1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



6S1 



stock of cattle of all sorts, in proportion to the in- 

 creased extent of my improvements. It may per- 

 haps be thought, that so many servants would eat 

 me out of house and home. This 1 had guarded 

 against from the beginning. All those employed 

 in my husbandry lived by themselves, in some of 

 the out-houses, where they had their own kitchen, 

 and a certain stated allowance, suited to their usual 

 manner of life; so that they had no sort, of con- 

 nection with the others, whose more immediate 

 business it war, to attend me. 



"The land which I improved this year was co- 

 vered with heath, broom, and furze, which had 

 grown very thick and high. In the spring, when 

 the weather was dry, 1 set fire to this surface, after 

 taking due precautions to hinder the flames from 

 spreading too far. The whole burnt very well, and 

 I was in hopes of being able to plough up this 

 ground without paring off the turf, as I had done 

 with my other land the year before. This would 

 have been a considerable saving; especially as the 

 ashes were ready spread. But I should have con- 

 sidered that different lands require different treat- 

 ment. Ploughs, stronger than usual, were made 

 on purpose for this work; but the roots of the furze 

 and broom, which had resisted the fire, broke 

 them; and though I doubled the number of my 

 cattle for draught, several of the oxen were ruined 

 by this hard work, in which I persisted with too 

 much obstinacy. In vain did I plough it over and 

 over, and break every clod both before and after 

 sowing it; the broom and furze were not destroyed, 

 but made new shoots every where: the land con- 

 tinued unkindly and sour, and the oats which I 

 sowed in it yielded scarce any crop; in short, re- 

 peated ploughings and dunging were necessary 

 during three years, before it could be quite extir- 

 pated. I came badly off in this experiment: but 

 my former improvements, which I had continued 

 to manure and sow, luckily produced an abundant 

 crop: that of the last year yielded a good quantity 

 of wheat, which kept up my establishment, though 

 it did not compensate for the loss I now sustained. 

 However, this disappointment did not discourage 

 me. It raised the laugh of the whole country at 

 my expense; especially of those who had foretold 

 from the beginning, that I should not succeed. I 

 gave them the hearing, and only resolved not to 

 Jail a second time into the same error. 



"This year 1 established a nursery of fruit-trees, 

 and also of forest trees from other countries. This 

 nursery which succeeded very well, was of great 

 advantage to me afterwards, to fill up the different 

 plantations which I made as my improvements ex- 

 tended. I likewise repaired my woods, which 

 had formerly been destroyed by cattle and deer. I 

 surrounded them with ditches planted with hedges, 

 in order to bring them into regular yearly cuttings; 

 to which end I grubbed up such trees as were 

 stinted in their growth, and filled every empty 

 space, either with young plants, or the seed of 

 others, according to the nature, of the ground. By 

 continuing to do this every year, my woods are 

 now in excellent order, and afford regular cuttings, 

 at the small expense of keeping the fences in re- 

 pair. 



"In 1741, I had the same kind of land to deal 

 with as the year before; but took care not to com- 

 mit the same fault. Each day's cutting of the 

 heath, broom, &c. was burnt, with proper precau- 

 tions, as the workmen advanced, and the whole 



Vol III.— 86 



surface was dug by hand as it was cleared. By 

 this means, the ashes of these plants preserved 

 their fertilizing quality, and their roots were pulled 

 up. Women and children shook the earth from 

 off these roots, and turned them, whilst they were 

 drying in the hot weather. These were also laid 

 in heaps from space to space, and burnt upon the 

 spot, where they yielded some ashes, which were 

 spread, and immediately buried with one turn of 

 the plough. 



" During the summer, this ground was ploughed 

 several times; each time in a direction different 

 from the former. My cattle were but little fatigued 

 with this work: the heath, broom, &c. was almost 

 entirely destroyed, and the sourness of the land 

 was in a great measure cured. I had then begun 

 to make composts, which were mixed with the 

 dung of the stall and stable, and proved of singu- 

 lar benefit. With their help, I was enabled to 

 manure my newly broken up land sufficiently; 

 that is to say, to lay upon it half the quantity that 

 is generally used of dung for the common run of 

 lands. I sowed this piece with rye, which yielded 

 a plentiful crop. The crops from my former im- 

 provements, which I continued to sow without 

 resting them, were likewise very good this year, 

 excepting that of the last, which was also under 

 rye, and yielded but a middling produce. My 

 vineyards were now brought into as good order as 

 any in the province; and I continued draining my 

 meadows, and main roads and causeys. 



"The war then calling me into Bohemia and 

 Bavaria, I foresaw that I should be absent some 

 time, and consequently not able to spend part of 

 the year in the country, as I had used to do; to 

 give directions to my people, and see my orders 

 executed. Under these circumstances, that my 

 improvements might not stop, I gave the direction 

 of the whole to an intelligent servant, who had 

 lived with me a long while, and was married to an 

 excellent housewife: and to interest, him the more 

 in the future success of my undertaking, I agreed 

 to allow him half of the profits of every kind; sub- 

 jecting him to this only restriction, that he should 

 not impoverish the ground by too many crops. In 

 this state things went on till the end of the year 

 1748. 



"In the mean time new pieces of land were bro- 

 ken up every year; but not so extensive as the for- 

 mer; the expense of my campaigns not permitting 

 me to lay out upon them so much money as be- 

 fore. I even straightened myself, not to interrupt 

 the progress of my improvements: which, in gen- 

 eral, succeeded very well. I also revived an old 

 method of breaking up land, by cutting off the 

 surface with a paring mattock, and then burning it. 



"During the whole of this time, I was but two 

 years together without visiting my estate, where 

 my presence was then very necessary. In all the 

 other years, I gladly accepted the leave which was 

 given me to see how my works went on; though I 

 sometimes did not stay above a fortnight among 

 ihem. However, this was enough to give an eye 

 to every thing that was doing; which is of great 

 consequence in undertakings of this kind. 



"Peace being restored, 1 resumed the personal 

 guidance of my affairs in the beginning of the 

 year 1749, and placed my old servant in a farm 

 which I had to let, where his profits sat him down 

 at his ease. Though he was extremely faithful, 

 and my improvements were carried on very well, 



