This soil, like our bog earth, would be very unfit for the growth of corn, but, from the quantity of vegetable matter, is highly useful in composts and artificial soils. Mixed with lime, it would make an excellent top-dressing for moist clay soils.

The above analyses give but a rough idea of the composition of a soil; in fact they for the most part indicate those causes of fertility or barrenness in soils, which reside in their varying texture or in their relations to water, rather than those which act by the abundance or deficiency of those substances which are the food of plants. An analysis which shall fully explain the fertility of a soil, must tell us not only the quantity and condition of the sand, and clay, and lime, and humus of a soil, but also the quantities of potash, soda, magnesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, chlorine, soluble silicates, and ammonia present in it. It is the presence, whether of humus or any other ingredient which shall, by the operation of atmospheric solvents, gradually yield to the growing plants such substances as these, which determines the fertility or infertility of a soil. And since the publication of Liebig's writings on Agricultural Chemistry, the importance once attributed to the presence of mere humus in the soil as the true index of its fertility, has disappeared. It is now known that the decaying vegetable matter of a soil is of service, not only as itself yielding, by its gradual destruction, food for plants, but also, and even chiefly, by its action as a ferment on the stores of food laid up in the clays and purely mineral portions of the soil, as well as by the facilities of access given, by its mixture with these mineral matters, to the air and water of the atmosphere, which by their disintegrating and decom

Of course, the depth of the soil and the nature of the subsoil greatly affect the value of land. However rich it may be, if there is only a thin layer of good soil over a sharp gravel or a wet clay, it can never be very productive: in the first case, it will be parched in dry weather; and in the latter, converted into mud by every continued rain. If the subsoil be loam or chalk, six inches of good soil will be sufficient. With a foot of good soil, the subsoil is of little consequence, provided it be dry, and the water can find a ready outlet. The best alluvial soils are generally deep; the chalky, shallow. It is of importance to observe, that not only does fertility depend on the presence in the soil of abundant food for the growth of plants, but also on there being sufficient freedom of passage through it for the rain-water, which, as it traverses the soil, dissolves out this food, and takes it by the roots of which water is stagnant, or through which it cannot pass, is necesplants, thus giving them an opportunity of absorbing it. A soil in sarily barren; the plants which would grow upon it starve, because there can be no circulation through it of dissolved food, no opportunity therefore of supplying the roots with fresh supplies of nourishment. It is to its thus providing for the circulation through the soil of food for plants, that the fertilising influence of land drainage is chiefly due; but the reader must be referred to the article DRAINAGE for a fuller explanation of its operation.

The exposure, with respect to the sun, and the declivity of the ground, are very important circumstances in the value of land; they are indeed equivalent to an actual difference in the climate. A gentle declivity towards the south, and a shelter against cold winds, may make as great a difference as several degrees of latitude; and in comparing the value of similar lands in different climates, the average heat and moisture in each must be accurately known. A soil very fertile in the south of Europe may be very unproductive in England; and a light soil of some value in the west of Scotland, might be absolutely barren in Italy or Spain.

Of the Cultivation of the Soil.-The better the soil, the less cultivation it requires to produce tolerable crops; hence, where the land is very rich, we find in general a slovenly culture; where the ground is less productive, more labour and skill are applied to compensate for the want of natural fertility. The simplest cultivation is that of the spade, the hoe, and the rake, and on a small scale it is the best; but spade husbandry cannot be carried to a great extent without employing more hands than can be spared from other occupations. The plough, drawn by oxen or horses, is the chief instrument of tillage, and has been so in all ages and nations of which we have any records. Its general form is familiar to every one, and requires no minute description. The various kinds of ploughs in use at different times, and the improvements which have been made, and are attempted, daily, will be noticed in a separate article. [PLOUGH.] Suffice it to say at present, that a plough should as much as possible imitate the work done with a spade. It should cut a slice from the land by its coulter (a) vertically, and by the share (6) horizontally lift it up, and turn it quite over by means of the mould-board (c); and the art of the plough

