Ellis's Husbandry Author:William Ellis Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: barley in particular is often ftunted in its growth, and dwindles into a fhort, lean, thin crop, on their high, expofed, ridged lands; which at firft was invente... more »d for the fecurity of their growing corn againfl overflowing waters. In the vale of Aylejbury and many others, their ground for the moft pan lies in ridge half acre, and whole acre lands, which are never ploughed acrofs, but kept up to their ftinted breadth, length, and height, according as they lie wetter or drier: and, as their foil is generally a bluifh clay, or ftiff black loam, nothing better anfwers their purpofe than wheat and horfe- beans. But as all ground naturally affects change, of late many have fown a tilth crop of barley, where wheat and beans have been before, and found it fucceed to their wifh. Peafe they fcldom fow, becaufe this rich earth is very likely to caufe them to run into ftraw, and too little into corn. CHAP. II. OF GRAVELS. GRAVELS. This earth has variety of natures according as they feverally abound with diverfities of earths, or ftones. There are the (harp or ftony gravels, loamy gravels, clay gravels,gravels, fandy gravels. On all which I fhall diftinctly make my remarks, as they have occurred to my knowledge ; having all but the fandy fort more or lefs in my own fields. Sharp Gravels. This earth is compofed of fmall, marp ftones,' mixed with fome mould, which is better or worfe, as the fame is in a lefs or greater pro portion: if more ftone than mould, then it tt fb much the worfe, becaufe the foil is fo much; the loofer; if almoft all ftones, as fome is, it is fo much the worfe ftill, as fome is near the top of Dunftable Downs, and in many other places in this county, not worth above i f. Op 2j. 6d. an acre; becaufe the water runs fa fwiftly through them, that it wafhes...« less