72-2 



ENGLAND. 



<<h>ki colnshire, Huntingdonshire, Nortliamptonshire, Cam- 

 ""V"' bridgf'hirt'. and Norfolk. It is calculated that one- 

 third of all the oats grown in Knglnnd arc the produce 

 of these fi n - - they are also cultivated on the higher 

 lands of Cheshire, l)erb\hire, and StaHonlsliire, and 

 in most of the \\YUIi counties, particularlv in Caerinar 

 thenshire. As we advance into the midland counties 

 of England, their cultivation becomes less cxten-i\e, 

 though many are grown in Leicestershire, and on the 

 Trent bank land of Nottinghamshire. 



lindv There are four leading varieties of this grain culti- 



vated in England ; the white, the black, the grey, and 

 the brown or red : of the white, the subvarieties are 

 numerous ; but the most common are the common 

 white, the Tartarian, the Dutch, the Poland, and the 

 petatoe oat : the black and grey are little cultivated : 

 the red is confined principally to Cheshire, Derbyshire, 

 and Staffordshire. Besides these kinds, a species "I' 

 naked oats, called provincially pillar, are grown in 

 Cornwall. 



Oats are almost always, in every part of the kingdom, 

 thefirst crop afterthe breakingupof old grass land. They 

 are also sown generally on strong land, after clover ley ; 

 ;tnd in the north of England, they succeed clover on 

 most kinds of soil. Besides coming in this rotation, 

 they are sown sometimes after turnips ; and where the 

 husbandry is bad, they are taken as the last crep before 

 tallow, even when the ground is dirty and exhausted. 

 In the southern counties of England, the end of Fe- 

 bruary, and in the midland and northern counties, the 

 middle or end of March is the usual seed-time. They 

 are very seldom drilled. The usual quantity of seed to 

 the acre is five bushels. Perhaps the produce of no 

 species of grain varies more than that of oats. Where 

 the ground is foul and exhausted, not more than 20 

 bushels are obtained ; but on rich soil well managed, 

 eight, nine, and sometimes ten quarters, have been pro- 

 cured. In most parts of England they are mown, ex- 

 cept when the crop is very strong. They are general- 

 ly, but not always, carried loose into the barn-yard, 

 where they are put up in stacks. 



Beans are grown on almost all the strong lands of the 

 kingdom, which are under the plough; and their cul- 



*e*nt, tivation probably has not extended, as, according to 

 the old rotation pursued when most of the land was in 

 common fields, they, preceded by wheat and followed 

 by fallow, formed the whole course of the husbandry of 

 our ancestors. But though their cultivation is very ge- 

 neral, there are few counties in which it is well con- 

 ducted. Perhaps Gloucestershire in the west of Eng- 

 land, and Kent and Essex in the south, may be pointed 

 out, as the counties where the culture of this plant is 

 conducted with the greatest judgment, skill, and suc- 

 cess. In these and some other counties, they are plant- 

 ed in rows or clusters, and carefully weeded, both by 

 the horse-hoe and the hand. They are generally grown 

 after wheat, oats, or clover ley ; and are put into the 

 ground as soon in the spring as the weather will permit. 

 The bean harvest, in every part of the kingdom, is late, 

 generally ten days or a fortnight after all the white 

 corn is cut down. The produce varies from 16' to 4O 



"* bushels. Pease are very little cultivated in any part 

 of the kingdom, except in the vicinity of the metropolis, 

 as a garden crop. Where grown as a farm crop, they 

 generally succeed clover ley, wheat, barley, or oats. 

 The produce, in consequence of the unsettled nature of 

 our climate, is very uncertain and various. 



T.w* Tares are principally grown as pring food for sheep, 



cattle, or horses. In the south of England, there are 



two kinds: the winter and spring. The former, sown Suiutio. 

 in the autumn, is ready to cut in the month of April or *~~Y^^ 

 M;'V ; but this kind does not come to pi flection in the 

 northern counties. The latter kind is sown in March 

 and is cut in the autumn. Buck-wheat is seldom seen Buck- 

 in England. A little of it is cultivated in Norfolk and wheat. 

 some other counties, where the soil is light and poor, 

 and permitted to remain till it is ripe ; in other parts, 

 it is ploughed down, as a manure, while in flower. The 

 three kinds of clover, red, Dutch, and yellow clover, or clover, 

 trefoil, are very generally grown, but to a greater ex- 

 tent, and with more success in the eastern, southern, 

 and northern counties, than in the western or midland. 

 The cultivation of red clover after barley, and as a pre- 

 paration for wheat, is considered as one of the proofs of 

 superior husbandry, in those districts where it is exten- 

 sively and regularly sown in this rotation. In the north 

 of England, rye-grass is commonly sown along with 

 clover, where hay is the object; but in the south, and 

 particularly in the vicinity of the metropolis, clover is 

 sown alone. Dutch or white clover is used principally 

 in laying down land to grass. Sainfoin not thriving Sainfoin, 

 well, except where the soil or subsoil is calcareous, is 

 not met with generally. On the Cotswold hills, and 

 on the chalk soils of Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, 

 Hertfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, it is extensive- 

 ly cultivated. It generally remains for eight or ten 

 years ; a much longer period, according to A. Young, 

 than it is found to do in France. It is made into hay, 

 and the after crop eaten by sheep or cattle. Lucerne, 

 nearly allied to sainfoin in its character, habits, and pro- 

 perties, is not grown to any extent, except in some dis- 

 tricts of Sussex and Kent. 



The counties into which the culture and use of that Potatots. 

 valuable root, the potatoe, was first introduced, and in 

 which it is still grown in the greatest perfection, are 

 Lancashire and Cheshire: in the former, about Al- 

 tringham, and in the latter, about Frodsham. Potatoes 

 are also grown to a considerable extent in Yorkshire, 

 particularly on the warpland, or the soil on which 

 the sediment of the river is permitted to be depo- 

 sited, Cumberland, and Cornwall. Their cultivation 

 and use, however, are less extensive and common in 

 the western counties, than in any other part of the king- 

 dom. On the light soils in the low parts of Wales, 

 they are commonly grown. They are planted in the 

 months of April and May, generally in rows ; horse- 

 hoed and weeded by the hand while growing, and ta- 

 ken up in the month of October, either by the plough, 

 or by a particular kind of fork. The produce varies 

 from six to ten tons. They are used as a prejjaration 

 for wheat, instead of a fallow. In Lancashire and Che- 

 shire, however, they are planted on lands broken up 

 from grass for the purpose. 



The county of Norfolk was, for a long time, almost Turnip* 

 exclusively remarkable for the great breadth of turnips 

 sown in it, and for the judgment, skill, and success, with 

 which they were cultivated; but at present this most use- 

 ful and valuable root is grown in almost every county in 

 England, in a greater or less degree. In a superior man- 

 ner, however, and to a greater extent in Norfolk and 

 Northumberland, than in any other county. Perhaps 

 there are fewer turnips grown in Cheshire and Lanca- 

 shire, in the north-west; and in some of the south-west- 

 ern counties, than elsewhere. In the north part of Nor- 

 thumberland, they are almost universally drilled. The 

 drill husbandry is also used with respect to them par- 

 tially in other places ; but by far the most common 

 mode of sowing them, is broad-cost. They seldom sue* 



