the Royal Agricultural Society. 
47 
to tlio weather during' the whole winter ; and as soon as dry weather 
set in in spring, a turn or two of the harrows, followed by a 
light grubber, destroyed the annual weeds, and the land was ready 
for sowing. Four cwt. of guano per acre sown broadcast and 
harrowed in with the seed, which was drilled on the flat at three 
feet between the rows, completed the operation. The tilth thus 
produced was superior to that obtained in any other way on strong 
clay ; and though the land had only been winter-fallowed, any 
want of mellowness was made good during the early summer 
by frequent and thorough horse-hoeing, first shallow and then 
deeper, as more and more mould was formed. The advan- 
tages obtained by this system of growing roots were numerous : — 
1st. By securing an early seed-time, so that the crop was suf- 
ciently mature to be removed from the land in October for 
storage at the homestead or on the grass for ewes and lambs in the 
spring. 2nd. By carting the manure on the land early in autumn, 
before the solidity produced by the drought of summer had been 
lost. 3rd. By the great economy of horse-labour in growing a 
fallow crop with only one ploughing, leaving the rest of the rough 
work to be done by the powerful though wayward team, frost, 
snow, icind, and rain. 
Good crops of both swedes and mangold wurzel were grown 
in this way, at moderate cost ; the only difference in cultiva- 
tion being that the swedes were sown a month later, and that 
instead of 4 cwt. of guano per acre 2 cwt. of guano and 
2 cwt. of superphosphate were sown broadcast at the time of sow- 
ing. But the heavy expense of carting a whole root-crop from 
the land prevented the tenant from growing any considerable 
acreage of either ; his great object being to introduce as much as 
possible into the management of clay-land that characteristic 
feature of light-land farming which constitutes the great difference 
between them in point of profit, viz., manuring the land by sheep 
instead of the dungcart. 
The management of the corn on this farm soon became the topic 
of conversation. From an average yield of two to three quarters per 
acre the wheat-crop soon rose to four and even five, and the spring- 
corn improved in proportion. Yet, when asked what he did to 
his corn, the farmer said, " Nothing ! but hoe it ;" and when pressed 
on the subject of manure his invariable answer was, " If you take 
care of your land, the corn ivill take care of itself." These seemed 
but simple answers, but they meant much. The consumption of 
green crops on the land in summer has already been described ; 
the improvements he introduced into the making and keeping of 
his manure have yet to be told. The two together evinced that 
care for his land, of which he spoke so oracularly, and which pro- 
duced him such a bountiful return at the time of harvest. But 
