6 Agriculture of Nottinghamshire. 
witness that the sheep to which they were given, not being able, 
without great difficulty, to eat them — doubtless, in part, from their 
imperfect growth — they were removed from the ground, and pro- 
nounced to be, with due respect to Colonel Mellish, a very 
unsatisfactory article of food to be provided for animals which 
had not the power to make a meal of them. But as their culture 
was improved, and machines at length were introduced for slicing 
them, they obtained that place in the estimation of the farmer 
which they well deserve, and have ever since held. Indeed, so 
highly is the Swedish turnip estimated on the light soils, that it 
forms the criterion by which to judge of the degree of cultivation 
upon any farm : and amply have the farmers of these districts 
made amends for any deficiencies in their first attempts, by the 
success which has since crowned their efforts ; for we hesitate not 
to say that heavier crops can be nowhere seen than in some dis- 
tricts of this county which in the recollection of persons now 
livmg were deemed too poor to repay the expenses of cultivation. 
It would be anticipating our subject to enter at present more 
fully into the means employed for the attainment of an object of 
such primary importance ; we will only observe here that the ex- 
penses incurred in the cultivation of this particular crop, important 
as it unquestionably is, are not estimated by the mere actual 
value of that crop, but success attained here is regarded as an 
earnest of success in each crop throughout the ensuing course. 
And we could not but be struck with the following fact, in a ride 
we took through the county in the month of November last, that 
we found the turnip croj) more uniformly good after a season of 
drought almost unprecedented, on the western side of the county, 
than on the eastern and southern sides, although the soils in the 
former are much more liable to suffer from a dry season than 
either of the latter ; from which we could not but arrive at the 
conclusion that capital had been more freely expended upon these 
districts where success had been the greatest, otherwise a supe- 
riority would not have been found where it was least to be 
expected; an expectaticm founded on a full consideration of the 
means employed, to which the results must always be corre- 
spondent. 
And here it may be very naturally asked, on the assumption 
that such splendid crops of turnij)S are produced and arc in time 
succeeded by those of grain of equal excellency, on a soil by 
nature so poor, by what means has a change so happy been 
effected? To such question we would reply, that it will form the 
subject matter of this Essay to enter as fully as j)ossible into the 
means so used ; and we will only say in concluding these general 
remarks, that the first great impetus given to the farming of this 
county was by the introduction of bones as a manure. 
