288 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK III. Nowfor the planting of woods in such places(which is the main design 

 '^-^^-y^ of this whole treatise) the hills and rough grounds will do well ; but they 

 are the rich fat vales and flats which do best deserve the charge of walls ; 

 such as that spot affords; and the Hawthorn well plashed, single or double, 

 is a better and more natural fence than unmortared walls, could our in- 

 dustry arrive to the making of such as we have described : besides, they 



" seeds turn to very little account after the first year, his majesty's, which though a five- 

 " course shift, likewise, of one hundred acres in a shift, is upon a much improved course 

 " of cropping ; as thus — first, wheat or rye ; second, the irregular shift ; third, turnips ; 



" fourth, barley or oats ; fifth, clover. The irregular shift, which is of great use on a 



" light land farm, may, perhaps, want a little explanation. It is meant to be partly pro- 

 " ductive, and partly preparative. Forty acres of it are sown with vetches, to be fed off ; 

 " forty are sown the latter end of August with rye, for early feed the next spring for the 

 " ewes and lambs ; the remaining twenty acres are planted with potatoes, and the whole 

 " comes round for turnips the next year. 



" From the advantage of running sheep in the park, this farm has been brought sur- 

 " prisingly forward, considering the short time it has been cultivated ; and a great part of 



it, which produced nothing but heath nnd moss, and would have been dear at five shil- 

 " lings an acre to rent, now produces crops worth more than the original fee-simple of the 

 " land, 



" Brevity checks me from going farther into a general description ; but the following 

 " particulars may deserve notice. 



" The comparative advantages of the labour of horses and oxen have been for some 

 " time under the consideration of the public. His majesty has unquestionably tried the 

 " latter upon a larger scale than any other person, as he does not work less than one hun- 

 " dred and eighty oxen upon his different farms, parks, and gardens, and has found them 



" to answer so well, that there is not now a horse kept. Upon the two farms, and the 



" great park, two hundred are kept, including those coming on and going off. Forty are 

 " bought in every year, rising three years, and are kept as succession oxen in the park ; 

 " one hundred and twenty are under work ; and forty every year are fatted off, rising seven 

 " years. 



" The working oxen are mostly divided into teams of six, and one of the number is every 

 " day rested, so that no ox works more than five days out of the seven, — This day of ease 

 " in every week, besides Sunday, is of great advantage to the animal, as he is found to do 

 " better with ordinary keep and moderate labour, than he would do with high keep and 

 " harder labour. In short, this is the first secret to learn concerning him ; for an ox will 

 " not admit of being kept in condition like a horse, artificially, by proportionate food to 

 " proportionate labour. 



" These oxen are never allowed any corn, as it would prevent their fatting so kindly 

 " afterwards. Their food in summer is only a few vetches, by way of a bait, and the run 

 " of coarse meadows, or what are called leasows, being rough, woody pastures. In winter, 

 " they have nothing but cut food, consisting of two-thirds hay, and one-third wheat-straw ; 

 " and the quantity they eat in twenty-four hours is about twenty-four pounds of hay and 



