PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 141 



recommended either to subsoil, or, better still, to trench 

 the land intended for the crop, say 16 to 18 inches 

 deep; the grubber, then passed well through the soil, 

 and followed by the harrows, will reduce the soil into a 

 good tilth, and effectually clear it of all rubbish, which 

 should be collected and burned on the field in the usual 

 way. This operation is no doubt attended with a con- 

 siderable expense per acre; but whatever may be the 

 amount, it is money well laid out, when its results are 

 compared with those where the work has been neglected, 

 and the crop has been got in in the ordinary manner. 



On farms where the land has been kept in good order 

 and regularly cleaned, it is best to take a straw crop before 

 lucerne. In that case, the autumn gives a good oppor- 

 tunity of cleaning the stubbles, and also of subsoiling or 

 trenching, as may be determined upon, and the stubble 

 serves to keep the land open during the winter fallow. 

 When, however, the land intended for lucerne has been 

 neglected, and is in a dirty condition, it is better to take 

 a fallow or root crop instead of the straw crop ; the land 

 has thus a good chance of being cleared of its weeds dur- 

 ing the growth of the roots, and of being left in a more fit 

 state for the succeeding crop. In such case it is perhaps 

 best to feed the roots off on the land, either in part or in 

 whole, by which an equivalent amount of farmyard 

 manure would be saved. In the spring, previous to sow- 

 ing, the land should be again carefully gone over with 

 the grubber and harrows, and, if necessary, with the 

 plough, so as to get it into the required state. When this 

 is satisfactorily accomplished, the manure intended for 

 the crop should be distributed and covered in by the 

 plough in the way already described. The proportion of 

 manure should be, of course, determined by the nature 

 and condition of the soil. On the lighter class of soils it 

 is desirable, as a rule, always to give the manure in smaller 



