86 
On Breaking-up Doirn Land. 
capable of promoting in but a very small degree the home trade 
of the kingdom, the labourers' wages being barely sufficient to 
provide them with food. Whereas, under a well-conducted alter- 
nate system of agriculture, there always exists a well-paid and 
well -clad population, which cannot fail to cause a mutual reci- 
procity of good feeling between the agriculturists and manu- 
facturers. 
I well know that there are many farmers who take care that 
their labourers are made more comfortable, by letting them land, 
and by employing, from charitable motives, their children. Highly 
commendable as this is in these respectable individuals, yet it 
does not do away the consequences of a bad system. The young 
unmarried men have no means of saving anything for a future 
day. N othing can afford an effectual remedy but the adoption of 
a system of cropping light soils which will produce more labour. 
So long as the only attention required for sheep during the greater 
part of the winter is merely feeding them with hay, so long as such 
an immense quantity of inferior down-pasture is kept out of cultiva- 
tion in order to uphold a system of successive corn-crops on other 
land, wages must remain low, the production of the soil be far less 
than its capabilities, and the manufacturers receive comparatively 
but little custom from the agriculturists of such districts. 
Next in importance to a good system of cropping is the making 
of good manure : if made by cattle, eating straw only, it will be 
of little value for light soils. Oil-cake is so much dearer than 
corn that the latter, which is always attainable, is frequently 
preferable. The best method of using it is to cut peas, barley, 
or oats in the straw into chaff. One ton of corn per acre, and 
about 2 tons of straw will amount to a crop, consisting of about 
15 sacks of oats, 11 of barley, and 9 of peas. The price of 
abundance of spring-corn is now 71. per ton : two-thirds of straw 
being added will make valuable fodder at 11. 6^. 8r/. per ton, or 
\d. per lb. 12 lbs. given daily to each beast for twenty weeks 
will cost 35s. ; to this add 14 lbs. of turnips, the value of which 
is \d. at 6s. 8c?. per ton, reckoning an acre of 12 tons weight at 
41. According to this calculation, the extra cost of keeping a 
young beast in good holding condition for twenty weeks will be 
40^. lOd. The smallest quantity of oil-cake I have known given 
to beasts, calves excepted, is 3 lbs. daily, amounting in the same 
period (at 12/. per ton, a common price) to 43*. 6(/. It is 
hardly necessary to state that the above quantity of corn must be 
more advantageous than the small portion of oil-cake usually given ; 
yet to give the oil-cake would be infinitely better than to feed the 
beasts with straw only. 
I give my opinion with perfect confidence on the greatly in- 
creased value of the manure from keeping growing cattle well. 
