534 The Scouring Lands of Somerset. [oct., 



sheep, the worse it gets ; if sheep are kept away, it improves 

 somewhat. Now since, except in the worst seasons, sheep 

 do well on scouring land, it is naturally a common practice 

 in the management of such land to keep a good many sheep 

 on it. Cases are reported in which very "teart" pastures 

 which have been heavily grazed with sheep for many years 

 have been considerably improved (as regards tendency to 

 scour) by keeping sheep away altogether for a time, and 

 afterwards only making use of them to a very small extent. 



Influence of Frost. — The remarkable action of frost in ren- 

 dering scouring herbage harmless is a point of particular 

 interest. The autumn-grown herbage on " teart" land is 

 always most liable to cause scouring ; but after the first two 

 or three sharp frosts all "teartness" disappears, and cattle 

 can be safely put into the fields. The earlier the sharp frosts 

 come, the better for farmers with scouring land. 



Hay from " Teart " Land. — It is difficult to get precise in- 

 formation with regard to the extent to which hay from 

 "teart " land may cause scouring. The fact is that it depends 

 on the district and on the season. From the worst "teart" 

 land hay will nearly always scour beasts, though never so 

 badly as the fresh grass ; but on most farms the hay is con- 

 sidered practically harmless, especially if allowed to get some- 

 what old before feeding. By cutting the grass rather late 

 or allowing the hay to heat a little, most scouring properties 

 seem to be removed in any case, though the hay is always 

 more likely to scour animals which have been feeding in 

 "teart " fields than those from sound land. 



The Nature of the Herbage. — Perhaps the theory put for- 

 ward most frequently to account for "teartness" is that it 

 is due to the presence of one or more particular species of 

 plants, such as the purging flax (Linum catharticum) or the 

 carnation grass (Car ex panicea). There is, however, no 

 reliable evidence whatever to be advanced in favour of this 

 view ; indeed, very careful search by many different observers 

 has failed to discover any plant which is peculiar to or even 

 unusually abundant in "teart" pastures. 



The tyrje of herbage in scouring fields may apparently 

 vary to almost any extent. It is certainly never possible — 

 even to anyone who has been familiar with the "teart" land 



