Agriculture of Shropshire. 1 7 



cumstances large crops are not obtainable, for, although it is 

 called the wheat-land district, it is not situated in a climate 

 favourable to the growth of corn. This must necessarily keep 

 the average low, even when the soil and management are otherwise 

 equal to greater returns ; for this reason white wheats are seldom 

 sown, being too delicate in their habit. The crops are generally 

 harvested by the aid of Welsh and Irishmen, Avho come here 

 freely at this season of the year. The Irish always cut the 

 wheat with the sickle, but the Welshmen use the broad hook, 

 and bag the wheat : the latter plan is generally preferred be- 

 cause straw is scarce. Considerable advantage would result 

 from the adoption of a mode practised in the south-west parts of 

 England for facilitating the harvesting of the corn ; for, like 

 the counties of Cornwall and Devon, the harvest weather is 

 often treacherous. The plan consists in making a number of 

 small stacks about the field as soon as the corn is cut : each 

 stack is commenced by placing three or four sheaves upright 

 in the centre, and then laying sheaves around tliem, so as to 

 make the width of the bottom of the heap about twice the length 

 of a sheaf, and from the bottom upwards it is gradually dimi- 

 nished in width so as to make it into a conical heap. It is made 

 secure by some straight straw tied at the top, and opened out so 

 as to turn the rain off from the centre. These can be stacked 

 at l.S'. per acre, and if the weather sets in wet, the corn is safe ; 

 should it prove dry, the warm air passes through the stack and 

 prepares it for carrying. In this manner corn cut dry may be 

 saved in very M'et seasons without loss and injury. One-half 

 of the wheat stubble is devoted to the growth of clover, and the 

 remainder to peas and beans. 



Peas and Beans are looked upon with some degree of uncer- 

 tainty, as they are particularly subject to a blight, which is either 

 induced or favoured by the climate of the district, and thus the 

 vitality of the blossom is destroyed. Of the two crops peas are 

 most frequently successful, and therefore most frequently grown ; 

 they are generally sown upon a corn stubble, which has had 

 some lime brushed in. The Early White-eye pea is generally 

 sown at the rate of three bushels per acre, and produces in a 

 favourable season about 30 bushels per acre. It is rather a 

 singular c:ircumstance that although both peas and beans are 

 liable to blight, especially the beans, yet when sown together 

 they suffer much less than when sovi^n separate. This practice 

 is, therefore, frequently adopted in other equally unfavourable dis- 

 tricts, and I should expect would succeed here as well as there : 

 when this is done it is particularly desirable to select varieties 

 which are ready for cutting at the same time. The other 

 portion of the wheat stubble is devoted to the growth of clover. 



VOL. XIX. C 



