270 Essay on Agriculture as a Science, 



small plots with seeds taken from the opposite sides of the win- 

 nowing heap, and by a careful comparative view of the crops 

 when ripe, he will be able to pronounce upon the safety of the 

 measure, and by attention he will soon discover what he will 

 gain by pursuing it. 



The preservation of the vigour of our soils, and the repara- 

 tion of tlie waste they sustain by our peri)etual call upon them 

 ior crops, and consequent loosening of their texture, by over 

 frequent cultivation, is a subject of vast importance, and has al- 

 ready excitpd much attention. 



The nsechanical mode is simple ; to renovate, and consolidate 

 our harassed and oj)en soil, by mixtures of firmer materials; 

 that is, compost formed of strong earth, or pure clay well atte- 

 nuated : but in loose, light and sandy ground, such consolida- 

 ting materials are rarely found : the agriculturist is therefore 

 thrown upon his own ingenuity; and I know not any instance 

 in which it has been more successfully exerted. 



He has found, that by alteriiating what are known to be ex- 

 hausting crops, with those that are deemed to be meliorating — 

 culmiferous with root crops — farinaceous with green crops — he 

 has brought his ground to bear more constant pressure than it 

 was supposed capable of sustaining :— still the exhaustion, though 

 much abated, is evidently perceivable, and the Norfolk farmers 

 complain their grounds are tiring of their favourite turnip. 



Mr. Gregg, now become very eminent as a practical agricul- 

 turist, admits rest to be indispensably necessary, and recom- 

 mends two successive crops of grass. 



To make that rest as effective as posr^ible, let us speculate a 

 prion'— Which are the grass crops that exhaust the ground least? 

 Which are those that will consolidate and renovate it most ef- 

 fectually? And which, during the period of rest, will yield the 

 greatest produce ? 



As the question is now brought within my own immediate de- 

 partment; when I cease to generalize, I shall on my return to 

 the gramina, point out those which I conceive best suited to 

 these purposes, with my reasons, and shall then leave the ques- 

 tion in the hands of the experimentalist. 



It is in adversity, when the vegetables he is cultivating are 

 attacked by various disorders, that the agriculturist will find the 

 benefit of the arrangement I have suggested; as it will enable 

 him to meet with strength, and I may" say, discipline, the difS- 

 culties he will have to encounter. 



But this subject must be reserved for another letter. 

 Cloufccle, Moy, May 3J, 1816. \y, RiCHARDSON, D.D. 



LIV. Ex. 



