fucking the cows
at about feven or eight days old ; that he then
gave them fkimmed milk for about ten or twelve
days more, with a few turnips cut into three or
four pieces each, which they foon learnt to nibble
and cat; after which he turned them into the
turnip-field without any farther care or trouble
than carrying them a fmall bunch of frefh barley

or

[ '55 ]

or oat ftraw, night and morning, which he al-
ways obferved to lay under fuch hedge of the
field as was then moft fheltered from the wind ;
that he turned them out in any month, in January*
or fooner or later, as they happened to be calved *
that he / never loft any of them, never had any of
them loufy, or that fcemed to require more care
or attention about them."

This practice was fo different from my own*
and that of moft of my neighbours, that I en-
quired of fome of them into the truth of it, when
they all allured me, that the fact was as I have
reprefented, although they had not the courage
to follow his example; and that this man had
learned the practice from a former tenant of mine
who lived in this pariih, and did the fame, with
this difference only, that he ufed to carry to his
calves, whilft in the turnip-field, a quantity of
chopped ftraw of either barley or oats, which he
gave them in a trough night and morning until
they went to grafs,

I cannot, upon the joint teftimony of thefe
people, have any doubt of the truth of thefe facts;
and admitting them therefore to be true, there
cannot, I conceive, be any method of rearing
calves attended with either lefs trouble or lefs

expencc

C '5* ]

cxpence to their owners, and which deferves to
be more generally known.

I am, Sir, your mod humble fervant,

T.B.

Article XXVI.

On the amazing Increafe Grain is capable of,
from dividing and Iran/planting its Roots.

Sir,

I TAKE the liberty of writing to you as Secre-
tary to the Bath Society for the encouragement
of Agriculture. Having this day with great plea-
fure perufed the publication of their nrft volume
of letters and papers, I am impelled to throw in
my mite, by communicating an idea, with which
I am moft forcibly imprefled.

If you will take the trouble to refer to the
Annual Regifter for 1769, you will find, under
the head of ufeful projects, a paper extracted from
the Philofophical Tranfacrions, giving an account
of an experiment made by Mr. Charles Miller
of Cambridge, on the increafe of a fingle grain of
Wheat in one feafon. It was communicated by-
Dr. Watson, of Lincoln's?inn-nelds,

J have

I have applied to the Dodor to know if the ex-
periment was made on a larger Hale the fuccecd-
ing year, as was propofed? He informed me,
u that he believed it was not; that Mr. Miller
w went to India foon after that experiment, and
c< that' he knew nothing more on. the fubjed than
? has been publitlied in the Philoibphical Tranf-
f< adions."

Mr. Miller has been employed by the India
Company to make refearches into the Botany of
the Eait; and I am perfuaded the refult will be
very entertaining to fuch Botanifts as delight in
the ftudy of exotics; but I will venture to affirm,
that the fingle experiment upon the grain of
wheat (if properly attended to) will prove of
more real and intrinfic value to this country than
all the exotics, or than all the knowledge of ex-
otics, he can poflibly import.

I am fully fcnfible, that the expence and labour
of fetting wheat, in the manner as defcribed in
that paper, will render it impradicable in com-
mon ufe; but 1 Hill think it is a mod impor-
tant and valuable difcovery, and that it merits
the utmoft degree of the attention of fuch a pa-
triotic and public-fpiritcd Society as is eftablifhed
at Bath,

One

C '58 ]

One fingle grain of wheat produced in one
feafon, in weight forty-feven pounds,
in meafure 3^ pecks,
in number 5 70,000-fold !

What an aftonifhing increafe ! What a power of
fecundity I What an incredible divifibility, almoft
nd in jinitum, are all hereby laid open !

I am now inclined to believe, after this difco-
very, it may be found, that wheat may be pro.
duced from a fibre of the root, as well as from a
plant. I am not a farmer ; I never had the di-
rection of a plough ; but I will make the experi-
ment, to try what is the fmalleft portion of a plant
of wheat that can be made to produce grain.

Mr. Miller, after having made the difcovery,
was fatisfkd with publifhing it; but I promife
you, if I am fo happy as to make any new difco-
very upon the fubject, I will not (like him) leave
it to others to point out how, or in what manner,
it can be applied to publick utility.

But I forget myfelf. I am giving up facts, and
following conjectures. I will therefore return to
the original intention of my letter, which is, to
excite the attention of your Society to this won-
derful

[ '59 ]

derful difcovery of Mr. Miller's, in hopes that,
under your patronage and prorecYion, it may be
rendered ufefui to the improvement of hufbandry.

By this experiment, we have obtained the mod
clear and inconteftible proof pf the fecundity
and divifibUity of wheat; it therefore remains, to
follow the moft probable means, the means that
may bid the faireft for improving upon this prin-
ciple, and making it applicable to the pracTice of
farming. I agree with the Author who begins
your Appendix, " that nothing can be expeded
,c from it in the hands of common farmers;" from
them we mail have, " // may be fo> but I don't
il know:' But from fuch a Society as your's, I
exped: every thing.

Where men poiTefs liberal ideas, and a great
(hare of publick fpirit, it cannot be fuppofed they
will defpife a hint, and treat it with contempt,
merely becaufe it is fuggefted to them by a per-
fon who is not a farmer by profeflion : I may
indeed fay, not even in theory, for I never read
any book on the fubjecT: of agriculture, excepting
that of the Bath Society. But within this month,
I have become fuch an cnthuiiait in the doclrine
and principles of the divifibility of grain, after
it is fprung up, that I can think upon no other

fubjecl;

C 160 ]

fubject; and fince my converfion to this doctrine,
I have been at the pains to procure fome infor-
mation from practical farmers, in hopes thereby
to enlarge the very narrow and contracted circle
of ideas I have on that fubject.

I have learned from them, that it is not un-
ufual in fome parts of the country, for the farmers
to harrow their fields after the grain is fprung up.
In Norfolk, they harrow their fummer corn, but
not their wheat. In EiTex, they harrow their
wheat, but not their fummer corn.

Upon invefligating the principles upon which
thefe practices are founded, I found them con-
fined merely to that of pulverizing the earth,
without any attention to Mr. Miller's doctrine:
they faid, " that after very heavy rains, and then
" exceflive dry weather, the furface of their lands
•< was apt to be caked, the tender fibres of the
" young roots were thereby prevented from pufh-
" ing, and of courfe, the vegetation was greatly
* obftructed ; in fuch inftances, they found very
<f great benefit from harrowing and rolling."

My own reafon tells me their principles are
well founded, fo far as relates to pulverizing; but
I contend, that the benefit arifing from harrowing

and

and rolling is not derived from pulverizing en-
tirely, but alfo from fubdividing.* and enabling
the plants to tiller, (as I believe it is termed.)
The harrow certainly breaks the incruflation on
the furfacc, and the roller crumbles the clods;
but it is alfo obvious, that the harrow removes a
great many of the plants from their original fta-
tions; and that if the corn has begun to tiller at
the time it is ufed, the roots will be, in many in-
ltanccs, fubdivided, and then the application of
my f\lKm of divifibility comes into play. The
roller then ferves to plant the roots, which ha\<:
been torn up by the harrow.

Such is my cnthufiafm, that I am induced to
eftablifh this hypothefis, and leave it to the coQt-

• We doubt not the good cffccls of harrowing and rolling both
wheat and Cummer corn, for the very good reafons given by the
Norfolk and Eflex farmers for their practice. But we apprel <.n ',
that with refpccl to the harrows dividing the roots of the plant i
when they begin to tiller^ our ingenious correfpondent is too (an-
guine in his expectations. The teeth of a harrow are too large
and blunt to divide roots fo fmall and tenacious as are thofe of grain;
and whenever fuch roots (however tillered) (land iu the line any
tooth makes, they will, if fmall, be only turned on one fide j>y the
earth yielding to their lateral prelTure, or if large, the whole root
robably be drawn out of the ground. In our opinion, therefore,
the principal ufes derived from harrowing and rolling thefe crops ar< ,
opening the foil between the plants, earthing them up, breaking Jhe
clods, and clofing the earth about thc^r roott.

federation

fideration of gentlemen who are converfant both
in the theory and practfce of agriculture.

It is true, indeed, that many fyftems, which
make a good figure in theory, fall to the ground
when reduced into practice, and are put to the
teft by the auftere hand of experiment.

I hope, in the prefent inftance, that will not be
the cafe. My argument is founded upon ana-
logy, upon parity of reafoning. One grain of
wheat is capable of producing, in one feafon, one
bufhel; [Mr. Miller, indeed, inlinuates, that it
might have been greater;] one hundred grains
then contain the capability of producing a larger
crop than ever was reaped from one acre.

But it will be objected to me, that Mr. Miller's
practice cannot be extended to a large fcale. I
allow it; not by the hand, I mean; but I will not
give up the harrow and roller, until fome better
implements are invented.

In common, it is not a very material object to
fave a proportion of the feed corn ; becaufe pro-
bably it can only be done by increafing the la-
bour, which may greatly overbalance the value

of

C **3 ]

of the feed to be faved.* This feafon, however,
it becomes an object of the greatcft importance;
in the Northern parts of this kingdom, there is a
very great fcarcity of corn fit for feed; the harvefl
was folate that the corn did not ripen, and of
courfe, a great deal of bad feed will be reaped ;
if fo, when the corn fprings, it muft be very thin,
puny, and probably difeafed. This then is the
sera for applying the harrow and roller to great
advantage, upon fields which are not very pro-
mifing. If the farmer is fatisfied with the appear-
ance of his crop, after it is fprung, I do not prc-
fcribe — it is only when people are Tick that they
apply to a doctor.

I do not prefume to recommend any thing more
at prefent, than the ufe of the harrow and roller,
from which the farmers in Norfolk and in EfTex
derive fo much advantage. (They may berufed in
many other counties, but it is not yet come to
my knowledge.) I will, however, venture to re-
commend a repetition of them; that is to fay, if
great advantage is obferved on harrowing and
rolling once, that fometime afterwards, when the
roots have had time to ftrike into the earth, and
the corn to tiller, it mould be again harrowed

• This is not the cafe in drilling ; the extra expence is much more
than faved in the feed.

and

[ i*4 ]

and rolled ; and if good eftecls are obferved from
that alfo, that it mould even be repeated a third
time. I recommend it upon the following prin-
ciple: That Mr. Miller's experiment demon-
lira tes how difficult it might be to eradicate corn
by harrowing; mould nine plants be deftroyed by
the harrow, it is probable, that the tenth will do
more than fupply the deficiency.

I come now to conclude, with the following
maxims :

Firft; That this difcovery of Mr. Miller's is
highly meritorious, and deferves the attention of
your Society, and of every Society for the im-
provement of Agriculture, as well as of every
Farmer in the world.

idly, That every farmer who pracliifes harrow-
ing and rolling, mould pay particular attention,
in the moft minute manner, to the effecl: it has
on the corn; and to obferve particularly, whether
in his judgment the benefit arifes from the pul-
verizing, or the tillering, or from both: — that
he mould afcertain by experiments on certain
portions of his lands, accurately meafured, the dif-
ference in the produce of what is not harrowed and
rolled, and what is done once, and (i£ he choofes

[ i65 ]

it) let him try it the fecond, third, and even the
fourth time. Upon a frnall feale, the lofs cannot
be great, even although the repetition fhould not
fucceed ; but if it (hould anfwer, the difcovery
may be xery important, perhaps more fo than any
that has been made in agriculture for this century.

3^/y; That if the ideas of the Bath Society
fhould coincide with mine upon this fubject, they
ought to take the moft fpeedy and effectual mea-
furcs to make their approbation publick, fo as that
the practice of harrowing and rolling corn after
it is fprung, may thereby the fooner become ge-
neral; and that they fhould invite every perfon
who may have already followed that practice, or
who may do it in future, to communicate to them
their experiments, their obfervations, and their
opinions, of the advantages or difadvantages re-
fulting therefrom.

tfhlyi That they fhould alfo invite fome of the
mod ingenious Botanifts to follow up the expe-
riment, fo fuccefsfully begun by Mr. Miller upon
wheat, and alfo to extend it to oats, barley, rye,
buck-wheat, &c. &c.

^thly\ That as it is very material to know the

moft proper time to harrow and roll corn, in re-

VoU I. M fped

[ 166 ]

fpe£t to its age, or its height, as well as in refpect
to the feaibns, whether in wet or dry weather;
meafures to procure information on thofe heads
fliould be adopted.

6/bly, and Iaftly; That as the knowledge of the
particular forts of harrows and rollers now in ufe
for this operation may be material, meafures
fhouid alfo be taken to procure information on
that head. And farther, that, as it is very pro-
bable great improvement may be made in regard
to implements fit for this operation, confiderable
premiums mould be offered to the inventors of
fuch as may be found on trial to be the bed
adapted for this purpofe.

I have the honour to' be, Sir,

Your moft obedient fervant,

London, April 20, 1783. R. B.

N. B. As the experiment referred to was very
extraordinary, we fhall give an abftracl: of the
account, as publifhed in the Philofophical Trans-
actions for the year 1768.

ON the 2d of June 1766, Mr. C. Miller fowed
fome grains of the common red wheat; and on

the

[ '67 ]

the 8th of Auguft a fingle plant was taken up and
irated into eighth s, and each part planted

ratcly; thefe plants having pud icd out feveral
fide-moots, by about the middle of September
fome of ^hem were then taken up and divided,
and the reft of them, between that time and the
middle of October; this fecond diviiion produced
iixty-feven plants. Thefe plants remained thro*
the winter, and another diviiion of them, made
between the middle of March and the I2th of
April, produced five hundred plants. They were
then divided no further, but permitted to remain.
The plants were in general ftronger than any of
the wheat in the fields. Some of them produced
upwards of one hundred ears from a fingle root.
Many of the ears meafured feven inches in length,
and contained between fixty and feventy grains.

The whole number of ears which, by the procefs
above-mentioned, were produced from one grain
of wheat, was 21,109, which yielded three pecks
and three quarters of clear corn, the weight of
which was 471b. 70Z.; and from a calculation ma
by counting the number of grains in an ounce,
hole number of grains was about 576,840.

By this account wc find, that there was only one

general divifion of the plants made in the fpring.

M 2 Had

r 168 ]

Had a fccond been made, Mr. Miller thinks the
number of plants would have amounted to 2000
infread of 500, and the produce thereby much
enlarged.

The ground was a light blaekim foil, upon a
gravelly bottom, and confequently a bad foil for
wheat. One half of the ground was well dunged,
the other half had no manure. There was how-
ever not any difference difcoverable in the vigour,
or growth, or produce, of the plants.

Article XXVII.

On the Quantity of Seed-Grain umiecejfarily
/own in the Broadcajl Method,

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Hertfordshire.]
Gentlemen,

nr^HE obliging notice you took of my former
-*- letter encourages me to addrefs you a fecond
time, but on a different fubjedt; to wit, that of
the quantity of feed-grain unnecefTarily fown in
the broadcaft method. This is too much over-
looked by farmers in general, who, though when
told of it, admit the fact, yet neither it fee nor its
confequences in their full magnitude.

When

Z 169 ]

When the feed is to be prepared or carried to
the land for fowing, they too generally think that
the more they fow the more they (hall reap; and
therefore*, in mod places, are at double the ex-
pence for feed grain which they need to be,
without 'making any further calculation than
that of the difference of value between fix and ten
pecks per acre, on the fmgle field they are about
to fow.

One reafon for this may be, that the farmers'
feed grain being their own growing, they confider
it as the old woman did her flour, when (lie cal-
culated the coft of her mutton-pies, and overlook
its real value. The flour is my owny faid (he; the
feed is my own, fays the farmer, and therefore I
won't ftarve the crop.

But if large farmers would be at the trouble of
calculating the value of what they unnecclfarily
fow on two or three hundred acres of arable land,
the amount would aftonifli them ; for it is really
aftonifhing, and an object of very great national
importance; indeed fo great, that I am of the
opinion the Parliament would be wifely employed
in inftituting a Board of Agriculture, to regulate
this and other abufes of the art.

M 3 It

[ J7° 3

It is a certain fact, that double the neceflary
quantity of feed-grain is annually thrown away;
which, upon a moderate calculation, would feed
near an eighth part of the inhabitants of this king-
dom. This of courfe advances the price of what
remains one-eighth; — a heavy tax indeed on the
•poor, and a very fooiifh one, becaufe it anfwers
no good end.

One of the great advantages of the Drill Hus-
bandry is the faving of feed : but from a variety
of caufes, fome real ones in local fituations, and
many imaginary ones, it is not probable it will,
in our time, be univerfally adopted. It however
affords a profitable lelfon to thofe who do not
practife it. They are thereby convinced, that a
much lefs quantity of feed than they have been
accuftomed to fow is Sufficient. This has ope-
rated on fome intelligent farmers, who (till con-
tinue in the broadcaft method.

Some of them have taken the hint, and lefTened
the quantity of their feed: their crops have been
equally good or better than before. In time,
perhaps, their practice may be generally better re-
gulated. It is an event much to be wifhed, and
I think it an object worthy your ftrongeft recom-
mendation.

I am

*

1 am not ignorant that no certain ftandard can
be fixed for the quan::- lin which ought to

be fovvn per acre: this mull differ as the circurn-
ftances differ that attend it. The foil, the fcafon,
the Ihite of the land, and the lize of the grain, re-
quire juore or lcis, as thefe are di.

For inftance, Wheat: a very rich fertile foil, in
good tilth, requires lefs feed by one-third than a
poor hungry one : this may appear paradoxical
to thofe who do not reafon on the matter. They
will fay it is unreafonable to fuppofe a poor foil
will fupport a greater crop : — Granted ; but I make
no fuch fuppoiition. The cafe is this: in a rich
fertile foil every root produces much the greateft
number of (talks, perhaps ten or twenty ; while
thofe in a poor foil have only two or three. In
the one cafe, if you fbw more feed, the ground
will be overftocked with plants, which will draw
each other up weak, and produce much draw in-
deed, but little corn. In the other cafe, if you
fow only the fame quantity of feed on poor land,
it will be understocked, and the crop fmall. For
if, through the poverty of the foil, a root of wheat
cannot extend its tide fibres more than two or
three inches round, what good purpofe can it an-
fwer to have them a foot apart? Half the ground
is loft. Hence it follows, that a double quantity

ot

C m ]

of feed is wanted on poor land ; — and therefore,
that on fuch land the broad caft mode of lowing
is preferable to drilling.

It appears clearly evident to me, that on fuch
land two bufhels, or even ten pecks of wheat, and
three bufhels of barley, and four of oats, may be
neceiTary. But on a rich fertile foil, well pre-
pared, half the quantity is fully fufficient, and will
produce a better crop. Every one who attends
to the growth of plants, knows that they require
a competent diftance to arrive at perfection. —
Every gardener is perfectly acquainted with this,
and acts accordingly. Why then are farmers fo
abfurd as to think the fame management is not
equally neceiTary in a field, which is only a large
garden? This mult be only long-rooted preju-
dice; for corn of all kkids muft have fufficient
room according to its fize, or you deprive it of
the advantages which nature affords, by exclu-
ding the fun and the frefh air from the bottom of
the plants, which are fo neceiTary to their perfec-
tion; and inttead of corn, get only a great burden
of ftraw.

«

With refpect to fowing wheat, the quantity of
feed mould be porportioned to the feafon. If
you fow in September, a third lefs will do than

when

C 1-73 3

when fown in November or December, becaufe
more of the feed mifcarrics in that unfavourable
feafon.

I am, Gentlemen,

j Your's, &c.

X. Y. Z.

Article XXVIIL
On the Nature and Effects of Lime as a Manure.

[From a Gentleman in Devonfliire.]
Gentlemen,

AS you are about to oblige the publick with a
fecond volume of your valuable papers on
Agriculture, I hope you will not deem it imper-
tinent in me to throw a few hints before you on
the nature and effects of lime as a manure for
land : they are the united effects of my own ex-
periments and obfervations on the fubject; and the
opportunities I have had for forming my opinion
have been many and various.

The county of Devon has been reproachc
fome writers as being a century behind mod co
tics in England in Agricultural improvements.

That

[ 174 ]

That the farmers in general here have been very-
dilatory in difcovering, and even adopting, new
improvements therein, is too true; but with re-
fpect to the nature and ufe of lime, they appear
to undcrftand it as well as the farmers of any
county whatever. This may furnifli fome apo-
logy for my troubling you with the following
remarks.

Lime, like moil other manures, has been ufed
in different places, and by different perfons, with
various fuccefs: fome have declared they never
could reap any benefit from its ufe; but a far
greater number have found its effects very bene-
ficial, indeed more fo than any other manure.

But the great error of thofe who difclaim the
ufe of lime has been, that of ufing it on all kinds
of land without diftinction; vainly expecting the
effects would be equally advantageous in all cafes.
But while it has proved a very ufcful good dreffing
to fome lands, it has rendered others lefs fertile;
and in fuch cafes the whole expence has been
thrown away.

In fome parts of this county, a good manuring
with lime has coft the farmer near four pounds
an acre. It muft be a better crop of wheat than

they

[ 175 ]

they get in common to anfwer that cxpencc;
their profit therefore mud arife from the fuccced-
ing crops.

Experience teaches that lirhe ftrongly attracts
and abforbs moifture, and is itfelf foluble in it.
In common with all abforbent earths, it alfo at-
tracts oil and acids.

The mod rational theory therefore is, that its
virtue coniifts not in itfelf, but in its action and
powers of attraction. By attracting the moifture
of the air, and the oils that are floating therein,
and in the earth alfo, and reducing the buried
roots, vegetables, mofs, &c. which it happens to
be mixed with, into a faponaceous mucilage, which
is of a very nutritive quality ; it combines thofc
fubftances which of themfelves would never unite,
fuch as oil and water, which it forms into a
fmooth confident fluid.

Hence it appears, that lime ought not to be
ufed alone, except where there is plenty of vege-
table or animal fubflances for it to act upon.
When thefe are wanting, mix it up with rotten
dung; for without thefe it will, in many cafes,
exhauft the foil of its mod fertile juices and par-
ticles, and leave it in a barren Hate. Where there

is

[ i76 ]

is plenty of vegetable or animal fubftances for it
to act upon, lime may be ufed to confiderable
advantage; and alfo on land overrun with weeds,
as it kills and converts them into good manure.
But on exhaufted, or very poor land, the expence
of liming will never be repaid.

The learned and ingenious Dr. Alston ob-
ferves of lime, that if long expoled to the air, it
foon lofes its medicinal virtue, its virtue as a ma-
nure, and as a cement in building; but that if
flaked with water, it retains thefe virtues a long
time. The practice of the Devonfhire farmers
correfponds with this doctrine.

After their lime is laid in fmall heaps on the
land, they cover it with earth till the coat is
thick enough to fecure it from air and rain; and
in order to prevent thofe from entering, they beat
the outfide of the heaps fmooth with their fhovels.
The moifture of the earth gently flakes this lime,
and the heaps remain in this ftate until the land is
ready for its fpreading.

Another method of mixing up their lime is
ufed by the beft farmers, which adds greatly to
the fertility of the land drcfTed with it. This
method is to form heaps of earth and lime as

above

C '77 3

above defcribed, and when thefe are well incorpo-
rated, to open the heaps and bury in each as much
good farm-yard dung as it will cover.

The dung being thus covered up will foon fer-
ment and diflblve; and after laying a proper time,
the mafs being chopped together with the ifpade,
forms a foapy mucilaginous manure of the moll
fertilizing nature. Ufed in this manner, lime will
always be exceedingly profitable. But the reafon
of its being reprobated in fome other counties is,
that they know not how to (or will not) apply it
properly. Their method is to fpread it on the
land as they do chalk, and let it lie there till rain
or the moifture of the air flakes, and occafions it
to fall in pieces. But by being thus expofed to
the air, its virtue, which (hould promote vegeta-
tion, is all evaporated, and of courfe its ufe as a
fertilizing manure is totally loft.

I am, your's, &c.

G H.

F^*-^

Article

[ i?« ]

Article XXIX.

On the Nature of different kinds of Soil \ and the
Grain, Pulfe, or Graffes3 proper to each.

Gentlemen,

AS the publication of your firft volume of fe-
lect papers did you honour as a Society,
and furnifhed the publick with a variety, of ufeful
information, it gave me pleafure to fee, in the
advertifement of your annual meeting, that a fe-
cond volume was nearly ready for the prefs. And
as you feem defirous to obtain the correfpondence
of thofe who have had fome experience, and poiTefs
fome knowledge in the arts of cultivation, I am
willing to contribute my mite in this way.

Agriculture, Planting, &c. have been my em-
ployment, ftudy, and amufement, near forty years;
and as I have kept regular minutes of the experi-
ments I made, they have fupplied me with consi-
derable inftruclion.

I therefore beg leave to trouble you with a few
brief remarks on the nature of different foils,
and the crops mod likely to fucceed on each
refpeclively.

Fir/i. Clay,

[ '79 ]

Firft. Ciay, which is in general the ftificft of
all foils, and contains an unctuous quality. But
under the term clays, earths of different forts and
colours are included. One kind is fo obttinate,
that feajecly any thing will fubdue; another fo
hungry and poor, that it abforbs whatever is ap-
plied, and turns it into its own quality. Some
clays are fatter than others, and the fatted are the
belt; fome are more foft and flippery: but all of
them retain water poured on their furfaccs, where
it ftagnatcs, and chills the plants, without finking
into the foil. The clofenefs of clay prevents the
roots and fibres of plants from fpreading in fearch
of nourifhment. The blue, the red, and the
white clay, if ftrong, are unfavourable to vegeta-
tion. The ftony and loofer forts are lefs fo; but
none of them are worth any thing till their tex-
ture is fo loofened by a mixture of other fub-
ftances, and opened, as to admit the influence of
the fun, the air, and frofts. Among the ma-
nures recommended for clay, fand is of all others
to be preferred ; and fea-fand the beft of all where
it can be obtained: this mod effectually breaks
the cohefion.

The reafon for preferring fea-fand is, that it is
not formed wholly (as molt other fands are) of
fmall It ones ; but contains a great deal of calca-

rious

[ i«6 ]

rious tnatter in it, fuch as, fliclls grated and
broken to pieces by the tide; and alfo of falts.
The fmaller the fand is, the more ealily it pene-
trates-the clay; but it abides lefs time in it than
the larger.

The next bed fand is that warned down by rains
on gravelly foils. Thofe which are dry and light
are the word. Small gritty gravel has alfo been
recommended by the bell writers on Agriculture
for thefe foils; and in many inftances I have found
them to anfwer the purpofe.

Shells, marie, afhes, and all animal and vege-
table fubdances, are very good manures for clay;
but they have been found mod beneficial when
fand is mixed with them. Lime has been often
ufed, but I would not recommend it, for I never
found any advantage from it fingly, when applied
to clays.

The crops mod fuitable for fuch lands arc,
wheat, beans, cabbages, and rye-grafs. Clover
feldom fuccceds, nor indeed any plants whofe roots
require depth, and a wide fpread in the earth.

idly. Chalk. — Chalky foils are generally dry
and warm, and, if there be a tolerable depth of

mould,

C Hi 3

mould, fruitful; producing great crops of barlejr,
rye, peafe, vetches, clover, trefoil, burnet, and par-
ticularly fainfoin. The latter plant flourifhes in a
chalky foil better than any other. But if the furtacc
of mould be very thin, this foil requires good ma-
nuring with clay, marie, loam, or dung. As thefe
lands are dry, they may be fown earlier than others.

When your barley is three inches high, throw
in iolb. of clover, or 151b. of trefoil, and roll it
well. The next fummer mow the crop for hay ;
feed off the aftermath with iheep; and in winter
give it a top-drefling of dung. This will pro*
duce a crop the fecond fpring, which fhould be
cut for hay. As foon as this crop is carried off,
plough up the land, and in the beginning of Sep-
tember fow three bufhels of rye per acre, either
to feed off with fheep in the fpring, or to ftand
for harveft. If you feed it off, fow winter vetches
in Auguft or September, and make them into hay
the following fummer: then get the land into
as fine tilth as poflible, and fow it with fainfoin,
which, with a little manure once in two or three
years, will remain and produce good crops for
twenty years together.

$d!y. Light poor land, \vhich feldom produce!

good crops of any thing till well manured. After

Vol. 11, N it

[ 182 3

it is well ploughed, fow three bufhels of buck-
wheat per acre, in April or May : when in bloom,
let in your cattle a few days to eat off the bed,
and tread the other down; this done, plough in
what remains immediately, This will foon fer-
ment and rot in the ground ; then lay it fine, and
fow three bufhels of rye per acre. If this can be
got off early enough, fow turnips; if not, winter
vetches to cut for hay. Then get it in good tilth,
and fow turnip-rooted cabbages, in rows three
feet apart. This plant feldom fails, if it has fuf-
ficient room, and the intervals be well horfe-hoed j
and you will find it the . befl fpring-feed for fheep
when turnips are over.

