27 
THE farmer’s manual. 
Stable dung. The soil was a brown loam, mixed 
with a ragged slate-stone. 
“ In .■\p-ril 1792, 1 dressed part of a dry spire-grass 
meadow with plaster, just before a rain ; it produced 
a fine, growth of white clover, and much increased the 
natural grass. I judged my crop was double to that 
produced upon the adjoining field, which had been 
manured. In 1793, the product was equally great, 
in 1794, the eftects were apparently gone. 
In April 1792, I dressyl two adjoining pieces of 
sjrire.grass meadows: onq with unleached ashes, the 
other with plaster; they both produced a fine growth 
of clover ; that dressed with ashes 1 thought had 
some little the preference; but in 1793, that dressed 
with plaster had manifestly the preference. 
“ In April 1795,1 dressed part of a poor field, 
which lay for pasture ; but bore little, except five- 
f finger. It was thin, poor land. I discovered no 
efl’ects until September, when while clover began to 
appear ; and before winter, there was a material dif- 
ference between this and the other part of the field. 
In May 1796, I ploughed the field for buck-wheat 
and turnips, and .sowed it in July, extending into the 
part which had not been dressed with plaster. There 
was a great diflerence between that part of the field 
on which the gypsum had been applied, and the part 
on which there had been none ; both in the buck- 
wheat and turnips. The part dressed with plaster, 
produced nearly double to that which had not been 
dressed. In 1797, I planted the field with potatoes; 
they appeared to derive some advantage from the 
gypsum ; but it was not great. 
“ In the month of April 1793,1 dressed with plas- 
ter part of a field covered with a turf of natural grass ; 
in September, the clover appeared amongst the natu- 
ral grass. In April 1796, the diflerence between that 
dressed, and that not dre-ssed, was apparent. 1 then 
ploughed the whole in ridges for Indian-corn ; on part 
of the field 1 put plaster before the first hoeing ; on a 
