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"for if this be not taken care of, the water, inftead of 
improving the Land, will greatly damage it. 
But where the Land lies fo high, as that there is no 
water in the neighbourhood lying above its level, it 
will be more expenfive *, becaufe in l'uch cafe, the wa- 
ter muft be raifed by machines, from refervoirs or 
Lrearns which lie below it. The moft common engine 
ufed for this purpofe is the Perfian wheel (which, be- 
ing well defcribed and figured in Woolridge’s Art of 
Hufbandry, is needlefs for me hereto repeat.) Yet 
notwithstanding the expence of raifing the water, it 
has been found greatly advantageous in many parts 
of England, to drown the Lands, for the profit has 
many times more than doubled the charge. 
The time for drowning of Land, is ufually from 
November till the end of April ; but though this is the 
general practice, yet I cannot approve of it for many 
reafons. The firft is, that by the wet lying continu- 
ally on the ground in winter, the roots of the finer 
lort of Grafs are rotted and deftroyed ; and by letting 
on the water, at the feafon when the feeds of Docks, 
and other bad weeds, which commonly grow by ri- 
ver tides, are falling, thefe feeds are carried upon the 
Land, where they remain and grow, and fill the ground 
with bad weeds, which is commonly the cafe with moft 
of the water meadows in England, the Grafs in ge- 
neral being deftroyed ; fo that Rufhes, Docks, and 
other trumpery, make up the burden of thefe Lands : 
but if thefe meadows were judicioufiy managed, and 
never floated till March or April, the quantity of fweet 
good Grafs would be thereby greatly increafed, and 
the beautiful verdure of the meadows preferved : but 
there is little hope of convincing thofe perfons by any 
arguments, who are fo much wedded to their own pre- 
judices, as to fliut their eyes and ears againft experi- 
ments or reafon. Where the Land is very hot and 
dry, and it lieth convenient to be watered at a fmall 
expence, it fhould be repeated every week in dry hot 
weather, which will prove a great advantage to the 
Land. But whenever this is done, there fhould no 
cattle be admitted while it is wet, for they will poach, 
and fpoil the turf. 
Another great improvement of Land, is byTburning 
of it, which, for four, heathy, and rulhy Land, be it 
either hot or cold, wet or dry, is a very great im- 
provement ; fo that fuch Lands will, in two or three 
years after burning, yield more, exclufive of the 
charges, than the inheritance was worth before ; but 
this is not to be pradtifed on rich fertile Land ; for as 
the fire deftroys the acid juice, which occafions fteri- 
lity in the poor Land, fo it will in like manner con- 
fume th*e good juices of the richer Land, and thereby 
impoveriih it, fo that it hath been with great reafon 
difufed in deep rich countries. 
The ufual method of burning Land is, to pare off 
the turf with a breaft plough, turning it over as it is 
cut, that it may dry the better. And if it proves hot 
dry weather when this work is done, then it needs no 
more turning ; but if rain fhould fall, it muft be turn- 
ed, and the turfs fet a little hollow, that they may 
dry the better ; and when they are thorough dry, they 
may be laid on fmall heaps, about half a cart load 
on a heap, or lefs, for the fmaller the heaps are, pro- 
vided there is quantity enough to make a good fire, 
fo as to confume the whole to afhes, it is the better •, 
if the turf be full of fibrous roots, or hath much 
Mofs or Fern on it, it will burn without any addi- 
tional fuel ; but if it hath not, the heaps fhould be 
railed on fmall bundles of Heath, Fern, Gorze, &c. 
