202 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



time varying from the first week in March to the last week 

 in April. 



12. We shall now briefly glance at the practice of the 

 celebrated barley-growing districts of Norfolk. As already 

 stated, the swede is the favourite crop for sheep-feeding 

 purposes in this county, and is that crop which precedes 

 the barley. But in addition to the use of this nutritious 

 root by the " go-ahead " farmers of the county of the cele- 

 brated " Coke," large quantities of oil-cake, crushed barley, 

 and pease, are given to the sheep. To this system of feed- 

 ing, by which such a valuable manure is obtained, may be 

 attributed the rapid fertilization of some of the worst lands 

 of the county ; and Mr Keary believes it to be by far the 

 best and cheapest mode of bringing a poor farm into a 

 high state of cultivation, for the cake, &c., " passing through 

 the animal, an increase of matter is added to the increase 

 of corn, and the cost of artificial manure is thus doubly 

 paid for." But while the barley crop is by this system 

 undoubtedly raised in quantity, it is thought that by it the 

 quality is deteriorated; although the pecuniary result may 

 not be affected, the decrease in the quality being more than 

 balanced by the increase in the quantity. In the districts 

 which we have already described, the practice is, as we 

 have shown, to plough the land early and well in the 

 autumn. Now, in the Norfolk district, it is a very general 

 practice to plough twice, experience having, it seems, in- 

 variably shown that more barley is produced when the 

 land is ploughed twice than when it is ploughed only once. 

 In ploughing once the manure of the sheep is not so in- 

 timately mixed with the soil, the greater portion remain- 

 ing at the bottom of the furrow ; while by ploughing twice 

 the manure is equally and intimately mixed with the soil. 

 The last ploughing is done immediately before sowing, so 

 that a kinder, lighter, and more genial seed-bed is found 

 to be the result than when the sowing takes place on the 

 " dead surface of the land ploughed up many weeks pre- 

 viously." But it is worth while to note that, although 

 the experience of the Norfolk farmers is such as we have 



