G R A S S. 



««mnionIy deuoinii.aU-J Pihe. But thelc Inqiiincs fuggcR a 

 further idea conct-niiiig the part of the produce, of either 



frafs or arable land, to which that circumftanco is attached, 

 t is evident, on the flightcll view of the fubjeft, tliat the 

 portion of the produce confumed in the farmer's family can 

 have little to do with the price of the market : it never finds 

 its way thither : it never comes to be meafured with the dc- 

 jmand of the confumer, who docs not produce. For tliis 

 reafop, in all inquiries tliat have for their objeft what is 

 called plenty or fcarcity, we never hear of any thing but 

 price ; and price is never formed but by the fupply of towns 

 from the produce of the country. The larger part of a 

 modern fociety confifts of the inhabitants of thofe towns, wlio 

 are fiipported'eithcr by manufaaures, or on incomes not de- 

 rived immediately from the cultivation of the earth. So 

 much for juft opening our way in a field rather intcreding : 

 but mav we not, witli equal propriety, extend tlie circum- 

 ftance juft alluded to, to the labouring families fupported by 

 the fanner ? His little neighbours in the village who do the 

 work of his hufbandry, arreft, if we may fo exprefs it, the 

 amount of their fubfiftence from tire crop before it arrives at 

 the market. They mull be fed ; and though in many cafes, 

 by buying their flour of a miller, they feem to clafs with the 

 inhabitants of a town, yet, perhaps, in more numerous cafes 

 they are, in faft, fed inmiediately from the farmer's (lores ; 

 and in effeft always fo : for, if the farmer cannot produce his 

 crops but by their diredl afiiftance, and mull multiply them 

 exadly in proportion to the operofenefs of his culture, they 

 cannot be confidercd in any other light, than mouths attached 

 to the culture of the land, and demanding a dcdudlion from 

 the produce of wheat, before the furplus or market be 

 reckoned, in as direft a deduction as that from his crtip of 

 oats for the food of his horfea, or other animal.^. It is added 

 that there are in the Suffolk Report foine eilimates of what 

 the writer calls produce free in the market, and he makes 

 the grafs-lands yield a greater free produce (horles, labour, 

 &c &c. dcduilod) than arable ; and he knows not but it 

 may be the fame in other coimiies. Other writers feem alfo 

 10 have had the notion that grafs-land is more beneficial than 

 arable. Bertrand, a Swifs writer, fays, that grafs-cmmtries 

 yield more food than arable, and therefore manufactures 

 iiiould be fixed in them. Hartlib feems to be of the fame 

 opinion, and quotes thole of Europe as the moll populous. 

 Fortrey, who wrote in 1663, alfo fays, that our chief care 

 fhould be to increafc our flock of cattle. There is fome de- 

 gi-ee of truth in thefe fentiments ; and they might be coiifi- 

 de.-ed in relation to the proportionate nourifliment, in a pound 

 of animal food compared with thit of a pound of vegetable, 

 which fome authors have made vaflly greater in meat than in 

 bread. Thefe are topics, it is ilated, which ought to be 

 thoroughly exainiued, that the public mind may be free from 

 cvecy erroneous bias upon fuch points. Cut further in the 

 dairy countries, where butter is the chief produce, four fir- 

 kins, or 224 lbs. may be reckoned the average produce per 

 cow ; the calf fold at: about a week old, may contain about 

 }0 lbs. of flefh ; and as the pigs lupported by a dairy, ufed 

 to be reckoned at the rate of 20s. per cow, when pork was 6J. 

 per poimd, it implies, that ^o lbs. of pork is the proportion 

 to each cow : but the cow confuraing the produce of llireo 

 seres, the acreable account would of courfe tlaud as below : 

 Acreahle ylccannl. lis. 