The horfe-hoeing will clean and prepare the
land for fainfoin; for the fowing of which I reckon
April the befl feafon. The ufual way is to fow it
broadcafl, four bufhels to an acre ; but I prefer
fowing it in drills too feet afunder; for then it
may be horfe-hoed, and half the feed will be
fufficient. The horfe-hoeing will not only clean
the crop, but earth up the plants, and render them
more luxuriant and lafting. If you fow it broad-
cafl, give it a top-drefling in December or January,
of rotten dung, or afhes, or, which I think ftill
better, of both, mixed up in compofl.

Fron\

[ '83 ]

From various trial*, I find that taking only odi
rj in a year, and feeding the after-growth, is
better than to mow it twice. Cut it as foon-as it
is in full bloom, if the weather will permit. The
hay will+)e the fweeter, and the ftrength of the
plants lefs impaired, than if it Hands till the feed
is formed. {

Afthly. Light rich land, being the moft ea fy to
cultivate to advantage, and capable of bearing
mod kinds of grain, pulfe, arid herbage; I fhall
fay little upon it. One thing however is very
proper to be obferved, that fuch lands are the beft
adapted to the drill-hulbandry, efpecially where
machines are ufed, which require'- mallow furrows
to be made for the reception of the feed. , This,
if not prone to couch-grafs, is the beft of all foils
for lucerne; which, if Town in two-feet drills, and
kept clean, will yield an aftonifhing quantity of
the moft excellent herbage. Bud* J am convinced
lacerne will never be cultivated to advantage,
where couch grafs and weeds are very, plentiful;
nor in the broadeaftl /method, even where the/
are not fo; becaitfehGrfe-hocing is effentiai to the
vigorous growth of this plant.

$tbly. Coarfe rough land: — Plough deep in

autumn; when it has lain two weeks, crofs-plough

N 2 it,

C 184 3

it, and let it lie rough through the winter. In
March give it another good ploughing; drag,
rake, and harrow it well, to get out the rubbifh,
and fow four bufhels of black oats per acre if the
foil be wet, and white oats if dry. When about
four inches high, roll them well after a mower :
This will break the clods; and the fine mould
falling among the roots of the plants will promote
their growth greatly.

Some fow clover and ray-grafs among the oats,
but I think it is bad hufbandry. If you defign it
for clover, fow it fingle, and let a coat of dung
be laid on in December. The fnow and rain will
then dilute its falts and oil, and carry them down
among the roots of the plants. This is far better
than mixing the crops on fuch land ; for the oats
will exhauft the foil fo much, that the clover will
be impoverifhed. The following fummer you will
have a good crop of clover, which cut once, and
feed the after-growth. Inj:he winter plough it
in, and let it lie till February: then plough and
harrow it well; and in March, if the foil be
moid, plant beans in drills of three feet, to admit
the horfe-hoe freely. When you horfe-hoe them
a fecond time, fow a row of turnips in each in-
terval, and they will fucceed very well. But if
the land be ftrong enough for fo\ving wheat as

foon

r *85 d

foon as the beans are off, the turnips may be
omitted. I am, your's, &c.

B S d, Herts, B. K.

May 14, 1782.

Article XXX.

Vbe Value of Carrots afcertained; — 'with fome
Obfervations on the Premiums offered by the
Society in 1782.

Gentlemen,

HAVING given a recital of my trial of carrots
in a preceding letter, I fhall at prefent con-
fine myfeif to the point of afcertaining their value,
which I have already obferved to be fo undecided
a queftion.

Among other ufes, my crop of 1780 was ap-
plied partly to finifhing the fatting of fome wether
lambs, that had had the .fommer's grafs. I had
twenty-fix of them which ought to have been fet
at Michaelmas, but my food coming Ihort, they
were not in the autumn faleable to a butcher. I
had fome confidence in carrots, but I wanted
them for my horfes, and I tried various butchers

N 3 as

t i"86 ]

as well as dealers to get rid of my fheep, but could
not. I had given 6s. 6d. each for them in Sep-
tember 1779, anc* vet was offered no more for
them than 10s. I determined therefore to put
them to carrots.

Nov. 4, 1780, I inclofed a pen with hurdles
on a dry meadow, put the fheep in, and fupplied
them with carrots, moving the hurdles on as they
foiled the ground fo as to make it too dirty to
cat upon; but as the improvement of the land
was one object, being mony and hide-bound, I
did not fhift them 'till the grafs was quite black
with' their dung, and much better folded than is
ever done in the common way.

'Till the 2 id, they ate no more than two bufhels

(weight 561b. each) a day. I then find from my

minutes that they ate three 'till the 25th, and by

the 28th they had got to fix; but fome days they

ate eight, and even ten ; in others only five were

given, to make them eat clean. By the 16th of

December, the quantity was pretty regularly hve

a day. But I found upon an average of the whole

experiment, that the quantity might in a general

way be reckoned at four bufhels a day feeding

twenty lambs. They weighed alive at putting to

carrots ioolb. each.

April

t i«7 3
April 3d, they were all fold and killed fat.

10 of them fold at 15 s.
15 14s.

9 I2S.

2 18s.

£•1 10

0

10 10

0

5 8

0

1 16

0

f.*5 4

0

18 0

0

ft 4

0

Value at putting up ■ ■

Product of the carrots — —

They ate four hundred and feven bufhels, which at
7I. 4s. may be called 4d. per bufhel.

Your Secretary mentions my having fent the
experiment of the culture before, the profit neat
per acre was about 2L

This is a fingle experiment, from which I mall
draw few conclufions. I am of opinion that car-
rots will be found oftener much to exceed this
than fall fhort of it.

The land was fown with barley, produced a
good crop, and by much the cleanefl of any in
the parifti. I (hewed it to fevcral gentlemen as
an abfolutely clean crop; becaufe I had heard it
aflerted that the culture of carrots made land foul.

The

t »88 ]

The grafs upon which the flieep were fed (and
which amounted to about an acre) was very little
improved for the crop of hay 1781, owing to the
dry feafon; but in that of 1782 was greatly fupe-
rior to the adjoining parts of the fame field, and
more improved in quality than quantity ; for in-
Head of an indifferent vegetation fcattered thick
with the centaurea fcabiofa, filage, rhinanthus
crifta galli, and linum catharticum, with other
plants of little worth, it encouraged a very beau-
tiful fhcet of the bed plants that can appear in a
meadow, viz. the lathyrus pratenfis, achillea mille
folium, trifolium repens, trifolium ochroleucrum,
trifolium alpeftre, and the plantago lanceolata.

As I have thus given you the refult of this car-
rot experiment, I muft be allowed juft to obferve,
that this price of 4d. is great enough to induce
any man to cultivate them. We reckon in this
country that turnips rarely do more than pay their
own expences, and in many years not that. But
if a man has the right carrot foil, he may, without
manure, and without any extraordinary fertility,
expect from four to five hundred bufhels an acre.
If he gets four hundred and twenty it is juft 7L;
and as the expences amount to about 5I. it leaves
a neat profit upon a fallow crop of 2I. an acre,
which is greater than attends the beft wheat crops

of

C '«9 ]

of this kingdom. — I could extend thefe reflections,
but as it is only a Tingle experiment, I do no more
than call upon others to try fimilar ones, that
from a great variety of applications the real value
may be known.

The winter following I tried a fimilar experi-
ment on potatoes; and as the refult was remark-
able, I mall add it.

Nov. 21, 1781, weighed alive fixteen wether
lambs, that, like the former, had had the fum-
mer's grafs. Average weight 891b. in all 1,4321b*
Hurdled a pen on dry grafs, and gave them po-
tatoes, the duller fort. In the firft twenty-three
days they ate but twenty-live bulhels. Perceiv-
ing them to look very thin, I weighed them
again, January 14, and the total weight then
was 1,2641b. they had confequently loll i68lb.;
by the 16th, they had eaten fixty bulhels, and I
then put them to turnips. Thus nothing could
be more decifivc againfi: this application of clus-
tered potatoes.

I was, however, informed in Ireland of a fcore
or two of wethers being raifed to an uncommon
degree of fatnefs by potatoes ; but they were pro-
bably the common fort, which I am apt to think,

from

from fome other cafes, as well as from theur
fuperior farinacioufnefs, are of a more feeding
quality.

Thus having ventured thefe two fmall experi-
ments to your examination, permit me a few ob-
fervations on the premiums offered by you in
January 1782, an object of more general import-
ance, and which, by being confidered in various
lights, and made a fubject of difcourfe in your
aiTociated counties, muft necefTarily tend to throw
your patriotick defigns gradually into the very beft
channel for the publick good.

There are two great objects to which the exer-
tions of fuch a Society as your's may be directed :

17?. To introduce into fuch parts of your county
as are ill-cultivated, the hufbandry of other better-
managed diftricts.

idly. To refine upon fuch hufbandry, and at-
tempt to carry it to an ideal perfection.

Subordinate and inferior are; ijf. To procure
general experimental information. 2dly. To en-
Courage* the induftry and Hull of your labouring
poor.

I perceive

C '9' I

I perceive by your premiums that you have
aimed at all thefe, and various other objects.

In whatever manner individuals of fortune may
amufe themfelvcs, and with whatever fuccefs, ltill
I am of opinion that, relative to the general agri-
culture of a diftricT, no refinement, no complex,
difficult, or doubtful practices, mould be intro-
duced or recommended. Thefe are the parts of
the art that very often fail, and no endeavour fails
without doing great mifchief to a whole neigh-
bourhood. Suppofe a gentleman in fome remote
part of Wales, where clover is quite unknown,
inftead of fimply recommending the plant to be
fown on clean land, drills and horfc-hoes it, he
fails; probably the plant itfelf in that diftricT: will
lie under fuch a ridicule that it would be rejected,
even when others, where no fuch failure had hap-
pened, had received it.

Your premiums for the culture of turnips are
in the right channel, the great outline; but why
a horfc-hoe for turnips? Can you wifh for a
greater improvement than to cover your dry lands
with the noble crops of Norfolk? But (the fields
of poflibly two or three whimfical gentlemen ex-
cepted) there is not a horfe-hoed crop of turnips
in that county; yet I have walked over fields near

a mile

t 192 3

a mile long, where the regularity of the plant,
the compleatnefs of the hoeing, and the freedom
from weeds, formed a truly beautiful fpectacle.
Norfolk hufbandry, on the dry lands of your
counties, would make a noble figure, though a
horfe-hoe had never exifted.

Setting wheat is another practice of more re-
finement that has taken place in the eaftern part
of Norfolk, which is the manufacturing and very
populous part of the county, but is not that dif-
trifi by any means which has given a fanction to
what is commonly called Norfolk Hufbandry, which
exclufively belongs to the North-Eaftern angle
of the county, where little or no fetting of wheat
is to be met with. It is however a refinement on
the clover tillage for wheat, and in my opinion
ought no where to be attempted till the clover
itfelf is generally and very well eftablifhed; fincet
fhould the farmers once get an idea that fetting
wheat is a part of that Hufbandry \ it might retard
the full eftablifhment of. clover, which would
undoubtedly be doing more mifchief to your
counties than all the exertions of an hundred fo-
cieties can ever do good.

Premiums 8 and 9, 14, 15, 28, 29, 43, buck-
wheat, vetches, carrots, rape, flax, apples, and

cabbages,

[ 193 ]

cabbages, arc unexceptionable; they come clearly
within the firft definition, introducing into your
counties practices that fucceed very well in com-
mon management elfcwhere. But why give three
guineas for the winter vetch, and fix for the fum-
mer one? The winter vetch is an object of the
firft confequence, the fummer one of very little.
Premium 15 does not fay whether the rape is for
feeding cattle or fox feed; the former excellent
hufbandry; the latter has alone ruined many

farms. But the object: of fainfoin (ri) is of

yet greater importance ; you deferve the greatefl

praife for attending to that noble grafs. But

as to Hops, (44) the fame obfervation is by no
means applicable. It is a culture only fit for na-
tural dunghills, or the vicinity of great cities.
The greateft improvement that could be intro-
duced into SufTex would be to grub up all the
hops; five or fix acres, on a farm of 100 or 150,
nearly ruin it, by receiving all the dung. If you
fucceed, and make this a common huibandry in
your counties, think no more of turnips, cabbages,
or any other plant that demands the dunghill.

Zealand barley, compofts, potatoe feed, parfley,
yellow vetch, the curl, and graffes ; they are all
cither refinements, or dubious, and confequently
come under that head which demands much con-

fideration.

[ '94 ]

fideration. If you fucceed, and they are intro-
duced, it is unknown whether your fuccefs be a
benefit or not ; whereas in other objects of greater
account, no fuch doubt can be entertained. I do
.not mean to find any fault with a wifh to fee gen-
tlemen- try experiments on parflcy, which I believe
is a"' valuable object, Or with the yellow vetch,
which I know experimentally to be one of* the
Jineft plants we have in England ; but they are
no points for Somerfet farmers to think of. As
to grajjes properly called, you fhould recoiled:
one fact, that the very fineft upland meadows,
or low ones on a good foil, that are found in
England, are thofe that have lead grafs. Jt is
the clafs Diadelphia that clothes the richeft in the
kingdom.

As to any premium relative to the general and
indij criminate ufe of drill-ploughs and horfe-hoes,
particularly for white corn, turnips, or fainfoin,
I think all attempts to introduce them perfectly
vifionary; in fome meafure harmlefs, becaufe the
introduction will never be affected ; but hurtful to
every fociety that offers it, becaufe it will fhew
(to common farmers) that they are unacquainted
with the objects they patronize; and he whore-
commends the broadcast culture of clover will
do it with no great authority, if he couples with

his

[ '95 ]

his advice the impracticable fcheme of the Tuliian
culture of oats and barley.

With refpect to the premium for fattening Tur-
kics; how that can be a national object is perfectly
incomprehenfible to me. When it is confidered,
that whatever food will fatten a turkey will alfa
fatten a hog; that pork is food for the lower
clafles; and that poultry in fuch a kingdom as
this, mud always be beyond their expenditure; it
may not perhaps be thought of no confequence,
but rather (tending to make pork dearer) it may
appear to be more prejudicial than ufeful.

Thus, gentlemen, I have troubled you with a
few obfervations oa your laft year's premiums. It
is a fubject that nearly concerns all the focieties
of the kingdom ; for as the benefit they do mull
be chiefly by thefe means, it is an object: of no
trifling import, that they be devifed with great
caution, forefight, and knowledge of the fubject.
A confiderable degree of efteem and reputation
belong to men who give their time, attention, and
money, for the publick good. Errors in them
have a large range, and 3 proportionable efTeft.
The miftakes of an individual may concern only
himfelf ; If you commit one, three provinces will
feel the weight. For this reafon I think there is

no

C *9<S 3

no fubject more proper on which publickly ta
communicate with you. Some future correfpon-
dent may correct me if I am wrong; but publick
enquiries into the bed means by which a Society
can advance the agriculture of a country, are more
likely to prove of confequence, than the recital of
any experiments in the power of an individual
poflefling no more advantages than I do.

I am, Gentlemen,

With all imaginable refpect,

Your obliged and devoted fervant,

ARTHUR YOUNG.
Bradfield-Hall, Dec. 21, 1782.

[The Society are much indebted to Mr. Young for his feveral
very obliging and valuable communications. In the lift of their
Premiums for 1783, he will obferve attention has been paid to hit-
ingenious hints and obfervations.J

Articls

A

[ '97 J

Article XXXI.

On the Nature of Soils.
[From a Norfolk Gentleman, to the Secretary. J

Sir,

S a knowledge of the different foils is of great

importance to the farmer, an enquiry into,
and defcription of their nature and properties, fo
far as relates to the great purpofes of vegetation,
feems to claim our firft attention, and to be the
ground-work of agriculture.

Without defcending to thofe nice diftindlions,
which are rather fubjecls of curiofity to the philo-
fopher, than of ufe to the farmer, we may rank all
our varieties of foil under the following heads :^

Sand, Gravel, Loam,

Clay, Chalk, lylarle.

By different combinations of thefe fabftances, all
the intermediate kinds of foil arc formed ; and
upon a proper mixture of them, in certain pro-
portions, depends the general fertility of the earth,
and the fuccefs of the farmer's labour.

In the nature of foils, the two extremes are,

tough wet clay, and loofe dry fand. Each of

Vol. II. O thefe

[ 198 ]

thefe has its peculiar plants, which will not grow
in the other, although they are few in number,
and of little known ufe. But the plants common
to both thefe foils will grow and thrive better in
loam, which is a middle fpecies of earth com-
pofed of thefe two extremes, partaking equally
of the good qualities of both, without the bad
ones. For this reafon, lands which partake of
the different properties of clay and fand, or which,
in other words, are a kind of compound wherein
the properties of clay and fand are fo united as
to correct each other, are generally the mod fruit-
ful, and produce the greateft mafs of vegetables.
This will more evidently appear, if it be confi-
dered in what manner plants and vegetables arc
nouriihed, and what it is that gives them bulk,
vigour, and firmnefs.

When the feeds of plants are depofited in the
earth, certain degrees of warmth, air, and moif-
ture, are neceflary for the expanlion of their vef-
fels, and the extenfion and firmnefs of their fibres
and folid parts. For thefe purpofes ftifF clay,
and loofe fand, are both, while feparate, very un-
favourable; the former, by the clofenefs of its
texture, retains the water like a difh, admits too
little heat or air, and prevents the tender fibres
of young plants from ihooting freely to fuch

diftances

I <99 ]

diftanccs as are .iftecdTaiy for obtaining a fuffi-
cieot quantity of proper nouri lament. The latter*
({mi}) from the loofenefs of its texture, admits
heat too freely, and is not capable of retaining
a fufficient degree of moifture for the purpofes of
vegetation. The particles of vegetable nutri-
ment are either abforbed by the heat, or wafhed
down by the rains too low for the roots of plants
to reach them. Hence few plants will come to
maturity on mere fand, except fuch as extend
their roots very deep, and attract nourifhment
from a ftratum below it.

It is neceflary alfo to obferve, that in ftiff clays
there is little fermentation, the faits being fo con-
fined and locked up by the tenacity of its texture,
that they cannot act. On the contrary, in light
dry fands they are fpeedily evaporated by heat.

All fands are hot and dry — all clays cold and
wet ; and therefore the manuring fandy lands with
clay, or clay lands with fand, is the bell: of all,
for this changes the nature of the land itfelf;
whereas dung, and other fubftances, afford only
an inferior and temporary improvement. Mixed
foils, which incline to the clayey Jkind, are beft of
all for corn and pulfe. But it is not the natural
foil only that the farmers ought to confider, but

O 2 the

[ 200 ]

the depth of it, and what lies immediately under-
neath it. For if the richeft foil is only feven or
eight inches deep, and lies on a cold wet clay or
ftone, it will not be fo fruitful as leaner foils that
lie on a better under-ftratum.

Gravel is perhaps the bed under-ftratum to
make the land prohfick.

The bed loams, and natural earths, are of a
bright brown, or hazely colour. Hence they are
in this county called hazel loams. - They cut
fmooth, ana tolerably eafy, without clinging to
the fpade or pkr ghfhare; — are light, friable, and
fall into fmall clods, without chapping or crack-
ing in dry weather, or turning into mortar when
wet. Next to thefe, the dark grey, and rufTet
mould, are accounted the beft. The worft of all
are the light and dark afh-coloured.

The goodnefs of land may alfo be very well
judged of by the fmeli and the touch. The beft
emits a frefh pleafant feent, on being dug or
ploughed up, efpeciaily after rain; and being a juft
proportion of tend and clay intimately blended,
will not ftick much to the fingers on handling.
But all foils, however good, may be impoverifhed,
and even worn out by fucceflive crops without
n reft,

[ 20I ]

reft, especially if the ploughings arc not very fre-
quently repeated before the feed is fown.

The famous Mr. Tull, indeed, carried his idea
of the advantage of repeated ploughings to fuch a
height, as to fuppofe they would fupply the place
of manure entirely. This was doubtlefs an error;
but an error which men are very liable to fall into
from their warmth in fupporting a favourite hy-
pothecs. Repeated ploughings, however, are an
excellent method of rendering land fweet and fer-
tile, by deilroying the weeds, and expofing all its
parts to the kindly influence of the fun and air, by
which means it attracts a larger quantity of falts,
and is better pulverized.

If we examine tracts of land which have not
been cultivated, we find nature has adapted dif-
ferent kinds of plants to moft of the diftingui fri-
able varieties of foils; and although fome be-
longing to one, may from fome caufe or other be
found on lands of a different quahty, they fel-
dom thrive, or perfect their feeds, fo as to become
general.

Mr. Ti/ll thinks that the only difference in
foils, except their richnefs, is occaiioned by the
diiferent degrees of heat and moifture that they

O 3 receive j

[ 202 ]

receive; and that earth, of whatever kind it be,
is equally proper for the production of plants in
general, provided the heat and moifture be equally
adjufted. But in this I am inclined to think Mr.
Tull is miftaken.

His inftance that rufhes, when taken from a
low watery ground, and planted on a dry hill,- will
grow and flourifh there, provided a plenty of
water be given them, does not prove his pofition :
For in this cafe, by the addition of water, the
ftate of the foil is changed, and becomes ft mil at
to that from whence the rufhes were taken, and
which is natural to them.

There is (as I before obferved) a fpecifick diffe-
rence of foils, and of the plants naturally growing
in each.

The great care of the farmer ought therefore
to be, by proper mixtures, to reduce his land to
that ftate and temperament in which the extremes
of hot and cold, wet and dry, are bed corrected
by each other ; to give them every poffible ad-
vantage flowing from the benign influences of fun
and air; to adopt fuch kinds of plants as they
afford in this ftate the greateft nourifhment to;
and to renew their fertility by a judicious allow-
ance

[ 203 ]

ance of the mod proper manures. Where thefe
things are done, there are few fpots fo unfriendly
to cultivation as not to repay his expence and
labour with a plentiful increafe: But without
thefe, the bed tracts of land will in time become
a barren wade, or produce little but weeds.

I am, &c.

W n, Feb. 28, 1783. T. S.

P. S. In my next I will conilder chalky foils.

Article XXXII,

Some of the fuperior Advaiitages of the Drill
to the Broadcajl Hiijbandry pointed out.

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Kent.]
Gentlemen,

SEEING by your advertifements in the St.
James's Chronicle, that the publifhing a fe-
cond volume of Select Papers was one of your re-
folutions, I am induced to offer a few remarks on
the Drill Hulbandry; the iubitance at lead of
which I fhould be happy to fee inferred therein,
if you think them worthy your attention.

Notwith-

[ 2°4 ]

Notwithftanding the decided fuperiority of the
Drill-Hufbandry in many kinds of grain, pulfe,
and graiTes, many farmers are ftill enemies to it;
and a ftill greater number are too indolent to go
one itep out of the old beaten path, though the
advantages they might reap are obvious.

This was the cafe many years in this county with
refpeel to hoeing of turnips; but thofe prejudices
are now generally overcome; and we have very
few, if any, farmers ftupid or obftinate enough to
fovv turnips without having them twice will hoed.

Some reafons indeed may be urged in favour
of a few perfons not adopting the Drill-Hufban-
dry, becaufe the warmer! advocates for it mull
allow, that there are foils, and (ituations, wherein
the broadcaft method is preferable, at lead in
many cafes. But thefe inftances are but te\vt and
ought not by any means to check it in the general.

Brill Hufbandry is, as a good writer has juftly
defined it, " the pr a Trice of a garden brought into
" the field" Every man of the lean: reflection
muft be fcnf.'Lle, rhat the practice of the garden
is much letter than that of the field, only a little
more expcnfive; but if (as is the cafe) this extra
expence.be generally much more than repaid by

the

[ 2o5 3

the fuperior goodnefs and value of drilled crops,
it ought to have no weight in comparing the two
modes of hufbandry.

In the broadcaft method the land is often fown
in bad tilth, and always fcattered at random, fome-
times by very unfkilful hands. In drilling, the
land muft be in fine order; the feed is fet in
trenches drawn regularly, all of nearly an equal
depth, and that depth fuitcd to the nature of each
kind of feed. Thefe feeds are alfo diftributed at
proper diftances, and by being equally and fpee-
dily covered, are protected from vermin and other
injuries; fo that the practice of the garden is here
exactly introduced into the field.

In the broadcaft method, the feed falls in fome
places too thick, in others too thin; and being
imperfectly covered, a part of it is devoured by
vermin which follow the fower; another part is
left expofed to . rain or froft, or to heats, which
greatly injure it. When harrowed in, a great
part of it (fmali feeds efpecially) is buried fo
deep, that if the foil be wet, it perifhes before it
can vegetate.

Again; When thus fown, there is no meddling
with the crop afterwards, becaufe its growth is

irregular.

[ 206 ]

irregular. The foil cannot be broken to give it
more nourifhment, nor can even the weeds be de-
ftroyed without much inconvenience and injury.

But in the Drill-Hufbandry, the intervals be-
tween the rows, whether double or Tingle, may be
horfe-hoed; and thereby nourifhment may re-
peatedly be given to the plants, and the weeds
almoft totally deftroyed.

The very fame effects which digging has upon
young fhrubs and trees in a garden, will refult
from horfe-hoeing in a field, whether the crop be
cornorpulfe: for the reafon of the thing is the
fame in both cafes, and, being founded in nature
and fact, cannot ever fail. In drilling, no more
plants are raifed on the foil than it can well fup-
port;"and by dividing and breaking the ground,
they have the full advantage of all its fertility.

The plough prepares the land for a crop, but
goes no further; for in the broadcaft hufbandry
it cannot be ufed ; but the crop receives greater
benefit from the tillage of the land by the horfe-
hoe, while it is growing, than it could in the
preparation. No care in tilling the land previous
to fowing can prevent weeds rifing with the crop;
and if thefe weeds be not deftroyed while the crop

is

[ 207 ]

is growing, they will greatly injure it. In the
broadcaft hufbandry this cannot be done; but in

drilling the horfc-hoe will effect it calily.

And what adds to the farmer's misfortune is,
that the mod pernicious weeds have feHs winged
with down, which arc carried by the wind to great
diflances; fuch are thirties, fowthiftles, coltsfoot,
and fome others. r y

I

If the expence of horfe-hoeing be objected,
there are two anfwers which may very properly be
made: the firft is, that this expence is much lefc
than that of hand-hoeing were is practicable, or of
hand-weeding. The fecond is, that it is more than
repaid by the quantity of feed faved by drilling;
to fay nothing of the extra quantity and goodnefs
of the crops, which are generally felf-evident.

From thefe confiderations, founded on, and juftly
drawn from eltablilhed facts, the comparative ad-
vantage is fo great in favour of the drill-hufbandry,
that it mud be ftrikingly vifible to every unpre-
judiced perfon.

I am, Gentlemen, your's, &c.

R r, Feb. 16, 1783, H. U 1

-

Articl*

[ 208 ]

Article XXXIII.

On drilling Turnips with Wheats drilled be-
tween the Rows.

[By an Hertfordfhire Correfpondent.]

Gentlemen

I RECEIVED the premium-book fent by your
Secretary, for which you have my thanks. I
-will endeavour if poflible to procure fatisfactory
anfwers to your printed queries; but in the mean
time beg leave to inform you of an experiment
made by an ingenious farmer in my neighbour-
hood, which to me is new, but I think a very
good one.

Having drilled a fmall field of fpring wheat in
rows two feet apart, a thought ftruck him of
fowing turnips in the intervals. Accordingly, in
May, he did Co by hand. The turnips came up
very well, and were thinned with the hoe once.
The wheat was a very good crop, and yielded
better than another field of about the fame foil
did, fown broadcaft in autumn, although it ri-
pened fomewhat later. On cutting it, the turnips
were no otherwife injured, than by having fome
of the large leaves trodden down by the reapers.

After

[ 209 ]

After harveft, the weeds were cut up round the
turnips with a h mil-hoe, and they grew very large
and vigorous. They were of the purple and white
long kind, and the crop proved nearly as good as
the fame land produced in common.

The farmer fed them off the field in December,
and ploughing in the ftubble, left it in that ftate
till March, when he prepared it by two more
plough ings for barley and clover, of which he
had a crop that yielded near forty bulhels per acre,
and the plant of clover was fo good that the cattle
preferred the ftraw to common hay.

I am, your very humble fervant,

B d, Oft. 6,1781. T. N.

Article XXXIV.

On Quick-Hedges.
[By a Gentleman near Bridgwater.]
Gentlemen, February 21, 1783.

AVING been lately through Gloccfterfhire,

H

or at lead that part of it between Bath and
Cirencelkr, I was much furprized to fee fuch a
number of dead wall fences ftill remaining, to the
difgracc of the country and its owners.

If

[ 210 ]

If they regarded beauty, or ufe, or the faving
expence in the leaft degree, I think they would
follow the example of their wifer neighbours in
raifmg quick-hedges, which are not only more
ornamental, but alfo far more ufeful and profitable.
The benefits which cattle receive from their fhel-
ter in winter, and their fhade in fummer, and
which the owners would reap by the thorns and
fire-wood they yield, are matters too important
for any good farmer to neglect, without incurring
deferved cenfure.

In all inclofed lands, the farmer mud keep up
good fences, if he would reap the fruits of his la-
bour; for by thefe it is that his crops are protected
from external injuries.

