Autumn  Cleaning  of  Wheat  Stubbles. 
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stubble.  Every  farmer  will  know  that  I mean  couch-grass.  This 
brings  us  to  what  I regard  as  the  most  important  change  required 
in  south  country  farming,  which  it  will  therefore  be  worth  while 
to  consider  minutely  : I mean 
Autumn  Cleaning  of  Wheat  Stubbles. 
The  peculiarity  of  couch-grass*  lies  in  its  long  jointed  roots,  like 
the  runners  of  strawberries  ; but  these  are  underground  runners, 
with  joints  at  every  inch,  from  each  of  which  other  small  fibrous 
roots  issue.  The  main  roots  may  be  a foot  or  two  long,  and,  if 
Fragment  of  underground  Runner  of  Couch-grass.  Natural  size. 
broken,  each  joint  is  as  ready  to  grow  again,  as  a potato-set  with 
an  eye  in  it.  If  the  land  be  wet,  you  cannot  get  the  couch  out 
with  the  harrow  ; if  you  attempt  to  do  so  and  fail,  you  break  the 
couch,  cut  the  runners,  spread  the  joints,  and  thus  increase,  instead 
of  diminishing,  your  untoward  crop.  The  old  fashion  of  naked 
summer  fallows  is  still  retained  upon  very  strong  clays  on  account 
of  this  weed,  because  the  clods,  when  dry,  are  so  hard  that  the 
couch  will  not  come  out,  and  they  are  therefore  left  to  roast  in 
the  sun  until  they  are  dried  through,  and  it  perishes  for  want  of 
moisture.  On  stock  land  in  the  four-course  system  this  process 
of  cleansing  takes  place  between  the  growth  of  wheat  and  of 
turnips,  and  involves  more  labour  than  does  the  mere  cultivation 
of  the  other  three  years  together.  The  usual  method  has  been 
to  let  the  sheep  range  over  the  grassy  stubbles  in  autumn,  and 
give  the  land  a winter  ploughing  towards  Christmas.  In  dry,  spring 
weather  it  is  again  ploughed  to  bring  the  couch  uppermost,  drag- 
harrowed  with  three  or  four  horses  to  break  the  furrows,  scarified 
with  four  or  five  horses  to  bring  up  the  long  roots,  heavy  rolled 
with  three  or  four  to  squeeze  the  clods,  light  harrowed,  light 
rolled  again,  light  harrowed  again,  then  all  the  hands  turn  out 
* Besides  the  true  couch,  Triiicvm  repens,  there  are  three  species  of  quitch,  #r 
Agroslis,  equally  troublesome  as  having  creeping  roots,  and  regarded  practically  as 
the  same  with  couch. 