In Butter .... - 74 



Veal .... • 10 

 Perk ... - - 13 



However, in the checfe counties, the produAs vary a good 

 deal : in Chefhire 4 cwt. per cow; in Shropihire 2^ cwt. ; 

 in Glouceflerfliire about 2| cwt. ; in Wikdiire 4 cwt. ; in 

 Somerfetfhire 3 J, cwt.; in AVarwickfliire 3 cwt.: the ave- 

 rage of all thefe is 37 cwt. and at three acres per cow, i cwt. 

 and a fmall fradlion per acre ; and as thefe counties are richer 

 than thofe applied to the produce of buttei, veal may be 

 called I jibs, and pork 2albs. ; in all I47lbs. per acre, or 

 therea.bouts. But as to mear, authorities are not very am- 

 ple : in the midland counties there is a very general notion, 

 that an acre of grafs, at 40^-. rent, will give 20clbs. of mut- 

 ton. By an experiment made on land of an inferior qualitv, 

 which is mentioned in the Annals of Agriculture, land of 

 l6j-. rent, gave 8oIbs. ; and he has heard, on good authority, 

 that in Cambrldgcfliire fome obfervations, carefully made, 

 confirmed this proportion of produce in land fed botli with 

 bullocks and iheep ; and the produce of beef, &c. in the 

 Lincolnlhire marflies, goes even further than this ratio or pro- 

 portion to the acre. 



With refpe£l to the butter dairies, they are on land of 

 about i6j. an acre rent ; and if tlie produce be 97'bs. the 

 proportion will be 61bs. to every fhilliiig rent. The chcefe 

 dailies, at 2^s. rent, yielding I47lbs. are alfo at about 61bs. 

 per IhlUing rent. The meat is jibs, per (hilling. It is eafy 

 then to decide, that dairy counties are more advantageous 

 than grazing ones in weiglit of produce ; but their fupcrio- 

 rity is far greater in another point of view ; their produce 

 comes much more into the coiifumption of the poor ; for, 

 where one poor perfon eats meat, there are probably forty 

 that confume butter and eheefe. How to compare thefe 

 produfts with thofe of arable land is very difficult ; and vet 

 the inquirj^ is too interelling entirely to be omitted : a lon>T 

 train of invefligation might enable one to difentangle difficul- 

 ties, but it would require much time to go deeply into fuch 

 a variety of iubjedls. The produce of a good loamy foil, 

 under the courfe, i . Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, 4. Wheat, 

 may, it is fuppofed, be calculated in this manner. 



" No. I. . Arabic dry Land at iGs. an Acre Ren.', five Acres 

 each Crop ; tiventy Acres in all, in a Courfe cj jour Tears' 



Hujbaiulry. 



. Turnips ; eight flieep an acre, at tlie 

 iucreafe of jj-. each (heep, or 4CJ, 



mutton 8oibs 



cacli 

 : and for 



5 acres 40o;L!S. 



,!',,. F 



Time. 



ciiuns. Y»;ir3. Viceks* 



Total 



97 



will be I'ufficient (at -Mb. per perfon 

 per diem) for two perfons, one year 

 and five weeks . , . . 



. Barley and oats ; fuppofc an allow- 

 ance of 1 7 acre of oats (at five quar- 

 ters per acre') for one horfe as tlie pro- 

 portionate team to twenty acres, and 

 including feeds for i~ acre: in all 

 fixty bulhels ; remain 3^ acres for 

 barley, at four quarters an acre ; four- 

 teen quarters or 112 buihels ; dcduft 

 fourteen for feed, rcmiain niaety-eight 

 buHiels for malt, &c. ; but, if apphed 

 in bread, fufficient at riiue bufhels j)er 

 head per annum, for eleven perfons a 

 year, minus one bufhel. 



. Clover ; deduct two acres for the 

 fummcr and winter food of the horfes, 

 remain three acres for flieep, at eight 

 per acre, improved 8j. each* or 3/. 4/.; 

 or (at Gd per pound) i . 81bs. of n>ut- 

 ton, and for three acres 38410*. fuiii- 



*Kr.t 



