[ 6i j 



The soil of these hills is for the most part deep, loamy, and of .1 

 good consistence; and were the climate more genial, could not 

 frnl of being highly productive in all season's. Occasionally are to ' 

 be found spots of land less valuable, being of a light, spungy na- 

 ture, black in color, and totally unproductive of corn on first cul- 

 tivation. 



Nature however has wisely provided a manure within itself, for 

 uft3er the surface, at the depth of a foot, is generally found a strong ' 

 c'ay, which being spread after the rate of thirty or forty earth- 

 per acre, gives such a tenacity to the soil, as enables it to produce 

 corn, or any crop in great abundance. 



And here let me advise a general investigation of the substrata 

 of all soils, about to be improved ; for I verily believe, that in 

 most instances, a manure may there be found, near at hand, and 

 congenial thereunto. Do we not frequently find clay under sand, 

 and sand under clay ; under flint, chalk; under white lias, or stor.^ 

 brash, marie ; under red earth, limestone; under peat bogs, sea 

 mud or clay. Are not these circumstances sufficient indication to 

 the wary husbandman, to examine minutely the interior quality of 

 his land, previous to applying extraneous, and expensive manures. 



The climate of these hills is cold, moist, and boisterous during 

 the winter season, and frequently immersed in fogs ; but in sum- 

 mer, the air is clear, salubrious, and invigorating. And it fre- 

 quently happens that potatoes, French beans, and other spring 

 crops, are destroyed in the vale, by frost in April or May, when 

 those on the hill are in no degree injured. 



The favorite corn crop is oats, which are produced in great abun- 

 dance, and of good quality. The wheat and barley are inferior, 

 being thick in the skin, and of a dark color; however the defect 

 in quality is amply made up by the quantity, for it is no unusual 

 thing after the land is manured with lime, to get from twenty to 

 thirty bushels (Winchester) of wheat, and forty or fifty bushels of 

 barley per acre. As to oats, the usual crop is from forty to sixty 

 bushels. 



But the most eligible mode of conducting a farm on lands of this 

 description, is to grow comparatively, but little corn, and that little 

 in the highest perfection. To have a great breadth of turnips, 

 cabbages, potatoes, vetches, artificial grasses, and consequently to 



I maintain 



