902 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



h imh it can be subdued and kept under, bul i>v adding strength to the grass plants, and thereby enabling 

 them to suffocate their enemy Mom I* never found on rich lands unless they are completely shaded l>y 

 trees Besides mole-hills, upland meadows, when neglected, are frequently troubled with ants, which 

 form heaps or hillocks ol grass and earth, more injurious and more difficult to gel quit ol than those of 

 moles The mode of taking moles is a simple operation, and wiD be described in the proper place; 

 that of destroying ants is more complicated and tedious, and, being peculiar to grass lauds, shall here 



5775 tnt-hUls.or habitations, are injurious to meadow lands, by depriving the farmer ofa crop in pro. 

 portion to the surface Ihey occupy, and by interfering with the operations of rolling and mowing. They 



consist ol little ei en es, composed of small particles ofsaud or earth, lightly and artfully laid together, 



which ma] often be computed .it a troth part, or more, of old grass-lands. In some places, where negll- 



,,,.,,,,. I, , [bred them to multiply, almost hall' the land has been rendered useless ; the hills standing as 



thick togethl t as grass-cocks in a hay-field : and what is very surprising, this indolence is defended by 

 mine who affirm, thai the area or superficies of their land is thereby increased ; whereas it is well known 

 that verj little or no grass ever grows thereon, and, therefore, if the surface is increased, the produce is 

 proportion. ,hl\ decreased. .... , , ., 



, l„ order to remove ant-hills, and destroy the insects, it has been a custom in some places, at the 

 be rlnnins of » inter, and often when the weather was not very cold, to dig up the ant-hills three or four 

 inches below the 9Urface Of the ground, and then to cut them in pieces, and scatter the fragments about ; 



but tins practice only disseminates the ants, instead of destroying them, as they hide themselves among 

 the roots of the grass for i little time, and then collect themselves together again upon any little eminence, 

 oi which there are great numbers ready for their purpose, such as the circular ridges round the hollows 

 where the hills stood before. It is, therefore, a much belter method to cut the hilN entirely Off, rather 

 lower til in the surface of the land, and to let them lie whole at a little distance, with their bottom up- 

 wards ; by this means the ants, which are known to be very tenacious of their abodes, continue in their 

 h ilut liious until the rains, by running into their holes of communication, and stagnating in the hollows 

 formed by the removal of the lulls, and the frosts, which now readily penetrate, destroy them If a little 

 soot were thrown on the pi. ices, and washed in with the rains, it would probably contribute greatly to the 

 intended effect The lulls, when rendered mellow by the frosts, may be broken and dispersed about the 

 land. Ii> this method of cutting the hills, one other advantage Is gained; the land soon becomes even 

 ami tit fiir mowing, and the little eminences being removed, the insects are exposed to the wet, which is 

 very disagreeable and destructive to them. It would, perhaps, be a better practice than that of suffering 

 the hills to remain on the ground, to collect the parts of them which have been pared off into a heap, in 

 soui." convenient place, and then form them into a compost, by mixing a portion of quick lime with them. 

 In wet weather these insects are apt to accumulate heaps of sandy particles among the grass, called by 

 labourers sprout-hills, which quickly take off the edge of the sc>the. These hills, which are very light and 

 compressible, may be conveniently removed by frequent heavy rolling. 



5777. In the Norfolk mode of cutting and burning ant-hills, the process is, to cut them up with a heart- 

 shaped sharp spade or shovel, in irregular lumps of from ten to fifteen inches in diameter, and from two 

 to live or six inches thick. These are to be turned the grass-side downwards, until the mould-side is 

 thoroughly dry, and then to be set the grass-side outwards, until they are dry enough to bum The lire 

 may be kindled with brushwood, and kept smothering, by laying the sods or lumps on gradually, as the 

 lire breaks out, until ten or fifteen loads of ashes are raised in one heap, which the workmen formerly com- 

 pleted for a shilling or eightoen-pence each load of ashes. The places from which the lulls have been re- 

 moved may be sown with grass-seeds. Besides the destruction of the ants, this is a ready, though by no 

 means an economical, way of raising manure, and in some cases ought not be neglected, on grounds where 

 such a process is required. 



