On Spade Husbandry. 391 



of manure, which, in a soil of a porous nature, cannot fail to 

 find its way below the usual depth of cultivation. To the 

 prevalence of this practice, much of the fertility of that coun- 

 try is to be attributed. Nor is the plan attended with much 

 expense, at least in Flanders, for digging an acre of light 

 land, eighteen inches deep, costs in that country only L.I, 

 6s. ; strong lands, of the same depth, but L.I : 11 : 2 ; 

 and even when two feet deep, only L.2, 5s. The time em- 

 ployed in the operation is not considerable, for with proper 

 instruments, and some experience, a labourer can dig an 

 acre of light land, eighteen inches deep, in twenty days, 

 stronger soil, eighteen inches deep, in twenty-five days ; and 

 even two feet deep in thirty-five days (* 87 ). 



The trenching system seems to be likewise applicable to 

 sloping land, more especially where the rise is considerable. 

 When ploughed, the labour is severe on the horses, the 

 operation is imperfectly performed, and where furrows are 

 made, water is collected in them, by means of which much 

 valuable soil is carried off. But if the land were converted 

 by the spade into regular horizontal ridges, the soil would 

 in that state be less apt to be carried away by violent rains, 

 and the produce would be more abundant. 



2. To what Soils Spade Husbandry is inapplicable. There 

 are some soils to which spade husbandry is not adapted. 

 Wet lands cannot properly be subjected to that process, 

 being frequently full of moisture, and sometimes perhaps 

 totally inundated. The spade is not calculated for stony, 

 gravelly or shallow soils, more especially if incumbent upon 

 chalk, as is the case in Norfolk, and other districts in Eng- 

 land; nor can it be employed with advantage in the cul- 

 tivation of turnips, even upon the most favoured soils, and 

 far less where the crops are principally produced by oil- 

 cake as a manure, and kept up by turnip husbandry and 

 sheep-folding. How could large fields be cultivated by 

 manual labour, or employed in raising turnips, with any fair 

 prospect of success, when it is necessary to seize the precious 

 moment for sowing that plant, which, if neglected, can never 

 be regained ? To such a crop, cultivated to any extent, 

 manual labour is inapplicable. 



Heavy clays also, cannot be trenched with advantage at all 

 seasons of the year, for the rain in winter makes them too 

 compact, and the heat in summer renders them too hard. On 

 such soils therefore, it can never be carried to any great ex- 

 tent. 



3. On the improvement of waste lands by digging. Trench- 



