234 Notes on Inoculation of Grass Land at Kimholton. 
at all manageable, the land was generally first cut across by the 
sharp tines of a scarifier, so that as the paring-plough went along in 
the other direction, large-sized " mats," evenly divided, remained 
on the land to be removed in the cart to the scene of operations. 
The turves thus cut were chopped into pieces of three or four 
inches square by a spade or similar implement, after they had 
been tipped out of the cart on or near the land in process of 
being inoculated. The labour in so doing must be enormous. 
An apparent advance on this system is suggested in Morton's 
' Cyclopaedia of Agriculture,' where the writer says : — " If, by 
means of a roller presenting to the ground on which it rests 
discs with sharp edges at intervals of four inches, the whole sur- 
face of a field of good grass be cut to the depth of two or three 
inches apart, then a paring-plough crossing these lines, and 
taking alternate 4-inch slices at a depth of two or three inches 
from the surface of the field, will cut off a large number of bits 
of turf," &c. But the expense of " picking up the pieces," 
according to this plan, is by no means to be overlooked. It is 
not to be wondered at that the increased price of labour has 
deterred most persons from adopting either method of obtaining 
the " large number of bits of turf " necessary for the process. 
The novelty in the Duke of Manchester's system consists in 
cutting out narrow strips of turf, instead of long mats to be 
redivided afterwards ; and it is a decided improvement on the 
system of " cut-crossing " small strips of four inches wide. The 
implement used may in its frame-work be a common scarifier, 
in which are fixed two bent rectangular tines, which are so 
adjusted as to cut a strip of sod two inches deep and two inches 
broad. These ropes may be of any length, and may break in 
lifting into the cart into any size, for they would seldom break 
in shorter lengths than two inches at least. Instead of having 
to cut them into small squares by the spade or other means, 
which considerably increases the amount of labour, the ropes of 
turf are readily broken off in suitable sizes by the hands of the 
women or boys carrying them during the process of plan- 
tation. Of old, also, the usual way of marking the land into 
lines for transplantation was by the use of a scarifier. The 
introduction of corn-drills allows of a more rapid means of 
marking the land, by scoring it with the coulters of an empty 
drill. The women and children, having these lines to guide 
them (we speak of the system adopted at Kimbolton), use their 
own judgment in placing the bits of turf at proper distances — 
irregularly, of course, yet still as a whole carefully and system- 
atically done. The small pieces of turf are pressed down with 
the foot after they have been placed in position by the hand, 
and the whole is rolled over soon afterwards, and again at any 
