No. 6. 



Dialogue between a Father and Son. 



183 



man has more than he expends he is account- 

 ed rich; and this is the proper acceptiition 

 of the term, riches — not what a man upends, 

 but what he saves. 



Their (li^ricullure too is excellent : they 

 never tallow, nor do tlioy ever sow wheat 

 but in the sprinir, and yet, while the avcrajro 

 of this crop for Devonshire is sixteen bushols 

 per acre only, and for the Isle of Wioht 

 twenty-one bushels, tlie average for Jersey is 

 thirty-seven ! Their average crop of pota- 

 toes is 29,077 lbs. per acre, and of a quality 

 superior to all others: but this superiority in 

 quantity and quality is ovvins^, tirst, to their 

 excellent soil, and then to their system of 

 spade labor, and after that to the culture be- 

 stowed by their plough, which, although 

 he.ivy and awkward in apprarance, is re- 

 markahly well adapted to their fine deep 

 soils. 



Their chief wheat tilth, is hay land or 

 clover stubhle ; this is skim ploughed late m 

 tlie autunni, or during the winter; early in 

 the spring it is well harrowed, and upon this 

 is spread duny or compost, or the aslies of 

 sea weed, and it is then turned down by a 

 very shallow furrow, the plough, on repass- 

 inir, taking a deeper furrow from the bottom 

 of the tiench, and turning it u|)on it ; thus 

 the land is, properly speakinir, irf'/u7irf/; and 

 upon this is sown wheat, three and a half 

 bushels per acre, a very large quantity of 

 seed, but as there is not time for it to tiller 

 or spread, as winter sown wheat is expected 

 to do, it is necessary to sow very thickl}'. I 

 have no where seen crops of wheat so thick 

 and free from blieht, which I attribute to 

 sowing on a highly manured se«(l bed, the 

 crop coming up and growing away so rapidly 

 as to defy the ordinary cold blasts of spring. 

 I have known the crop ripe in little more 

 than three months from the time of sowing, 

 even with wheat of the common red and 

 white species; while the kind known as the 

 French tres mais, (three months,) the real 

 iriticum cestivum, is often cut in that time. 

 I should say, in Jersey they never turndown 

 wholesurfaces, but skiin plough them, let them 

 lie for a time, well harrow the sod. and turn 

 it down, either by a shallow or a thicker fur- 

 row: but this mode would be impract'cnhle 

 by any but such a plough as the one Ihcy 

 use, the fen or wing of which is attached to 

 the mould plate, and cuts to the width of 

 fourteen inches; the whole instrument being 

 very heavy. 



As they keep a large stock of cows and 

 calves durinijf the wmter, it is necessary that 

 they should be provided with food for thrm : 

 and their manan-ement for a full crop of tur- 

 neps is excellent: immediately on carrying 

 their first crop of clover hay, thoy skim plough 

 the land, harrow the sod, dress it with com- 



post, and turn it in as above described, and 

 sow turnep seed broadcast; and I have never 

 witnessed finer crops: they are partial to 

 the tanhard species, which come to an amaz- 

 ing size. Thus, in exchange (i)r a |)recari- 

 ous second crop of clovtr, thry secure a 

 mountain of roots, for the s.]p[)ort of their 

 stock during the whole of winter, and tiie land 

 is in the finest order fcr a spring crop, always 

 wheat, often seeded with clover. 



Frank. The large quantities of sea weed, 

 or braik, as it is called in the history, must 

 add amazingly totheir stock of manure, with- 

 out adding at all to the growth of weeds, a 

 lamentable evil, where much clable and barn 

 yard manure is used ; I should suppose tliey 

 would also be lasting in their effects. 



Father. The sea braik, as well as the 

 ashes trom it, are in universal request, but 

 their elfects are exhausted the first year; 

 there are, however inexhaustible supplies; 

 not a storm arises, but the shores are covered 

 with them, rolled into heaps, in some places 

 as large as their carts. A great many fami- 

 lies residing on the sea shores, obtain a living 

 merely by drying and burning them for tlicir 

 ashes, whi.ch they exchange with the farmers 

 for wheat and barley. But the chief supply 

 is obtained from the rocks, with which tiie 

 island is entirely surrounded : these are not 

 permitted to be cutoftener than twice a year, 

 in the spring and autumn ; the precise time 

 being declared publicly in open court, and 

 then the period is limited to l. few days only, 

 during which time, however, all is hurry and 

 bustle ; every horse and cait is put into re- 

 quisition, and thousands of persons, of all 

 ages and both sexes, rush towards the sea ; 

 and in a very short time in the spring cutting, 

 every meadow is covered with the black 

 weeds, as well as a gre;tt portion of the ara- 

 ble land; and if rain falls immediately, they 

 dissolve into a jelly-like substance, and wash 

 away; if no rain falls, however, they dry up, 

 and are then raked off, to be burnt for tlieir 

 ashes; in either case the effect is instanta- 

 neous, the grass grows remarkably quick, nor 

 is it so liable to be affected by a season of 

 drought; its quality too, partakes of the nature 

 of that from salt marshes. On their arable 

 land, these weedsare immediately ploughed in, 

 by means of their fine plough, which turns the 

 land topsy turvey, and oats and barley, and 

 otiier crops, are sown on a soil which, every 

 morning, for a long time after, is found reek- 

 ing like a hot bed, occasioned by the fermen- 

 tation of the sea weed. 



The autumn cutting is used chiefly as 

 fuel for the winter, being dried and stacked 

 near the house for that purpose ; the ashes 

 being carefully preserved in some dry place, 

 for the wheat crop in the spring. 



Frank. I have heard that meat, smoked 



