1 4 thoughts on CofjJJyuBive Reflncl'iom;, [fEB* 



ceiniiig agricultural matters proceed entirely from the change 

 that has taken place in the agricultural lyllem ; n change that 

 renders the ancient comnion law of the land as inapplicable to 

 the prcfcnt ll:ate of huioandry as the obfolete ftatutes or King, 

 James VI. againft coftly cla'uhitigy are to the falhions of the pre- 

 lent age." 



Again : To labour the ground fairly, afiuredly means that the 

 tenant ihould plough the land lufiiciently ; that he fliould keep 

 it clean ; and that it fhould be kept dry: for if this laft operation 

 is negle(?Led, it can neither be ploughed fufficiently, nor kept 

 clean. It has often furprifed me, tliat proprietors fnould be fo 

 ihort fighted as to pais over'tiVe groffeft deviations from the ge-* 

 neral claufe, which were fairly included in it, — and yet immedi- 

 ately take alarm when a/ tenant, from a concurrence of favour- 

 able circumftanccs, was enabled to make his farm produce a con- 

 liderable quantity of wheat. The ground is without doubt more 

 deteriorated by bearing a crop of thiftiL^ and couch grafs than 

 by the ftrongeH; crop of wheat that " can be raifed '; yet, the for- 

 mer is patiently fulTtred to pafs with impunity, while, under the- 

 Jattercafe, the tenant is often haraiTed with vexatious prolecu- 

 tions, even though he has prepared the land in a fufficient way for - 

 carryinj; a crop vatiiable to him'elf, and beneficial to the public. ■ 



From what caufe does this ftrange conduct proceed? I have - 

 2 better opinion of many of the complainers than to fuppofe that 

 fuch proceiTes arc wantonly inftituted. I think I can account 

 for it in a way which will not facrifice the qualities of the heart 

 to thofe of the head. Before the introduction of fummer falloWj 

 wheat was undoubtedly a fcourging crop ; for, owing to the fea- 

 fon in which it was Town, and to the imperfc^l culture given by 

 one plowing to land which had carried a crop of peas, it was aU 

 moft impradlicable to low land with wheat without materially 

 injuring it. But what injured it ? Not the crop of wheat, but; 

 ihe immenfe quantity of grafs and noxious weeds which accom- 

 panied it. Thefe being fuffered to remain undifturbed for a whole 

 year, got fuch a hold of the ground that the molt active cultiva- 

 tion could not eradicate them completely when the enfuing bar- 

 ley crop was fown. Now the cafd is totally altered. Since fallow 

 and fallow crops were introduced, the land that has carried wheat 

 is, in general, the cleancft that is to be foimd in every farm ; 

 < onfequently, a crop of this grain is not more injurious than any 

 other culmiferous crop under fimilar circumftances. 



1 have feen it maintained in legal proceedings, that wheat 

 \% a fcourging crop, becaul'e it remains long in the ground. 

 Such an affertion is puerile in the extreme ; for, if It was well 



founded 



