A N 



for if this be not taken care of, the water, inflead of 

 improving the Land, will greatly damage it. 

 But where the Land lies fo high, as that there is no 

 water in the neighbourhood lying above its level, it 

 will be more expeniive , becaufe in fuch cafe, the wa- 

 ter muft be raifed by machines, from refervolrs or 

 rtreams which lie below it. The moft common engine 

 ufed for this purpofe is the Perfian wheel (which, be- 

 ing well delcribed and figured in Woolridge's Art of 

 Hufbandry, is needlefs for me here to repeat.) Yet 

 notwithftanding the expence of raifing the water, it 

 has been found greatly advantageous in many parts 

 of England, to drown the Lands, for the profit has 

 many times more than doubled the charge. . 

 The time for drowning of Land, is ufually from 

 November till the end of April ; but though this is the 

 general praftice, yet I cannot approve of it for many 

 reafons. The firft is, that by the wet lying continu- 

 ally on the ground in winter, the roots of the finer 

 fort of Grafs are rotted and deftroyed ; and by letting 

 on the water, at the feafon when the feeds of Docks, 

 and other bad weeds, which commonly grow by ri- 

 ver fides, are falling, thefe feeds are carried upon the 

 Land, where they remain and grow, and fill the ground 

 with bad weeds, which is commonly the cafe with moft 

 of the water meadows in England, the Grafs in ge- 

 neral being deftroyed ^ fo that Ruflies, Docks, and 

 - other trumpery, make up the burden of thefe Lands : 

 but if thefe meadows were judicioufly managed, and 

 ,,'-:" never floated till March or April, the quantity of fweet 

 ^^, good Grafs would be thereby greatly increafed, and 

 ^.'1' the beautiful verdure of the meadows preferved : but 

 ,'* ^ there is little hope of convincing thofe perfons by any 

 arguments, who are fo much wedded to their own pre- 

 judices, as to (hut their eyes and ears againft^experi- 

 ' ments or reafon. Where the Land is very hot and 

 'dry,' and' it lieth convenient to be watered at a fmall 



LAN 



4 



aihes lie too near the furface, becaufe then the r 



1 



cors 





. "expence^ It fhould be repeated every week in dry hot 

 ."weather, which will prove a great advantage; to the 

 '" Land, i "But whenever this is done, there Ihould no 

 ^' ""^cattle be admitted while it is wetj for 

 ';^;and fpoil the'tiiri; - "^^ ■^^:ir^:^.y-^u^_^^^^ ^:^. 



y,ii-fc .L -, 



will poach. 



t^'i," 



^"T Another great improvement Qf Land, is by'burning 

 *^ ** of it, which, for four, heatliy, and rufliy Land, be it 

 .^,. Cither hot or cold, wet or dry, is a very great im- 

 t7 provement'; To that fuch Lands will, in two or three 

 J:' .years after byrning, yield inore, exclufive of the 

 "'charges, than tlie inheritance was worth before; but 

 r . this is not to be praftifed on rich fertile Land ; for as 

 ' "the fire deftroys the acid juice, which occafions fteri- 

 Jity in the poor Land, fo it will in like manner con- 

 fume the good juices of the richer Land, and thereby 

 ,.'. yimpoverifh it, fo that it hath been with great reafon 

 r "^"difufed in deep rich countries. 



rrfThe''ufual.,jfn.Qthod of burning Land is, to pare off 



. .the turf wuh a breaft plough, turning it over as it is 



' , 'cut, tKant may clry the better. And if it proves hot 



_ ,dry weather when this work is done, then it needs no 



' '" more turning' ;'but if rain fhould fall, it muft be turn- 



'^ed, and the turfs fet a little hollow, that tKey may 



. " dry the fetter ; and when^^i^ey^fre Jthorough diy, they 



.' . may be laid on fmall heaps, about half a cart load 



^^,^^,on a heap, or lei s, for the fmaller the heaps are, pro- 



^V,!yided there jsquantity enough' to^make a good fire,' 



,'^ fo as to^confume the whole tq^flaes, it is the better ; 



rriif the turf be full of fibrous roots, or hath much 



the ground. 



s - 



H-a . ^^/*^^",,?" ^^' ^^ ^HlPyr? without any addi- 

 ' '^Yional fuel fBut if it hatK'not, the heaps ftiould be 



-rr^^^l*^*^ ^^ fmall bundles of Heath, Fern, Gorze, &c. 

