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Vol. I.
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436
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436

ON THE ARABLE LAND

ted to any advantage, and barley, oats, and rye, arc sure toreturn greater profit than wheat. Rye is almost the onlygrain which can be expected to produce any thing like anabundant crop on dry sandy soils; the winter variety canhardly ever be sown in sufficient time after turnips to arriveat full maturity. It may therefore more conveniently succeedgrass, which on such soils ought generally, if possible, to con-tinue for three years. The rotation of six years, therefore,which is best suited for dry sandy soils with winter rye, isas follow's ; 1. Turnips with muck, and consumed on theground; 2. Barley or oats; 3. 4. 5. Grass pastured by sheep;6. Rye or oats. The variety of spring rye may be sownwith advantage in March, or the two first weeks in April,instead of barley or oats, the second year.

There is a species of apparently dry and burning gravel,which frequently occurs in haughs or holms on the sides ofrivulets and rivers, which seems almost entirely devoid of soil,and which yet may often be cultivated to some profit, althoughthe plough and harrows rattle through them as among a bedof mere dry stones. Where such gravelly holms produceweeds with great luxuriance, the farmer may be assured ofprocuring tolerable crops of turnips, grain, and clover, by ju-dicious management., which so nearly approaches to that al-ready mentioned for dry sandy soils, as not to require beinghere repeated. In the cultivation of these, however, the hus-bandman must lay his account to meet occasionally with con-siderable disappointments; as floods often sweep away theproduce entirely, or overwhelm it in a covering of sand orgravel. Lands so situated, might sometimes advantageously beconverted into water meadows.

Soils of this description sometimes occur in more elevatedsituations, entirely free from the danger of floods, where theycan be safely cultivated on the principles already mentioned.In these situations it is customary to gather and remove thesurface stones, especially from the first crop of clover andrye-grass, when that is intended to be mown for hay or soil-