Farming of Oxfordshire. 
205 
tlie com lodgin":. Trefoil is somotimes sown in April on the 
wheat crop : this is fed off the following s})rin<^ after the tri- 
folium is ended, and on most soils turnips succeed both ; the 
land being ploughed once, twice, or thrice, and manured ac- 
cording as time, the weather, and the foulness or poverty of soil 
may dictate. As soon as the stubble turnips and trifolium are 
sown, rye is the next crop that claims attention ; this is not ex- 
tensively cultivated, as it is good for feeding only about ten 
days, yet is often very useful, being the first green meat in the 
spring. Next come the vetches, which are sown in different 
patches and at certain intervals from September to December, 
and tlien a few again from February to April. The quantity of 
seed planted is 2^^ or 3 bushels. The first sowing is mixed with 
a little rye, the next with refuse wheat or winter oats, but beans 
are considered best of all, as the old sheep eat them : they hold 
the vetches up well, and both ripen together if saved for seed. 
The land destined for vetches is generally ploughed but once, 
but for the later sowing in the autumn and also in tlie spring ; 
the ground, if foul, is skim-ploughed or scarified, harrowed, 
cleaned, and sometimes manured before receiving the seed furrow. 
These are eaten by sheep, confined in hurdles from May 
to August. At first they consume the vetches on the ground, but 
when the food becomes long or old it is cut and placed in little 
wicker cages, which are used for hay in the winter. Sheep, 
when on rye, always require water, and in hot weather will drink 
a large quantity when hurdled on vetches. Fat sheep and lambs, 
in addition to the green crop, receive an allowance of corn, 
pollard, malt-dust, or cake, but more generally they are supplied 
with beans. Many first-rate farmers in other counties contend 
that vetches are an exliausting crop : most certainly if they are 
removed from the land in a green state, or saved for seed. So is 
any other great crop, of mangolds, or even turnips, if taken clean 
off the ground ; but when vetches, which frequently weigh 5 cwt. 
per perch, or say half that quantity, 20 tons per acre, when tliis 
mass of vegetable matter is consumed on the land, there can be 
no doubt that it acts as a powerful fertilizer. As soon as the 
Vetches are off, the land receives from one to three ploughings for 
turnips, and may be dressed with manure or artificials. Most 
commonly the ground is ploughed twice, and not manured at 
all, the droppings from the sheep being sufficient to produce 
good roots. Tlie early vetches are off in time for swedes, while 
turnips follow the others. Tlie late or spring vetches are mostly 
grown on such land as is unfit for turnips, and which is after- 
wards prepared for a corn crop ; there are thus many vetches 
grown on clay lands, or the fallows intended for wheat or oats. 
Perhaps some persons may assert that it is impossible to grow 
