300 



0)1 the Farming of Suffolk. 



The rye- grass straw may be stacked up immediately after 

 thrashing, and, if it is not made too much, it will be pretty good 

 liay. 



The seed will require to be spread thinly over a floor and fre- 

 quently turned with a shovel to prevent heating, and on hot days 

 it must be laid on a rick-cloth in the sun : this will require to be 

 repeated several times before it is fit to put away in sacks. 



When seeds fail, which is often the case on the poor soils, the 

 land is ploughed up and sown with peas. Occasionally the barley 

 is not seeded, and then peas or tares are grown after the barley ; 

 the tares are either fed or seeded ; if fed, followed by cole-seed 

 also fed. 



4th Year, Wheat.— The preparation for wheat is claying, 

 dunging, or folding. Some apply the greater portion of their 

 farm-yard dung to the root-crops, considering that, if a good root- 

 crop is secured, it will be the means of laying a foundation for the 

 succeeding crops. The process of claying will hereafter be 

 described. The dung is usually carted out of the yards on to a 

 bottom of mould or clay. After lying for some time it is turned 

 over, the outside receiving a covering of earth. It is generally 

 considered that the dung for wheat should be carted on clover 

 land some time previous to the ploughing, so that the clover may 

 grow through the coating of dung, as where manure has been 

 ploughed in directly, the crop of wheat has been found to be 

 inferior, but the reason it is difficult to imagine. The old 

 layers are ploughed in September and October about 4 inches 

 deep, with the furrows laid flat, and then rolled in the same direc- 

 tion as ploughed : the implement used for this purpose is usually 

 the common drill -roll with three horses, or the common heavy 

 roll. The time of sowing wheat is October and November, the 

 quantity used about 2 J bushels per acre.* Previous to drilling, 

 the seed is prepared by steeping in a solution of blue vitriol; the 

 following recipe is very generally used and found effective : — 

 Dissolve a pound of blue vitriol in a pail of boiling water, then add 

 three pails of cold water and it is fit for use. Let the wheat be 

 in the liquor ten minutes, during which time it should be stirred 

 and skimmed ; then strain it off through a skep over another tub, 

 and in twelve hours it is fit for use. The wheat thus prepared is 

 drilled either in the direction the land is ploughed in or across 

 the stetches, the land being harrowed before and after the drill. 

 A drill drawn by three horses sows about 1 0 acres in a day. Arti- 

 ficial manure, such as rape- cake, is frequently drilled with the 



* A few farmers may use a smaller quantity of seed per acre, but the 

 average of the light land would be nearly, if not quite, 2^ bushels. This 

 quantity of seed may appear unnecessarily large ; but it is required on 

 the light soils, particularly where game is strictly preserved. 