which will fet the whole on fire ; yet there fhould be 
no more of thefe things applied, than what is neceftary 
to kindle the fire, becaufe the flower the turf con- 
fumes, the better wiil be the afhes. When the turf 
is wholly confumed, the afhes fhould be equally Mat- 
tered over the ground in a calm day, left the wind 
fhould drive it in heaps. Then the Land fhould be 
gently ploughed, and the feeds fown thereon ; for if 
the ground is ploughed too deep, the afhes will be 
buried too low for the roots of the Grafs or Corn to 
reach them for a confiderable time * nor fhould the 
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afhes lie too near the furface, becaufe then the roots 
will reach them too foon, and the ftrengch of the 
afhes will be fpent to nourifb only the blade, fo that 
the Corn will grow too rank in winter ^ and when the 
roots in the fpring ftrike down lower, they will meet 
with a poorer foil, nor will the ftalks and ears have 
fo much advantage from the improvement, as the 
ufelefs blade. But when care is taken in this parti- 
cular, it is wonderful what fuccefs it hath ; for by 
this method the pooreft plains, and four heathy 
Lands, have been rendered as fertile as almoft any 
good cultivated ground whatever. 
It is alfo a very great improvement, where Land is 
overgrown with Broom, Furz, &c. to ftub them 
up by the roots, and when they are dry, lay them 
on heaps, and cover them with the parings of the 
earth, and burn them, and fpread the afhes over 
the ground. By this method vaft tracts of Land, 
which at prefent produce little or nothing to their 
owners, might be made good at a fmall expence, 
fo as to become good eftates to the proprietors. 
There are feveral other methods of improving 
Land befide thofe here mentioned, as by planting 
of wood, or adapting the feveral forts of plants 
to the particular foils with which they agree ; but 
as moft of thefe things are treated pf under the fe- 
veral articles where thefe plants are mentioned, I 
fhall forbear to repeat them in this place, but fhall 
beg leave to offer a few general hints on the 
prefent fituaticn of the Lands in England, which 
may probably excite lome abler hand to undertake 
a fuller and more complete difquifition of this 
fubjeft. 
For fome years paft, the quantity of Corn raifed 
in England, has greatly exceeded the confumption, 
fo that great quantities of Corn have been exported, 
by which great fums of money have been brought 
into England •, but this was accidental for had 
not the crops failed in the neighbouring countries, 
there would have been no demand for the produce 
of England, fo that the quantity here grown muft 
have reduced the price fo low, as to have almoft 
ruined the farming intereft ; nor is it poffible to 
contrive any fcheme, in a country circumftanced as 
this, whereby the public may not, at times, fuffer 
from the extravagant price, which, in a lcarcity, 
this commodity may be raifed to •, or, on the other 
hand, the farmers are fometimes almoft undone by 
the low price which it is often reduced to in times 
of plenty ; and furely there can be no one thing 
more worthy of the lerious attention of every per- 
fon, who has the leaft regard for the public wel- 
fare, than this, of always making fuch provision of 
Corn, againft accidental fcarcities, as that the inhabi- 
tants may never be diftrefled for want of the ficaff 
of life, or the price be fo high, as that the com- 
mon people cannot purchafe it. If I am not greatly 
miftaken, there has been, within the fpace of three 
or four years, fuch a difproportion in the price of 
Corn, as can hardly be conceived, and this within 
the memory of numbers of perfons ; the time I mean 
is between 1705 and 1709, in the compafs of which, 
time the peck loaf of fine bread was rifen from 
fourteen pence to four fhillings and twopence • the 
low price of this commodity was as detrimental to 
the farmers, as the extravagant price was afterward 
to the' public, neither of which would have fo fe- 
verely felt the effects, had there been public grana- 
ries where the Corn might have been depofited, 
and this purchafed from the farmer, at a price by 
which he might live, at the public expence, and 
fold out again at an eafy rate in times of fcarcity •, 
but I fear this is not an age for encouraging any 
fcheme for public utility, when in every thing of 
this kind, however beneficial it may be to the 
country, and though propofed as fuch to the pub- 
lic, if it meets with any reception, it is with a view 
to turn it to private intereft ; the pra&ice of turning 
all things into private jobs, has fo much prevailed of 
late years, as to have almoft extinguifaed every fociai 
virtue ; 
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