man consists in doing this perfectly, and with such a depth and width as suit the soil and the intended purpose. In rich mellow soils a ploughed field should differ little from a garden dug with the spade. In tenacious soils, the slice will be continued without breaking, especially if bound by the fibres and roots of plants; the whole surface will be turned over, and the roots exposed to the air: it is of great consequence that each slice be of the same width and thickness, and the sides of it perfectly straight and parallel. The plane of the coulter

must be perfectly vertical, and that of the share horizontal, in order that the bottom of the furrow may be level, without hollows or baulks, which are irregularities produced by the rising or sinking of the plough, or inclining it to either side. The ancients were very particular in this respect, and recommended sounding the earth with a sharp stake, to ascertain whether the ploughman had done his duty. There re various modes of ploughing land, either quite flat, or in lands or stitches, as they are called in England, and, in Scotland riggs, that is

in portions of greater or less width, with a double furrow between them somewhat like beds in a garden. Sometimes two furrow slices are set up against each other, which is called ridging or bouting; the land then is entirely laid in high ridges and deep furrows, by which it is more exposed to the influence of the atmosphere and kept drier; this is generally done before winter, especially in stiff wet soils. Sometimes two or more ridges are made on each side, forming narrow stitches. When the ground is to be ploughed without being laid in lands or stitches, and all the ridges inclined one way, the mould-board of the plough is shifted at each turn from one side to the other. The plough which admits of this is called a turn wrest plough, and is in general use in Kent, and in many parts of the Continent, where the subsoil is dry and the land not too moist. In most other situations the ground is laid in lands, and the mould-board of the plough is fixed on the right side. When grass land or stubble is ploughed, care must be taken to bury the grass and weeds completely, and the slice cut off by the plough must be turned over entirely, which is best done by making the width of the furrow greater than the depth. When the grass and weeds are rotten, and the ground is ploughed to pulverise it, a narrow deep furrow is best; the earth ploughed up is laid against the side of the preceding ridge, which forms a small furrow between the tops of the ridges, well adapted for the seed to lodge in and to be readily covered with the harrows.

Nothing has divided both practical and theoretical agriculturists more than the question whether the land should be ploughed deep or shallow; but a very slight attention to the purposes for which land is ploughed, and to the nature of the soil, will reconcile these apparently

contradictory opinions. A deep, rich, and stiff soil can never be moved too much nor too deep: deep ploughing brings up rich earth, admits the air and water readily, and gives room for the roots to shoot, whilst the rich compact soil affords moisture and nourishment. Wherever trees are to be planted, the ground should be stirred as deep as possible, even in a poor soil: for grass and corn, however, this is not always prudent; for though their roots traverse a considerable depth of soil, yet the principal portion of them terminates in the surface soil; and in addition to this there is, in reference to some plants, an advantage in preserving a firm texture of subsoil. Whenever the soil below a certain depth is of an inferior quality, there can be no use in bringing it up, until by tillage and land draining it has been improved; and where the soil is light and porous, the bottom had, as we have said, for many plants better not be broken. In such soils, indeed, it is usual rather to attempt the artificial consolidation of the land than to loosen it; and to this end the landpresser or press-drill is used. This instrument consists of two very heavy cast-iron wheels, a a, fig. 2, with angular edges, set on a com...on axle, at a distance from each other equal to the width of the furrows, and a lighter wheel, b, to keep the instrument vertical.

It is drawn by a horse immediately after the plough; pressing two furrows at once, and going twice over each furrow, or if it follows two ploughs, once only. It leaves the land in regular drills, and the seed sown by hand falls into the bottom of the drills, and is covered by the harrows. When the plants come up they appear in regular parallel The great object in ploughing land is to divide it, expose every part

rows.

Fig. 2

C

of it to the influence of the elements, and destroy every plant or weed but those which are sown in it. To do this perfectly requires several ploughings, with certain intervals, and during that time no crop can be upon the land. This is the real use of fallows, and not, as was once supposed, to allow the land to rest; on the contrary, it ought then to have the least repose.

