320 Experiences of a Scotsman on the Essex Ghijis. 
This costs about 1/. per acre ou the average of years, and we 
have been abundantly satisfied with the results, and have no 
difficulty in disposing of the big crops of " mixture" we have 
mown off many of the fields. We have been advised that, for 
a four or five years' lea, less seed would do per acre ; but I am a 
great believer in thick seeding, and think that grass often fails 
from too small a quantity being sown. There does not appear 
to be any failure after a few years, such as I often hear about, 
but the sward goes on improving, so that it is with regret we 
break it up again when its turn comes round. Of course, the 
land is put into good heart to begin with, but then that is one 
essential part of the system. These " seeds " are either cut for 
hay, or grazed with milk-cows, sheep, or bullocks, just as it 
happens to suit. 
It will thus be seen that fairly good crops are grown at a 
minimum of cost, and that making wheat profitable at oOs. per 
quarter is no mystery at all — in fact, it is the most profitable corn 
crop we have where the straw can be disposed of for a fair price. 
It will be inferred as a necessary corollary, that the crops ought 
to be improving year by year, and we find that they are. Our 
first wheat crops averaged 3 and 3| quarters per acre ; the crop of 
1888 was 5 quarters, of 1889 was 4 quarters, and of 1890 was 4|- 
quarters. But the most striking improvement is in the oats. The 
weight per bushel five years ago was 38^ lb. ; now it is 40 lb., a 
difference I atti-ibute solely to the muck, which is the " mither o' 
the meal-kist," and which has been applied to fields which never 
bad a dressing before, at any rate during the present generation. 
While on this subject, I must not omit to mention the part 
played by gas-lime in ameliorating the soil. The action of lime 
on a clay soil is well-known, and in this district we use immense 
quantities of the spent lime from the London gasworks, which 
we get at the cost of the carriage. It is applied in various \\Tiys, 
and niany are foolish enough to use it without manure. We 
have applied it raw to the coarse parts of pastiu'e lands, but it 
seemed to make them still coarser, at least during the first year. 
Some mix it with earth for compost for top-dressings, and some 
apply it to the fallows. We prefer to apply it raw, at the rate 
of from 4 to G tons per acre, in autumn, to the lea land that is 
to be ploughed up during the winter. 13y this means all 
" grubs " are killed, the turf is partly killed, the soil is made 
more friable, while, of course, the natural fertility is stimu- 
lated. By itself, I liave seen it act on a crop as strongly as 
nitrate of soda, but the soil must be fed along with it Its 
effect on the mechanical texture of the soil is wonderful. I 
remember one case of a field that was partly dressed and partly 
