practice; and, in the eastern, conformably with that of Middle Kent:-the body of the County separating, widely, those two (in many particulars) varying practices.

POTATOES.-History, in Sussex.-P. 115. "It is upwards of twenty years since the first introduction of them into the Sussex husbandry, for fattening bullocks."

Application of Potatoes.-P. 120. "The chief use and object for which they are cultivated in Sussex, is the fattening of bullocks. Mr. Mayo has entered largely into this practice, and with uniform success, for upwards of twenty years, and is decided in the conviction of the profit of it. He fattens every year six oxen, two steers, and four cows or heifers. They complain at Battel, that they have no hay good enough to fatten a bullock; but with potatoes, all difficulties vanish."

"Mr. Fuller has fed many sheep till they were quite fat, upon potatoes, and has kept to the practice. Mr. Mayo has fed horses with them, and with success; and Sir Charles Eversfield fed all his horses upon them at Horsham."

P. 124. "The late General Murray was in the constant habit of feeding a very large flock of sheep on potatoes; they were given in a manger: 710 ewes in winter, ate onethird of a ton of hay, and 22 bushels of potatoes, every day, which is a quart to each. He used potatoes for fattening sheep, as well as for lean stock; 196 fat wethers ate 14 bushels and 1 cwt. of hay daily: it may be reckoned 14 bushels for 200 sheep."

TURNEPS.-Their History, in Sussex.-P. 107. "The cultivation of this very valuable root is thoroughly well understood; and the high degree of importance which is attached to it in the economy of a flock farm, renders it an object of the last consideration among the South Down farmers. Turnips for many years have been cultivated in this county, and with increasing success."

Hoeing Turneps.-In the following report of the practice of Mr. Ellman (whether of Glynde or of Shoreham is not said) may be caught, if patiently perused, a good practical idea.

P. 108. "Mr. Ellman observes, that in hoeing with the common Norfolk hoe, more of the weeds are drawn toge ther than are cut up, and if rain come, most of these weeds shoot again; but his own hoe, the blade of which is but an inch wide, effectually cuts up every thing, whilst the weeds and earth pass freely over it, at the same time that none of the earth is collected. This hoe ought by all means to be used on turnip farms, where the soil is inclined to be light and sandy, but on those of a heavier tendency, the hoe should be wider."

This misepithet produced, on the first reading, a ludicrous effect;

effect; it thereby appearing that Mr. Ellman hoed his turneps with one-inch hoes! the blade of a hoe, as the blade of a sword, is spoken of by its length and breadth. Who ever heard of a wide sword? This by the way.

Mr. E. has merit in forming new hoes with narrow blades, for free working soils; as we are led to conceive, by the above extract. It is well understood that an old worn-down hoe makes the best work among weak seedling turneps, in such a soil, But a turnep hoer generally makes one hoe serve for all purposes; and soils of a "heavier tendency" require a stronger blade.

Much depends on setting a hoe. If the handle and the blade form a sufficiently acute angle, a good workman will not draw the weeds into heaps; unless on very foul ground, in moist weather; and, under these circumstances, fewer plants will regain roothold, in heaps, than when they remain erect, on the ground where they grew :-as, in this case, every fibril that has been severed from the main roots, will strike, and regain the soil; whereby young plants will continue to grow, and scarcely experience a check by the hoeing.

By the Reporter's representation, or misrepresentation, of his friend's practice, it would seem as if Mr. E. cleared bis arable lands from charlock, by raising his own turnep seed; or by plowing his turnep fallows "four or five times, in the month of June;" when, unless in a " dripping season," scarcely a charlock seed can be induced to vegetate.

P. 108. "The attention which Mr. Ellman has given to eradicate weeds, is another instance of good management, Kilk or charlock, is the most destructive foe to which the chalk hills are liable, yet a blade of it is never visible upon his farm; whilst between Lewes, Eastbourne, and Brighton, almost every farm is overwhelmed with this weed. His neighbours have been frequently surprised at seeing his turnip crops upon land similar to their own, and apparently with similar management, whilst they are not able to grow any. This has been a frequent object of remark; but there are some circumstances in his management which will explain the reason. Mr. Ellman pays great attention in saving bis seed, by transplanting some of the largest and roundest turnips in his garden, and in rejecting all those large ones which indicate any hollowness in the crown of the plant, which forms a cavity for the rain to lodge on it, and thus cause the turnip to rot. By constantly sowing such seed, which he annually saves, he contrives to get fine crops; and by setting them out very thick, he raises very heavy ones. He begins to sow early, and raises several pieces in succession. His turnips are this year (1797) upon rye-grass,

which he folds in spring; he then ploughs in June four or five times for turnips, hoes twice, setting them out very thick, remarking at the same time, that the small crop and thick one will exceed the other considerably."

But even this passage, if deliberately read, will not be found destitute of useful information.

Folding off Turneps, with Sheep.-P. 111. "In folding his sheep, Mr. Ellman draws them out of the ground two or three days before the sheep are turned into the field; by this method, which begins to be general, the turnips lose their watery property, and the sheep thrive on them much better.

"Similar to this is the practice of Mr. Carr, who, in folding his sheep, draws up all the turnips within the fold, a day or two before the sheep are allowed to enter, in order that the turnips might wither, and evaporate their water. The reason is, that when the sheep ate them without this precaution, many were lost." (?)

