1821.] Mr, Middleton on the Cultivation of Arable Land, 



burning root weeds should be con- 

 tiaued till they are entirely destroyed, 

 or carried off the land. 

 .. . Tills method of destroying root weeds 

 •vSlvill be found to be atl visable for almost 

 • every new tenant; as the quitting te- 

 nants leave their soil abundantly, 

 though unjustly, stocked with such 

 injurious roots. But a good agricul- 

 turist will never have occasion to re- 

 peat the operation, as a proper share 

 of vigilance on his part may ever after- 

 wards keep his soil clean. Though 

 this subject will require as much of his 

 attention as is usually and wisely given 

 to these things by theFlemish farmers, 

 who harrow and pick all the root weeds 

 off which can be found upon their soil, 

 after every ploTighing. 



In case the scene of operation should 

 present two sorts of land of such dif- 

 ferent qualities as wet and dry, it 

 would be advisable to cleanse the wet 

 soil first, — that is, while the dry weather 

 continues, as the dryer ground would 

 more conveniently admit the perfor- 

 mance of such works in the moist 

 weather of autumn. 



One or other of the foregoing cases, 

 numbered one and two, are applicable 

 to every sort of soil ; for be that what 

 it may, it will by such means be got 

 into a state of perfect cleanness, and 

 consequently fit for covering the seeds 

 of any winter crop, particularly such 

 as tares either alone or mixed with 

 winter barley. Or if the agriculturist 

 should determine, though much against 

 his own interest, not to sow all the soil 

 so cleansed during the autumn, it will 

 be much cleaner than usual, and when 

 the time arrives it will be in readiness 

 for any spring crop. 



In every way in which this subject 

 can be viewed, it is perfectly certain 

 that clearing the soil of stubble and 

 weeds in autumn is vastly preferable to 

 the old method of letting such rubbish 

 remain upon the land through the win- 

 ter, and then ploughing them in pre- 

 viously to sowing any spring crop to 

 take its chance among the weeds. 



All the soil cleansed in autumn and 

 not then sown, will be equally fit for 

 being ploughed once very deeply, even 

 to sixteen inches or more, and to re- 

 main in that state through the winter, 

 ready for the reception of any spring 

 crop, including even carrots and pars- 

 nips ; or of being then (in the spring) 

 prepared for a summer crop of either 

 potatoes, mangel-worzel, turnips, cole 

 or cabbages. Some of the superior 



505 



agriculturists of both England and 

 Flandei-s, deem it advisable to trench 

 theu" soil either by ploughs or spades 

 occasionally, or about once in every 

 rotation. This may be performed in 

 the most beneficial manner in the 

 early part of winter, on the commence- 

 ment of frost, as then the insects are 

 benumbed and rendered incapable of 

 burrowing into the ground ; conse- 

 quently this ploughing exposes them 

 to be picked up by the birds, and to 

 be'destroyed by frost. The last, plough- 

 ing a great depth and opening the M'a- 

 ter furrows and grips, occasion an ex- 

 pence which has been found to vary 

 from thirty shillings to upwards of two 

 guineas per acre, according to the te- 

 nacity of the soil and the depth of the 

 trench ploughing. Moreover any ara- 

 ble land may be left in this clean state 

 through the winter, very favorably for 

 being saturated with water and then 

 pulverized by frost. 



Land that lies on a declivity should 

 never be ploughed directly up and 

 down it, as that exposes it to be washed 

 by heavy rain, which runs the best of 

 the soil, as well as the manure and the 

 seed, from the highest parts of the field 

 to the lowest, or even to the ditches 

 and rivulets, by which they are lost. A 

 sand or other soil which is liable to 

 become too di-y in summer, should pro- 

 bably be ploughed entirely flat, and they 

 do it so in Kent with a turn rise plough 

 across the declivity. And a strong 

 or wet soil lying on a declivity should 

 probably be ploughed in ridges across 

 the rising ground, just sutficiently ob- 

 lique to enable the furrows to drain 

 the superfluous water off the land with- 

 out a current. 



These circumstances taken altogether • 

 are well calculated to secure the success 

 of the crops during the following sum- 

 mer. The agriculturist who cleanses 

 and ploughs all his arable land, which 

 has not a crop upon it, before Christ- 

 mas, will have leisure during the fol- 

 lowing spring and summer to sow all 

 his crops in the early part of the se- 

 veral seasons ; and in that manner he 

 will certainly have the best chance of 

 reaping the largest produce. 



The estimates in this short essay are 

 made on the piinciple of charging one 

 day's labour by a horse 4s., men 2s., 

 women 9d. to Is., and boys 6d. to Is. 

 These prices are intended to include 

 working tools and implements of every 

 description, particularly in the case of 

 horses, the 4s. includes their food and 



(he 



