BARREN LAND. 



KA1UIKX LAND. 





ilui-the till they are improved ; and yet vast tract* uf both have been 

 brought into cultivation, and are covered with a rich harvest, in spite 

 of their natural bamnnes*. Sir Humphry Davy declared, on analysis, 

 that the nil of Bagshot Heath, in it* natural *tato, was the mart 

 barren soil in KngUnd ; yet great portion* of thU barren oil are now 

 covered with thriving plantation*, intonpened with green fields. The 

 method* u*ed to bring thin land into cultivation will serve a* an 

 example for all similar soil*. The nirfaoe soil of the heath oonaiite of 

 and, gravel, and light loam, strongly impregnated with n }v!lw 

 carbonate and milphate of iron ; the subsoil U generally n stifler loam. 

 The water which percolate* the upper Ktratum dissolve* a portion of 

 the iron by mean* of the carbonic acid which rain water contains, and 

 thi* iron, mixed with earth, in slowly deposited in a thin layer on tli<- 

 imjirrvivuii subsoil, where it takes a hard crystallised form, called the 

 iruii fan, absolutely impervious to moisture ; and until this pan be 

 broken, no cultivation can take' place. Trenching U, therefore, 

 absolutely Decenary wherever thi* pan exist* at a small depth 

 under the surface. A part of the subsoil being brought to the surface 

 greatly improves the texture of the sand, and then the salts of iron 

 must be decomposed and the acid neutralised by lime or chalk. 

 Manure U now the principal object, and, if it cannot be obtained from 

 neighbouring towns, or from old cultivated lands near at hand. th<> 

 progress will be very slow. Planting trees, especially the fir and the 

 larch, is then the only resource ; but where manure and calcareous 

 earth, either in the form of chalk, marl, or lime, can be obtained, the 

 land may be cultivated and improved in the following manner : Lay 

 on a good coating of chalk or marl before winter, and plough it in with 

 a shallow furrow. In spring, plough again deeper, mixing the cal- 

 careous earth as much as possible with the soil by frequent harrowing.-) : 

 all the dung that can have been collected must be laid on and ploughed 

 in by the end of Hay. In June, drill tumip-eeed with bone-dust, if 

 possible, in rows not too distant ; say twelve inches, if the soil U very 

 poor, but wider in proportion as iff is of better quality. Theae, as soon 

 as they are in the rough leaf, must be carefully hoed till they nearly 

 cover the ground. They must be fed off by sheep in the following 

 winter and spring : the dung of the sheep must be ploughed in with a 

 shallow furrow as soon as possible after the sheep are removed. The 

 quality of the first crop will decide whether a crop of corn may be 

 ventured on in the second year, in which case tartarian oats are found 

 the best suited to such land : but, if the turnips were not a very good 

 crop, a second crop of the same, or of cole, for the sake of variety, 

 to be again fed off, will be much better husbandry ; and, until the soil 

 show* an evident improvement in colour and texture, the most that 

 can be expected is a crop of turnips and oats alternately. As soon as 

 the ground has, by frequent tillage and manuring, become of a uniform 

 and somewhat mellow texture, the first opportunity must be taken to 

 lay it down with white clover and perennial grasses, and let it remain 

 in pasture two or three years without mowing. When it is next 

 broken up, it may be treated as the old cultivated lands of a similar 

 quality usually are. 



If a well-cultivated farm is near, and a sufficient supply of manure 

 can be raised upon it, by converting a portion of it into artificial 

 meadows, or keeping it under green crops, so that an increased quantity 

 <>f stock may be maintained, the land to be improved may be soon 

 brought into a productive state, without robbing the old land to make 

 the new, as is too often done. Nothing has so rapid an effect in 

 removing sterility as the free use of the urine of cattle, and the 

 training of dung-hills, collected and allowed to ferment in covered 

 unk ; but this can only be obtained by keeping cattle stalled and fed 

 with provender brought to them. This is the great secret of the 

 fertility of the once poor barren heaths of Flanders. In different 

 situations it may not be practicable to procure sufficient manure, at 

 least at first, and the progress will be much slower. In this case the 

 eeds of rye, tares, bean*, buck-wheat, and other succulent plants, must 

 be sown, and the crop ploughed in when in blossom ; potatoe* and 

 other roots may be raised, to be consumed by cattle and swine, in 

 bed* built for the purpow near at hand, and every means that inge- 

 nuity can devise must be resorted to in order to make as much manure 

 a* possible. This is not to be applied to the land at once, but mixed 

 up in heaps with sods and parings of the surface, with the ashes of 

 rooU burned, and with lime, and when thoroughly incorporated by 

 frequent turning, mixing, and repeated watering with li<|iiiil manure, 

 good coat should be put on the land at once, a* far as it will go : for 

 one acre brought into a tolerably fertile state will repay the cost better 

 than many imperfectly improved ; and by proceeding gradually in this 

 way, more land will be brought into a state fit for cultivation at the 

 end of a few yean, and at let* expense, than could have been done by 

 beginning with too much at first 



When an attempt is made to bring a large extent of very poor sandy 

 oil into cultivation at once, as may be the case where labour is cheap, 

 it would be impossible to procure the requisite quantity of manure 

 to ensure any return for the outlay. In that case there is a simple 

 remedy, which, in the end, is very advantageous; H is, to HOW the 

 needs of broom and furze, which will readily come up, and, in the 

 course of two or three years, not only be of some value to cut for fuel 

 for bakers, but in the mean time have greatly improved the nature of 

 the soil, especially that which has been trenched, by the quantity of 

 vegetable substance contained in the roots and their fibres, and also 



in tin- leave* and tender >l. -m- v.liii h have decayed and dromiod during 

 the three year* that the land ha* been covered with these plants. 