There are many fhrubs of which hedges may
be made, but among them all there are none
equal to the white and black thorns, that will fuit
the generality of foils, and are eafily propagated.
But a good hufbandman will never think his hedge
finifhed till he has placed trees in different parts
of it, and of fuch kinds as are beft adapted to his
refpedtive foil. In order to know what kinds of
trees thefe are, he need only obferve which forts
flourifh beft on the fame kinds of foil in other
places.

As

t *M J

As I have had fomc experience in rearing quick-
hedges, permit me to mention the method* 1 took
in railing and prclerving them.

I have for more than thirty years cultivated
about one hundred acres of land, principally on
account of its being to me a pleating employ-
ment. When I flrfl: fucceeded to this eftate, there
had indeed been fome quick-hedges formerly-
planted ; but they had been fo badly managed as
to be of little ufe, and incapable of much im-
provement. I therefore rather chofe to plant
them a-new, than to run the rifk of unfuccefsful
labour and expence in trying to recover and bring
the old ones into good order.

Some of my plants I raifed in a nurfery from
the haws, and others I drew up in the woods,
and wherever they could be found. I made my
banks flat, and three feet wide at the top, with a
(loping fide next the ditches, which were dug two
feet below the furface of the field, and one foot
wide at the bottom. The turfs were regularly
laid with the grafs downward, on that iide of the
ditch on which the hedge was to be raifed, and
the bed of the mould laid at top. My fets were
ftratt, fmooth, and even growing ones, and
planted as foon as polfible after taking up. 1

planted

planted them at a foot diftance ; and about every
forty feet I fet young fruit or other trees, fuch as
a(h, oak, beech, elm, according as the foil fuited
them. I then laid in a fecond row of quickfcts,
on another bed of frefh earth, at the fame dif-
tance, and covered them over with good mould.
The planting thus ended, I finifhed the bank,
and fecured it properly from injuries by a dead
hedge well wrought together, and faftened by
(lakes of oak trees on the top of the bank at three
feet diftance.

The time I planted it was the latter end of
February, which time I prefer to October, and in
general the plants fucceed beft at that time. In
autumn I cleared it from weeds.

The following fpring I examined my hedges
carefully, fecuring the flakes where they were
loofened, and filling up any holes that were made.
Wherever any of the quick-fets had failed, or
appeared dwindling, I replaced them with frefh
ones from my nurfery; and alfo fuch of the young
trees as had been planted on the top of the bank;
and cleared the whole from weeds.

In one field it happened that my fheep had eaten
off many of the young fhoots; but as I thought

thejr

[ 2IJ ]

they would recover, I did not replace themj but
I afterwards found it would have been beft to
have done fo, for they never grew fo as to over-
take the reil, and this hedge was unequal and
much inferior to the other. The principal care
now ncceilary was, to keep the quick free from
weeds, and well protected from cattle, till it was
of an age fit for plafhing, which, if it is healthy
and vigorous, may be done in its feventh or
eighth year. It will however be right to go over
it once a year during that time with a knife, and
cut off the redundant, or ill-fhaped and ftraggling
branches, keeping the face of it as fmooth and
even as poflible; and alfo root up all entangling
weeds, which, by confining it, would otherwife
fpoil its beauty, and hinder its growth.

The weeds mod: deftructive to young hedges
arc, white and black bryony, bindweed, and the
traveller's joy.

White bryony has leaves like the vine, and its
berries are red; the root is as big as a man's leg,
and runs very deep. Black bryony will grow
thirty feet long, and with irs clafping tendrils will
entangle and choke the young quick all the way.v
As its root is very large, it mud be dug out deep
to deltroy it.

Vox.. II. P Travelled

[ 214 ]

Traveller's joy has woody ftalks, with a rough
bark; the leaves are fmall, and of a pale co-
lour, and it bears white cottony tufts in autumn;
it is more deftru&ive to young quick-hedges
than any other, overbading it like an arbour.
The root of this plant is not deep like the reft,
but care mud be taken to get it up entire, for
the leaft piece left will fend up frefh fhoots next
fpring.

The firft plafhing may be performed at eight
years old, but this mould be repeated at fourteen
or twenty years growth; the firft will be the leaft
troublefome, — the laft moft necefTary. The me-
thod of plafhing being pretty well known in places
where quick-hedges are common, I fhall not en-
large upon it, efpecially as there are fome very
proper directions given in the Farmer's Magazine,
a work abounding with ufeful and interefting matter
to the hufbandman.

But I would obferve, that at the firft plafh-
ing, all the rubbifh, weeds, and filth, fhould be
cleaned away from the roots of the young quick,
the fuperfluous ftraggling roots cut off, and a
quantity of the beft mould from the bottom of
the ditch lliould.be laid on them to fill up the
hole, and ftrengthen the plants; at the fame

time

C aiS 3

time the fruit, or young timber trees, fhould be
pruned up.

When the hedge is new plafhed, it (hoots out
very vigoroufly, and thefe frefti young (hoots arc
very tempting to cattle. They fhould therefore be
well fecured; and if you can avoid it, never feed
cattle in the field that fame year. But if fome
cattle muft be paftured there, horfes will do far
lefs injury than cows, oxen, or fhecp ; the latter are
word of all. The bed feafon for plafhing, as well
as for planting quick-hedges, is February.

I (hall now add a few obfervations relative to
the advantage arifing from quick-hedges. This
greatly depends on the care taken by the farmer,
at the time of plafhing, to fee the work done
himfelf. If he leaves it to carelefs and negligent
workmen, the labour and cod of years may be loft
in a day.

If hedges were of no other ufe than as fences,
it would be the farmer's intereft to keep them up
carefully ; for the better they are, the more fecure
are his cattle and crops. But if a judicious mix-
ture of cyder fruit-trees were planted in hedges,
the profit arifing from them only would abundantly
repay all the coft of the whole, without any lofs

of ground.

P 2 I;

C >i6 ]

It may poflibly be objected by fome, that the
hedges would often be hurt by the boys climbing
up to get the fruit; but thofe who make it mould
remember, or be told, that the bed kinds of cyder-
fruit are fo hard and auftere at the time of their
being gathered, that nobody can eat them, and
even hogs will hardly touch them. But the great-
er!: benefit, where no fruit-trees are planted, arifes
from the thorns and wood which quick-hedges
yield for the fire, and many other purpofes.

I have in a fingle year, from my hedges, and
the trees I planted in them, cut as much wood
as I fold for eight or ten guineas, exclufive of
the expence, and the quantity I ufed for other
purpofes.

I am, Gentlemen,

your humble fervant,

A. B.

Article

A

[ 217 ]

Article XXXV.

On Planting Wajle Grounds.

[From a Norfolk Gentleman, a Vifitor at Bath.)

Gentlemen,

S I have made planting a favourite amufe*

ment, I take the freedom of fubmitting a
few thoughts thereon to your confideration.

My refidence is in Norfolk, a county in which
fixty years fince there were vaft tracts of unculti-
vated, and, as was then thought, barren land.
The weflern parts of it abounded with fands of fo
light a texture, that they were carried about by
every wind; and in many places the fands were
fo loofe that no grafs could grow upon them.

Art and induftry, however, have now fo al-
tered the face of this once Arabian defert, that it
wears 1 very different appearance. Mod of thefe
tracts arc either planted, or rendered very good
corn-land, or fheep-walks.

I fee by your lad volume you have already been
informed by Mr. Beevor, and other Gentlemen,
of the progrefs and effects of marling, and of their

P 3 turnip

I 218 ]

turnip hufbandry; and therefore fhall confine my
prefent remarks principally to planting, efpecially
as my refidencc is in that part of the county where
the mod barren foil has been thus enriched.

About thirty years fince, the fides of many of
our little fand-hills were fown with the feeds of
French furze, and when a wet feafon followed,
they fucceeded very well, and grew fo faft that
once in three or four years they are cut for fuel,
and fell at a good price at Thetford, Brandon,
Herling, Swaffham, and places adjacent. This
excited fome publick-fpirited Gentlemen, among
whom was the late Mr. Buxton, of Shad well-
Lodge, near Thetford, to attempt the planting
of Scotch and fpruce firs, and other hardy foreft-
trees. At firtt. they found fome difficulty from
the extreme loofenefs of the fand. But as there
is in all this part of the county fine white and
yellow marie, at about three feet depth below the
fand, they very judicioufly thought that incorpo-
rating it with the fand in the holes where their
young trees were planted, would infurefuccefs; nor
were they difappointed.

The method fucceeded beyond expectation;
jhe plantations throve exceedingly, and the roots
foon reached below the fand, after which they

were

[ 2I9 ]

were out of danger. This excited them to fur-
ther attempts.

On the fpots where they intended to raife new
plantations from feeds and acorns, they laid on a
thick coat of marie and clay, which, after being'
rough fpread, and lying a winter in that ftatc,
was made fine, and ploughed in juft before plant-
ing. By thefe means the foil became fixed, and
in a little time covered with grafs and herbage;
fo that there arc now vaft plantations of firs, oak,
and foreft-trees, in the mod healthy and vigorous
ftatc, where within my memory ten acres of land
would not maintain a fingle fheep three months.

But the benefit of plantations, whether of fhrubs,
copfc, or trees, is not confined to the immediate
advantage, or even the future value of the wood.
By annually fhedding a great number of leaves,
which the winds difperfe, and the rain wafh into
the foil, it is confiderably improved ; and when-
ever fuch copfes have been ftubbed up, the ground
(however unfruitful before planting) has thereby
been fo enriched as to bear excellent crops for many
years, without the additional help of manure.

How much land-owners are intcreftcd in plant-
ing wafle or barren fpots, I need not mention ; and

nothing

[ 220 ]

nothing but a degree of indolence or ignorance,
unpardonable in this enlightened age, could induce
them to neglect it.

Nature has furnifhed us with plants, trees, and
fhrubs, adapted to almoft every foil and fituation;
and as the laws of vegetation are now much better
underftood than formerly, it is a reproach to thofe
whofe practice does not keep pace with their
knowledge in making the bell ufe of her bounty.

Let no man repine and fay the land is barren ;
for thofe fpats which appear to be fo, owe that
appearance to human negligence. Induflry and
art might foon render an eighth part of this king-
dom nearly as valuable as the reft, which now re-
mains in a ftate unprofitable to the owners, and
difgraceful to the community.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,

Your very humble fervant,

March 7, 1783. W. H n.

Articik

[ 221 ]

Article XXXVI.
Obfervations on Cow-Chver> and Cow-Wheah

[By Mr. William Curtis, Author of the Flora
Londinenfis.J

Gentlemen,

THE fubjedt of the queries which I had the
honour of receiving from you, has often
engaged my attention ; and I have frequently won-
dered that many fenfible farmers and feeds-men
with whom I am acquainted, or have converfed,
fhould know fo little of a plant for which the latter
have fo great a demand. If the following obfer-
vations fliould prove in the lead fat is factory, I
fhali be highly gratified,

i/?. Cow-Clover, or Cow-Grafs, are, I doubt
not, the fame plant : but Cow-Wheat belongs to a
very different genus ; the Mclampyrus of Linnaeus.

idly. There are, growing wild in this country,
two fpecies of clover, much refembling each other
in fize, and in the colour of their blofibms.—
The one is the Trcfolium Pralenfe\ the other, the
^refolium Alpeftre of Linnaeus. The former is
the common broad-leaved clover; the latter, the

long-

C 225 ]

long-leaved, or creeping-rooted clover; for it
differs from the common broad-leaved kind, not
only in having longer and narrower leaves, but
alfo in having a root not only perennial, but
creeping.

Although I know with certainty that the feed
of the broad-leaved clover is fold in the London
fhops for the true Cow-grafs, yet I have often
fufpe&ed that the different name of Cow-grafs
might originally have been given to the long-
leaved fort, from its poffeffing fome qualities fu-
perior to the other; and its feed not having been
collected, the other has fupplied its place.

However this may be, the afcertaining which
of the two is the beft food for cattle, is certainly
an objedt worthy the Society's attention. If it
fhould be found that the Alpeftre is in any refpedl
fuperior to the Pratenfe, you may be the means of
bringing it into general ufe. But mould it prove
inferior, the diftin&ion of Cow-grafs will be abo-
lifhed, and the farmer will be taught to depend
on broad-leaved clover only.

I herewith fend you a growing root of the AU
pejlre, or true long-leaved clover. A loamy foil
will beft fuit it.

2dty. The

[ 223 ]

2<lly. The feeds of the Cow-wheat are not to
be had in any of the London fhops. From the
little experience I have had in cultivating this
genus of plants, they do not feem to promifc
much; yet I would by no means wifli to prevent
or even to difcourage your making a fair trial
of them.

I am, with great rcfpecT, your's, &c.

WILLIAM CURTIS.

Nov. 8, 1780.

Article XXXVII.

On Cow-Wheat, Cow-Grafs , and Cow-Clover.

Gentlemen,

FN anfwer to your Secretary's queries refpedling
«■■ Cow-Grafs, Cow-Clover, and Cow-Wheat, be
pleafcd to accept the following : —

I conceive that Cow-Grafs, and Cow-Clover,
have no fpecifick diftinclion. All the graflcs and
trefoils [Trefolia~\ are almoft indifcriminatcly cropt
in a certain Hate of vegetation by every neat beaft.
Thcfc diftincTions mud therefore be arbitrary or
1, as the Briza% or Quaking-Grafs, is in fomc
CQuntiei called the Cow-Quake.

With

[ 224 ]

With refpect to Cow- Wheat, it is unqueftion-
ably the Melampyrum Arvertfey (purple Cow-Wheat)
and has no affinity with either clover or grafs;
but is a good food for cattle, and as fuch it has
been divers times recommended as a fubjecl: proper
for cultivation.

It is a fcarce plant, and perhaps not to be found
in five counties in the kingdom ; and being cropt
clofe in almoft every pafture where it grows, when
fuch paftures are fed, it is rarely found but in
difficult acclivities, or under the protection of
brambles, furze, or thorns; and doth not arrive at
maturity till late in the year.

It is a large plant, bearing a fpike of purple
flowers, with numerous floral leaves of the fame
colour. Its feeds when ripe have a near refem-
blance to wheat, from which circumftance, no
doubt, it obtained its name. Perhaps it is not
to be bought at any feed fliop. I have not yet
feen it in any botanick gardens. Inclofedare fpe-
cimens of a few plants growing near Norwich^
among which is one of the Cow-Wheat.

I am, very refpeftfully, your's, &c.
Norwich. J, WAGSTAFFE.

Article

[ Wl )

Article XXXVIII.

On the "Profit of Carrots and Cabbages.

Sir,

SINCE I received your lad favour, the weather
has been fo very inclement, that I had it not
in my power till yefterday to afcertain with any
degree of precifion the weight or value of my
crops of carrots and cabbages. In all my farm-
ing experiments, I would wifli to avoid as much
as poflible all exaggerating ideas of the value of
the produce; and for this reafon I felected fuch
parts of the field as were neither the beji nor the
worji of the crop. They were weighed with great
exa&nefs, and can be attefled (if defired) on oath.

With refpecT: to the former crop, (I mean of
carrots) you will find the expence attending this
method of cultivation greatly reduced, when com-
pared with the crop for which I received the So-
ciety's premium in the year 1779; and yet the
produce per acre was very little inferior. I never
remember to have met in any Author with expe-
riments to prove how far carrots may be profit-
ably applied to the feeding of fheep in the month*
of March and April. To that purpofe I intend

devoting

[ 216 3

devoting the whole five acres, and have no doubt
but the profit attending this mode of confumption
will equal any other.

How far my cabbage crop entitles me to the
notice and approbation of the Society, I will not
pretend to fay ; the cultivation and attention paid
unto it deferved a better return. Yet I mud ob-
ferve, that confidering the number of fugar-loaf
intermixed with the Scotch, the produce is equal,
if not fuperior, to any I ever read of; I mean on
land of equal value. Befides, I muft remark,
that out of fifteen acres, certainly three acres of
the right fort might be produced, which, if fe-
lecled, would weigh at leaft ten tons per acre
more than the annexed calculation.

However, I fubmit to the Society's determina-
tion, having no other view than the promotion of
thofe good ends for which it was eftablilhed.

I am, Sir,

Your humble fcrvant,

Afhwick-Grove, J. BILLINGSLEY.

Nov. 12, 1 78 1.

CARROTS.

[ 22? ]

CARROTS.

Two perch dug in different parts of the field, neither
the heft nor word, produced, One 1141b. the other 1041b,
Average 1091b. or 7 tons 15 cwt. per acre, which at only

£-7 IS o

20S. per ton, amounts to

Expences per acre

Rent —

£*

0

0

3 ploughings

O

12

0

3 harrowings

O

3

0

Sowing —

O

0

6

Seed - — •

O

4

0

Two hoeings

O

7

6

27a

Profit £.5 8 o
As I purpofe ploughing out, and folding the fheep on
them, that expence will not exceed 5s. per acre.

CABBAGES.
One row cut from end to end of the field, weighed 32
cwt. or per acre 36 tons, which, at 4s. 6d. per ton,

amounts to — £.J 4 o

Expenses per acre.

Rent £.0 10 o

Manure I 10 o

Three ploughings - 012 o
Two harrowings -030

Sowing, feed, and tranf- ^

, . >o 10 o

planting J

Hand and horfe-hoeing 080 3 13 o

Profit ^.3 ii o
N. B. This land is in moft excellent preparation for \
crop of barley next fpringj fcarcely a weed to be fcen in

the whole held,

[ 228 ]

Article XXXIX.

On the Scab in Sheep > and fome approved Re-
medies recommended.

[By a Gentlemen Farmer near Norwich.]

Gentlemen,

AS the difeafe called the fcab in fheep is very
often fatal, and occafions great lofs to the
farmer, I beg leave to trouble you with a few
remarks thereon; and alfo to mention fome of
the belt remedies yet difcovered among our fheep
breeders.

This difeafe is generally found mod prevalent
where the lands on which fheep are kept are wet-
ted, or in the mod rainy feafons.

In the ifle of Ely fome years fince mod of their
flocks were difeafed, and great numbers died.
But I am of opinion, that this diforder is not al-
ways the effect cither of moid air and food, or of
lying on wet ground. It is doubtlefs often oc-
cafioned by the blood and juices of the animal
being in an impure date; to which, however, an
excefs of moidure and rank food may very much
contribute.

Many

[ 229 ]

Many pcrfons have fuppofcd the fcab to be
merely a cutaneous difeafe, and ofcourfe applied
only external remedies to the part immediately
affecled, without conlidering that a purification
of the blood was ncccfTary to a radical cure. In
fuch cafes, thefe applications, adminiftercd fingly,
often do more harm than good, becaufe they
drive in the eruption, and fix the difeafe in the
internal and more noble parts of the animal.

The beft way therefore to treat this diforder is,
on its firft appearance, to give the fheep fomc-
thing inwardly to drive out the eruption ; and then
external applications are made with propriety, and
generally with fuccefs.

The following recipe has been tried and found
effectual in numerous inftances in this county and
in Suffolk, where very large flocks are kept: —

Take a gallon of foft well or pond water, and
divide it into two equal parts. In one pint dif-
folve eight ounces of old hard foap, to which,
when diffolved, add two ounces of fpirits of hartf-
horn,and half a pound of common fait, with four
ounces of roll brimftonc, finely powdered and
fiftcd. In the other part of the water put two
ounces of leaf tobacco, and one ounce of hellebore

Vol. II. Q_ root.

[ *3° ]

root. Boil this fecond part till you have a ftrong
infufion, and then ftrain it off.

Next take that part of the water firft mentioned,
and fet it over the fire ; let it boil half an hour,
ftirring it all the while with a wooden ladle. In
the mean time heat again the fecond part, in
which the tobacco and hellebore were infufed;
and when hot mix the two parts gradually toge-
ther over the fire, keeping the mixture flirring all
the time, which mould be about a quarter of an
hour. When quite cold, put it in a (tone bottle
for ufe, and fet it in a cool place.

Then take four quarts of new ale or beer, put
into it twelve ounces of fait, two ounces of bay
fait, and eight ounces of pounded nitre, together
with twelve ounces of pounded roll brimftone.
Set them over a gentle fire, and when the ale boils
take off the fcum. When it has boiled half an
hour, fet it by to cool, and when cold put it in a
ftone bottle for ufe.

When you are thus far prepared, take one quart
of ale, and fet on the fire, mix into it by degrees
three ounces of fulphur; when juft ready to boil,
take it off. the fire, and let it Hand to cool; and
when only blood warm, give this quantity in-
wardly

[ 23* ]

wardly to three fhcep. Repeat the dofc three
times, allowing one day's interval between each
dofe. This will drive out the diforder; and then
the firft mixture is to be rubbed on the diftem-
pcred parts; and two days afterwards the fecond
mixture, and fo on alternately for eight or ten
days, 'till the cure is effected. Sometimes two
rubbings will be fufficient.

The only objection to this mode of cure is,
that it is compound, troublefome, and rather ex-
penfive. This certainly has weight, becaufe where
a large number of fheep are affected, it could not
eafily be practifed. On this account fome perfons
have adopted the following method of treating the
difeafe, and with fuccefs alfo:

Take half an ounce of good corrofive fubli-
mate, and diffolve it in two quarts of rain water,
to which add a common gill glafs of fpirits of
turpentine. When the fheep is (truck, make a
circle round the maggots with fome of the water,
dropping it out of a bottle. This will prevent
their getting away and hiding themfelves among
the wool. Then drop a little among them, and
rub it about with the finger, which will prefently
kill them.

Q^2 But

[ 232 ]

But I am ftill of the opinion, that fomething
given inwardly is neceflary to purify the blood;
and perhaps nothing can be more efficacious than
the firft mixture defcribed above. 1 have tried
both methods, and always found, that when in-
ternal as well as external applications were ufed,
the cure was mod radical and lading.

I am, Gentlemen,

Your faithful friend and fervant,

T. B r,

H 1, March 1 2, 1 7 8 1 .

Article XL.

On preferring turnips from the Fly.

[By a Gentleman Farmer at Drayton in Norfolk.]

Gentlemen,

THE variety of experiments made ufe of du-
ring many years pad for preferving that
excellent and ufeful plant the turnip from the
ravages of the fly, having proved in many in-
ftances ineffectual, or at lead: inadequate to the
purpofe intended; permit me, thro' the channel
of your intereding publication, to offer the fol-
lowing

[ *33 ]

lowing to the public, which, from three fucceflive
years trial, I have found to anfwer in every rf-
fpecl. My difcovcry was owing to the following
accident:

A neighbouring farmer nqt having a fufficiept
quantity of manure for ail his turnip land, was
under the ncceflity of fowing four acres unma-
nured. The eileel was, that the turnips on the
manured part of the land were moftly eaten off
by the fly; while four acres unmanured efcaped
without injury.

Having a fmall farm which I occupy for my
own amufement, and being very anxious to pro-
mote improvements in agriculture, I determined
in the following feafon to make fome experiments
from the above hint. Accordingly, in the fum-
nur 1776, I manured five acres well for turnips,
and tilled three acres and a half in the ufual way
without any manure. Thofe which I manured
were almoft univerfally deftroyed by the fly, in fo
much, that I was obliged to fow mod of the land
over again. The three acres and half which had
no manure were intirely free from any injury.
It muft indeed be confefied, that when I came to
draw them, they were not nearly fo large plants as
the other.

Q^3 Not

[ 234 ]

Not content with this fingle trial, I determined
to repeat my experiment (till farther: therefore,
in the latter end of autumn 1776, after having
taken the haulm and feed off, I manured fix acres
of wheat-ftubble, which I intended for turnips the
enfuing feafon. This done, I immediately plowed
it, leaving it to incorporate freely with the earth
till the following fummer, which had the defired
effect; for the turnips which grew upon it were
as large as thofe on the land which had been
manured.

The two fucceeding years, 1778 and 1779, I
repeated this experiment, which anfwered beyond
my utmoft expectation. Hence I infer, that the
fly is cither ingendered in the new muck [dung]
or inticed by it. But when this manure is laid
on in the autumn preceding, it lofes all its noxious
qualities, and, from what I have obferved, retains
all its nutritive ones; though, philofophically
fpeaking, they are liable to be in fome degree ex-
haled by the heat of the fun.

Another material advantage accruing from au-
tumn manuring for turnips is, that all the feeds
contained in the manure, and which of courfe are
carried on the land with it, vegetate almoft im-
mediately, and are moftly killed by the leverity of

the

[ 235 ]

the winter; and the few that remain can feldom
avoid deftruction from the ploughfharc.

This is a more effectual means of cleanfing lane's
of weeds than has hitherto been ufed, and coniider-
ably leflens the labour of turnip-hoers.

Article XLI.

On /owing Turnips and Grain, and on fome of
the Difcouragements which prevent Improve-
ments in Agriculture.

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Effex.J

Gentlemen,

I HAVE lately been favoured with a fight of
your firft volume of felect papers, and find
many very ufeful things contained therein: but I
wifh your correfpondents would principally attend
to fads eftabliflied only by experience ; for philofo-
phical opinions, unfupported by facts, appear to ma
to bewilder rather than eftablifti and inform.*

• We are in general of the fame opinion with our correfpondent ;
i fome cafes, a philofophical explanation of the operations of
nature, which (apparently) feem to contradict each other, will be
found neccflary and ufeful, as well as entertaining to fuch of our rea-
ders as have ftudied agriculture as a fcience.

To

[ ^ ]

To give a full anfwer to your printed queries,
would make a fmall volume; and as I have at
prefent but little time to fpare, I fhall only hint
at fuch of them as are mod generally important.
Of thefe, Turnips claim our firfl: attention, as be-
ing the bafis of all good huibandry.

The mod certain way that I have found of get-
ting a good plant, is to make the land clean and
fine as foon as the weather will permit, and to
fow four pints of feed per acre. It may bejuftly
objected, that if the fly does not take them, the
plants will be fo thick, that they cannot be eafily
hoed. This I will readily grant; but they may
eafily be thinned in that cafe, and made fit for the
hoe, by harrowing them firfl. But when you fow
only a pint per acre, and the fly takes them, there
can be no expectation of a crop. When I have
fown four pints of feed, I have not in one inftance,
as I remember, miffed of a plant, although the
fly has fometimes deftroyed more than half of
them, and much damaged the other.

One of your correfpondents has given you a
good account of his manuring his land well to
make the turnips grow quick, thereby fpeedily to
get into the rough leaf, in which ftate the fly will
not touch them. But every farmer who fows a

large

[ ^37 3

large quantity of turnips may not have it in hi*
power fo to do ; though every one can fow a fuffi-
cient quantity of feed for the fly and himfclf too.
Take this as a hint of my thoughts on the drill-

hufbandry.*

I have known many great lofles fuftained for
want of a good plant of corn; but very little lcfs
by its being too thick: we can eafiiy thin any
corn, grain, or feed, when young, but we cannot
fo well add to it. Now, we are certain that all
corn, grain, or feed, have many enemies that prey
upon it; and the only way I know of to guard
againft them, is to keep the land fweet and clean
by good tillage, and fow it full thick enough,
rather than too thin; for although a thin plant
may in a favourable feafon turn out a good crop,
yet it is liable to many damages more than a thick
one. Among thefe are the mildew, the grub or
Aug; and many infects will eat it rather than

* We clearly perceive that our correfpondent is not a friend to
the drill-hufbandry. This, we apprehend, proceeds from his not
attending with his ufual accuracy to the many inconteftible advantages
rcfulting from this improved mode of Agriculture. He has indeed
fully granted the principles on which the driU-hufbandry i« founded,
by recommending the land to be M keptfiueet and clean from <weeds\*
but he feems not to have recollected, that this cannot by any expence
or labour be Co eafiiy done in the broadcast, as in the drill-hulbandry.

weeds;

t 238 ]

«

weeds; and it will alfo be choaked with weeds if
not well hoed, which is an expence and trouble
that indolent farmers will not readily fubmit to.

I cannot help remarking what one of your cor-
refpondents fays in the flrft volume of your feled:
papers,* <f that the time has been when a farmer
would carry a cruft of bread in his pocket to
market, and get a pint of three-half-penny beer
there, and jog home contented. " What made me
take notice of it was, that it breathes the fame
fpirit manifefted by a great land -fte ward in our
neighbourhood, who cannot ufe one inftrument
in Agriculture, and has but little feeling for far-
mers: as though any thing were good enough
for them ; and as though farmers are, or at leaft
ought to be, made and ufed like beads of burden,
loaded hard and abufed at their pleafure. Surely
fuch gentlemen (if they may be called fo) never
read that old-fafhioned book the Bible, in which
we read, " Thou fhalt not muzzle the mouth of
«* the ox that treadeth out the corn:" And that
the hufbandman muft or ought to be the firft par-
taker of the fruits. But I hope there is no pcrfon
in your Society who is actuated by fuch a fpirit;

* We do not recollect this paflagc in any of the letters publilhed
by the Society*

for/

[ 239 J

for it appears to me quite contrary to the very
profeffion of encouraging Agriculture.

