102 
Floughing-m Green Crops. 
9 
delay gives tlie lialf-dead twitch time to revive before the 
smothering influences of the next crop can overpower it ; so that 
in either wet or dry seasons the mainspring of the whole system 
is promptness and punctuality in performing every part of the 
work thoroughly well, with the least possible mauling of the 
soil, so as neither to make dust in the one case, nor mortar in 
the other. 
I need scarcely say that trifolium, tares, trefoil, Italian rye- 
grass, or any other forward crop may be grown as a first crop, 
and after this is fed off, two crops of mustard may still be obtained 
either to eat off or plough in. The difficulty, nay, almost im- 
possibility, of cleaning strong land in a wet season is well known 
to all practical farmers. Now I venture to affirm that the foulest 
and poorest possible piece of land (sand, perhaps, excepted) may 
be cleaned by growing white mustard, with 1 cwt. of nitrate of 
soda per acre applied to the first crop, and three crops in suc- 
cession })loughed-in, as before stated, let the season be either 
wet or dry. The soil will be left as capable of bearing a crop 
as if 20 tons of farmyard manure had been applied to a bare 
fallow. A few days ago I passed a field of strong land, which 
twelve years ago took two years of bare fallow to clean it, and as 
far as I can judge, it is now worse than it was then ; my fingers 
itched to have a turn with my friend mustard, and see if we 
could not digest all the twitch into food for future crops. 
Whether sandy land, the natural parent of couch grass, could 
be cleaned in this way I do not know, but I do know that all 
bog, fen, or peat, light gravel, or loam, and all clays can. It is 
almost superfluous to contrast the expense of this system against 
that of the bare fallow; but the case may be roughly stated as 
follows : — 
UosT of an acre of Bare-fallow manured 
•with twenty tons farmyard mannre. 
£ 
«. 
d. 
Winter ploughing . . 
0 
12 
0 
March .. 
fScarifying and har-l 
Cross ploughing . . 
0 
4 
0 
April . . 
0 
12 
0 
.Tune 
Summer ditto 
0 
10 
0 
July .. 
Three souiHings, &c. 
("20 tons dung and ap-1 
0 
12 
0 
August 
5 
0 
0 
I piyi'ig / 
Ploughing in dung 
0 
12 
0 
£8 
2 
0 
An acre producing three crops of White 
Mustard and ploughed in, &c. 
March . 
May . 
July . 
August 
Winter ploughing 
(Scarifying, harrow- 
\ ing and sowing . . 
( Plouglung in and re- 
\ sowing 
Ditto ditto 
Ditto 8 inches deep 
Pressing and Nor- 1 ; 
wegian harrow . . / 
1 busliel mustard seed 
1 cv/t. nitrate of soda 
Saved by this system 
£ 8. d. 
0 12 0 
0 5 0 
0 17 0 
0 17 0 
0 16 0 
0 15 0 
0 16 0 
;5 3 0 
2 19 0 
£8 2 0 
