336 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6 



different kinds of land, wiien in grass, tliough 

 much more considerable, has been very little ob- 

 served; notwithstanding it is obvious that the dung 

 of animals has a great effect upon all pastures 

 ■which consist of what are called the finer grasses; 

 that it has scarcely any upon land that is covered 

 with bent-grass, or fog; and that it is ol' more or 

 less value upon pastures, as herbage of the former 

 or latter description predominates. 



As accidental circumstances directed my atten- 

 tion more particularly to these consequences, it 

 may be of use to publish an account of them in 

 your Magazine, so lar as they have been ascer- 

 tained by my own experience ; since it may induce 

 some of your readers to communicate other facts 

 and observations illustrative of this important 

 subject. 



In the year 1754, having occasion to carry a 

 quantity of very fine black loam from a head-ridge 

 of old infield land, to give the surface- water a free 

 passage, it was laid upon outfield benty grass land 

 adjoining, of which it covered about a quarter of 

 an acre liilly one inch thick. No grass seeds were 

 sown upon this new covering; yet white clover, 

 and other fine grasses, sprung up and gradually 

 increased upon it; and the bent, upon which the 

 loam was laid, diminished so speedily, that very 

 little of it remained in the third year thereafter. 



A kw years aller this, having a considerable 

 extent of outfield land in fallow, which I wished 

 to lime previous to its being laid down to pasture, 

 and finding that I could not obtain a sufficient 

 quantity of lime for the whole in proper time, I 

 was induced, from observing the effects ofthe fine 

 loam upon the surlace of similar soil, even when 

 covered with bent, to try a small quantity of lime 

 on the surface of a part of this liillow, instead of a 

 larger quantity ploughed down in the usual man- 

 ner. Accordingly, in the autumn, about twenty 

 acres of it was well harrowed, and then about four- 

 teen Winchester bushels only of unslacked lime 

 was, after being slacked, carefully spread upon 

 each English acre, and immediately well har- 

 rowed in. As many pieces ofthe lime, which had 

 not been fully slacked at first, were gradually re- 

 duced to powder by the dews and moisture ofthe 

 earth — to mix that with the soil, the land was 

 again well harrowed in three or four days thereaf- 

 ter. This land was sown in the spring with oats, 

 with white and red clover and rye-grass seeds, 

 and well harrowed, without being ploughed again. 

 The crop of oats was good ; the plants of grass 

 sufficiently numerous and healthy ; and they ionn- 

 ed a very fine pasture, which continued good until 

 ploughed, and j'ears after, for corn. 



About twelve, years afterwards, I took a lease 

 ofthe hilly farm of Grubbet ; many parts of 

 which, though of an earthy mould tolerably deep, 

 were too steep and elevated to be kept in tillage. 

 As these had been much exhausted by cropping, 

 and were full of coueh-grass, to destroy that, and 

 procure a cover of fine grass, I fallowed them, 

 and laid on the same quantity of lime per acre, — 

 then harrowed, and sowed oats and grass seeds in 

 the spring ; exactly as in the last mentioned expe- 

 riment. The oats were a full crop, and the plants 

 of grass abundant. Several of these fields have 

 been now above thirty years in pasture, and are 

 still producing white clover and other fine grasses; 

 no bent or log has yet appeared upon them. It 

 deserves particular notice, that more than treble 



the quantity of lime was laid upon fields adjoining 

 of a similar soil, but which, beinir fitter for occa- 

 sional tillage, upon them the lime was ploughed 

 in. These fields were also sown with oats and 

 grass seeds. The latter throve well, and gave a 

 fine pasture the first year ; but afterwards, the bent 

 spread so fast, that, in three years, there was more 

 of it than of the finer grasses. 



In all these instances, where the lime was only 

 harrowed in, and not ploughed down, the land not 

 only continued to produce the fine grasses, but the 

 dung of the animals feeding upon them had the 

 same effect in increasing the quantity and verdure 

 of the grass, as it has upon rich, loamy, infield 

 soils ; of this, the parts of Grubbet hills, above al- 

 luded to, afford a full proof at this day. Whereas, 

 wherever the lime was ploughed down, the parts 

 of the soil at the surface, which were not suffi- 

 ciently mixed with lime, though sown with clo- 

 vers, became gradually covered with bent; and 

 dung of the animals had little or no effect upon 

 such benty parts. That animal dung has little or 

 no beneficial effect upon such pastures, is obvious 

 from this circumstance, thar, in all hilly countries, 

 there are great tracts of benty grass land, which 

 have continued for centuries, though constantly 

 pastured with sheep or cattle, without any visible 

 improvement ; the animal dung neither increasing 

 the quantity, nor improving the quality ofthe pas- 

 ture. But it is still more remarkable that dung 

 has no permanent effect upon such soils, even 

 when ploughed down, as appears from the Ibllow- 

 ing facts. 



In the year 175G, about five acres of earthy out- 

 fielc" benty land, were folded with sod-dikes, and 

 very well dunged, with the intention of ploughing 

 it for oats ; but upon determining, afterwards, to 

 enclose about sixty acres to be continued in pas- 

 ture, of which these five acres made a part, the 

 intention of ploughing these folds was given up ; 

 and the dikes were thrown down in the spring, 

 well harrowed, and sown with rye-grass. The 

 effect of the dung upon that land was very consi- 

 derable the first year, a great deal less so the se- 

 cond, very little the third, and was not visible 

 afterwards. Seven years thereafter, it was plough- 

 ed for oats along with the rest of the field, when 

 the effects ofthe dung were expected to be conside- 

 rable ; but the crop was no better upon the folded 

 part, than upon the others ; nor was it any better 

 upon the sides of the sod-dykes, where the dung 

 had been at first fully covered in by the earth of 

 the sods. 



Some years afterwards, about ten acres of benty 

 outfield was ftdlowed, and intended to be limed ; 

 but, for particular reasons, no part of it was limed. 

 One half of it, however, was dunged ii-om the 

 farm-yard. The whole field was sown with oats 

 and ryegrass seeds. The crop of oats was much 

 better upon the part that was dunged, as was also 

 the ryegrass the first year ; but the bent spread so 

 fast upon both parts^ that no ryegrass was left the 

 fourth year, nor was there any greater verdure 

 upon the part that was dunged than upon the 

 other part. When the Vv'hole field Avas ploughed 

 some years after, there was no visible difference in 

 the crops between the two parts : the crop upon- 

 both was very bad. 



But ii'om the fijllowing facts it appears, that 

 upon that sort of soil, when properly mixed with 

 lime, the effects of dung are not only greater, but 



