] 92 IVealden Clay of Sussex. 



coaled part of the crop was superior to the rest of the field which 

 had yard-manure ; the plants were more vigorous, of a deeper 

 green, and of larger size, but these effects were not seen after one 

 crop. The application of charcoal might not be beneficial on 

 some soils, but under certain circumstances it is worth trying. 



Road-scrapings are frequently bought by farmers, who use 

 them as manure, and in so doing cart a vast deal of worthless 

 material on their land, besides the seeds of many road-side 

 weeds. One would think that, even if they had such manure 

 at a gift, it v/ould hardly pay for the expense of carting ; but it 

 is done where little else can be done on farms when no stock 

 is kept. Professor Buckman, in his paper on ' Agricultural 

 Weeds,' Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, vol. xix., justly 

 remarks that, " however particular we may be in trying to 

 subdue weeds in our cultivated fields, yet waste places and 

 way-sides, where many species like to dwell, if not attended to, 

 will afford a nursery for many of the most objectionable.'^ 

 What nurseries for thistles may be seen on the road-sides 

 throughout the Weald! Acres and acres of land, varying in 

 breadth from a few yards to several rods, not merely wasted, 

 but actually injurious, as they send forth yearly their myriads of 

 winged seeds which take root far and near, and are most difficult 

 to eradicate. 



In every part of England much manure is wasted by exposure 

 to the air and to every fall of rain and snow. Dark streams of 

 liquid manure pour down many watercourses to utter waste, and 

 the annual loss to the farmer is very considerable. But this 

 defective management has attracted its due share of attention in 

 most parts of the country, and is in a fair way of being cured ; 

 loose boxes have been made for cattle, and even whole yards 

 have been covered in, and sheep-houses have been constructed 

 where the land was too stiff to bear the tread of sheep in winter 

 or in wet weather. 



The consumption of guano and superphosphate of lime is 

 steadily on the increase in the Weald. Very few years ago 

 guano was so little known in this neighbourhood, that the 

 keepers of gates demanded toll on it, not being aware that it 

 was exempt. Still the general unproductiveness of the district 

 is striking. You see light, thin crops of wheat and oats, nearly 

 all the land imdrained, large wooden barns half filled, and very 

 few stacks of any kind. You meet very few cattle or sheep at 

 any time on the roads, and see but few in the markets or on 

 the farms. The gross produce is small, and the net produce, 

 either in corn or cattle, smaller still. Yet this is not the fault 

 of the land. 



