in  its  Effect  on  Cultivation. 
659 
grass,  can  a good  pasture  be  formed  in  the  course  of  four  years. 
No  matter  what  kind  of  grass-seeds  are  sown,  whether  natural 
or  artificial,  sooner  or  later  a transition  period  arrives,  when  the 
seeds  sown  are  partially  succeeded  by  other  kinds  which  spring 
up  spontaneously,  and  the  transition  period  is  always  one  of  defi- 
cient pasturage.  One  or  two  years  the  pasturage  may  be  good, 
it  then  deteriorates,  with  greater  or  less  rapidity,  and  then  begins 
again  to  improve,  and  goes  on  improving  for  often  an  indefinite 
time;  probably,  in  lands  of  a very  tenacious  kind,  that  improve- 
ment may  go  on  for  centuries.  The  preceding  remarks  tend  to 
show  that  the  worst  possible  way  of  treating  land  is  to  exhaust  it 
by  arable  culture,  and  then  lay  it  down  for  three  or  four  years  to 
recruit  or  rest,  for  by  this  plan  the  pasturage  after  the  first  or  se- 
cond year  is  comparatively  worthless  if  sown  with  the  best  seeds, 
and  still  worse  in  the  common  mode  of  management  by  the  fol- 
lowers of  this  method.  When  grass  land  in  its  natural  state  does 
not  keep  at  least  6 sheep  or  1 beast  per  acre  during  the  summer, 
it  is  certainly  wastefully  employed ; but  the  proper  way  to  prevent 
this,  in  my  opinion,  is  not  to  attempt  the  growth  of  wheat  or 
barley,  but  to  convert  the  pastures  into  arable  land,  and  adopt  not 
a regular,  but  an  irregular  course,  and  one  fitted  for  the  western 
sides  of  our  islands ; and  the  principal  point  for  consideration 
should  be  the  growth  of  green  food  for  cattle,  and  in  connexion 
therewith  the  growth  of  oats,  flax,  potatoes,  &c.  By  a skil- 
ful arrangement  of  these  crops,  for  which  the  climate  is  excel- 
lently adapted,  a rotation  equally  profitable  with  the  regular 
4-course  system  might  easily  be  followed  ; for  instance,  a course  of 
the  following  kind  : — ist  year,  oats,  succeeded  by  winter  vetches  ; 
2nd  year,  potatoes,  and  succeeded  by  rape ; 3rd  year,  oats  with 
seeds;  4th  year,  seeds  for  pasture;  5th  year,  beans;  6th  year, 
flax,  pulled  for  white  line,  and  succeeded  by  winter  turnips ; and 
this  might  be  varied  various  ways,  and  perhaps  two  crops  might 
be  grown  every  year,  when  the  mildness  of  the  winters  on  the 
western  side  of  our  islands  is  taken  into  the  account. 
As  I stated  previously,  the  breaking  up  of  grass  lands  is  a sub- 
ject much  controverted,  and  after  all  resolves  itself  into  a matter 
of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  for  that  is  always  most  profitable 
for  the  nation  that  is  permanently  so  to  individuals.  The  great 
end  to  be  kept  in  view  is  to  take  advantage  of  the  mildness  of 
the  winters  and  the  humidity  of  the  climate  on  our  western  coasts 
by  the  cultivation  of  such  crops  as  these  are  friendly  to.  Now, 
mildness  of  winter  is  of  no  use  to  plants  and  crops  which  only 
require  for  their  cultivation  the  period  of  summer  ; therefore  if 
only  these  crops  are  cultivated,  the  power  of  production  during 
winter  being  unemployed  beneficially,  will  be  positively  inju- 
rious, and  tend  only  to  the  fostering  of  weeds.  Land  thus  treated 
then  is  evidently  not  employed  in  the  most  advantageous  manner. 
