RED 



RED 



are yet wet. The operator is to provide a glafs pipe, and 

 covering one end of it witli a piece of fine gauze, lie is to 

 dip this into the powder, and taking it carefnlly out, with 

 what little is ilicking to it, he is to blow againll the vefTcI 

 at fome dillance from it : thus the tinell part of tlie powder 

 only will reach the veffel, an<l will be laid on in form of 

 glittering fpangles, very fmall, but alldilUnft. This i» 

 fort of colouring much efteemed by the Chinefe themfelves, 

 and they have a way of ufing the common blue in the fame 

 manner ; but few of the velfels thus painted come over 

 to us. 



Red Clover, in Agriculture, an ufeful artificial grafs for 

 arable lands. It has this name in contradiftinftion to the 

 white and fome other forts. There were at firfl many and 

 very great prejudices agsinfl and objcftions made to the in- 

 troduction of this plant into cultivation by farmers, which 

 were not furmounted without difficulty, and it prevailed for 

 fome length of time in particular diflrifts, as StafFordfhire 

 and Worceflerfhire, before it was known in fome other coun- 

 ties, where it is now very predominant and beneficial, as 

 Chefliire, Lancafhire, and many moie. 



In fome arable counties red clover is found to fail as a 

 crop when long cultivated, dying away in the winter and 

 fpring, which the farmers defignate by faying that the 

 land is fick of it. This is a fevere inconvenience to them 

 in many cafes ; and renders fuch variations in the courfes of 

 cropping neceflary, as may prevent the recurrence of it fo fre- 

 quently as has hitherto been the cafe. It is very liable to fail 

 !u every part of the county of Eflex, but of the caufe of 

 whicii there are different opinions, fome thinking that the land 

 becomes fick of the plant, while others do not afcribe it to 

 any latiety of this nature, but alter their modes of cropping 

 that it may not take place fo often. About the Belcamps 

 and Bofely this is very much the cafe, fome venturing it 

 only once in feven years, and in that cafe it fucceeds well. 

 In all the Tendring hundred it is found to decline little on 

 the ilrong rich lands, but is felt on the lighter forts ; on both 

 the cropping is varied in regard to it. In the neighbourhood 

 of Thorndon the lands are fick of it. And at Audley End 

 the land is tired of it, but more in many cafes from want of 

 fufficient feed than any thing elfe. In the vicinity of Hal- 

 lingbury it is very liable to fail, if fown oftener than once 

 in feven or nine years, though the fyftem thereabouts is crop 

 and fallow. 



In the county of Oxford fome fow red clover twice in 

 ten years, the land being new to it ; of courfe it never fails. 

 On the gravelly loamy foils about Henly it dies from re- 

 petition, fo that it is alternately omitted in cropping, 

 others being fubltituted, as white clover, trefoil, and peas. 

 Nothing of this fort was known forty years ago, but now 

 they fow it only once in two rounds. The loams and ilone- 

 brafh lands around Wood Raton are not in general tired of 

 this plant ; fome however find it to fail on the latter fort of 

 foil. About Great Tew, where the lands have been in- 

 clofed forty years, they are not yet tired of red clover. At 

 Atterbury, where the lands have been inclofed more years, 

 it does not now fucceed quite fo well as it did fifteen or twenty 

 years ago. In thefe failures other crops are put in, as tares 

 and early peas drilled. 



Some fufpeft Iheep's dung to be deftruftive to the red- 

 clover plant, but there are no proofs of the faft. 



The mofl proper management of red clover as a prepara- 

 tion for wheat is a matter of great importance. Some 

 think feeding it off wholly the beft praftice ; others mowing 

 and feeding ; and a few mowing altogether. The method 

 of feeding off the crops altogether, when done in a clofe 

 even manner, is probably the mofl advantageous in this 

 Vol.. XXIX. 



intention, though there may be fome immediate lofs and 

 inconvenience ; after which that of mowing the firfl crop 

 and feeding the fecond in a ufeful manner ; the third mode, 

 or that of mowing twice, is moil to be feared, but upon fome 

 forts of land it may be done and anfwer well for wheat. 

 Thefe methods are all pradlifed and have their advocates in 

 different parts of Effex ; and fome think that they get as 

 good wheat after white as red clover, as well as that feeding 

 the latter does no injury in this refpedl. 



The farmers in Oxfordfliire follow nearly the famepraclices 

 and hold much the fame opinions in regard to the management 

 ■ )f this crop as a preparation for wheat. And the cultom of 

 mowing and feeding off the firfl year, is thought the beft 

 pradlice in fome other counties. 



But in the county of Lancafler, and fome others adjoining 

 it, they know nothmg of the land being everjici or tired of 

 this fort of crop, though they grow it in more frequent 

 fucceffion and in a more full manner than perhaps any where 

 elfe in the kingdom. Alk the farmers about this, from one 

 end of the above county to the other, they are all of the 

 fame opinion, and appear much furprifed at the queflion, not 

 ever having any conception of fuch a circumftance. What 

 can be the reafon that red clover has been as long and as fre- 

 quently cultivated in thefe diftrifts, as in thofe where it is 

 fo liable to fail ? Does it depend upon the difference in the 

 nature or quality of the foils, or the management in regard 

 to the quantity of feed and other matters ? The circumftance 

 is worthy of further and more clofe attention and in- 

 veftigation, in confequence of its great importance to the 

 farmer. 



There is one particular feature of management in the cul- 

 tivation of red clover in the county of Oxford, which is 

 that of hand-fowing over it from fourteen to fifteen bufhels 

 of Newbury peat-afhes, that are brought into the Thames, 

 by the Reading canal, on the acre, about the end of Febru- 

 ary or the beginning of tlie following month ; which has an 

 immediate effect upon it, feldom failing to produce a crop, 

 except where it naturally declines. The expence is eftimated 

 at about ten fhillings the acre. Thefe afhes do not, how- 

 ever, feem to be employed in this way to the red clover crop in 

 the diflridl where they are found and prepared. 



Seeded red clover undergoes two fucceffive threfhings, the 

 firft, which only beats off the heads and chaffs containing the 

 feed from the ftalks, is called cobbing in fome places ; the 

 parts thus feparated being denominated the red-clover cobb. 

 The work is performed ou a thick wooden plank frame for 

 the purpofe, and requires much labour to feparate the feed, 

 which, when done, is cleaned and palled through different 

 fieves, being ultimately divided into two forts, the primary and 

 fecondary. The coll of thefe operations is very great, 

 amounting to from four to fix fhillings the bufliel, and fome- 

 times much more. It has been concluded by Mr. Middleton, 

 that this plant grows a full crop in all Uie arable lands of this 

 country, from the fands of Norfolk to the clays of Cleve- 

 land and Suffex. And that various foils that have been ex- 

 haufted by corn, and not much accuftomed to red clover, 

 have been fo much rellored by it, as to produce a good crop 

 of wheat ; but that to do this every means fliould be ufed 

 to fecure a full crop, as that is an excellent preparation for 

 cern, and feldom fails of enfuring a confiderable produfee, 

 arifing from fhade, fmother, and putrefadlion, the natural 

 and conflant attendants of full-grown red clover. It is 

 fuppofed advifeable, in fome cafes of poor land, to feed both 

 crops off on the land by fheep and other animals, in fome 

 way or other. And fometimes to mow tiie firll and feed 

 the fecond, or the contrary. In every point of view this is 

 an intereiling plant to the farmer. See Clover. 



4 A Red 



