712 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



No. 12 



facturod ; so the loss, by this Iiigh cuttinir, will not 

 be u ti'ifliiiii; one. Many proprietors arc careful 

 that the land, in the last; year of the lease, cihould 

 be cropped in a regular manner ; and so lar ihey 

 are in the right: — but noneonhem, to my knowl- 

 edire, have ever prescribed any regulation, or in- 

 terfered in the slightest manner concerning the 

 culling of that crop, though a great and serious 

 injury may evidently be sustained by the new 

 tenant, when the crop is cut in a slovenly or ira- 

 perlect manner. I spoke to my predecessor on 

 that subject ; but his reply was, that his interest 

 went no furtiier than cutting the whole corn, and, 

 solar, he would take care of the reaping; bur, 

 as for cutting by the ground, which would add 

 five shillings per acre to the expense, that was no 

 part of his business. As matters stand, I believe 

 he is in the right ; therelbre think, without a spe- 

 cial clause in leases, such an abuse standi a chance 

 of being continued, notwithstanding of its injurious 

 consequences to the cause of agriculture. 



The liillow fields being all seed-furrowed, I have 

 set the carts to driving lime for one of the clover 

 fields, and expect to finish it belbre seed-work 

 commences. 1 am still giving the horses one feed, 

 or six avoirdupois pounds, of oats per day, finding 

 it impracticable to carry on work in a business- 

 like manner without that assistance. Since my 

 entry at Whitsunday, the ten working horses 

 have consumed forty-eight bolls of oats. The first 

 five weeks, they were Jed three times a day; the 

 next lour weeks, twice a day ; and afterwards 

 received only one feed. I paid, on an average, 

 twenty-seven shillings per boll for the oats^ 

 which amounted to sixty-four pounds sixteen-shil- 

 Jings. This, to be sure, is a heavy charge ; but, 

 without bearing it, I must either have run down 

 my stock, or executed the summer-work of the 

 (arm imperltjctly. Under this expenditure, I have 

 turnipped and summer-fallowed fitly acres of land 

 in a satisfactory manner, besides driving a consi- 

 derable quantity of lime ; therelbre, do not grudge 

 the expense which has been incurred. 



The grassland did verj^ well, having been saved 

 till a full bite was obtained. This mode of man- 

 agement is undoubtedly most commendable, — 

 serving to cover the surface, and thereby to benefit 

 the soil, whilst, at the same time, it is the alone 

 best way of brinijing forward the bestial thereupon 

 depastured. The ten highland cattle received 

 from my father are already sold ; and the country 

 beasts purchased at the markets are in a thriving 

 condition. I have thoughts of disposing of them 

 to some ofthe turnip feeders, considering that my 

 twelve acres of turnips and ruta-basa will be better 

 appropriated to the support of winter ewes and 

 cattle, then to the feeding of these beasts. 1 

 purchased, at different times, a score of country 

 cattle; and suppose, at Michaelmas, that, one 

 with another, they may yield a profit of three 

 pounds per head, having constantly had a full sup- 

 ply of food. 



Till last week, I had not the slightest dispute 

 with any of the servants ; but an altercation then 

 ensued, which required a strong measure to be 

 used without delay. One ofthe plnuojhmen, whose 

 physiognomy displayed evidence of a sulkv temper, 

 was beating his horses with the plouiih-stafl' when 

 I came upon the field. He desisted from such bar- 

 barous usa<je upon getting a sight of me ; but, 

 being resolved to check the first appearance of a 



practice which cannot be too severely (Censured, I 

 went up to him, and calmly inquired why he pre- 

 sumed to beat my horses in that manner? He 

 insolently replied, that he would thrash any man's 

 horses, even those of the Kin^' himsellj were they 

 not obedient to his orders^ Will you do so my 

 good lt;llow7 Then f must tell you, that you are 

 not to remain in my service a moment longer. 

 Unyoke tJie horses, and take them to the stable. 

 That I will says he ; but I hope you will pay me 

 my wages. Yes, lor the lime you have served me, 

 provided you instantly leave the place, with bag 

 and baggage. I gave the horses to one of the la- 

 bourers lor a day or two, till another ploughman 

 was engaged ; and I am almost certain, that the 

 example made v/ill bie attended with beneficial 

 consequences, as the fellow hitherto lias not pro- 

 cured any employment. Indeed, Avhen the pur- 

 chase and keep of horses is so great, no man 

 whatsoever ought" to receive employment as a 

 ploughman who uses tlicse animals in an improper 

 manner. 



Sapteiiihcr 12. — The fallowed field of thin clay 

 soil, containing fourteen Scoiish acres, was sown 

 a \'c\v days ago with ten bolls of excellent wheat, 

 purchased, according to your recommendation, 

 from the celebrated Mr. Hunter, — a gentleman 

 who, perhaps, has paid more attention to the 

 breeding of seed-wheat than an}' other agricultu- 

 rist in the Island. The pickling process, upon 

 which, you always told me, much depended, was 

 conducted with the greatest attention. I previ- 

 ously provided a considerable quantity of stale 

 urine, and hot limeshells fresh from the kiln. Af- 

 ter wetting the grain completely with the urine, 

 we riddled so much newly slaked lime upon it as 

 to dry up the moisture. Then, turning the heap, 

 and mixing the whole sufficiently, the grain was 

 put into two carls and carried to the field, where 

 it was sown with the utmost expedition. We 

 entered early in the morning to work, and finished 

 the field without unyoking the horses. The four-, 

 teen acres took twelve hours work often horses to 

 give a double time of the harrows in length, a 

 double time across, and a single lime in length as 

 a finisher. The field was also water-furrowed 

 before we left it; and I fed both men and horses 

 upon the ground, otherwise it would have been 

 impracticable to have got through more than two 

 thirds of the work which was executed. Next 

 day, the whole headland and gate-furrows were 

 spaded and shovelled ; and it was well that these 

 operations were speedily performed, as, yesterday, 

 a great deal of rain fijil, and put the ground into 

 such a condition, that I suppose neither ploughs 

 nor harrows can be yoked for several days. 



My predecessor had got up six stacks of wheat 

 and two of potatoe oats belbre the rain fell; but 

 wlien he will get more into the yard, is a proble- 

 matical circumstance. I gave him two days of 

 my carts, and am resolved to assist him, so far as 

 in my power, till the whole crop is harvested. 

 None ol^ the stacks were covered when the rain 

 arrived, ihough he immediately set about that 

 necessary operation, which, to say no more, can 

 never be well executed, except when the weather 

 is calm and dry. A waygoing tenant is certainly 

 exposed to many inconveniences when harvesting 

 his last crop. He is rarely on the spot fiimself, 

 and seldom provided with the best set of hands for 

 performing the several branches of harvest work. 



