158 Cultivating and Improving Wastes. 



against them, and perhaps broken, by which a day's work 

 is sometimes lost ( 33 ). Clearing the ground from stones, 

 not only prevents such mischiefs, but is attended with actual 

 profit. When removed,- they may be used for various pur- 

 poses, and are often less expensive than if dug, or purchased 

 at a quarry. The soil round a large stone, is likewise, in 

 general, the best in the field, and is cheaply purchased, by 

 the expense of taking out the stone, as the plough has thus 

 access to all the land around it. In stony land, the plough 

 must proceed slowly, and cannot perform half so much work 

 as it ought to do ; but, after such impediments have been 

 removed, the field may be cultivated with the usual facility 

 and cheapness, and in a much more perfect manner. It 

 frequently happens, that when working stony land, more ex- 

 pense is incurred in one season, by the breaking of ploughs, 

 besides the injury done to the horses and harness, than would 

 cure the evil( 34 ). Had the ground been trenched, this evil 

 would have been prevented. 



There are various modes of getting rid of stones. They 

 are generally of such a size as to admit of their being convey- 

 ed away in carts, or other vehicles calculated for that pur- 

 pose. Some ingenious artificers have constructed machines 

 for raising them, when of a large size ( 3S ). On some oc- 

 casions, pits have been dug close to large stones, and the 

 latter have been turned into the former, at such a depth, as 

 to lie out of the reach of the plough. But it is frequently 

 necessary, to reduce their size, by the force of gunpowder, 

 before they can be removed. When the stones consist of 

 sand-stone, or even granite, their size may be diminished by 

 the use of wedges. 



7. Rocks. When rocks interrupt cultivation, recourse 

 must be had to blasting, unless the stone is in thin layers, 

 or beds, and can easily be penetrated by wedges. They 

 must be quarried out to a sufficient depth, and then covered 

 over with earth, to admit the operations of tillage. 



3. Means of reclaiming Wastes. 



There are six modes by which waste lands, according to 

 their nature and situation, are prepared for the production 

 of crops : I. Paring and burning; 2. Trenching by the 

 spade and mattock; 3. Deep ploughing; 4. Covering the 

 surface with earth ; 5. Floating off the surface of peat-bogs, 

 when there is a valuable soil below ; and, 6. Rolling, the 

 utility of which, in promoting the improvement of peaty 



