348 A Letter to the Farmers and 
From the evidence which has already been collected upon this 
subject, it is obvious that a great portion of the land in this king- 
dom might, by the proper use of salt, be made to produce nearly 
double the amount of the present crops of grass as well as corn. 
How greatly this would serve the manufacturing, and indeed all 
other interests of the country, | need not attempt to explain to 
you. Moreover, by forcing the land with a sufficient portion of salt, 
our crops would be brought to maturity much sooner than they 
now are*; a matter of considerable importance in the northern 
parts of this island, where much of the corn is frequently spoiled 
by the autumnal rains before it can be sufficiently dried by the 
sun and wind to stack with safety. And in the hay harvest, should 
the farmer be induced, from the uncertainty of the weather, to 
carry his hay too soon, a small quantity of salt sprinkled upon 
each layer of the rick will prevent the hay from becoming mow- 
burned, as it is called; and when hay which has been thus treated 
is presented to horses and cattle, it will be preferred by them to 
that which has been put together in a more favourable season, 
and not treated with salt. 
The cleanliness of rock-salt as a manure is likewise another 
considerable advantage. In many cases this circumstance will 
be found to be very important, particularly in the grazing di- 
stricts. It has repeatedly been observed, that if land be ma- 
nured with dung after the hay has been carried off, the neat 
cattle will refuse to eat the eddish which grows upon such land. 
On the contrary, if a field be dressed with about two bushels of 
fine salt instead of dung, soon after the hay is cut, this inconve- 
nience and loss will be avoided, and a large crop of aftergrass 
will be obtained, possessing such peculiar sweetness, that all kinds 
of cattle, as well as horses, will eat it with the utmost avidity. 
The farmers, in some districts, are accustomed to steep their 
seed-corn in lime-water, and doubtless the practice is often use- 
ful; but I am decidedly of opinion that a strong brine, made by 
the solution of rock-salt in water, will be infinitely more effica- 
cious. Crops of wheat are often reduced one-half in value by 
a disease to which this kind of grain is very liable, called the 
very fine, and regularly sown upon the grass, would be a proper quantity for 
an acre of pasture-land: whereas sixteen or twenty bushels may be used 
upon fallows for cleaning the ground preparatory to the putting in the grain. 
For meadow-land, two or three bushels of crushed rock-salt may be care- 
fully sown upon each acre, immediately after the hay is got in, with great 
advantage, especially in hot and dry summers. 
* The late Dr. Darwin, in treating on salt as a manure, remarks, “ that 
as it is a stimulus which excites the vegetable absorbent vessels into 
greater action than usual, it may, ina certain quantity, increase their growth, 
by enabling them to take up more nourishment in a given time, and perform 
their circulations and secretions with greater energy.” 
smut 
