36 Agriculture of Shropshire. 



roots are stacked into a heap about 6 or 8 feet wide at the base, 

 and tapering off to nothing at 5 feet high. Care is taken to 

 secure them as dry as possible ; if the weather is fair they will 

 be better for remaining open for a time, but if not sufficiently 

 fine for this, let them be covered with a layer of straw, then u 

 trench must be made around them and the earth cast upon tho 

 heap. The whole may then be thatched down, taking care to 

 place several wisps of straw on the ridge to act as ventilators. 

 For several days after they are stored moisture will be observed 

 at the ends of the heap, which is condensed from the vapour 

 passing off from the roots. The ends should be kept as open as 

 possible to allow of a current of air through the stack, and thus 

 promote the evaporation of the moisture from the fresh roots ; 

 but, of course, frosts must be guarded against. If the stacks are 

 m;ide so as to keep in this moisture, the tendency to decay is very 

 much increased thereby. 



By far the greater portion of the swedes (say three-fourths) is 

 consumed on the land in the southern portion of this district, but 

 as we proceed northwards and the land becomes heavier, so we find 

 more cattle and fewer sheep kept, and consequently a larger pro- 

 ])ortion is drawn home. As a general rule, when fed on the 

 ground the crops are economically used, and the sheep do very 

 well, the swedes being cut for them and given in troughs. In the 

 spring, just as the days lengthen, they have some oil-cake or corn 

 given to them, and the progress they make is most satisfactory. 

 It is in the spring, when the sun begins to regain power and all 

 nature is prepared to move, that the assistance of artificial food 

 becomes so valuable, for not only will the carcase nearly pay the 

 cost, but the increased value of the fleece will be very evident. 



Wheat. — This crop is sometimes sown after a fallow, as on the 

 heaviest land ; at other times on a bastard fallow, after vetches or 

 rape, and also after a crop of roots, and on a clover ley. The 

 month of October is the season for sowing, and as much as pos- 

 sible is sown then. The fallows and other clean land are sown 

 broadcast after the land has been well pressed, but on the clover 

 ley, &c., the seed is drilled, and here also the land-presser is used. 

 From 2 bushels to 2i bushels of seed are sown, the " Old Red 

 Wheat " being considered the most productive variety. White 

 wheats are generally objected to for autumn sowing, and whenever 

 they are sown it is in spring. The more delicate character of this 

 wheat renders it less suitable to the climate of the district. The 

 crop depends very much upon the season ; if the spring and 

 early summer has many white frosts (which are so common 

 throughout the Dale) late in the season, the growth is checked, 

 becomes unhealthy, and does not fully recover itself before 

 harvest ; in such seasons the crop will vary from 25 to 30 



