with Horse {or Steam) Tillaf/e. 83 



left open in the middle of each interval ; the state of the interval 

 now being indicated at D. 



18. The crop may be mown or bag-ged close to the ground; 

 but bear in mind not to obliterate the lines of stubble by har- 

 rowing or otherwise, because these form the " guideways " for 

 the next sowing. 



In some cases, as when the ground is cloddy, it may be ad- 

 visable to omit operations 16 and 17 : and on the other hand, if 

 the moulding-up has been deeply done, it may be necessary, in 

 preparing the intervals for the next sowing, to gather the soil . 

 again into the centre of the interval, say by a " pony-plough." 



As the subsoiled furrows A, B, and D, lie open to the weather 

 for many weeks, the whole breadth of the interval, when autumn 

 arrives, has been exposed and pulverised to a depth of 10 inches 

 — without a raw subsoil having been laid over a buried staple — 

 forming an uncommonly fine dead-fallowed seed-bed for the next 

 crop. 



As far as cleanliness is concerned, my operations do not give 

 root-weeds much chance of making themselves obnoxious. In 

 my field the couch decreased, so as to give little or no trouble ; 

 although on these alluvial soils, with moist light bottom, this 

 pestilent plant naturally runs and mats with wonderful vigour 

 and pertinacity. The buttercups and thistles followed suit ; and 

 though annual weeds were annoying aud expensive, owing to the 

 unusual access of air and light into every portion of the crop, yet 

 they required less and less attention every year. Indeed, Mr. 

 Smith, of Woolston, claims to have established this point, that 

 non-inversion husbandry will ultimately wear out the whole brood 

 of smothering plants which taxes the incessant hoe and spud. It 

 is a fact that, alter bearing all my successive corn-crops, my field 

 was comparatively free from weeds, excepting those obstinate 

 buttercups and strong-hearted thistles ; that no fallowing what- 

 ever was needful for the peas and oats which came after the frost- 

 killed stripe-wheat ; and the existing clover-lea (barring a few 

 foreign importations in the seed) will bear without shame the 

 critical scrutiny of a botanical agriculturist. 



Before tabulating the several items of expenditure averaged 

 from all the years of my experiment, I must offer one or two 

 explanatory remarks. For " ploughing and subsoiling " an acre of 

 land, 3a'. 6f/. appears an absurdly small charge ; but it is thus 

 light, because only one furrow in each " interval," — that is, one- 

 sixth of the area of the field is thus tilled and paid for. Other 

 items appear in like proportion. I am not in a district notc^d for 

 low wages. During two out of the four years of my stripe; wheat- 

 growing, I paid 12^. per week, and in the other two years l(J.s\ 



a 2 



