CL A 



GL A 



87 



much alteration, will bear good 

 crops of grass, if care only be 

 taken not to feed them close in 

 autumn, nor to let cattle in upon 

 them in the spring. But the 

 farmer, who wishes to keep them 

 in tillage, must alter them by the 

 admixture of such substances as 

 may serve to open the soil, and 

 break the cohesion of its particles. 

 When this is once accomplished, 

 the land will become highly valua- 

 ble ; holding the manure to ad- 

 miration, and never returning to 

 its pristine state. 



Dung is helpful towards open- 

 ing a clayey soil, by the fermenta- 

 tion it raises, as well as by the 

 mixture of its earthy, saline and 

 oily particles. But dung of itself 

 will not be sufficient, unless it 

 were laid on more plentifully than 

 farmers can well afford. A mix- 

 ture of dung and sand is found to 

 be a much better dressing for this 

 sortof land, than dung alone. And 

 if sand be not too far distant, it 

 would be advisable to put on a 

 layer of it two or three inches 

 thick. Beach-sand is preferable 

 to any other, as the saltness of it 

 will help to make the ground fruit- 

 ful. But pit-sand will do very 

 well ; or rather, tliat which has 

 been washed down to low places 

 in the roads. 



In places where sand is not to 

 be had, the ground may be loos- 

 ened with other substances. Grav- 

 el, or light loam, from neighbour- 

 ing spots, may be carted upon it 5 

 dust from saw-pits, chips and rub- 

 bish from the back yards of houses, 

 straw and stubble, swamp mud, 

 the bark of trees and rotten wood. 



or burnt clay. I have known a 

 clayey spot made very fruitful, 

 merely by the remains of a rotten 

 log fence, when mixed with the 

 soil. 



When a clay soil is sanded, or 

 any other thing laid on to open it, 

 it will take several ploughings and 

 harrowings to mix it, so as to 

 bring the land to a good consis- 

 tence. As the expense of mixing 

 it at once would be too great, it is 

 better to use it for two or three 

 years after, for the giowing of 

 such tillage crops as are most 

 suitable to clayey soil, such as 

 barley, flax, &c. The soil will 

 grow better year after year, till 

 the sand, &c. is thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil ; after which it will 

 be fruitful forever without large 

 dressings. Hoed crops will mix 

 it sooner than any other method, 

 and without any expense. 



A small quantity of dung, each 

 year that it bears a hoed, or a green 

 crop, will be proper : And the 

 most suitable dungs are those of 

 horses and sheep, pigeons and 

 other fowls, which by their heat 

 will correct the natural coldness 

 of the soil. — Folding with sheep 

 has an excellent effect on this 

 kind of land. 



Such a stiff soil is also mended 

 by frequent ploughings. The 

 Europeans allow three ploughings 

 previous to feeding, to be enough 

 for a free soil ; but to a clayey soil 

 they give four or five. The 

 ofttMier it is stirred with the 

 plough, the more the cohesion of 

 the particles is broken, and the 

 more eaei!)' the roots of plants can 

 penetrate it in search for their 



