The Farming of Cheshire. 
93 
seldom willing to turn up ; the field was well drained down the furrows, 
and the drills drawn diagonally across the butts — and the crop yielded 10 
cwt. of 6 score to the rood of 8 yards — which was tried in several parts of 
the field, and they form by no means the heaviest part of the crop ; I had 8 
acres: I only name this to show what may be done on Cheshire clays, the 
real nature of which is little known by writers on agriculture in general, 
and particularly by those who recommend very deep draining, and laying 
the clay in over the tiles— as when I had only laid rammel on, I have in 
every case been obliged to remove it to render the drains effective, and 
even upon ploughed ground, the water will remain at the bottom of a slope 
some time before it sinks in, much to the injury of the crop." 
Another correspondent in the Hundred of Eddisburj thus 
speaks of the efficacy of salt as a manure : — 
" A neighbour of mine had a quantity of soil which came out of a ditch, 
and was full of docks which are completely destroyed by the application of 
salt ; he put 40 cwt. to the soil, and mixed together six months previously 
to being spread upon the grass ; this preparation he put last January upon 
three statute acres of land, which were covered with a very useless kind of 
grass, that cattle would not eat ; but a good herbage is now produced, and 
the land thus dressed looks by far the best part of the field. Ten cwt. of 
salt is sufficient for an acre of grass land. Salt sown on turnip land and 
land for wheat previously to sowing, is an excellent manure ; lime on light 
soil 1 cwt. per rood for potatoes, &c., is also very useful, and will bring 
white clover where none grew before. I have used salt and lime in like 
manner, upon a piece of ground which I suppose had not been cultivated 
for a century (if ever), and it is now as good as any part of the field." 
From a correspondent in the Hundred of Northwich : — 
"If a few handfuls of salt be strewn ov3i the horse manure, immediately 
on its being taken out of the stable, the ammonia contained in the urine, 
dung, &c., which is the most powerful part of the manure, having a great 
affinity for salt, is retained by its application on the surface, and it would 
otherwise be evaporated. Rock salt is coming into more general use for 
cattle and sheep; if placed in the field or straw-yard, in large lumps, it 
has a tendency to keep them healthy. There is a description of salt called 
Salt scale, which contains about a twentieth proportion of lime, and I 
think would be more powerful on that account, in retaining the ammonia, 
if strewn on the top of fresh manure." 
From the Hundred of Wirral : — 
" No improvements have been made in this district since 1808, except 
tile draining, to the extent before mentioned. Bone dusting, marling, and 
manuring, were quite as well understood in 1808 as they seem to be here 
in 1844 ; and their increased application, and even draining, have only 
been practised in instances, where tenants and landlords have both been 
well satisfied that mutual advantages would arise from such improve- 
ments." 
A land agent on the eastern side of the county thus writes : — 
"This estate is capable of very great improvement, and would well repay 
an extensive judicious outlay, particularly for draining ; there being 
scarcely a field on the estate which does not more or less require draining. 
Bone manure, on strong clay land, has a wonderful effect ; this is well 
known to most Cheshire farmers, but the cost is too great for a tenant at 
will ; it is the practice for the landlord to pay for the bones, and the tenant 
to cart and spread them, the landlord being paid by the tenant from 7i to 
