Cultivating and Improving Wastes. 165 



expended in the attainment of that object. If a person at- 

 tempts to improve waste land, at the expense of L.5 per acre, 

 he will probably lose his money, and the soil will soon revert 

 to its former state of barrenness. If he lays out on the im- 

 provement, L.10 per acre, he may perhaps be indemnified 

 for his expenditure. But if he resolves, thoroughly to improve 

 the soil, and for that purpose, will judiciously expend, from 

 L.15 to L.20 per acre, uniting enriching to calcareous ma- 

 nures, he will make a fortune ; for the first two crops, will in 

 a great measure defray the expense of the improvement, and 

 the soil will be as capable of producing good returns in suc- 

 cession, as land that had been longer cultivated. 



5. Oftfie Advantages to be derived from the Culture of Waste 



Lands. 



These are either of a private or of a public nature. 



1. Private advantages. It has been thought, that greater 

 profit may be derived from the improvement of wastes, or 

 of lands not hitherto completely cultivated, than of similar 

 soils that have been long under the plough. The rent is 

 necessarily lower, they are freer from weeds, and if once 

 brought into good order, and properly managed afterwards, 

 will give lucrative returns. Instances might be stated in 

 support of the above doctrine, but unfortunately it has not 

 in every case been sanctioned by experience. The real cause 

 is, that a great expense must be incurred in the first instance, 

 while the subsequent advantages are uncertain. 



As it is impossible to go through the numerous examples 

 of the profitable improvement of wastes, in such a condens- 

 ed work as the present, it is proposed to state three of the 

 most important instances that England and Scotland can 

 respectively furnish. 



A variety of experiments in the culture of wastes, have 

 been made on the estates of a distinguished friend to agricul- 

 ture, Charles Buncombe, Esq. (now Lord Feversham), the 

 principal particulars of which, are detailed in his Communi- 

 cations to the Board of Agriculture ( 54 ). The whole con- 

 tains about 840 acres; and what renders these experiments 

 peculiarly important, is, that a considerable proportion of 

 the land was improved in small lots, by several persons, 

 and under different systems. The following results have 

 been drawn from these experiments: 1. That by paring and 

 burning, the matted substance of peat, and the roots of 

 heath were reduced to a substance that assists vegetation, 



