On Spade Husbandry. 399 



of, in the cultivation of the soil, by Spade Husbandry, and 

 more especially by improving, under that system, the waste 

 and unproductive lands in the kingdom. 



PART II. 



ON GRASS LAND. 



Introduction. On the Importance of Grass Land. 



THE various grasses, or herbaceous plants, with which 

 our fields are generally clothed, whether produced by nature 

 or by art, furnish subsistence to a number of animals, sub- 

 servient to the accommodation and advantage of the human 

 race. From them, man derives food, clothing, and other con- 

 veniences, in such abundance, that the skilful management 

 of grass land, is a subject of inquiry, which, next to that of 

 land in arable cultivation, is of the greatest importance to 

 the interests of mankind. 



But besides the more immediate importance of grass, (es- 

 pecially since the use of animal food has so much increased), 

 its indirect effect on the production of corn, by communica- 

 ting additional fertility to the soil, in the alternate courses of 

 tillage and pasturage, is a subject which requires the most 

 serious consideration. It seems placed indeed, beyond a 

 doubt, that the soil, not only obtains a recruit of food, for the 

 nourishment of grain when cultivated, from the decayed 

 herbage rotted on its surface, and the manure it obtains 

 when cattle are pastured upon it, but also acquires a de- 

 gree of consistence favourable to fertility, while it remains in 

 grass, defended from the variations of the seasons, under the 

 protection of a close carpet. 



Fortunately this branch of husbandry, has of late attract- 

 ed peculiar attention, and a foundation has been laid, for its 

 attaining a high degree of perfection. 



On the recent Discoveries which have been made in the 



Management of Grass Lands ( z89 ). 



Among the improvements which have been made in the 

 management of grass land, there is none so likely to produce 

 such important consequences, as the discovery of a mode, by 

 which, not only upland pastures, but even permanent mea- 

 dows of the most valuable description, after being ploughed 

 up, can be completely re-established, in the space of two 

 seasons from the period of sowing the grass-seeds, in their 



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