ON MANURES. 137- 



or chalk, had not the like benefit — on the contrary, appeared 

 injured by the effects of the burning." 



The success of paring and burning may, indeed, be justly 

 said to depend entirely on the nature of the land. Wherever 

 the soil is already too light, — as in the case of most downs, — . 

 burning tends to make it lighter, and is then evidently wrong; 

 but on clays and heavy loams, its effects' can hardly tail to i}e 

 beneficial. In the particular instance of burning land intended 

 to be returned again to pasture, it is, however, indispensable 

 to observe whether the practice has been proved, in that part 

 of the country, to be favourable to the future production of 

 natural grasses; for, on some soils, it is so — on others it is not. 



Old worn-out sainfoin, and foul couchy leys of every de- 

 scription, may thus be speedily, economically, and thoroughly 

 cleansed at far less trouble and expense than by any other 

 method ; and it is the only effectual mode of bringing fen land 

 under immediate cultivation with any prospect of success. On 

 sainfoin leys and chalky downs, the best course is to com- 

 mence with turnips, fed off and repeated, so as to put the land 

 in good heart before taking a crop of barley, with seeds to 

 stand two years; for on those very light soils two green crops 

 should always be taken for one of corn, and, after the lapse of 

 a few years, the land should be again laid down with sainfoin ; 

 but care should then be taken not, to let it become covered 

 with a coarse sward of natural pasture, which may occasion 

 the necessity of repeating the operation. 



Cold, clayey land, covered with a coarse sward, may be 

 pared deeper; but the operation will be found useless, if it be 

 not thoroughly drained and laid dry. It is then very com- 

 monly sown with oats; for turnips, even if the land be suffi- 

 ciently light to admit of their growth, are, on such soils, found 

 to be uncertain as a first crop, and the oats are generally very 

 productive. The more judicious farmers, however, lime the 

 land immediately after the ashes are spread, and intermix both 

 minutely with the soil, by ploughing it three times, and har- 

 rowing it sufficiently between each ploughing. But in this 

 case it is necessary to plough with a very shallow furrow, as, 

 if buried deep, the effect is in a great measure lost. They 

 then sow cole as a first crop, and afterwards farm the land in 

 such rotations as the nature of the ground will permit: but 

 whatever may be the course pursued, the whole of the green 

 crops should be eaten off upon the ground ; or if the stock be 

 soiled, the entire of the manure thus made, together with that 