If a farmer takes a farm out of order, and the
land be poor, the farmer, to improve fuch a farm,
and flock it well, ought in fome cafes to have as
much money to cultivate it to the bed advantage
as the land is worth ; yet for fuch a perfon, how-
ever induftrious, a cruft in his pocket is (in the
opinion of fuch ftcwards) good enough for him.
And here I would afk, Is any tradefman in the like
circumftanccs fpoken fo lightly of? Is not an in-
duftrious careful farmer as refpeclable a member
of fociety as a tradefman? Is he not at lead equally
necefTary to the well-being and happinefs of the
date? What mud we think of fuch men as fay,
(when a farmer rears a colt, and breaks it to
make it fit for falc) " The farmers ride fuch
" horfes, with high tails, that we cannot go the
" road for them?"

And if a farmer happens to fqueeze a lemon
once a year, it is an unpardonable offence. This
ft c ward fays, " His horfe fliies fo at the lemon
c< fkins, that he cannot get near the door." And
when he lets a farm, he has let it fo dear, that he
thinks it necefTary to fay to the young farmer, " If
" you go home, and "work bard, and fare bard, you

" may

[ s4o ]
" may get a living." I believe I may fay with
the greateft propriety, that the fame young man,
by fo doing, could get a better living without the
farm than with it. And therefore would afk
you, Gentlemen, whether farmers ought to be ^o
treated, or whether this is the right way to en-
courage Agriculture, and to improve the value of
xftates ?*

As to inftruments, I cannot tell what are ufed
in your part of the kingdom; but I have heard
that in Wales the ploughs are on fo bad a con-
flruclion, that they cannot hold them themfelves
to plough the land as it ought, without a driver.
And I am informed by a perfon, a very good
ploughman, who went into that country, that our
ploughmen could not ufe them.

I hope the farmers in Somerfetfhire underfland
ploughing better than to employ a driver; for we
are at no fuch needlefs expence in our country.

* We perfectly agree with this gentleman, that the methods of
letting farms, which he fo juftly cenfures in this and a former letter,
are very great difcouragements to Agriculture: and of fuch land-
ftewards as he has here defcribed, we can only fay, that the fewer
there are of them, the better it will be both for the proprietors anfi
the renters of farms. As there are no clafs of men more ufeful,
there are none who deferve more to enjoy the fruits of their labou^
than farmer6.

As

[ =41 ]

As to manures, thofe which will exceedingly
enrich one fort of land will be of no fervice to
another; and this happens frequently to be a fact
where there is a great iimilitude to all appearance
in the foil. Therefore, different experiments are
neceiTary, and that on fmall pieces for trial.

I am, Gentlemen, your's, &c.

April 28, 1783. J. L.

Article XLII.

Obfervations on Rhubarb^ and its culture in
England.

[By the late Dr. John Fothergill.]
Gentlemen,

VERY foon after I received your Secretary's
letter, I was feized with a diforder which
rendered me incapable of attending to any thing
but my own fituation. I am now fomewhat better,
and hope, in the way to recover my ufual health.

The Rhubarb which has been chiefly cultivated
in this country, as the true officinal Rhubarb, is
undoubtedly the Rheum Palmatum. From the
appearance of the root when properly cured, and

from

[ 242 ]

from its effects when ufed as a medicine, it feema
to approach very near to, if it be not really, the
ubarb of the (hops. Many trials have been
i of it, and the reports of it are in its favour.

"V ( [ own I have my doubts, and think it would
fcarcely be advifeable to recommend a general
culture of it*

i'here is fomething in the native foil that im-
] arts a virtue to plants which they fometimes do
not pofTefs in other places.

Of all the objects of culture in this country, I
ihould leaft of all be difpofed to promote the cul-
ture of drugs. What virtues they have, if they
are good, we know pretty well; but as there is
nothing more difficult in the courfe of practical
fcience, than to afcertain the virtue or precife
effect of any drug, fo we may confider that which
is raifed in an unnatural or different foil, as a me-
dicine of untried virtue. It may be the fame with
that which we import; it may, however, be diffe-
rent in fome latent circumftance, and more or
lefs operative, and muft therefore fubject practi-
tioners to the rifque of difappointment, or the
fohcitude of attending numerous experiments*
when they have already a medicine at hand of the
effects of which they are pretty certain.

We

[ *43 ]

We have three different markets, from fomc of
which we may always hope to be tolerably well
fupplied with this drug ; from Turkey, Ruifia,
and . the Eaft-Indics. The kinds are in fome re-
fpecl different, but the differences are generally
underftood.

In all other important articles which can he
raifed better and cheaper than thofe we import,
by all means let us cultivate them, and with afli-
duity. Whatever other nations can raife and fell
cheaper than wre can do, and are willing to ex-
change for our manufactures, let us import from
abroad. This is the bafis of juft policy and
ceconomy.

Be pleafed to excufe this prolix anfvver to a
fimple pertinent queftion, and believe that I am,
with great refpect,

Your friend,

JOHN FOTHERGILL.
London, Jan, 12, 1779.

Article

[ *44 ]

Article XLIII.

On the Care necejfary in planting Potatoes.

[By a Gentleman of Briftol.]
Sir,

WITH a defign to promote the views of the
Society, I take the liberty of communi-
cating to you a thought which fome time fince
occurred to me refpecling the cultivation of Po-
tatoes. It ftruck me, that to felect the very prime
part of a crop might be a probable means of pre-
venting that general difeafe known under the
name of the Curly and which is a fure prognoftic
of a poor, dwindling crop.

Many fchemes have been propofed as likely to
remedy this evil, but hitherto without fuccefs;
nor have I obferved that any one has recom-
mended this method, which to me, at firft fight,
appears fo feafible.

Intelligent farmers are particular, and even cu-
rious, in the choice of their feed-grain. But in
refpect to potatoes chofen for planting, they are
moftly the rubbifh of the crop.

Upon

C MS ]

Upon what principle this method is adopted it
is hard to imagine, unlcfs it be to fave the incon-
fiderable trouble of cutting the fets.

The feed potatoes faved in like manner from
the crop of this rubbifh, it appears obvious, mud
be continually degenerating, till at length they
will no more anfwer the trouble and expence of
cultivation. Hence farmers are driven to the nc-
ceflity of purchafing their feed potatoes at an ex-
penfive rate from diftant parts of the kingdorn;
the fupply alfo is precarious, and good fcafons for
planting are frequently loft.

It is true, the potatoes fo purchafed generally
yield a favourable crop, with a fuitable manage-
ment and a proper foil. But probably this arifes
from the very circumftance to which I allude;
namely, their being the prime produce of fuch
places from whence they are brought. This is
indeed the fact, and a very natural one; for is it
likely that an inferior kind would be felected
for the purpofe of fending a great diftance for
falc, cfpecially of fuch an article as potatoes;
the cxpences upon which, fuch as freight, load-
ing, unloading, &c. are very high in proportion
to their value?

Vol. II. R Should

t 246 ]

Should thefe hints merit the confideration of
the Society, it would be fuperfluous in me to fug.
gelt any mode for bringing them to the teft of
experiment. I can only fay for myfelf, that I in-
tend to prove it; and being fomewhat fanguine as,
to its fuccefs, I mean it to be on a pretty exten-
sive fcale. Perhaps I may try three or four acres
with fome very fine potatoes I have by me, the
produce of this feafon, from Scottifh fets.

Wifhing the utmoft fuccefs to your excellent
inftitution, I am, Sir,

Your mofl obedient fervant,
Dec. 2, 1782. A SUBSCRIBER.

Article XLIV.

A Method of /owing Turnip-Seed to prevent
the Fly from taking it*

Gentlemen,

HAVING lately been informed of the follow-
ing difcovery, and thinking it highly de-
fcrving to be publickly known, I take the liberty
of communicating it to your Society.

About

[ H7 ]

About Midfummer, take the firft opportunity
when it rains, or there is an apparent certainty of
rain approaching, to Tow your turnip-feed, if about
the full moon the better. In this cafe neither
harrow, brufh, nor roll, after fowing. The natu-
ral heat of the ground at that fcafon, and the
confequcnt fermentation occafioned by copious
rain, will give an aftonifhingly quick vegetation
to the feed, which in a few days will be up and out
of all danger from the fly. At all events, fow not
till it rains; it is better to wait a month, or even
longer, for rain, than to fow (merely for the fake
of fowing about the ufual time) when the ground
is parched with heat. By the fcorching of the
fun, the oil and vegetative quality of the feed are
cxhaufted ; and the few weak plants that come up
will be deftroyed by the fly, before they can attain
ftrength to put forth their rough leaves. The fly
infeft the ground abundantly in dry hot weather,
but do no injury in rain.

The falling rain will fufficiently wafli the turnip
feed into the ground without harrowing it in,
which, inftead of merely covering, too often bu-
ries this fmall feed at fo great a depth as that it
never afterwards gets above ground.

I am, your's, &c.

Hxcter. C. GULLET.

r *+» 3

Article XLV.

On the different Specie* of Rhubarb.

Sir,

I Did not know that the Rheum Rhaponticum was
now judged by any to be the officinal rhubarb.
The famous Naturalift and Siberian Traveller,
M. Pallas, feems to have determined the Ruffia
rhubarb to be the Rheum Palmatum; and that the
jChincfe rhubarb is the fpecies which Linn*us once
thought to be the true rhubarb, and defcribed as
fuch in the Amanitates Academic*, under the name
of Undulatimi.

I have difficulty to believe that Monf. Pallas's
intelligence on this fubject is not to be de-
pended on; though indeed, it is not ftrange, that
two or more fpecies of the fame genus fhould
produce roots but little different in their powers;
which is the cafe in the inftance before us of the
Palmatum and Undulatum, if one may depend on
letters and authors. And I have been informed,
Chat thefc two fpecies, planted near each other,
will produce a mongrel plant, the feeds of which
are not fertile j and I fhould not be furprizcd to
hear that the root of this hybrid excelled that of
its parent plants.

BfiRGIUS,

[ 249 ]

Bergius, the latcft author on the Materia Me-
dica that is come to my hands, tells us, that the
Chineje get up their rhubarb roots in winter. He
himfelf advifes the taking them up in autumn, and
fays they require to be eleven or twelve years old.

But I have learned that Dr. Hope thinks them
fufficiently good at the end of four or five years;
and the author above-mentioned tells us, that the
young roots are more purgative, and that the older
ones are more ailringent.

Experiments only can determine what feafbn of
the year is preferable to take up the roots in. I
cannot fpeak from any knowledge on this fubject ;
but fhould incline to give it in favour of the fpring,
or the time before the plant begins to pufh its
leaves; though I am fenfible that this will not
hold in thefe bulbous or tuberous kinds, which
form a new root annually, as foon as the plant is
perfected.

lam, very refpcclfully,

Your humble fervant,

March 2, 1783. R. PULTENEY.

,Artic**

[ 2SO ]

Article XLVI.

On the Culture and Increafe of a new Species of
Ho rfe- Beans fent from Holland.

Gentlemen,

ON the 1 2th of March lad, I received from
a Member of your Society, two quarts of a
new kind of fmall horfe-beans, fent him from
Holland. They weighed exactly four pounds.
As I did not receive them till all my other beans
were planted, I had but little time to prepare the
J and for this experiment.

The fpot I fixed on was part of a very large
field intended for turnips, and meafured nearly
forty-five perches. As it was very long and nar-
row, the foil varied greatly, one end being a
heavy fand, apt to run together and bind, when
much rain fuddenly follows the time of working
it. The other end I am quite at a lofs to name,
it being a rude compound of clay and rugged
Hones, whofe furface for roughnefs refcmbles a
cinder, and greatly obftru£ts the point of the
fhare in ploughing. In general this land is very
wet, but this feafon {o dry, that it was ploughed
with great difficulty; and this part only had a

fmall

[ W ]

fmall quantity of dung in confideration of its ex-
treme poverty.

The whole was a wheat -ftubble ploughed in
before Chriftmas, and on the 15 th of March
ridged up in order to be planted, which was per-
formed on the 17th with the chain in rows three
links and a half diftant, and two links from bean
to bean in the rows; for they were planted fingly,
fo that a fpace of feven fquarc links, or three
fquare feet, was allotted to each bean.

When about fix inches high, they were hoed,
and earthed up a little, but in a very bad manner,
the ground being rough and hard, which rendered
the work very tedious.

The weeds grew amazingly, but notwithstand-
ing they pofTefled fo large a fhare of the ground,
the beans were in general five feet high, having
from twenty to feventy pods on a ftalk. I counted
the number from one fingle bean, and found them
to be 114, which, allowing on an average three
beans and a half to a pod, is 399.

The crop was cut on the 28th of Auguft; but
being very green, they were continued in the
field to the 4th of September, and were then in

bm

C *** 3

fine order. I had them threflied about fix weeks
ago, and they yielded thirty-five gallons Win-
cheiter meafure, and weighed 296 lb. nett of fine
beans, not much the worfe for being cut fo green,
though I apprehend fornewbat lefs both in weight
and meafure,

I now beg leave to obferve,

1/?. That as greater regard was paid to the
value of the feed than to that of the land, a much
lefs quantity was fown than might have been
raifed on the fame fpace of ground. And as little
benefit was likely to be derived from tillage or
manure, I flatter myfelf the air might in fome de-r
gree fupply the deficiency, by ftrengthening the
bloffoms, and preventing blights.

But whoever makes fmall experiments of this
kind lies under greater difadvantages than would
attend them on a larger fcale, efpecially where the
proportion of feed is fo fmall, that every grain
deftroyed by vermin, &c. is mifled. And akho'
feventy-four for one is a great increafe, yet fifteen
bufhels and a half per acre is not a profitable crop
pf bearjs,

'idly. I judge this fpecies of beans in general
to be a great bearer, and hardy^ as the dry wea-
ther

[ *S3 3

thcr did not apparently effeft them, although they
flood fo thin.

As this bean puts forth a flrong fialk, and (hoots
high, it will require to be planted thinner than
others, and as early as poflible; othcrwife I fear
that in wet fummers it would not ripen in due
fcafbn for a wheat crop to follow, efpecially on
moid land. Perhaps a bufhel on an acre may be
fully fufficient.

I am, &c.

Grittleton, Wilts, JAMES SARGENT,

Ocr. 29th, 1779,

Article XLVII.

Obfervations on Dr. TiJJbt's Letter to Monf.
HirzeL

Gentlemen,

HAVING lately read Dr. Tissot's letter to
M. Hirzel, in anfwer to M. Linguet's
Treatife on Bread and Bread-corn, gratitude
fecmed to require not only an acknowledgment
of that great man's abilities, but alfo the jult
tribute due to the philanthropy of his amiable
difpoiition, which renders him ever ftudious to

promote

[ 254 ]

promote the good of mankind. Not forgetting,
at the fame time, the thanks due to the Bath
Society for their laudable attempt to encourage,
extend, and promote, the knowledge of Arts fo
univcrfally beneficial as thofe of Agriculture,
Planting, &c.

One cannot help being furprifed that this great
man fhould enter into the minutiae of a fcience i^o
remote from that of his profeflion, with fuch ac-
curacy and difcernment; for how much foever he
may have miftaken fome hiftorical pafTages rela-
ting to the fubject, his reafoning from facts and
experience is certainly juft, and applies as truly
to the practice of Great-Britain, as the country in
which he wrote. The following remark is very
important and juft, and well worthy the practical
farmer's attention here, as well as in Switzerland.
He fays,

c< I am pcrfuaded from the beft Treatifes on
(Economics, from the obfervations communicated
to me by perfons fully experienced in this matter,
and from the founded philofophical principles,
that in fowing lefs corn, and putting the remain,
der of the lands to fome other culture, there would
be as much grain reaped, and alfo many other
ufeful productions."

Had

C *ss )

Had this gentleman profcflionally ftudied the
oeconomical Hate of Agriculture in thefe our
countries, he could not have pointed out more
di redly an evil which has long militated againft
the general intereft of Great-Britain; I mean that
of giving encouragement to the planting of more
wheat than could be difpofed of, without laying
a heavy tax upon the people at large; and not
only at a price too by which the community have
been great fufterers, but greatly in many inftances
againft the intereft of tiie farmers themfelves,
who have been induced to depart from their ufual
routine of crops, to plant wheat in lands not
proper for that grain, and to neglect thofe which
it would have borne with great advantage; by
which both their own intereft, and that of the
publick, have been greatly injured; for it is a cer-
tain fact, that in fome years, when 200,oool. have
been paid for bounties, we have been obliged to
import oats to the amount of 500,0001. amount-
ing together to 700,000!. A fum confiderably
above half what the wheat was fold for, though
it actually flood the grower in above three times
the money !

It feems to have efcaped the notice of all the
writers on the fubjecl:, that whatever article o'f
commerce is exported at a price below what it

Hands

[ 2S6 ]

ftands the grower or manufacturer in, a real fub-
ftantial lofs muft be fuftained by fomebody. Now,
fuppofing the average cod of wheat to the farmer
is four {hillings a bufhel, and it be exported at
three fhillings, there is a lofs of twenty-five per
cent, in the firft inftance; and feven-pence half-
penny per bufhel given by the bounty amounts
to above twenty per cent, more, together above
forty-five per cent, lofs: whereas, if kept till
the next year only, it probably might have fold
for fo much gain, as often would have been the
cafe. But this is wide of the firft intentions of
this paper.

Dr. Tissot, after defcribing the method of
practice purfued by the wife Kliock, (as he, I
fuppofe very juftly, calls him) wimes him to add
fome corrections and amendments to his fyftem of
Agriculture.

17?. Never to fow wheat with rye: The im-
propriety of this practice is too glaring to need
enlarging upon.

2dly. Never to let grafs ftand too long before
it is mown; firft, becaufe it has been fully proved,
that hay is lefs nourifhing to animals, when it
comes to feed ; and Secondly > as foon as the blofTom

drops,

[ 257 ]

drops, the plant is nourifhed wholly from the
roots, which impoverilhes the land. This, though
not lefs certain than the former, is in general
little attended to by the farmer; indeed moft of
them act in direct repugnancy to it, for it is a
maxim almoft univerfaily received, that the largefl
crop of every kind is the bed. Therefore in hay
and fodder, quantity in general is preferred to qua-
lity. Often the former has fo much the preference
of the latter, that the dclire of a large crop pro-
craftinates the cutting till the hay is fpoiled, and
in fact the whole crop loft ; for it too often hap-,
pens that it is not worth the expence.

What Mr. Tulj. aflerted of what he called his
virgin-hay, (fpeaking of fainfoin) may with equal
truth be faid of all kinds of grafs whatever; every
J pedes of which, whether natural or artificial,
intended for fodder, is in the higheft degree of
perfection for that purpofe when the plants are in
bloom. They then contain all the virtues of the
plant in its higheft perfection; and one load cut
at that feafon, if well cured, is worth more than
two that ftand till the Mowers are dropped, the
bottom turned yellow, and dying, which in that
cafe contracts a rank difagreeable fmell that can
never be entirely removed in the curing. And
if in that ftatc bad weather Ihould happen, the

fecdi

C 258 ]

feeds would be moftly dropped before it could be
got to the rick, and the hay not better than barley-
it raw, if fo good.

I would therefore advife every one, efpecially
all who make hay for their own confumption, to
cut as foon as the grafs is fairly in bloom, if the
weather will by any means permit.

His laft remark is refpedling Sheep, which re-
quires fome confideration. He recommends the
keeping a greater number of fheep. This mud
ever be determined by the nature of the foil, and
the extent of the farm. He cautions againft
keeping them too hot, which is certainly right,
for in extreme hot weather they fuffer greatly. —
But it does not follow, as he afferts afterwards,
upon the authority of Monf. d'Auberton, " that
iheep are neither hurt by cold, nor by fnow, nor
rain" That they feldom fuffer by a dry cold,
though very fevere, is very certain; nor by fnow,
unlefs it continues fo long as to injure them, by
depriving them of their food ; but heavy or long-
continued rains are certainly very injurious to
them, efpecially to lambs in October and No-
vember, when the winter rains fet in. Of the
truth of this I am well affured from my own ob-
fervation.

In

[ 259 ]

In autumn 1780, I went into the north of De-»
vonfhire, to fpend a few weeks with a gentleman
who cultivated his own eftate. In October, when
the cold rains came on, for many days running*
he had one or more young fheep or lambs brought
in, cither dead, or in a dying ftate. They were
one and all much fwoln in the body, without any
other vilible difference from thofe that were well.
In the field, I obferved, they were much inclined
to lie ft ill, till rouzed and put up. I had feveral
of them brought home and laid by the fire-fide*
and made feveral experiments upon them, but
without fuccefs. At length, I had two or three
of them opened, to fee if I could difcover any
internal caufe of their malady. All the vifcera.
appeared to be found and perfect, without any the
Jeaft fign of diforder; only, as I faid, the body
was greatly fwoln.

When the knife entered the belly, there flew
out a great quantity of rarefied air, with a eonfi-
derable noife, upon which the body immediately
fell to its natural dimenfions. As no unfound-
nefs appeared in any of the vifcera, I conceived
the expanfive vapour was probably the caufe of
the diforder, and the effect of obftructed pcrfpira-
tion, occafioned by the cold rains fo common at
that feafon. Upon enquiry, I found the diforder

was

[ 26o ]

was common in Dcvonfhire at that feafon of the
year, and at that time was very rife for many miles
around, which confirmed my fufpicion as to the
caufe of the diforder.

About fixty of thefe lambs remaining, I pro-
pofed to the hind [bailiff] to try if we could not
preferve the remainder by flickering them from
the cold rains and damps of the night, by putting
them into an airy barn, which was contiguous to
the fields, to remain there till it might be thought
proper to let them out in the morning. This
effectually anfvvered the purpofe, for not one mif-
carried afterwards. In three or four days time,
their coats, which appeared of a warned fickly
white while they lay out, became a natural healthy-
looking yellow, and they appeared as lively and
healthy as at any time of the year. I fhould
therefore hope, if this method be purfued, many
thoufands may be prcferved by its means.

Were I a farmer pofTefTed of a confiderable
flock, I would certainly erect a proper building
for the purpofe. It might be done at very little
expence, and a large quantity of manure got from
it, efpecially if the floor were covered with an ab-
forbent earth, or fand with ftraw over it.

By

t * 3

By this means, all their urine and dung might
be faved, which would be a great aequifuion; as
in common, for the mod part, it is dropped under
hedges, or upon the furface of the land, where the
fun and wind readily exhale its fertilizing juices,
with little or no remaining benefit to the foil.

Such a building would be as falutary a defence
againft the fcorching and wafting heats of fummer,
as againft the unhealthy and ftagnating rains of
winter. In deep fnows it would be a very proper
place to fodder in, and falt-licks might be provided
under its cover for the fheep at all times to refort to.
'Tis faid in Spain thefe falt-licks are common, and
that the cattle refort to them either through in-
ftincl, or from having contracted, by example and
habit, a liking to fait.

Such a building would alfo be very ufeful for
large cattle, with an opening on the moft fhel-
tered fide large enough for two to run in a-breaft
without injury. It might be thatched and wattled
[herdled or flaked] on the fides and ends, which
would be warm enough, the cattle being left at li-
berty to go in and out at pleafure ; by which means
they would equally avoid the violent heat and
ha fly ftorms of fummcr, and the foaking rains and
chilling blafts of winter.

Vol. II. S This

I 262 J

This method is, perhaps, the very beft means of
keeping cattle healthy which are not in conftant
work, and of collecting a very large quantity of
manure on or near the fpot where it is to be ufed.
For the dung and ftale which is dropt under
hedges, or in the field promifcuoufly, is of very
little ufe in ameliorating the foil.

I conclude with every good wifli for your lau-
dable undertaking; to the promotion of whicri
I ihould efteem myfelf happy to be able in any
meafure to contribute.

I am, Gentlemen,
Your moft obedient fervant,

Manchefter, JOS. WIMPEY.

April 10, 1782.

Article XLVIII.

General Hints relative to Agriculture.

[By an Honorary Member.]

Gentlemen,

MUST acknowledge my long remiflhefs in
•* making you any return for the honour you
have done me, by adding my name to the lift of

honorary

C 263 ]

honorary members; but the diftance of my reft*
dence, added to an indifferent ftate of health, mult
plead my excufe. But in order to convince you
that the important objects of your attention have
not wholly efcaped mine, I beg leave to trouble
you with a few general hints on hufbandry, which
are entirely fubmitted to your difpofal.

The great outlines of good hufbandry are the
fame in all counties, and will admit of little vari-
ation. It is in lejjer matters that any material
difference ought to be made. And as thefe dif-
ferences are local, they can only be judged of pro-
perly by the refpeclive inhabitants.

The vaft tracts of wafte land which ftill remain
in almoft every county, are a publick reproach to
the grand police of this nation, and evince a
degree of ingratitude to the great Author of
Nature; who has blefled us with the means of
rendering them fources of wealth to numbers, and
the theatre of employment to our poor labourers;
many of whom, from the decline of our commerce,
are almoft deftitute of bread.

The low lands in mod counties are beft adapted
for paiture. The graifes mod natural to them
are better kinds than in elevated ground. Thofc

S 2 which,

r 264 ]

which, from being fituated along the fides of
rivers,, are moft rich and leaft liable to be affected
by drought, fhould never be ploughed, unlefs for
hemp, flax, or cole, [rape.] For corn will fuftain
drought better, even on high lands, than grafs of
any kind worth Handing for hay.

Lands that are moderately fituated with refpecT:
to height and water, are belt for corn; but fuch
lands ought alfo to be laid down to grafs once in
ten or twelve years. By thus treating them they
recover their ftrength, which, through a long
courfe of ploughing, will, in fpite of all your ma-
nure, become feeble and exhaufted. I am of the
opinion, that if moft arable lands were laid to
grafs once in fix years, greater profit would arife
to the farmer. For if we compare the produce
of forty acres, that are an equal number of years
in grafs and corn, with the fame extent of land
equal in quality, and fucceflively ploughed for
the fame length of time, we mall find that (befides
the extra goodnefs of the crops gained by the
former courfe) the land thus managed requires
much lefs feed, and there is much lefs confurop-
tion of corn on the farm than in the latter. To
this It may be added, that every pound of flefli
added to the cattle fed in the grafs years, is worth
two or three pounds of grain, both to the farmer

and

and to the publick. Therefore, if, on the lands in
corn, and grafs alternately, the crops of corn arc
only one-fourth better than on lands always in
corn, this plan is far the mod beneficial, and pro-
duces a greater plenty of food for fociety.

When corn is raifed on a foil naturally wet,
winter grain ought to be the principal object of
the farmer's attention. For, on fuch lituations,
the natural wetnefs of our winters will often ren-
der it almoft impoffible to get the land in a pro-
per condition to be well ploughed for fpring corn.
The Lincolnfhire barley will anfwer very well fown
on a winter furrow ; as will oats, and fome kind
of peafe.

In every cafe, when you intend to lay down,
fow grafs feeds with the laft crop. This method
will enable the farmer to deal in and to breed a
larger number of cattle than he otherwife could
do. The reafon of this is evident. As his cattle
are employed only a part of the year, he may
buy and fell with advantage, and without lofs of
labour.

The providing of food for fociety is, of a41 em-
ployments, the moft important, and the moft ho-
nourable. By other occupations, the wealth and
S3 the

[ 266 ]

the power of a (late may be more rapidly in-
creafed ; but this is neceflary to its very exiftence.
In proportion to the largenefs of the quantity of
eatables brought to market, the more eafily is the
manufacturer maintained, of the lefs value is his
labour, and the lower the price of the manufac-
ture that he works. By thefe means the fale of
the goods made increafes abroad, and their im-
provement is encouraged at home.

Of all articles in trade, none is fo valuable as
corn. It is a commodity of all others the mod
important. A nation that fupplies another with
corn, makes that other pay her labourers, and con-
tribute to the increafe of her wealth and power.

Thefe are obvious truths : but perhaps the revi-
val of them in a work of the kind you are about
to publifli may not be wholly ufelefs.

Wherever Agriculture flourifhes in the greateft
perfection, it is generally carried on to more ad-
vantage by tenants, than by the owners of lands ;
becaufe the cuftoms of the country direcl the ma-
nagement; all depends on care, attention, and
induftry, and thefe are oftener found in tenants
than in proprietors. In this cafe it is alio of little
conference whether the farms are large or fmall.

But

C 367 ]

But where Agriculture is little underftood, and
badly praclifed, it is generally bed carried on in
large farms, and by the owners of them.

Improvements mud firft begin among men of
property, who have large farms. The tenants of
fmall farms cannot run rilks, by making untried
or doubtful experiments; but the tenants of large
farms may, as they are generally more wealthy,
and more capable of judging from clofe obferva-
tion. A little lofs by unfuccefsful experiments
will not materially injure them ; but ftill it cannot
be expected that they will make improvements
equal to land-owners, who are lefs influenced by
prejudices and cuftoms, and are better acquainted
with improvements made in diftant places.

