TILLAGE. 67 



though not better adapted to the end than buck- 

 wheat or lupine, it is more capricious than they, and 

 requires a soil of better staple and more prepara- 

 tion. The seed is also more expensive. Of this 

 tribe the yellow vetching (lathyrus pratensis) is the 

 species to be preferred. 



Turnips have been cultivated in England with the 

 same view, but the practice has yielded to another 

 and better (which, however, is not suited to our 

 climate), , feeding them off in the winter and on the 

 field. 



CHAPTER VII. 



OF TILLAGE, AND THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH IT 18 

 FOUNDED. 



TILLAGE has three objects: 1st, the raising of 

 plants, whose seeds, stems, or roots may be neces- 

 sary or useful to man and the animals he employs ; 

 2d, the improvement of the soil, by laying it open 

 to those atmospheric influences which increase its 

 fertility ; and, 3d, its destruction of weeds or plants 

 which rise spontaneously, and are either altogether 

 unfit, or fit only in a small degree, for the nutrition 

 of men and cattle, and which, if left to themselves, 

 would stifle or starve the intended crop. 



In fulfilling either or all of these objects, it is evi- 

 dent that the surface of the earth must be broken 

 and divided into small parts, so that it may furnish 

 a bed and covering for the seeds sown, enable the 

 plants to push their roots into the soil, and draw 

 from it a portion of their subsistence. 



To accomplish this leading intention, the division 

 of the soil, various means have been employed. Fos* 



