38 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



venly in appearance ; a neatly finished corn field is an 

 indication of general good management. So that while 

 the surface is left rough, labourers should be sent in to 

 finish neatly off all the furrows and water-gutters, which 

 latter should be given to all lands of this class, even 

 although carefully under-drained. The above remarks have 

 reference to the mechanical condition of heavy soils where a 

 ' bare,' ' naked,' or ' summer fallow ' for by all these names 

 is it known is the practice. We now come to what Pro- 

 fessor Tanner says on the management of clay soils where 

 the wheat crop is preceded by a crop of autumn food or 

 early roots, as rape, cabbages, vetches, mangolds, or pota- 

 toes ; the soils where these crops are taken may be desig- 

 nated medium clays, being of a somewhat lighter character 

 than those heavy tenacious clays where the bare fallow is 

 the best mode of preparation. Where beans has been the 

 preceding crop, the land having been hoed, will not be 

 very foul with weeds, and may therefore be looked upon 

 as in pretty good condition. It may be the better for being 

 skimmed and having the weeds burnt ; where this cannot 

 be done, through the ground being too hard, the plough 

 may be used, preceding its operation with the fork, so as to 

 get out the couch grass. Where summer tillage has been 

 well carried out, a single ploughing is all that is necessary. 

 Where the autumn food, as rape, vetches, has been con- 

 sumed by sheep on the land, and it has in consequence of 

 rain falling become very hard, two ploughings may be 

 necessary, and if so, 1 to 1 4 days should elapse between 

 the two ploughings, so as to allow the soil to regain the 

 firmness necessary for the seed. It is always, however, 

 well where this second ploughing can be avoided, for it 

 does away with or tends to do away with the solidity of 

 seed-bed which wheat requires. It is seldom, however, 

 that in stiff clays there is any difficulty in getting this 

 solidity of seed-bed, although after vetches, the land is apt 

 to be puffy ; but this is corrected by feeding sheep upon it 

 to consume the crop as it stands. 



24. Where the wheat has to be sown after an autumn 