 ^'^, which will fet the whole, on fire ^^ yet there fhould be 

 ^V*j'*iio more of thefe things applied, tfian what is neceflary 

 M, lb kindle ttie life, becaufe the flower the 'turf con- 

 ' fumes; the better will be the afties. When the turf 



t-->.- > 



-■'-JI?t:;Wholly confumed, the afties ftiould be equally fcat- 



"■; 'tefed over the ground in a calm day, left the wind 



fhould drive It in heaps. Then the Land fhould be 



. "gently ploughed, and the feeds fown thereon 5 for if 



the ground is ploughed too deep, the alhes will be 



buri;:d too low for the roots of the Grafs or Corn to 



reach them for a^confiderable time j nor ftiould the 



v/ill reach them too foon, and the firength of th 

 afties will be fpentto nourifli only the blatlc, fo tliat 

 I the Corn will grow too rank in winter j and when iht 

 roots in the fpring ftrike down lower, they v/ill meet 

 . with a poorer foil, nor will the ftalks aod cars hav- 

 fo much advantage from the improvement, as th'» 

 ufelefs blade. But when care is taken in this parf. 

 cular, it is wonderful what fuccefs it hath; Unhv 

 this method the pooreft plains, and four heath/ 

 Lands, have been rendered as fertile as almoft any 

 good cultivated ground whatever. " — 



It is alfo a very great improvement, where Land is 

 overgrown with Broom, Furz, &c, to ftub them 

 up by the roots, and when they are dry, lay t!:c^ni 

 on heaps, and cover them with the parings of the 

 earth, and burn them, and fprcad the afties over 



By this method vaft tracts of Land, 

 which at prefent produce little or nothint^ to their 

 owners, might be made good at a fmail expence, 

 fo as to become good eftates to the proprietors. 

 There are feveral other methods of improviiv-^ 

 Land befide thofe here mentioned, as by plantino- 

 of wood, or adapting the feveral forts of plant^ 

 to the particular foils with which they ^grce; but 

 as moft of thefe things are treated of under the fe- 

 veral articles where thefe plants are mentioned, I 

 -fliall forbear to repeat them in this place, but fliall 

 beg leave to offer a few general hints on the 

 prefent fituation of the Lands in England, which 

 may probably excite fome abler hand to undertake 

 a fuller and more complete difquifition of this 

 fubje£t. J ■ 



.....For fome years paft, the quantity of Corn raifed 

 w-: ;in England, has 2;reatly exceeded the confumption, 



- fo that great quantities of Corn have been exported* 

 ^jj by which great fums of money have been brought 

 -^,4nt6 England ;but_,;;his was accidental; for had 



.,4.not the crops failed. in the neighbouring: countries, 



,T. there would have been no demand for the produce 



f of England, fo that the quantity here grown nmft 



• have reduced the price fo low, as to have ahuoft 



r- ruined the farming intcreft ; nor is it poftible to 



contrive any fcheme, in a country circumltanced as 



. s this, whereby ' the public may not, at times, fuffer 

 ■ from the extravagant price, which, in a fcarcity, 

 ^ this commodity may be raifed to ; or, on the otiier 



, - hand, the farmers are fometimes almoft undone by 



- the low price which it is often reduced to in times 

 of plenty ; and furely there can be no one thing 



. more worthy of the ferious attention of every per- 

 fon, who has the leaft regard for the public wel- 

 fare, than this, of always making fuch provifion of 

 Corn, againft accidental fcarcities, as that the inhabi- 

 tants may never be diftrefl^ed for want of the ftaff 

 ■ of life, or the price be fo high, as that the com- 

 mon people cannot purchafe it. If I am not gready 

 f miftaken, there has been, within the fpace of three 

 Y^ or four years, fuch a difproportion in the price of 

 ,^^ Corn, as can hardly be conceived, and this within 

 . '^ the memory of numbers of perfons ; the time I mean 

 ,: .is between 1705 and 1709, in the compafs of v/hich 

 l". time the peck loaf of fine bread was rifen from 

 ;' fourteen pence to four ftiillings and twopence; the 

 " low price of this commodity was as dcvrimental to 

 /. the farmers, as the extravagant price was afterward 

 ^ to the public, neither of which would have fo^ fe- 

 '. .X^r^ly f^lt the effefts, had there been public grana- 

 , ries where the Corn might have been depofited, 

 and this purchafed from the farmer, zl a price by 

 which he might live, at the public expence, and 

 fold out again at an eafy rate in times. of fcarcity; 

 but I fear this is not an ao;e for encourapin"; any 

 fcheme for public utility, when in every thing 01 

 this kind, however beneficial it may be to the 

 country, and though propofed as fuch to the pub- 

 licj^^if it, meets with any reception, it is with a view 

 to turn it to private intereft ; the praflice of turning 

 all thmgs mto private jobs, has fo much prevailed 01 



I. ' late years, as to have almcft^ cxtinguiuied every fecial 

 ^ ' ' virtue > 



4 



