18 



Agriculture of Shropshire. 



Clover. — The land is generally laid down in clover with the 

 wheat crop. It is then (or should be) clean and in good con- 

 dition, in consequence of the fallowing of the land, and hence 

 well prepared for receiving the clover. Only one-half of the 

 wheat is sown with clover, as the land becomes tired of it if 

 repeated more frequently, and the result is a failure in plant : 

 it is thus only repeated once in seven or eight years, which is 

 found quite frequent enough. Generally 10 lbs. or 14 lbs. of 

 clover are sown with the rye-grass, sometimes white, and some- 

 times red, and occasionally both mixed together: some of the 

 agreements bind the tenants to sow one peck of rye-grass and 

 16 lbs. of either red or white clover per acre, and in some few 

 cases trefoil is added. There is certainly room for improvement 

 in the clover-leys of this district, as they are seldom good ; they 

 may be very much improved by a Judicious mixture of seeds, and 

 the following have been recommended,* and, from my own ex- 

 perience of their value, I can advise their use. 



Lolium It^xlicum 

 , , perenne 

 Dactylis glomerata . . 

 Phleiim pratense .. 

 Medicago lupulina .. 

 Trifolium hybridum 



, , pratense . . 



, , , , perenne 



, , repens 



For one 

 Year's 

 Hay. 



lbs. 



9 



18 



Having received a proper selection of seed oi good quality, the 

 next care is to see that it is properly sown ; the surface must be 

 harrowed so as to break the crust, and form a proper seed-bed, 

 the brush and roller following the seed-barrow will complete the 

 operation. Care must be taken to avoid a windy day, and also 

 to protect the seeds after sowing from birds, &c. The seeds may 

 be lightly fed after harvest, and well rolled down before winter. 

 It is an excellent plan to manure the young seeds with farm- 

 yard dung in the autumn ; it affords them shelter and nourishment, 

 which is exceedingly valuable, and the benefit is fully shown in 

 the following spring. Any compost matter comes in esjiecially 

 useful for this purpose, and will tend materially to overcome the 

 risk of the plant not standing the winter. The clover-ley is one 



* Morton's 'Encyclopaedia of Agriculture,' vol. i. p. 1000. 



