392 On Spade Husbandry. 



ing is by far the most effectual method of reclaiming rugged 

 wastes, and of deepening shallow soils, so as to fit them for 

 every species of cultivation. By this means, all roots and 

 stones are at once removed ; the various substances in the 

 soil are mixed together, the inequalities in the surface are 

 reduced, which cannot be so effectually done by the plough, 

 and the land is at once brought into a state of cultivation. 

 This mode of improvement, upon a superficial view, may 

 appear to be the most expensive, and it may be so at first ; 

 but it is in the end the cheapest, because it is complete at 

 once, and needs not to be repeated. In fields of ordinary 

 difficulty indeed, two crops will repay the expense of trench- 

 ing. In one district alone, (Aberdeenshire), not less than 

 20,000 acres in all, have been added to its cultivated soil, by 

 that process, and probably as much more in other counties 

 in Scotland. By this means, a fine mixed soil is produced, 

 which, as it contains no weeds, generally yields, with a suffi- 

 cient quantity of dung, the heaviest crops of grain. 



In Forfarshire, waste lands, which had been previously 

 occupied by trees, or encumbered by stones, are frequently 

 brought, by means of trenching, into the best possible state 

 for future cultivation. After the sterile subsoil is sufficiently 

 ameliorated by exposure to the air, and the application of 

 manures, it acquires great fertility. Trenched soils indeed, 

 when dug to a sufficient depth, are peculiarly distinguished 

 by their fitness to produce deep-rooted, as well as corn plants. 

 Hence red clover thrives particularly well on them, and by 

 that practice, soils with a retentive clay bottom, are fitted 

 for the production of potatoes, carrots, and other large- 

 rooted plants. 



In a communication to the author, Mr Warden of Park- 

 hall in Stirlingshire, gives an account of the mode by 

 which he improved some acres of common, in the parish 

 of Muiravonside in Stirlingshire. He divided the land into 

 lots, and let it to different parties of labourers, to be 

 trenched eighteen inches deep, the surface to be levelled, 

 the whins or furze to be destroyed, and the stones to be 

 thrown on the surface to facilitate their removal. The whole 

 expense came to L.9 per Scotch acre, and the labourers, by 

 practice, became so expert, as to make at the rate of 2s. 6d. 

 per day. The result was, that ground taken from a state of 

 nature, and which before, had scarcely yielded a blade of 

 grass, produced at once turnips equal to any in Stirlingshire. 



In Dorsetshire, Mr Portman employed a number of la- 

 bourers in trenching a considerable quantity of waste, covered 



