in them; but simplicity of principle and construction are generally believed to be too little attended to. Some of the drill machines, or machines for sowing grain and other small seeds in rows, have been contrived so as to execute their work with the greatest regularity and precision. In all the southern counties, four-wheeled waggons, drawn by 2, 3, or more horses, are in common use; while in the northern counties single-horse carts, similar to those now universally used in Scotland, are generally met with. A great deal of discussion has taken place respecting the comparative advantages and disadvantages of waggons and carts; but it is only under peculiar circumstances that they can be fairly compared. Where roads are good, and the ground firm and dry, there would seem to be little doubt that the preference should be given to carts; but where roads are bad, and the ground clayey, soft, and tenacious, waggons may, perhaps, be the most suitable. There is a great variety in the form and construction of waggons, most counties having one or two varieties peculiar to itself.

The thrashing machine is now pretty common. In the southern counties, indeed, into which its introduction has been comparatively recent, it has lately become the object of popular attack; and to such an extent has the prejudice against it been carried, that in many districts the farmers have been obliged to demolish such as were erected! Conduct like this is as destructive of the interest of the peasantry, as it is disgraceful to their intelligence. The employment of thrashing machines relieves the labourers from the severest drudgery incident to agriculture; they enable the work to be done at the time there is a demand for corn; and, by doing it better, or separating the corn (particularly wheat) more completely from the straw, they add both to the wealth of the farmer and the produce of the country; enabling the former to employ, and the latter to feed, more labourers. This latter is, indeed, a most important consideration. It is calculated by the best informed agriculturists, that 5 per cent., or one twentieth part, more produce is afforded by a crop thrashed by machinery than by the old method; and, estimating the total produce of the corn crops of Great Britain and Ireland at 50,000,000 quarters, we should, on this hypothesis, have an additional annual supply of no less than 2,500,000 quarters, were thrashing machines universally substituted for flails! So great an increase of produce in the hands of the farmers would obviously enable them to employ far more labourers than would be superseded by the use of the machine.—(Brown on Rural Affairs, vol. i. p. 332.)

Mr. Stevenson seems inclined to think that the ploughs, and most of the other agricultural implements in common use in England, are not generally constructed on scientific principles, or with that degree of skill as to enable them to do their work in the best manner, and with the least cost of time and labour. This, however, does not proceed from the want of the best models in every department, but, as already stated, from the tenacity with which old practices are persevered in. So much is this the case, that, even in the vicinity of the metropolis, where the best workmen and best implements of all sorts

and such is their general character in many other counties. It is plain, therefore, that the general introduction of the improved Scotch plough, at least on all light lands, would be a most material improve

ment.

But, notwithstanding these defects, the implements used at present by the mass of the English farmers are, speaking generally, very decidedly superior to those in ordinary use in most other countries; and, though a good deal remains to be accomplished, the improvements that have been already made in their construction have powerfully contributed to the superiority of our agriculture.

Horse and Ox Labour.-Innumerable dissertations have been written on the question as to the comparative advantageousness of employing horses or oxen in agricultural operations. It is plain, however, that this question may be differently decided under different circumstances; and that in one case horses, while in another case oxen, may be most profitable. But, on the whole, the superiority of horses seems, in this country at least, to be great and obvious; and, notwithstanding the efforts of various amateur farmers to the contrary, the employment of oxen in field operations appears to be every day diminishing, and is now principally restricted to Devonshire, Herefordshire, Sussex, and Glamorgan. But, even in these counties, a great deal of work is done by horses. The inferiority of oxen to horses, for general purposes, is admitted by every one; and, even in tillage, ox teams are not to be compared, in point of economy, with the two-horse plough.

Fallows.-Before an improved system of tillage was introduced into England, there appears to have been little or no fallow land. At length, however, it was perceived that the loss of a crop every year that a fallow occurred was more than balanced by the improvement it occasioned in the crops of the other years. When the practice had been introduced, it rapidly extended, and appears to have been carried, about the middle of last century, to an excess. This occasioned a reaction; and several writers of eminent talent exerted themselves to show that fallowing might be nearly, if not entirely, laid aside. A great deal of controversy has taken place as to this important point. But, as experience has proved that most descriptions of land may be effectually cleaned and prepared for wheat by the substitution of crops of drilled turnips, beans, potatoes, &c. in the place of naked fallows, the latter have been fast losing ground in most districts, but especially in the light or turnip soils. In strong clay lands, however, the practice of fallowing seems to be pretty stationary. In the southern counties, indeed, which are favoured with a comparatively long and dry summer, attempts have been made to dispense with fallows by substituting beans in their stead; and it is believed that, even on heavy clays, when properly attended to, they have in most respects answered the object in view.

