Cultivation of Waste Lands. 
427 
dible; the first acre giving 10 tons, and the second over 11 tons, 
or 99 loads, of 252 lbs. to the load. These results, however, 
were only obtained by extra preparation and by incurring extra 
expense. 
Where a field has been imperfectly cleared or not ridded to 
the required depth, the corn on it will grow in patches, one part 
of the field giving a full crop, whilst another will yield little or 
nothing. This consideration subtracts considerably from the 
value of the land, and from the desirability of devoting it to 
arable culture. 
But it is not to crops of corn that one looks for much profit ; 
it is rather to the turnips and potatoes, the clover and grass, 
which are cultivated as well as corn. Last year (1867) in a 
four-acre field I grew upwards of 3 tons of clover-hay per acre — 
the result of two cuttings. This at the present price of clover 
hay is equivalent to 147. or 15/. per acre, whereas last April 
the price in this neighbourhood was 6/. per ton. This result 
must be considered very satisfactory as regards the clover-crop 
in a field which formerly produced nothing but heath. The 
clover-crop, however, is not so much affected by imperfect 
ridding as the corn crops are, — a fact which is manifestly indi- 
cated by the less uneven appearance of the growing clover. 
In these high districts, lying at an elevation of almost 800 
feet above the level of the sea, it is very advantageous to have 
belts of planting on the north and the east of the estate under 
cultivation. Larch and Scotch firs planted in alternate rows, 
some 20 to 30 yards in width are an effectual protection against 
the cold and fierce winds that otherwise would sometimes blow 
very injuriously. On the south side of one of these plantings in 
heath-ground, at an elevation of 800 feet above the sea-level, I 
have grown mangolds 14 lbs. each, 8 of them weighing a cwt. 
Indeed, plantations judiciously arranged, besides giving indis- 
pensable shelter to cattle, when the fields are in grass, afford an 
advantage equal to, at least, 2^ or 3° of latitude in their effects 
on the growing crops. These mountain-sides are much exposed 
to cruel winds, which sometimes inflict serious injury on the 
ripening com. I once had a field of ripe barley half-thrashed 
by the fury of the winds ; but with the protection afforded by 
plantations this calamity can never occur. 
Where the ground is very uneven, irregular, and worked with 
difficulty, by far the most profitable plan is to lay it down in 
grass, and let it remain in meadow or permanent pasture. 
Many years ago, a labouring man, in this neighbourhood pro- 
cured for a trifle a piece of waste valueless ground, 5| acres in 
extent, and 800 feet above the level of the sea. On this he with 
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