There appears to be a great remiflhefs in our
common farmers' general method of treating their
fummcr fallows. After thefe have been once
ploughed, they are often let lie without a fecond
ploughing till many of the weeds come into
flower, and even per feci and (lied their feeds. By
this fhameful neglecl, a frefh crop of weeds is
fown, and occafion a great deal of future labour.
Many farmers indeed take confiderable pains, and
are at much expencc, to clear their lands of weed*
w hen they fpring up ; but few, if any, take much

care

[ 268 ]

care to prevent their feeding. Indeed, by this
neglect being lb general, and extending even to
their very dunghills, one would be apt to think
they forget, or know not, that -weeds fpring from
feeds of the dime kind. I have frequently heard
them complain that their fields (when contiguous.
to commons that abound with thirties) are over-
run with thirties; and yet they fuffer them to be
annually fown with this pernicious weed, rather
than be at the trifling expence of employing a poor
man two or three days in cutting them down on
the common before their feeds ripen. How truly
ridiculous is fuch conduct! Nor is it lefs fo to
let their dunghills remain covered with thirties,
docks, and many other weeds, till they have all
flicd their feeds, and then wifely fow their own,
lands with them when the manure is fpread.

The fame may be faid of furfering fuch quan-
tities of them to ftand and fhed their feeds, many
of which the wind dilperfes into the adjoining
fields.

In the latter cafe, the cutting and burning them
would be well repaid by the allies. I have known
poor men in this county, who, during the months
of July, Augult, and September, have earned
2s. 6d. a day by cutting and burning weeds in

' our

[ a69 ]

out highways, and felling the afhes; which, if the
weeds are burnt without being fuffered to flame,
are very fine manure, efpecially for cold wet lands.
I obferve you have very judicioufly offered a pre*
mium on this head, which will doubtlefs have a
good eft

The practice of fowing Spring wheat has of late
years incrcafed in many places,, but not much with
us, although in the few inftances tried it has fuc-
ceeded very well. This method has one advan-
tage* to wit, that of affording time for the land
r.o receive the influence of frofts, and to be got
in finer tilth than it could be if fown in autumn.
The plants are feldom fo vigorous, but the cars
are as well filled, and the grain as large, as when
fown in October or November. This, on the
whole, feems an advantage; for if early fowing
be a means to increafe the bulk of the ft raw, it
muft for the fame reafon leffen the quantity of
grain. Nor is this all: Autumn fown wheat is in
greater danger by fpring frofts. The froft affects
every plant more or lefs; and the farther it is ad-
vanced in its growth, the more froft injures it.
A degree of froft deftroys a plant of wheat when
near or in the ear, which affects it very little in
the winter.

I think

[ 27o ]

I think the bed fcafon for fowing wheat in au-
tumn, is from the i ft of O&ober to the i oth of
November. After that time there is great danger
of being interrupted by heavy rains or froft ; both
which are very prejudicial to the feed in the firft
ftages of its vegetation. In proportion as the land
is more clean and fertile, a lefs quantity of feed is
necefTary. The reafons for this are too obvious
tc need explanation.

I am, your very humble fervant,

Norfolk, March 6, 1783. S. B.

Article XLIX.

Obfcrvatio7ts on the bejl Method of reftoring
worn-out Soils without Manure.

[By a Gentleman Farmer in Dorfetfhire.]

Gentlemen,

THE firft thing necefTary on worn-out lands is,
immediately after harveft, to turn them up
with the plough as deep as poflible. In order to
do this effectually, it will fometimes be needful
for a fecond plough to follow the firft in the fame
furrow; Wjjiich will throw the mould over, and

bury

[ *7I 1

bury the ftubble and weeds. In this cafe there
will be a new foil uppei moft, which being frcfti
to the air, will receive much greater and more
lafting benefit from the fun, the rain, and the
frofts, than it otherwife could do, as thereby it
will attract a greater quantity of the nutrition
which thefe afford. The ftubble and weeds, be-
ing by this method of ploughing buried deep, will
much fooner rot than when juft covered. In this
ftate the ridges will lie high, and if the land be
wet or of the brick-earth kind, will be full of
clots or large lumps.

No time mould now be loft by delaying to
render this newly turned up foil as fine as harrow-
ing can make it. I know in this particular my
judgment will be called in queftion by numbers.
Common farmers will fay, " To what purpofe
u is all this expence and labour, when, if the
u land be fuffered to lie in 'its rough ftate
" through the winter, the froft and the rains will
" do the work for you?" But this is the language
of the fluggard, and the inexperienced huiband-
man only.

I am convinced, by repeated experiments, clofc
obfervation, and plain reafoning on known facls,
that lands which are made fine before the fharp

froft

[ 272 ]

'froft and winter rains come on, will receive a much
greater (hare of their influence than any other.

If the land be left in a rough ftate, there is fel-
dom time for the rains and froft to affect more
than the outfide of the large clods or lumps : the
outfide will indeed be pulverized, but the middle
of the lumps, wherever they are large, will be
found nearly in the fame hard (tiff ftate as when
turned up by the plough. Hence it muft appear
to every one, that in this cafe the benefit of air,
winter rains, and frofts, on lands thus left, is
partial; and the confequence is, that harrowing
it in the fpring, when thefe are over, is too late
for its receiving the benefit which would have
accrued from them, and the power of vegetation
is not fo vigorous.

But to make winter fallows as fine as they can be
in autumn, and then ridge them up in that pul-
verized ftate, is acting moil agreeably to nature.
Tue greateft poflible quantity of furface is by this
means expofed to the atmofphere; and the fand is
lefc in a ftate wherein the rains and the frofts are
mod eafily admiftible. They will then penetrate
and enrich the whole mafs to a greater depth.

If the froft penetrates a quantity of earth, formed
into a large hard clod, partially, on account of its

bulk

[ 273 ]

bulk and hardnefs, (which is always found to be
the cafe) it is evident that the fame clods broken
into four parts would be thereby penetrated four
times as much, or, in other words, four times the
quantity of earth would be affected by jt, and on
a thaw be pulverized. For we find, that after the
breaking up of a feverc froft, all the fmall clods
crumble eafily into powder; while the large ones
are only made fmaller by the crumbling off of their
furface to a certain depth.

By this deep ploughing which I have recom-
mended, the worn-out foil being turned in, the
fecond ftratum or frefli earth is now uppcrmoft;
and having, by being made as fine as it can be in
autumn, been expofed to the air, the rain, and
the froft during winter, is thereby fweetened and
eleanfed of its impurities, and thus becomes a new
freih fertilized earth, in the beft poflible ftate for
vigorous vegetation.

Many farmers will probably object to this me-
thod, on account of its being attended with a little
extra expence: But I wifh them to confider, jir/l,
that this expence is more in appearance than
reality, for lefs labour is requifite in the fpring;
and fcccmUy, that it will be amply repaid by the
goodnefs Df fucceeding crops.

About

C 274 ]

About fcwcn years fince I made a comparative
experiment of this kind on a field of ten acres, the
foil of which was equal as poflible in goodnefs.
The one half of this field I left, after ploughing,
in its rough ftate, the furface being covered with
large hard clods. The other half I made as fine
as poflible by harrowing with ox harrows, and
beating in pieces the hardeft and largefl clods
which the harrow would not break.

In the fpring, the part I had harrowed was much
finer, without any additional labour, than I could
render the other (which was left in its rough ftate)
by repeated harrowings ; for the rain and the froft
not having penetrated the middle of the large
clods, they had received no benefit therefrom,
and were as hard as bricks, being only lefTened
in fize.

I fowed the whole field with barley the laft
week in April, and threw nine pounds of broad
clover in with it. On harvefting it, I kept the
crops feparate: The part left rough produced
twenty-four bufhels per acre; the other thirty-
one; the Jatter by much the fineft fample. The
crop of clover next year was equally in favour of
the method I am recommending-* being heavier by
near half a ton per acre.

The,

[ 275 ]

. The extra cxpencc on this part was only about
eight (hillings per acre; the extra produce yielded
an extra profit of more than twenty (hillings per
acre.

I am, Gentlemen, your's, &c.

A LANDHOLDER.

Article L.

On the comparative Utility of Oxen and Horfes
in Hujbandry.

Rougham near Bury, Suffolk, Dec. 17, 1781.

Gn\TLEME\,

AS one of your queries to the High-Sheriffs
refpecled the comparative utility of horfes
and oxen in hulbandry, I wifh to fubmit the fol-
lowing facls to your consideration: —

About five years ago, I took fome land into
my occupation, and having found the expence of
horfes very greats I determined, fomewhat more
than two years ago, to make trial of oxen, and
bought one pair. At that time, I am almoft cer-
tain, there was not an ox worked in this county;

on

[ 276 ]

on which account my workmen added much to
the trouble of breaking them, by their obftinate
prejudices againft the ufeof them.

At laft I was fortunate enough tp felecl a la-
bourer, who, though totally unufed to them, was
willing to take proper pains to break them. By
his good treatment and temper, they foon became
tradable, and as handy both at ploughing and
carting as any horfes.

Being well fatisfied with their performance, I
refolved to difpofe of all my draft horfes, and
fubftitute oxen in their ftead. I have now com-
pleated my plan, and have not a fingle cart-horfe;
but the work of my farm (which confifts of up-
wards of one hundred acres of arable land, and
fixty of pafture and wood) is performed with cafe
by fix oxen; together with my ftatute-duty on the
highways, timber and corn, carting, harrowing,
rolling, and every part of rural bufmefs. They
are fhoed conftantiy : their harnefs is exactly the
fame as that of horfes, (excepting the necefTary
alterations for difference of fize and fhape) they
arodrove with bridles, and bits in their, mouths,
and anfwer to the fame words of the ploughman
or carter as horfes, and as readily. A fingle man
holds the plough, and drives a pair of oxen with

reins -r

[ *77 ]

reins ; they will regularly plough an acre of land,
every day, and in lefs than eight hours time; I
believe they will do it in (even, but I would not
aifert more than I know they perform.

I have a fmall plantation, in which the trees are
planted in rows ten feet afunder; the intervals are
ploughed by a fingle ox with a light plough, and
he is driven by the man who holds it. I mention
this as an inftancc of their great docility.-

My oxen go in a cart fingle, or one, two, three*
or more in proportion to the load. Four oxen will
draw eighty bufhels of barley, or oats, in a wag-
gon, with cafe; and if they are good in their kind,
will travel as fall as horfes with the fame load.

I frequently fend out eighty bufhels of oats
with only three oxen; and forty bufhels with
one ox, in a light cart, which I think of all others
the bed method of carriage. My workmen are
now perfectly reconciled to the ufe of oxen ; and
the. folio wing reafons determine me to prefer them
greatly to horfes: —

\ft. They are kept at much lefs expence. — -
Mine never eat corn or meal of any fort. During
the winter, they arc kept in good order for work

Vol. II. T upon

t 27S ]

upon draw, with turnips, carrots, or cabbages;
for want of either of the three latter, I allow one
peck of bran a day to each ox, whilft in conltant
work. When my flraw is finiihed, and the fpring
advances, they eat hay ; and if they work harder
than common in the feed time, they have bran
befide. When the vetches are fit to mow and
give them in the liable, they have nothing elfe.
After the day's work in the fummer, they have
a fmall bundle of hay to eat, and (land in the
liable till they are cool, and arc then turned into
the pafture.

I am of opinion, that the annual difference of
expence in keeping a horfe and an ox, each in
condition for the fame conflant work, is at leaft
four pounds.

idly. The value of a horfe declines every year
after he is feven years old ; and is fcarcely any
thing if he is blind, incurably lame, or very old.
But if an ox is in any of thofe fituations, he may
be fatted, and fold for much more than the. firlt
purchafe; and will always fat fooner after work
than before.

jelly. They are not fo liable to illnefs as horfes.
I have never had one indifpofed.

4/Wy. Horfes

t 279 ]

4/i/y. Horfes (efpecially thofe belonging td
gentlemen) are frequently rode by fcrvants with-
out their mailer's knowledge, and often injured by
it. Oxen are in no danger of this kind.

$thly. A general ufe of oxen would make beef,
and confequently all other meat, more plentiful ;
which I think would be a national benefit.

That it may not be thought, that a pair of oxen
will plough an acre of land in a day only upon a
very light foil; I muft add, that the greater part
of my arable land is too heavy to grow turnips to
advantage* When my lighter lands are in fine
tilth, I make ufe of a double plough; a fingle
man holds it, and drives one pair of oxen, and will
plough two acres a day*

I am well aware, that the method of working
oxen with a yoke 1 pares a confiderable expence in
the article of harnefs ; but they move fo much
more freely with collars, and can be ufed with fo
much more advantage iingly by the latter method,
that I think it far preferable*

After experience has inclined me to give the

preference to oxen, I will not omit in my account

the only material inconvenience I have found in

T 2 working

C 280 ]

working them; which is, they are troublefome in
ihoeing, at lead I have found them fo in this
country; and, I believe, chiefly becaufe my fmith
never ihoed any before. I have them confined in
a pound whilft they are fhoed, and a man attends
the fmith. However, I think this difadvantage
amply recompenfed by more material advantages;
and can with great truth affirm, that the longer I
have worked oxen, the better I have been fatisfied
with them.

With great refpecl, I am, Gentlemen,

Your molt obedient fervant,
R. KEDINGTON.

Article LI.

Sir John Anstruther having very politely prefented to
the Society a complete Model and accurate Drawing of
a Drill-Plough of his own conftruclion, for fowing the
different kinds of Grain, was pleafed alfo to communi-
cate therewith the following Obfervations :

Gentlemen,

THE flow progrefs which the Drill-Hufbandry
has made in many parts of Great-Britain
fince Mr. Tull's time, has principally been owing
to the want of proper drill-ploughs; there being

few

/

Ill

[ 2SI }

few yet contrived which arc not too expenfive, or
of too nice and complicated a conftrucrion to be
made or repaired by common workmen.

This has alfo prevented trials from being madc
of the drill-culture, in fo general a manner as to
determine, by proper experiments, whether or not
it was fo advantageous as Mr. Tull has ftated it
to be.

It is more than thirty years fince I began to
ufe drill-ploughs; but finding thofe I firft pro-
cured good for nothing, and not being able to
get a workman who could make one on Tull's
plan, I found myfelf obliged to abandon the drill-
hufbandry.

Before drilling can become general, drill -ploughs
rnuft be fimple, and fuch as a common ploughman,
accuftomed to ufe ftrong instruments, can ufe
without breaking; and fuch alfo as common work,
men can eaiiiy make or repair.

Mathematical accuracy, however, is not re-
quired for delivering the feed; for it matters very
little whether there be a quarrer of a peck more
or lefs fown, if it be delivered with tolerable re-
gularity.

T 3 Some

[ 282 ]

Some years ago I had a plough made of the
fame kind with the model and drawing which I
have the honour of prefenting to your Society.
It was made by a common ploughwright, and
fufficiently ftrong for any land made fit for turnips
or wheat. I have now ufed it for eight years,
without its requiring any repair. It has been
tried on very rough ground unfit for fowing, in.
order to afcertain its ftrength.

Laft year having read Mr. Forbes, upon the ex-
tenlive practice of the New Hufbandry, and fome
other authors, who gave a more clear and diftinct
account of the different operations in drilling than
had heretofore been given, I wifhed to try them,
and to adapt my plough to fow the quantities
therein directed. It was, however, adjufted to fow
a /mailer quantity, and the feed wa$ not fteeped.

Not having ground fo proper as I wifhed, it
was drilled on the fide of a field, the foil of which
was light and fandy, and in fuch bad order, that;
the preceding crop was a very indifferent one. It
was therefore manured with a compoft dung-hill.

After crofs-ploughing and manuring, it was
laid into four and a half feet ridges, then har-
rowed and drilled with one peck and a half of

wheat

[ 283 ]

wheat on an acre and a quarter, which is nearly
one peck and a fifth per Englifh acre. It was
drilled the 27th of October, and rolled after drill-
ing. The crop was late in its appearance, and
very backward in the fpring.

March 31ft, it was horfe-hoed one furrow from
the rows.

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

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

May 15 th, hand-hoed the fecond time.

June 2d, horfe-hoed from the rows.

June 1 2th, hand-hoed the third time.

July 14th, horfe-hoed to the rows.

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

The crop, when reaped and threfhed, yielded
me thirty-iix bufhels on one acre and a quarter,
which is twenty-eight buflicls and three pecks per
acre; and the produce from one peck and a half
ninety-iix for one.

As

[ 284 ]

As the produce appeared fo great, from land m
fuch bad order, it was carefully meafurcd again,
and found to be right. But this increafe, though
great, was not fo large as Mr. Craick of Glafgow
had without dung.

Mr. Randal fays, " It is an experimented facl,
that on a fine loam, exquifitely prepared, one hun-
dred and forty-four bumels have been produced
from one acre. And I believe, it is not known
what the increafe may be brought to in rich lands
by high cultivation.1'

Some years fince, I had beans dropt alternately
with potatoes, at two feet diftance in the rows,
which were three feet, apart, and ploughed in the
intervals. The land adjoining was fown with
beans and peafe, which were a good crop; but
thofe fown among the potatoes a better one. I
pulled one item of the beans planted with the
potatoes, which had three branches rifing from,
the bottom, and it produced two hundred and
twenty-five beans. In all the trials of drilled
beans, mod of the ftems had two branches, with

many pods upon each. From thefe and other

infhmces, I believe it is not yet known to what
increafe grain may be brought by drilling, good
Cultivation, and manure,

Horfe-

[ 28S 3

Horfe-hoeing is certainly preferable to clofc
drilling or hand-hoeing; but the latter is fupcrior
to broadcaft.

Horfe-hoeing the full depth increafes the crop,
by making it tiller or branch more than it other-
wife would do; and the advantage is diftinctly
obfervable every hoeing, by the colour of the
grain. It prepares the ground for the next crop,
at the fame time that it increafes the crop grow-
ing, which hand-hoeing does not, although it may
deltroy the weeds.

Thus drilled ground is kept in a loofe open
ftatc to receive the benefit of the influence of the
air and weather, which broadcaft has not; and
it is evident, from certain experience, that crops
may be drilled many years to good advantage
without manure.

Suppofe the crops only twenty bulhels per acre,
what courfe of broadcaft crops will give 5L an
acre for the courfe?

But fuppofe they are dunged the fame as any
ground in the mod approved courfe, there is
the greateft rcaibn to expect as much as in the
above experiment, which is twenty-eight and

three

[ 286 ]

three quarters, and at five (hillings per bufhel
amounts to 7I. 3s. yd.

Calculations may be of fervice to thofe who
wifh to try drilling, and have few books to di-
rect them.

One acre is ten chains long, of 660 feet, or
220 yards long, and one yard broad, containing
4840 fquare yards. Then if the ridge be four
feet fix inches, this makes fourteen ridges, and
three feet to fpare. This length of 220 yards,
multiplied by fourteen, (the number of ridges)
gives a length of 3080 yards, to which add 146
for the fpare three feet, and it will be 3226 yards.
And as two rows are drilled on a ridge, the
number of rows will be in length 6452 yards;
but as a deduction of 172 yards mud be made
for the head ridges, fuppofe three yards each,
&c. the whole length to be fown will be 62 80
yards clear.

Now, a gallon [Winchefter] holds about eighty
thoufand grains. The quantity recommended to
be drilled by Mr. Forbes and others, being fix
gallons, or two-thirds of a buihel per acre, is
nearly feventy-eight grains to a yard, or twenty-
fix to a foot. But in my experiment, by this

calculation^

C 287 ]

calculation, it was only about eleven grains to a
foot; which is quite fufiicient, if the feed be good,
and it be not deftroyed by vermin.

Now with regard to the quantity of land this
drill-plough may fovv. If a horfe walks at the rate
of two miles per hour, he goes fixteen miles in
eight hours, or 28,460 yards. As he fows two
ridges at once, this is feven lengths and two-
thirds per acre, or 1686 yards to fow an acre, be-
ing nearly feventeen acres in a day.

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

Mr. Tvll directs four hoeings, and Mr.
Forbes five.

Firft. In November, when the plant has four
blades.

idly. In March, deep, and nearer the rows
than the former. Both theft hoeings fhould be
from the rows.

2dly. Hand-

[ 288 ]

2d!y. Hand-hoed when it begins to fpindle, if
the earth be crumbly, to the rows.

qtbly. When it begins to bloflbm, from the rows^
but as near to them as in the fecond hoeing.

$tbly. When done bloflbm ing, to ripen and fill
the grain, to the rows.

The lad hoeing Mr. Tull does not direct , but
Mr. Forbes advifes it, as being of eifential fervice
in rilling the grain, and faving trouble in making
the next feed-furrows. They advife the patent or
fowing-plough for horfe-hoeing ; and the expence
is calculated by Mr. Craick at one guinea per
acre, reaping included.

But let us fuppofe the following, which are the
prices in the county I live in.*

£. s. i

Ploughing to form the ridges ■ — 040

Harrowing — — 004

Four hoeings, equal to two ploughings — 080

Sowing ■ — 004

Hand- hoeing twice — 080

Seed, one peck and half, at 5s. a bufhel o 1 10

Whole expence per acre — • £,126
• Near Edinburgh.

With

[ 289 ]

With rcfpecl. to the rent of land, and the ex-
pence of cutting and getting in the crop, it will be
no more than as if the crop were fown broadcaft.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,

Your very humble fervant,

Bath, 1782. J. ANSTRUTHER.

P. S. You will remark, that this double drill-
plough fovvs two ridges at a time, the horfe going
in the furrow between them, and of courfe docs
not tread upon the ground intended to be fown ;
which with a fingle drill mud be the cafe, and
does much harm by the horfes feet finking and
making holes in the fine ground, which retain the
water, and hurt the wheat when young.

Article LII.

To freferve Turnips from Fro/l.

[By a Gentleman Farmer.]

Mr. Rack,

FN anfwer to your enquiry, whether we have
* adopted any method of preferving Turnips
from the froft; or for feeding cattle late in the

fpring;

1/

/

[ 290 ]

fpring; and if fo, what thofe methods were?- — I
beg leave to obferve, that nothing of this kind is
yet come into general practice in this county.
With refpect to preferving turnips from fuch fe-
vere frofts as we had this laft winter, efpecially
when there has not been fnow enough to cover
them, I believe it would be utterly impracticable,
unlefs the turnips were drawn previous to fuch frofts.

This would on the whole never anfwer the far-
mer's purpofe, as the certain trouble and expence
of houfing or flacking them would far exceed the
advantage, even in a hard feafon$ and, in mild
winters, would be entirely loft.

To preferve them for late fpring-feed is not fb
difficult an undertaking. Divers methods have
been tried ; and among the reft, that of drawing
and burying them in fand ; but this has not an-
fwered, for the following, among other reafons: —

Turnips arc a very juicy root; and although
fand be perfectly dry when thrown among them,
yet, when packed together in large heaps, they
naturally fvveat and communicate a moifture*
which, with the hot quality of the fand, raifes a
It ill greater heat; and as warmth and moifture
are two qualities which greatly promote vegetation,

the

C 29< ]

the vegetation of thefe roots is the firft thing that
renders them ufelels. They will grow till the grow-
ing quality is exhauffed, and then, by putrefying,
become quite .unfit for food.

The bed method of preferving them that I have
heard of, and which has been tried with fuccefs
by fome of our bed farmers, is, to flack them
up in dry flraw ; a load of which is fufficicnt to
preferve forty tons of turnips. The method is
cafy, and as follows: —

t
After drawing your turnips in February, cut off"

the tops and tap-roots, (which may be given to

iheep) and let them lie a few days in the field, as

no weather will then hurt them.

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

In this method, as the flraw imbibes the moif-
ture exhaled from the roots, all vegetation will

be

[ *9* J

be prevented, and the turnips will be nearly as
good in May as when firft drawn from the field.
If draw be fcarce, old haulm or ftubble will an-
fwer the fame purpofe.

But to prevent this trouble and expence, per-
haps farmers in all counties would find it moft to
their intereft, to adopt the method ufed by our
neighbours the Norfolk farmers, which is, to
continue fowing turnips to the latter end of Au-
gult, by which means their late crops remain good
in the field till the latter end of April, and often
till the middle of May.

The advantages of having turnips good till the
fpring-feed is generally ready, are fo obvious and
fo great, that many of our farmers (although at
firft prejudiced againft the practice) are now come
into it, and find their account in fo doing.

I wifh thefe few hints may prove in any degree
ufeful, and am, wifhing all polTible fuccefs to the
Bath Society,

Your very humble fervant,

Suffolk, • W. P.

March ill, 1780.

Article

[ 293 ]

Article LIII.

To prevent the Blight in Potatoes ; to make a
Cow a good Milker i and to prevent the Putre-
faction of Meat.

[By Mr. John Smith, of Ozleworth, in Glocefterftiire,]

INSTEAD of planting potatoes at fpring of
the year, rcverfc the cuftom, and plant them
againft winter. Plant the roots in rows a pretty
good depth, and draw the earth over them with a
hoc, fo as to keep them from the froft. At the
fpring of the year take down the ridges raifed by
the hoe, and when weeds appear, hoe the interme-
diate fpace between the rows; and when the plants
appear, draw up the earth round them. Many
people put dung in the trenches, when the pota-
toes are planted in the fpring ; if the fame method
be ufed againft winter, it will help to preferve the
roots from froft.

It is well known that bulbous-rooted' flowers
never bloflbm well, if removed at the fpring of
the year. As potatoes are bulbous, the fame in-
ference may be drawn.

This year I have feen two patches, which were

planted laft year, and again this feafon. In both

Vol. II. U thefc

C 294 ]

thefe fpots, the ftalks that appeared from what
were planted this year were curled and out of
proof. The reafon is, they do not fet eafy, nor
are they fo well acquainted with the ground when
planted at fpring as when planted againft winter.
I imagine the month of November is the beft time
for planting tulip-roots, and alfo potatoes.

What is called the blight in potatoes, the blight
and fmut in wheat, and the fly devouring the
feedling turnips, are generally looked upon as a
caujei yet I am clearly of opinion they are only
effects.

I fhall now add a few remarks on the beft me-
thod to make a Cow a good Milker.

It is well known that the cow does not give her
milk for the matter, but for her calf. I would
therefore advife, that for the firft year the calf
mould go with the mother, till they both part by
confent. Afterwards, when fhe calves a fecond,
third, fourth time, and fo on, let the calf be taken
from the mother as foon as dropt, and never let
them come together again.

In the ufual method of letting the calf fuck the
cow for a time, and then taking it away, the

cow

t 295 ]

cows retains her milk in hopes of feeing her young
one again; but in a few days her udder gets
hard, and (he cannot part with her milk freely,
were fhe ever fo willing. This is one great reafon
why we fee fo many cows with hard unfightly
udders.

Nor is the lofs confined to the firft year only*
for in fome cows the hardnefs continues during
life. Neither is the lofs confined to the milk only;
for when the cow is fat, it will not bring fo much
to the butcher by twenty or thirty millings as if
the udder were fine. This matter might in a few
years be proved to any man's fatisfadtion.

Let any gentleman of fortune that likes to fee
good cattle on his farm, get good heifers and a
good bull. At the ufuai time let them go toge-
ther, and when the calves drop, never take them
from the dam till they part by confent. Try this
method for half a dozen times, and fee if any
of thofe heifers have hard nafty udders, as the
butchers term them. If, when they calve, more
milk fhould be left in their udders than the calves
can take off, let that be taken away by the milker.
In fix weeks that trouble will ccafe, as the calf
by that time will take all the milk any cow can
give.

U a QHery»

t 296 ]

Query, Whether retaining the milk is not the
reafon why cows are more fubject to the yellows
than other cattle?

If at any time a good milch cow mould go dry
before her milk is gone, get a young calf and put
it to her, in order to preferve her milk againft
another year: for it is well known, if a cow goes
one year dry, nature will lofeits power of acting for
the future.

To prevent or keep meat from putrefaction till
it is cold, whether ox, cow, fheep, or pig, let them
be faded a day or two in a cool houfe. Kill them
in the evening, and as Toon as the fkin is taken
off, hang the carcafe between two door- ways where
there is a current of air. Then get a fan, fuch
as is ufed for winnowing corn, and place it to
windward of the carcafe, and let a man turn the fan
the whole night.

In the morning the carcafe will be cold and
ft iff, let. the weather be ever fo hot. A putre-
faction will not immediately follow, becaufe the
fluids are at reft. Carcafe butchers, and people
that kill for the navy, would find their account
in having flaughter-houfes near to fome rivulet of
water, where a wheel might be placed to turn a

fan,

[ 297 ]

fan, and many carcafcs hung up at a time for the
benefit of the wind. By this method, a confider-
able quantity of loft meat might be annually pre-
ferred; for in hot, fultry weather, when no wind is
ftirring, meat will taint before it is cold.

Query, Whether this method might not be found
ufeful in putrid fevers, if a fan were introduced into
the xick perfon's chamber, and turned round now
and then to clear the room of ftagnant air, and
thereby give the patient a better chance, by breath-
ing more freely in a different atmofphcre ?

This thought occurred to me while I was in the
farming bufinefs. A man whom I employed to
turn the fan was troubled with fits. He fell down
one day, and I ordered him to be fct upon his
bottom with his face to the wind, while another
man turned the fan a few times round. The man,
although to all appearance lifekfs, foon began to
rub his nofe and mouth with his hand, and imme-
diately came to himfelf.

J. S.

U 3 Article

C 298 ]

Article LIV.

