SMALL HOLDINGS 107 



to eradicate, owing to their vitality and the 

 resistance of their roots, while charlock and 

 the poppy are notorious for the quantity of 

 seed they grow and distribute on the soil, 

 and, in consequence, for the ease with which 

 they cover a field. The presence of heath 

 is also indicative of poor soil. Again, if the 

 timber consists largely of the fir or the beech, 

 or, in the absence of these varieties, of trees 

 which are stunted in their growth, suspicion 

 should be aroused. Poor grass land, too, 

 is frequently covered with moss and tufted 

 hair-grass. Moss, however, is not of such 

 great importance on land which has a good 

 staple, but which has become poor owing 

 to careless cultivation or want of liberality in 

 the employment of manure. If land of use- 

 ful character is carefully cleaned, good culture 

 and judicious manurings will quickly bring it 

 back to condition and enable it to grow 

 excellent crops, but land which is thoroughly 

 foul should be avoided altogether. 



Before taking a farm upon which so much 

 depends, the intending occupier should make 

 an effort to inspect it during the two important 

 seasons of the year, and especially when it 

 is carrying a summer crop. A meadow is best 

 examined before it has been mown, a pasture 



