1 42 Size and Shape of Fields. 



SECT. X. Size and Shape of Fields. 



IT is of great advantage to the occupier, when his fields 

 are of a proper size and shape; and a loss must inevitably 

 follow, when they are laid out arbitrarily, without attention 

 to any particular system. Where a whole farm is divided 

 into fields of various sizes, it is difficult to form a plan, so as 

 to suit a regular rotation of crops, or to keep very accurate ac- 

 counts. Whereas, by having the fields in general of a large 

 size, the whole strength of a farm, and the whole attention of 

 the farmer, is directed to one point ; while an emulation is 

 excited among the ploughmen, when they are thus placed in 

 circumstances which admit their work to be compared. 

 Some moderate-sized fields are certainly convenient on any 

 farm, for grazing, and other purposes to be afterwards ex- 

 plained. On elevated situations also, the shelter derived 

 from small inclosures, is of use. 



Nothing, however, is more inconvenient, in corn farms, 

 than to have a number of small inclosures, irregularly shap- 

 ed, surrounded with trees or high hedges, more especially 

 in a flat country, where shelter is unnecessary. Besides the 

 original expense of making the inclosures, the injury done 

 to the crops of grain, produced by the want of a free cir- 

 culation of air, and the shelter afforded to numbers of 

 small birds, the very site of numerous hedges, with their 

 attendant ditches, and the uncultivated slips of land on both 

 sides of them, consume a much larger proportion of arable 

 land than is commonly imagined. Hedges, especially if 

 accompanied by rows of trees, greatly exhaust the ground 

 of its fertility ; nourish weeds, the seeds of which may be 

 widely disseminated ; and by excluding the air, cause the 

 harvesting of the crop to be carried on more slowly. Even 

 upon meadow land, small inclosures, encircled by hedges, 

 are injurious, as they prevent the circulation of air necessary 

 for making or drying hay. Small inclosures, with high 

 hedges and trees, are also extremely injurious to the roads 

 in their neighbourhood. 



On the other hand, with fields of a considerable size, less 

 ground is wasted, and fewer fences are to uphold. The 

 crops of grain, being more exposed to wind, can be harvest- 

 ed earlier, and they suffer less from damp seasons. Small in- 

 closures in pasture, are most productive in winter, being 

 better sheltered ; but in summer, the larger and the more 



