GRAZING. 



degrees of warmth and (lu'ltcr, and th'.Ti-by promoting the 

 growth of the herbage more ;\b'.nidantiy, that Imall in- 

 chsfurcs are more advantag-ous in tliis practice than thofe of 

 a iize larger. See Pastuke. 



But the praftice of different diftriiils, where the grazing 

 fyftem is much in nfe, will, however, afl'ord a more clear 

 idea of this fort of management-. In the Agricultural 

 Survey of I.,incoln(hire, it is Hated, that in the low-land 

 ill Barton on the Humber, there was a horfe-pallure and a 

 ihcep one contiguous, and upon the inclofure it was remark- 

 able to obferve the great difference between tlieni ; that 

 which had been under iheep fo greatly fuperior. And in 

 the traft of marfh-land on the fea-coall they obferve, that, 

 where moll grafs is left in autumn, there the herbage is the 

 coarfeil and uorft next year. The remark was, it is ob- 

 ferved, made in anfwer to recommending eddiHi for fpring- 

 feeding flieep, which they thought would not do on rich 

 marQi, though it might on uplands. This likewile iliews 

 that the Ronmey Marft fyftem of clofe feeding is right, 

 and would anfwer as well in Lincolnfhire. And in the hun- 

 dred of Skirbeck, they like, it is added, to have a tole- 

 rable head of grafs in the fpring, before turning in ; and 

 afterwards fo to ftock as to prevent its getting coarfe by 

 runiung aiva-;,, fo as to prevent the necefTity of hobb'mg, 

 which, however, mull be done in a wet growing feafun. 

 Mr. Parkinfon obferves, that the lefs flieep are changed 

 the better. This remark, which he takes to be very juit, 

 demands, he fays, attention : it bears on the queilion of 

 folding. Bcails are changed while hobh'tng is done ; and 

 the fooner it is hobbed the better, as, if cut while young, 

 cattle will eat it. But in Somerfetfliire, according to Mr. 

 Billingfley, in fuinmer feeding, attentive farmers have the 

 dung which falls from the animal fcraped up and wheeled 

 into heaps, and the thillles and rough fpots frequently mown. 

 Belldes they make a point of excluding horfes and (heep 

 from their cow-pailures. And when their mown ground 

 is fit to be flocked, they hayn their fummer leaze, fo as to 

 have a good fupply of rough grafs or rouen in the winter. 

 They alfo mow and feed alternately, by which means the 

 bell forts of gralTes are prefervcd and encouraged ; and in 

 the Synopfis of Hufbandry, it is Hated, that, " when the 

 fummer turns out moift and growing, the herbage often 

 ihoots fa'.ler than the llock can eat it down. In this cafe 

 it is common in Kent, to brufli over the marfhes at the 

 mowing feafon, though they had not been originally laid 

 in for that purpofe ; by which economy the farmer becomes 

 pofrefTed of a much larger portion of hay than he had be- 

 fore formed an expeftation of, and which, in countries 

 where this commodity fetches a ^jood price, is an advantage 

 whereof he is right to avail himfelf ; for thefe cafual brudi- 

 ings may probably furnifh him with a quantity of winter 

 provender fufficient to his own ufe ; whilft thofe marflies 

 which were primarily intended to be mown, and having been 

 defignedly laid in with that view, will produce a commodity 

 of abetter quality and m.ore faleable ; that may be difpofed 

 of at market. Ou the removal of this old grafs, the ground 

 is left at liberty to fend forth a more vigorous (lioot in the 

 autumn, fo that thefe rouens do at that time produce a 

 iweet and wholefome patturage, which would otherwife have 

 been choked up with the rotten tore ' of the Lift year ; yet 

 there are cafes whore it may be neceffary to fiiffer this old 

 grafs to remain on the ground, as where a portion of food 

 is required for the cows or other horned beatts in the winter. 

 Then this old tore, having been fweetened by the frofts, will 

 be found exceedingly ufeful, and the cattle will at that time 

 greedily devour what in the fummer months they turned from 

 with difguft.'' 