Where the soil is good, with a porous subsoil, the greatest care should be taken not to go too deep; but where the subsoil is compact and impervious to water, but not wet for want of outlet or draining, it is useful to stir the soil to a great depth, but without bringing it to the surface, which may be done by a plough without a mould-board, following a common plough in the same furrow. This is an excellent auxiliary to draining, at the same time keeping a reservoir of moisture, which in dry weather ascends in vapours through the soil and refreshes the roots.

The mode in which the soil is prepared most perfectly for the reception of the seed, is best shown by following the usual operations on fallows. After the harvest, the plough is set to work, and the stubble ploughed in. The winter's frost and snow mellow it, while the stubble and weeds rot below. In spring, as soon as the weather permits, it is ploughed again, the first ridges being turned over as they were before: this completes the decomposition of the roots and weeds. It is then stirred with harrows or other instruments, which tear up the roots which remained, and some of these not being easily destroyed, are carefully gathered and burnt, or put in a heap to ferment and rot, a portion of quicklime being added. Another ploughing and stirring follows, at some interval, till the whole ground is mellow, pulverised, and free from weeds; manure is put on, if required, and immediately spread and ploughed in; the land is then prepared for the seed.

This has been the method universally followed by all industrious husbandmen from the oldest times. The Romans had names for each of the ploughings: the first was frangere, the next vertere, the third refringere, and the fourth revertere; more ploughings were often given, and in modern agriculture the direction of the third ploughing is sometimes changed across the old furrows, at a right, or acute angle, as

ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. I.

Virgil recommends (Georgica,' i. 98), by which the earth is still better divided and mixed. The best modern practice does, however, now so far depart from the ancient model, that a greater portion of cultivation is generally effected before winter. The practice of autumn cultivation of stubbles has greatly increased of late years. A thorough cleansing of stubble land, and even the manuring of it previous to the last ploughing before winter, is now often accomplished. The soil is then left in such a state, that it only needs a stirring and harrowing in the spring, to be ready for most of the spring-sown crops.

Various instruments have been invented to stir the earth and mix it, without so often using the plough, and also to loosen and separate roots and weeds; of these the principal are, the cultivator or scarifier, which enters but a few inches into the ground, and moves a great surface by means of tines, or iron teeth of various constructions. The whole instrument is made of iron: a a, the frame; b, the beam; cc, rods by which it is drawn, the horses being attached by a hook at the point d; e e, the handles; fff, different-shaped shares and tines to be used according to the state of the soil; g gg, contrivances by which the teeth are fixed to the frame at any required distance from each other, and lengthened or shortened; hhh, three wheels to regulate the depth of the ground moved. By raising the beam and fixing it higher or lower on the piece (i), by means of an iron pin passed through the different holes, the whole instrument is raised or depressed in the ground. Fig. 3 represents a simple form of this tool. Coleman, Bentall, Ransome, and many other manufacturers, have better and more efficient implements of the kind.

This instrument divides the soil, but does not turn it over; it is well calculated to destroy roots and weeds, and let in the air; but, evidently, is only adapted to tolerably loose and mellow soils, where there are no large stones.

An ingenious harrow or cultivator has been invented by Finlayson, which rakes the weeds out of the ground, and throws them on the surface without clogging the instrument; it is excellent in light soils (fig. 4).

When the soil turned up by the plough is in large hard lumps, a roller, smooth, ribbed, or toothed, is drawn over the land to break

insoluble and absorbent, he will find out, like the followers of Tull, that manures which contain the whole food of plants can alone maintain fertility.

