Farming of Cormcall. 
425 
38. Barley. — This crop in Cornwall usually follows wheat. 
The usual method of cultivation is to plough the wheat stubble 
across the ridges (termed thwarting) in October and November ; 
it is then harrowed down and cleaned, and the stroil, roots, and 
weeds are collected and burned ; the ashes spread previous to the 
second ploughing in February, and after harrowing and rolling 
until a tilth is obtained, the seed is sown, burying it 2 or 3 inches 
in the soil with the cultivator, and finishing with the harrow and 
roller. But this practice is an exceedingly bad one, being found 
to produce the very reverse of a good tilth ; for the soil which has 
been acted upon by the winter frosts is actually turned down bv the 
second ploughing, and a new surface exposed that has undergone no 
amelioration. The best of those farmers who persist in growing two 
white crops in succession, plough up the arishes deeply after har- 
vest, and by ridging up the land before Christmas, all spring- 
ploughing is avoided, and the seed is sown in a better bed, and 
earlier than by the usual method. About 24 to 36 gallons of 
barley are used as seed per acre, and the grass seeds sown at the 
time. The cost of cultivating an acre of barley and grass-seeds 
is as follows : — 
s. d. 
One ploughing — wheat stubble . . .60 
One harrowing . , . . . .30 
Second ploughing . , . . . .70 
Second harrowing, sowing, tillage, &c. . . 10 0 
Seed — barley " 12 0 
6 lbs. ^Vhite and red clover . . 4*. 4c?. 
2 lbs. Trefoil 0 8 
6 to 8 Gallons rye-grass seed . .40 9 0 
£2 7 0 
39. Oats, which also generally follow the wheat crop, are put 
in with the grass seeds in one ploughing; sometimes the seeds 
are harrowed and rolled in after the oats are above the surface. 
We have an excellent variety of small black oats, weighing 40 lbs. 
per bushel. 
40. Hay. — Having scarcely any permanent pasture, nearly all 
our hay is made from the first and second year's pasture in the 
rotation. Of late an improvement has been effected by intro- 
ducing a portion of Italian rye-grass with the common kind. Mr. 
Corbett of Pencarrow, who has paid more attention to the 
growth of grasses than any other person in Cornwall, strongly 
recommends the farmers to use the following seeds for one acre^ 
when the land is not much exposed and is intended to lie two or 
three years in grass : — 
