252 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



which must be carefully ploughed in and reduced. Three 

 bushels is the quantity of seed to be sown to an acre where they 

 are to be consumed green ; two and a half where they are grown 

 for the seed. They may be sown broadcast, or drilled, or 

 dibbled ; and the latter modes are recommended where the lands 

 are foul with weeds. With winter tares it is recommended to 

 sow rye ; with spring tares, which are to be cut for feed, oats or 

 barley may be sown, to improve the value of the crop. The 

 crop is cut daily and fed to sheep, which are folded upon the 

 ground, or cut and carried into the stables for horses and cows. 

 Vast quantities are cultivated, in the neighborhood of London 

 and other large cities, for the milk establishments, and for a 

 change of diet for the horses which are kept there. The cut 

 ting of the tares may be begun as soon as they come into flower, 

 and continued until the pods are fully formed and if there is 

 then a surplus, they may be cut and made into hay, so as to 

 avoid the exhaustion of the soil by the ripening of the seed. 



I am not able to give the amount of product which may be 

 obtained from an acre, but from observation I know it must be 

 very large. I do not know whether a larger yield can be ob 

 tained from it than from the improved Italian rye grass, of which 

 I have given an account ; but, as an article for soiling, it is easily 

 cultivated, and would prove invaluable. The winter tares would 

 scarcely endure our northern climate. The value of some por 

 tion of green feed to our horses kept in stables, in cities, would 

 be very great; and a mixture of this with the dry feed upon 

 which many of them arc now exclusively kept from one year s 

 end to another, would be greatly conducive to their health and 

 comfort. Many a poor mechanic or laborer among us, with a 

 small piece of land attached to his domicile, would find it quite 

 easy to keep a cow, and obtain an ample supply of milk for his 

 family, by the cultivation of some such crop as this. This plant 

 is an annual. There are vetches which are biennial, but they 

 arc not recommended for cultivation. The seeds of tares are 

 deemed vaulable for poultry. They will increase the flesh of 

 horses, but are considered hurtful to them. 



8. TURNIPS. The next great crop in English husbandry is 

 turnips. Of these there are several botanical varieties ; but I avoid 

 those distinctions, as of little value to general readers. There 



