42 



F A R W E x1 S ^ il E ( n S T E R 



[No.. 1 



when mixed with the soil by a superKcial plough- 

 ing, so enrich it, as to produce excellent crops, lor 

 two years at least, and if a lilttle lime is added, it 

 will help sooner to pulverize and siimulate the 

 soil, ir the bog is covered wiih long heaili, or 

 ling, and other coarse beiihj grass, it miirht be 

 proper tu burn it s:rnwing, withoui paring off any 

 part of the «!oil. But this would yield only a small 

 quantity of ashes; neither would it destroy eniirc- 

 ]y the roots of the plants, and, when plouiihed in, 

 would produce very little etlect. So soon as the 

 turfs are reduced to ashes.* they ^hould be equal- 

 ly Sj)read over the svrface, ploughed in with a 

 liglii furrow, and turnip or potatoes ought to be 

 the first crop. If the Ihrnier, they should be sown 

 broad-cast, and let! o(f wiih sheej). By this the 

 Boil will receive creat benefit Irom the duiig and 

 urine, and from the rel'use of the phniis, and by iis 

 being consolidated by the trampling of the sheep 

 It wdl then be in good state lor a crop of oafs or 

 barley, which should be sown with yirass-seeds, 

 well rolled down. The ploughing, ulier the tur- 

 nips are eaten off, should be very slight, not to 

 bury the sheep's dung, &c. too deep; in which 

 case, a crop of oats is preferable to barley, as ihe 

 preparation of the ground re(iuircs less ploughing. 

 If the soil is full of the roots of rushes, and orhnr 

 weeds, a course of summer fallow wid be requi- 

 site, before any crop is taken; and if the ashes 

 have been made in one corner of the field, they 

 can be spread over the surface, belhre the seed- 

 furrow is given; and the looit? and tough clods 

 may be collected into heaps, burnt, and spread 

 along with them. 



If the bog is deep of peat, and very soft, so as 

 not to be fil to bear horses in the act of j)louLrliing 

 it the first year, a crop otiartiip broad-cast may be 

 got, by sowing the seed amoiiir the spread ashes, 

 harrowing it in with a light harrow and roller, 

 drawn by men. Tiie turnip should be eaien ofi 

 with sheep, and the ground will ne.xt year be so 

 much consolidated, as to admit the plough. 



If the surliice is not pared and burnt at all, a 

 course oftiiilow, even for two years, will be neces- 

 sary, 10 reduce the soil to a proper mould; in the 

 last stage of which, the lime, or other manure, 

 may be applied. In this case, two white crons, 

 with an intervening one of turnip, potatofs &c. 

 may be taken, belbre the grass-seeds are sown.f 



* In burning the turfs, after they are pro|)erly dried, 

 they should be set up in large heaps, adding to them 

 as they burn. This confiaes the smoke and flame, by 

 which so much of the essence is eva[)orated and lost, 

 when the turis are burnt in small heaps. 



Paring and burning the turf, is, in some places, be- 

 gun in the month of 'March; but it is bett^ir to delay 

 the burning till Ajiril or May. The ])aring, however, 

 may be done in March, and the turfs will be dry 

 enough for burning in the month following. 



t Rye, being a hardy grain, and thriving on very 

 poor soils, is a very profitable crop on drained boggy 

 land, pared and burnl, as appears from the following 

 extract of a communication to the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, respecting the state of husbaiulry in the "neigh- 

 borhood of Petersburgh: "Rye-bread, as every body 

 knows, is tiie ciii^-f support of this district, as well as of 

 the other northern parts of Russia; but, in order to 

 save the rye-flour, and to make it last the longer, th^ 

 inhabitants, wlien compelled by necessity, mix with it 

 fiae-giuand oalineal, the meai of buckwheat, and the 

 husks of tiie field mustard seed (dnapix arv(ln>iis). 

 'i'he produce oi rye hi vay few placjs varie/ more 



\ ( 



All boo-gy edii whatever, afiefr being once broken 

 up, and pulverized by tillage and a course of sum- 

 mer (allow, siiould not be overcropped before be- 

 ing laid down in grass; and when once brought: 

 into a good sward of grass, should not be too soon 

 broken vp, but continue so, brush-harrowing anii 

 top-dressing it, when the herbage begins to fog. 

 Frequent rolling is also very necessary on such 

 soft soils. 



It is better to feed sheep the first and second 

 years on the grass, than to cut it for hay, as it 

 causes the roots of the plants to strike more hori- 

 zonially throuirh the soil, and more closely cover 

 the Surface. For this purpose, a greater pro|)or- 

 tion of white and yellow clover, and other short 

 g/-a.ss-seeds, shoultl be sown. In the second 

 rueaking up of the ground, after lying some years 

 in pasture, no particular mode of practice, or rota- 

 tion of croppiniT, can be laid down. The state of 

 the ground, then, must be the rule for after-man- 

 agement, by which time it will not only have at- 

 tained a firnser texture, but also a decfree of 

 strength to^ produce any ciopSj with proper ma- 

 nure and cultivation. In mamiring soft boggy 

 soils, one precaution is necessary. The deeper 

 the ploughings are, previous to ihe duno' heiOij 

 laid on, the better; but the subsequen' hirruws 

 should be very superficial, and the dung intimate- 

 ly mixed; for when it is ploughed in ion dee]), not 

 equally distributed and incorporated with the soil, 

 it is apt to subside below reach of the plough, or 

 horizontal roots of the grain. The same is the 

 case wiih lime, which always p,enetrates deeper 

 into the soil; and marl, when buried too deep, 

 loses ail its efi'ect.* 



Upon soft bogay land, intended only for pasture, 

 nothiiig will work a more quick improvement than 

 covering it with a thin stratum of clay, o-ravel, or 

 any other earth heavier than that of" which the 

 bog is composed. Clay-marl, where it can be got, 

 is of all others to be |)relerred, both on account of 

 its greater wei^■ht, and enriching qualities. Sea- 

 sand, being mixed with shells, is peculiarly adapt- 

 ed lor this purpose, if the bog is situated near the 

 sea, where such can be easily got. The weight 

 and pressure of these heavier bodies makes the 

 bog soon become more solid, and likewise presses 



than here. The poor sandy lands will hardly produce 

 more than three times the quantity sown. The miu- 

 dling ,sorts of land produce tour and six times the 

 seed. The rich and well manured lands, and such 

 where wood has been cleared off', will produce, in a 

 good season, ten or twelve for one sown; but the most 

 extraordinary produce is gathered from bog°:y lands, 

 drained, and sown with rye; as in a favorable season it 

 increases forty times and upwards. The reason of this 

 extiaordinary increase must be explained: it is owing 

 to the ashes produced by burning the bogs, which assist 

 tiie vegetation to that degree, that frequently they find 

 one grain produce forty plants, and even more; for this 

 reason, they generally use a much smaller quantity of 

 seed in sowing such land. There is no need to sow 

 clump rye (sccale muUicavie ) upon such lands, as any 

 good common seed increases very much upon so rich 

 a soil, to which the burning of the surface has added 

 so much of the vegetative power. The seed is sown 

 in July or August, and is reaped about twelve months 

 after." 



* Coal ashes form an excellent manure for sour wet 

 land, either used as a to[»-dressing for grass, or, if 

 {)loughed in, tend greatly to destroy the tenacity of 

 stiif soils, and render them more productive. 



