l8o4« On Farm Managment betwixt Foftly and Tyne. 263 



of the critical pen of a conduOor of fuch a Work as yours may 

 fometinies be loUowed by the difaclvantages fo ably pointed out 

 by your correfpondent Epicurus ; yet, upon the whole, I am 

 of opinion, that your pen will be produ6live of advantages, which 

 will overbalance its prejudicial effe<Sls, efpetiallv in fupporting 

 the congruity of your Publication. Without flattery, almoit all 

 the remarks you have made, feem to have proceeded from a pro- 

 found knowledge of pra£lical agriculture, and unqueftionably 

 render your Magazine more entertaining and ufeful. The turnip 

 crop, if raifed on fuitable foil, and jutlicioully m^anaged, is the 

 Jljeet- anchor of the farmer, and the never-failing procurer of great: 

 crops, which, by increaiing the quantity of manure, lays the 

 foundation of fucceeding abundance. Though 1 am a difciple 

 of the Tullian fchool with refpetl to the importance of pulveri- 

 zation and cleaning; yet I am decidedly of opinion, that that ilate 

 of foil which promotes the utmoft luxuriance and fructification 

 in the crops, cannot be attained but by plentiful and complete 

 manuring. From extenfive information, and pretty accurate re- 

 marks of my own, I am inclined to give the preference to drilling 

 of corn as well as turnips; a!id I obferve, with pleafure, that 

 that fyilem is purfued to a confiderable extent in feveral parts of 

 the dillri£l I have named, and appears to be on the increafe. 

 In the fouthern counties, however, it is pra6lifed on a more 

 extenfive fcale ; and, in fome of them, bare fallowing is reduc- 

 ed to the narrow limits which, I obferve, fome agriculturifts 

 zealoully contend, (hould be prefcribed to the cultivators of the 

 north; but, in the warmth of their zeal, it appears that they to- 

 tally overlook a great difadvantage which the latter hufbandmen 

 have to contend with, the difadvantage of climate. Confidering 

 this, and the nature of much of their foil, a bare fallowing, once 

 in feven or eight years, feems abfokuely necefTary, in order to 

 have their lands in a clean and producllive Hate; and I muft: Ao 

 them the juilice to fay, that 1 have obferved fewer weeds, and 

 lefs couch, &c. in their fields, than in mod of the more fouth- 

 ern diltricls. They are alfo fuperior to the farmers in the latttr 

 mentioned parts of the kingdom in the management of cal- 

 careous manure, which they apply to frefh lands, and thofc 

 abounding in vegetable matter; whereas, in fome other diftritls, 

 it is applied every three ©r four years to lands which have been 

 fcores of years in tillage ; and pretty accurate experiments have 

 proved, that lime applied to old tillage land does not repay the 

 expence. Indeed, fome agriculturiits maintain, that it is like 

 pouring medicine into a dead body, upon which it is impol- 

 fible that it can operate. Viewing lime in this light, I cannot 

 fufficiently praife the judicious fyllem purfued in the north, of 



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