The fame writer alfo adds, that " the manner of flocking 

 a grazing farm in the marfhes differs according to the nature 

 of the land. In Romney Marfli, the view,s of the grazier 

 are chiefly directed to the breeding and management of 

 fheep : and in the Ille of Sheepey, both bullocks and fheep 

 claim his attention, vvhilft in fome parts the marfli land is 

 wholly appropriated to the breeding of horned cattle and 

 colts. Thofe grazing farms are molt eligible, which admit 

 of breeding and fattening on the fame palture. This is the 

 cafe with Romney Marlli, a tratt of land fo eminently diftin- 

 guillied for a valuable breed of polled flieep, that it fur- 

 niflies the graziers of Sheepey, and other places in this 

 county, with an annual fupply of lean-ftock over and above 

 what is referved for feeding ; fo tliat it is evident the gra- 

 zier here enjoys a double profit from his farm, though it is 

 believed, iince the increafed value of lean-flieep, that the 

 graziers in the Ille of Sheepey have many of them adopted 

 the method of breeding their own flock.'' This is pro- 

 bably the moil beneficial praftice. 



In the county of Wellmoreland, the cattle bought in in 

 September are wintered on the coarfe paftures and in the 

 ftraw-yard. In May following the young ones are fent to 

 the commons ; and thofe of an older dcfcription turned 

 upon the beft paftures as foon as pofTible, according to tlie 

 earlinefs of the filuation. But in the Agricultural Report 

 of the North Riding of Yorklliire, it is faid that " there 

 the ufual time of breaking the paftures is the 12th May, 

 from which time they continue regularly flocked until 

 about OAober, when, if the ftock confifts of milch- cows, 

 or feeding cattle and fheep, they are removed to fog (after- 

 grafs) ; the paftures, with the addition of the itubbles, 

 remain flocked during the winter with ftore fiieep or lean 

 cattle ; biit the latter are, by many farmers, taken into the 

 flraw-yard for the night. The herbage of the paftures is, 

 however, it is thought, thus completely deftroyed before 

 winter, and the land thus left naked is ftarved, and the 

 growth of mofs greatly encouraged, to the almofl certain 

 ruin of the grafs-land. An inftancehas not occurred in the 

 courfe of the furvey, of the prattice of preferviug a conii- 

 derable part of the fummer growth of grafs upon the lancf, 

 for fpring feed, a praftice well worthy of attention. This 

 winter clothing, it is fuppofed, enriches the fwards, deflroys 

 the mofs, and, by keeping the roots of the grafs warm, 

 caufes an early vegetation in fpring, when tlie fcarcity of 

 the herbage fo much enhances the value of it. On farms, 

 the foil of which is not adapted to turnips, this pradlice 

 would, it is faid, be peculiarly beneficial." 



" In March, the land intended to be paftured the enfuing 

 fummer, is, or ought to be freed, and the flock put into the 

 land intended to be mown, where they remain, until thofe 

 paftures arc broken up in the beginning of May. 



" In the dales of the Moorlands, the lower lands only 

 are adapted to meadow ; confequently, the land cannot be 

 changed alternately from meadow to pafture, as may be 

 prattifed in many other parts of the Riding ; though there, 

 as before noticed, the practice is not fufhciently attended to. 

 There are many inftances of cow-pafture, which have been 

 invariably fummer-fed during feveral generations." See 

 PASTUKE-/-nnc/j'. 



" The beft farmers ufually pafture their new laid ground 

 the firll two years, and that chiefly with fheep, as fheep im- 

 prove grafs more than any other kind of ftock, both by 

 their treading more lightly and uniformly, and by the dung 

 and urine being more regularly difperfed over the land. 

 But the praOftice of eating them very bare during the firll 

 autumn and winter after fowing, and alio mowing them tlx; 

 firll fummer, is too prevalent ; fach praiiliccs ai"e, it is oh- 



ferved, 



