A treatise on agriculture and rural affairs

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THIS BOOK MUST NOT BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY BUILDING.

Preface

i HE following Treatise on Agriculture and Rural Affairs is presented to the Public with considerable diffidence, the author being well aware how difficult it was to bring forward any thing new, or worthy of attention, upon subjects already investigated and discussed by so many writers. The substance of the Treatise having, however, been originally published in that popular work, the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, where it met with a favourable reception, the Author was induced, by the Publishers of that Work, to revise what was there given under the head of Agriculture, and to enlarge -several of the Chapters

Xii PREFACE.

and Sections, so as the whole might appear somewhat in a regular shape. Of the many errors fallen into when executing that task no person can be more sensible than the Author himself ; though he humbly hopes that few of these errors are of such a nature as to mar the sense materially, or prevent the meaning of what is stated from being sufficiently understood. If he is mistaken in these points ; if he is arraigned at the bar of the public tribunal, and condemned by those who sit in judgment upon literary under-* takings for having executed the Work imperfectly, he must of course submit to such censure as may be bestowed. But^ should the opinion of practical agriculturists be in his favour ; should the principles upon which the Work is written meet with their approbation ; and, above all, should the practical details be countenanced and supported by those m.ost capable of determining upon their merits, the ^Author will pay little

PREFACE. xiii

attention either- to the scoffs or calumnies pf persons of a different description.

The reader is desired to attend, that where the word acre is used without any explanation, the Scotch acre, which is above one-fifth larger than the English acre, is always meant. Likewise, that 16 lbs. avoirdupois is to be understood as the contents of a stone weight, except when the term applies to the produce of land in Scotland, as more particularly described in the section upon weights and measures. With regard to measures of capacity, it is enough to say, that the Linlithgow boll of wheat and peas is a trifle larger than four Winchester bushels 5 and that the Linlithgow boll of oats and barley contains nearly six and one-fourth bushels of Winchester measure.

C ONTE NTS

OF

VOLUME FIRST.

Page Jntuoduction, - - J

History of Agriculture, - - - g

CHAP. II. Sect. 1. On Soils, • - »- "17

SECT. 11.

©n the Uses to which each Soil may be most advantageously applied, - - _ pg

CHAP. III. Of the System of Farming practised in Great Britain, 123

SECT. 1.

On the Ancient State of Farming in Great BritUin, ib.

SECT. n.

Causes of the Superiority of British Farmiii:i, i2S

Xn CONTENTS*

Page.

SECT. 111.

On the Size of Famis, ... 141

SECT. IV.

On Hiring or Renting a Farm, - - 145

SECT. V.

On the Occupation of the Soil, - - 15^

Chap. IV

On the System of Connexion betwixt Proprietor* and Tenants in Great Britain,. - - 157

SECT. 1.

On Leases, - - - 15S

SECT. II.

On Covenants in Leases which restrict, and interfere with, the Tenants Operations, - - 176

SECT. III.

On the Rent of I^nd, or the Considerations given by the Occupier for the Land in his Possession, 182

CHAP. V. On Tillage, - - . • 186

SECT, I.

Obstructions to Tillage, - • 188

SECT. II.

Ou the Utility of Summer Jallow, - 19©

CONTENTS^ 9CVU

Page.

CHAP. VI. On the Ijnplements of Husbandry, - 221

SECT. I.

Dimensions of the Rotherham Plough, - 258

On harrows, - - -2/4

SECT. Ill

On Rollers, - - - '277

SECT, IV.

On Wheel Carriages used in Husbandry, - 28 !

SECT. V.

On Drilling Machines, ~ - £S^

SECT. VI.

Of a Machine for Reaping Corn, - - 307

A Description and Calculation of a Thrashing Machine erected at Chillingham, ~ - ^ 343

SECT. VII.

Of Thrashing Machines, - - 314

Vofc. I. * , xvni

COMTEJ^TS.

SECT. nil.

Of Fanners,

-

SECT. IS.

Horse Rake,

-

CHAP. VU.

On Manures,

-

SECT. I.

On the Management of Dung,

SECT. II.

Of Compost Middens, -

SECT. Ill,

Of timr.

-

SECT. IV.

-

SECT. y.

On Sea-Weed,

or Alga Marina,

Page. 356

44$

SECT. vr.

On Purinv nnd Burning the Surface, and using the Asbes 1 . r^Ki-uie, - ■■ 45S

CONTENTS. IDM

CHAP. Via

On the Management of Arable Land, and the Husbandry best adapted to the difliereni Soils, A59

4Sl

SECT. I.

Ofi the Rotation of

Crops,

Rotation,

-

-

-

No 4.

