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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



respiratory organs. This is a most important subject, and 

 should receive a full iuvestigalion. Clover is too important a 

 plant to be discarded or condemned, exsept upon the most 

 satisfactory evidence. Its value as a fertilizer and a prepara- 

 tive for whedt, to say nothing of its use for pasture and hay, 

 veould demand that it should not be condemned unheard. 

 For ourselves, we have very little belief in the injurious pro- 

 perties assigned to clover. We have used it constantly for 

 pasture and for hay, more than thirty years, and never, 

 to our knowledge, has any animal suffered from it ; certainly 

 no horse has been taken with the hove when fed on it, or 

 while in our possession. As hay for sheep, we have consi- 

 dered it unrivalled, and should have no fears that any stock 

 would not winter well with a supply of well-cured clover-hay. 



And here lies, we think, the great source of objection to 

 clover-hay. It is too often imperfectly cured. To save the 

 leaves and the heads, which are apt to fall in handling or 

 curing, the hay is put into the barn while the large stems are 

 full of moisture or the natural juices, and the fermentation 

 which ensues causes the whole mass to become damp ; and if 

 not spoiled wholly, it becomes mouldy, black, and when used 

 raises such a dust, it is no wonder that horses and cattle are 

 choked or their lungs destroyed. Our experience shows that 

 clover may be perfectly cured without losing any of its valuable 

 parts ; cured so that when fed out, no more dust will be 

 flying than from timothy or herds-grass, and we shall be slow 

 to believe that from such hay any injury to animals ever 

 ensues. — Ohio Valley Farmer. 



LAND. 



BY AN OLD NORFOLK FARMER. 



Of the two grand divisions of the globe, land and 

 water, the former, although second in extent, is first in 

 importance, as constituting not only the natural residence 

 ©f man, but the chief source from whence he procures 

 the means of his subsistence. The water also teems with 

 life, proper for him as food ; but this is auxiliary to that 

 yielded by the earth, and may be dispensed with. On 

 this account, as well as on that of the uncertainty of 

 procuring its produce, the sea — which must always be 

 understood when we speak of water — has never been 

 appropriated otherwise than nationally, being common 

 to all the people around whose coasts it flows. On the 

 contrary, the land has in all ages and countries been in- 

 dividually sought after, and appropriated upon different 

 tenures, which we shall have occasion hereafter to de- 

 scribe, and is esteemed above all other possessions as con- 

 stituting the most certain and durable property for 

 individuals, and the basis of wealth to nations. 



This idea of a property in land is as ancient as the 

 constitution of society. After the Flood we find the sons 

 of Noah separating in order to found difl'erent nations or 

 tribes ; and under the patriarchal rule which then pre- 

 vailed, the tracts of country they severally occupied were 

 appropriated by the lieads of the tribes for the general 

 benefit. By the time of Abram, however, an individual 

 property in land seems to have been acquired, probably 

 in the neighbourhood of towns, or cities, as they were 

 termed ; for we find that patriarch purchasing a field 

 afid a cave (called Machpelah) of Ephron the Hittite (or 

 Hethite), one of the " sons of Heth," for which he paid 

 "/our hundred shekels of silver current money with 

 the merchant." (See Genesis, chap, xxiii.) We have 

 referred to this remarkable piece of ancient history as 

 the first instance on record of a purchase of this kind, 

 and also of the use of money as a medium of exchange. 

 The narrative also, independent of its divine authority, 

 affords a curious and pleasing illustration of the polite 

 simplicity of manners of that early period, and of the 

 honourable character of the affairs of commerce between 

 strangers. It appears by the subsequent history that 

 the " children of Heth" strictly observed the terms of 



the contract ; for, nearly two hundred years after, when 

 Jacob died in Egypt, his sons carried him to and buried 

 him in the same cave of Machpelah. 



This appropriation of the land by the patriarchs, and 

 its cultivation for the growth of cereal food and the pas- 

 turage of cattle, mark the degree of civilization to which 

 they had attained : whilst, however, population was thin, 

 and society scarcely formed, there was abundance of 

 land for all. This we infer from the case of Abrahana 

 and Lot, who went into the land of Canaan together, 

 where, as perfect strangers, they settled themselves 

 without molestation from the inhabitants ; and when, 

 from their proximity to each other, disputes arose be- 

 tween their several herdsmen relative to the choicest 

 pastures, Abraham, with the same dignified and disin- 

 terested courtesy, told his younger relative to take his 

 choice of the land. 



These ancient morsels of history afford conclusive evi- 

 dence of land having acquired at that early period an 

 intrinsic money-value in certain cases, claimed by indi- 

 viduals; whilst in others it was vested generally in the 

 tribe or nation, the patriarch or head having the disposal 

 of it. We shall see, as we proceed, that this custom has 

 descended to a very late period of history. 



If we turn to the history of ancient Rome, we shall 

 find that previous to the law of the twelve tables the 

 land was divided into portions, and given to the freed- 

 men, according to their families ; but the lot could 

 neither be alienated from the family nor divided, so that 

 of necessity it descended to the eldest son. Acquisitions 

 of territory by conquest belonged to the community, but 

 they were usually divided amongst the patrician families 

 After the institution of the law of the twelve tables, the 

 inalienability of land was abolished, and the plebeians 

 asserted their right to a more general and just division 

 of it. Agrarian laws were therefore passed for that pur- 

 pose, and the freedom and divisibility of the land was 

 thenceforth a principle of Roman legislation. 



In the woods of Germany the land belonged to the 

 state or tribe, and was distributed by the head of the 

 tribe amongst the military chieftains on condition of 



