"SS Manageme??/. of strong wvt Looms 



lance this ; and the proprietor would iind a permanent im- 

 provement in his land of from lifteen shillings to twentv 

 ijhillings per acre *. 



Many object to «o\ving such rubbish as the sweepings of 

 hay chambers produce ; and I wish most sincerely any me- 

 thod could be devised for procuring clean seeds of our best 

 and natural meadow grasses. It is a oreat desideratum; and 

 premiums to encourage agriculturists to save seeds of the 

 fescues and poas, &c. and for the largest quantity of land 

 sown with these seeds, and kept distinct, might be of infi- 

 nite service. Until this can be efiected, the plan I ha\c 

 submitted to you, my lord, appears to me the most eligible. 

 It certainly has been crowned with the greatest success. 

 Sowing rubbish in August is not of so irreat importance as 

 in the spring. In the former season all the annual seeds 

 vegetate ; and if the beginning of the winter be mild, they 

 will blossom ; but they cannot perfect their seed, and the 

 first frost destro)^ them. If sown in the sprina:, they ve- 

 getate, blossom, perfect and shed their seeds, and thus stock 

 the land witli noxious weeds. The facts I have stated must 

 do away the objections to sowing Ribbish. It is innnaterial 

 what you sow, if you do but obtain an abundant crop, and 

 lea\^ your land clean and in good order. Should it, how- 

 ever, i)e thouarht proper to sow the seeds with any corn, 

 barley must have the preference. If sown with oats, and 

 the land be prepared as it should be, viz. in high tilth and 

 order, the oats will be so luxuriant as to smother and de- 

 stroy the young plants. I^nds intended for grass or mea- 

 dovv cannot be in too high a state of cultivatioQ. The per- 

 manent improvement in the intrinsic value of the land will 

 abundantly repay almost any expense. To improve the soil 

 with this view, and then to exhaust it by a crop of corn at 

 the time of sowing the seeds, appears to me a sure method 

 of counteracting the very object in view. I have alv.ays 

 advised the landlord to provide the hay seeds, that he might 

 be sure, not only of the quality, but that the quantity should 

 be sown. Indeed, as the improvement is a permanent one, 

 if the tenant make a good fallow and dress the land well 

 previous to sowing the seeds, or directly after carting the 

 nay, he does his proportion. On these terms I have per- 

 miited many tenants to break up grass lands, ou their cove-r 



* Had the barley been drilled, horse- and hand-hoed, and kept prr- 

 fccrly cle'n until July, and th<.n <.o\vn with tiie coninion hay seeds, the 

 only obj.;ctii>n ro the pl;in would arise from exhausting the soil by a crop, 

 when your ^rtat and leading object is to make a permanent improvc- 



lUcllt. 



naniinir 



