166 TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c. 



Surely this application of one acre of potatoes on a farm would 

 be profitable in many points of view ; the sheep would no doubt 

 be improved by an increase in flesh ; the milk of the ewes would 

 be more abundant ; the Iambs would of course thrive better; and 

 the practice of home-feeding would soon tame the whole of the 

 flocks ; and particularly " the common sheep," which are, at 

 present, a great nuisance throughout the island ; besides, by 

 littering the feeding yard with coarse grass, or straw, &c. a con- 

 siderable quantity of valuable manure would be obtained, that 

 would amply repay the trouble and expense ; and would be of 

 great value in restoring exhausted lands. When all these circum- 

 stances are considered, it must be admitted that the practice of 

 feeding with potatoes would be extremely beneficial. If it were 

 once introduced, it would soon convince the landholders, that 

 however extensive the culture, there could never be any want of 

 consumers, even should there be a disappointment in the sale. 

 One of our potatoe farmers, some time ago, assured me he had lost 

 five hundred bushels, which had rotted, as there was no demand 

 for them. I did not pity him ; because if he had been in the 

 habit of feeding his servants and cattle at that time, in the manner 

 here proposed, or of lowering and suiting his prices to the market, 

 such a loss could never have happened. 



The paper in question further proves that potatoe grounds are 

 an excellent preparation, as I have formerly noticed, for crops 

 both of barley and wheat. 



The second Paper " On Soiling- Cattle," * is at present not so 

 applicable to the state of this island as the first : but it contains 



* Soiling is a phrase in husbandry expressive of the practice of mowing certain ci;ops 

 in a green state and giving them to horses, cattle, &c. in stables, stalls, and yards. There 

 are some judicious remarks, in page 311 of Mr. Arthur Young's Farmer's Calendajj 

 relating to this mode of feeding, to which the reader is referred. 



