Breaking up Pastures. 15 



There a mixture of seeds should always be the third crop taken, — 

 it is useless to expect a poor thin stone-brash soil to yield a large 

 or profitable return, unless it receive liberal treatment, 



Featy Soils. — These lands never afford good pastures, and the 

 hay taken from them is always of a light and poor character ; 

 as their culture is not diflicult or expensive, the occupier has 

 always strong inducement to convert them into arable. Such 

 lands are never so easily, cheaply, or successfully brought hito 

 cultivation, as by paring and burning. Whilst gravelly soils 

 appear to hasten the decay of vegetable substances, peaty lands 

 seem to possess an opposite quality. 



I once broke up a field of sixteen acres of well-drained peaty 

 land with a clay subsoil, the owner of which at that time held 

 the theory that burning vegetable matter of any kind was a 

 wasteful process, and that the fire destroyed much matter that 

 would be valuable if reduced to decay by natural decomposition. 

 The turf was therefore pared off, and drawn together into large 

 heaps ; then the land was dug about five inches deep during the 

 winter ; at spring there appeared to be an excellent seed-bed ; 

 oats were drilled in, but the ravages of the wire- worm com- 

 menced as soon as the oats were planted, and the kernels from a 

 large portion of the seed were eaten before they had time to 

 sprout. The few plants that survived were fed off on the field by 

 sheep ; the land was worked with ploughs and harrows during 

 autumn, and in the following spring oats were tried again ; and 

 again the crop was nearly destroyed by the wire-worms. Yet, 

 after a while, this field showed its productive powers by growing 

 very full crops. This case of failure may act as a warning to 

 those who may have occasion to convert peaty pasture-land to 

 arable. To such persons I would say, breast-plough and burn 

 for the first turnip-crop, and then horse-plough as shallow as 

 possible, and plant oats ; after the first oat-crop turnips or swedes , 

 again (if a full crop, a portion of these roots may with advantage 

 be removed to other land or yards) ; then oats again, with clover 

 and rye-grass seeds ; then let the land take its regular course on 

 the farm, unless wheat should be considered hazardous, as it is 

 very liable to blight and mildew on such land. Perhaps for the 

 first few years no safer or more profitable plan could be adopted 

 than the following, which has stood the test of experience on land 

 such as that described : — 1. Turnips ; 2. Oats ; 3. Grass, to be 

 mown or fed, then (in the next year) breast-plough and burn for 

 turnips, and so on. 



General Remarks. — It may be objected by some readers, that in 

 treating of the subject of the conversion of grass-land to arable, 1 

 have merely raised a cry of Fire ! fire ! It is true that I have 

 recommended burning as the safest, cheapest, and best mode, that 



