Autumn  Cleaning  of  Wheat  Stubbles.  425 
roller  to  break  the  clods : the  light  harrows  for  collecting  the 
rubbish  to  be  burnt  or  carried  off.  The  scarifier  and  harrows 
go  over  the  ground  once  more,  any  straggling  pieces  of  couch- 
grass  are  picked  up  by  women  and  children,  and  the  work  is 
done.*  This  is  a great  saving;  but  another  Suffolk  farmer,  to 
whose  statement  I called  attention  three  years  ago,  goes  further 
yet,  a great  deal.  Mr.  Bond  says  : f — ■ 
“ In  this  district  the  labour  of  making  fallows  has  within  the  last  few 
years  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  practice  of forking  out  the  couch  grass 
before  ploughing  the  wheat-stubbles.  By  far  the  greater  portion  need  only 
be  ploughed  once,  as  a preparation  for  the  root-crop.  Women  and  chil- 
dren are  employed  to  look  over  the  wheat-stubbles  directly  after  harvest 
(accompanied  by  a man  to  see  the  work  carefully  performed)  to  take  out 
couch-grass  and  docks.  This,  on  a well-cultivated  farm,  from  being  made 
a system  of,  is  quickly  and  cheaply  done.” 
Cheaply,  indeed,  according  to  the  Report  on  Somersetshire,^  in 
w hich  Mr.  Acland  says : — 
“ I saw  a field  of  Mr.  Hudson’s  at  Castleacre,  in  Norfolk,  so  cleaned  at 
a cost  not  exceeding  Is.  an  acre,  and  had  great  pleasure,  on  returning 
home,  to  find  that  two  friends  and  neighbours  had  long  practised  some- 
thing of  the  same  sort.  I mentioned  the  practice  to  a very  good  farmer 
near  Sherborne,  and  was  told  the  thing  was  impossible  without  a plough- 
ing first.” 
Impossible,  no  doubt,  if  the  land  be  foul ; but  if  the  land  be  well 
cleaned  and  kept  clean  (perhaps  at  first  by  missing  a clover  crop), 
not  possible  only,  but  certain.  There  may  be  more  difficulty  in 
the  north,  where  the  harvest  is  later  ; but  even  there,  though  you 
may  not  be  able  to  autumn-clean,  if  you  once  clean  thoroughly, 
you  certainly  may  fork  on  the  stubbles,  which,  at  Mr.  Hudson’s, 
costs  only  one  shilling  an  acre.  As  Mr.  Bond  says  that  roots  may 
be  thus  sown  on  a single  ploughing,  we  may  leave  8s.  more,  as 
enough  for  that  ploughing,  and  strike  out  at  once  the  remainder 
of  Mr.  Bayldon’s  long  bill,  which  will  give  a saving  of  21.  an  acre 
upon  the  turnip-crop,  that  is,  on  one  quarter  of  an  arable  farm — 
ten  shillings  an  acre  therefore  saved  upon  the  W'hole  farm,  and  as 
1/.  is  the  average  rent  of  land  in  England,  a saving  of  one-half  the 
rent.  Let  no  one  hereafter  speak  of  clean  farming  as  expensive 
farming.  What  high  farming  may  be  remains  to  be  seen.  At 
all  events,  according  to  Mr.  Bayldon,  we  have  saved  two  pounds 
per  acre  to  pay  for  artificial  manure  on  our  turnip-crop,  which  we 
must  hope  will  suffice. 
It  may  be  said,  I know,  that  a saving  of  horse-work  at  a parti- 
cular time  is  not  money  saved,  and  this  would  be  true  enough  ; but 
it  so  happens  that  by  other  means  we  have  saved  horse-work  at 
* For  further  oarticulars  see  Haynbiid  on  ‘Sufl’olk  Farming,’ Journal,  vol.  viii. 
p.  287. 
t Pusev  on  ‘ Autumn  Cleaning,’  Journal,  vol.  viii.  p.  570. 
I la  the  present  Number. 
