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dium, a well known sort of weeds, 

 (hat is often troublesome to such of 

 our cleared, or partially subdued 

 lands, as have not been tilled. 

 They are so full of salts, that they 

 should be cut green, and laid in 

 our barn yards to putrefy, and mix 

 with dung. Perhaps there is 

 scarcely any better method of in- 

 creasing manure. Pasturing the 

 land where they grow, especially 

 with hungry cattle, that will eat 

 them as fast as they come up, will 

 help to subdue them. Folding 

 will kill them ; for there is nothing 

 so fatal to them as unne : But not 

 less than two or three year's til- 

 lage will subdue them. They are 

 hardest to subdue in deep soils. 

 Plentiful dunging, with tillage, will 

 be effectual ; but a most certain 

 remedy is urine ; this they get in 

 plenty by folding. 



" Fern, cut while the sap is in 

 it, and left to rot on the ground, 

 is a very great improver of land ; 

 for if burnt, when so cut, its ashes 

 will yield double the quantity of 

 salt that any other vegetable can 

 do. In several places in the north 

 parts of Europe, the inhabitants 

 mow it green, and burning it to 

 ashes, make those ashes up into 

 balls, with a little water, which 

 they dry in the sun, and make use 

 of them to wash their linen with; 

 looking upon it to be near as good 

 as soap for that purpose." Diet, 

 of Arts. 



In the Farmer's Calendar you 

 may read, under September, "Now 

 is the proper time to cut fern, cal- 

 led in some places brakes. This 

 is most profitable work, and should 

 never be neglected. Carry it into 

 18 



your farm yard, and build large 

 stacks of it for cutting down 

 through the winter, as fast as the 

 cattle will tread it into dung; also 

 for littering the stables, ox houses, 

 cow houses, hogsties, &:c. By 

 having great plenty of it, you will 

 be able to raise immense quanti- 

 ties of dung, which is the founda- 

 tion of all good husbandry ; and 

 it is well known that no vegetable 

 yields such a quantity of salts as 

 fern : from which we are to con- 

 clude, that it is best adapted to 

 the making manure." 



It is a lamentable thing that we 

 should hitherto be so inattentive 

 to our own welfare, as to suffer 

 this weed to render our lands in a 

 manner useless, when it might be 

 turned to so great profit. It is a 

 double advantage to cut brakes, 

 as they not only make plenty of 

 good manure, but every cutting 

 helps to destroy them. The work 

 may be done after the hurry of 

 hay making is over 5 and perhaps 

 no labour on a farm can turn to 

 better account. 



FISH, all the parts offish, shell 

 fish and all other, are excelleftt 

 manures. They may be used, 

 either salted or fresh ; salted fish 

 are said to be best. The offals of 

 fish, and fish that are spoilt for eat- 

 ing, may be converted to this 

 use ; But 1 should prefer using 

 them as an ingredient in compost. 

 They are so strong a manure, that 

 it has been said, one single ale- 

 wife will answer as well as a 

 shovel full of the best dung, in 

 producing Indian corn. But they 

 cause land to exert itself so much, 

 that it will be apt to grow poor. 



