Ast year, fallow; 2nd, barley; 3rd, half clover, 
half beans or pease; 4th, wheat. The dung is 
applied to the pulse by the best farmers, and the 
crop is well hand or horse hoed. Wheat is drill- 
ed after beans, though hand-dibbled by many 
after clover. Farm-yard manure is used heavily 
on clover-layers, either on the young seeds dur- 
ing winter, or a short time before ploughing the 
land for wheat. The former method is preferred 
by many, because the clover has the benefit of 
the dung, and the wheat comes ‘kindlier.’ This 
system of exposing the manure to the atmosphere 
will appear to tell against the generally-approv- 
ed method of ploughing it in: at the same time, 
admitting that much of its virtue evaporates in- 
to the air, yet the clover absorbs a portion of that 
part of the manure which suits its growth, leav- 
ing such properties to be taken up by the wheat 
which are peculiarly beneficial to it. The sys- 
tem of growing grain-crops on the retentive 
clayey soils of the eastern counties, is one that 
might be followed with some advantage on much 
of our heavy wet land, particularly that which is 
ploughed in ‘high-backed’ lands. In travelling 
through a heavy land district, how often do we 
see these wide and round lands laid up to: an 
enormous height by repeated ploughings in one 
direction, under the fallacious idea of draining 
the land; but how seldom does it answer the 
intended purpose; though it has this advantage, 
that the crop in the furrow bears no proportion 
to that on the ridge. There is also great injury 
sustained in the cultivation of the land, particu- 
larly in the operations of drilling or sowing the 
wheat-crop; for there is not only the inconve- 
nience, which arises from the rounded form of 
the land, in carting and tillage, but there is also 
a very great amount of injury from the treading 
of retentive land. This is in a great measure 
prevented by the system of clay-farming more 
particularly adopted in the eastern counties, 
- Norfolk and Suffolk, which are the acknowledged 
seat of the origin of drill-husbandry. In those 
counties we see the width of lands or ‘ stitches,’ 
as they are termed, adapted to the size of the 
drill, either for one stroke or for a bout of the 
machine; and the horses, in drilling, harrowing, 
rolling, and other tillage operations, invariably 
walk in the furrows without trampling the soil. 
“Upon most of the light chalky or gravelly 
soils, wheat generally succeeds clover or trefoil ; 
but in cases where the plant of clover fails, early 
pease are occasionally substituted; and as soon 
as the pease are removed, the land is sown with 
either cole-seed, white mustard, or tares, which 
are fed off with sheep, as a preparation for wheat, 
and generally succeeds perfectly well. The clover 
or trefoil is ploughed flat and shallow, the land 
rolled with a heavy roller. The grooved drill-rol- 
ler and Crosskill’s clod-crusher are both excellent 
implements for this purpose, though the drill- 
roller can be used when the land is too moist for 
the clod-crusher to make effective work, and it 
raises a greater quantity of mould for the drill. 
Rolling after the seed is sown, treading or fold- 
ing with sheep, are means adopted for the pur- 
pose of consolidating the soil, and by that means 
preventing the plant being thrown out, and also 
for stopping the ravages of the wire-worm. The 
process of claying light sandy or gravelly soils is 
essential for the production of a good crop of 
wheat; it supplies materials that are wanting 
in the soil, improves its mechanical texture by 
making it more adhesive and less liable to be 
acted upon by continued drought. It is com- 
monly found that a greater quantity of seed per 
acre is used on the light soils than on any other 
kind of soil. The end of October is considered 
the best time of sowing. 
“Upon rich, deep, dry, loamy soils, wheat is 
successfully cultivated after potatoes, the pota- 
toes being removed at the latest in October. It 
is no uncommon thing on some tracts of land— 
such as are extensively found in the neighbour- 
hood of East Ham, Barking, Romford, Edmon- 
ton, Enfield, and other places—to grow wheat 
and potatoes alternately for many years together. 
But in order to carry on this system successful- 
ly, dung must be liberally used for the potatoes ; 
no dressing beyond this is required for the 
wheat; the potatoes yielding from 300 to 500 
bushels per acre, and the wheat from 30 to 40 
bushels. Of course, as above hinted, to carry on 
this kind of farming, manure must be made rich 
and applied abundantly, or be obtained plenti- 
fully from large towns. Upon this description of 
land, 4 pecks of seed are amply sufficient ; and it 
should never be sown till the end of October or 
the beginning of November; if at all earlier, it 
becomes winter-proud and produces too much 
straw. I have witnessed the large yield of full 
50 bushels per acre throughout a field of 37 acres | 
in the parish of East Ham, in Essex, where the 
seed was not sown till the middle of December, 
after a full crop of potatoes. Upon other strong 
yet rich loams, containing a larger proportion of 
clay, wheat and beans are successfully cultivated 
alternately. The beans, being kept perfectly 
clean, frequently supersede the labour of plough- 
ing for wheat; in which case the land is harrow- 
ed previously to drilling or dibbling the wheat. 
“ Peat-soils are of so loose a texture that they 
require to be rendered as solid as possible by a 
good drainage —for peat holds water like a 
sponge, and when the water is carried off it con- 
tracts in a similar manner—by the admixture of 
clay or other inorganic substances, and by roll- 
ing and pressing before and after planting, to in- 
sure a medium quality of grain. As these im- 
provements go on in the fens of Lincolnshire, 
Cambridgeshire, &c., &c. the quality of grain 
brought to market approaches nearer to that 
grown on sandy and loamy soils, while the quan- 
tity greatly exceeds the corn grown on light 
sands or gravels. The fen-farmers have one ad- 
vantage with respect to the growth of a good 
ns 
