On the Agriculture of England^ Manures y ^c. 91 



well directed convertible husbandry, and that grass 

 may be justly considered, not only nature's grand re- 

 storative of the soil, but also the pabulum of succeed- 

 ing- vegetation ;* thence it should be laid down as a 

 maxim in farming, that no grounds should continue in 

 grass until they become hard, bound, or consolidated, 

 and the roots become old and matted, and that the 

 plough should be stopped, before decaying vegetation 

 has been reduced to actual soil or earth, for great crops 

 of grass can be no longer obtained, than while the soil 

 continues free and open, and the roots remain unim- 

 paired, neither can superior crops of grain be expect- 

 ed, after decaying vegetation ceases to stimulate and 

 open the soil, without the aid of frequent manurings. 



As manure is a very expensive article, whether pur- 

 chased, or made on the farm, the judicious application 

 of it becomes highly important to the farmer ; and as 

 gentlemen of considerable agricultural information, 

 have differed very widely in their sentiments on the 

 time and mode of its application, it may not be impro- 

 per to state what has been my practice and observa- 

 tions on it. 



*That pjrass acts with amazing energy, in both those ways, is 

 readily conceived, by considering that the tops shelter and de- 

 fend the soil, and also gather and confine the nutritious proper- 

 ties, with which the surrounding atmosphere is charged, until 

 they are conveyed to the earth ; the dropping of the leaves are also 

 an addition to fertility, and the tops fed away to cattle, procure ma- 

 nure, and the roots fill the soil, in every direction, with a profusion 

 of vegetation, which, when they decay, enrich it, and most power, 

 fully excite the growth of succeeding crops. 