Mr. Bailey has the following observations on the subject of fallowing:

not.

"It has been disputed, whether fallowing was necessary to the fertility of land or The difference of opinion, I am inclined to think, is, in a great measure, owing to the idea annexed to the term, or to some small remains of prejudice for ancient customs; as, before the introduction of turnips, it was thought absolutely necessary to summer-fallow the dry soils as well as the wet, under the idea of renewing their fertility by a naked summer-fallow, or year of rest; but experience has proved that the dry soils can bear a crop of turnips of considerable value, and after that a crop of wheat equal, if not superior, to what it would have been from a naked summer-fallow, and the land left in an equal state of fertility. It therefore appears that, in this case, the land has received no injury by not being left naked or uncovered by the turnips. The restorative fertility must, therefore, be owing to another cause, which is common to both modes, and may probably be sufficient ploughings, clearing of pernicious weeds, and proper manures.

"Upon strong loams it has been found, that if beans are drilled at 30 inches intervals, and properly hand-hoed amongst the stems, and horse-hoed or ploughed between the rows, that the land may be left as clear of weeds, and the crop of wheat succeeding the beans be equally good, as one obtained after naked fallow.

"From these instances it appears, that it is not necessary to the fertility of land to let it lie in a naked or uncultivated state through the summer; but that it is necessary to keep it clear of weeds, and in a duly pulverised state, supposing the manures in both cases to be equally the same.

"But there are many parts of this country where the soils are moist, thin loams, upon ochrey clay, that are so addicted to the production of agrostis nigra, alba, and stolonifera, that it is scarcely possible to effect their destruction without a naked summer-fallow, at least in their present state; but it is probable that superior culti vation may remove the necessity of having recourse to this measure so often as has been the prevailing practice." —( Survey of Durham, p. 106.)

Alternation of Crops. The courses of crops commonly cultivated vary much, not only with the variations of soil and climate, but even where these are similar. In the best farmed counties, such as Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Lincoln, Kent, and Northumberland, two white crops are rarely sown in succession. A green or a pulse crop, or a plain fallow, is interposed between every two white crops. These green crops not only preserve the fertility of the soil, but, when sown in rows, as most of them usually are, they afford, as has been just mentioned, an opportunity of extirpating weeds by the use of the horse and hand-hoe; and even when sown broad-cast, by their taking complete possession of the ground, if it be properly prepared, the growth of weeds is effectually checked. In other respects, these intermediate crops are of the utmost importance in every good course of management. Whether they be eaten on the ground, or carried to the farmhouses and straw-yards, much valuable manure the plentiful supply of which is essential to all good husbandry-is obtained from their consumption; and on sandy or gravelly soils, when a part only of a turnip crop is eaten by the sheep on the ground, the greatest defect of such land is removed by their treading; and, in many cases, it is rendered as capable of producing a valuable crop of wheat as soils of a closer texture. This alternate course of husbandry forms the grand distinction between the old and the new or improved systems. Wherever it is not introduced, husbandry must necessarily be in the most backward state; and such, we regret to say, is its present condition in very many districts. Oats or barley after wheat, wheat after oats, and two, or even three, crops of oats in succession, are by no means uncommon. On light soils, the rotation commonly pursued by

thence called the Norfolk, or four-shift, system: it consists of, 1st, turnips or potatoes; 2d, barley, or wheat; 3d, clover; and, 4th, oats, or where barley followed turnips, clover is sown along with it, and succeeded by wheat. No one rotation is nearly so common on heavy soils as this is on light soils and inferior clays. Those most pursued on the former are, 1st, fallow; 2d, wheat; 3d, beans; 4th, oats; and then, 5th, fallow: or, 1st, fallow; 2d, wheat; 3d, clover, for one or two years; 4th, oats; 5th, beans; 6th, wheat; 7th, fallow. Barley is sometimes, but not often, introduced into the rotations on strong lands; and tares, rape, or cabbages are occasionally, though seldom, substituted for fallow. In the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent, and in a few other spots of uncommon fertility, wheat and beans are grown alternately, without the intervention either of a fallow or of any other

crop.

