5 8 Additional Information. 



perhaps a considerable profit, the whole expense of preparing the land, if the crop 

 could be disposed of as food for man ; and if distance from a market, or other cir- 

 cumstances compelled him to apply it to feeding cattle, the profits arising from the 

 increased value of his stock, and the quantity of manure raised, would, at the worst, 

 nearly reimburse him for the expenses incurred. It seems a public misfortune that 

 an idea should have ever been entertained and acted upon, that potatoes impoverish 

 the soil on which they are grown. Universally when potatoes are raised with the 

 due quantity of manure to insure the cultivator a good crop, the land will be left in 

 a state to carry as many succeeding heavy ones as from any other method that has 

 been devised, to convert poor exhausted soils into a state of fertility, I have now 

 some fields of this description, which were, seven years ago, let for about ten 

 shillings the statute acre. They were broken up and sown with oats, producing 

 miserably thin crops. The land was then properly prepared for potatoes, and pro- 

 duced very plentifully, repaying every expense, with a good profit. Wheat and 

 clover seeds were then sown, at no greater labour than a single ploughing and rolling. 

 The wheat produced was as good a crop as any in the country, and I sold the 

 clover and fog the following year for more than £6. the-same acre. 



I have stated dung, when good, to be worth about 6s. per ton ; of course, when 

 produced on a farm, it may be estimated of as much value. 



Marl, when at hand, is much used in raising corn crops, and in improving moss 

 and light soils. The expense of using it will depend greatly upon the distance from 

 the pit. The general rule for marling is, at the rate of 4 falls or perches of 64 cubic 

 yards to our customary acre ; but some use a grt ater quantity. I have before 

 Slated that ihejilliiig will be done at 20s. the fall, and the spreading may amount 

 to one-third of that sum; the rest will depend upon the distance of the pit. 



The expense of time varies exceedingly, from the vicinity of the coals, and the 

 distance from the kilns. The uindle. or three Wnichester bushels, can scarcely be 

 obtained at present at any of the kilns for less than ten-pence, and to this must be 

 added the charge of carting. 



Upon the whole, the advance upon labour, and almost all the other articles, of 

 ■which an account is required by the Board, since the year j 790, appears to be about 

 one-third. 