The influence of the atmosphere on the soil, and the increased fertility produced by pulverising and stirring heavy lands, has led to the notion adopted by Jethro Tull, that labour might entirely supersede the necessity of manure: hence the origin of the horse-hoeing husbandry, which at one time was so highly thought of as to be called, by way of distinction, the new husbandry. Fallows and manuring were both discarded as unnecessary; the seed was sown in rows with wide intervals, which were continually kept worked and stirred. At first the result was highly satisfactory; all the available food of plants, by exposure to the air, was brought into use, and taken up by the plants, which throve well as long as the supply lasted: but in the end it was exhausted; and the warmest admirers and supporters of Tull's system, Du Hamel

and De Châteauvieux, besides many others, found to their cost, in practice, that pulverising alone will not restore fertility. The system of drilling and horse-hoeing, when united with judicious manuring, has, however, been found a great improvement in agriculture. The most distinguished follower of the school of Tull is the the Rev. S. Smith, of Lois Weedon, Northamptonshire, whose experience, now extending over eleven or twelve years, proves that on certain soils a properly timed and industrious tillage, gradually deepening the culti vated land, does maintain its fertility in an extraordinary manner, independently of any addition of fertilising matter in the form of manure. But for a further description of this subject, we must refer to the article TILLAGE.

In describing the various processes in general use in the cultivation of the soil, we have taken the year when the land is fallowed; because it is then that it receives the most perfect culture, which enables it to

produce several crops afterwards with a much smaller quantity of labour. By such fallowing and proper manuring, the soil is fully restored to its highest degree of fertility. In light soils, which are generally poorer, turnips or other green crops are sown, on which sheep are penned, which by their manure still more enrich the soil; and it is only when this manure is ploughed in, that the land may be considered as possessing the full degree of fertility.

There are some soils which are so mixed with pebbles and stones, that instruments for their cultivation must be adapted to their texture. Some of these soils, abounding with chalk, are tolerably fertile, and the stones, when they are not so large as to impede the operations, are rather beneficial than otherwise. Theophrastus mentions a field which had been deprived of its fertility by the removal of the stones, and others have learned the same from experience. Pebbles prevent too great evaporation, shelter the young plants in exposed situations, and reflect the light and heat of the sun. The only inconvenience found from them in good soils is that they occupy the room of better earth, and wear out the instruments used, which in consequence are made stronger and blunter. When there is a crop to be mown with the scythe, the stones must be removed from the surface, but not otherwise, at least in light soils. When the land has been duly prepared, the seed is sown. This is done sometimes before the last ploughing, but then the manure should have been ploughed in before; for, except in planting potatoes, which are not seed, but budded portions of an underground stem, the manure should always be deeper, and not in contact with the seed; indeed, the proper plan is to mix the manure thoroughly with the soil. When the seed is ploughed in, the furrow-slice should not be above two or three inches deep, and eight or nine wide; and it is only in particular soils that this mode is to be recommended. The most common method is, to sow the seed on the land after the last ploughing, and draw the harrows over to cover it. When the land has been well ploughed, and especially if the press-drill has followed the plough, the seed will mostly fall in the small furrows made by two adjoining ridges, and rise in regular rows. But by far the most perfect way is, to sow it at a regular depth, by means of a machine, and in rows at regular distances [DRILL], or to dibble it, which is an operation performed only in a few parts of England, especially in Suffolk, Essex, and Norfolk. A man makes small holes at the distance of four or six inches, and in rows nine to twelve inches asunder, with two rods about thirty inches long, one in each hand, having an oval ring for a handle at one end, and at the other an inverted cone three inches in the axis and an inch and a half diameter at the base, which he pushes and turns with his hands in the ground to prevent the earth adhering, and makes the holes rapidly going backwards along the furrows. Two or more children follow and drop three or four grains in each hole. A harrow is drawn over the ground, and fills the holes with loose earth. When the corn comes up it looks like a regular plantation.

