30^ BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch.XXIV. 



same manner as a crop of peas. If a few beans be dibbled in the rows, they 

 will also aftord support to the plants ; for, although the crops be reaped 

 together, tlie grain may be easily separated by the riddle. When ripe enough, 

 they are generally mowed, or liooked, and laid into rows and turned over two 

 or three times, according as the weather may suit tor carrying home and 

 stacking them ; but rain occasions great havock, for the necessity of fre- 

 quently turning and drying them opens the pods, by which half the crop is 

 sometimes lost. The thrashing is performed in the common manner by 

 the flail ; but the seed usually contains a considerable portion of weeds, 

 which if not carefully extracted will render the land very foul. The dif- 

 ference between the seeds of the winter and spring species is hardly to be 

 discerned : to judge of their age and quality, seedsmen bite tiiem asunder, 

 and, if they separate readily, if they are very hard, and the colour of the 

 skin dark, they ave considered as not new. Old seed will frequently not 

 vegetate ; and, when the price rises, frauds are commonly practised by 

 dealers, who mix them : to guard against which, as also to secure the cer- 

 tainty of discrimination between the different sorts, farmers should always 

 grow sufficient for their own consumption. The haulm, though sometimes 

 used as forage for cattle, is exceedingly tough, and is in many cases em- 

 ployed merely for litter. The liay is made in the same manner as that 

 of clover. 



The application of tares, of either species, is, when used green, by pen- 

 ning sheep, and in some cases hogs, upon them ; but for the larger cattle, 

 they are almost invariably cut and served to them in their stalls, by which a 

 vast quantity of manure is made, as they arc highly relished by every species 

 of stock. They are also very nutritious, and agree well with ewes and lambs 

 when they come into blossom ; but, for horses, they are best when the pod 

 is formed ; and although, when given to cows, they enrich the quality of the 

 milk, yet dairy-women complain that they render it ropy. Like all kinds 

 of very succulent food, they should be at first cautiously given, or the cattle 

 may become blown, or " hoved ;" and sheep should not be turned upon 

 them until the dew is exhaled. 



The average value of the crop is not easily ascertained. Some of the 

 county surveys stating that an acre of good tares will afford plenty of 

 nourishing food for 200 to 220 sheep a week*, and others reducing that 

 calculation to 100 1 : perhaps, therefore, on the generality of soils under com- 

 mon management, the medium may be taken ; or, supposing nine score, at 

 4d. per head, that would bring the folding with sheep to 60*. per acre : 

 when soiled, it has however been found that an acre v.'ill support a large 

 number of cattle, and will thus amount to considerably more* ; and it has 

 been estimated that an acre of green tares will produce 12 tons, which, 

 when made into hay, will yield full three loads § : but this we must presume 

 to be far beyond the average quantity, which certainly cannot be assumed as 

 much more than about half tliat amount. Of seed we have heard of crops 

 exceeding 40 bushels per acre, and prices varying from 5.9. to 21s. per 

 bushel I ; but the present prices, and the average produce may, we believe, 

 be more correctly stated at — 



"Winter tares 4s. 6d., and 22 bushels"! „ 



Spring tares 5s. 6d. „ 1 8 ditto j P^^' ^^"^^ "' * 



* Stevenson's Surrey, p, 2 8. f Bedfordsh. Kep.,p. 407. 



X Eight acres have kept 12 horses and five cows for three months without any other 

 food. — Sussex Rep., p. 104. 



§ Middlesex Rtp., 2nd edit., p. 257 ; Berksh. ditto, p. 218. 

 II Ibid.; and Malcolm's Surrey, vol. ii. p. 382. 

 4[ Hampsh. Rep., p. I7l. 