On the Ufe of Chalk and Sea-Weeds.

[By a Gentleman of Kent, to the Secretary.]

TN anfvver to your enquiries about the ufe of
-"- chalk and fea-weeds, I will endeavour to inform
you all in my power.

As to chalk, almoft half this county is a bed of
it. It is ufed with great fucce.fs on various kinds
of land, as clays efpecially, and fands; making light
the former, and binding the latter. We commonly
lay near one hundred cart-loads on an acre; each
cart-load containing thirty-two bufhels, Winchefter
meafure. We fpread it foon after it is brought,
and let it lie on the furface a good part of the
winter, that the froft may make it run, and incor-
porate the better with the foil.

I have lately tried chalk on a piece of ground
the mereft fand that can well be, and found it to
anfwer well by fowing early peafe, and turnips
the fame year as foon as the peafe were off, and
feeding the turnips off with fheep. This I have
done for three years together, and found each fuc-
ceeding crop the beft.

4>ea«*

f 299 ]

Sea weeds are much ufed on the eaitern fhore
of this county. They are mixed with dung and
mould, and after turning feveral times over, fpread
on corn land.

I find you have offered premiums for feveral
things in which I have been convcrfant; to wit,
hops, madder, and wood for hop-poles of various
forts. On each of which articles I can eafily en-
large, if required.

However, under the article of hop-poles I beg
leave to mention a fpecies of willow we have, the
growth of which is very fit to be encouraged in
places like Somerfetfhire; and which, in five years,
will make very large poles proper for the purpojfe,
as well as gates for fheep -folds on turnips.

I am, Sir, your humble fervant,

H. D.

(This gentleman's future correfpondence will be very acceptable,
viih the information he here offers.]

«&*

Article

[ 300 ]

Article LV.

A Chart of the Norfolk Husbandry, on a
on a Farm of Twelve Fields

1778.

1779.

1780.

1781.

1782.

1783-

Fields.
j.

Turnips,

5 Plough-

ings.

Barley,
3-

Clover.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,
1.

Turnip:,
5-

a.

Barley,

3-

Clover.

Beans,
1.

Wheat,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,

3.

3-

Clover.

Peafe.

Wheat,
1.

Turnips,

5.

Barley,
3-

Lay.

4-

Wheat,

Oats,

Turnips,
5- '

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Lay.

*

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

6.

Turnips,

5-

Barley,

3-

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

7-

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans,
1.

Wheat,
1,

8.

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5-

9-

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

10.

Lay.

Peafe,

Wheat,

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Clover.

II.

Wheat,

X.

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Clover.

r
Peafe,
1.

J2.

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5»

Barley,
3-

Clover.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,
1.

[ 30i ]

light Soil-, being the bejl regular Courfe of Crops
Arable for Twelve Tears.

1784.

'785.

rVK,

1787.

17*8.

.-■• .

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Peafe,
1.

Wheat,
1.

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,
l.

Turnips,

5-

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Beans,

1.

Turnips,

5-

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Peafe,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3*

Clover.

Peafe,
1.

Wheat,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Clover.

Wheat,

IX.

Oats,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3»

Clover.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,

X.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,

3-

Clover.

Wheat,
1.

Peafe,
1.

Turnips,

Barley,
3-

Clover.

Beans,
1.

Wheat,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Clover.

Beans,
z.

Wheat,
1.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Wheat,
1.

Oats,

Turnips,
5-

Barley,
3-

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,

X.

Turnips,
5-

Barley,

3-

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Turnips,

Barley,

Lay.

Lay.

Lay.

Wheat,
1. .

C 302 ]

A Chart of the Norfolk Husbandry

Courfe of Crops

1778.

1779.

1780.

1781.

1782.

1783.

Fields.
1.

Turnips.

#

Barley.

Clover.
+

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

#

*•

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

Peafe.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

*•

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

5-

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

6.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

5«

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

a.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

9-

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

JO.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

21.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Glover.

Wheat.

Oats.

T2.

Turnips.

1

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

1 _

[ 3°3 ]

on a Heavy Soil; being the befi regular
for Eleven Tears.

1784.

1785.

1786.

1787.

1788. | 1789.

Barley .

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips

Barley.

'

Beans.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Turnips.

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Oats.

Barley.

Clover.

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

Clover.

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Wheat.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

Oats.

Turnips.

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

Turnips.

Barley.

La/-

Lay.

Beans.

Barley.

Lay.

Lay.

Beans.

Wheat.

C 304 ]

Explanation of the preceding Tables.

In the firft table the figures in the fquares exprefs
the number of ploughings.

The two crops after the lays and clover may be
varied according to the fcafon, or the foil, by the
difcretipn of the farmer. And where bullocks
are fatted with ftraw and turnips only, this plan
will be more productive of profit to the farmer,
and benefit to fociety, than any other yet difco-
vered ; experience having (hewn, that two hundred
acres of land, half in tillage, and half natural grafs,
will keep as many cattle as the whole would do all
in natural grafs ; by this means, therefore, all the
produce of corn (labour deducted) is clear gain,
and the land cannot be injured thereby.

It is to be noted, that the turnips are twice
hoed, and not left nearer than fourteen or fixteen
inches to each other; that they mult not be fed>
but drawn, carted, and given to the bullocks in a
ftraw yard, or fome other place convenient for prc-
ferving the manure.

Beans mult alfo be twice hoed, and in very wet
feafons three times, if wheat is to follow them.

Peafe

I 305 J

Peak are an uncertain crop, and often fill the
land with weeds.

The two capital crops, wheat and barley, in
thefe tables, come twice in the courfe, — the tur-
nips twice, — the broad clover only once; by
which means the different plants are thrown at
fuch a diftance from each other, that (feafons
permitting) it is impoflible to fail of good crops;
and the worm, which is produced by frequent
repetitions of broad clover, and is certain de-
ftruction to that plant and the fucceeding crop,
is prevented.

This mark* fignifies, that from twenty to forty
cubic yards of rotten dung per acre is to be laid
on immediately before the laft ploughing.

This f — that a like quantity of compoft^ the
mixture two parts ditch fcourings, mould from
borders, or almoft any kind of earth, and the other
part dung. This ftiould be heaped, and in the
courfe of two years turned over three times, to
mix it well, and deftroy the weeds. Lay it on the
clover in the fpring.

And this mark % denotes a covering of marie,
eighty cubic yards per acre. The lay is totbe fed

the

C 306 ]

the Iaft year, fo that it may be covered in the in-
terval between hay and corn harvefl.

Wheat, after the clover lay, ought always to
be Jet.

Wheat "ftubbles are never ploughed in, but
raked up, and carted to the ftraw yard.

The expence of marling (carting and fpreading
included) is reckoned, when the marie is digged
in the field, at 3L per hundred cubic yards, but I
have done it for two guineas,

N. B. Six fcore makes the hundred. Half-
load carts, with three wheels, take fewer horfes
than load-carts, but are worfe for the horfes.

When the turnips fail, plough the land into
yard ridges, water-furrow it well, and let it lie
for barley next year. This is excellent hus-
bandry, and greatly preferable to a wheat crop
after the fallow.

The bed method to preferve turnips from the
fly is, to take one pint of new feed, and fleep it
in water five or fix hours, then mix it with an-
other pint of new feed unfteeped, and a pint of

feed

[ 307 ]

feed of the year before ; by this method the plants
will come up at three different times; and as the
fly always feizes the youngeft plants, it feldom
happens but that enough of each growth will be
left for a crop ; one pint of feed being fufficient
for an acre, could it be properly diftributed. In
purfuing this method, I never loft a turnip crop.

i
Turnips, with chaff, and the draw of barley,
oats, or peafc, are excellent food for horfes, pro-
vided the ftraw be frefh threfhed, and given to
them as they want it.

Galloway Scots, four years old, or almoft any
bead of that age, taken into the ftraw-yard in
October, and well attended with good ftraw and
turnips, will be fat by the April following. An
acre of good turnips is fufficient for a beaft of
forty ftone, fourteen pounds to the ftone. The
bcafts here alluded to are fuch as are brought to
the fairs in tolerable condition.

A Gentleman Farmer.

Sibton Abbey, Oft. 18, 1778.

Remarks

T 308 ]

Remarks on the preceding Letter and tables , in
a Letter to the Secretary.

Sir,

AS I was not at the meeting, I beg of you to
lay what follows before the Committee.
That no deception may arife from the foregoing
tables, it is necefTary to obferve, that the courfe
of crops contained in the firft line of the table,
was given me by the Rev. Mr. Howman, of Bra-
con in Norfolk, three years fince. I formed them
into a regular fyftem for my own ufe, which I
follow as clofely as I can. But experience hath
fhewn, that it cannot be exactly purfued. Cir-
cumftances and feafons will not permit the inva-
riable execution of the plan. Where lands are
not good enough, and not infected with the worm,
which kills the red clover, the farmer contents
himfelf with the firft five crops in the table, viz.
Turnips, barley, clover, peafe, wheat; or, inftead
of the two latter,

Wheat, I Qr f Beans, | Qr J Wheat,
Barley, \ Wheat, | [Oats.

This plan is therefore given to the Society, not
as a courfe of husbandry, which has been invari-
ably

t 309 ]

ably followed in Norfolk ; but as the foundation
on which the beft: hufbandry there is built.

The failure of the turnip crop or the lays, the
deftruction of peafe or beans by infecls, or the
irregularity of the weather, will, and indeed ought
to occafion fuch variations as experience (hall
convince the intelligent farmer are moft advanta-
geous -, but the nearer he keeps to the tabic, and
when forced from it, the fooner he returns to it
again, the better.

Mr. How man, who is cftecmed one of the beft
farmers in the county of Norfolk, has feen thefe
Tables feveral times, and approved them.

A Gentleman Farmer.
Dec. 10, 1778.

Vol. II. X Article

C 31Q 3

Article LVI.

Qn the Origin and Progrefs of Agriculture
17} different Ages and Nations.

[By the Secretary to the Society.]

Gentlemen,

AS the advancement of Agriculture is at all
times of the higheft importance to the hap-
pinefs and profperity of the inhabitants of this
kingdom, it has very properly become the objedl
to which your views as a Society have been prin-
cipally dire&ed,

The earth was confidered by the anticnts as the
Mother of Plenty. Hence, in the early ages of
fuperftition and polytheifm, the firft libations in
their feafts were offered to her ; and thofe who in
any manner diftinguifhed the arts of cultivation
were numbered among their demigods, or fecond
clafs of deities. They were rewarded with the
higheft honours while living; flatues were erected
to their memory, and facrifices were offered to,
them, when dead.

But although a conduct- fo extravagant proved
tliat the minds of the people were grofsly enve-
loped

C 3" ]

loped in the midfl of fuperftition, and an almoft
total ignorance of the nature and attributes of a
Supreme and Firft Caufe, yet it alfo forcibly indi-
c atcd the high fenfc which mankind then formed
of the great advantages arifing from the arts of
cultivation.

In ages of greater refinement, and more gene-
ral knowledge, the folly of a worfhip thus grofsly
mifapplied became fo evident, as to occafion it's
total extermination; but the wifeft governments
have always regarded Agriculture as an objed of
the firft magnitude and importance, and by various
means encouraged and promoted it.

With refpedr. to ourfelves, the value of our acres
is the grand fource of national riches ; and this
value will ever bear an exact proportion to their
cultivation and produce. And therefore, as Agri-
culture is the bafis of our publick wealth, and the
happinefs of numberlefs individuals, I take the
liberty of throwing before you a brief account of
the origin and progrefs of this art in the different
ages and nations.

The art of tilling, cultivating, and improving
the earth, fo as to render it fruitful, claims the pre-
cedency of all other arts in point of antiquity as

X 2 nvcII

[ «? ]

well as dignity. It was man's original employ-,
ment in the primaeval ages of happinefs and peace.

We are told by the Sacred Hiftorian, that Adam
inftru&ed his children in this art both by precept
and example; and that Cain applied himfelf to
hulbandry, whilft Abel led the life of a fhepherd,
feeding his flocks.

With refpect to the methods then ufed, or the
implements employed, we have no information;
but when we conlider the flow progrefs of the
mechanick arts, it is reafonable to fuppofe, that at
a time when the very rudiments of them could
fcarcely be known, thofe implements muft have
been very few, and of the limplefl kind.

After the deluge had deftroyed all the works of
men, and fvvept away every veftige of human art
(except the Ark) from the face of the earth, we
find it was the firft care of Noah and his defcend-
ants, to revive the knowledge and practice of
hulbandry; and to eftablifh them as the firft
means of obtaining happinefs and plenty in the
various countries where they fettled.

This art was carried on with the greater!: sim-
plicity in thofe early ages; and it would be a

curious

[ 3*3 ]

curious fpeculation to trace it through the flo\*
and almoft imperceptible gradations by which it
has been brought to its prefent ftate of perfection.

With refpeel: to manures, we have little ac-
count (except in the Bible) of any being ufed be-
fore the eltabliflimcnt of the Roman empire. In
flvci il of the Prophets* we find mention is made
of dung and dung-hills, in a manner which in-
dicates that their ufe in fertilizing land was not
wholly unknown.

It is probable, that the inhabitants of thofc
ages which immediately fuceeeded the flood, knew
not any method of reftoring fertility to an ex-
haufted foil; and this opinion feems warranted
by their frequently changing their fituation, when
the land they occupied failed in yielding its natu-
ral produce.

We find that Abraham, and the refl of the
Patriarchs, had no long-continued refidence on
one fpot. They applied themfelves to a paftoral
life; and when their numerous flocks and herds
had exhaufted the natural produce of one place,
they removed to another; ennobling by their ex-

# See Kings vi. 25. ix. 37. Jer. viii. 2. Pf. lxxxiii. 10. Neh.
lii- J3, 14. Ezra vL it. Ila. xjev. 10. Lxm. it. 5, &c.

X 3 ample

[ 3'4 ]

ample a profeflion or employment, which after-
wards, for feveral ages, loll its original dignity, by
being confined to the lower dalles of the people.

Such was the happincfs and tranquillity enjoyed
in this innocent employment, that it gave birth to
the fineft poetical imagery, and wTas celebrated
under the peculiar diftinction of the Golden Age.

But as foon as the defendants of Abraham
were fettled in Paleftine, they generally became
hufbandmen, from the Chiefs of the tribe of
Judah to the lowed branch of the family of Ben-
jamin. High birth or rank did not at that time
make any diftindtion, for Agriculture was confi-
dered as the rnoft honourable of all employments;
witnefs the illuftrious examples of Gideon, Saul,
and David.

Many pafTages in the Sacred Writings have a
ftrong and beautiful analogy to the fentiments of
the heathen poets, in delineating the happinefs
enjoyed in thofe ages of paftoral and agricultural
employment.

The Chaldeans, who inhabited the country
where agriculture had its birth, carried that valu-
able art to a degree of excellence unknown ia

former

[ tot ]

former times. They cultivated their lanls with
great affiduity, and feem to have found out fome
means of rcftoring fertility to an exhaufted foil,
by having plentiful harvefts in fucceflion; on this
mm they were not obliged, as their prede-
ceffors had been, to change their lituations, in
oaler to obtain a fufficiency for themfelves and
their numerous flocks and herds of cattle.

The F.gyptiahs, who, from the natural fertility
of their country by the overflowing of the Nile,
raifed every year vaft quantities of corn, were fo
fenlible of the bleflings refulting from agricul-
ture, that they afcribed the invention of that art
to Ofiris.

They alfo regarded Ilis^* their fecond deity, a9
the difcoverer of the ufe of wheat and barley,
which before grew wild in the fields, and were not
applied by that people to the purpofes of food.

Their fuperilkious gratitude was carried fo far,
as to worfhip thofe animalsf which were employed

* Ills difcovered the method of making flour from wheat and
barley. DiODOJU Sic.

f " Trach the dull ox why now he breaks the clod,
w a vi^im, ano^now Egypt's God."

Popi.

in

C 3«6 ]

in tillage; and even to the produce of their lands,
as leeks, onions, &c.

The divine honours paid to Bacchus in India
v ere derived from the fame fourcc, he being con-
iidered in that country as the inventor of plant-
ing vineyards, and the other arts attendant upon
agricukure.*

It is alfo related of the ancient Perfians, on the
moft reipectable authority, that their Kings laid
aiide their grandeur once every month to eat with
hufbandmen. This is a ftriking inftance of the
high eftimation in which they held agriculture;
for at that time arts were practifed among that
people in great perfection, particularly thofe of
weaving, needle-work, and embroidery.

The precepts of the religion taught by their
ancient Magi, or Priefts, included the practice of
agriculture. The Saint among them was obliged
to work out his falvation by purfuing all the la-

* According to Arr ian andDioDORUS Siculus, Bacchus firft
trained oxen to the plough, and taught men to cultivate the land.
He alfo difcovered many of the inftruments and conveniences of
agriculture; and for thefe fignal benefits he became fo much re-
fpe&ed, that he was, by univerfal confent, raifed to the rank of a
dtity, and received divine worfhip and folemn facriiice.

hours

C 3'7 ]

bours of agriculture: and it was a maxim of the
Zendavcfta, that he who fows the ground with
care and diligence, acquires a greater degree of
religious merit, than he could have gained by the
repetition of ten thoufand prayers.

The Phenicians, fo well known in fcripture by
the name of Pbili/h'nes, were alfo remarkable for
their attention to, and (kill in agriculture. But
finding themfelves too much difturbed and con-
fined by the incurfions and conqueih of the
Ifraclitcs, they fpread themfelves throughout the
greatefr part of the Mediterranean iflands, and
carried with them their knowledge in the arts of
cultivation.

Mago, a famous General of the Carthaginians,
is faid to have written no lefs than twenty-eight
books on the fubjccl-; which Columella tells us
were tranflated into Latin by the exprefs order of
the Roman Senate.

Servius confirms this account, and adds, that
\vhen Virgil compofed his celebrated Georgics,
he ufed thefe books as a model.

We arc informed by the ancient writers, that
Ceres was born in Sicily, where flie firft invented

the

r 313 i

the arts of tillage and of fowing corn. For this
eifential fervice, fhe was, agreeable to the fuper*
ftition of thole ages, deified, and worfhipped as
the goddefs of plenty.

The truth of this is, that in the time of Ceres,
the iftand, through her endeavours and the in-
duftry of the people, became very fruitful in corn:
And agriculture was there eftecmed fo honourable
an employment, that even their Kings did not dif*
dain to praclife it with their own hands**

But time, which at firft gave birth to arts,
often caufed them to be forgotten when they were
removed from the place of their origin. The
defendants of Noah, who fettled in Europe,
doubtlefs carried their knowledge of agricul-
ture with them into the regions which they fuc-
ceffivcly occupied. But thofe who took pofTeflion
of Greece were fuch an uncivilized race, that they
fed on roots, herbs, and acorns, after the manner
of beads.

Pelasgus had taughr them the culture of the
oak, and the ufe of acorns as food, for which fer-

* Triptolemus, in particular, who wa? taught by Ceres the
*rt of fowing com.

vice

[ 3*9 ]

vice we are told divine honours were paid him by
the people.

The Athenians, who were the firft people that
acquired any tindure of politenefs, taught the ufe
of corn to the reft of the Greeks. They alfo in-
ftru&ed them how to cultivate the ground, and
80 prepare it for the reception of the feed. This
art, we are told, was taught them by Triptoi i -
ntls. The Greeks foon perceived that bread was
more wholclbmc, and its tafte more delicate, than
that of acorns and the wild roots of the fields;
accordingly they thanked the Gods for fuch an
unexpected and beneficial prefent, and honoured
their bcnefa&or.

As the arts of cultivation increafed, and the
blellings they afforded became generally experi-
enced, the people foon preferred them to whatever
the ravages of conqucft, and the cruel depreda-
tions of iavagc life, could procure. And accord-
ingly we find that the Athenian Kings, thinking
it more glorious to govern a fmail itate wifely,
than to aggrandize themfelves, and enlarge the
extent of their dominions by foreign conquefts,
withdrew their fubjects from war, and moftly
employed them in cultivating the earth. Thus,
by continued application, they brought agricul-
ture

[ 3^0 ]

ture to a confide rable degree of perfection, and
foon reduced ir to an art.

Hesiod, who is generally thought to have been
contemporary with Homer, was the firft we know
of among the Greeks who wrote on this intereft-
ing fubjecl. According to the cuftom of the
Oriental Authors, he wrote in poetry, and embel-
lilhed his poem with luxuriant defcription and
fublime imagery. He calls his poem <c Weeks and
€i Days" becaufe Agriculture requires exact obfer-
vations of times and feafons.

Xenophon has alfo, is his GEconomics, re-
marked, that Agriculture is the nurfing mother
of the arts. For, fays he, <c where Agriculture
* fucceeds profperoufly, there the Arts thrive;
<c but where the earth necefTarily lies unculti-
4( vated, there the other arts are deftroyed."

The other eminent Greek writers upon Agri-
culture were, Democritus of Abdera, Socra-
ticus, Archytas, Tarentinus, Aristotle, and
Tiieophrastus, from whom the art received
considerable improvements; as it did alfo from
Hieron, Epicharmus, Philometor, and At-

ALUS.*

* Agricult. Didlioiury.

The

r 321 ]

The old Romans eftecmed Agriculture fo ho-
nourable an employment, that in the earlicft times
of the Republick, when patriotifm was more than
an empty name, the higheft praife that could be
given a man was to fay of him, that he had well
cultivated his fpot of ground,

A judicious and learned writcrf has of late very
juftly remarked, that " One of the mod immc-
" diate effects of an agricultural life is, that it
" imparts a fettled difpofition, and a great degree
<f of local attachment. The very method alfo,
" of procuring fubfiftence from the earth, renders
" the fpot which is the fubjeel: of cultivation
"familiar -, and a kind of natural gratitude for
i€ the increafe tends to endear it to the mind."
And that " it appears to have been a favourite
ft piece of policy with the Romans, founded on
" the bed principles, to inftil a notion of local
i€ attachment as early as poflible after the com-
f1 mencement of the ftatc."

The mod illuftrious fenators of the empire,
in the intervals of publick concerns, applied them-
felves to this profeflion; and fuch was the fim-

f Dr. Falconer, in his Remarks on the Influence of Climate,
Situation, Way of Life, &c, on the Temper and Manners of Man-
Ju^l. Page^JJ.

pliciry

C 322 ]

plicity of thofe ages, that they aflumed no ap-
pearance of magnificence and fplendour, or of
majefty, but when they appeared in publick. At
their return from the toils of war, the taking of
cities, and the fubduing of hoftile nations, their
greateft Generals were impatient till they were
again employed in the arts of cultivation.! They
thought it no difgrace to follow the plough, al-
though they were at the fame time prepared to
ferve the wants of the Republick in every depart-
ment of the government, to attend her councils,
or to put themfelves at the head of her victorious
legions.

It muft indeed be allowed, that when the Ro-
mans became enervated by the fatal introduction
of Afiatick luxury, they gradually loft the noble
iimplicity of their ancefrors, and employed their
(laves only in the feverer labours of a country
life. But though they did not themfelves hold
the plough, yet even men of confular dignity
looked upon it as a reward for their publick fer-
vices, when they obtained leave to retire into the
country ; and were equally refpected when over-
looking their farms, as when feated in the chair
of magifterial authority.

•j- For hiftance, Reoulus, Cincinnatus, and divers other*.

Regulus

[ 3^3 ]

Regulus, a celebrated Roman commander,
when in Africa, refuelled of the Senate to be dif-
milled, led his farm might fufter for want of pro-
per cultivation in his abfence; and the Senate
wrote him for anfwer, that it (hould be taken care
of at the publick expence, while he continued to
lead their armies.

The antients appear to have entertained an uni-
form fenfe of the influence an agricultural life had
on the manners and morals of the people.

Alexander built cities for the Indian nations,
that they might employ themfelves in hufbandry,
and becoming thereby pofleiled of property, which
naturally fuggefted a care for its prefervation, they
might on that account be more cautious of offering
injury or violence to others.*

Cicero expreffed an high opinion of the good
effecls of an agricultural life on the manners and
conducl, in his work, de Setteftute, &? fro L. Ro-
inurino.

And Strabo tells us, that thofe who praQifed
Agriculture in India, were the mod moral and
jult of any ranks of the people.

• Hifiory of India.

Catq

[ 324 ]

Cato the Cenfor, that illuftrious Roman ge-
neral, politician and lawyer, after having go-
verned extenfive provinces, and fubdued many-
warlike nations, did not think it below his dig-
nity to write a Treatife on Agriculture. This
work (as we are told by Servius) he dedicated
to his own fon; it being the firit Latin treatife
written on this important fubjeft. This book has
been handed down to us in all its purity, in the
manner that Cato wrote it.

Varro compofed a treatife on the fame fubjecT:,
and on a more regular plan. This work is em-
bellifhed will all the Greek and Latin erudition
of that learned author, who died 28 years before
the commencement of the Chriftian aera

Virgil, who lived about the fame time, has
adorned this fubjecl with the language of the
Mufes, and given it inexpreflible grace, beauty,
majefty, and dignity, by his verfe. In his Geor-
gicks, he has finely embellifhed he precepts and
rules of Huibandry left by Hesiod, Varro1 and
Mago.

Columella, who flourifhed in the reign of
the Emperor Claudius, wrote twelve books on
huibandry, replete with important inftruction. —

He

t 3^5 ]

He was a native of Bceotia in Spain, and had de-
voted the principal part of his time to the ftudy
of Agriculture.

This art received likewife great improvement
from the two SAFFERNiE, Scorfa, Tremellius,
and Tirentius.

Palladius alfo wrote fcveral trcatifes on the
fame fubjcdl.

From this period to that of the reign of Con-
stantine Poganatus, hufbandry continued in a
declining (late; but that wife Emperor caufed a
large collection of the moft ufeful precepts re-
lating to Agriculture to be extracted from the
beft writers, and publilhed them under the title
of Geoponics. It has been aiTerted, that he made
this collection with his own hand; and the truth
of the aflertion is not improbable, as it is well
known, that after he had conquered the Saracens
and the Arabians, he not only practifed and en-
couraged, but ftudied the arts of peace, fixing his
principal attention on Agriculture, as their belt
foundation.

But after the death of Constantine, the in-

creaiing attention of the people to commerce, and

Vol. II. Y the

0 326 1

the ignorance and gfofs fuperftition of the agea
which fuccceded, feems to have rendered Agri-
culture an almoft negle&ed fcience. We find
no veftiges of any thing tolerably written on the
fubjecl:. No new attempts were made to revive
it, or to improve it, till the year 1478, when
Crescenzio publifhed an excellent performance
on the fubjecl: at Florence. This roufed the
(lumbering attention of his countrymen, feveral
of whom foon followed his example. Among
thefe, Tatti, Steffano Augustina Gallo,
Sansovino, Lauro, and Tarello, deferve par-
ticular notice.

But to return to our own country.

We are very much in the dark with refpect to the
Hate and progrefs of Agriculture in Great-Britain
previous to the fourteenth century. That it was
pretty generally practifed, efpecially in the eaftern,
fouth, and midland parts of England, is certain;
but of the mode, and the fuccefs, we are left almoft
totally ignorant. In the latter end of the fifteenth
century, however, it feems to have been cultivated
as a fcience, and received very great improvement.

At this time our countryman Fitzherbert,
Judge of the Common-Picas, fhone forth with

diftinguifhed

f 327 ]

diflinguifhcd eminence in the practical parts of
hufbandry. He appears to have been the firft
Englifhman who ftudied the nature of foils, and
the laws of vegetation, with philofophical atten-
tion. On thefe he formed a theory confirmed by
experiments, and rendered the ftudy pleafing as
well as profitable, by realizing the principles of
the antients, to the honour and advantage of his
country. Accordingly, he publ idled two trea-
tifes on this fubjedl; the iirft, entitled " The Book
u of Hujbandry," appeared in 1534; and the fecond,
called " The Book of Surveying and Improvement s>"
in 1539.

Thefe books, being written at a time when
philofophy and fcience were but juft emerging
from that gloom in which they had long been
buried, were doubtlcfs replete with many errors;
but they contained the rudiments of true know-*
ledge, and revived the ftudy and love of an art,
the advantages of which were obvio^fs to men of
the lead reflection. We therefore find that Fitz-
ii lkbert's books on Agriculture foon raifed I
fpirit of emulation in his countrymen, and many
treatifes of the fame kind fucceflively appeared,
which time has however deprived us of, or at leaft
they are become ib very fcarce as only to be found
in the libraries of the curious.

Y 2 About

[ 3^8 ]

About the year 1600, France made fome con-
fiderable efforts to revive the arts of hufbandry,
as appears from feveral large works, particularly,
Les Moyens de devenir Riche ; and the Cofmopolilc,
by Bernard de Palissy, a poor porter, who
feems to have been placed by fortune in a Na-
tion for which nature never intended him; Le
Theatre d' Agriculture, by Deserres; and U Agri-
culture ct Mai/on Rujlique, by MefTrs. Etienne,

LlEBAULT, &C.

