sect. II. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 339 



But neither the one nor the other can be the 

 foundation of a general rule. All that can be 

 inferred is, that paring and burning is, on some 

 soils, a proper and advantageous improvement ; 

 but, on others, injurious and not to be followed. 

 Farmers, therefore, instead of adopting either 

 the one or the other opinion implicitly, should 

 be induced, by this diversity of sentiment, to 

 examine carefully the nature of the soil, and to 

 follow the plan upon such ground only as has 

 been found from experience, or appears to their 

 best judgment, to be suitable. 



When the land consists of a thin sward, lying 

 upon a substratum of sand, or gravel, or poor 

 till, I should imagine the practice would be im- 

 proper. But if the subsoil be a rich clay, or 

 should there be a thick surface of moss, bent, 

 heath, or matted rushes, containing a large pro- 

 portion of vegetable substance, the practice may- 

 be good. It is to be observed, however, that 

 on land of this last description, the application of 

 lime, where it can be had in sufficient quantity, 

 and at a reasonable rate, will supersede the ne- 

 cessity of paring and burning. By subjecting 

 it to a red fallow or to a drilled crop, according 

 as the one or the other shall appear most suita- 

 ble, all the quick vegetables in the soil will be 

 killed, and a complete liming will hasten the pro- 

 cess of their putrefaction, in this way the lam! 

 will be enriched and prepared for a profitable 

 rotation of crops afterwards, without risking the 

 staple by a dissipation of its vegetable substan- 

 ces by burning. In short, I am humbly of opi- 

 nion that paring and burning, even in cases 

 where it may be practised with advantage, is on- 



