Cultivation of Arable Land. Proper Kinds of Natural Graffes. 317 



applied with every other crop, and always with that which immediately precedes 

 the grafs. This is a practice that (hould be adopted as much as poflible. 



In order to have grafs-lands of the beft kind, it is likewife of great utility to 

 have them fo managed in the preparation, as to be rendered perfectly clear and free 

 from all forts of weeds, as by their riling with greater rapidity than the fown grafs- 

 plants, they are often liable to fhade and deftroy them, or greatly injure their 

 growth. 



It has been advifed by an experienced cultivator, in reftoring old worn-out 

 lands to the ftate of good pafture, to clear the land from injurious weeds by means 

 of a full winter and fummer fallowing, or, inftead of the latter, by a crop of 

 potatoes well manured for, and kept in a perfectly clean ftate by attentive culture 

 while growing, fucceeded by winter vetches fed off in the early fpring.* In all 

 the more light forts of foil, it is unqueftionably the mod beneficial practice to bring 

 the ground into that fort of fine tilth, which is proper for the reception of grafs- 

 feeds, by a judicious mixture of green crops of different forts with thofe of the 

 corn kind, according to the nature of the foil. The moft appropriate methods of 

 intermixing thefe with each other have been already explained. f 



When the lands have been by thefe methods brought into a good ftate of fertili 

 ty, and reduced into a fufficiently mellow and friable condition of mould, the fur- 

 face (hould be made as fine, loofe, and even as poflible. Where the grounds are 

 much inclined to moifture,the ridges may be prefer ved, which (hould be of confide- 

 rable breadths with very flight furrows? but in the more light and porous defcrip- 

 tions of land, the whole mould belaid as even as poflible without any ridges or 

 furrows. In the former cafes, in fome diftricts they prefer making the ridges fix, 

 eight, or more yards in breadth, which when the land is to be under the fcythe is in 

 a much better ftate for being mown, and if for pafture there will be lefs danger 

 of the animalsbeing injured by being caft in the furrows. And in the latter the 

 furface will not only be more agreeable in its appearance, but be more advantageous 

 for all the purpofes of grafs management afterwards.;}; 



Proper Kinds of Natural Graffes. The circumftances that have been already ob- 

 ferved, render it fufficiently evident that the proper choice and application of grafles 

 muft be a matter of great confequence in the laying down lands to the ftate of fvvard. 

 But it is obvioufly a bufinefs attended with uncommon difficulty, from the number 



* Billingfley s Corrected Report of Somerfetfhire. 



i Rotation of Crops in Section on Cultivation of Arable Land. 



J Corrected Agricultural Report of Lancafliire. 