 This, at all went*, will more than repay the interest of the money 

 rx|M-nilrd in trenching, OIK! the future improvement will go on 

 more rapidly than if the ground had been treated as recommended 

 above when Ant broken up. This practice also is taken from our 

 sagacious and industrious neighbours the Flemish. 



What has been laid of a poor heath, or Bandy loam, is applicable to 

 every kind of unproductive soil, difference of composition and texture 

 being kept in view. Poor. wet. stiff lands muit be divided by deep 

 ditches, ploughed in high ridges, and be as much as possible exposed 

 to the wind and frost : instead of turnips, grasses must be sown, such 

 as suit the soil Faring and burning the surface are here generally 

 useful in the first instance, and may sometimes be repeated 

 advantage. Such soil*, in the end, are best calculated for permanent 

 meadows ; but it is essential to get them into a sound nml fertile state 

 by tillage and manuring, and by clearing them of all the roots and 

 seeds of weed* before they be laid down with grass-seeds, which must 

 therefore be done with a first crop after a clean fallow, or, which U 

 still better, without any crop of corn at all, and kept free from coarser 

 grasses by hand-weeding. [GRASS.] 



There is another kind of barren soil, which extends over large tracts 

 in northern climates, well known by the name of peat, or moor. This, 

 being chiefly composed of vegetable matter, is too loose in its texture 

 for any vigorous vegetation. But, besides, it is of an insoluble, 

 astringent nature, highly unfit for the increase and nourishment of 

 plants. Moors being generally situated in volleys between mountains, 

 draining off the superfluous water is the first and indispensable 

 operation before any improvement of them can be thought of. 

 The next thing is to compress the soft soil into a more solid state ; 

 and for this purpose any kind of earth or gravel is useful by its mere 

 mechanical pressure. The surface may be burned in sods, and the 

 ashes will greatly improve the remainder. Lime, chalk, marl, and 

 shells are the specific correctors of the quality and texture. By the 

 help of these, the soft mass, which can only be stirred with a spade by 

 men standing on boards, is made to produce abundant crops of potatoes 

 and oats ; and, gradually condensing, a more compact soil is formed, 

 which soon bears the tread of men and even cattle, and then, properly 

 speaking, the cultivation may be said to begin. The great object is to 

 prevent the absorption of too much moisture by the still unconsolidated 

 mass, which U effected by cutting numerous and deep ditches in every 

 direction, with proper outlets kept carefully open ; at the some time 

 guarding against the opposite extreme of drying this spongy substance 

 too much. If it is dry at top, and moist, but not boggy, a foot below 

 the surface, it will be in the best state to improve and consolidate. It 

 is surprising how soon a peat moss, of little more solidity than a bog, 

 can be rendered perfectly firm, and bear even loaded waggons on its 

 surface. It often happens, where there is a command of good 

 which con be brought above the level of the old peat moss, that it may 

 be converted into a most productive water-meadow. All that is 

 required is, that the upper soil, artificially produced, be not bioken 

 through, and that the bottom be well drained. 



We have only given brief hints and outlines to those who may be 

 inclined to render lands productive which have hitherto been liaiivu. 

 The certain cost and probable improvement must be well cal< 

 and compared to avoid disappointment and loss. As these depend on 

 the peculiar circumstances of each case, it is impossible to give any 

 general idea of them. But, by beginning on a small and experimental 

 scale at first, and proceeding cautiously, new modes of lessening the 

 expense of many of the operations will be suggested, errors will ! 

 avoided, and some certain practical ground of calculation will be 

 obtained. 



That there is a great pleasure in the pursuit no one can doubt, w ho 

 see* at what expense favourite barren spots ore improved ; and n 

 harvest on land created, us it were, by art, pleases the proprietor more 

 than the most abundant which his richest lands can produce. 



Many a fortune, no doubt, has been impaired by rash speculations 

 and too sanguine hopes ; but, without this spirit of improvement. f>-w 

 soils, except the very richest, would ever have been cultivated, until 

 the wonts of a population greater than the richest lands could feed 

 had forced the cultivation of those of inferior quality. It is in the 

 tillage of veiy poor soils, chiefly, that those impi in the 



utensils and operations of husbandry have been suggested and invented, 

 without which a great portion of the soil of the British dominions, and 

 of a considerable part of Europe, could never be cultivated i 

 advantage, much less afford rent to a proprietor, or contributions to 

 the expenses of the nation. 



The unproductive state of waste lands in many populous c<- 

 bos suggested the employment of the pour and friendless un 

 improvement, and it has been thought a more enlightened charity to 

 expend the money, which would otherwise be given in simple tem- 

 j'rary relief, in such a manner as to make the labour of paupers 

 av:iil:ilile to their future comfort and independence. In some places 

 ]K>rtioii of land have been given absolutely, or at a nominal rent, to 

 paupers, in order that they might cultivate and gradually improve 

 them; and where the soil is naturally good, and requires only!.. IK' 

 work, d and tilled, the plan has been attended with great success. Hut 

 where a barren waste can only be improved by artificial manures and 



