708 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



and in some of the high-lying districts of the latter, it has never been attempted. In 

 several of the northern counties, it has been found necessary to sow, instead of the two- 

 rowed barley, the inferior sort called bear, or big ; and oats, from the hardy quality of 

 the grain, are found to be a more certain and more profitable species of corn, than any 

 other; while in humid districts, peas or beans cannot be safely cultivated, from the period- 

 ical wetness of the autumn. On the whole, without great attention to the nature of the 

 climate, no profitable system can be laid down by any occupier of land. 



4375. An inferior climate greatly augments the expenses of cultivation, because a num- 

 ber of horses are required for labor, during the short period of the year, when the 

 weather will admit of it, which, at other seasons, are a useless burden upon the farm. 

 When to this are joined an uneven surface, and an inferior quality of soil, arable land is 

 of little value, and yields but a trifling rent. 



4376. Exotic plants or animals can only be naturalized in climates with success by 

 paying attention to that whence they were brought, and by endeavoring, either to render 

 the one as similar to the other as circumstances will admit of, or to counteract, by judi- 

 cious management, the deficiencies of the new one. 



4377. In order to ascertain the nature of a climate, the farmer, in modern times, has 

 many advantages which his predecessors wished for in vain. The progress of science has 

 given rise to many new instruments, which ascertain natural phenomena with a consi- 

 derable degree of accuracy, instead of conjectures, or systems being founded on loose 

 or general experience. It may still be proper to study the appearance of the heavens, 

 and not to despise old proverbs, which often contain much local truth ; but the vane now 

 points out the quarters whence the winds blow, with all their variations ; the barometer, 

 often enables us to foretel the state of the weather that may be expected ; the thermometer 

 ascertains the degree of heat; the hygrometer, the degree of moisture ; and the pluvio- 

 meter, or rain-gauge, the quantity of rain that has fallen during any given period ; and 

 by keeping exact registers of all these particulars, much useful information may be de- 

 rived. Thei nfluence of different degrees of temperature and humidity, occurring at 

 diflferent times, may likewise be observed, by comparing the leafing, flowering, and after- 

 progress of the most common sorts of trees and plants, in diflferent seasons, with the 

 period when the several crops of grain are sown and reaped each year. 



Sect. II. Of Soil in respect to farming Lands. 



4378. The necessity of paying attention to the nature and quality of the soil, need not 

 be dwelt upon. By ascertaining the qualities it possesses, or by removing its defects, 

 the profits of a farmer may be greatly increased. He must, in general, regulate his 

 measures accordingly, in regard to the rent he is to offer ; the capital he is to lay out ; the 

 stock he is to keep ; the crops he is to raise ; and the improvements he is to execute. 

 Indeed, such is the importance of the soil, and the necessity of adapting his system to 

 its peculiar properties, that no general system of cultivation can be laid down, unless all 

 the circumstances regarding the nature and situation of the soil and subsoil be known ; 

 and such is the force of habit, that it rarely happens, if a farmer has been long ac- 

 customed to one species of soil, he will be equally successful in the management of 

 another. From the attention to the nature of soils, many foolish, fruitless, and ex- 

 pensive attempts have been made to introduce different kinds of plants, not at all suited 

 to them ; and manures have often been improperly applied. This ignorance has likewise 

 prevented many from employing the means of improvement, though the expense was 

 trifling, and within their reach. From ignorance also of the means calculated for 

 the proper cultivation of the different soils, many unsuccessful and pernicious practices 

 have been adopted. Soils may be considered under the following general heads : Sandy ; 

 gravelly ; clayey ; stoney ; chalky ; peaty ; alluvial ; and loamy, or that species of arti- 

 ficial soil, into which the others are generally brought, by the eflfects of manure, and of 

 earthy applications, in the course of long cultivation. 



4379. Though sandy soils are not naturally valuable, yet being easily cultivated, and well 

 calculated for sheep, that most profitable species of stock, they are often farmed with con- 

 siderable advantage ; and when of a good quality, and under a regular course of husbandry, 

 they are invaluable. They are easily worked, and at all seasons ; they are cultivated at 

 a moderate expense; are not sp liable to injury from the vicissitudes of the weather; 

 and in general they are deep and retentive of moisture, which secures excellent crops 

 even in the driest summers. The crops raised on sandy soils are numerous, such 

 as common turnips, potatoes, carrots, barley, rye, buck- wheat, pease, clover, saintfoin, 

 and other grasses. This species of soil, in general, has not strength enough for the pro- 

 duction of Swedish turnips, beans, wheat, oats, flax, or hemp, in any degree of perfection, 

 without much improvement in its texture, the addition of great quantities of enriching 

 manure, and the most skilful management. In Norfolk and Suffolk, it is found that 

 poor sandy soils, unfit for any other purpose, under saintfoin, M'ill produce, after the first 

 year, about two tons per acre, of excellent hay, for several years, with an after-grass. 



