678 



FAR M i: RS ' REGIS V E R. 



[No. 11 



in quality. The observation is peculiarly true as 

 to the thin light soils of the district hereinaller de- 

 scrihi'd. which lie upon beds of coarse calcareous 

 rubble — the stratum inlerposeel between the sur- 

 face soil and the chalk. The depth of ploughing 

 in theni is necessarily confined, and new soil can- 

 not be oradually turned up and incorporaled with 

 that which was previously cultivated. 



It re(iuire3 caution in reconnnendinn new ex- 

 periments to farmers; they should try them upon 

 a small scale, utiless they have succceeded in cir- 

 cumstances similar to those under which they are 

 projiosed to be iniroduced. The practice of every 

 district is toliowed by successive crencrations, with- 

 out any investigation as ro iis causes and merits, 

 but in general, the outline and main body of the 

 system which has been adopted, originates in the 

 nature of the soil, and in local circumstances. It 

 admits of little change, except in iis better e.xecn- 

 tton, in the im|>rovement of machinery, in the 

 breeding of stock, and treatment of their diseases, 

 and in a more convenient distribution of the fields 

 and larm-buildings. 



The instruction adapted fir the state of informa- 

 tion and habits of the generality of fiirmers, will 

 be best conveyed by detailing the management of 

 a farm comprising land of various qualities, but 

 where none is much above or below a medium 

 between the best and the worst, and where the 

 management is carried on bj^ the usual system of 

 broad-cast sowing — without any very peculiar se- 

 lection or refinement in the implements and ma- 

 chinery. 



Description of the farm. 



On a farm situate in the north of Hampshire, 

 consisting of about two hundred and thirty acres, 

 the writer, assisted by a bailiff, has succeeded in 

 deriving a net average profit fi-om its produce, 

 much more considerable than any rent he could 

 have obtained l."iom a tenant, and has had, besides, 

 the advantage of keeping the property in a state ! 

 of neatness, the fences in a state of repair, and the 

 land in progressive improvement, umnjured bye.x- i 

 haustion — benefits which, probably, are not to be I 

 derived, or expected, from any hands but those of | 

 a proprietor. 



The land of this farm contains three sorts of soil: 



1st. Clay of a very binding nature, mixed with 

 ■gravel; 



2d. Gravel mixed in many places with a much 

 less quantity of clay than the former contains, and 

 occasionally a proportion of darkish mould, pro- 

 bably the produce of decayed vegetable matter: 



3d. A light-colored soil of a loose texture, from 

 four to seven inches deep, covering the rubble 

 which lies on the lop of the bed of chalk, the sub- 

 stratum on which the whole land of this country 

 ultimately rests. 



The fiirm consists of nearly equal quantities of 

 each soil, sometimes distinctly separated from each j 

 other to a considerable extent, but often so inter- 

 mixed that no division tor any practical purpose 

 can be effected. Whenever such division is prac- 

 ticable, it has been made, as undoubtedly each ! 

 quality of soil requires a different rotation ol^ crops : 

 and different quantities, and, if ihey can be had, 

 different qualities of manure. 



The general aspect of the farm inclines to the 

 south, but about sixty acres are exposed to the 

 east and north. The whole is comprised in one 



fence, and is intersected and bounded by good 

 roads. 



The buildings are inconveniently disposed. 

 They lie at one end of the farm — a situation, for 

 obvious reasons, most objectionable. 



Tiiere is no town in the neighborhood from 

 which any considerable supply of manure can be 

 procured; and the little that can be obtained is 

 purchased at an exp^ nse which is hardly compen- 

 sated by the increase of produce, with the excep- 

 tion of wood, coal, and peaT ashes. The two 

 first are collected fiom the houses and cottages, 

 and the latter is brought, by means of a canal, 

 from more distant parts. 



Manure, therefore, can only be obtained from 

 the common and usual sources of the folding of 

 sheep, the stable, and the farm yard, with such oc- 

 casional addition of mould and decayed vegetable 

 matter as can be collected on all farms. 



Use of Chalk. — The surface soil of this part of 

 the country rests upon a bed of chalk, which fre- 

 quently in spots is found to be of a soft and unctu- 

 ous nature, and crumbles into very small fragments 

 and powder by the effects of rain and frost. — 

 Whenever the chalk can be obtained with these 

 qualities, it contributes essentially to subdue the 

 tenacity of the hard and compact clay, and to 

 render it more ductile and yieldinjx to the opera- 

 tions of the plouu'h and harrow. When this chalk 

 has been laid on the gravel, mixed with but little 

 clay, it has been found eminently useful, by its 

 quality of retamingmoisture, and, perhaps, by che- 

 mical changes it may produce upon some ingredi- 

 ents contained in the soil which are unfavorable 

 to vegetation. It is applied in a quantity sufTicient 

 to afford a covering of^ an inch or an inch and a 

 half in thickness, and permitted to remain expos- 

 ed until it is well pulverized by the eflecis of ii-ost 

 and rain. This sort of chalk has generally been 

 selected, and carried in carls from the pit from 

 which it has been dug during the hard frosts, 

 when there is little other occupation for the men 

 and horses, or in summer, when the land can bear 

 the pressure of the loads. The common practice 

 of digging pits upon the spot intended to be chalk- 

 ed, is objectionable; it defaces the eurflice of the 

 ground by leaving permanent holes in places from 

 which it was extracted, and, being thus taken 

 without selection as to its quality, isfi-equently much 

 less adapted to the pur[)ose it is intended to answer. 

 The effect of laying this chalk upon the second 

 sort of land, in which the gravel is intermixed 

 with the small portion of clay, has been most re- 

 markable, and in every instance where it has been 

 tried, uniformly most beneficial. Previously to 

 the ajiplication of the chalk, this part of the 

 farm, although manured, folded abundantly, and 

 trod well by sheep, to condense the soil, was 

 extremely precarious in its produce, and the 

 expense and care bestowed upon it were rare- 

 ly compensated by a corresponding return. — 

 The wheat grew freely at first, and continued to 

 bear a very fivorable appearance until the spring, 

 when the ground assumed a spongy, hollow tex- 

 ture, the plants acquired a dark brownish hue, died 

 in considerable quantities, and the remainder pro- 

 duced at harvest from twelve to sixteen bushels 

 per acre of light corn, with the straw invariably 

 stunted and bliirhted. Fiom the time the land 

 was chalked in the manner I have before describ- 

 ed, these unfavorable tendencies of the soil were 



