430 
Root  Crops. 
fitting  the  width  of  the  drill,  is  kept  at  work  as  often  as  wanted, 
until  the  leaves  meet,  and  beautiful  work  it  makes.  I would 
as  soon  be  without  a drill  as  without  this  implement  on  my  farm. 
Every  farmer  knows  that  a turnip  crop  is  often  seriously  injured 
in  harvest  time  for  want  of  hoeing  by  the  hands  which  are  busy 
with  reaping; ~all  which  anxiety  is  cured  by  a pair  of  horses 
and  man  kept  specially  at  work  with  this  horse-hoe.  The  crop 
being  well  grown,  it  only  remains  to  feed  it  well  off.  To  say 
that  for  the  fatting  flock  this  should  be  done  with  the  turnip- 
cutter,  which,  by  saving  exertion  to  the  sheep,  saves  waste 
of  his  vital  force,  and  therefore  saves  food,  will  sound  to  most 
farmers  like  telling  them  to  plough  their  land.  Still  there  are 
districts  where  even  the  turnip- cutter  is  unknown.  I have  there- 
fore endeavoured  to  ascertain  the  profit  of  turnip-cutting.  “ If, 
of  two  lots  of  lambs,  the  one  received,  during  winter,  cut  turnips, 
the  other  uncut  turnips,  the  fold  with  cut  turnips  would  be  worth 
20  per  cent,  more  than  the  other  fold.  The  former  would  sell 
for  forty  shillings  a head,  if  the  latter  fetched  thirty-two  shillings, 
and  the  cost  of  cutting  would  be  one  shilling  per  head,  leaving 
seven  shillings  clear  profit  upon  each  sheep.”  If  this  statement 
had  been  made  by  an  amateur  agriculturist,  one  would  have  been 
rather  sceptical.  It  was  given  to  me  word  for  word  by  two  ex- 
perienced practical  farmers ; and  I only  write  it  down  from  their 
mouths  for  the  consideration  of  their  brethren  in  any  benighted 
districts  of  England,  or  even  Scotland,  if  such  yet  there  be.  Let 
them  consider  that  7 s.  per  sheep  upon  turnips  comes  to  70s.  per 
acre  upon  the  turnip  crop,  nearly  the  average  rent  of  land  for  the 
four  years’  course,  till  the  turnips  come  round  again.  And  what 
is  the  investment  of  capital?  Five  pounds  for  one  best  Banbury 
turnip-cutter,  which  will  last  for  five  years.  We  ought  to  hear 
no  more  of  the  extravagance  of  high  farming.  Your  real  spend- 
thrift farmer  is  the  man — penny  wise  and  pound  foolish — who 
gives  whole  turnips  to  tegs,  and  indulges  in  the  luxury  of 
couch  on  his  fallows.  Everybody,  too,  knows  that  mutton 
may  now  be  grown  in  one  year  instead  of  four ; and  it  would 
be  idle  to  dwell  on  the  excellence  of  our  three  great  breeds; 
but  it  is  not  so  well  known  how  well  half-bred  sheep  answer 
for  early  feeding.  Thus,  from  a West  Down  ewe  and  a Lei- 
cester sire  you  obtain  a teg,  with  the  early  maturity  of  the 
father  and  the  flavour  of  the  Down  breed,  consequently  fetching 
something  near  the  top-price  in  the  market.  Nay,  more,  what  I do 
not  pretend  to  explain  : it  seems  that  the  offspring  of  the  long- 
w'oolled  and  short-w’oolled  parents  carries  a heavier  fleece  than 
either.  This  cross,  I know  by  experience,  pays  well.  There  is 
another  cross  in  Shropshire  highly  spoken  of.  In  Northumber- 
land they  cross  between  the  Leicester  and  Cheviot  ewes  ; and  Mr. 
