OF SCOTLAND.

271

SECT. VII *.

ON THE EXPENCES OF CULTIVATION.

In treating of this subject, it is necessary to premise, thatthere are two different courses of cropping, generally ap-proved of and adopted on good soils in Scotland ; the onebeing a course of six years, suited to a clay soil; and the othera course of four years, adapted to a dry friable soil, or whatis commonly called turnip-land. Both of these have beenalready explained in the chapter on Arable Land . Severalother courses are followed in particular situations, and muchland is of such a quality as to admit an intermixture of thecrops of both these rotations. But it is thought sufficient toattend to the two former only; as, if the subsequent estimatesare tolerably accurate, it must be easy to apply them, withnecessary modifications, to any other course.

There is not much land in Scotland that can be profitablycultivated for many years, by either of these courses, withoutmore manure than the crops themselves afford. It is there-fore very common to retain a part in pasture for two yearsor more, by which it is so much enriched, as to give largecrops, and to require less manure when brought again intothe rotation. This mode of management, however, does notaffect the tillage courses in any other way; nor does it inter-fere with the expences of the land actually cultivated in anyone year ; as in the following calculations no putrescent ma-nure is supposed to be purchased at any time.

* This section lias been compiled from the communications of several corres-pondents.