Tlie Agriculture of Pembrokeshire. 
89 
is fed off, and the same in the third year, by which time it 
usually looks rather thin. Mr. Clare Sewell Read's suggestion 
in his report on South Wales * that, instead of bare fallow and 
barren ley, the soil should be given rest " under the shade of the 
turnip," was certainly not only poetical, but most excellent and 
practical ; and probably the growth of more roots will do more 
good to the land and the farmer than almost anything else. Pro- 
bably in no part of the county in the present day is ley-land to 
be seen " resting," for years in that whitey-brown, almost barren, 
state which he describes. 
Pastures. — And now a word on the pastures, which comprise 
over two-thirds of the enclosed land of the county. These, of 
course, are the great sources of the hay and the feeding-ground 
for the cattle ; and in many parts of the county there are excel- 
lent pastures, though, generally speaking, a very considerable 
portion of this land is much impoverished, and carries more 
weeds than good grasses. The more sparing use or entire 
relinquishment of lime in recent years has been much felt by 
the pastures ; and whereas formerly Pembrokeshire was said to 
be the natural home of the Trifolium repeiis, it is now sometimes 
difficult to find it in a pasture. Of course, on the limestone 
and trap soils where lime abounds, this little white clover 
springs up vigorously ; but in many parts the daisy, sorrel-dock, 
mosses, and various ferns are more predominant. The top- 
dressings applied to pastures are usually farmyard manure, or a 
compost of manure, earth, sand, and sea- weed, road scrapings, &c., 
though more recently bones have been used, either dissolved 
or as sold in what is known as " half-inch bones," &c. To keep 
down fern it is usual to mow it in the autumn, as the root is 
liable to rot before spring ; this custom might be extended with 
considerable advantage. 
Formerly it was customary to fog land, the object being to 
provide early keep in the spring ; and to effect this, the field 
seems to have been locked up from about June. The increased 
growth of roots has probably superseded this custom, though 
the preserving of the aftermath is not uncommon. 
The growth of grass in the spring is usually rather late, 
thus haymaking seldom begins before the middle or end of June. 
The mowing machine, wherever it can be used, has displaced 
the scythe for cutting the grass. The other machines used are 
the tedder or hay-maker, the horse-rake, and sometimes the col- 
lector. It is usual to give the grass ample time to dry in small 
cocks, before making into ricks. In carrying hay, the cart, 
with " tripples " on, is preferred to the waggon, and the hay 
* 'Journal E.A.S.E.' 1849, vol. x. p. 157. 
