MARCH.] PICK STONES. 187 



if the stones be not much wanted. It has been often 

 remarked, and is a known fael, that too much stone. 

 picking lias done a very sensible mischief, in many 

 cases where picked by authority of parliament 

 for turnpike roads. But Mr. Macro, of Suffolk., 

 ascertained it experimentally. " Having often 

 thought that picking the stones off my turnip lands 

 did more hurt than good, I tried an experiment 

 last spring, by gathering up all the stones of one 

 square rod, after the turnips were folded off, and 

 laying them equally over another square rod by the 

 side of it, then sowed them with barley, and marked 

 them out, and, at harvest time, collected them se- 

 parately, as likewise another square rod by the side 

 of them, which had only the natural quantity of 

 stones. 



Qts, Pints. C. B. P. 



Produce from the rod "j f "1 



that had thr double > 6 1 | or, per acre, 1 8 02 

 quantity of stones, J 



Ditto, from that where 1 f j 



the stones were ga- V 6 O <| ditto, { 7 2 O 



theredoff, - - J J 



Ditto, from that in its j f # \ 



natural state, - - J \ y 



" From this single experiment the result is in 

 favour of the largest quantity of stones; and I ve- 

 rily believe it is quite wrong, after the sheep have 



* This result coincides with various observations that have 

 been made in several of our counties, particularly Hertfordshire, 

 and also in France. The lesson it suggests deserves no slight at- 

 tention. A. Y. 



trod 



