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dirt going amongst the leaves ; all the other rows are got 

 up with the double mould-board plough, with the shell- 

 board off, and thrown into rows convenient to be carted off. 

 If the land is not wanted for wheat, the leaves will keep, as 

 they have been laid in rows, a long time without rotting ; if 

 it is wanted, they will keep by being put between a hedge 

 and a row of hurdles set up about a yard from a hedge. 

 The leaves may be most usefully disposed of by being 

 thrown on land, for sheep, immediately after it has been 

 sown with wheat ; the solidity of the land, from the 

 treacling of the sheep, is good for the crop. Or thrown on 

 the wheat when it has been up some time, and got firm 

 hold in the land : but not when it first comes up, for then 

 the treacling of the sheep will bring the roots above ground. 

 I think if a stack was made of layers of good sweet straw 

 and layers of leaves, they would keep well so, and that the 

 whole stack would be most useful winter fodder for beasts 

 in the fold-yard. I mean therefore this autumn to try this 

 method. After having finished sowing mangel wurzel this 

 year (1836), I find I could still improve the preparation of 

 the ridges by again loosening the subsoil by a grubber 

 drawn by one horse after the manure has been spread in 

 each furrow, the bottoms of which have been hardened by 

 the treading of the horses and the cart wheels. It is not 

 safe, on account of the risk of a sharp frost, to let the roots 

 remain longer in the earth than the latter end of October. 

 For fear of a severe winter they are better pitted than 

 housed, for if once frozen they are injured in their quality, 

 and very likely to rot in the pit or stack they are kept in. 

 My pits are dug two or three feet deep, and about twelve 

 wide. In these the roots are stacked and ridged, up to the 

 height of about ten or twelve feet from the surface of the 

 earth ; faggots should be set upright about every two yards 

 in the centre of the pit, and continued up to the roof of it, 

 all along which faggots should lie. By this contrivance all 

 the heat or effervescence which may arise from the roots 

 will be carried off, and rotting be prevented. The stack 

 then must be covered with dry straw or haulm ; then 

 covered with mould, allowing a little time for heat to escape 

 before completely covering the top for the winter store. It 

 will thus keep in perfection till May, when it is often as 



