THE CROPS. 55 



sable to the general system of agriculture. Each field 

 being pastured in its turn, it is convenient to be able, in a 

 manner, to pen the cattle, so as to leave them without any 

 further care. It appears strange to us, whose habits are 

 so different, thus to see cattle, and especially sheep, left 

 entirely to themselves, on pastures sometimes far from 

 human habitations. To account for such a state of secu- 

 rity, it must be recollected that the English have destroyed 

 the wolves in their island; that they have, by severe 

 laws under a system of rural police, protected property 

 against human depredations ; and, finally, that they have 

 taken care to make their fields secure by means of 

 fences. These beautiful hedges, then, are thus a use- 

 ful defence as well as an ornament, and it is only sur- 

 prising how there should be any wish to do away with 

 them. 



The system of pasturage has many advantages in the 

 eyes of English farmers : it saves manual labour, which 

 with them is no small consideration; it is favourable at 

 least, so they think to the health of herbivorous animals ; 

 it admits of turning to account lands which otherwise 

 would give but a small return, and which, in the course 

 of time, are improved by the deposits of the cattle ; it 

 supplies a food always springing up afresh, and the sum 

 of which is found, in the long run, to equal, if not to 

 exceed, what would have been obtained by the scythe. 

 Considerable importance, therefore, is attached to having 

 on every farm a sufficient extent of good pasture ; 

 even the mown meadows are often submitted to one 

 year of pasturing between two of hay cropping. Whilst 

 our pastures are, generally speaking, neglected, theirs, 

 on the contrary, are carefully attended to ; and any one 

 who has but a slight knowledge of this most attractive 

 kind of culture, can appreciate the immense difference 



