132 BEANS BETTER THAN OATS ON LAYS. [MARCH, 



view, there should be a succession of plantings 11 

 February, March and April. 



BEANS BETTER THAN OATS ON LAYS. 

 " To sow oats on a lay newly broken up, espe- 

 cially if such ground has been many years in grass, 

 is at all times very hazardous, and frequently cau: 

 a total destruction of the crop, an instance of whicl 

 I experienced in the spring of the year 1771. Th< 

 preceding winter had been very severe, with a con- 

 tinuation of unkindly weather till late in the sprii 

 for at the close of the month of April the pond; 

 were covered with ice, and sharp frosty nights in- 

 tervened till the 10th of May. Early in the month 

 of March I sowed with oats a sainfoin lay that had 

 been ploughed up some months before, and covered 

 in the seed with the large two-horse harrow, and 

 as soon as possible closed the soil with a five -horse 

 roll, so that the ground seemed to lie as close as 

 one could desire ; but the dry frosty weather above- 

 mentioned setting in for a month afterwards, ren- 

 dered the surface very porous, and the soil was 

 become dry as ashes, and by far too light for the 

 purposes of vegetation. Towards the middle of 

 April, the oats, by favour of some kindly showers, 

 began to make their appearance, but before they 

 were all fairly out of the ground, the worm seized on 

 the fibrous roots below the surface. The land being 

 at that time not sufficiently dry to admit the use of a 

 roll, I endeavoured to close the lightened soil by 

 treading it with horses. My primary view was, to 

 have trodden the upper part of the field only, 



the 



