518 
Farming in Devon and Cornwall. 
their occupiers, would have been most reluctant to disturb, so well 
were the clovers and grasses in them holding and thriving. The 
need for root crops was, however, pleaded as a sufficient reason 
for turning over such excellent herbage. 
In view of recent controversies, it may be stated that, speak- 
ing generally, it was found that in the three to five years' leas 
the rye-grasses and perennial clovers had maintained their hold, 
and that by the end of that period the natural grasses had come 
up in sufficient abundance to form a sward which was satisfactory 
and good enough for continuance. Apparently, all those mix- 
tures of seeds had done best in the second, third, and fourth 
years, in which cocksfoot and timothy had been included ; whilst, 
on the other hand, in some of the new leas the red and other 
clovers had not maintained their hold — partly because the land 
had become " clover sick " from too frequent sowings on short 
rotations, and partly because nitrate of soda had been used, and 
the usual results had followed. In one particular field the 
presence of lop grass (Bromus mollis) in large proportions was 
clearly attributable to the too free use of this exhaustive 
stimulant. On the other hand, to the infrequent use of lime in 
Cornwall, due to the absence of limestone in the county, and to 
the consequent high cost of it in its calcined form, may be 
attributed the comparative failure of the clovers there in the 
second and subsequent years. 
Of natural herbage there seems no lack, either of kinds or of 
goodness, in the two counties. Trefoil, for instance, is quite 
indigenous, and makes its appearance early in most leas, although 
little or none of its seed may have been intentionally sown. 
Wherever the clovers and grasses had failed, or been killed by 
too heavy a crop of corn, there for a surety was the trefoil to be 
found springing up naturally and abundantly. Crested dogstail 
and sweet vernal also come up most naturally, and with such 
constancy that their conspicuous presence in the five-year-old 
leas might be taken as a certain indication of the perioa during 
which the land had been seeded down. In the old pastures, 
cocksfoot, dogstail, and yarrow are generally to be found in 
large proportions. 
But, on the other hand, in both the old and new pastures, 
particularly in Cornwall, there is far too much of that veritable 
weed which, on account of its liability to ergot, is frequently 
charged with producing abortion, viz., Yorkshire Fog (Holcus 
lanatus). The prevalence of this grass in leas, both young "and 
old, points to the suspicion that its seed had been too often an 
adulterant in the mixtures sown. Too much care and precau- 
tion against the sowing of this weed cannot be taken now that 