Besides these rotations, which are applicable only to grounds kept constantly under the plough, there are others which form what is called the convertible husbandry. In this system, the ground, after being laid down to grass for 2, 3, 5, or more years, is broken up and sown with different species of corn, intermixed with green crops, or fallows, for some years, after which it is again laid down to grass. This system is making its way into the best farmed districts of England; so that more grass-land (not permanent, but for a few years) is now seen in the strictly arable districts than was formerly met with; while a greater breadth of ground is under the plough in many of those counties which formerly were almost exclusively in grass.

Crops cultivated.-Wheat (Triticum) is by far the most important, and most extensively cultivated species of bread-corn raised in England. It appears, from the previous statements, that it is sown after fallow, turnips, cabbages, potatoes, beans, &c. In light soils it follows clover and the cultivated grasses; but it never, at least in the best farmed districts, follows any other white crop. Wheat may be raised on all sorts of soils; but those of a clayey nature are the most suitable. So peculiarly, indeed, is wheat adapted to heavy, stiff lands, that they are usually termed "wheat soils." The lighter the soil, the less is it suited to this species of grain; and it is an error in practice to force the cultivation of wheat on soils, and under circumstances, better suited to the production of other grain. In this country, it does not admit of being raised at a great elevation. As it is a crop on which the farmer mainly depends, the preparation for it, in whatever rotation it comes, should be an object of great care and attention. If it be intended to sow wheat after fallow, the land is repeatedly ploughed, harrowed, and well manured; if after clover, only one ploughing is given, and seldom more after beans: where tares have been previously sown, they are got off the land in sufficient time to plough it more than once: when wheat follows turnips or cabbages, it must, unless they be stored or eaten, be sown in the spring months.

The kinds of wheat grown in England seem mostly all to be varieties of two species-the Triticum hybernum, or winter wheat, and the Triticum turgidum, or turgid wheat. The culture of the latter is mostly confined to clays; the cone, or bearded wheat, being the most esteemed of its varieties: it enjoys this pre-eminence, not because it

yields the finest flour, but because it is comparatively productive, and not subject to disease on wet soils.

The varieties of wheat are perpetually changing, in consequence of variations of culture, climate, and soil. Those most in use are distinguished by different local terms. They may, however, be divided into the two great classes of red and white,—the latter being superior as respects quality of produce, and the former of hardiness. In general, the thin and smooth-chaffed varieties are preferred to those that are woolly and thick-chaffed. Wheat sown in the spring is called spring wheat; but the species is quite the same as that sown before winter; though, by being sown in the spring, its period of ripening is changed. It is always sown before winter when the ground can be got ready; but when it follows turnips, cabbages, and such like crops, it has frequently to be deferred to the spring.-(Low on Agriculture, pp. 222-228.)

Winter wheat is seldom sown in any part of England before the beginning or middle of September, or later than the end of November. Spring wheat is generally sown between the middle of March and the middle of April. The seed is invariably pickled or steeped; a process intended to prevent smut. The quantity of seed allowed to an acre, when sown broad-cast, usually varies from 24 to 3, and even 4, Winchester bushels.

The drill husbandry, as applied to wheat, is practised to a considerable extent in many parts of England; and in some places it is not unfrequently planted with the dibble; but by far the greater portion is sown broad-cast. While growing, but little attention or labour is bestowed upon it. When drilled, it is generally hoed; and when sown broad-cast, it is sometimes hand-weeded, and occasionally, though rarely, harrowed and rolled in the spring. But these operations are generally, perhaps, prosecuted as much in the view of covering the clover and grass seeds, that are then frequently sown in the wheat fields, as of improving the wheat crop.

Wheat harvest generally commences, in the south of England, about the 25th of July or the beginning of August: in the midland counties it is about 10 days, and in the northern counties from a fortnight to three weeks, later. There is a striking difference in the harvest-field operations, with respect to this as well as other kinds of grain, between the north and south of England: in the former, during harvest, the corn-field exhibits a large number of reapers, perhaps 50, 60, or even 100, all working together, and presenting an interesting and animating spectacle. In the south of England, on the other hand, and over the greater part of the midland counties, wheat is reaped by small sets of individuals, who contract to cut a field or a certain number of acres; so that, in general, the field merely exhibits one or two men, with, perhaps, their wives, working in different parts of it. Wheat is seldom or never cut down with the scythe, but is either reaped with the common sickle, or, as is the practice in some of the counties near the metropolis, as well as in some of the south-western counties, it is bagged, that is, struck down near the ground with a large and heavy hook. It is universally bound in sheaves, which are set up in shocks or stooks, each containing 12 or 14 sheaves. Perhaps