ON BREAKING UP GRASS LANDS. 271 



The farmer lias to superintend and bear tlie expense of all 

 these operations. We Lave put the amount of expense he will 

 incur beyond tlie ordinary cultivation of the laud at 30-y. per 

 acre on half of the pastures converted. If he enters on the 

 land at Michaelmas, which will be the most convenient term 

 for him, he will be able to ploug'h those g"rass lands which 

 are to he ■ploiKjhed^ in the autumn (we suppose all the land- 

 lord's operations, except the building-s, to have been com- 

 pleted). The g'rass should be cut close, and the land 

 ploug'hed about 4 inches deep ; and it will be the better of 

 being- rolled before winter, so as to press the furrow-slices 

 home, in order that no gTass may grow between them. In 

 March, 4 bushels of oats per acre may be sown broadcast — 

 they will fall into the furrows and spring" up as if they had 

 been drilled — they should then be harrowed up and down 

 and across the former ploug-hing-, rolled, and left till harvest. 

 Tlie farmer will also, during- winter, be able to g-et all the 

 hedg-erows that are to be removed grubbed up. 



With regard to those fields which are to be pared and 

 bxu'nt, they must lie till the spring- ; but in ordinary seasons 

 there will be no difficulty in getting- them ready, part for 

 Swedes and part for common turni])s. They may be pared 

 either by hand or by plough ; in the latter case it is right to 

 cut the land by circular shares, arranged on an axle and 

 ■W'eighted, so that they shall pierce the sward in lines about 

 a foot apart. The paring-plough in crossing them, and 

 turning- over a furrow-slice about 10 inches wide, will turn 

 over, not a continuous riband of turf, but a series of patches 

 about a foot long, 10 inches wide, and 1 inch deep. These 

 are more manageable iw the burning. This ploughing, I 

 imagine, will cost about 9.?. or 10.*;. ])er acre. I have had no 

 ex])erience of it. All this farm was pared by hand, by 

 the breast-plougli, at a cost of about Vl^. per acre. The 

 burning, which should be done in as large heaps as possible, 

 and as slowly as possible — the one to ensure against the fires 

 being- put out by every passing- shower, and the other to 

 ensure black a.shes — will cost about 10.?. or Y2s. an acre 

 more; and the ashes where the turf has been cut about an 

 inch deep, will cost 3.<;. or 4.'>'. per acre to spread — the burners 

 being allowed the rubbish off and out of the adjacent gndjbed 

 up hedgerows to assist them. 



The next o])eration is to plough this land as shallow as 

 possible (say 3 inches deep), in narrow furrow-slices, and 

 thus bury the ashes. The ploughed land should then be 



