Farming of the North Riding of Yorkshire. 
503 
for turnips. The almost invariable rule is to burn the weeds. 
Autumnal cleaners have by far the strongest reasons on their side 
for this ; for those who defer it to the spring have no excuse for 
burning. A fine autumnal day, when all is dry and favourable, 
will do more in clearing the land than perhaps a week in the 
following April ; and hence, it is urged, the whole of the available 
hands should be employed in getting out the weeds ; and that it 
is impolitic to waste time in carting and removing them ; and that 
fire is a ready and always available mode of riddance. No culti- 
vator doubts their value as an absorbent of liquid manure, or in a 
compost with dung; but too few farmers have the labourers dis- 
posable in the autumn to collect them. 
Energetic farmers lose no time in getting away as many crops 
as they can before the wet weather intervenes ; and as the wheat 
is never sown before late in October, and no amount of wet will 
interfere on soils so porous to prevent it for many days, they 
disregard this process in comparison with cleaning the land for 
the turnips ; and hence in the spring they find their lands ready 
for sowing, while the more backward and indolent are only com- 
mencing operations. 
So soon as the weather prevents further operations, or the soil 
is thoroughly clean, after the wheat-sowing season, the land is 
ploughed up from 7 to 9 inches deep ; as a general rule, the 
better the cultivator, the deeper he ploughs. Deep ploughing is 
found at the first somewhat to require a greater amount of tillage ; 
but when once in a good state it will yield much larger crops than 
previously, be less affected by drought or wet, and the crops be 
less liable to lodge. It is no uncommon thing to see three horses 
abreast ploughing the clean stubbles, which were allowed to lie so 
over the winter. The effect upon the weeds is remarkable : the 
autumn-stirring and winter exposure injure their vitality so much 
that they never make head even if small portions remain in the 
land. 
When autumn-clearing is not adopted, the ploughing goes on 
about the 5th of November, and the cross-ploughing in March; 
the land is then harrowed and weeded ; again ploughed ; harrowed 
and cleaned, and then the Finlayson's drag is applied alternately 
with the plough, until the whole is cleared for the sowing — hand- 
picking being considered necessary some week or two before that 
period. The manure in all cases is carted out during the frosts in 
the winter months, generally once turned over, and is fit to apply 
about the time of sowing. Swedes are usually sown about the 13th 
of May, or from that to the 30th ; yellow Aberdeens about the 
15th of J une ; but scarcely any of the white turnips are sown till 
the 20th of June. It is a remarkable circumstance connected with 
the whole of this red sandstone district, that if the white turnip is 
