NOTES. 71 



508 This assertion is thus explained. In the course of years, on the surface 

 of such a soil, there is formed a rich, light, black mould, two or three inches in 

 thickness, which is the matrix of these rich grasses. When the soil is ploughed 

 up, this valuable surface is mingled with the colder and less fertile strata below, 

 and cannot be renewed for many years. Fount's Essay ; Communications, vol. 

 iii. p. 191. It is contended, on the other hand, that strong clays improve, 

 when first sown down with grass, and that by repeated trials, it has been com- 

 pletely ascertained, that such soils will yield as much grass the first year after 

 they are sown, as in the two following years. Hence, instead of keeping them 

 in grass, it is desirable, frequently to break them up, and to stock them with 

 fresh plants. Communications from Robert Brown, Esq. of Markle. But the 

 question is, if a rich surface has been got, should it be destroyed ? 



509 Wilkes's Essay ; Communications to the Board, vol. iii. p. 519. 



510 Coventry's Discourses, p. 125, note ; Wilkes of Measham's Essay, Com- 

 munications, vol. iii. p. 519. In that kind of soil, no cracks or fissures are to 

 be met with, even in the dryest summers. Lincoln Report, p. 72. 



511 Lincoln Report, p. 219. In the dairy, good grazing land will produce 

 5 cwt., of cheese per acre. Wilkes's Essay; Comm. vol. iii. p. 520; Derby- 

 shire Report, vol. iii. p. 44. In general, however, 4 cwt. of cheese, is consi- 

 dered to be a fair produce. The strongest grazing lands do not produce cheese 

 of the best quality. 



512 The economy of procuring hay from meadow grounds, recruited by top- 

 dressings, is doubtful ; and this valuable article, had better, in most instances, 

 (in nineteen out of twenty), be raised from lands, usually under tillage, and 

 yielding our ordinary arable crops, in some regular order. Coventry's Ditcour- 

 ses, p. 100. 



515 Berwickshire Report, p. 156. The loss is less material, when the dung 

 is spread on the grass land in October, just before the expected fall of rain suffi- 

 cient to wash it into the soil. Remark by John Middleton, Esq. 



514 See the opinions of Mr Rennie of Phantassie, and Mr Brown of Mar- 

 kle. Husbandry of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 55, 57. 



515 Young's Essay, Comm. vol. iii. p. 140. 



516 Many respectable farmers, however, are partial to the top-dressing of 

 meadows, and of pastures, with dung, and where it can be accomplished, with- 

 out robbing the arable land, but from towns in the neighbourhood, the objec- 

 tions to it may be got over by judicious management. Mr Middleton recom- 

 mends for that purpose, that the dung should be spread on the grass land in Oc- 

 tober, just before the expected falls of rain, which generally occur at that season 

 of the year, and which will wash the dung into the soil. The loss would not 

 then be material, and might be totally avoided, if composts were made use of. 



517 Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 59, and 175. 



518 That important subject is fully explained in Mr George Sinclair's paper 

 on Grass Lands, Addenda. 



519 Dr Cartwright's Essay ; Communications to the Board of Agriculture, 

 vol. iii. p. 151. 



520 It is remarked, that in Norfolk, where the land is commonly light, and 

 where sheep are both bred and fed upon the same farm, a proportion of per- 

 manent pasture is essential. Much injury in particular has been sustained, by 

 breaking up permanent pastures, on such soils, more especially when subject 

 to rectorial tithes. Many lands of an inferior soil, which kept two sheep on an 

 acre, paying only vicarial tithes, and rented at ten shillings per acre, since they 

 have been broken up, cannot pay, even without rent, the tithe of corn, and the 

 expense of cultivation. A farm in general lets best, with a fair proportion of 

 grass land upon it, which admits of a mixed management, in consequence of 

 which, if one object fail, another may be successful. Communication from 

 Mr Blaikie of Holkham. 



521 Young's Calendar, p. 87. 



522 In the northern counties of England, it is usual to cart the dung on their 

 pasture land, in time of frost, that they may not injure the sward, and because 



