FARMERS' REGISTER. 



201 



and the plan ndopted on this farnn, and whicli is 

 thought lo succeed the besi, is as follows: — The 

 rye-ijrass, the trefoil and the white clover seeds 

 are, with the barley, draiiged in with the drag- 

 harrows, with lour horses, whicii iro over about 

 seven acres a day. After this the land is harrow- 

 ed across with three horses at the rale of about ten 

 acres a day. The red clover is sown with the 

 machine, just when the barley comes above the 

 ground, and is rolled in with a roller, ten feet lonf? 

 drawn by two or three horses, which do about 

 twelve acres a day. The reason lor this part of 

 the plnn is, that the red clover i'requently grows so 

 (iist, as to overtop the barley altogether. By this 

 plan the barley g^ts the start of the clover, which 

 is thereby kept in iis proper place. 



The (pianiity of grass-seeds required varies, ac- 

 cording lo the quality of the soil ; but the average 

 on this farm is — two bushels of rye grass ; six 

 pounds oftrelbil; Riur pounds of while, and eight 

 pounds of red clover ; the proportions varying ac- 

 cording to circumstances. 



The produce is about three-quarlers and a half 

 of barley per acre. The expense of mowing is 

 eighteen pence per acre, and one gallon of beer ; 

 the expense of thrashing, which is done with the 

 flail, is two shillmgs per quarter, including the 

 winnowing. About half of the siraw is eaten by 

 cows and oxen; the other half is trampled into 

 manure. 



III. Clover after barley. — The grass seed sown 

 amonixsi ihe barley consists of rye-grass, trefoil, 

 and white and red clover seeds. The soil of this 

 farm is not well adapted to red clover, which often 

 fails ; and, aliliou<zh upon some of the land the 

 plants come up and seem to thrive, yet the crop 

 is always very light, the rye-grass forming the 

 principal pari, il not nearly the whole of it. 



The whole of this crop is mown and made into 

 hay. The mowing commences as soon as the 

 .sainlfoin hay is cut down, and just when the 

 blossoms of the rye-grass and red clover appear. 

 This is about the first or second week of June — 

 never later. 



Hay of the above composition of grasses JVlr. 

 Hayward thinks the best of all hay, if it is cut 

 early, when the natural sap is fiowing; for a 

 process of deterioration commences and goes on 

 from the time the rye-grass begins to come into 

 blossom till the seed is perfected, the |)lants be- 

 coming hard and the natural sap being dried up, 

 in which state it is of little or no value as hay, 

 and little better than wheat straw. When rye- 

 grass and clover are allowed to perlbct their seed, 

 ihey are thrown into the cribs of the store-stock, 

 or cut up witti othei' hay as chati" ibr the working 

 catile. 



The whole of the clover and rye-grass on this 

 farm is cut down, whatever is the state of the 

 weather, as soon as it is readj* ; for it takes more 

 injury by standing than by being cut down in a 

 wet state. A man generally mows an acre and a 

 half a day. There are generally twenty mowers 

 employed upon Uiis farm ; and from thirty to forty 

 haymakers, the latter consisting of men, women, 

 and stout boys. The mowing costs sixteen pence 

 an acre, and a gallon of beer a day lo the mower. 



Alier Ihe grass has been cut down about two 



days in drying weather, and has become withered 



or dried on the top of the swath, it is turned over 



with a rake, in doing which care is taken to keep 



Vor.. VIII— 26 



it together as much as possible. It sometimea 

 requires to be turned a second time; but only when 

 the weather is unfavorable. As soon as it is dry 

 enouah, it is put into cocks with the barley or 

 three-pronged Ibrks, and raked between the cocks 

 with the long or ell-rakes. These rakes, which 

 are more than double the length oi' the common 

 rakes, are used in perference to the latter, because 

 more work can be done with them. The wagons, 

 following afier those that are cocking, clear the 

 field as they proceed. The strength of team that 

 can be brought to bear upon a single field soon 

 carries the whole of the hay to the rick. The 

 ricks are built on or near the place where the hay 

 is intended to be consumed ; and in the field sown 

 to turnips, a rick, equal to a Ion per acre, is gene- 

 rally placed. 



The whole of this crop is consumed by sheep 

 and horses. Great crops of clover and rye-grass 

 hay are not to be expected upon land of the quality 

 of this farm. A ton per acre is reckoned a great 

 crop. 



The second yearns crop of clover and rye-grass is 

 fed off with sheep. Every means is used to pre- 

 vent the rye-grass from coming to seed ; for if seed 

 is produced, it will grow amongst the wheat, the 

 following year, injure it very much, and shorten 

 the crop. The couples (a ewe and lamb) are 

 put upon this crop in the first instance ; and after 

 the lambs are weaned, the whole of the ewes. 

 They are kept so very thick upon it as to crop it to 

 the very ground ; for the harder the ewes are kept 

 when their lambs have been newl}' taken from 

 them, thesooner the milk goes from them. This 

 crop keeps two couples per acre for about six 

 weeks ; and four ewes, after this, till it is ploughed 

 up for wheat. 



IV. Wheat. — The wheat crop, as we have 

 already observed, is generally taken after the se- 

 cond year's crop of grass, vv'hich has been pas- 

 tured by sheep, and eaten by them so close to the 

 ground, that iione of the rye-grass may come to 

 seed. The preparation of the land Ibr wheat 

 begins immediately after the turnips are sown. 

 This is about the first of Jul}'. The land which 

 requires it, is first raftered or half-ploughed, that it 

 may lie in this slate for some lime to let the turf 

 rot. It is then harrowed and gels the seed-furrow 

 in August. But all the land, that requires only 

 one ploughing, receives the seed-furrow before 

 that which has been raftered; fi-^r when it gets 

 only one furrow, it requires to lie longer before it is 

 sown. 



The sowing begins, wiihout any other prepara- 

 tion, as early in September as the season will allow, 

 that is to say, as soon as the land is wet enough 

 for it. The heavy drags, with six oxen or four 

 horses, go over the land "twice in a place," in the 

 same directions in which it was ploughed, taking 

 care that the crowns of the ridges and the furrows 

 get a full share of this operation: indeed, three 

 times of the heavy drags is generally given them 

 to break the staple of these parts of the ridge. The 

 drag-harrows follow after the heavy drags, and 

 go over the land obliquely "twice in a place" 

 also. The last part of the process is performed 

 with the common liarrow, at right angles to the 

 way in which the lanil was ploughed. The rea- 

 son for altering the direction in these several ope- 

 rations, is, that the upper part of the furrow-slice 

 may be well broken without turning it over ; and 



