412 
Breaking  up  Grass-land. 
vated  soil,  modern  chemistry  has  recently  detected  ammonia, 
so  that,  this  hidden  spirit  of  vegetable  life  not  only  hovers  over  us 
in  the  air,  but  also  broods  in  the  earth,  and  gushes  forth  with  the 
fountain.  My  own  meadows  are  managed  in  a new  manner  by 
repeated  pennings  with  sheep,  and,  on  a farm  of  about  460  acres, 
I keep  a thousand  breeding  ewes,  some  of  which  are  now  fatter 
than  necessary,  being  almost  fit  for  the  butcher.  Nothing  in  fact 
pays  better  than  growing  grass,  or  worse  than  sour  pasture. 
§ 10.  Breaking  up  Grass-land. 
Although  the  present  price  of  corn,  therefore,  is  not  en- 
couraging, occupiers  still  look  on  it  as  a boon  to  be  allowed  to 
break  poor  grass  land.  No  doubt,  if  worked  in  a four-field  course, 
it  will  keep  as  much  stock  in  the  two  years  of  green  crop  as  it 
before  would  in  four;  so  that  you  get  the  corn  for  the  cultivation, 
which  on  some  such  land  may  be  very  light.  Take  a light  inoory 
land,  for  instance,  which  here,  at  least,  cannot  be  ploughed  too 
little.  Pare  it  with  the  breast-plough,  burn,  sow  rapeseed,  and 
pare  again  to  cover  the  seed.  This  may  cost  28s. ; for  which,  if  the 
ground  be  cool,  you  may  get  a crop  of  rape  that  will  hide  the  sheep 
as  they  eat  it.  Next  year  pare  again  with  the  breast-plough, 
which  may  this  time  cost  85.,  and  sow  oats,  with  rye-grass,  that 
may  remain  for  two  years.  Two  hundred  acres  of  such  land  were 
cultivated  in  Gloucestershire  in  this  way  by  a family  of  good 
farmers  for  a long  course  of  years,  without  feeling  the  plough 
more  than  once  in  four  years.  The  crops  are  good,  and  the 
whole  expense  of  such  cultivation  is  insignificant.  But  there  are 
so  many  kinds  of  poor  grass-land  to  be  broken  up,  that  it  would 
be  unwise  to  lay  down  fixed  rules  for  doing  it.  Certainly,  how- 
ever, where  the  land  is  pretty  fair,  you  may  take  some  liberties 
with  it  at  the  beginning,  and  grow  two  white  crops  together  ; but 
it  is  thought  best  generally  to  begin  with  a green  crop  for  fear 
of  the  wireworm. 
§ 11.  Improvement  of  Farm-buildings. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  our  farm-buildings  are  grossly  deficient 
in  many  counties,  and  it  is  unluckily  equally  certain  that  to  build 
them  anew  exceeds  the  means  of  most  landlords  ; but  to  build 
cattle-sheds  for  those  which  exist,  or  set  up  a new  field-barn  and 
yard  at  the  farther  end  of  a farm,  may  often  be  done  very  cheaply 
by  help  of  a stone  quarry  and  plantations  on  the  estate.  The 
farm-house,  too,  should  be  made  a comfortable  residence.  A 
farmer  with  a family  is  not  merely  a farmer,  and  a superior  farm- 
house is  good  for  his  landlord  as  well  as  himself.  The  farmer's 
habits  and  situation  are  so  much  raised  that  the  farm-house  may 
well  resemble  the  parsonage.  But  besides  the  difficulty  of  finding 
