HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [53 



that from clover ; but the last-mentioned process seems applicable 

 to them all in bad weather. 



Stacking of Hay. Some people carry tunnels up their hay-rick 

 either by drawing up a bundle of wheat straw, or by a tunnel of 

 wood drawn up and out at the top. These are meant to discharge 

 a part of the vapour generated in fermentation, and thus prevent 

 the danger from the hay firing : those who practice it say they can 

 thus carry their hay a day or two the sooner. A hay stack should not 

 be begun above four yards wide at the bottom, when, if well put 

 together, and the sides sloped outwards, it will hold two waggon- 

 loads in every yard in length or more ; and if carried so as to be 

 four yards high, besides the roof, when settled, it may contain from 

 a ton and a half to two tons of hay for every yard in length. 



Produce of Meadow Land. Mr. Curwen has stated that a good 

 meadow may produce annually twenty tons of grass per acre ; but 

 this will be seldom realized. To ascertain this point, the fresh- 

 mown grass of two perches of land was weighed in July, 1814, in a 

 meadow of Mr. Miller's, at Dunstall, near Wolverhampton : it was 

 well-grown, and by the side of a floating gutter ; the weight was 

 3 cwt. nearly. This is 12 tons per acre ; and reckoning the after- 

 math at half as much, the whole product would be 18 tons per acre. 

 When made into hay it was a few pounds short of a hundred weight, 

 but the weather had not been remarkable for sunshine. It may be 

 assumed from this experiment, that a well-grown meadow may cut 

 from 10 to 12 tons of grass per acre, and make 3 tons of hay, but 

 that in general not more than half this quantity is obtained ; that if 

 a meadow will not give a ton of hay per acre, it is not rich enough 

 to be mown ; that a good crop of clover, or vetches, may be 10 tons 

 per acre green, or more at two cuttings : hence will appear the 

 great importance of keeping meadows in good heart. A meadow 

 that will produce three tons of hay per acre is as valuable as an ave- 

 rage crop of wheat. It is calculated that an hundred weight of 

 grass per day would maintain a dairy cow ; that the hay made from 

 it would do the same in winter ; and therefore, that an acre of 

 meadow producing 18| tons of grass, would maintain a dairy cow 

 the whole year. But in general it takes two or three acres to do 

 this ; one acre of rich meadow is therefore worth two or three acres 

 of average land. 



Gardens and Orchards. Every house in the country should have 

 a spacious garden, as the land will thus produce more human sus- 

 tenance than in any common course of agriculture. The usual 