The proper season for sowing each kind of grain, the choice of seed, and other particulars will be given under the names of the different seeds usually sown. As a general rule it may be observed, that the smaller the seed, the less it must be covered, and clover or grass seed are either very lightly harrowed in, or only pressed in with the roller. Of the succession of crops or rotations. It has been found by experience, that besides the general exhaustion produced by vegetation, especially by those plants which are allowed to ripen their seeds, each kind of crop has a specific effect on the soil, so that no care or manure can, as a general rule, make the same ground produce equal crops of the same kind of grain, for any length of time without the intervention of other crops. Whether this be owing to any peculiar nourishment necessary to each particular kind of plants, or because plants not indigenous degenerate in a foreign soil; the fact is certain with respect to most crops usually raised; the turnip and clover crops may be cited as instances. This points out the advantage of varying the crops, according as they are found to succeed best after each other. In general, all kinds of grain succeed best after a crop which has been cut before the seed has ripened, or the stem is dried up. Those plants which have a naked stem with few leaves thrive best after leguminous plants, which have more succulent stems and more leaves, and which bear their seeds in pods, as peas, beans, tares, or vetches; or after esculent roots, which strike deep into the ground, as carrots, parsnips, beet-roots, and turnips. From this circumstance, confirmed by universal experience, the different systems of rotation have had their origin, taking the nature of the soil into consideration.

The simplest rotation, and one which can only be adapted to the richest strong alluvial soils, is that of wheat and beans, alternately, and without any intermission. It is in use in some parts of Kent and Essex, and in a few places in Germany. The land is well prepared and manured for the beans, which are set or drilled in rows, so as to admit of horse-hoeing between, as in Tull's method, till the beans get to a considerable height; besides this, careful hand-hoeing and weeding are practised, by which the land is cleaned and stirred as in a regular fallow. The beans being cut, the ground is ploughed once, and the wheat sown. It is the practice in some places to scarify the land immediately after harvest, to cut up the stubble. It is done in Kent with a plough without a mould-board, and with a very broad share, hence called broad-sharing, but most usually by the scarifier mentioned before the stubble and weeds, if any, are raked up and burned: this

is an excellent practice. Another equally simple rotation, on very poor light land, is that of turnips and barley alternately, which is mentioned by Arthur Young as being in use in the county of Durham, with the simple variation of clover occasionally. The turnips are always fed off by sheep folded on them. Where winter food for the sheep is scarce, this rotation may answer, but otherwise cannot be very profitable.

The oldest rotation known, and which was almost universal in Europe, from the time of the Romans, wherever any regular system of agriculture prevailed, is the triennial rotation of fallow, winter corn, and summer or lent corn; that is, wheat or rye sown in autumn, and barley or oats sown in spring. This was called the three-field system; and on every farm, the arable land was divided into three parts, one of which was in fallow, one in winter corn, and one in summer corn. When properties were much intermixed and subdivided, the whole of a considerable tract was divided into three fields, and it was almost impossible for any individual to deviate from the established course; especially as a right frequently existed of pasturing all the sheep of the parish or district on the fallow field in summer, and on all the others after harvest. In England, this impediment was removed by the legislature passing Acts of enclosure; but it is still felt in many parts of the Continent. This rotation had its advantages, or it could never have been so long in use. Where a sufficient quantity of manure could be collected by means of cattle fed on pastures and commons in summer, and in the strawyard in winter, to give a regular dressing to the fallows every third year, good crops were produced, and the fertility kept up. The labour was very equally divided throughout the year; and such was the regularity of every operation, that a large quantity of land might be cultivated by a proprietor at a considerable distance, with only occasional inspection, without an overseer or bailiff, provided he had honest servants. But, when pastures came to be broken up, and converted into arable land, and cattle consequently diminished, the land could not be manured on every fallow; the crops suffered; less straw being grown, the quantity of manure was diminished, and the land became gradually less and less productive, till, from necessity, a portion was left uncultivated, and returned to natural and inferior pasture; this gave the idea of laying the land down regularly to grass by sowing seeds, and gradually introduced the alternate and convertible system of which we will take notice hereafter.

