406 
Burnt  Clay. 
the  use  of  which  he  paid  60/.,  instead  of  keeping  them  on  vetches 
which  he  might  otherwise  have  grown  on  his  hired  land  at  home. 
It  is  asked,  indeed,  sometimes,  how  many  hares  eat  as  much  as  a 
sheep  ? But  the  question  is  wrongly  put.  Sheep  do  not  roam 
at  will,  or  help  themselves  from  the  growing  crop.  A hog  does 
not  eat  many  potatoes, but  who  could  bear  loose  swine  in  a kitchen- 
garden?  A good  farmer  rated  to  me  the  injury  on  his  land  from 
hares  at  5 s.  an  acre.  The  excess,  however,  is  now  in  course  of 
removal  : hares  in  moderation,  pheasants,  and  partridges  do  no 
harm . 
We  may  return  to  improvements  in  cultivation. 
§ 4.  Burnt  Clay. 
If  there  be  any  land  which  requires  improvement,  it  is  our 
real  heavy  clays  ; if  there  be  a cheap  and  effectual  mode  of  im- 
provement for  land,  it  is  the  burning  of  clay.  The  practice  has 
been  supported  by  varied  evidence  in  this  Journal  : ten  different 
papers  have  deposed  to  its  efficacy,  yet  I doubt  if  it  has  been 
steadily  adopted  by  many  heavy  land  farmers  where  it  was  un- 
known before,  so  wre  must  call  the  witnesses  once  more  into  court. 
Mr.  Baker,  of  Writtle,* * * §  no  mean  authority,  says  that  it  prevails 
in  the  Roothings  of  Essex  ; that  it  renders  the  land  for  several 
years  more  easy  to  pulverize,  improves  the  first  grain-crop  20  to 
25  per  cent.  ; that  the  barley  is  of  a better  quality  by  2s.  a 
quarter ; that  it  costs  40s.  per  acre,  and  that  there  is  no  manure 
so  cheap  at  the  price.  Mr.  Eli  Turvillf  says,  that  in  the 
Roothings  the  first  crop  pays  for  it,  while  the  land  is  much  better 
for  the  following  crops ; that  it  is  repeated  every  four  or  six 
years.  Mr.  Litchfield  TabrumJ  began  the  practice  in  the  Rooth- 
ings in  1823,  spent  on  his  farm  a large  annual  sum  in  .this 
manner,  yet  found  it  answer,  and  knows  that  it  improves  land  by 
25  per  cent.  Leaving  Essex,  we  find  Mr.  Peirson§  saying  that 
clay-burning  is  now  very  extensively  practised  in  Suffolk,  and 
that  his  Farmers’  Club  reported  strongly  in  its  favour.  Mr. 
Raynbird{|  says  that  the  practice  of  burning  the  soil  dug  from  the 
corners  of  fields  is  very  general  in  the  heavy  land  of  Suffolk. 
This  is  called  “ border-burning.”  There  is  another  system  of 
ploughing,  harrowing,  and  then  burning  with  the  help  of  thorns 
or  furze,  the  whole  surface  of  the  field.  This  is  called  “ clod- 
burmng.”  In  Cambridgeshire,  and  again  in  Bedfordshire,  Mr. 
* On  the  Farming  of  Essex. — Journal,  v.  13. 
f Eli  Turvill  on  Burning  Clay. — Journal,  iv.  267. 
J Litchfield  Tabrum  on  Burning  Clay. — Journal,  iv.  268.  See  also  Mechi  on 
Burning  Clay. — vii.  297. 
§ Peirsou  on  Burning  Land  for  Manure.' — Journal,  viii.  77. 
||  Report  on  Farming  of  Suft'olk. — Journal,  viii.  317. 
