608 



FARMERS' REGIS T E R 



years, but in oilier laml Iwenty and even tliiiiy 

 years ; the hay is prelerreii to all oih^r^ ; a ininaire 

 is worth 6 louis at lour cuis {51. 9s. 4cL per acre) : 

 1 walked over many fiiiliLs ol'if, ami Ibund the crops 

 beaulilijily clean and luxuriant, of a complexion 

 and product very dillerent from what is ever seen 

 in Enjrjand, but not equal to that oT Barcelona in 

 heijfht by a thiid. Perpi^rnan to V^illa Franca, 

 take three crops of wheat alier lucerne. 



Sijcan. — Yields two cuttings in dry years, and 

 lour in wet ones ; lasts ten year.^. 



Languedoc — Caussan. — Fine; under mulber- 

 ries ; from thirty-six sesterees ^et an hundred 

 sepiiers of'seed; the sesteree is sown with lUO lb. 

 oC wheat; the price last year was 50 liv. ihesep- 

 tier. Vale land under lucerne lets sometimes at 

 40 liv. to 72 liv. the sesteree ; corn land only 

 15 liv. 



Pezcnas. — Lucerne every where ; lasts ten or 

 twelve years ; is excellent lor every ihin<r except 

 sheep, tor which animal it is too fitiening. 



Pinjan. — Sow 15 lb. the sesteree ; always 

 alone; cut five times a year, and lasts filleen 

 years, yielding 1200 lb. dry hay each cutting; and 

 the seed of a sesteree has yielded 100 liv.; the 

 the present price of the seed is 45 liv. the quintal, 

 and of the Jbrage 49s. When it is weedy ihey 

 clean it by ploughing in the winter wiih a narrow 

 pointed share, choosing Irosty weather, which kills 

 the weeds, but not llie lucerne; an admirable 

 practice, and apparently the origin of Rocque's 

 harrowing, il'it extend into Provence, his couniry. 

 When it is worn out, their conduct is no less ex- 

 cellent; greatly as it improves the land, they do 

 not venture to sow wheat, but barley and oats lor 

 hay, not corn, lor two years in succession ; a great 

 deal of lucerne, pushing Irom the old roots, would 

 considerably injure any corn, but add equally to 

 the value ol'a crop of Ibrage, as ihey call it ; and 

 the mowing early cuts off abundance of weeds ; 

 after these two crops they sow wheat, which 

 proves very fine. 



Lund. — Much lucerne, but not fine, for the soil 

 is inferior. 



Carcassonne. — Cut it four to six limes, according 

 to rain ; lasts 10 to 14 years. 



Gascoigx — St Vincents. — Cut in good years 

 thrice, in bad ones twice ; much over-run with 

 couch. 



Fleuran. — A few small pieces used lor soiling 

 horses. 



Estafort. — Cut four times for soiling horses, and 

 it is the best food of all lor them. 



Landron. — See a small piece of lucerne, but no 

 other in the rich vale of the Garonne. 



PoiTOU — Poitiers. — Lasts fifteen years ; use 

 it both Ibr soiling and hay, which is better than 

 that of saintfoin. 



TouRAixE — Chantelopc. — The Due de Choi- 

 seul's cows always tied up the year round ; in 

 summer soiled on lucerne, which gave cream and 

 butter of the very finest flavor. 



Blois. — Pieces of it on a poor and almost blow- 

 ing sand ; lasls five years; cut it thrice ; and the 

 produce more valuable than corn. 



Orleans. — Lasls eight or nme years, and is cut 

 thrice. 



Isle of Fraince. — Pctiviers. — Lasts twelve 

 or fifteen years. 



Melun. — Much here; lasls ten years; i( is cut 

 thrice, and the produce more valuable than wheat. 



I Yersaint. — Cut thrice; the first yields 400 bottea 

 of hay; the second 200 ; the third 100; in all 700 

 j (about 4 tons [)er acre), and the selling price 20 

 ' liv. the 100: or 140 the arpent. The finest of all 

 j their corn crops are those which succeed it. 



To Alontgeron. — It is the best feature of their 

 husbandry. Sow 22 lb. of seed per arpent, with 

 ! oats. Ii lasls twelve years. The price, at present 

 20 liv. the 100 boites. When they break it up, 

 tiiey sow oats, and then wheat, getting by far llic 

 I finest crops they ever experience. 

 i Liancuurt. — Cultivated in considerable quanti- 

 I ties. Sow 30 lb. of seed per ar[)ent, at the ave- 

 rage price of 20 to 24s. the pound. Mons. Prevoet 

 a very intelligent and understanding farmer in the 

 vale of Calnoir has remarked a great difference 

 between the seed of Provence, &c. which is com- 

 monly solil in the norlli of France, and their own. 

 The Ibrmer rarely succeeds so well as their own, 

 which he attributes to the great difierence of the 

 climate: wiili their own seed they never fail. — 

 The general cusiom is to sow it with oats. It lasts 

 with tolerable management, ten or twelve years ; 

 but on a rich deep soil, on a dry tiottom, it has 

 been known to reach the duration ol' twenty years. 

 To destroy the weeds which arise in it, they iiar- 

 row it parlially wiih iron toothed harrows, and 

 manure it with rotten dung. It is always cut three 

 times a-year, and sometimes lour ; but that is not 

 common : a very good arjierit would let at 150 liv. 

 a-year, wiiich is more than any other produciion 

 in the couniry. The finest of all may give 1600 

 boties of hay, each of 12 lb. or 19,200 lb. which 

 is above seven tons the English acre. In general 

 the crop may be reckoned at 500 boties, at two 

 cuts on a mine, or 1000 the arpent,. which is 12,000 

 lb. or better than five tons per English acre. The 

 price of it does not equal that of good common 

 hay; nor is it reckoned so good fbr horses. At 

 present it is not worth more than 20 liv. the 100 

 bottes ; they save seed of the third growth, and 

 reckon 200 lb. per arpent a middling crop. Seed- 

 ing does not destroy it : on good land it is just as 

 good altei; butsoineiimes on [locr land il is injured. 

 A vast object in the culture is the great improve- 

 ment it works in the land ; when they plough it 

 up, the}' do not venture to have wheat, as the 

 luxuriance would be such that the product would 

 be all straw. They take two, three, (bijr, and 

 even five crops of oats in succession, which are 

 prodigiously great ; and when Ihe oais decline, 

 they sow wheat, and get a very fine crop ! 



il/arenne.— Lasts twelve to fifteen years; cut 

 thrice : when ploughed up, sow two crops of oats, 

 and then wheat, all sure to be excellent. 



Ponioise.— Near the town half the land is un- 

 der it. 



^rasseiisc. —Commonly sown with oats that 

 succeed wheat, and often upon one ploughing 

 only; yet sijch is the happy texture of the soil, a 

 fine friable sandy loam, that it succeeds tolerably 

 well, and would, with belter husbandry, yield an 

 immense advantage; it lasts ten or twelve years, 

 and longer when taken care cf. They cut il thrice 

 a year. It yields, at the two first cuttings, 300 or 

 400 bottes per arpent of hay fit Ibr horses, and the 

 third is Ibr cows. Madame la Viscountess du Pont, 

 sister of the Duchess de Liancourt, has possibly 

 more lucerne than any other person in Europe. 

 She has 250 arpents 80 of which were mowed this 

 year. 1 saw the hay, and never met willi belter 