The apparent loss of a third part of the land by the fallows introduced various crops, which were supposed not to exhaust the soil, but rather to enrich it: of this kind, one of the first was clover, introduced by the Flemish; and afterwards turnips, which have been found of such importance in light soils and moist climates. By substituting turnips for an entire fallow, or, more properly, sowing them early on the regular fallow, and interposing the clover between the summer and winter corn, the highly improved Norfolk rotation has been obtained, namely, 1. Turnips, well manured; 2. Barley; 3. Clover; 4. Wheat. By this a sufficiency of food for sheep and cattle is obtained, without natural pastures, and the land, manured every fourth year at least, is kept in a regular state of progressive improvement. The advantages of this rotation have made it a condition in many leases of light land, under heavy penalties in case of deviation. The first and principal inconvenience found in it was the failure of the clover in most soils, if sown every fourth year; this obliged the farmer to have recourse to other less profitable crops, such as ray-grass, peas, or tares, which, in light lands, are not equal to broad clover as a preparation for wheat. Where the soil is firm and rich, and at the same time mellow, a rotation may be introduced, compounded of the first and last mentioned; that is, beans, wheat, turnips, barley, clover, wheat, making a rotation of six years. This can only be introduced with advantage where there are considerable pastures, and much cattle is kept to supply manure for the land twice in the rotation, namely, for the turnips and for the beans, and where the drill husbandry admits of hoeing and weeding thoroughly; but with these advantages, no course can be more profitable, as is found in those parts of Kent and Essex where marsh pastures are attached to the farms. If the soil is too heavy and wet for turnips, and they cannot well be drawn off nor fed on the land without injuring it, a clean fallow is substituted for the turnips, the other crops remaining the same; or cabbages, or mangold wurzel, are planted for the cattle, but seldom to a great extent. A long fallow from after harvest until the second spring, including two winters, prepares the land admirably for barley, so that it can be sown without any manure, which is reserved as a top-dressing for the young clover after the barley. This is a very excellent method. The clover or ray-grass will be more abundant, and the wheat after it will not be in danger of running to straw, or lodging, that is, falling down for want of a sufficient hold of the ground by the roots.

We may add here the following enumeration of existing rotations. The four years' course of crops which originated in Norfolk, is, as has been said, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Barley; 4. Clover.

When the too frequent repetition of clover or turnips induces disease, one half of the barley stubble is broken up for beans, and that half is put to mangold wurzel after the succeeding crop of wheat, so that this becomes an eight years' rotation, namely, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Barley; 4. Beans; 5. Wheat; 6. Mangold Wurzel; 7. Barley; 8. Clover.

Sometimes when turnips are all fed off on the land where they grow,

the barley crop is too luxuriant and becomes laid, and the malting qualities of it cannot be good. In that case the four years' or Norfolk rotation, is modified by the introduction of a wheat crop between the turnips and barley, so that it becomes a five years' rotation, namely, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Wheat; 4. Barley; 5. Clover.

Where the land and climate are unfavourable to the adoption of so severe a rotation, the Norfolk course is modified by the extension of the clover over two years, thus, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Barley; 4. Clover and Grass; 5. Clover and Grass.

The East Lothian rotation, adapted to the rich soils of the lowlands in that county, lasts six years, thus, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Barley; 4. Clover and Grass; 5. Oats; 6. Potatoes and Beans.

And in the same county, where potatoes are more largely cultivated a seven years' rotation obtains, that crop being taken after the turnip crop, thus, 1. Wheat; 2. Turnips; 3. Potatoes; 4. Wheat; 5. Grass; 6. Oats; 7. Beans.

On the clay alluvial lands of Scotland, a bare fallow is taken in the first year, followed by, 2. Wheat; 3. Barley; 4. Clover and Grass; 5. Oats; 6. Beans; 7. Wheat.

We may add to these a fourth modification of the Norfolk course, recommended by Mr. Caird, for cases of light potato soils where the cultivation of potatoes is advisable, namely, 1. Wheat; 2. Clover; 3. Oats; 4. Turnips; 5. Potatoes.