Nearly in the fame period, the pi'aftice of huf-
bmdry became more prevalent among this peo-
ple and the Flemings than the publifhing of books
on the fu bj eel. Their intention feemed to be that
of carrying on a private lucrative employment,
without inftrucYing their neighbours. Whoever
therefore became defirous of copying their method
of Agriculture, was obliged to vifk that country,
and make his own remarks on their practice.

The principal idea they had of hufbandry was,
by keeping the lands clean and in fine tilth, to
make a farm refcmble a garden as nearly as pof-

iibie.

Such an excellent principle, at firft fetting our,
led them of courfc to undertake the culture of

fmail

[ 329 ]

/mall farms only, which they kept free from weeds*
continually turning the ground, and manuring it
plentifully and judicioufly. When they had by
this method brought the foil to a proper degree of
clcanlinefs, health, and fweetnefs, they chiefly
cultivated the more delicate graffes, as the fureft
means of obtaining a certain profit upon a fmall
eftate, without the expence of keeping many
draught horfes and fervants. A few years expe-
rience was fufficicnt to convince them, that ten
acres of the beft vegetables for feeding cattle,
properly cultivated, would maintain a larger flock
of grazing animals, than forty acres of common
farm grafs on land badly cultivated. They alfo
found, that the bed vegetables for this purpofe
were lucerne, fainfoin, trefoil of moft kinds, fweet
fenugreek, buck and cow-wheat, field turnips, and
fpurrcy.*

The grand political fecret of their hufbandrv,
therefore, confifted in letting farms on improve-
ment. They are laid alfo to have difcovered
nine forts of manure, but what they all were, we
arc not particularly informed. We find however,
that marie was one of them, the ufe and virtues
of which appear alfo to have been well knmvn in
this kingdom two hundred years ago,f although

• Agricult. Di<£tionary. -f See Fit l HERBERT and TufSBR.

Y3 it

t 330 ]

it was afterwards much neglected. They were
the firft people among the modems, who ploughed
in green crops for the fake of fertilizing the foil ;
and who confined their fheep at night in large
fheds built on purpofe, the floors of which were
covered with fand or virgin earth, &c. which the
fhepherd carted away each morning to the com-
port dunghill.

Let us now return to England. During the
reign of Charles the Firft, our fatal domeftick dif-
fentions and wars reverfed the true order of things,
changing our ploughs and pruning-hooks into
martial weapons. But in the general revolution
of affairs, which took place on the death of that
unfortunate Monarch, artful and avaricious men
crept into the confifcated eftates of fuch of the
nobility and gentry as had fteadily adhered to the
royal caufe; and as many of thefe ueiv incroachers
had rifen from the plough, they returned with
pleafure to their old occupations, being chiefly
animated with the love of gain. About this time,
Tlsser, Platt, Plattes, Hartlib, Blythe,
and fome others, feized this favourable opportunity
of encouraging the difpofition of the common peo-
ple, by writings, which have been equalled by few
jn later times.

This

t 3i* ]

This revival of the art of husbandry received
very confiderablc encouragement from Cromw ill
himfclf.

Sir Hugh PtATT was one of the moft ingeni-
ous huibandmen of the age in which he lived;
yet fo great was his modefty, that all his works,
except his Paradife of Flora, fcem to be pofthu-
mous. He held a correfpondence with molt of
the lovers and patrons of agriculture and garden-
ing in England; and fuch was the juflice and
modelty of his temper, that he always named the
author of every difcovery communicated to him.
Perhaps no man in any age difcovercd, or at leait
brought into ufe, fo many new kinds of manure.
This will be evident to thofe who read his ac-
count of the compoft and covered dung-hills,
and his judicious obfervations on the fertilizing
qualities lodged in fait, ftrcct-dirt, and the /ullage
of ftrects in great cities, clay, fuller's-carth,
moorifh earths, dung»hills made in layers, fern,
hair, calcination of all vegetables, malt-duft, wil-
low-tree earth, foapcr's aflies, urine, marie, and
broken pilchards.

Gabrif.l Pi.attls may be faid to have been an
original Junius in hufbandry. He began his
obfervations at an early period iu the reign of

Queen

.

[ 33* ]

Queen Elizabeth, and continued them down to
the Commonwealth. But notwithftanding the
great merit of this writer, and the eflential fer-
vice he had rendered his country by his writings,
the public ungratefully fuffered him to ftarve and
perifh in the flreets of London, nor had he a fhirt
on his back when he died,

Samuel Hartlib, a celebrated writer on agri-
culture in the laft century, was highly efteemed
and beloved by Milton, and other great men of
his time. In the preface to the work entitled his
Legacy* he laments that no publick director of
hufbandry was eftablifhed in England by autho-
rity; and that we had not adopted the Flemifh
method of letting farms upon improvement.

This remark of Hartlib's procured him a
penfion of iool. a year from Cromwell; and the
writer afterwards, the better to fulfil the intention
of his benefactor, procured Dr. Beatti's excellent
annotation on the Legacy, with other valuable
papers from his numerous correfpondents,

* It muft be liere obferved, that the famous work attributed to
Hartlib, and called hh Legacy, was not written by him. It was
only drawn up at his requeft by one R. Chilos, and after under-
going Hartlib's correction and revifal, was publifhed by him. h
tonfilts of a general anlwer to this queftion; " What are the ac-
U tual defects and omimons, anpl what the pofiible improvements, in
« EngUm, hufbandry."

The

C 333 ]

The time in which Hartub flouri fried fecms
to have been an aera when the Englifli hufbandry
rofc to great perfection, compared with that of
former ages; for the preceding wars had impo-
vcrifhed the country gentlemen, and of courfe
made them induftrious. They found the culti-
vation of their own lands to be the molt profit-
able Ration they could fill: but this wife turn
was not of long continuance. At the Reftora-
tion, they generally became infected with that in-
toxication and love of pleafure which fucceeded.
All their induftry and knowledge were exchanged
for neglect and diflipation; and hufbandry de-
fcended almoft entirely into the hands of common
farmers.

In that age of unreftrained indulgence, when
vice and folly were purfucd to the exclufion of
almoft every thing ferious and truly intcrefting;
Evelyn was the firfl writer who infpired his
countrymen with a defire of reviving the ftudy of
agriculture. He was followed by the famous
Jethro Tull. And their joint labours opened
a new and extenfive fphcre for the minds of man-
kind to range in,

Evelyn, by his admirable Treatifes on earth
and on planting, and Tull, by (hewing the fupe-

rior

C 334 3

rior advantages of the drill-hufbandry, excited
numbers to bring their theory to the teft of fair
experiment; and the fuccefs that attended it,
proved the rectitude of their general principles,
and the folidity of their reafoning.

Many valuable and capital improvements have
fince that period been made in Englifli hufban-
dry: and thefe great men have been fucceeded
by a variety of writers, many of whom have done
efTential fervice, by enlightening the minds of their
countrymen, and exciting them to emulation.

About the middle of the lad century, Ireland
began to make a confiderable figure in the art of
hufbandry. It muft, indeed, be confefled, that
the Irifh had very ftrong prejudices in favour of
a wretched method of agriculture, till Blythe
opened their eyes by his excellent writings. Since
that time, a fpirit of improvement has more or
lefs been promoted, and in many inftances car-
ried on with great zeal, by the nobility, clergy,
and gentry of that kingdom.

In proof of this, it will be fufficient to obferve,
that the tranfactions of the Dublin Society for
encouraging hufbandry are now cited by all fo-
reigners, in their memoirs relating to that fubjecl.

And

[ 335 ]

And the obfervations of that difcerning and judi-
cious writer, Arthur Younc, cfq; in his late
Tour through that kingdom, fhew, that, in many
refpecls, improvements there havc^of late yean
made a progrefs nearly as rapid as in England.

After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelie, mod of the
nations, of Europe, by a fort of tacit confent,
applied thcmfelves to the ftudy of agriculture, and
continued to do fo, more or lefs, amidft the unU
verfal confufion that fucceeded.

The French found by repeated experience, that

they could never maintain a long war, or procure

a tolerable peace, unlefs they could raife con*

enough to fupport thcmfelves in fuch a manner

as not to be obliged to harfh terms on the one

hand, or to pcrifh by famine on the other. This

occafioned the King to give publick encourage*

ment to agriculture, and even to be prefent at the

making of feveral experiments. The great, and

the rich, of various ranks and ftations, followed

his example; and even the ladiqs were candidates

for a fharc of fame in this putyick-fpirited and

commendable undertaking.

During the hurry and diftreflcs of France in
the war of 1756, coniidcrable attention was paid

to

f 33* ]

to agriculture. They felt the efte&s, and faw the
neceifity of promoting it. Prize queftions were
annually propofed in their rural academies, parti-
cularly thofe of Lyons and Bourdeaux ; and many
judicious alterations were made by the Society
for improving agriculture in Britanny.

Since the conclufion of that war in 1760, mat-
ters have been carried on there with great vigour.
The Univerlity of Amiens made various propo-
fals for the advancement of hufbandry; and the
Marquis de Tourbillv (a writer who proceeded
chiefly on experience) had the principal direction
of a Georgical Society eftablifhed at Tours.

The Society at Rouen alfo deferves notice; nor
have the King of France and his Minifters thought
it unworthy their attention. There are at prefent
about fifteen Societies exifting in France, efta-
blifhed by royal approbation, for the promoting
of agriculture; and thefe have twenty co-opera^
ting Societies belonging to them.

About this time vigorous exertions began to be
made in Ruflia to introduce the mod approved
fyftem of Hufbandry which had taken place in
other parts of Europe. The prefent illuftrious
£mprefs of that vafl and riling empire has fent

feveral

f 337 ]

feveral Gentlemen* into Kngland and other na-
tions, to ltudy agriculture, and is giving it all
poilible encouragement in her own dominions.

The aft of agriculture has alfo been for near
thirty years publickly taught in the Swedifti,
Diinilli, and German Univcrfities, where the Pro-
feifors may render effectual fervicc to their re-
spective countries, if they underftand the practical,
as well as the Speculative part, and can converfe
with as much advantage with the farmer as with
Virgil and Columella.

Even Italy (funk as it is in luxury and the
enervating arts of pleafure) has not been totally
ina'ftive. The Neapolitans of this age have conde-
fcended to recur to the firft rudiments of revived
hufbandry, and begun to ftudy anew the Agricultu-
ral Syftem of Crescenzio, firft publilhed in 1478.

The people of Bergamo have purfued the fame
plan, and given a new edition of the Ricordo d'
Agriculture de Tarello, firft publiftied in 1577.

The Dutchy of Tufcany have, to their honour,
imbibed the fame ipirit for improvement. A

• M.John Komove, of Peterftnirgh, one of thefc Gentlemen,
honorary Member of the Bath Society.

private

C 338 1

private Gentleman, above forty years fince, left
his whole fortune to endow an Academy of Agri-
culture. The firft Ec'clefiaftick in the Dutchy is
prefident of this fociety, and many of the chief
nobility are members.

Animated with a defire that the people under
his government mould excel in the art of hus-
bandry, his Sardinian Majefty has alfo fent perfons
to learn the different modes of practice in foreign
countries; and made fome fpirited attempts to
eftablifh a better method of agriculture among
his fubjects.

In Poland, where a natural fertility of foil feems
to difpenfe with the neceflity of calling in the aid
of improvements, M. De Bieluski, grand Mar-
fhal of the Crown, has made many fuccefsful at-
tempts to introduce the new husbandry among
his countrymen; and procured the beft inftru-
ments for that purpofe from France, England,
and other parts of Europe.

The Hollanders are the only people now in
Europe who feem to look upon agriculture with
indifference. Except the {ingle collateral inftance
of draining their fens and rnorafTes, they have
fcarcely paid any attention to it ; and even this

feems

f 339 ]

fecms to have proceeded more from the motive of
ielf-prefervation than any love of, or difpoiition
to hufbandry.

In the year 1759, a few ingenious and publick-
fpirited men at Berne in Switzerland eftablifhed a
Society for the advancement of agriculture and
rural (Economics. In that fociety were many men
of great weight in the republic, and mod of them
perfons of a true call for making improvements
in hufbandry, being enabled to join the practice
with the theory.

Nor mud we here omit to mention, that the
juftly celebrated Linnaeus and his difciples have
performed great things in the North of Europe,
particularly in difcovering new kinds of profitable
and well-tafted food for cattle.

About the fame time, Sweden largely aug-
mented a commerce that had long been confined
within narrow bounds ; and with a fpirit worthy
of general imitation, bellowed fuccefsful labours
on a foil which had before been looked upon as
cold, barren, and incapable of melioration. Of
this the Stockholm Memoirs will be a lading
jmonument.

Denmark,

r 340 j

Denmark, and many of the courts in Germany,
followed the fame example: Woollen manufac-
tures were encouraged, and his Danifh Majefty fcnt
three perfons into Arabia Felix to make remarks,
and bring over fuch plants and trees as would be
ufeful in hufbandry, building, and rural affairs.

The Dutchy of Wirtemburgh al Co, a country
by no means unfertile, but. even friendly to corn
and pafturage, has contributed its afiiftance to-
wards the improvement of agriculture, having
more than thirty years fince publifhed fourteen
ceconomical relations at Sturgard.

Nor mud we forget the very afliduous atten-
tion of the learned in Leipfic and Hanover to this
great art of fupporting and rendering mankind
happy, wealthy, and powerful. During the rage
and devaluation of a long war, they cultivated the
arts of peace; witnefs the Journal a" Agriculture
printed at Leipfic, and the Recueils d* Hanover
printed in that city.

Even Spain, conflitutionally and habitually in-
active on fuch occafions, in fpite of all their na-
tural indolence, and the prejudices of bigotry,
invited Linnaeus, with the offer of a large pen-
lion, to fuperintend a college founded for the

purpofe

r 34» i

purpofc of making new enquiries into the Hiftory
of Nature, and the Art of Agriculture.

Bur, without any improper parriality to our own
country, we are fully juftificd in allotting that
England alone exceeds all modern nations in
Huibandry.* To the natural genius of the peo-
ple have been added the theory and practice of
all nations in ancient and modern times. This
accumulated mafs of knowledge has been ar-
ranged, divided, and fubdivided; and after patting
the teft cf practical experiments, the effential and
moft valuable parts of it have been preferved and
amply diffufed in the works of a few excellent
writers on the fubjecl. And from the fpirit which

• Mr. Young, in comparing the Linen Manufacture in Ireland
with the manufactures of this kingdom, makes the following obfer-
vations:— •" The manufacture of the Cngle city of Norwich (layi
" Be) amounts to near as much as the whole linen export of Ire-
<* land, yet very far is that from being the whole exported produce
" of a province ! It is not Uiat of a fingle county ; for Norfolk,
" bclides feeding that city, Yarmouih, and Lynn, two of the

teft ports in England, and a variety of other towns, exports,
" 1 believe, more corn than any other county in the kingdom;
*< and whoever is acquainted with the fupply of the London mar-
" kets knows, that there are thoufands of black cattle fattened
«• every year on Norfolk turnips, and fent to Smithfield. What a

tacle is this I The agriculture In the world the moft pro-
■ duflive of wealth by exportation, around one of the greateft ma-
" nufa&ures in Europe."

Tour through Ireland, part a, p. 119.

Vol. II. Z for

r 342 3

for the lad twenty years has animated many of
our nobility and gentry, to become the liberal
patrons of improvement, there is reafon to hope
that this moft ufeful of arts will, in a few years,
be carried to a greater pitch of perfection than it
has ever yet attained in any age or country.

The very refpectable Societies which have been
eftablifhed on the moft liberal plans in London,
Norfolk, and divers other parts of this nation,
have made fpirited exertions for the advancement
of agriculture. They have already done much,
and there is reafon to expecl, that the opportunity
and afiiftance which the reftoration of peace
affords, will enable them to do much more of
what remains to be accomplifhed.

And here it is not eafy to refill the impulfe I
feel of exprefling a wifh that the fevcral Provin-
cial Societies in this kingdom were, like thofe of
fome other countries, diftinguHhed and encouraged
by a portion of Royal munificence* This would

* The Society particularly recommend this hint to fuch of their
readers as are Members of the Legiflature; as fome publick encou-
ragement of this kind to Provincial Societies would be confiftent
with the wifeft policy, and is greatly to be wifhed by every lover
of his country. This, if once obtained, would influence numbers
to join fuch Societies, and thereby render their finances equal to more
liberal exertions for the accomplilhincnt of a fyftem of general im-
provement in agriculture.

refkcTr

r 343 ]

reflect additional luftre even on Majefty, and ani-
mate individuals liberally to fupport thefc infti-
tutions, which reflect the higheft honour on a (late,
and tend to promote the intereft and happinefs of
ry clafs of its inhabitants.

But it is not to the exertions of publick focicties,
excellent and honourable as they arc, that all our
modern improvements in agriculture owe their
origin. A confiderablc number of valuable books
have within the lad thirty years been publifhed on
the fubjeel; in confcqucncc of which the know-
ledge of improvements made in this and other
nations have been amply fpread, which might
othcrwife have remained confined to a fingle
County, or even a dill fmaller diftrict. Among
thefe, the works of Lord Kaimes, Mr. Young,
Stil/jngfleet, Dr. Hunter, Elms, Randal,
Lisle, Clarke, Marshal, Mortimer, Baker,
Varlev, Harte, Duhamel, Bradley, Kent,
De Turbilly, Mills, and others, hive greatly
tended to enlighten the understandings of fuch as
read then), and to remove the deeply-rooted pre-
judices in favour of ancient modes of practice,
which farmers in general are too apt to entertain.*

• The Mufeum Ruflicum, the Farmer's Dictionary, and the
Farmer's Magazine, may noi perhap* be improperly mentioned;—
each containing detached yiece* of acknowledged merit.

Z a In

[ 344 ]

In mentioning thcfe, your own Publication of Se-
lect Papers muft not be forgotten; a publication
which, if continued on the fame judicious plan
with what has already appeared, will tend in an
eminent degree to accompliih that purpofe which
gave exiftence to your difinterefted and laudable
inftitution.

Every individual who wifhes the profperity and
happinefs of this country, reveres your fpirited
exertions to promote thefe valuable purpofes.
And I flatter myfelf the intelligent and liberal-
minded, who are not at prefent its patrons, will
be induced, from the fame motives of publick fpi-
rit, to give it the fanclion of their approbation,
not only in praifes which coft nothing, but in
contributing to its fupport and enlargement.

1 am confcious that the imperfect (ketch here
given of the progrefs, fucceflive improvements,
and prefent (late of agriculture, is by no means
fo worthy of your attention as I could wifh, or as
it ought to have been. But as it may poflibly
excite fome abler pen to rcfume the fubjecl, I
fubmit it entirely to your difpofal; and have the
honour to fubferibe myfelf,

Gentlemen, your's mod refpecl fully,

EDMUND RACK.

Bath, May 20, 1783.

[ 345 ]

Article LVII.

On Planting barren Lands with Wood.

[By a Correfpondent Member.]

Gentlemen,

AMONG all the improvements which a lover
of his country would naturally wifh to fee
take place, there are none which fecms to want,
or to merit encouragement, more than that of
planting barren foils and wafte lands with wood.
One principal caufe of this improvement having
made a flower progrefs than many others is, that
the firft expence is confiderable, and the profits,
although certain in the end, are remote; and
therefore I have for feverai years wifhed to iee
your premiums increafed on this article.

As I have made confiderable plantations in my
time, and always found the future profits, as well
as the prefent pleafure attending it, to exceed my
expectations, I do not otter my advice on an un-
certain theory, but know what I take the liberty
of recommending to you.

There are three kinds of land ufually termed
barren; and with refpccl to almoft every purpofc

Z 3 but

C 346 ]

but that of planting, they are, and muft remain fos
unlefs an expence, greater thai: moft people chufe
to be at, be fubmitted to in improving them.

The firft kind is mere fand. This foil, unlefs
there be clay or marie at a few feet depth under irt
(as is the cafe in the Weft part of Norfolk, about
Thetford and Brandon) will pay better by being
planted with Scotch Firs and Larches than any
thing elfej efpecially, if, in making the planta-
tions, a little clay or marie be mixed with the fand
in the holes where each tree is planted ; and this
may be done at a fmall expence.

Thefe trees will grow here very well. I know
feveral large plantations, where the foil has been
fo perfectly fandy, that there was not grafs enough
to keep one fheep on an acre, and yet after being
planted twenty years, there have been two thou-
fand trees on an acre, worth at the loweft eftimate
one milling each as they flood. A few acres of
fuch land thus planted would be a pretty fortune
for the younger branch of a family.

The fecond kind is boggy or wet moors, which
are fometimes fo fituated as not to be drained
without too great an expence. Wherever this is
the cafe, fuch foils may be planted to great ad-
vantage^

C 347 ]

vantage, as Mr. Fletcher in his letter on this
fubjecl, printed in your firft volume, has juftly
remarked. Am for poles or copfing will thrive
here beyond expectation ; and alders, with feveral
fpecics of the fallow tribe, will grow rapidly, and
in twenty years after planting pay a profit of three
pounds per acre per annum, for the whole time.
The expence attending it is confined almoft wholly
to the firft five or fix years; for after that time
little more is required than to keep up the fences,
and the profit is certain.

The third foil on which planting anfwers better
than any thing elfe, is barren rocky hills, which
cannot be ploughed on account of the (tones lying
level with the furface, or growing above it. In
fuch places there are numerous little clefts or
fiflures in the rocks, filled with veins of earth to
a conliderable depth, which the roots of trees will
follow and find fufficient nourifhment in. Many
inftances of this nny be found in che counties of
Somerfet, Glocefter, and Dorfct, where the uif-
dom of our forefathers induced thcrr. to try the
experiment. On the north Hope of Mendip hills
in particular, (a fituation as u.iavouraDle as inoft,
ccount of its being a bed c rocks expofed to
the bleak north and eaft winds) we fee beautiful
woods of large? extent hanging over the parifhes

of

C 348 3

of Compton- Martin, Ubley, Blagdon, Hutton,
and Churchill, Jn thefe woods, although the
timber is not large, the growth of the pollard
trees and copfe wood muft every twelve years
bring in confiderable fums to the owners, although
the land for any other purpofe would not be
worth one milling an acre.

In planting barren mountainous fituations, full
of ftone, no particular directions can be given as
to the number of trees per acre, for you muft foU
Jow the veins of earth where they are deepeft ; but
in general plant as thick as you can, for this will
beft prevent the bad effects of tempeftuous winds,
by the interior parts being fheltered from them,

In thefe fituations intermix Scotch Firs, which
will fecure lefs hardy trees from the fury of the
winds, efpecially if a double row of them form
the boundary. As the furfaces of fuch places are
rnoftly craggy **nd uneven, be careful to plant
your trees in the little hollows, for two reafons;
jirjly becaufe there js mod earth and moifture; and
Jecondly\ bpcaufe in thefe cavities the plants will,
while young, be moft fheltered from the winds,
Fear not to plant too thick, for as the plants in-
creafe in fize and hardinefs, you may thin them at
pleafure, and the wood will pay for the labour.

Your

' C 349 3

Your young plants fhould be railed in a fitua-
tion as fimilar as poflible to that where you intend
they lhould continue ; for if they are tranfplanted
out of a rich warm nurfcry, it would prove their
deftruftion. As there is feldom fufficient depth
of foil among the rocks to receive long tap-roots,
the plants which naturally have them fhould be
cut off when they arc firft taken from the feed-
beds, and planted in the nurfcry. By treating
them in this manner, although their vigour will
be checked for the firft year or two, until they
have fent forth a number of lateral roots, they
will recover their ftrength, and prove equally
thrifty with others,

Thefe plantations may be made with beech,
birch, oak, a(h, fycamore, and black poplar
always obferving to place the tendered trees in
the lead expofed lituations, where they are fhel-
tcred from north and eaft winds. In places
where the foil is very thin, raife little hillocks
about the young plants, which will greatly en-
courage their growth.

In fuch bleak fituations, plant as late in the
fpring as you can with fafety. April is a month
in which it may be cxpedted the mod ftormy
weather is over, and all the kinds of trees I have

mentioned

[ 3SO ]

mentioned may fafely be replanted at that time.
But your nurfery fhould always be near the fpot
you intend to plant, or elfe the roots of your
young trees will get dry, and their buds be rubbed
off in carriage.

During the firft three months after planting,
they fhould frequently be examined, and the earth
made faft about their roots, otherwife they will
be loofened by the winds; but after that time
they will have put forth new roots fufficient to
bold them fecurely.

The upright Englifli elm, and the wich elm,
may alfo be properly introduced in thefe fitu-
ations, for they are hardy trees, and, when once
rooted, grow well on rocky foils. The timber of
the latter is very valuable for naves of carriage
wheels, and boring for water-pipes.

If oaks, chefnuts, or beech, or indeed any other
tree that fheds its leaves in winter, grow crooked,
make incifions with the point of a knife from top
to bottom in the hollow part. This will occafion
the tree to increafe in bulk more in thofe parts
than in any other; and by this fimple eafy me-
thod, I have known many a Crooked tree grow
ftrajt and handfome,

I (hall

C 351 ]

I (hall be happy if thefe few obfervations may
in any degree prove ufeful, or tend to encourage
planting in your counties.

I am, your's, &c.
Somerfet. R. £

Article LVI1I.

JDefcriptign of the Model of a Norfolk Plough
fent to the Society by Mr. Bos well.

[Iiluftrated with an accurate Engraving.]

SIR, Piddletown, Dec. 4, 1779.

HE model of the Norfolk Plough, which I

T

now fend agreeable to the requeft of the
Society, is complete on a fcale of three inches to
a foot. As an explanation of its various parts
may be necefTary, I flatter miyfelf the following
gbfervations will not be deemed impertinent,

Explanation,

A the tail. B the beam. C the head.

D the wood fpindle. E the iron fpindle.

V the wood mould-board fitted to the iron plat or turn-
furrow.

G the iron turn-furrow ; This part is generally cad to
jts proper fhape,

I* the

[ 352 ]

H the (hare, with a focket to fit on the head, by which
means it is eafily taken off to be repaired.

I the fide iron. K the heel iron. L the ground-raife.
Thefe three are often made of caft-iron.

M a pin to keep the mould-board at a proper diftance.

N the coulter.

OOOOOOOO eight iron pieces to ftrengthen the
joints, and thofe parts where the greateft power or friction
is applied. P a ftaple in the tail, through which the plough-
line paffes. Q_ the beam -ring and breaft-iron.

R the breaft. S the pillar. T the ftandards.

V VV pillar-pins and chains. U U ftandard-pins and
chains. W beam-pins and chain. X the beam-ring and
breaft-iron pin and chain. Y the gate. Z the heart and
links.

A B the beam nail. A C, A C, two holes in the ftand-
ard-head through which the plough-line panes.

S the horfe-tree, or bodkin, fixtd by the clafp (2) to the
the heart (Z) on the gate Y. 33 two clafps on each end
of the horfe-tree (S) to which the hamble-trees, or weas,
(4 4) are fixed, on each of which are two clafps (5 5 5 5)
to receive the horfe traces.

Observations.

FirJI. The holes in the ftandard (T T) are to raife or
lower the pillar S by means of the ftandard-pins (U U)
which is one way of fetting the plough deeper or fhallower
in the land ; but when once fitted to a proper fize, it is
feldom altered by this part, unlefs very deep water-furrows
are to be drawn, or the ftare is much worn.-^ — For the
fame ufc are the different holes in the breaft-iron Q^

2<lly. The

t 353 ]

idly. The holes in the pillar S, are for the pillar-pins
V V, to alter the direction of the beam of the plough,
cither to the furrow or land, according as the furrows
want to be thrown cither flat or round. The fame ufe is
made of the notches in the gate Y.

^dly. The holes in the beam (B) by which the beam-
ring and breaft-iron (QJ are fixed to the beam by the
beam-nail (AB) and alfo by the beam-pin and chain, (W)
which is fixed to the top of the ftandards in the centre,
thefe unite the plough and breaft-work together. By thefe
holes the plough is regulated ; and fo nice are the plough-
men in Norfolk in ploughing to a proper depth where there
are little inequalities in the land, and upon fuch juft me-
chanical principles is it conftructed, that a quarter of an
inch alteration in the beam -nail and beam-pin will be per-
ceived in the going of the plough either deeper or Ihal-
jower. This will fcarcely be credited, but I aflert it upon
my own knowledge. The breaft-pin drawn up half its
length, and the beam-nail turned upon its oppofite quarter,
frequently in ploughing a fallow, is enough to fink the
plough perceptibly. By thefe means, one of thefe ploughs
will plough almoft to any depth, or barely fkim the furface.

4//;/v. The coulter N, when fet properly, the point
mould be about three inches for the mare, and in fuch a
direction, that a line {trained at the hinder part of the
fide-iron to the point of the coulter, mould juft free the
fide of the (hare. This is the rule the ploughmen fet it by.

yhly. The plough-line panes from the outfide ring of
the bit of the halter of the one horfe, through a ring in the

heams,

[ 354 ]

lieams, and through the hole A C in the ftandard, and
through the ftaple P in the tail of the plough, and up again
through the other hole A C, through a ring in the heam
to the ring in the bit of the outfide of the halter on the
other horfe. A coupling -line is fixed from the infide ring
of the halter of one horfe to the infide ring of the other
horfe's halter; by this means the ploughman, pulling the
line on either fide of the tail of the plough, readily guides
the horfes which way he pleafes.

btbly. The horfes' traces mould be fo (hort as barely to
clear their hocks when in their work; in fact, the horfes
fhould be brought back as near as pofllble to the point of
draught.

