344 
turnips have been carefully hoed, so that no 
weeds of any kind remain, it is then in the finest 
state for barley as soon as the turnips are off. 
Turnips require a well pulverized soil, and so 
does barley. If the soil is very dry and light, 
the sheep folded upon it consolidate the surface 
by their treading, and enrich it by their urine 
and dung. As soon as a part of the field is 
cleared, and the hurdles removed, the land is 
ploughed with a shallow furrow, and thus the 
sheep and the ploughs are often seen in the same 
field succeeding each other, that no time may be 
lost in turning in and covering the dung, which 
is very volatile, and would soon lose much of its 
qualities by the action of the sun and winds. 
This is sufficient preparation for the seed, which 
may now be sown or drilled without delay.”— 
| [Rham’s Dictionary of the Farm.| The improve- 
_ ment made upon the soil by the excrements of 
| the sheep and the contact of their bodies, is called 
| in Norfolk ‘ the teathe ;’ and the ploughing in of 
this, as closely as possible to the flocks, is called 
the ‘ sealing’ of it. 
The old method of treating all land in Norfolk 
and Suffolk, after clearing it of turnips either by 
sheep-feeding or by carting-off, was to plough it 
once, twice, or thrice, for either barley or any 
other kind of seed-corn,—the ordinary farmers 
ploughing once, the better farmers twice, and the 
best ploughing thrice. On very dry soils, this 
method incurred no farther disadvantages than 
useless waste of labour, and partial dissipation of 
the volatile portions of the sheep’s urine; but 
upon soils of a stiffer kind it turned down the 
surface which had been pulverized by the frosts 
of winter, and brought up the adhesive, cloddy, 
bottom soil, which had not been duly influenced 
by either the frosts, the air, or the ammoniacal 
manure. “Those who are used to attend to the 
effects of tillage on different soils,’ remarks Mr. 
Arthur Young, “ know well that loam and clays 
of various degrees of tenacity, if they have been 
properly formed into lands for winter, and not 
poached by horses trampling, receive the frosts 
to advantage, and are found with a friable sur- 
face in the spring. If rain comes, it dries, and 
leaves the surface still in good order, and ready 
for any operation. But plough such lands, and 
turn up the more adhesive bottom, not acted 
upon by frost, and let rain fall on such fresh- 
turned furrows, it remains stiff and soddened, it 
“does not become porous again, the air cannot get 
| into it, and if drying sharp winds at north-east 
follow, the furrows become longitudinal slices of 
clod, very difficult to be acted upon by any in- 
strument, and the farmer finds himself in a most 
unpleasant situation. He no more recovers a 
fine friable surface; and it becomes twenty to 
one whether he has a good crop.” The new 
| practice, which began to be adopted about fifty 
years past, was to employ the scarifier instead of 
the plough, and in consequence to loosen, pulver- 
ize, and aerate the land without turning down j published in 1814, says, “ After turnips or pulse, 
BARLEY. 
its surface. The scarifier has been of different 
breadth and different forms, according to the 
progress of improvement ; but, in general, it has 
stirred the soil to the depth of from four to six 
inches, and has been drawn by horses walking 
only in the furrows, and not trampling the pre- 
pared land. In some cases, one scarifying and 
two harrowings are given; in other cases, two 
scarifyings and three harrowings; and, in other 
cases, two scarifyings with small tines, one scari- 
fying with large tines, and a proportionate de- 
gree of harrowing. The amount and the modi- 
fication of the work are entirely dependent on: 
the comparative tenacity or consolidation of the 
soil, and can be readily determined by the look 
and tread of the experienced farmer. The ope- 
rations are speedily performed ; they put the 
stitches or ridges into excellent order for the 
immediate reception of the seed-corn; and they 
are much less liable to be surprised and defeated 
by unfavourable weather than the slower and 
more critical operation of ploughing. 
On lands which are decidedly cohesive, how- 
ever, whether in consequence of their own na- 
ture, or from the effects of some temporary con- 
solidation, ploughing may be indispensable for 
breaking the masses of the soil into minor frag- 
ments. Even Mr. Arthur Young says, “ Upon all 
clays, and loams of any degree of tenacity, which 
have been sheep-fed lately, the surface may be 
firm and trodden. The degree will depend upon 
the weather that has taken place, whether wet 
or dry; but if the farmer has a strong and heavy 
hoe in his hand, or a spade, he will easily per- 
ceive whether or not the temper of the surface 
will let the scarifier work effectually. If this 
tool works well, or is likely to work well by the 
20th of March, its use should preclude the plough; 
but if, from the state of the surface, compared 
with that of the soil at the depth of five inches, 
it appears that a ploughing is really necessary, | 
the prudent farmer will of course give it.” The | | 
general practice in Scotland is to perform the 
whole tilth, on all sorts of land, by turning down | 
the surface with the plough, and, when neces- | 
sary, to make a free subsequent use of the har- 
rows and the roller. Though the scarifier or 
grubber is now well appreciated and freely used 
in the husbandry of some of the best farmers, 
still the plough continues to be the characteristic 
implement of preparation for barley after tur- 
nips. This apparent weddedness to old practice 
is greatly modified by improvements in the con- 
struction of the plough, and by the use of different 
kinds of ploughs in adaptation to different soils 
and circumstances; and, so far as it is not thus 
modified, it is in a great measure, if not wholly, 
accounted for by the prevailing stiffness and 
comparative wetness of soils, and by the superior 
execution, the diversified manner, and the highly 
improved character of the general style of plough- 
ing. Sir John Sinclair’s Report for all Scotland, 
