742 TRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



ought to be examined ; and how different has been the experience of those who have 

 ventured to put their schemes in practice, from what they had been led to anticipate. 

 {Gen. Rep. Scot.) 



Sect. I. Mountainous and hilly Grounds and their Improvement. 



45 1 3. The upper parts of mountains may be considered as among the least improvable 

 parts of the earth's surface, from the impossibility of ever ameliorating their climate. 

 " The highest peaks and ridges are mostly naked granite, slate, or volcanic productions. 

 Their more elevated sides, and the tops of those of moderate height, are usually covered 

 by a thin soil, producing a short dry herbage, which is frequently mixed with a dwarf, 

 or stunted heath. Where the soil is not injured by moisture, these are best calculated 

 for sheep. When the height of mountains exceed 800 feet of elevation above the level 

 pf the sea, unless covered either with natural woods or artificial plantations, they can only 

 be profitably used in pasture." (Code-) 



4514. The hills, or lands less elevated than mountains, have, in general, a deeper and 

 moister soil, and produce a more luxuriant herbage, but of a coarse quality ; hence they 

 are better adapted for small hardy cattle. Though the summits of hills are generally 

 unfit for raising grain, yet the plough is gradually ascending along their sloping sides, 

 and within the last thirty years many thousand acres in such situations have been re- 

 claimed in tlie United Kingdom. 



4515. Steep lands along the sides of rivers and small streams are often inaccessible to 

 the plough, and unfit for tillage. The more rugged of these are well calculated for 

 woods or coppice ; while those in more favourable situations and climates may be con- 

 verted into orchards. (Code of Agr. 161.) 



Sect. II. Rocky or Stony Surfaces. 



4516. Rocky and stony lands are common in the valleys of a hilly or mountainous 

 country, and sometimes, as in Aberdeenshire, they cover immense tracts of flat surface. 



4517. IVhen rocks protrude from the surface here and there in fragments of a few tons, 

 and it is considered desirable to render the field or scene fit for aration, the only mode is 

 to rend them asunder by gunpowder, and then carry off the fragments for walls, drains, 

 roads, or buildings; or, if they are not wanted for these or any other purpose, to bury 

 them so deep in the ground as to be out of the reach of the plough. But where rocks 

 rise in considerable masses of several poles in diameter, it will generally be found pre- 

 ferable to enclose and plant them. Clefts and crevices are found in all rocks which 

 have been long exposed to the air and weather, and in these may be inserted young 

 plants, or seeds, or both. Such masses being enclosed by rough stone walls^ formed from 

 the more detached fragments, or from loose stones, will grow up and be at once highly 

 ornamental and useful as shelter. It is true they will interrupt the progress of the 

 plough in a straight line, but not more so than the rock if left in a state of nature. When 

 a rocky surface is not intended to be ploughed, all that is necessary is to remove as many 

 of the solitary rocks as possible, and either enclose and plant the rest, or cover them with 

 earth. 



4518. The stones which impede the improvement of land are either loose, thrown up 

 when the land is trenched, or ploughed j or fixed in the earth, and not to be removed 

 without much labour and expense. 



4519. Loose stones may often be converted into use for the purpose of forming covered drains, of con- 

 structing walls or fences, or of making and repairing the roads on the farm or in the neighbourhood ; and, 

 on these accounts, are sometimes worth the trouble of collecting. They may be removed, with the least 

 inconvenience, when the land is fallowed. Where loose stones are of a moderate size, they are sometimes 

 found advantageous rather than detrimental, as in the stone-brash soils of Somersetshire and other dis- 

 tricts. They prevent evaporation, and thus preserve moisture in the soil. Hence the old remark, that 

 farmers have been induced to bring back again to their corn-fields those very stones they have been in- 

 duced to carry off {Code.) 



4520. Where stones are large and fixed in the earth, if they appear above the surface, they should be 

 removed before the ploughing of the waste commences ; but where they are concealed under the surface, 

 various modes to get rid of them have been adopted. In some parts of Yorkshire, the whole surface is 

 gone over with sharp prongs, which, at the distance of every twelve or fourteen inches, are thrust into 

 the ground to the depth of about a foot, to ascertain where stones are to be met with. The spot is marked 

 by a twig, and the stones are removed before the land is ploughed. Sometimes the plough is used without 

 such previous examination, and the place marked where stones are encountered, that they may be taken 

 away ; and sometimes, in order to discover and remove such stones, the land is trenched by the spade 

 {Comynunications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 253.) 



4521. Stones above the surface may be avoided by the ploughman, though not without loss of ground; 

 but stones under the surface are often not discovered till the plough is drawn against them, and perhaps 

 broken, by which a day's work is sometimes lost. A wooden bolt, however, to unite the horse-trees to the 

 chain of the plough, may prevent mischief by giving way. Clearing the ground from stones not only pre- 

 vents such mischiefs, but is attended with actual profit. When removed, they may be used for various 

 purposes, and are often less expensive than if dug, or purchased at a quarry. Tlie soil round a large stone 

 IS likewise, in general, the best in the field, and is bought at a low rate by the expense of taking out the 

 stone, as the plough has thus access to all the land around it. In stony land the plough must proceed 

 slowly, and cannot perform half so much work as it ought to do; but, after such impediments have been 

 removed, the field may be ploughed with the usual facility and cheapness, and in a much more perfect 

 manner. It frequently happens, that when working stony land, more expense is incurred in one season 

 by the breaking of ploughs, besides the injury done to the horses and harness, than would cure the evil. 

 (Gen. Rep. of Scot. vol. iii. p. 256; Kaimes's Gent Farincr, p. 58.) 



