244 THE SYSTEM OF FARM-YARD MANURING. 



and small, and only seven broad hoes, to till 740 acres 

 of land! 



Upon another estate were found 80 baskets of last 

 year's spelt, equivalent to 400 lbs. of flour ( = 1 J bushel, or 

 somewhat more than 3 hectolitres), 90 baskets of spelt 

 of the current year, from which 450 lbs. of flour could 

 be made. On the other hand, there were 380 hams! 



The crop or stock upon another domain amounted to 

 20 baskets of spelt (=100 lbs. of flour) of the preceding 

 year, and 30 baskets of spelt, of which one was used 

 for seed. 



It is easy to see that in those days the breeding of 

 cattle was the chief object, and that the cultivation of corn 

 occupied a very subordinate position in husbandry.* A 

 deed of the period shortly after Charlemagne says on 

 this point : ' Every year three yokes of land upon an 

 estate ' should be ploughed and sown with seed fur- 

 nished by the lord of the manor. (See ' die Getreide- 

 Arten imd das Brod von Freih. von Bibra.' Nurem- 

 berg : Schmid. 1860.) 



Hence we possess not a single trustworthy proof that 

 any one field in Germany or France (perhaps we may 

 make an exception in favour of Italy) has served for the 

 cultivation of corn from the time of Charlemagne to our 

 own age ; and the argument for the inexhaustibility of 

 land is almost childish, because it assumes that corn may 

 be continuously taken from a field, without restoring the 

 conditions of reproduction. A field does not necessarily 

 become unfruitful for corn because it has yielded large 

 corn-crops ; but it ceases to yield corn-crops if it does 

 not receive compensation for the corn-constituents which 



* It is worthy of remark that Chai'lemagne introduced, upon his 

 estates, the three-field system, with which he had become acquainted in 

 Italy. 



