Chap. XVII. Old and New Hufbandry. 267 



not lefs confiderable than the different Profit of the 

 Crop. 



A Piece of Eleven Acres of a poor, thin, chalky- 

 Hill was fown with Barley in the common Manner, 

 after a hoed Crop of Wheat; and produced full Five 

 Quarters and an half to each Acre (reckoning the 

 Tythe); which was much more than any Land in all 

 the Neighbourhood yielded the fame Year -, tho' 

 fome of it be fo rich, as that One Acre is worth 

 Three Acres of this Land: And no Man living can 

 remember, that ever this produced above half fuch 

 a Crop before, even when the beft of the common 

 Management has been bellowed upon it. 



A Field, that is a fort of an Heath-ground, ufed 

 to bring fuch poor Crops of Corn, that heretofore 

 the Parfon carried away a whole Crop of Oats from 

 it, believing it had been only his Tythe. The bed 

 Management that ever they did or could bellow upon 

 it, was to let it reft Two or Three Years, and then 

 fallow and dung it, and fow it with Wheat, next to 

 that with Barley and Clover, and then let it reft 

 again •, but I cannot hear of any good Crop that it 

 ever produced by this or any other of their Methods; 

 'twas ftill reckoned fo poor, that nobody cared to 

 rent it. They faid Dung and Labour were thrown 

 away upon it, then immediately after Two fown Crops 

 of black Oats had been taken off it, the laft of which 

 was fcarce worth the mowing, it was put into the 



fwerable Reafons may be given why this Equilibrium cannot be 

 kept in the random Sowing, as it may in the Hoeing Method ; 

 njiz. Firil, In the former, the Land is by the Number of fown 

 Plants and Weeds much more (we may fuppofe at leaft Five times 

 more) exhauJled : And, Secondly, No Pulveration is continued 

 to the Soil, whilft the Crop is on it ; which is that Part of the 

 Year wherein is the moil proper (if not the only proper) Seafon 

 for pulverking. Therefore, allowing, that, in the random way, 

 a Soil cannot, for want of Quantity of vegetable Food, conti- 

 nue to produce annual Crops without Manure, or perhaps with 

 it ; yet that is no Reafon why it may not produce them in the 

 Hoeing Culture duly performed. 



3 Hoeing 



