216 Salutary Effects of Fire, on Soils * 



" quantity of them. Mr. Young, in that excellent book 

 "the P'armer's Calendar, mentions numerous in- 

 " stances of the crops of turnips obtained by manur- 

 '* ing the ground in this way : particularly of a Mr. 

 " Richardson in the Wolds, a tenant of Lord Yarbor- 

 " rough's, who has long practiced the method oi spread- 

 " i7ig straw upon fields prepared for turnips, and set- 

 " ting fire to it, thereby raising crops superior to those 

 *^ afforded by the usual portioii of dung. The quantity 

 " of straw he makes use of (for an acre) is five tons ; 

 " let it be supposed then, that these five tons of straw, 

 " were turned into five tons of dung (which is a large 

 " allowance) those five tons of dung would make ten 

 *' good car-loads ;* a quantity not sufficient for the 

 " fifth part of an acre.f The same gentleman found 

 " not only the turnip crop better, but the barley also, 

 ^^ than what followed from the manuring with dung; 

 ** and he is clearly of opinion, that it is the warmth 

 " from the fire that has the effect, and not the ashes ; 

 " for the quantity is nothing, and would be blown 

 ** away by the first blast. This straw -burning husband- 

 ^^ry, Mr. Young found again at Belesby, practiced by 

 " a Mr. Lloyd, an excellent farmer, who thinks that it 

 " will take six tons an acre, which will last longer in 



* An Irish car is much inferior, in capacity, to one of our one 

 horsed-carts. 



t The Irish acre is larger than the English statute acre. The 

 number of poles is the same ; but the L'ish pole is twenty one feet ; 

 whereas the English pole contains only sixteen feet, six inches. So 

 that the Irish acre is one acre, two roods, and nineteen perches, 

 English. 



