Search -
The Modern Husbandman, Or, The Practice of Farming
The Modern Husbandman Or The Practice of Farming 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: Fore-mentioned Farmers are well known, for feveral Miles round about them, to be good Managers, and very expert in the Art of Plowing, Sowing, and in moft other ... more »Branches of the excellent Art of Agriculture ; yet, to my certain Knowledge, they act as ignorantly, in Relpect of giving Ear to any new Improvement, as if they lived in Africa; for I have told fome of them how they might get good Crops of this Grain in their clayey Soils, by fteeping the Seed, but it proved to no more Pur- pofe than Whiftling to the Air ; however, it had another Effeft upon the Gentleman I gave an Account of in laft Month ; one that rented about Three-hundred Acres of Arable and Meadow- ground, moft of which was a ftiff, flat, wettifh, clayey Loam, wherein he feldom, by the common Way of fowing his Barley-feed dry, got a- bove Three-quarters of Barley on each Acre ; but by taking my Advice, and looking flrictly after the Management of Infufing the Seed according to my Nitre-Receipt, he got fix Quarters of Barly off an Acre, as he himfelf declared to me ; a Quantity, as I was informed, never got off fuch a Soil before. So thefe Farmers, I have juft wrote of, may, by the fame Rule, get good Crops of Barly off their red clayey Loams, if they would be perfuaded to Reafon, and take the fame Method this Gentleman did, to fteep their Barley-feed according to my public Receipt; for, by this Means, the Barley would forthwith pufh up its Blades before any dry Weather could have Time to crufh the Surface and fpoil the Crop, which leads me to make my intended Obfervatibns. Of the Benefit of fowing Ear ley-feed late.— This may feem a Paradox to many, but I hope to make it obvious, that there is a Neceffity for fowing Barley - feed fo late as in April, and likewife a Safety in doing the fame to a great Advantage. ...« less