These rotations are sufficient to give some idea of the principles on which they have been adopted. In Scotland they adhere less strictly to particular rotations, nor are the tenants in general so much tied down as in England; seasons and circumstances cause deviations, which are sometimes judicious and often unavoidable. It is best, however, to follow some regular course, and in the end it will be found most profitable. A very common rotation in Scotland is fallow, wheat, clover, or grass fed one, two, or three years, then oats, peas, or beans, and wheat again, if the land is clean and in good heart; for there is no rule better established, than that of never allowing the soil to be exhausted beyond a certain point where manure and tillage can readily recruit it. The greedy cultivator is sure to pay dearly in the end for every crop forced from the land unreasonably; but the means of remedying exhaustion of the land, both those which depend on the use of efficient implements of tillage, and those which depend on the application of manure, are so multiplied and extended since the days in which most of these systems of rotation originated, that there is not that need of them which once there was, and an energetic and liberal cultivator need not be deterred by the circumstance that it is out of its place in the rotation, from taking any crop from soil in fitting condition which it may be his interest to grow.

Without preventing the tenant from using his discretion as to the mode in which his farm is best cultivated, a proprietor may be sufficiently protected against wanton deterioration of the land, by insisting on a green crop or fallow intervening between every two crops of grain, and consuming all the fodder and roots on the farm. For this subject we must refer to the article FARM. A proprietor with skill and experience cultivating his own land, need only consider the state and quality of his fields, and what will most likely grow well in them what is most in request, both for his own use and in the market; what will keep his men and cattle in most regular work, without confusion or hurry. If he allows his land to be impoverished for want of manure, or to run wild with weeds, for want of hoeing or fallowing, he has not the experience and judgment which are necessary for his pursuits.

The Flemish husbandry proceeds much on this principle: The greatest attention is paid to manuring and weeding. Much more manual labour is bestowed than with us, and the crops seem more certain, varied, and abundant. That it is not unprofitable we may conclude from the wealth of the peasants, the comfort of the labourers, and the sleek appearance of the cattle. From the very interesting account of Flemish agriculture in the work of Mr. van Aelbrock of Ghent, written in Flemish, translated into French, and published at Paris in 1830, we learn with what great care the soil is cultivated in Flanders. After ploughing into lands as we do, every intervening furrow is deepened and cleared with the spade, the earth being thrown over the bed sown. Liquid manure (which is sadly thrown away in this country), chiefly the urine of animals and drainings of dunghills, is carefully collected, and is carried on and distributed over the poor light soils, by means of water-carts, before sowing, and again when the crop is come up. By this means such lands are made to yield crops of rape seed, clover, lucern, flax, and corn equal in luxuriance to those on the richest soils. Fallows are rendered unnecessary by the careful destruction of weeds. In short, it is a garden culture on an extended scale. All the land is in tillage, except where rivers occasionally overflow, and render the meadows rich and profitable. The cattle are mostly kept in stables, and fed with green food cut and brought to them; by which means one acre of clover, lucern, or other artificial will maintain five times as many beasts, or more, as an acre of the best pasture; but the great object is to increase manure, especially in a liquid state, which is carefully preserved in reservoirs, without loss or waste, till wanted for the land. This system is also followed in Switzerland, which, considering its soil and climate, is one of the bestcultivated countries in Europe.

grass,

We observed before, that the want of a sufficient supply of manure

on the old three-field system led to the laying-down arable land to pasture for a time and then breaking it up again. This was first practised in a regular rotation in Holstein and Mecklenburg, and raised these countries rapidly amongst agricultural nations.

In Holstein, on moderately good soil, they adopt the following course: 1. Oats, on newly broken-up grass land. 2. A fallow to destroy grasses and weeds, and accelerate the decomposition of their roots. 3. Wheat with or without manure, according to the state of the land. 4. Beans, barley, or oats. 5. Wheat, manured, unless it has been done for the beans the year before. 6. Grass seeds pastured for three years or more, when the rotation begins again.

A Mecklenburg rotation, not unlike the Scotch, consists of, 1. Beans well manured, or potatoes. 2. Wheat or oats. 3. Barley or oats, unless sown the year before. 5. Peas or tares, manured. 6. Wheat. 7. White clover and grass seeds, which were sown among the wheat the year before, and are kept in pasture during the 8th and 9th years. There is no fallow, and in a moist climate it will be difficult to keep the land clean. It might, however, easily be introduced, as in

the Holstein rotation.