577S. fVhat is called " priding " ant-hills is thus described : — With a turfmg-iron make two cuts across 

 the hill at right angles to each other ; then turn back the four quarters thus obtained from off the hill, 

 leaving it bare ; next cut out and throw to a distance the interior earth of the hill with all the ants; turn- 

 ing their winter's hoard of provision, as well as all their excavated abode, to the very bottom. Now return 

 the quarters of turf to their former place, treading them down to form a basin to hold the winter's rain, 

 which will prevent the settlement of any new colony of the ants, and they, being thrown on the surface, 

 will perish by the frost. 



5779. Win'),- grass lands arc sufficiently rolled with a heavy roller once or oftener every year, no ant- 

 hills will ever be formed greater than the roller can compress, and consequently no injury will be sustained. 

 In this, as in most other cases of disease, proper regimen is the best cure. In domestic economy, various 

 directions are given for destroying bugs, lice, and other vermin ; but who ever had any to destroy, who 

 attended properly to cleanliness ? 



578ft The surface of some grass lands thai hare hern long rolled is apt to get into that tenacious state 

 denominated hidebound. When this is the case, scarifying the turf with a plough, consisting only of 

 coulters, or harrow teeth, or, in preference to all other implements, with Wilkic or Kirkwood's brakes, 

 so that the whole surface may be cut or torn, is to be recommended. That tenacious state, rolling tends 

 to increase ; whereas, by scarifying, the surface is loosened, and the roots acquire new means of improved 

 vegetation. This operation seems particularly useful, when it precedes the manuring. When hay land 

 of a retentive qualitv is depastured by cattle or horses in wet seasons, it receives much injury from their 

 feet, and becomes what is technically called poached. Every step they take leaves an impression, which 

 tills with rain water, and then the hole stands full like a cup. This wetness destroys the herbage, not only 

 in the hole, but that also which surrounds it, while at the same time the roots ofthe grasses, as well as the 

 ground, are chilled ami injured. No good farmer, therefore, will permit any cattle to seta foot on such 

 land in wet weather, and few during the winter months, on any consideration. Sheep are generally 

 allowed to pasture on young grasses in dry weather, from the end of autumn to the beginning of .March ; 

 they are then removed', ami it rarely happens that any animal is admitted till the weather b • dry, and the 

 suriai e so linn as to bear their pressure without being poached or injured. 



/// manuring upland meadows, the season, the sort, the quantity, and the frequency of application 

 are to be considered 



n , i / ,/ to t/ii- season at ir/iich manure should he applied, a great difference of opinion prevails 



among the farmers of England. In the county of Middlesex, where almost all the grass lands are (ire- 

 served for hay, the manure is invariably laid on in October [Middlesex Report, p. '-'-+. , while the land is 

 sufficiently dry to hear the driving of loaded carts without injury, and when the heat of the day is so 

 moderated as not to exhale the volatile parts of the dung. Others prefer applying it immediately after 

 the hay-time, from about the middle of July to the end of August, which is«aid to be the " good old time " 

 [Com. to Board of Agriculture, voL iv p. 138.); and if that season is inconvenient, any time from the 

 beginning of February to the beginning of April. {Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 915.) It is, 

 however, too common a practice to cany out the manure during frosty weather, when, though the ground 

 is not cut up by the carts, the fertilising parts of the dung are dissipated, anil washed away by the snow and 

 rams before they an penetrate tin- suit 



57S,i. There is scared// an// sort 0) manure that irill not be useful when laid on the surface of grass 

 grounds ; but, 111 general, those of the more rich dung kinds are the most suitable for the older sort of 

 sward lands ; and dung, in composition with fresh vegetable earthy substances, the roost useful in the new 

 leys Or grass lands. In Middlesex it is the practice ofthe best fanners to prefer the richest dung they can 

 procure, and seldom to mix il with any sort of earthy material, as they find It to answer the best with regard 

 to the quantity of produce, which is the principal object in view ; the cultivators depending chiefly lor the 



