406 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



Besides less injury done to the roads in carting, 

 nnd whiit is still ol' much (rreaier iinporlnnce, ihe 

 farmer havinir his! team only half ihe litwe cm- 

 ployed upon tile ronds, and the other part of llie 

 lime to be l)enefif.ially employed upon his I'arm. 



Mendinij the roads is someiimes used as a plea 

 in exieimation ol" the injurious practice of pickiuij 

 the stones olf the land: but \ consitler the plea 

 inadmissible, because where iliere are many j^ra- 

 vel stones on the surlace, it is a sure ini!i(;atioii 

 that a gravel pit may be opened to an advantage 

 at no gieal distance: but a still greaier objection 

 rests in the injin-y the land sustains liom such 

 treatment, particularly light soils, the staple of 

 which is weakened, and the intrinsic value re- 

 duced in a very material degree, by having the 

 stones |)icked olf; indeed I affii'm. that no stones 

 should ever be picked olF sandy or gravelly soils, 

 (and but seldom Irom any other description ol" 

 6oils,) unless when the stoiifs arc so large as to 

 impede the progress of the implements necessary 

 to be used in the cuitivaiion of the soil. Clo- 

 vers and grasses intended to be mown should al- 

 ways he rolled down at a proper season, after the 

 larger stones are picxed off. 



It is a disgusting practice, and cannot be too 

 eevercly censured, to pick the field stones into 

 heaps in the fields, and there allow them to lay, as 

 is Irequenlly tlie case the year round. This prac- 

 tice is unpiirdonahle in the hiixhly-cullivaied and 

 justly-celebrated county of Norlolk, a county to 

 which most others in the kingdom look up to for 

 example. Yet, notwithstanding the <rcnera! pro- 

 ficiency of the Norfolk firmer, I may ju-tly ap- 

 ply to them the adage of "t/se is second pniiire,''' 

 (let it be remembered I speak in general terms, 

 for there are very many exceptions) in respect 

 to the stone heaps; liir the firmer ri(les over iiis 

 fields amongst those heaps of stones with seem- 

 ing Uiiconcern, as if unconscious of the in|ury he 

 has sustained by having had the stones picked ofi 

 liis land in the first instance, and afterwards by 

 Iheir being left in heaps in the fields to destroy the 

 herbage they lay upon. 



In this Slate the stones lay from month to month; 

 nay, from year to year; and there are instances 

 (though not frequent) where the stones are not 

 retnoved at all, but are spread about again, and 

 ploughed down when the land is to be broken up 

 in preparation for the succeeding crop of corn. 



Willi this severe (I am sorry to say) well found- 

 ed reproach, I conclude my present remarks. In 

 my hints u|)on the difTerent subjects I have here 

 alluded to, I have endeavored to point out a few 

 errors, with a view to correct and improve them. 

 Althoufrh my remarks appear to be, and are in 

 fict, a little severe, yet I trust the liberal-minded 

 Norfolk farmers will receive them as (they really 

 are) well inteniioned. Those gentlemen im 'v 

 rest assured, that although I have considered it a 

 duty incumbent upon me to point out a i'ew pro- 

 minent errors, there is no person more sensible ol 

 their general merits than I am, and tio one more 

 ready to bear testimony to their inde(;iti(r;ib!e in- 

 dustry, intelligence, and general good practice as 

 agriculturists, and as this I may safely say, with- 

 out any fear of beinir reproached as a flatterer l)y 

 any person who has read the foregoing remarks. 



7b Thomas William Coke, Esq. 



I beg most humbly to state — You, sir, will, I 



fear, consider that in the foregoing remarks I have 

 done but imperfect justice lo the task I had under- 

 taken. 



It is, I acknowledge, a bold measure in me 

 thus venturing to censure any part of the celebra- 

 ted Norlolk husbandry; the principal impruve- 

 ments of which (as has been very justly re- 

 marked liy a high authority) were undertaken, 

 matured, and perfected, through the inslrumenlalL- 

 ty of your natroiia<re, precept, and example. 



But althouirh it is generally allo\ved that the 

 s_vstem of husbandry followed in Norlolk is very 

 nearly perfect, (more particularly where it has felt 

 the immediate effect of your flustering hand,) I 

 trust, sir, your liberal mind will excuse me when 

 I venture to say, there are still a few errors or im- 

 perltjciions, which strikes strangers more forcibly 

 than iliey do the eye of the actual cultivators. 

 Some of those errors have been hinted to me, and 

 I have here endeavored to point a few of thein 

 out, and to suggest remedies for their improve- 

 ment. 



It will remain for you, sir, to judge of the 

 merits (if there are any) or demerits of my per- 

 formance, which I now venture to lay before you. 

 I am, honored sir, 



Your very humble and olid't, servant, 

 Francis Blaikie. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



They who have not been in their youth accus- 

 tomed to do this work, arc seldom found to be 

 able to do it with ease or expedition. But when 

 the art is once learnt, it will not l)e lost. 



As this is one of the most laborious parts of the 

 husbandman's callini]!', and the more fuiiguing, as 

 it must be perfornunl in the hottest season of the 

 year, every precaution ought to be used which 

 tends to lighten the labor. To this it will conduce 

 not a little, lor the mower to rise very early, and 

 be at his work before the rising of the sun. He 

 may easily perform half the usual day's work be- 

 fore nine in the morning. His work will not only 

 be made easier by the coolness of the morning 

 air, but also by the dew on the grass, which is cut 

 the more easily for beincr wet. By this means he 

 may lie still and rest himself during all the hottest 

 of the day, while others who began late are sweat- 

 ing themselves extensively and hurting their 

 health, probably, by taking down large draughts 

 of cold drink to slaKe their raging thirst. The 

 other half of his work may be perlbrmed after 

 three or four o'clock, and at night he will find 

 himself more fi*ee from fatigue. 



If the mower would husband his strength to 

 advaniajre, he shoidd take care to have his scythe 

 and all the apparatus lor mowinnf in the best order. 

 His scythe ou^ht to be atlapted to the surface on 

 which he mows. If the surliice be level and li'ee 

 from obstacles, the scythe may be lonnrand almost 

 straight, and he will perform his work vviih less 

 labor and greater expedition. But if the surface 

 be uneven, cradley, or chequered with stones, or 

 stumps of trees, his scythe must he short and 

 crooked. Otherwise he will be obliged to leave 

 much of the grass uncut, or use more labor in cut- 

 ting it. A lonrp and straight scythe will only cut 

 off the tops of the grass in hollows. 



