Book- V. OPERATIONS ON THE SOIL. 465 



for the operation. A good deal depends on the crops that are to be sown after paring 

 and burning. When rape or turnips are to be cultivated, the end of May, or the be- 

 ginning of June, will be the most proper time : but if barley or oats are to be sown, the 

 paring and burning must be completed as early in spring as the nature of the season will 

 admit ; and when lands are pared and burned as a preparation for a crop of wheat, July, 

 or even the beginning of August, may, in favorable seasons, answer ; but it is better to 

 have the ground ready sooner if possible. 



2977. In respect to tlie depth to which lands of different qualities may be pared with the 

 most advantage, it is obvious that, as it can hardly be proper to pare light, thin, stapled 

 soils, to the same depths as those of the more deep and heavy kinds, it should, in some 

 degree, be regulated by their particular nature, and tlieir differences in respect to depth 

 and lieaviness. Boys, who is in the habit of breaking up thin chalky soils, and such as 

 have been in tillage, in this way, observes, that in Kent, where the method of paring 

 most in use is with down-shares or breast-ploughs, they take off turfs as thick as the 

 nature of the soil will admit, from half an inch to two inches ; the thicker the better, 

 provided tliere be a sufficient portion of vegetable matter contained within them to make 

 Ihem burn well. The most usual depths of paring are, from about one to three inches. 



2978. In regard to burning, when the season is not very wet, the turfs will commonly 

 b^ sufficiently dried in about a fortnight or three weeks, even without being "turned ; but 

 in rainy weather they require a longer time, and must be turned more than once to pre- 

 vent their striking out roots and shoots, which might hinder them from burning. 



2979. Spreading the ashes. As soon as the turfs have fully undergone the process of 

 burning, and are reduced to the state of ashes and a powdery earthy matter, the whole 

 should, as soon as possible, be spread out over the land in as regular and equal a manner 

 as the nature of the work will admit of; for without great attention in this respect, 

 great inequality in the crops may take place; besides the soil will be made lighter in 

 some places than in others, which may be disadvantageous in the same way. The 

 spreading, where it can by any means be accomplished, should always be performed be- 

 fore any rain falls ; as where this point is not attended to, a great loss may be sustained 

 by the saline matters being carried down in a state of solution, and their beneficial ef- 

 fects in a great measure lost before the crops are in a condition to receive them. In 

 order to secure the full influence of the ashes, the land is frequently slightly ploughed 

 over immediately after the ashes are spread out. And it is stated by Donaldson, that those 

 who are more than ordinarily attentive in this respect, only rib or slob furrow the field, so 

 that the ashes &fter burning may be covered up with the greater expedition and dispatch. 

 By tliis mode they cannot probably, however, be so equally mixed with the soil as by 

 that of ploughing the whole field with a very slight furrow. So as just to cover them. 



2980. Th^ expense of the operation of paring and burniyig will vary according to the 

 nature and situation of the land, the method in which it is performed, and the customs 

 of the district in regard to the price of labor. On the thin sort of chalky soils it is stated 

 by Boys, that the expense for paring at a moderate tliickness, where the land is not very 

 flinty, is about equal to four or five ploughings. 



2981 . The operation of drying and burning day for manure is in several respects similar 

 to that of paring and burning the verdant surface. The practice of burning clay has at 

 various times been pursued with energy and success, and at other times has fallen into 

 neglect. The oldest book in which it is mentioned is probably 2'he Country Gentle- 

 matis Companion, by Stephen Switzer, Gardener, London, 1732. In that work it is 

 stated, that the Earl of Halifax was the inventor of this useful improvement; and that 

 it was much practised in Sussex. There are engravings of two kilns for Ijurning clay, 

 one adopted in England, and the other in Scotland ; where it is said to have been ascer- 

 tained, that lands reduced by tillage to poverty, would produce an excellent crop of 

 turnips, if the ground were ploughed two or three times, and clay ashes spread over it. 

 In tlie same work, there are several letters, written in the years 1730 and 1731, stating, 

 that the plan of burning clay had answered in several parts of England ; and accounts 

 were received from Scotland, that upon experiment it had answered better than either 

 lime or dung, but was found too expensive. The practice is described at length in 

 Ellis's Practical Farmer, or Hertfordshire Husbandman, 1732. In 1786, James 

 Arbuthnot, of Peterhead, tried several successful experiments with burning clay, and 

 various others have since been made in different parts of the empire. In 1814, the 

 practice was revived and written on by Craig, of Cally, near Dumfries, and soon after by 

 General Beatson, near Tunbridge ; by Curwen, Burrows, and several correspondents of 

 agricultural journals. In Ireland, it would appear, the practice prevails in several 

 places, and Craig says, he adopted it from seeing its effects there. The result of the 

 whole is, that the benefits of this mode of manuring have been greatly exaggerated ; 

 though they certainly appear to be considerable on clayey soils. Alton {Farmer s Mag. 

 vol. xxii. p. 423.) compares this rage for burning clay, which existed in 1815, to the 

 florin mania of a few years prior date. In ^822, he found few of the advocates for these 



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