JUNE. 371 



have been constantly mown, separated only by a 

 hedge from others that have been often fed ; the 

 soil and treatment in other respects alike ; and yet 

 the one are as good as the other : nor are the few 

 crops taken from the fed lands better than those 

 from others mown. I have fail parts of fields, and 

 mown parts, and the year following mown the 

 whole, nor could I perceive a difference. 



Why is feeding thought to be so beneficial, as to 

 rank with a fallow ? upon what principles ? it can 

 only be the appearance of a large burthen of hay at 

 once upon the ground, that constitutes so strong an 

 idea of a crop ; and the notion of cattle in feeding 

 manuring the land greatly. As to the product, it 

 is, probably, nearly the same when fed as when 

 mown ; onlv the eating as fast as it grows, prevents 

 the quantity appearing: the argument is, therefore, 

 reduced to the manuring received from the cattle in 

 feeding. 



That this is not of much consequence from great 

 cattle, I think there is reason to suppose. In the 

 first place, it is not laid on in one body, so as to 

 occasion a fermentation in the soil. In the next, it 

 is dropped at an unfavounble season, summer. It 

 is also in such irregular quantities as to do mischief. 

 Great cattle, while they dung, stand still, and drop 

 the whole in one spot ; no grass is there to be 

 found for a twelvemonth ; and when it does come, 

 it is often rank, and left uneaten, occasioning 

 loss, unless the scythe follows: and the quantity 



B b2 of 