Drawing Turneps, for Cattle.-P. 239. "Turnips ate chiefly cultivated upon the flock-farms for sheep; but it is a practice in various parts of the county to draw the largest for the bullocks. When they are given upon an empty stomach, the cattle will blow; but never when hay is mixed. Mr. Milward observes, that when they are given to the cattle fresh drawn from the field, his oxen are liable to the flux; but taken up before-hand, no food is better, as the watery nature of it is removed; but, in order to carry this into execution, he adopts the method of stacking, taking special care of guarding against the frost; and this very spirited cultivator never found his oxen thrive so well as on dried turnips.

"The custom of drawing them two or three days previous to giving them to cattle, is very prevalent about Lewes, Brighton, Shoreham, &c. Mr. Ellman constantly practises it."

CULTIVATED HERBAGE.

RYE HERBAGE.-P. 101. "Rye is much cultivated on the South Downs as food for sheep. It is sown in August and September; the earlier, the better it is. In spring, when other food is scarce, and in the lambing season, ewes and lambs are turned into it: a certain portion is hurdled off for this purpose."

RAPE HERBAGE.-P. 106. " Cole is deservedly in high repute amongst the flock farmers of the Downs. It is sown either with tares, or by itself, as food for sheep; not frequently for seed. Ewes and lambs are wattled upon it in spring, and it is generally allowed to be most efficacious and highly nourishing to the young lambs."

114

P. 107.

P. 107. "Mr. Gilbert sows ray-grass with his rape for sheep, on Down land; one gallon of rape-seed, and two of ray-grass. The rape is fed off first; and after that the ray-grass rises and affords a spring bite. June and July is the usual season for putting in this crop."

TARE HERBAGE.-P. 104. "The cultivation of tares is well understood, and in many parts successfully practised. They are used for cattle, horses, and sheep; and sometimes hogs have been folded upon them. From two to three bushels are sown upon the subbles in autumn, and in the spring they are wattled off with sheep."

!

"They" (?) "have on the South Downs an admirable practice in their course of crops, which cannot be too much commended; that of substituting a double crop of tares, instead of a fallow for wheat." (!) "Let the intelligent reader give his attention to this practice, for it is worth a journey of 500 miles." (ha! ha!) "They sow forward winter tares, which are fed off late in the spring with ewes and lambs; they then plough and sow summer tares and rape, two bushels and a half of tares, and half a gallon of rape; and this they feed off with their lambs in time to plough once for wheat.".

One plowing, in autumn, and that a seed plowing (of course to be immediately harrowed, and thereby sealed up) we are here requested to believe, is the best substitute for a whole summer's fallowing!-that is to say, for three, four, or five open plowings, with intervals of time between them, to allow the sun and wind to destroy the roots of weeds, and summer showers to promote vegetation, and thereby to destroy the seeds of weeds.

It may sometimes, perhaps, be found convenient, to have recourse to such an expedient; -as to assist a needy sloven; or to enable a shifty tenant to force a crop of wheat on foul land, in the last year of a term. But let it not be named, as a "substitute" for TILLAGE;-in a course of practice.

MIXED HERBAGE.-P. 149. "The artificial grasses in the highest request, and chiefly cultivated, are red and white clover, trefoil, and ray.”

P. 150. "The course in which these artificial grasses are introduced, is generally with barley and oats; some-times with wheat in spring.

GRASS LAND.

ON PRODUCING Grass Land.-In a section headed "Clover, Trefoil, and Ray Grass,"-from which the two last extracts are taken, we find an ingenious but, in a great measure, futile scheme, ill drawn,-concerning the operation of

converting

converting arable grounds to a state of permanent herbage, or grass lands.

P. 150, "The cultivation of our best natural grasses has been long called for, and lately recommended by that elaborate botanist, Curtis, and by many others, as likely to turn up a very valuable acquisition. No branches of the art of agriculture are less understood, than a right knowledge of the properties of our grasses, and the soil congenial to each. Till very lately, they were entirely neglected, excepting ray, and one or two others, all of them inferior to many of those in a natural state.

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"As there is undoubtedly a particular period when the grasses are in a proper state for mowing, and as that state is most probably about the time of their flowering, should all the under-mentioned grasses be found, upon fair trial, to deserve cultivation, the following diagraph would seem to divide them into proper assortments to be sown together; supposing the fields or meadows where they are to be sown, to be principally intended for hay. If an assortment for three crops only be desired, the brackets on the right hand will shew the division. If five crops are required, the brackets on the left hand will direct to the assortment: in the division of three parts, the first crop will be fit to cut early in June; the second about Midsummer; and the third about the middle of July. In the division of five parts, the first will be ripe about the latter end of May; the second, the beginning of June; the third, about Midsummer; the fourth, about the beginning of July; and the fifth, the middle or latter end of July.

"The annual meadow, vernal, smooth-stalked meadow, small fescue, dogstail, yellow oat, and fine bent, seem to be best adapted for the feed of sheep; the rest for the larger kinds of cattle-the soft brome, smooth-stalked meadow, smaller fescue, and yellow oat, are partial to dry soils; the vernal, fortail, rough-stalked meadora, quake-grass, meadow-fescue, soft grass, meadow-barley, catstail, and marsh-bent, flourish most in moist soils; and soils of an intermediate quality, as to moisture and dryness, will best suit the remainder.

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Annual meadow (poa annua), flowers first week
in May.

Vernal (anthoxanthum odoratum), flowers second
week in May.

Foxtail (alopecurus pratensis), flowers second week
in May.

Soft brome (bromos mollis), flowers third week

in May.

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Smooth