1S36.] 



F A Tx M E R S ' REGISTER. 



337 



much more pnrmancnt, whether under tillacje or 

 pasture. Alter layinii: at least fifty bushels of un- 

 i^lacked hnie upon each Ensflish acre of the dry 

 bentv land of the farm of Froirden, I cropped it 

 JH what was thencrdled the NorlJilk rotalion ; viz. 

 1st year, Turnip ; 2ii, Barley or Oats ; 3il, Grass; 

 and, 4th, Oats or Wheat. It was expected that 

 this mode ofcroppinf; would not exhaust tlie land; 

 but I found, even in the second round, that the 

 crops were so very much worse oii the tiiin soils, 

 that it was necessary to allow the land to continue 

 some years ui pasture to recover its fertility ; and. 

 for (hat purpose, it was sown with equal quanti- 

 ties of red, white, and yellow clovers, with a small 

 portion of rve-grass seeds. As the land had been 

 twice fallowed, and carried three crops of turnips 

 horse- hoed alter liminij, and had never been 

 ploughed deep, the suriiice-sod was well mixed 

 with lime; and accordingly, the clovers were not 

 afterwards injured by the nati\e bent. Jjut as (he 

 land had been exhausted by cropping, sheep were 

 folded upon it in nets the first summer. Their 

 dung greatly increased the quantity and ricliness 

 of the pasture ; and though the efiect was less the 

 next year, it continued to be considerable, and the 

 pasture seemed still improving after the third 

 year- After being six years in irrass, the land was 

 ploughed up, and produced fidl crops. As the 

 soil of the fields treated in this manner was in 

 every respect similar to that of the five acres 

 which were folded in 1756, and to the soil of the 

 field of ten acres, hall' of whicli was dunged from 

 the farm yard, as already mentioned, the very 

 ^eat superiority in the permanencj' of the effect's 

 of dung in the latter instance, over that in the 

 two former, can only be imputed to the lime. 



From the preceding statement, the following 

 conclusions deserve (he attention of agriculturists. 



1st. That animal dung dropped upon coarse, 

 benty pastures, produces little or no improvement 

 upon them; and that, even when sheep or cattle 

 are confined to a small space, as in the case of 

 folding, their dung ceases to produce any benefi- 

 cial effect, after a few years, whether the laml is 

 continued in pasture, or brouirht under the plough. 



2d. That even when land of this description is 

 '.veil fallowed and dunged, but not limed, though 

 the dung augments the produce of the subsequent 

 crop of grain, and of grass also for two or three 

 years, that thereafter, its eflects are no longer dis- 

 cernible either upon the one or the other. 



3d. That when this land is limed, if the lime is 

 kept upon the surface of the soil, or well mixed 

 with it, and then laid down to pasture, the finer 

 grass 's continue in possession of the soil, even in 

 elevated and exposed situations, for a great many 

 years, to the exclusion of bent and fog. In the 

 case of Grubbet iiills, it was observed, that more 

 than thirty years have now elapsed. Besides this, 

 the dung of the animals pastured upon such land, 

 adds every year to the luxuriance, and improves 

 the quality, of the pasture, and augments the pro- 

 ductive powers of the soil when afterwards plough- 

 ed for grain ; — thus producing, upon a benty out- 

 field soil, effects similar to what are experienced 

 when rich infield lands have been long in pasture, 

 and which are thereby more and more enriched. 



4th. That when a large quantity of lime is laid 

 on such land, and ploughed down deep, the same 

 effects will not be produced, whether in respect to 

 the permanent fineness of the pusturc, its gradual 



Vol. IV— 43 



amelioration by the dung of the animals depastur- 

 ed on it, or its fertility when afterwards in tillage. 

 On (he contrar}-, unless (he surtlice is fully mixed 

 with lime, the coarse grasses will, in a \ew years, 

 regain possession of the soil, and the dung (here- 

 after deposited by cattle will not enricli tlie land 

 lor subsequent tillage. 



Lastly, It also appears from what has been 

 stated, that the four-shift husbandry is only proper 

 lor very rich land, or in situations where there is a 

 lull command of dung: That by far the greatest 

 part of the land of this country, requires to be con- 

 tinued in grass two, three, four, or more years, ac- 

 cording to its natural povert}' : That the objection 

 made to this, viz. that the coarse grasses in a few 

 years usurp j)ossession of the soil, must be owing 

 to the surface soil not being sufficiently mixed with 

 lime, the lime liaving been covered too deep by 

 the plough. 



There are other manures besides lime, which 

 to a certain degree, produce similar ed'ects, upon 

 which some observations may be offered at a fu- 

 ture opportunit}'. 



I am, sir, yours, &c. 



WILLIAM DAWSON. 



Edinbars:^ 2(1 March, 1812. 



From tlie Farmers' IMag.iziiie of 1815. 

 ME.irOIR OF WILLIAM DAWSO?f, ESfJ. OF GRA- 



i)i;iv. 



Mr. Dawson, (he subject of this JVlemoir, was 

 born at Ilarperton, in Berwickshire, of which his 

 farther was tenant, in February 1734. He was 

 sent to England when about IG j'ears of age, for 

 the purpose of acquiring a more correct know- 

 ledge of practical a.griculture, than was at that 

 time to be obtained in his native county, where 

 modern improvements had not yet commenced. 

 His first residence was with Mr. Ball, agent to the 

 Duke of Leeds, near .Sheffield, in Yorkshire, 

 where he continued three or four years. During 

 this period JMr. Dawson regularly took a share in 

 all the operations of a fiirm, and acquired that ex- 

 pertness in every branch of labor which he found 

 of so much advantage to him in instructing his 

 servants, when he came to adopt the same man- 

 agement on his farms in Scotland. Among other 

 improvements, it was liere that he first witnessed 

 the cultivation of turnips according to the best 

 piactices of those times. His lei.-sure hours were 

 occupied in extending his knowledge bej'ond the 

 difierent parts of manual labor in which his time 

 was principally employed, and particularly in ac- 

 quiring a coonsiderable degree of skill in the con- 

 struction of agricultural implements ; in which, 

 throughout the course of a long life, he made 

 many useful improvements. From Mr. BalFs 

 Mr. Dawson went into Essex, and resided some 

 time on the estate of Lord Fitzwalter, where he 

 gave his attention chiefly to (he diffierent branches 

 of grazing ; and he afterwards travelled through 

 several other counties of England, accurately ex- 

 amining the best courses of husbandry, and storing 

 up fijr his own use whatever seemed likely to be 

 introduced with advantage into his own country. 



On his return to Ilarperton he iiumediately be- 

 gan, with the consent of his father, to make trial 

 of such modes of cultivation as seemed adapted to 

 the soil of that farm; in particular, he employed 



