296 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXIV. 



still better success, if sown in the month of September, and Iiarrowed in over 

 the stubble. 



The trtalment of the crop depends more upon the purpose to which it 

 is to be applied, than upon the nature of the soil ; for in the neighbourhood 

 of g-reat towns it is very generally made into hay, and in more remote situa- 

 tions it is partially fed off, and sometimes allowed to stand for seed. The 

 practice on making it into hay has been already detailed*, and if mown 

 early, the nearer it is cut to the ground the better ; but if it has stood too long 

 the bottoms of the stalks will be dry, tough, and naked. It often hajipens 

 that in favourable seasons, and on good land, the clover attains a consi- 

 derable height before the commencement of the corn-harvest, and if that 

 be cut close to the ground it is cured along with the straw, and thus adds 

 considerably to the value of the forage. At other times it is found to have 

 scarcely more than made its appearance before harvest, and then the corn 

 should not be cut so close as to injure the young plants, for when it is off 

 the ground, if the weather be warm and showery, they will sometimes 

 sprout to a head, which affords a good bite to cattle ; and in that case 

 the crop is fed lightly off with sheep-stock, which should be early removed 

 from the field, or otherwise they would eat into the heart of the plant 

 and destroy it. 



In the following year, it always produces two, and sometimes three cut- 

 lings, in the course of the season ; but on the mode of consuming these 

 much difference of opinion prevails. Some farmers turn their slock upon it 

 as early in the s])ring as it will afford a bite, and eat it off until some time 

 in ]May, at which time it is cleared oft" for a crop of liay, or they not 

 unfrequently let it stand for seed : others take two consecutive crops of hay, 

 or a first crop of hay and then seed ; but the more general mode is to 

 mow it once and feed off' the second crop, \V hen intended for seed, the 

 first crop is, however, more generally fed off in the spring, and the slock 

 taken off at an early period of the summer ; or, if cut, it is mown before it 

 comes into blossom, so as to allow full time for the plant to afterwards 

 arrive at perfection, and to ensure the reaping of the seed-crop before the 

 arrival of tb.e autumnal rains. 



If allowed to stand a second year, tire whole growth is then almost inva- 

 riably pastured, by gradually eating the crop oft' in diflerent enclosures, or 

 penning the cattle upon small patches, and removing the hurdles as it is 

 consumed; by which means they have it fresh, and the ground — particu- 

 larly if it be of a light and spongy nature — is more materially improved by 

 their droppings and treading, when thus confined, than when they are 

 allowed to range over the land without restriction. On some soils, when 

 intermixed with white clover and cow-grass, a tolerable crop is sometimes 

 found even in the third year, and the ley is then not broken up until that is 

 eaten oft". On widely extended farms, where store-cattle are chiefly kept, 

 and where it may be an object to rest the land and lessen the expense of 

 tillage, the plan may be advisable ; but in all other cases it certainly is objec- 

 tionable, both as filling the ground with weeds, and hardly ever afi'ording 

 an adequate return. The ley should, therefore, always be ploughed at the 

 farthest after tlie second year : many farmers, indeed, plough the crop in 

 while in a state of succulence, as a dressing for the land f. 



When the crop is to be preserved for seed, it is highly important that 

 it should be got off the ground as early as possible, for it is late in ripen- 



* See vol. i. ch.xxii. p. 493. 



f The mode adopted is — '• After the first mowing of the crop they let the clover run 

 up 10 or 12 inches high; it is then rolled, the field ploughed in large sets, and left 



