S46 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Paet III. 



528(5. Wfien turnips are raised upon light land, sheep should be folded on them ; whereas, if the land be 

 strong or wet, the crop should be drawn, and fed in some adjoining grass-field, or in sheds. If the land 

 be in liigh condition, it is customary to cart off half the turnips, and eat the other on the ground. But 

 this is not a plan to be recommended on poor soils. 



5287. It has been disputed whether grass-seeds should be sown tvith or without corn. In favor of the first 

 practice, that of uniting the two crops, it is maintained, that where equal pains are taken, the future crop 

 of grass will succeed equally well as if they had been sown separately, while the same tilth answers for 

 both. On the other hand, it is observed, that as the land must, in that case, be put into the best possible 

 order, there is a risk that the corn-crop will grow so lu^turiantly, as to overpower the grass-seeds, and, at 

 any rate, will exclude them from the benefit of the air and the dews. If the season also be wet, a corn- 

 crop is apt to lodge, and the grass will, in a great measure, be destroyed. On soils moderately fertile, the 

 grasses have a better chance of succeeding ; but then, it is said, that the land is so much exhausted by 

 producing the corn-crops, that it seldom proves good grass land afterwards. In answer to these objec- 

 tions, it has been urged, that where from the richness of the soil, there is any risk of sowing a full crop of 

 corn, less seed is used, even as low as one-third of the usual quantity; and that a moderate crop of grain 

 nurses the young plants of grass, and protects them from the rays of a hot sun, without producing any 

 material injury. Where the two crops are united, barley is the preferable grain, except on peat. Barley 

 has a tendency to loosen the texture of the ground in which it grows, which is favorable to the vegetation 

 of grass-seeds. In the choice of barley, that sort should be preferred which runs least to straw, and which 

 is the soonest ripe. On peat, a crop of oats is to be preferred. 



5288. The manner of sowing the grass-seeds, also, requires to be particularly attended to. Machines 

 have been invented for that purpose, which answer well, but they are unfortunately too expensive for 

 the generality of farmers. It is a bad system, to mix seeds of different plants before sowing them, 

 in order to have the fewer casts. It is better, to sow each sort separately, for the expense of going several 

 times over the ground is nothing, compared to the benefit of having each sort equally distributed. The 

 seeds of grasses being so light, ought never to be sown in a windy day, except by machinery, an equal 

 delivery being a point of great consequence. Wet weather ought likewise to be avoided, as the least 

 degree of poaching is injurious. Grass seetls ought to be well harrowed, according to the nature of the 

 soil. 



5289. When the corn is carried off, the young crop of grass should he but little fed during autumn, and 

 that only in dry weather ; but heavily rolled in the following spring, in order to press the soil home to the 

 roots. It is then to be treated as permanent pasture. By attention to these particulars, the far greater 

 proportion of the meadows and pastures in the kingdom, of an inferior, or even medium quality, may be 

 broken up, not only with safety, but with great profit to all concerned. 



Chap. VIII. 

 Of Plants cultivated on a limited Scale for various Arts and Manvfactures. 



5290. The plants used as food for men and animals, are by far the most generally- 

 cultivated in every country, and next, those of clothings building, and other arts of conve- 

 nience or luxury. The former are often called agricultural, and the latter commercial 

 or manufactorial plants. Of manufactorial plants, only a few are at present cultivated 

 in Britain; the national policy rendering it preferable to import them, or substi- 

 tutes, from other countries. Some, however, are still grown in nearly sufficient quan- 

 ties for home consumption, as the hop, mustard, rape, canary, and a considerable 

 quantity of flax, anise, carraway ; and some hemp, teazle, and woad are also raised. These 

 and other plants may be classed as grown for the clothing, distilling, brewing, oil mak- 

 ing, domestic, and medical arts. 



Sect. I. Of Plants grown chiefly for the Clothing Arts. 



5291. The clothing jylants axe ^ax^hera^, teazle, madder, woad, and weld; the three 

 first are used by the manufacturer of the fabric, and the others by the dyer. 



SuBSECT. 1. The Flax. Linum usitatissimum, L. Pentan. Pentag. L. and Caryo- 

 phyllecr,, J. Lin, Fr, ; Flacks, Ger. ; and Lino, Span, and Ital. {fig. 588 a.) 



5292. The flax has been cultivated from the earliest ages, and for an unknown 

 length of time in Britain, of which it is now considered a naturalised inhabitant. 

 It is cultivated both for its fibre for making 

 thread, and its seed for being crushed for oil; 

 but never has been grown in sufficient quantity 

 for either purpose. The legislature of the coun- 

 try, as Brown observes, has paid more attention to yf'l''^ 

 framing laws regarding the husbandry of flax \J 

 than to any other branch of rural economy ; but \ 

 it need not excite surprise that these laws, even 

 though accompanied by premiums, have failed to 

 induce men to act in a manner contrary to their 

 own interest. The fact is, the culture of flax is 

 found on the whole less profitable than the cul- 

 ture of corn. It is one of the most severe crops 

 when allowed to ripen its seed ; but by no means 

 so when pulled green. 



5293. The varieties of the common flax zx& few, and scarcely 

 deserving of notice. Marshal mentions the blue or lead- 

 colored flax as being cultivated in Yorkshire, and Professor 

 Thaer mentions a finer and coarser variety ; he also, as 



