184' Sketch of the present State of [Skpt, 



taincd in the salt, it follows that 100 parts of sulphate of man- 

 ganese consist of the following constituents : — 



Sulphuric acid S3'G6 



Protoxide 31*00 



Water 35'3i 



100-00 



(Tt> be continued.) 



Article IV. 



Sketch of the present State of Agriculture in Beruickshire, 

 By the Rev. J. Thomson, Minister of Eccles, in that count)'. 



{Concluded from Vol. I. p. 265.) 



Fallowing. — In Berwickshire the following mode of fallow- 

 ing is usually employed. As soon after harvest as possible the 

 land that is to be fallowed receives its first furrow, or ploughing. 

 Care is taken that in clay lands the ridges be sufficiently high, 

 that the water may run off into the furrows which are opened 

 by the plough and spade, that it may thence discharge itself 

 into the ditches wh ich surround the inclosure. This first plough- 

 ing is considered as of great utility. It buries the stubble, and 

 thus tends to convert it into vegetable soil. It leaves the field 

 in as dry a state as possible ; and the winter frosts pulverize the 

 soil. This ploughing is generally made as deep as possible, be- 

 cause the plough, on account of the softness of the soil, can then 

 easily penetrate to the proper depth. Thus, also, the future 

 ploughings are rendered easier. 



The second ploughing is seldom given till the oats be 

 sown, and sometimes also the barley. It the land abound with 

 weeds, such as couch-grass, and the season be dry ; then it is 

 well harrowed, and the couch-grass is gathered by the hand, 

 and laid up in heaps. These heaps are afterwards led off the 

 field, and mixed with lime, or lime and stable manure, and thus 

 form an excellent compost. It is of great advantage that couch- 

 grass should be gathered as early in the season as possible be- 

 fore it begins to grow, because it can be done both more easily 

 and more completely when the soil has been pulverized by the 

 winter frosts than afterwards ; but if the season be wet, the land 

 cannot be sufficiently harrowed, nor the couch-grass gathered, 

 till the third ploughing. 



The third ploughing takes place when it is supposed all the 



