418 Agricultural Tour 



time, with the apparently barren sandy spots on which rye seemed 

 to flourish. Even the drift-sands near the Skaw bore their thin, 

 IjLit I suppose profitable, crops of this grain. The country, in 

 general, is flat, but through the middle of the eastern half, in a 

 north-westerly direction, runs a long and narrow ridge of sand- 

 hills called the Jutland Aas (pronounced Ose), which bears a 

 green pasture, scanty apparently, yet refreshing to the eye 

 amid the sands which present themselves almost without inter- 

 mission to the eye of the traveller, as he proceeds southwards from 

 the town of Scibye. Of such sand-ridges there are many in 

 Sweden of great length, and called by the same name (sand aser), 

 which have lately attracted much attention from geologists. 



Between this ridge and the sea, towards the towns of Siibye and 

 Hals, there lies much improvable land, and signs of improvement 

 were visible, especially in the neighbourhood of the former town. 

 Spurry is here sown on the sandy soils for feeding the cattle in 

 winter. It is cut when ripe, and dried into hay. In winter, it 

 is given to the cattle two or three times a-day, was much relished 

 by them, as I was informed, and increased the produce of milk. 



A plant which springs up spontaneously, and in such quantities 

 in our own corn-fields, especially in sandy soils, may well be 

 expected to grow luxuriantly on such soils when sown as a crop. 

 It is an important principle, in the practical culture of the land, to 

 grow upon it, at least as an occasional crop, that kind of plant, — 

 weed it may be, — which most delights in or infests it ; provided it 

 can be made useful as food for stock, and does not by its roots 

 make the land unclean ; (plants even which cattle reject, may be 

 in some cases (in many ?) profitably raised for ploughing in as a 

 green manure). On this principle is founded the modern practice 

 of sowing land down with natural grasses; it might possibly be 

 applied to the selection and growth of plants of other families 

 hitherto neglected. I shall advert again to this point when I 

 come to speak of Swedish agriculture. 



In Brabant the spurry is much cultivated both for pasture and 

 for ploughing in as a green manure. It reaches its full height, 

 about 12 inches, in. five or six weeks, maybe eaten off or ploughed 

 in and sown again in favourable years three times in a single 

 season, and a rye- crop may then be taken without manure. It is 

 said that by sowing two crops of spurry — eating both off with 

 sheep — in one season, and a crop of rye in the following, an 

 alternate husbandry may be kept up without manure, under 

 which sandy soils will improve so as to give on each return of 

 the corn- crop a heavier weight of grain. 



Von Voght and Schwartz speak of this plant with equal enthu- 

 siasm. The former says, " Spurry sown on sandy soils is a better 

 pasture than red or white clover ; the cows give more and better 



