98 
Light-Land Farming. 
increases in fertility, to introduce wheat. The latter is not 
essentially a more exhaustin? crop than the two former, but it 
requires a higher state of fertility in the soil to make its cultiva- 
tion profitable. 
First Year. — Turnips. — As soon as the previous corn-crop 
is removed, the stubble is gone over by the cultivator, with tlie 
points fixed on the coulters, in the direction of the old ridges, 
and loosening the surface about two inches deep. The points of 
the cultivator are then taken off, and the broad shares substituted, 
and tlie implement is drawn across the ridges, by which means 
all the surface is shaved off to the depth of nearly two inclies. 
When the land is in a proper state as to dryness, 4 acres can 
be grubbed or scarified by each process daily by the Ducie cul- 
tivator, drawn by 2 horses guided by 1 man, or 2 acres can be 
both grubbed and scarified in the same time. If any couch- 
grass appears on the surface, the land should be harrowed, and 
the couch raked off and burnt or mixed into a compost with hot 
lime, afterwards with earth, and may be used twelve months 
after as a top-dressing ; but if no couch or root-weeds are pre- 
sent the harrowing may be omitted, and the land allowed till 
time can be got to cart manure upon it, which should be as early 
in winter as possible. The manure is ploughed in with a light 
furrow, and the land allowed to remain till February or March, 
when the cultivator with the points is drawn across it so as to 
mix the manure and soil intimately together, and also to destroy 
any weeds which may have sprung up. If necessary this opera- 
tion should again be performed some time after ; but as much 
spring cultivation is injurious to the light dry soils of the upper 
chalk, the less it receives the more retentive of moisture Avill it 
be, which is an essential point in cultivating turnips on such 
soils, situated as they generally are in an arid climate. 
On a poor light farm in the neighbourhood of Southampton, 
the manure is laid on for turnips in the way described above, 
and, in addition to this, liquid manure, generally guano and 
superpliosphate of lime diffused through a large quantity of 
water, is applied at sowing-time by a machine which distributes 
the manure and sows the seed in rows on the flat at distances 
varying from 24 to 27 inches in the row as may be required : 
very extraordinary crops of roots are raised in this way, as the 
young plants are at once furnished with moisture from the liquid 
manure with which the seed is in close contact. On this farm 
there have been raised by this plan as much as 30 tons of roots 
per acre in seasons when all the turnip-crops around have been 
burnt up and destroyed by drought. The large crops raised by the 
use of such liquid or semi-liquid manure are not perhaps wholly 
caused by its use, although that has much to do with it, from the 
