On the Diseases of Swine. 51 



with sheep ; and this was done by turning on so many 

 as to eat it literally into the ground in two or three 

 days, and so close, that no appearance of a blade could 

 be seen. Partial eating, by too small a flock, was al- 

 ways esteemed rather injurious, by retarding the 

 growth of some more than others, and preventing it 

 from growing and ripening even. If wheat was sown 

 on a rich fallow, so as to be in danger of lodging, the 

 eating it off makes it grow shorter and stifi'er, and vice 

 versa ; if it be sown on a poor soil, in the spring it 

 looks pale and sickly, and instead of its leaves creep- 

 ing and spreading on the surface of the ground, it rises 

 straight up and does not stool, in this case the eating 

 it off makes it stool more, mends the colour, and adds 

 considerably to the produce. The method of perform- 

 ing this operation was, after the sheep are taken ofi^, 

 we take a light roller and two light turnip harrows, the 

 width of the roller ; these are fastened with chains to 

 the roller, and follow it, the roller breaks and pulver-> 

 izes the clods, and the harrow loosens the surface and 

 earths up the plants ; then both harrowing and rolling 

 are performed at once, with one pair of horses ; this 

 operation is always performed in the fourth month, 

 (April) when the ground is dry ; it is also practiced on 

 wheat and rye, that is not eat off with sheep, and with 

 equal success ; its uses are not altogether confined to 

 the grain crop, as it is the very best methofi of cover- 

 ing grass seeds. 



2. The disease of pigs I allude to, is the complaint 

 first mentioned by J. P. De Gruchy, in his letter, pub- 

 lished in the second volume of Agricultural Memoirs, 

 He calls it the staggers, a name very descriptive of the 



