Farming of Cornwall. 
433 
50. The Apple. — Nearly all varieties of this fruit are grown, 
but we have one kind deserving of notice, the Jelly Flower, which 
is believed to be found only in Cornwall. It is a winter fruit, 
and one of great value. The orchards are generally much 
neglected : those situated on the south-east coast are the largest 
and best cultivated. Mr. Elliott of Landulph has been one of 
the most successful cultivators, and his system consists in keeping 
a nursery of young trees, which he never grafts until the}^ have 
borne fruit, when, if not good, they are grafted with the best kinds. 
Mr. E. has 35 acres of orchard ground. His plan for renovating 
old orchards is to open the ground well, trenching it as deep as 
the soil will admit, and manuring it well with lime. The grass 
is consumed by pigs and sheep ; and to renovate the old trees he 
scrapes them clean from moss and lichen, and washes them with 
gas lime, mixed with urine. 
Croppinff and Culture revieioed. 
51. Having surveyed the various soils, the different systems of 
cropping, and the culture pursued, it will be requisite to briefly 
review them in a general way. In appreciating the merits of any 
system of cropping, we should correctly understand the object 
towards which the principles of good husbandr}' must be directed. 
This consists in extracting from the soil, at the least possible ex- 
pense, the greatest amount of produce, increasing at the same time 
the permanent fertility of the land. Now it must be very evident 
that this can never be obtained by the general mode of cropping 
jmrsued in the county of Cornwall, which consists, with very few 
exceptions, of growing ttco lohite crop)S in succession. We have 
occasional glimpses ot a different mode in the course of our sur- 
vey, and one which I am happy to say is getting into fashion, — 
viz., wheat, turnips, or other green crops , followed by barley or oats, 
and laid down to pasture for two or three years. This has been 
named the convertible system of farming, from its combining stock 
farming with tillage, and is certainly a good one to delay exhaus- 
tion of the soil, which I fear is rapidly going on. In most of the 
rotations, the two white crops and the pasture that follows (gene- 
rally once mown for ha}', sometimes twice) are taken with one 
miserable manuring of sand, road- scrapings, and a few loads of 
farm-yard manure. The consequence of which is, that our pas- 
tures are very little better than half weeds, which accumulate 
during the three years thev remam in grass, and to eradicate which, 
before a corn crop can be grown, the pernicious practice of 
*' burning''* is really necessary. An idea of our three years' old 
* The practice of burning (stifle-burning) has a most pernicious effect 
pn the land, tor in all cases a very large per centage of the principal 