Another rotation is, 1. Oats. 2. Beans well manured. 3. Wheat. 4. Tares manured. 5. Barley. 6. Clover and grass seeds mown for hay and green fodder. 7 and 8. ditto, fed. All these are excellent for a moderately good soil well managed. If the soil is very rich, the following is the most profitable of any: 1. Rape seed well manured. 2. Wheat. 3. Beans or potatoes manured and hoed. 4. Barley. 5. Clover. 6. Wheat. 7. Oats with white clover and grass seeds pastured two or three years. The principal object in this convertible system is to lay the land down in good heart, and as clear of weeds as possible: the grass will then be abundant, and continue good for several years. Liquid manure, carried upon it in spring, will so enrich it as to admit of making the crop into hay, or cutting it green for the cattle in the stables. In light soils, the tread of sheep and cattle is of great use; in heavy, wet soils, they would do harm. No wet land will bear this rotation.

We have now given a brief outline of the manner in which arable land may be cultivated and improved. If we should be asked, whether so much attention and labour upon land of a proper quality will be repaid by the value of the produce, after deducting the portion due to the landlord, or to the state? we shall answer, without any hesitation, in the affirmative, provided the cultivator is possessed of knowledge, judgment, and experience, and devotes all his time to the superintendence of his farm. The calculations on which this opinion is founded cannot be introduced here; some idea of them will be given in the article FARM. Agriculture is so healthy and so agreeable an occupation, that it can never be extremely profitable: the competition for land will always prevent this. The butcher and cattle-dealer will always, if successful, make far greater profits than the farmer; and a decent livelihood, with a moderate interest on the capital laid out, is the most that a farmer can expect, even with the greatest assiduity. If he neglects his business, and leaves it to others less interested in the result, he must be a loser. Gentlemen who cultivate for pleasure, and employ bailiffs, are fortunate if they get a moderate rent after paying expenses. For careless farmers, the simplest system alone can prevent great loss; and grass land may be profitable in the hands of a proprietor, who would probably be ruined if his land were all arable and in his own hands.

Our limits will not permit us to enter into the important subject of improvements, nor into the question of great or small farms, as most beneficial to the community: these and various other branches of the subject will be found under proper heads; such as BARREN LAND, FARM, DRAINING, IRRIGATION, MANURE, LABOUR, GRASS-LAND, CATTLE, &c.; and for the peculiar cultivation of the various products of agriculture, see WHEAT, BEANS, BARLEY, CLOVER, OATS, PEAS, &c. &c.

We shall only add the names of a few authors whose works may be studied and consulted with advantage, by all those who desire to have a competent knowledge of agriculture, either as a branch of general knowledge, or for the purpose of its practical application.

Of the Greek writers on husbandry we have hardly anything left, except in the collection of Cassianus Bassus, entitled 'Geoponika' (earth-labouring). This collection, in twenty books, was made at the command of the Emperor Constantinus Porphyrogennetus, and was chiefly compiled from Greek writers, whose names are given. We are not aware that there is any foreign translation of the Geoponika,' except the old German version of 'Herren,' first printed at Strasburg in 1545, 4to. The Latin writers, Cato, Varro, Virgil in his 'Georgics,' Columella, and Palladius, are well known their works, especially the last two, will be found to contain many valuable remarks; and abridged translations of them, or extracts, would be very useful even to modern agriculturists. Of the above, the following have been translated by the Rev. T. Owen, rector of Upton Scudamore, Wilts: 1. The Three Books of M. Terentius Varro, concerning Agriculture.' London, 1800. 8vo. 2. The Fourteen Books of Palladius on Agriculture.' London, 1807. 8vo. The same author has also published' Agricultural Pursuits, translated from the Greek.' London, 1805. 2 vols. 8vo. Of the earlier English writers, we shall only mention Fitzherbert, Blythe, Hartlib, and Weston. Afterwards came Evelyn, Tull, Hale, and the great oracle of modern husbandry, Arthur Young; with