-

-

M '

-

-

No 9

- i:(X

TREATISE

ON

RURAL AFFAIRS,

Introduction

Agriculture claims a pre-eminence above manufactures and commerce, from its seniority and superior usefulness ; and, to use an expression of the celebrated Sully, may be regarded as one of the breasts from which the state derives its support and nourishment. Manufactures and commerce originally owed their existence to agriculture ; and the people employed in carrying them on are constantly fed by those engaged in the parent art. Agriculture, therefore, may be considered as of the first importance to mankind ; because their temporal welfare and prosperity depend upon receiving a regular and suffi- Vol. I. A

2 INTRODUCTION.

cient supply of the various articles cultivated by the agriculturist. '

In an age like the present, when the utility of agriculture is so fully recognised, it is unnecessary to insist at any length upon the advantages enjoyed by every nation, in which that art is sufficiently understood, and skilfully practised* The tenitory, possessed by any people, is the original property, or capital stock, from which they are supplied, not only with the necessaries, but also with the comforts of life ; and in direct proportion as their territory is improved, their prosperity will be advanced. It is from the surface of the earth, that timber, cordage, and sails are procured for our navy j and that flax and wool, hydes and tallow, madder and other dye-stuffsy are obtained for home and foreign consumption. If we penetrate into the interior parts of the earth, we find either Hmestone, marl, or other substances for invigorating the surface, and rendering it constantly prolific. It is Hkewise from the bowels of the earth, that copper, lead, tin, iron, and coals, are procured, and employment given to another part of the community. But the remark, which of all others deserves attention^

INTRODUCTION. S

Is; that it is only by cultivating the soil, and raising as large a store of provisions as possible, that labourers, manufacturers, and artisans, can live comfortably, or proceed with spirit in their several occupationsi

The utility of agriculture will appear front the following considerations :— -In the first place, where agriculture is neglected, population must be scanty, because the necessaries of life are wanting ; and the great body of the people must be miserable, because regular employment cannot be furnished to them. Perhaps at no period has husbandry been more perfectly cultivated in Great Britain, than at the present; hence the lower ranks are better paid, better fed, better clothed, and in every respect more comfort^ly situate^ than in former times. To ten-itorial improvement may also be attributed the increased and increasing strength of the British empire, and the capabihty of sustaining burdens, which, not twenty years ago, would have ruined every description of its inhabitants. But, by the extension of agricultural improvement, by the meliotations made on the capital stock of the country, the numbers of the people have increased, manvi^ As

4 INTRODUCTION.

factures have prospered, and both inland and foreign commerce have been carried on with vigour and success.

In the second place, were not agriculture carried on as a separate trade, and a quantity of provisions thereby raised, which exceeded the wants of agriculturists, not only would every other art be at a stand, but every science, and every kind of mental improvement, would be neglected. In the first stages of civilization, the labour of each individual is barely sufficient to procure a scanty and precarious subsistence for himself; and circumstances so adverse, not only form a bar to the introduction of other arts, but also chill and render torpid every faculty of the human mind. When these faculties are blunted by the cravings of nature, or wasted by the exercise of corporeal employment, man discovers few of those rational powers, by which he is distinguished in the more advanced stages of society. It is only in situations, where the means of subsistence are ample, where the labour of a certain part of the community is sufficient to provide the necessaries of life for the whole, and where a considerable proportion of the remaining population are placed beyond the necessity of manual la-

INTRODUCTION. 5

bour to procure these necessaries, that the powers of the mind develope themselves, and shew what man is really capable of performing. Hence, since the art of agriculture came to be so well understood, and subsistence, of course, to be secured to mankind, without the necessity of bodily labour from all, the mind of man has expanded, other arts and sciences have been successfully cultivated, and man, from being not much above the irrational animals, now fills a dignified place in the scale of created beings.

We think it unnecessary to offer any apology for the plan adopted in this Treatise, and for having deviated from the path generally followed by those who have preceded us in similar undertakings. It has been our object, as much as possible, to treat the different subjects before us rather in a practical than a theoretical manner, and to avoid all discussion that did not tend to promote some useful purpose. Perhaps we have insisted at greater length upon the moral excitements to improvement, than by some may be thought necessary ; but a firm conviction of the importance of such excitements induced us to

illustrate them as fully as possible. A3

HISTORY

OF

AGRICULTURE.

Though Agriculture may be considered as of great antiquity, and in some respects as coeval with the first formation 6f society, yet materials are wanting, from which a progressive history of the art can be composed. It is probable, however, that mankind, in the early ages, derived their subsistence from hunting In the forests, and fishing in the rivers, and from the milk and flesh of such domestic animals as they possessed ; but how long they continued in this situation, it is impossible to conjecture. From the sacred writings, however, we learn that hus?

