38 ON THE RECLAMATION 



This produce, however, must not be reckoned on as over the 

 whole surface ploughed and sown with these crops ; for at least 

 one-eighth to one-fifth thereof will be still too crude, too salt, too 

 wet, or too stubborn to bear perhaps any crops, or at most but 

 one-fourth of what is borne by the best parts. This drawback, to- 

 gether, with the expenses of cultivating this description of land, 

 soon points out that grass, not tillage, is its most profitable ulti- 

 mate destination, and accordingly it is found expedient to pre- 

 pare it for the true and legitimate purpose of an intake, viz., graz- 

 ing. But we must not fall into the error that because this is the 

 last, it may also be the first destination of the land, a course of 

 tillage being requisite for a time upon all the argillaceous soils 

 in order to mix and incorporate them, and to pulverise the 

 soil, so as to bring it into a fit state for the production of the 

 better kinds of grasses, otherwise the coarser will predominate, 

 and the value of the ground be much deteriorated. In propor- 

 tion, therefore, as the course of tillage is perfect without being 

 continued to exhaustion, and as the levelling and surface drain- 

 ing are well performed, so will be the productive value of the 

 grazing marsh which succeeds the tillage. Nor are these opera- 

 tions sufficient in stiff clayey soils ; such will require to have their 

 tenacity subdued or lessened, their working rendered easier, and 

 their pulverisation or admixture of parts more effectual by the 

 application of chalk. This supply of calcareous matter will also 

 act as a manure, and will not only increase its quantity of wheat, 

 but also tend much to improve its quality, to stiffen its straw, so 

 as to prevent or check its lodging, and the consequent deteriora- 

 tion of the grain. In these various ways an expense of L.5 per 

 acre thus incurred will soon be repaid, whilst its beneficial 



