For remarks,&c.

32

with reason, exelaim, For what purposes, can this earth be applied, to make it so very valuable?

First—lt is, like all other putrid vegetables, an excellent fuel.

Secondly— lt has a property, that the peat of no other country has, in the virtues of its ashes; which in Berkshire, and other parts, are used with great success, in dressing young crops, whe- ther of wheat, barley, oats, or turnips.

It is also an excellent improver of grass lands, particularly clover lays, and sainfoin; which shew to an inch where the peat-ash has been bestowed on them. The quantity necessary to dress an acre, is reckoned from 15 to 25 bushels, according to the condi- tion of the land, and which may be bought on the spot, from 274. to 4d. a bushel, according to the strength and goodness of the ash. This cheap and striking improvement, has not been known in Berkshire more than seventy or eighty years. For a long time, like all other new methods, it had to combat the prejudices and obstinacy of many. But it seems now universally approved, and adopted by every cultivator, who lives within a reasonable dis- tance, to procure the same.

There is also another obvious improvement, which, I under-

Sstand, was introduced many years since into Berkshire; but not much attended to, till of late years; viz. the cultivation of sain- foin.

On t!

is chalk, and the surface not naturally inclined to grass, this most

ne downs, and hilly land, where the predominant strata

excellent substitute for meadows, flourishes with vigour. The aid this valuable artificial grass gives the farmer, is abundant; parti- cularly for his flock, that chief support of his arable,

He also gets large crops of hay, from land, which, in its natural state, was almost barren; and proves the good effects that may

arise, from adapting productions congenial with the soil.

OBSERVATIONS.

Watering, and flooding meadows, are so peculiarly well under-

stood, and practised in Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire, that I con-