Wealden Clay of Sussex. 19'1 



the food grown on the farm profitably eked out by the addition 

 of a portion of artificial food, which will repay itself in more 

 ways than one, for manure made from good food goes twice as 

 far as that made from what is inferior. 



Some clay may be burnt in order to be used as a manure, but, 

 to effect any good purpose not less than from 80 to 100 loads 

 an acre ought to be used. By loads, I mean one-horse cart- 

 loads, and this will cost fiom 40.s\ to 50^. an acre, which would 

 buy guano for two years, so that this is by no means a cheap 

 manure ; but it lasts many years, acting mechanically on the 

 clay, which it opens. It seems especially suited to the tare, 

 which grows vigorously on the clay, and there is no better way 

 of enriching the land than by feeding off a good crop of tares 

 with sb.eep. Guano appears to have no good effect on tares that 

 are grown on the clay. Burnt earth is here called " Denshire 

 ash," that is, Devonshire, from whence the practice of burning 

 was probably brought hither. Where a full allowance of it is 

 applied the land becomes darker and consequently warmer, so that 

 the wheat grown on it wall be fit to cut somewhat earlier than 

 that on the same field which has had no burnt earth. In burning 

 the earth, the heaps should be made of moderate size, but it 

 requires practice to do it well, and most labourers in a countrv 

 abounding with wood are apt to use too much fuel and to make 

 the heaps of earth too large. The heat then becomes too great, 

 and there is comparatively little good effected. The clay has 

 such a tendency to burn that, when once on fire, the heap may 

 be increased almost without limit and without any additional 

 fuel, the clay itself burning fiercely. The spots on which the 

 heaps have been burnt are very visible in the succeeding corn- 

 crop, for there the wheat is of a darker colour, and is very apt to 

 be laid by reason of the overmuch food in the soil, probably for 

 the most part vegetable ash. 



Burnt earth is excellent for spreading in stables, cattle-sheds, 

 and sheep-sheds, where it absorbs the urine, and, being kept 

 under cover, it is ready for use at any time, and has the advan- 

 tage of being free from the seeds of weeds. 



In bringing stiff land covered with oaks into cultivation, many 

 loads of roots and stools of trees will be left on hand and cannot 

 be turned into money. Having scores of loads of such fuel, I 

 caused some to be made into charcoal, and applied it to land 

 which had long been under cultivation and was then preparing 

 for beet, reckoning load for load as so much yard-manure. The 

 whole field had besides 2i cwt. of guano per acre applied 

 immediately before the last ploughing. This trial of charcoal 

 was made in two successive years, and in both years the char- 



