FEB.] MANURE GRASS-LANDS. 8? 



cleaned out. Too much attention cannot be given 

 to keep the lands quite free from stagnant water. 



MANURE GRASS-LANDS. 



This is the proper season for laying on several 

 sorts of manure, such as soot, coal-ashes, wood- 

 ashes, lime, malt-dust, &c. and in general those 

 that are spread in too small quantities to require 

 a- whole winter's rains to wash them in. The use 

 of these manures, and other light dressings in Fe- 

 bruary, is very beneficial ; but, throughout the 

 management of* purchased manures, experiments 

 should be formed for a year or two, before the 

 practice is extended, to see which, at a given price, 

 will suit the land best. Without this precaution, 

 a farmer may probably expend large sums of money 

 to little purpose. Nor would I advise him to trust 

 to the mere appearance of the effect soon after the 

 manuring ; for some of them, particularly soot and 

 malt-dust, will shew themselves after the first heavy 

 showers, in a finer green than the rest of the field ; 

 but the proof of the effect does not arise from fine 

 greens, but from weight of hay ; for I have myself 

 found from experience, that the latter is not always 

 an attendant on the former. Contiguous half- 

 acres, or roods, should be marked out, the prices of 

 the manures calculated, and on each piece a sepa- 

 rate one spread, all to the amount of 20s. an acre, 

 for instance. At hay-time, the crops should be 

 weighed. It will then be known which manure, at 

 the given prices, suits the soil best. This know- 



G 4 ledge 



