THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



finds himself, in fact, in a more grazing district. 

 As he still advances northward, less and less wheat 

 and barley occupy the soil ; more and more oats 

 take their place : rye in abundance begins to make 

 its appearance. The seed wheat here grown is 

 described by the miller as being " cold " and 

 " clammy," It is materially aided, he finds, in 

 grinding, by admi.xture with such wheat as is the 

 produce of more southerly districts. 



The grass fields now occupy the majority of the 

 soils. Dairying is a chief agricultural operation — 

 sometimes for the production of cheese ; at others 

 for the making of butter. The live stock is here 

 pretty generally fattened for the butcher. This 

 progressive change, with occasional exceptions in 

 the case of small districts peculiarly circumstanced, 

 still continues as he advances towards the borders 

 of Scotland, and attends him in his course through 

 that portion of the empire, until he approaches its 

 northern extremity. There indeed he finds at last 

 the growth of wheat only very partially attempted : 

 oats and rye chiefly occupy the arable soils ; small 

 and lean cattle are now seen depasturing on the 

 grass lands. The general aspect of nature is in 

 accordance with these changes in the farmer's pro- 

 ductions. The trees which he beheld adorning the 

 hedgerows have gradually altered since he began to 

 traverse the island. The oaks, the elm, and the 

 Spanish chesnut of the south, have been supplanted 

 by the larch and the birch. Stone walls have 

 taken the place of the luxuriant hedgerows of 

 southern England. 



To such an explorer it might be naturally sug- 

 gested that, for the rational explanation of these 

 great and general variations in the agricultural 

 systems of the land, something more than the dif- 

 ferent nature or chemical composition of the soil 

 was needed. For instance, that to some other 

 cause than the siliceous nature of their soils must 

 be attributed the general growth of barley on the 

 sands of vSufFolk and Norfolk, and the equally com- 

 mon devotion of the sands of Cheshire and Lan- 

 cashire to pasturage. To tell him that it was the 

 " custom of the country," which is the common 

 remark, he would feel was merely the statement of 

 the fact, involving nothing which tended to explain 

 it. 



These being the general outlines of the observa- 

 tions to be made during such a northerly tour, in 

 the course of five or six hundreds miles, or nine or 

 ten degrees of latitude, it might next suggest itself 

 to such an enquirer to examine and ascertain the 

 effect of longitude, as well as latitude, on the vege- 

 table productions of the island. In other words, 

 he might diverge from the northern and southern 

 line, and travel in a line or lines from east to west. 



In tliis course a new state of affairs, at least in the 

 southern portions of the island, would present 

 themselves. Starting then from a centre point or 

 line, say from the valley of the Hampshire Itchen, 

 he would very generally find, as he travelled 

 towards the east, the growth of corn more and more 

 occupying the attention of the farmer; luxuriant 

 crops of all cereals abounding; artificial grasses 

 extensively supplying the place of natural meadows, 

 which he would here meet with chiefly by the banks 

 of rivers, on lands commonly too moist for the suc- 

 cessful cultivation of corn. If, however, he tra- 

 velled in exactly the contrary direction, and ad- 

 vanced towards the west, he would remark a very 

 different state of cultivation. Decreasing cereal 

 crops he would here note to be gradually giving 

 way to the natural grasses. He would find cheese 

 and butter carrying to market by the landholders 

 instead of corn ; the breeding and fattening of fine 

 varieties of cattle occupying the attention of the 

 farmers of the better soils, and smaller breeds of 

 lean stock occupying the inferior lands. In fact, 

 the traveller would note that on the western sides 

 and slopes of the island the nature of the farming 

 and the production of the earth were almost as differ- 

 ent, although within about 200 miles, or only three 

 degrees of longitude, as those which he had wit- 

 nessed in his progress through the ten degrees of 

 latitude which occupied him in his northern tour. 



The consideration of this immense influence of 

 varied amounts of rain will not be lost upon us, if 

 wc remember how much of the ill effects of too 

 much wat r may be obviated by good drainage. It 

 is too often indeed supposed that certain soils, es- 

 pecially pasture lands, can hardly be kept too 

 moist. Yet, as to the ill effect of an unusual fall on 

 the grass of many of our heavy soils, the past month 

 of June has read a very unpleasant lesson to too 

 many of my friends. And moreover, there has 

 been another great question vividly and unpleasantly 

 brought before us, during June I860 — the necessity 

 for impi'oving our great arterial drains. I need 

 hardly refer to the thousands of acres of meadow 

 land submerged, and the hay destroyed by the 

 flood waters of the few past weeks. The farmers of 

 the valleys of the Thames, the Severn, the Ouse, 

 and many others, have in this way suffered more 

 or less extensively ; and this too, in the great ma- 

 jority of instances, from the effects of dams, de- 

 posits of mud, growth of rushes, and other move- 

 able nuisances. We may be assured therefore, 

 that there is much worthy of our often repeated study, 

 in the effect of our rainfalls. And this enquiry 

 may well extend from the time when they shower 

 down fatness over our soils, until they finally drain 

 into the ocean. 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT SWEDES AND MANGOLDS, 



The uncertain and precarious character of the Swedish 

 turnip crop has deterred many farmers from cultivating 

 it. It has been the source of great disappointment and 

 severe loss to thousands of farmers during the past few 

 years; and from unknown ca«sps~at least, none have 



been satisfactorily pointed out. Mildew, fingers and toes, 

 early natural decay, rotting at root, guano, artificial 

 manurings, absence of the usual rainfall, and otlier causes, 

 have been assigned for the decay of this once invaluable 

 crop. Every practical man knows the crop hns failed of 



