15 



be observed here, that in the richest and best culti- 

 vated parts of England, enclosures of ten, fifteen, 

 twenty, or thirty acres, seemed more common. 

 Since the introduction of the turnip culture, bullocks 

 and sheep have trebled in number. Turnips, for the 

 reasons given, are not great exhausters of the soil ; 

 and they furnish abundant food for animals. Let us 

 suppose, that one bushel of oats or barley may be 

 raised at the same cost as ten bushels of turnips ; and 

 will go as far in support of stock. The great differ- 

 ence in the two crops is to be found in the farmer's 

 barn yard. Here is the test of their comparative 

 value. This is the secret of the great advantages, 

 which follow from their cultivation. The value of 

 manure in agriculture is well appreciated. M'Queen 

 states the extraordinary fact, that the value of the 

 animal manure annually applied to the crops in Eng- 

 land, at current prices, surpasses in value the whole 

 amount of its foreign commerce.* There is no doubt 

 that it greatly exceeds it. The turnip crop returns a 

 vast amount of nutritive matter to the soil. The 

 farmer, then, from his green crops, and by a regular 

 system of rotation, finds green feed for his cattle and 

 wheat for the market. 



Among the lighter English soils, is that of the 



* This is a very extraordinary fact, but it rests upon good authority; and when it 

 is considered that this is of course the product of agriculture, as well as going in the 

 great circle, to renew and extend these products, we must have Btrong impressions of 

 the amazing extent of this great interest. In this case, cattle manure is valued at 

 4*. sterling; sheep at 3s. ; horse at As. ; pigs, poultry, &c, at 3s. per load ; size of 

 load not given; making a grand total of £59,860,000 sterling, or nearly 300,000,000 

 dollars. This is understood to be " exclusive of quantity dropped by cattle on land 

 during summer, autumn, &c, perhaps one third more; and exclusive of lime, moss, 

 shells, fish, bone dust, &c." — McQueen's British Statistics, p. 51. H. C. 