■
Jtbly. The plough when well conftrucled mould, wheri

(landing in its work, reft only upon the hind part of the

head (C) and the edge of the (hare H; in other words, it

fhould have the lead pofllble friction.

Stbiy. Complex as this plough may appear to be, the
various methods of altering it are fo fimple, that every
common ploughman knows how to do it readily.

gibly. The fuperior advantages of the Norfolk plough,
over every other fort that I have feen (except thofe con-
ftrucled on the fame principles, though varied in their
form) are many. A few I will mention, that gentlemen
may be better able to judge of its fuperior utility.

Firft, It goes with only two horfes without a pfough-
boy. This, probably, will be matter of furprize; but I

aver,

C 355 3

aver, that two good able horfes with one of thefe ploughs
will break up the ftrongcft (level) land I ever faw in So-
merfetfhirc, and at a proper fcafon will plough nearly an
acre in a day. I have myfelf been witnefs to land being
broken up whofe furface would make bricks, and fo hard
tha' near an hundred weight has been put in the chamber
of the plough, (die opening between the mould -board and
beam) and yet only two horfes have been ufed, and more
than half an acre was ploughed in a day.

Another advantage is, having but one handle, which the
man holds in his left hand; he carries his whip in the
other, and when neceflary takes the plough-line in it, and
direct his horfes to right or left as he choofes.

A third advantage is, having but one handle, he, by
flopping his horfes, and ftepping one ftep forwards, can,
in half a minute^ take up or let down (raife or fink) his
plough in any direction he finds neceflary. This a good
ploughman will do in land that is very uneven, two or
three times in a furrow.

A fourth advantage is, having but two horfes, and thofe
going a-breaft, he can always fee between them, and by
that means draws out his work as (trait as a line can be
ftretched, and makes his furrows as true and exact as it is
poflible to be conceived.

Many other advantages could be pointed out, but I have
already trefpafled on your patience; and to draw compa-
jifons with the plough commonly ufed in the Weft of Eng-
land,

C 356 1

land, might to many gentlemen appear invidious. But left
I lead any into error, permit me to add, that the Norfolk
plough is not calculated for ftony or very hilly land ; nor
will it break pafture land properly to fow on one earth.

Your mod obedient humble fervant,
Mr. Rack. GEORGE BOSWELL.

Article LIX.

An account of the Succefs of a late planted Crop
of Potatoes.

Gentlemen,

IN the month of June 1782, a gentleman near
Bath planted three acres and half of land with
potatoes of the long kidney- fhaped white kind
from Ireland. The foil was a lightifh loam, and
being virgin earth, no manure of any kind was
ufed. The ground was dug about eight or nine
inches deep, and the feed potatoes cut into fets,
and planted about a foot or fourteen inches apart,
in holes made with dibbles. Notwithstanding
the late time of planting, they grew very well,
and produced, when taken up in October, three
hundred and eighty facks of four buihels each
fack, or nearly four hundred and forty buihels per

acre.

C 357 2

are. None of them were very fmall, and few were
very large; buc moftly of a good full middling
fixe, fit either for the table or planting. Not a
plant in this crop was Curled, or infedted with
any difeafe*

I am, &c.
Bath, May i, 1783. T. B.

[N. B. Favourable as the above crop may appear to the late plant-
ing of potatoes, we wifh not to recommend that practice. In the
prefent inftance we arc inclined to believe, the uncommon wetnefs of
the feafon was the principal caufe of the crop being fo large. Had the
fummer proved dry, we think this gentleman's experiment would have
proved a loiing one; as the plants would naturally have been fo flow
©f growth, as for the autumn frofts to check them before they could
arrive at full maturity. We confider the beginning of May the beft
feafon for planting potatoes on a large fcale ; they have then a chance
of every advantage which the variety of the feafon affords, without
being in any danger of fuffering from early growth by late fpring froftij
which (as has been the cafe this feafon) often cut off thofe planted ia
the beginning of April.]

Vol. II. A a Article

C 358. ]

Article LX,

On crojfing the Breed in Sheep and Neat Beajls.

Sir, March 8, 1783.

ON reading the advertifement of the Bath
Agriculture Society, I was induced to take
the liberty of addreffing to you this letter.

I have rams to let for the feafon from five to
twenty guineas. They were bred from fome of
the beft frock of that famous breeder Mr. Bake-
well, of Difhley in Leicefterfhire, a fort efteemed
the belt in England, and which Mr. Young, in
his Eattern Tour, gives a particular account of.
They are of the polled kind, and the peculiar be-
nefits arifing from them are, their hardinefs and
extra quantity of wool. The firft proceeds no
doubt from their perfect form, as we have tried
them with common fheep of moft counties, and
always found they have, done confidcrably better,
though kept exactly alike. Secondly, they come
to a very great weight. And lajlly, inftead of
cutting three or four pounds of wool, which is
more than is generally done, I always cut from
fix to fourteen pounds off each fheep. And as
you mud have in your neighbourhood the beft

judge

C 359 ]

judges in this commodity, from the number of*
hands employed in the woollen manufacture, I have
taken the liberty to inclofe you a lock of it for
infpettion, and believe they will find it a very
good ftaple.

The wool in paper No. i, is from a ram morn
twice laft year. That in No. 2, is from a tegg
or lamb of laft year.

A crofs breed from the rams and the common
Hampfhire ewes, have been found remarkably
profitable, having been fold lean at two years old
for twenty-five (hillings each, and many have
been killed at thirty pounds a quarter, which is
remarkable for this poor backward county, and
not nearly equalled by any 6f our neighbours.

The late Lord Northing ton, about twenty*
five years ago, had a ram of this kind from Mr.
Bakeweli.'s father, and the crofs breed from him
fold at great prices to the Dorfetihire farmers \
who found it anfwer fo well, that the ram lambs
from his Lord (hip's farm bore the belle for many
years.

Our bulls (bred alfo from Mr. Bakewell's

flock) are from five to twenty guineas the feafon.

\ a 2 Their

[ 36o }

Their merit lies in being hardier than even Wei (h
or Scotch cattle ; they are remarkably well-fhaped
and fmali boned, and at the fame time capable of
being brought to a greater degree of fatnefs than
any other breed whatever.

I have no doubt myfelf but a breed from a bull
of this fort, and the cattle of Somcrfet or Devon,
would prove ciTcntially ufeful, and for the follow-
ing among other reafons:

Your oxen require the beft padures, and that
for a long while; and then, from their make,
(being fet high on their legs) they weigh very
light when they come to the fcale. Thefe are
their faults; yet they cut with the fined grain of
any beads in England, and fetch more pound for
pound than any brought to Smithfield market.

Our beads are remarkably fhort-leggcd, very
broad over their backs, and very quick feeders.
I aMure you that three of them will fatten in the
fame time that two of your's will. I therefore
conceive the crofs breed will be very ufeful in
thofe points that the cattle of Somerfet and Devon

fail in. My farm is on a very poor chalky foil,

and is always open to publick infpeftion in refpect
to my cattle.

As

C 3«i ]

As Secretary to a publick Society, I look upon
you as a publick man, which is my excufe for
this addrefs. You will oblige me much by in-
forming me of the terms of fubfeription to your
Society, with your lift of premiums for the pre-
fent year. And if you wifh for information in
any thing refpedting my cattle, I fhall be happy
to give it you.

Should any of the Gentlemen wifh to procure
any of our cattle for the purpofe of crofs breed-
ing, I (hall have pleafure in ferving them. No-
body can do it better, as I have expended very
large fums in acquiring the beft breed both for
cattle and flicep.

I am, Sir,
Your very humble fervant,

BENJAMIN SMITH.

Lye, near Alresford,
Hants.

A a 3 Artich

: [ 362 ]

Article LXL

On the Advantages of cultivating Sainfoin as a
Food for Cows.

[By an Eflex Farmer, an Honorary Member.]
Gentlemen,

I AM induced to fend you the i following re-
marks on fainfoin, from having obferved when
at Bath, and in patting through the counties of
Somerfet and Dorfet laft fummer, that there is
but little of this valuable grafs growing there,
although many of the lands feem well adapted to
its nature.

Sainfoin is much cultivated in the North-Eaft
part of this county, particularly about Saffron-
Walden, where the foil is of a chalky kind. The
remarks that follow may be depended on, as they
are made from my own experience and obferva-
tion for many years ; which have fully convinced
me, that of all the foreign graifes, there is none
comparable to this.

Sainfoin will always fucceed well where the
roots run deep; the worft foil of all for it is where

there

C 363 ]

there is a bed of cold wet clay, which the tender
fibres cannot penetrate. This plant will make
a greater increafe of produce, by at load thirty
times, than common grafs or turf on poor land.
Where it meets with chalk or Hone, it will ex*
tend its roots through the cracks and chinks, to
a very great depth, in fearch of nourifhment.
The /drynefs is of more confequence than the
richnefs of land for fainfoin; although land that
is both dry and rich will always produce the
krgeft crops.

It is very commonly fown broadcaft, but it is
found to anfwer bed in drills, efpecially if the
land be made fine by repeated ploughing, roll-
ing, and harrow ing. Much depends on the depth
which this feed is fown. If it be buried more
than an inch deep, it will feldom grow; and if
Jeft uncovered, it will puili out its roots above
ground, and thefe will be killed by the air.
March and the beginning of April are the belt
feafons for fowing it, as the feverity of winter, and
the drought of fummcr, arc equally unfavour-
able to the young plants. A bufhel of feed fown
broadcaft, or half that quantity in drills, if good,
i^ fulBcicnt for an acre. The drills mould be
rtJ|M?ty inches apart, to admit of horfc-hoeing
between them. Much however depends on the

goodnefs

C 3«4 ]

goodncfs of the feed, which may be bed judged
of by the following marks : — The hufk being of
a bright colour, the kernel plump, of a grey or
blueifh colour without, and, if cut acrofs, greenifh
and frefh withiniide. If it be thin and furrowed,
and of a yellowifh caft, it will feldom grow. When
the plants (land fingle, and have room to fpread,
they produce the greateft quantity of herbage, and
the feed ripens beft.

But farmers in general, from a miftaken notion
of ail that appears tp be wade ground being un*
profitable, plant them fo clofe, that they choak
and impoverifh each other, and often die in a few
years. Single plants run deepeft and draw mod
nourifhmentj they are alfo eafieft kept free from
weeds. A fingle plant will often produce half a
pound of hay when dry. On rich land this plant
will yield two good crops in a year, with a mode-
rate (hare of culture. A good crop mull not be
cxpedled the firft year, but if the plants (land not
too thick, they will increafe in fee the fecond
year prodigioufly.

No cattle fhould be turned on the field the firft
winter after the corn is off with which it was fown,
as their feet would injure the young plants. Shetp
fliould not come on the following fummer, be-

caufc

I 36> ]

caufe they would bite off the crown of the plant;,
and prevent their lhooting again. A fmall quan-
tity of foaper's afhes as a top-drcfling will be of
great fervicc, if laid on the firft winter.

If the fainfoin be cut juft before it comes into
bloom, it is admirable food for horned cattle; and
if cut thus early, it will yield a fecond crop the
fame feafon. Bur if it prove a wet feafon, it is
better to let it (land till its bloom be perfected;
for great care mult be taken, in making it into
hay, that the flowers do not drop off, as cows are
very fond of them; and it requires more time
than other hay in drying.

Sainfoin is fo excellent a fodder for horfes, that
they require no oats while they eat it, altho' they
be worked hard all the time. Sheep will alfo be
fattened with it fader than with any other food.

If the whole feafon for cutting prove very rainy,
it is better to let the crop ftand for feed, as that
will amply repay thelofsof the hay; becaufe it will
not only fetch a good price, but a peck of it will
go as far as a peck and a half of oats for horfes.

The beft time of cutting the feeded fainfoin
is, when the grcateft part of the feed is well filled,

the

C 366 ]

the firft blown ripe, and the laft blown beginning1
to open. For want of this carefome people have
loft mod of their feed by letting it ftand too ripe.
Seeded fainfoin fliould always be cut in a morn-
ing or evening, when the dews render the ftalks
tender. If cut when the fun fhines hot, much of
the feed will fall out and be loft.

An acre of very ordinary land, when improved
by this grafs, will maintain four cows very well
from the firft of April to the end of November;
and afford befides a fuflicient (lore of hay to make
the greater part of their food the four months
following.

The quantity of milk produced by cows fed
by fainfoin, is nearly double to that of any other
food. The milk is alio much richer; and will
yield a larger ciuantity of cream. The butter will
alfo be better coloured and flavoured than any
other. I have known many cows give twelve
pints of milk at a meal, and milked twice a day,
while fed on fainfoin.

If the foil be tolerably good, a field of fainfoin
will laft from fifteen to twenty years in prime;
V>ut at the end of feven or eight years it will be
neceffary to Lay on a moderate coat of well-rotted

dung;

I 367 1

dung; or, if the foil be very light and fandy, of
marie. By this means the future crops, and the
duration of the plants in health and vigour, will
be greatly increafed and prolonged. Hence it
will appear, that for poor land there is nothing
equal to this grafs in point of advantage to the
farmer.

J

Clover will laft only two years in perfection;
and often, if the foil be cold and moift, near half
the plants will rot, and bald patches be found in
every part of the field the fecond year. Befides,
from our frequent rains during the month of Sep-
tember, many crops left for feeding are loft.

But from the quantity and excellent quality of
this grafs [fainfoin] and its ripening earlier, and
continuing in vigour fo much longer, much rifquc
and certain expencc is avoided, and a large annual
profit accrues to the farmer.

I am, Gentlemen,

Your mod obedient humble fervant,

P. w.

March 2i, 1,781;

Article

C 368 ]

Article LXII.
On the Turnip Husbandry.
[By a Gentlemen in Norfolk.]
Sir,

IN cultivating Turnips to advantage, great care
mould be taken to procure good, bright, nim-
ble, and well-dried feed, and of the beft kind.

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

The roots of the green-topp'd will grow to a
large fize, and continue good much longer than
others. The red or purple-topp'd will alfo grow
large, and continue good to the beginning of Fe-
bruary; but the roots become hard and ftringy
fooner than the former.

The green-topp'd growing more above ground,
is in more danger of fuftaining injury from fevere
froft than the red or purple, which are more than
half covered by the foil, but it is the fofteft and
fweeteft when grown large, of any kind. I have

feen

[ 369 ]

fecn them brought to table a foot in diameter, and
equally good as garden turnips.

Turnips delight in a light foil, confifting of
fand and loam mixed; for when the foil is rich
and heavy, although the crop may be as great in
weight, they will be rank, and run to flower ear-
lier in fpring.

Turnip-feed, like that of grain, will not do
well without frequent changing. Our Norfolk
feed is fent to molt parts of the kingdom, and
even to Ireland, but after two years it degene-
rates; fo that thofe who wiih to have turnips in
perfection mould procure it frelh every year from
Norwich, and they will find their account in To
doing. For from its known reputation, many of
the London feedfmen fell, under that character,
feed raifed in the vicinity of the metropolis, which
is much inferior in quality.

The only rifk in fowing turnips is the danger of
their being eaten by the fly, efpecially in a dry
feafon. This is an evil for which art has not yec
found a certain and effectual remedy. Many
things have been tried, but none have anfvvcred
in all cafes. The following have, however, often
proved of fervice: — A final] quantity of foot

fown

[ 3/0 ]

fewn over the land at their firft appearance.—*
Branches of elder with the leaves bruifed, drawn
in a gate over them. — Mufk mixed with the feed
before it is fown. — And fulphur burnt under it,
after moiftening it with water in which tobacco
has been ftecped.

But mowers on the plants as foon as they appear
above ground, are the belt prefervatives. They
enfeeble and kill the fly, and haften the plants
into the rough leaf, in which ftate they are out of
-danger.

When the plants have got five leaves, they
fhould Be hoed, and fet out at leaft fix inches apart.
A month afterwards, or earlier if it be a wet feafbn,
a fecond hoeing fhould take place, and the plants
be left at lead fourteen inches diftant from each
other, efpccially if intended for feeding cattle;
for where the plants are left thicker, they will be
proportionably' fmaller, unlefs the land is very
rich indeed.

Some of our beft farmers fow turnips in drills
three feet afunder, and at a fecond hoeing leave
them a foot apart in the rows. By this means the
trouble and expence of hoeing is much lefTencd,
and the crop of equal weight as when fown in the

common

[ 37i ]

common method. The intervals may cafily be
cleared of weeds by the horfe-hoc.

Great quantities of turnips are raifed. with us
every year for feeding black cattle, which turn to
great advantage.

It is well known, that an acre of land contains
4840 fquare yards, or 43560 fquare feet; fuppofe
then that every fquare foot contains one turnip,
ami that they weigh only two pounds each on an
average, here will be a mafs of food excellent in
kind of forty-fix tons per acre, often worth from
lour to five guineas, and fometimes more.

Extraordinary crops of barley frequently fuc-
cecd turnips, efpecially when fed off the land. In
feeding them off, the cattle fhould not be fufiercd
to run over too much of the ground at one, for
in that cafe they will tread down and fpoil twice
as many as they eat/ We generally confine them
by hurdles to as much as is fufficient for them in
one day. By this mode the crop is eaten clean,
the foil is equally trodden, which, if light, is of
much fcrvice, and equally manured by the cattle.

A notion prevails in many places, that mutton
fattened with turnips is thereby rendered rank

and

I 37* ]

and ill-taftcd; but this is a vulgar error. I know
that the beft mutton in this county (and few
counties have better) is all fed with turnips. It
is rank pafture, and marfhy land, that produces
rank mutton.

If the land be wet and fpringy, the bed method
is to draw and carry off your turnips to fome dry
pafture; for the treading of the cattle will not
only injure the crop, but render the land fo Ihff,
that you mud be at an additional expence in
ploughing.

Perhaps, Gentlemen, I ought to alk pardon for
having troubled you with fo long a letter; but
however I may have failed in the execution, my
defign is to excite your attention to a fubjecl of
xmich importance in agriculture; the exact know-
ledge of which may tend to introduce improve-
ments in this branch of cultivation, not yet gene-
rally praclifcd in the Weftern counties.

I am, Gentlemen,

Your humble fervant,

: e.n.

B j Feb, 2r, 178 1.

Article

C 373 ]

Article LXIII.

On the Culture of Hemp and FlaX*
[In a Letter to the Secretary.]
Sir,

J BEG leave to trouble the Gentlemen of the
Bath Society with a few remarks on the culture
of hemp and flax, as being articles of great nationa
importance, and therefore well worthy their at-
tention.

I have often obferved, that the greater part of
thofc rich marfhy lands lying to the weft of Men-
dip-hills, are as badly managed as any in this
county, or perhaps in the kingdom. The far-
mers, whofe property it is, feem content with the
produce it affords them without much cultivation
or labour; and appear to be utter ft rangers to its
real value, or the profits that would fpeedily
arife from a fpirited and judicious mode of ma-
nagement, were it but adopted. Almoft any me-
thod of cultivation different from the prefent
Would, in point of private advantage, be infi-
nitely preferable. But were thefe lands appropri-
ated to hemp ahd flax, they would prove highly

Vol. If. Bb advantageous

C .374 3

advantageous both to the land-holders and the
pubiick at large.

It is well known, that foils naturally rich and
fertile will produce hemp and flax in abundance;
and as thefe are ameliorating crops, they will not,
if cut without feeding, impoverilh the land. And
as the bed crops of flax are raifed from foreign
feed, (which is eafily procured cheaper than we
can raife it) there is the lefs occafion for fuffering,
it to feed in this country.

The vaft quantities of hemp and flax which
have been raifed on lands of the fame kind in the
Lincolnfhire marlhes, and the fens of the Ifle of
Ely and Huntingdonfhire, are a full proof of the
truth of my affertion; and a convincing argu-
ment of the fuperior wifdom of the farmers in
thofe places. This will appear in a ftill ftronger
light, when we confider, that the other commodi-
ties raifed on fuch land fell at higher prices than

in this

county.

Many hundreds of acres in the above:mentioned
places, which for pafturage or grazing were not.
worth more than twenty or twenty-five millings,
per 'acre, have been readily let at four pounds the
firil year* three pounds the fecond, and forty

millings

[ 37S }

fhillings the third. The rcafon of this fuppofed
declining value of the land, in proportion to the
number of years fown with flax, is, that it is ufual
with them to feed it for the purpofe of making
oil, that being the principal caufe of the land be-
ing thereby impovcrilhed.

It will not appear ftrange, that fuch rents fhould
be given for lands which produce from fifty to fe-
venty (lone per acre, which, when dreffed, fell on
the average from feven to nine fhillings a ftune,
or twenty-four pounds value per acre.

But the profitable growth of hemp and flax
is not confined to rich foils. Experience hath
evinced, that they will grow well on poor fandy
land, if a little expence be bellowed in mamw
ring it.

Spalding-Moor in Lincolnfhire is a barren fand,
and yet, with proper care and culture, it produces
the fined hemp in England, and in large quantities,

. In the Ifie of Axholme, in the fame county,
equal quantities are produced,- for the culture
and management of it is the principal employ of
the inhabitants ; and, according to Leland4 was
fo in the reign of Henry Vlllth.

Bb % Ixk

C 376 3

In marfh land, the foil is a clay or ftrong warp,
thrown up by the river Ouze, and of fuch a qua-
lity, that it cracks with the heat of the fun till a
hand may be put into the chinks or openings ; yet
if once it be covered with the hemp or flax be-
fore the heats come on, the ground will never
crack or open that fummer,

When the land is fandy, they firft fow it with
barley, and the following fpring they manure the
ftubble with horfe or cow-dung, and plough it
under. They then fow their hemp or flax, and
harrow it in with a light harrow having ihort
teeth. A good crop deflroys all the weeds, and
makes it a fine fallow for flax in the fpring. A3
foon as the flax is pulled, they prepare the ground
for wheat. Lime, marie, and the mud of ponds,
is an excellent compoft for hemp lands.

The quantity of hemp and flax yearly imported
into this kingdom, was, about the year 1763, efti-
mated at about eleven thoufand tons ;* and I will
venture to afTert, that all this quantity might be
grown at home, without making a fcarcity or con-
iiderably enhancing the price of any article of our
prefent produce, or occafioning any want of hands

• To raife this quantity at home would require about 60,000
acres of land.

fox

[ 377 3

Tor carrying on our manufactures. On the con-
trary, I am induced to believe, it would occafion
a confiderable increafe of people, by inviting num-
bers from the continent to come and fettle amongft
us. And as the hemp and flax \vc import come
from countries where the balance of trade turns
In their favour, it would be a great national ad-,
vantage.

It ought alfo to be remembered, that the hemp
raifed in this kingdom is not of fo dry and fpongy
a nature as that we have from Peterfburgh. The
only objection that our rope-makers urge againfi
ufing Englifh hemp is, that it takes lefs tar than
the foreign to manufacture it into cordage. But
as tar is cheaper than hemp, they ufe this argu-
ment only becaufe there is lefs profit arifes to them
from working it. This is therefore a fubftantial
argument in its favour. And this inference may
be juftly drawn from the objection, viz. that the
cordage made of Englilh hemp, whin compared
with that of the fame dimensions worked with fo-
reign, mud be Stronger in proportion as there is
more hemp and lefs tar in it, provided there be a
fufficient quantity to unite the librcs together;
hemp being a Mronger and ipore durable fubltance
than tar.

One

C 373 J

One peculiar advantage attending the cultiva-
tion of hemp and flax is, that a crop of the for-
mer prepares the land for the latter, and therefore
a crop of hemp is clear gain to the farmer. That
thefe plants impoverifti the foil, is a mere vul-
gar notion, devoid of all truth. The beft hif-
torical relations, and the verbal accounts of honefl
ingenuous planters, concur in declaring it to be
a vain prejudice, unfupported by any authority;
and that thefe crops really meliorate and improve
the foil.

Therefore as hemp and flax can be raifed at
home fo much to the improvement of our lands,
the employment of our poor, and the intereft of
the nation at large, I am very foiicitous that this
fubject may come fcrioufly under the confidera-
tion of your Annual Meeting, and receive all
poflible encouragement from your publick-fpirited,
and truly laudable Society.

I am, Gentlemen,

Your humble fervant,

A Dorsetshire Gentleman. *

Dec. 8, 1781

Article

t 379 3

Article LXIV.
DireSliom for dejlroying Rats in Farm-Vards.

Gentlemen, Earnly, Feb. 15, 1782,

AS Rats are a fpecies of vermin very prejudi-
cial to the farmer, I think every method
recommended to deftroy them merits attention;
and therefore fend you the following, which, after
trying a multitude of other things, I found mod
fuccefsful.

"To a quart of oatmeal, I put fix drops of rho-
dium, a grain of mufk, and two or three nuts of
nux vomica finely powered.

This mixture I made up into pellets, and laid
them in the holes where the rats frequented.
This was at firft greedily eaten, and did great
execution; but thefe fugacious animals foon dis-
covered their enemy, and fwallowed the bait no
more.

I then tried the following: — To three parts of
oatmeal, I put a fourth of ftaves-acre powdered,
mixed them well, and made into a parte with
honey. I laid pieces of this in the holes, and fo

many

[ 380 ]

many were killed by it, that my houfe and barns
became very difagrceable by the fmell of them
when dead.

To prevent this inconvenience, I then endea-
voured to take them alive. To effect this pur-
pofc, I trailed toafted cheefeand red herrings from
their holes into an empty room, where 1 placed
oatmeal and other forts of food they are moll fond
of, and permitted them to eat it without inter-
ruption. On finding, from their not being mo-
tefled, that their numbers increafed, I fet a large
box into this room with its fide downward, and
the lid being lifted up, was fufpended in that
pofition by a firing run through, or over a pully
in the deling, the end of which was placed within
reach, when a fufficient number were eating in
the box, in which I placed oatmeal and fuch other
food as they are fond of. At firfl they entered
the box with caution, but in three or four nights
they went in boldly, and would eat there like pigs
at a trough. It being moonlight, I watched them
one evening, and having painted the infide of the
box white, I could eafiiy difcover when it was
full ; the fifth night, on pulling the firing, I let
down the lid upon them, which being loaded with
a large Hone to prevent their pufhing it open, I
fecured upwards of fixty at once; and repeating

the

C 38i ]

the experiment, in about three weeks I caughi
near eight hundred of thefc vermin.

•<By this method I fo effectually cleared my pre-
mifes, that I have fuftained but little damage
fince.

I am, your humble fervant,

M. N.

1 — |

Article LXV.

On the Management of Seed Barley in a dr}
Sea/on.

[Communicated by a Gentleman of YorkfhireJ

IT is well known that Barley is lefs valuable
when it does not ripen equally; that barley
which comes up fpeedily in a dufty foil, mud gain
a great advantage over feed weeds; and this year
barley that fhall come a fortnight or three weeks
earlier than others to market, will probably draw
a higher price.

Therefore, firft take out about one-third of the
contents of the facks of feed barley or bere, to
allow for the fwelling of the grain. Lay the facks

Vol. II. C c with

r 3«i 1

with th* gfcrin to fteep in clean water* let it lid
covered with it for at leaft 24 hour*. When ths
ground is fo dry as at prefent, and no likelihood
of rain for ten days, it is better to lie 36 hours.
Sow the grain wet from fteeping, without any
addition of powdered quick-lime, which, though
often recommended in print, can only poifon the
feed, fuck up part of its ufeful moifture, and burn
the hands of the fower. The feed will fcatter
well, as clean water has no tenacity— -only the
fower mud put in a fourth or a third more feed
in bulk than ufual of dry grain, as the grain is
fwelled in that proportion: harrow it in as quickly
as poflible after it is fown * and though not ne-
ceflary, give it the benefit of frefh furrow, if
convenient. You may expect it up in a fortnight
at fartheft.

My fteeped barley, fown on the 10th and uth
of April, is now from four to fix inches high|
and what was fown on Saturday the 19th and
Monday the 21ft of April, on a ley holm, above
a month ploughed, is this day, or in the fpace of
a fortnight, fairly come up 5 and the headrridges,
efpecially one that was recently ploughed, though
fown on the 25th, is beginning to appear. But
the deeped feed running fhort, my overfeer fowed
about a rood on the freih ploughed head-ridge,

with

[ 3«3 ]

with unfteeped barley, where not a plant as yet
appears ; but, on the contrary, the grain may be
found in the foil as dry, hard, and wrinkled on
the (kin, as when taken from the granary. In
this uncommonly dry feafon, I need not point out
other inftances of grain much longer fown, not as
yet come up. I mail only add, that I have uni-
formly followed this method for above a dozen
years with unvaried fuccefs.

WILLIAM COPLAND,

Blackwood, near Dumfries,
May 3, 1783.

e*s

•

.

CIVfAJH<

*