AGRICULTURE. 



It may be sown with grain with less im- 

 propriety than perhaps any other grass, 

 and particularly with flax. When a land, 

 left unploughed, spontaneously produces 

 this plant, the soil may decidedly be pro- 

 nounced good. 



Those who lay down land permanently 

 to grass may best depend on white, or 

 Dutch clover, for all rich and dry loams 

 and sands, and for rich clays that have 

 been properly drained. 



Rye grass will flourish on any land but 

 stiff clays. It is well adapted for perma- 

 nent pasture, and, if properly managed, is 

 one of the best spring- grasses. There 

 are few so early, or more palatable and 

 nutritive to cattle. It is less subject to 

 injury in critical hay seasons than any 

 other, and the seeds of none are collected 

 with greater facility. It should be cut 

 for hay some time previously to its being 

 ripe, as the stalks will otherwise be con- 

 verted into a species of straw, and its nu- 

 tritive qualities be proportionably weak- 

 ened. 



Sainfoin is preferred by many agricul- 

 turists to clover, as less likely to injure 

 cattle when they eat it green, producing 

 larger crops, making better hay, and con- 

 tinuing four times longer in the ground. 

 It is several years in arriving at its full 

 strength. The quantity of milk yielded 

 by means of it from cows is nearly double 

 of what is prodouced by any other green 

 food, and the quality also of the milk is 

 proportionably better. It is much culti- 

 vated on chalky soils, and succeeds best 

 where its roots run deep. Cold and wet 

 clay is extremely ill adapted for it, and 

 the dryness of land is of more conse- 

 quence to its growth than even the rich- 

 ness of it. It is best cultivated by the 

 drill husbandry, after repeated ploughing, 

 harrowing, and rolling ; and while care is 

 taken not to leave the seeds uncovered, 

 they must also not be buried deeper than 

 about an inch. They should be sowed in 

 the latter end of March. An acre of very 

 ordinary land will maintain four cows for 

 eight months, and afford the greatest part 

 of their food in hay for the rest of the 

 year. 



Lucerne remains at least above twelve 

 years producing very large crops, and 

 yielding the most excellent hay to the 

 amount of about seven tons per acre. It 

 has obtained the highest praises from all 

 agricultural writers. With a view to its 

 successful cultivation, the soil must be 

 kept open and free from weeds, which is 

 most effectually done by horse-hoeing 1 . It 

 is transplanted with extreme advantage, 

 VOL. I. 



if the tap root be cut off, by which it is 

 fitted for a shallow soil, and its roots 

 shoot out laterally and near the surface. 

 The culture of this plant is a principal dis- 

 tinction of French husbandry, and is in 

 that country a source of almost uniform 

 profit. The best preparation for it is a 

 turnip or cabbage crop. No manure should 

 be allowed after the sowing till the crop 

 is two years old. Its improving effect 

 upon the soil is particularly great. 



Burnet is a grass peculiarly adapted to 

 poor land, and is so hardy as to flourish 

 when all other vegetation fails. Its cul- 

 tivation is not hazardous or expensive. 

 It is best sown in the beginning of July. 

 It affords rich pleasant milk, and in great 

 plenty. For moist loams and clays there 

 cannot be a better grass than the meadow 

 fox-tail, which is not only early, but re- 

 mains for nine or ten years, and is little in- 

 jured by frost. 



To these remarks on a few of the grass- 

 es it may be added, that in connection 

 with soils, the principal grass plants have 

 been thus arranged by one of the most 

 distinguished agriculturists of the day. 



Clay. Loam. Sand. 



Cow grass White clover 'White clover 



Cock's-foot Rye Rye 



Dog's-tail York white York white 



Ftescue Fescue Yarrow 



Fox-tail Fox-tail Burnet 



Oat grass Dog's-tail Trefoil 



Trefoil Poa Rib 

 York white Timothy 

 Timothy Yarrow- 

 Luc erne 



Chalk. Peat. 



Yarrow White clover 



Burnet Dog'-tail 



Trefoil Cock's-foot 



White clover Rib 

 Sainfoin York white 



Rye 



Fox-tail 



Fescue 



Timothy 



Instruments and Operations of Husbandry. 



The instruments used in husbandry are 

 so numerous, and, under the same deno- 

 mination, often so differently constructed, 

 with a view to varieties of the same opera- 

 tion, that it would be impossible, in a 

 sketch like the present, to detail their 

 structure and application. In the process 

 for which they are respectively intended, 

 every agriculturist will of course arail 



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