1S3S] 



F A R M K R S • R E G I S T E R 



45 



as it mav have been belore, even llmuixh the 

 riilffes slioiilii lie liroad, crooked, and imoqiial. 

 Ii'iprovinij the riilirf^s, hy lovt'lliiitr aiui sijaiirliten- 

 iniT. will he hetier i)er|!)rnieii diirinir the third year. 



'Pile vvhdie of this soil, the third year, shoii'd 

 he iindei jrrc^en iTop, wiih the usual preparation 

 and maiiare. It would lie needleiss to ."ay what 

 manure is best adapte.l, or how it should (>e ap- 

 plied, as thes;' eirriinistances depend eniirely upon 

 the various situations in wliich such land may be 

 placed. The lime necessary should be spread 

 on and filouirhed in with the last liirrow onlv. 

 il" the ridifes require any levelliiio; or new Ibrni- 

 iuij; but if not, this rule neeil not he.. adhered lo, 

 and the lime may be laid on alter the first plouirh- 

 inu, by which means it will be more intimately 

 mixed with ihe soil. I(" there is not a command 

 oC dunir lor the whole of the soil that may have 

 been broken up, and it niay not be convenient to 

 have the whole under potatoes or turnips, the 

 remainder cannot be better occupied than in ;ares 

 or vetches, which, cut ^reen in the end of sum- 

 mer, will afford excellent (eedintj for the working 

 horses. By the consumption of these in the 

 house, a sufficient portion of dung may be made 

 for manuring this part of the ground for next 

 crop. 



The application of the turnip to sfall-feedinji, or 

 eating off with sheep, either on the turnip-irround 

 in hurdles, or hy the same kind of shifting inclo- 

 sure, in an adjoining field, will depend on circum- 

 stances. Where the ground has been sufficiently 

 manured, it would be preposterous to feed them 

 off in the field where they grow; and in this case, 

 they should be carted ofi, either to the house-feed- 

 ing, if that is wanted: or to be eaten wilh sheep 

 on some grass mclosure that is to be broken up. 

 and is in need of manure, or perhaps, as a to;,- 

 dressing to some stinted pasture; or, part of them 

 may he eaten off with sheep on that portion of 

 ground which had got no dung, and had been un- 

 der tares. 



It is found to answer well, and prove very ben- 

 eficial, to take up part of the turnips early in the 

 season, when they are in the most nutritive slate, 

 and by cutting olTihe shaws (leaves), to pile them 

 up in small stacks or heaps, securely covered 

 with straw within a house or shed; and in this 

 gtate, if the frost be excluded, they will keep, sound 

 lor several months. * It is of consequence to clear 

 the ground in this way, when the succeeding 

 crop is to be wheat, and when the consumpt can- 

 not be so immediate as to clear it otherwise. 

 When barley or oats is to be the next crop, it is 

 not so material; but at all events, the saving fi'om 

 frost is a great desideratum, and therefore, Worth 

 attending to; and having them always at hand 

 when the ground may be covered with snow, and 

 thereby a difficulty in collecting and carting them 

 off. In this class of soils, and where the climate 

 and other circumstances favor it, wheat should be 

 the fourth and last crop sown down with o-rass- 



_ * There is an excellent method of preserving tur- 

 nips, by cutting off' the shaws and tap-root, and setting 

 them in regular layers on old pasture. The bottom 

 part immediately sends out fibres through the grass, 

 and preserves the bulb or body of the the turnip en- 

 tire for several months. Straw or grass laid over 

 tbem, excludes the frust, and so prolongs their nutri- 

 tive qualities. 



seeds. As the chief object may be, to ijet thi.s 

 land soon aiiain into pasture, only one ciiitinsr l<>r 

 hay should be taken, and the after-grass nut too 

 closely eaten down. 



By the mimauement and rotation here specified, 

 it is evident, ihat a very great addiiioiial siqi[)ly 

 of grain will he produced, vviihout dcteiioraiing 

 the soil so much as to render i's future produce in 

 tl-rass less valuable; baton the contrary, it wdl he 

 so much refref^hed and renewed, as afterwards to 

 \iel(l an abundance of i£ood pasture, in phice of 

 remaining in its Hu'mer unpro(!ucli\'e and unjiiofil- 

 able state. 



If. Old pastures, ivet and nver-run t^ith riishcs 

 and coarse grassusj the soil day, ur clay-loam. 



So soon as the drainingis finished, whicdi ought 

 to be in October (or belore, if it can be accom- 

 plished), the rushes should Ix; closely cut by a 

 strong, short, and broad scythe, made for the pur- 

 pose; and ihe ground plouglied with a deep fur- 

 row, so as to bury the stools, and expose the roots 

 and seed-bed to the winter's frost. What part of 

 this soil mav not be so wet and rushy, should not 

 be [iloughed with a deep furrow, but with one of 

 eight inches broad and six inches deep. This 

 ground should be limed on the sward (surface) 

 with newly slacked lime, and immediately plough- 

 ed in. The first crop invariably should be oats, 

 and the second may be beans and peas broad- 

 cast; or drilled, if the soil be sufficiently pulver- 

 ized by cross-ploughing and harrowing. No- 

 ground, unless it be very foul, and absolutely unfit 

 lor green crop, should be put underfallow, asthere- 

 by a crop is lost; but neitherof these (over-fbulness, 

 or too tenacious a soi!,) can le the case with the. 

 ground here alluded to, after the previous treat- 

 ment it has undergone. Indeed, the nature of the 

 soil is not adapted to such green cro[is as turnip 

 and potatoes; but a profitable crop of drilled beans, 

 or of cabbage, may be raised, while the ground is 

 undergoing (b)'' the necessary operations of hoeing 

 and cleaning) a state of preparation nearly equal; 

 to that of a (allow. 



The fourth and last ypar, this ground should be 

 sown with barley and grass-seeds. Barley in 

 ihisca.se is preferable to oats, because the soil be- 

 ing close and retentive, ihere is more time to pre- 

 pare and pulverize it by li-equent ploughings, &c, 

 tor the reception of the seed. As it should only 

 be cut one year lor hay, the quantity of pasture 

 grass seeds should be in a fliHer proportion. 



III. Light soil inclining to sand. 



This should be broke up wilh a crop of oa's the 

 first year, and with a very light furrow. Next 

 year's crop should be turnip, manured with a 

 compound of lime and strong earth, such as scour- 

 ings of ditches, cleanings of ponds, &c., or clay 

 marl where it can be liad; and the turnips should 

 be fed ofi' on the same ground, either with sheep 

 or black cattle, in hjrdles. The turnip, in this 

 case, may be sown in broad cast, with a less pro- 

 portion of manure, as that from the sheep or cattle, 

 while eating them off, will add a store of matter 

 to enrich the soil, and the tramf)ling and treading, 

 &c. will help to consolidate the looseness of it. 

 Barley, with grass-seeds, next year (the third), 

 will not fail to be a good crop; and it will be pre- 



