AGRICULTURE. 



nacity of many pastures, in which it ought 

 rather to be diminished. Previously to 

 the manurng of grass land it is observed 

 to be particularly beneficial, as. whate- 

 ver it be that is spread over the ground 

 finds, in consequence of this method, 

 more rapid access to the roots, and a 

 smaller quantity is remarked to answer 

 the end proposed than a considerably 

 larger one without this practice. The 

 operation may undoubtedly be beneficial 

 in various instances and soils, and expe- 

 riments indeed have evinced that it is so. 

 The use of the roller, however, upon 

 grass lands of a certain description, will 

 be admitted to be preferable ; and with 

 regard to arable land, this new process by 

 no means interferes with the application 

 of the roller, for all the purposes which 

 have been mentioned. 



Drill Husbandry. 



The system of drill husbandry has 

 beenlong known to be extremely prefera- 

 ble on sandy soils and dry loams, and in 

 Norfolk particularly it made a rapid and 

 extensive progress upon such lands. It 

 has latter)} been introduced on the strong 

 soils of Suffolk. The objects of this hus- 

 bandry are, the promotion of the growth 

 of plants by hoeing, ai)d the saving of 

 seed ; objects, it will be universally ad- 

 mitted, of great importance. It was well 

 known, that in gardens the hoeing and 

 transplantation of vegetables often dou- 

 bled their vigour, analogy therefore natu- 

 rally led to the conclusion, that a similar 

 result would occur from the same ma- 

 nagement of arable lands, and experience 

 has decided both the practicability and the 

 advantage of it. Land sowed with wheat, 

 however well prepared and finished it 

 may be in the autumn, sinks in winter, so 

 that in the spring it possesses too great 

 tenacity to admit the free extension of 

 the roots for the collection of nourish- 

 ment, and stands in extreme need of 

 ploughing and hoeing to counteract these 

 effects. Grain sown before winter, there- 

 fore, requires the process of hoeing inex- 

 pressibly more than what is sown in the 

 spring; the land in the latter case not 

 having had the same time to harden, nor 

 to produce many weeds by exposure to 

 the winter snow and rain. 



As the vigour of the plants upon the 

 drill system is very considerably increas- 

 ed, the land must be sowed much thin- 

 ner than in the old practice ; a circum- 

 stance, which, in unreflecting minds, has 

 operated as a considerable objection, it 



appearing at the first view, which on such 

 is not only strong, but often indelibly im- 

 pressive, that the vacant spots are com- 

 pletely lost or wasted. In the common 

 practice, however e\vn in the mos<. pro- 

 cluc'ive lands, the seeds, though very 

 thickly sown, produce each butone or two 

 ears, whereas two or three are universally 

 produced by each in the latter mode, and 

 sometimes a single one will produce 18 

 or 20. In the old method, there being by 

 far more plants than nourishment, many 

 must perish without attaining maturity, 

 and many of the remainder can exist on- 

 ly in a languid and drooping state ; where- 

 as in the other method ull have as nmch 

 nutriment as they require, and though 

 comparatively few, being far more vigo- 

 rous in their vegetation, they artbrd a 

 larger produce than the numerous but 

 sickly plants cultivated in the ordinary 

 method. 



For the application of this new mode, 

 however^ it is expedient that land should 

 have been broi>g-ht into good tilth by the 

 old method, which being done, it should 

 be so thinly sown as to leave sufficient 

 room for the plants to extend themselves. 

 It must be divided for this purpose into 

 rows, 30 inches distant from each other, 

 which will give an interval of two 

 feet between the rows, every plant there- 

 by having ample room to extend its 

 roots and collect its food. In such con- 

 siderable intervals, also, the earth may 

 be hoed round the plants without the 

 hazard of injury to them. The first hoe- 

 ing should be applied when the wheat is 

 in leaf, before winter, and is designed to 

 draw off the wet, and dispose the earth 

 to be mellowed by frost. The second, 

 after the hard frosts are passed, is calcu- 

 lated for making the plants branch free- 

 ly. The third may be very slight, and 

 should be given when the ears begin to 

 appear. The last should be given when 

 the wheat is in bloom, and is of the great- 

 est importance, as it makes the ears fill 

 at the extremities, and increases the size 

 of the grain. In the middle of the inter- 

 vals a deep furrow must be traced, and 

 the earth be thrown to the right and left 

 on the foot of the plants. By the careful 

 application of the earth in this manner 

 the plants are supported, and prevented 

 from being laid, and the ground is pre- 

 pared for the next sowing, in which the 

 seed is to be put in the middle of the 

 ground that formed the intervals. 



The practice of hoeing may take place 

 at almost any time in light and dry soils ; 

 but on strong and clay ones, in which 



