THE FARMERS* REGISTER. 



659 



to the animals, it was carpfully conveyed away i lliick fences I saw, were the result of this system. 

 for the purpose of soiliiiij, that ilie manure made It ought to be known, however, that the quick- 

 irom it might be collected and use(i.illy applied, 'sets were not thrust in, and no more attended to; 

 instead oC evaporatinij and wasiinj;, po unsii^ihily j but planted wiih ihe soil in good order, and clean- 

 by the sides of the road. To the leli were some ! ed and ciillivalcd with as much attention as its 



larwe fields of oals, lale indeeil, but beautilUliy 

 drilled, and having the most luxuriant and thriv- 

 ing appearance, (and every Carmer knows that 



manifested in the rest of thecro()8. 



The great quantity of straw grown by this ex- 

 cellent cuhivaiion has to be converted into ma- 



very lale sown oats cannot look loo luxuriant.) nure ; and no more turnips are grown on the 

 Two men were employed in pushing a hoe belbre larm than serve ihe ewes in the sprinc. This 



them between the drills, to desiroy every weed, 

 and open a new surlace ol soil lo the atmospheric 

 influence, to imbibe oxygen and carbon from the 

 air. i have long been of opinion that the great 

 frequency of fallows on strong land, generally 

 adopted, wa? not altogether necessary ; and the 

 practice at Ridgemont most triumphantly proves 

 it, for four, five, and six years intervene in the 

 rotations between the falk)vvs. But soon a fallow 

 field I did see, and in such condition. Advantage 

 had evidently been taken of the preceding fine 



evil is met by growing a considerable quantity of 

 green crops in summer, especially tares, and soil- 

 ing ; by tills means a very large quantity of excel- 

 lent manure is made, and summer-made manure 

 is worth nearly double that made in winter, if 

 there is an equal quantity of green food consumed 

 in both cases. The drainage of the yard is con- 

 veyed into a tank or reservoir ; and as Mr. Stick- 

 ney has not found such beneficial results from the 

 application of the liquid to the soil in his farm 

 as to induce him to cart it away,* he conveys it 



season, for its working was, so far as root weeds : to the driest pari of the straw and dun^ in the 



were concerned, completed ; and I urged that ii 

 was fit to sow with rape, and thus get a green 

 crop in the fallow year of the rotation. 



The next object was a field of beans in flower, 

 not indeed very tall and irrowinir, but beautifully 

 clean and beautifully level — the best criterion i 

 know ofi of a useful crop and good management: 

 to ihis, however, there was one exception. Mr. 

 Siickney pointed to one round portion of the field, 

 perhaps sixty yards in diameter, where the beans 

 were several inches taller than any other part of 

 the field. Of Ihis I should have been disposed 

 to take but little notice under ordinary circum- 

 Ktancps, imagining that it had been the site of 

 an ash heap or mixen in some previous year; 



fold-yard. The liquid being thus constantly re- 

 turned, excites lermenlation in summer, but in a 

 wet season must be superfluous, and much of the 

 benefiis of it are lo?t by evaporation. 1 diflier 

 too, most entirely— and it is only fair to name it, 

 for it is the only " eye-sore" on the farm that I 

 witnessed—and that was the manure was carted to 

 the road-side instead of being conveyed into the 

 field at once. It requires a good reason to excuse 

 this under any circumstances ; for how carefully 

 soever ii is shovelled up, there is always much 

 wasted which ought to be applied to the field and 

 for the crop, for which it was intended. 



The stack-yard, while it exhibited evident care 

 of the grain, and an excellent contrivance, sim- 



but I was astonished when I was informed ihai i pie yet eflicieni, lor admitting ihe air to the stacks 

 it manifested this superioriiy every year, and had | by placing them upon raised clay platforms, 

 done so for centuries, or at least so long as any | bisected in ihe middle in connexion with an air 



memory or legend could go. I; is invariably ma- 

 naged like the rest of the field, and no matter 

 what crop is grown, whether wheat, beans, oats, 

 or rape, it always exhibits the same superiority, 

 and lor the same circumference; and it did the 

 same when it was in grass, in the lime of the 

 present occupier's ancestors, whether mown or 

 depastured. The soil and subsoil, lo a considera- 

 ble depth, has been examined with some care — 



flue in the stack ; yet there is nothing of that 

 foolish, lianfasiical dressing of the stacks, more as 

 if they were intended for permanent pyramids, 

 than preserves of grain from wet for a few 

 months. 



The agricuilural implements are of the useful 

 casi — noihincj whimsical, nothing ridiculous — 

 but such as the evident wanis of the district re- 

 quire. I saw, too, a Russian plough and harrow, 



rather superficially I apprehend — and no perccp , certainly the rudest and worst constructed nonen 

 tihle diffierence exists from Ihe remainder of the titles I ever saw, only fit companions to the Rus 

 field. The idea suggested itself to me, that pos- sian loaf they were exhibiting during the elec- 

 sibly it might be ihe site of a Roman encamp- ! tions. I advised him to exhibit them at our exhi- 

 ment, and that, at a considerable depih, a large ! bition at Hull, which he did, to the no email won- 

 quantity of bones might be inierred, which, by \ der of the peisons who noticed them. 



giving off ammonia in the process of their de- 

 composition, gave this decided superiority to the 

 crops growing in the place. Tfiis is, however, 

 quite unsupported by any evidence, and is per- 

 fectly gratuitous on my part. 



The fences at Ridgemont are a perff-ct model ; 



From the appearance of the grass land, it is 

 evident that no pains have been spared in laying it 

 down to permanent pasture. His own introduced 

 rye-gTHss forms a considerable part of the best 

 grass fields, and sustains the character, boih there 

 and elseivhere. which it had in 1817, and which ob- 



all beautifully luxuriani, completely filled with [ tained lor its introducer the medal of the Society of 

 thriving quicksets, and kepi in the tnosi beautifiji | Arts. Tiiere was, too, in one of the most beauti- 

 order. Mr. Siickney commenced quick-wood [ iully culiivaied gardens I ever saw, a specimen of 

 planting in the ordinary way of three inches ^ his giani clover, (J.e/io/a 7l7a.Tm!a.) At the time 

 apart ; he observed, however, that those planted i I saw ii, it was at least six and a half feet higR, 

 the thinnest were the most luxuriant, and he and a stem of it which remained of the previous 



planted them six inches wide. Finding this an- 

 swer his expectations, he ultimately planted them 

 nine inches apart, with decided success ; so much 

 so, ind'ed, (hat the great part of the beautiful 



year's growth was more than double that height ; 



* I have found the most beneficial efTects from its 

 application to light soils. 



