1G0 
Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
by  setting  fire  to  a small  heap  of  weeds  or  an  armful  of  straw, 
and  covering  it  over  with  a little  of  the  fine  dry  soil  to  prevent 
the  fire  from  blazing,  taking  care  not  to  put  on  too  much  until 
the  fire  gets  strong.  As  soon  as  the  fire  shows  any  signs  of 
breaking  through,  add  to  the  heap  more  soil,  which  will  require 
to  be  repeated  every  two  or  three  hours.  The  fire  should  not  be 
allowed  to  burn  through  and  appear  at  the  outside  of  the  heap 
until  finished.  It  is  mostly  practised  on  the  stubbles  after  harvest 
in  dry  seasons,  and  sometimes  on  the  fallows.  Land  which  will 
burn  in  this  manner  must  possess  a large  quantity  of  vegetable 
matter,  and  will  not  be  injured  by  burning.  On  sandy  soils  it 
does  not  appear  to  answer  ; it  is  not  very  easy  to  get  such  soils 
to  burn. 
Clearing  wheat-stubbles  and  burning  the  rubbish  has  been 
practised  in  this  county  for  many  years,  the  object  being  to  obtain 
stubble  turnips,  the  same  year  after  wheat ; and  in  case  of  not 
obtaining  bulb,  to  secure  at  least  some  green  food  for  the  sheep 
in  the  spring  ; as  soon  as  the  wheat  is  harvested,  and  often  before 
it  is  carried,  to  skim-plough  and  harrow  the  land,  then  to  rake 
together  the  stubble  and  rubbish,  and  burn  it,  spread  the  ashes, 
and  sow  the  turnips.  A very  plentiful  crop  of  weeds  generally 
soon  exhibits  itself,  which  is  hoed  out,  if  the  turnips  promise  to 
become  a crop  ■,  and  lately  it  has  been  a custom  to  clear  the  land 
of  stubble  and  rubbish,  and  after  burning  it,  plough  the  land  and 
drill  the  ashes  with  vetches.  This  method  of  clearing  stubbles 
is  a most  excellent  practice.  It  very  much  facilitates  the  after 
clearing  of  the  land,  and  is  a saving  of  time,  when  time  is  of  more 
consequence  than  it  usually  is,  between  harvest  and  wheat  seed- 
time. 
In  the  vale  of  the  Thames  and  on  the  Cotswolds  there  is  a 
practice  of  autumn-manuring  for  turnips,  either  ploughing  it  in 
or  covering  it  with  the  breast-plough.  It  is  adopted  by  some  of 
our  best  farmers.  The  dung  is  hauled  on  the  land  in  November 
and  December,  and  ploughed  in  and  left  all  winter.  In  the 
spring  the  land  is  ploughed  and  cultivated,  and  the  swedes  or 
turnips  are  drilled  with  bones  and  ashes,  &c.  The  manuring  and 
ploughing  in  is  going  on  in  one  field,  whilst  in  another  we  see  the 
manure  being  breast-ploughed  in.  In  one  of  my  excursions  over 
the  county  I found  a man  in  a field  at  this  work.  He  was  paid 
85.  per  acre  for  spreading  the  dung  and  turning  it  in,  and  he  made 
very  good  work.  And  on  the  adjoining  farm  I found  a man 
breast-ploughing  wheat-stubble,  which  was  not  manured.  The 
price  was  7s.  per  acre.  It  was  not  intended  to  burn  afterwards. 
He  was  turning  it  over  little  more  than  an  inch  deep.  What 
would  indiscriminate  deep-plougliers  say  to  this?  And  this  was 
on  the  farm  of  a nobleman  who  is  a great  patron  of  agriculture. 
