443
§ 2. In the tillage of rich old pasture, when converted intoarable lands, the only material circumstance to be consideredis, how best to get the sward completely rotted. For this pur-pose, two successive crops of grain have sometimes been taken,more especially when other parts of the farm are in a state ofcomplete exhaustion, by previous overcropping, as the heavycrops to be expected from the newly broken up rich old pas-ture, will enable the farmer to make a sufficient quantity ofmuck for manuring the exhausted parts of his farm, beforelaying them down to pasture for recovering vigour. Thisplan of overcropping, however, ought not to be permitted byproprietors; anti all things being duly considered, the soonersuch land can be fallowed, or wrought for turnips, accordingas its soil happens to be light or heavy, so much the better.The reporter has known even three good crops of grain takensuccessively, and without manure of any kind, on newly bro-ken up rich alluvial soil in the neighbourhood of Hamilton,in Lanarkshire, the land being trenched for the third crop tobring up new soil to the surface. Where rich old pasturehad, from negligence, become overgrown with thistles, theseeds of which were expected to overwhelm a crop of oats,the land has been trench-ploughed, so as to admit drilledbeans as the first crop, to allow of horse and hand hoeing toextirpate the seedling thistles ; and the beans were followedby an excellent crop of wheat. In whatever way such landmay have been brought into tillage, its after managementmust be regulated according to one or other of the precedingrotations, according to the nature of its soil.
§ 3. In laying down tillage land to permanent pasture, thecircumstances that require particular attention are,—that thesoil be previously made perfectly clean by means of fallow orturnips, according to its nature, and that it be made rich bymeans of muck, lime, or marl. The rotations for this pur-pose, have been already sufficiently explained, when treating ofthe several descriptions of soil, and the course of crops adapt-ed for each.