D. H. HILL UBRARY North Carolina State College

AGRICULTURE.

bandry was understood by Noah, who of course taught it to his sons, by whom it is Hkely the art was spread over the world. The history of the ancient Egyptians informs us, that they were well acquainted with agriculture ; and pei-haps the people of Italy, under the. Roman government, understood all the branches of husbandly much better, and practised them more successfully, than the present inhabitants of that country. There is sufficient authority for maintaining, that an enlightened system of rural economy was prevalent during the Augustan age, and perhaps long before ; indeed the Georgics of Virgil, and other productions of the Roman authors, shew, that husbandry was not only well understood by the Romans, but correctly and successfully practised.

In Britain, at the period of the Roman invasion, there is reason to presume, that husbandry was hardly known, except in the southern districts ; and that, even in these, it was very imperfectly executed. But whatever might be the situation of Britain when invaded by the Romans, it is certain, that the husbandry of the island, from the Lands- End to the Firth of Forth, was greatly improved

A4 by the Roman soldiers ; and that all the grains, now cultivated, were then raised to a considerable extent. In support of this assertion, could the smallest doubt be entertained of its truth, we might refer to the immense quantities of grain exported from Britain when in possession of the Romans, and the obvious marks of improvement left by that celebrated people when they quitted the island. The Roman conquests, instead of desolating the earth, as has often been the case in similar instances, insured the improvement of every country that was subdued ; and the soldiers of that nation, being drawn from the plough, spread a knowledge of husbandry through every country which came under their dominion. To benefit mankind, and increase their comfort and happiness, seemed to be the invariable wishes of the Roman commanders. They seldom or never burned or laid \vaste the country which they conquered, but rather strained every nerve to civilise the inhabitants, and to introduce the arts necessary for promoting their comfort and happiness. To facilitate communication from one district and town to another, seems to have been a primary object with the Romans ; and many works of this kind, accomplished by them, are still discernible in numerous places. By thus employing their troops, when not engaged in more active service, the Ron^au commanders had greatly the advantage over our modern generals. Instead of suffering their soldiers to loiter in camps, or riot in towns, thus enervating their strength and relax*, ing their morals, the Roman commanders kept them regularly at work, and, what was still better, at work on objects highly beneficial to the interests of those whom they subjugated.

When the Romans finally withdrew from Bn< tain, the country southward of the Firth of Forthhad attained a considerable degree of cultivation and improvement ; but it does not appear, that the inhabitants had acquired much of the martial spirit of their former masters and instructors. The further progress of improvement, however, was soon obstructed, particularly in the districts between the two walls, by the ravages of the northern tribes, known, at that time, under the names of the Maastas and the Caledonians. These fierce plunderers prevailed so far over the unhappy Britons, as to induce that enervated people to invite the Saxons to their assistance, who, in their turn, became masters of the greatest part of the island. Excepting Wales, and the western part of Scotland, then known under the name of Strath Cliiyid, the whole island, south of the Firth of Forth, continued in the possession of the Saxons for several centuries.

But the state of South Britain was not completely settled till the Norman invasion, when customs and habits were introduced, which, to this day, remain too firmly established, to be removed without the special interposition of the legislature. To his Norman barons, William the Gonquerer assigned great estates almost in every county, as a reward of their services ; and these grants were afterwards enlarged, when forfeitures occurred from the rebellion of the old Saxon possessors. The estates so bestowed were, by the great barons, or officers, in some measure divided among their retainers, or dependents, under the burden of military service ; and in this way feudal tenure was introduced, and formed into a regular system.

The Saxon governme^it was favourable to internal improvement, or rather it continued the system introduced by the Romans j but the Norman conquest, by introducing the feudal system, checked the progress of cultivation, and contributed to the decline of husbandry. From the Conquest to the days of Henry VIII. the practice of agriculture received little improvement ; and as for theoretical, or scientific knowledge, there is not the slightest vestige of any being acquired, or even sought after, during the long period of five centuries. To the haughty feudal baron, who Teigned in a castle, and was provided with an abundant supply of the necessaries of life from fais extensive domains, the improvement of the country was a trifling object ; and as his dependents held by military tenure, they considered husbandry as unworthy of their notice. Hence agriculture was. carried on only by the lowest of the people, and, in such hands, the art necessarily declined. The unhappy wars between the houses of York and Lancaster gave husbandry also a severe shock, one half of the country being desolated and laid waste by the contending factions.

Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, one of the judges in !the court of common pleas, is the first person en record who attempted to enlighten Englisl^ husbandmen, by writing on the art of agriculture* In 1534, he published a treatise called The Book of Husbandry y and another in 1539, entitled. The Book of Sunej/ing and Improvement, The Book of Husbandry contains minute directions for ploughing, managing, and cropping land, together with a full account of the diseases which affect horses and other animals, and the method of curing them. The Book of Surveying relates to castles, woods, parks, mills, and other branches of property ; and also contains numerous advices concerning the best way of improving arable land.

Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, laying it down as a primary principle, that the majority of husbandmen live by the plough, describes the several implements generally used in his time for tilling the ground. He then points out the other articles that belong to a team of horses; and, when speaking of carts and waggons, very properly recommends that the wheels on which they are mounted should be shoed or bound about with iron ; whence it may be inferred, that wheels altogether composed of wood were at that time commonly used. It would appear, that husband*- men, in Fitzherbert*s days, combined a knowledge of every profession ; for among the appendages of a plough, we find an axe, hatchet, hedge-bill, auger, flail, spade, and shovel, particularly enumerated. It is also recommended, that young husbandmen should learn to make their yokes, oxbows, stools, and all manner of plough geare, lest the purchase of these articles should be too costly for them. Fitzherbert seems to have preferred oxen above horses in executing rural labour, though he frankly admits that horses will go faster than oxen on even and light ground, and that they are quicker for all sorts of carriage work.

An hundred years, however, elapsed, after the publication of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert's bock, before any thing further appeared really deserving the attention of husbandmen. During the commonwealth, a period favourable to genius and enterprise, and when numbers of persons appeared upon the stage, whose names would never have been heard of had not a change of government occurred, Walter Blythe, Gabriel Plattes, and other enlightened men, illustrated the art of husbandry in the most satisfactory

14 HISTORY or

manner. Blythe's writings, in particular, contain a great deal of sound sense, and not badly expressed, on almost every branch of husbandry. The first part of his Improver Iniprcrced, published 16'52, contains what he calls six pieces of improvement : ] . On floating and watering land ; 2. On draining fen and boggy land, and regain-* ing land from the sea ; 3. On such inclosures as prevent depopulation, and advance all interests } 4. On tillage of land kept too long in grass ; and pasturing others destroyed with ploughing ; 3, Discovery of all soils and composts, with their nature and use ;. 6. On doubling the growth of wood by new plantations.— The second part contains six newer pieces of improvement : 1 . On the husbandry of clover and St Foyn ; 2. On lessening the charge and burthen of the plough,- with divers figures thereof ; 3. On planting wild woad and madder ; 4. On planting hops, saffron, and liquorice ; 5. On planting of rape^ coleseed, hemp, and flax, and the profit thereof; 6. On the great advance of land by divers orchard and garden fruits. Bating the dedication tc my Lord Protector, and other public bodies, the whole of the Improver Improved (now become a scarce book) might be reprinted with manife«r advantage. Blythe*s principles, which are verycorrect, may be ascertained by perusing the first chapter of his Fourth Piece of Improvement, wherein he directs how to plough and crop old pasture land.

In this chapter, Mr Blythe shews, in forcible terms, the immense benefit which would accrue to the country from breaking up old pasture lands, and proves, in a satisfactory manner, that constant pasturage is highly detrimental to the interest of proprietors and occupiers. His sentiments are correct, and very applicable to the rural system of many English counties at the present day. They apply, in fact, to the husbandry of all the midland counties, and, generally speaking, to the whole of England, the counties of Northumberland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent excepted. In the last mentioned counties, old pastures, except in situations opposite to the houses of gentlemen, are not numerous, though alternate husbandry, or changing from grass to corn, and vice versa, is not regularly followed.

Blythe seems to have entertained just views of the benefits accompanying alternate husbandry.

as he demonstrates, in strong language, the numerous advantages of such a system. In fact, all sour, rushy, or clay soils, should be frequently broken up by the plough, and exposed to atmospherical influence. Grasses upon such soils thrive best at first, and gradually fall off in after seasons. To keep soils of these descriptions constantly in grass, is therefore detrimental to the public interest, because produce of every kind is thereby greatly lessened. Were such fields renovated by tillage, and, after being cropped five or six years, sown down with grass seeds, along with the crop of grain succeeding a summer fallow, incalculable damages would follow both to the public and individuals.

On the other hand, Mr Blythe appears to have possessed an accurate notion of the evils flowing from over ploughing, or, in other words, from keeping land constantly under tillage, a system too prevalent, even now, in many English counties. In his time, as well as at present, a very large portion of English soil was regularly subjected to the plough, and of course worn out and exhausted by constant tillage. A system of this nature has prevailed upon the open and common lands of England since the days of William the Conqueror, and must remain in force till some strong measure is adopted by the legislature of the country capable of putting an end to it. In short, the losses sustained from constant pasturage, of a great part of the soil, and constant tillage of the remainder, are as correctly ascertained and described by Blythe as by any of our modern, and, apparently, more enlightened writers.

After the Restoration, various improvements were brought to England by the refugees, who had resided on the continent during the government of the commonwealth. It has been generally understood, that Sir Richard Weston, one of these refugees, introduced clover ; but it is certain that this valuable variety of grass was sown in England before that period ; for Blythe treats both of it and St Foyn in a systematic manner. It is more likely that turnips were then first cultivated ; because Blythe does not say a single word concerning this valuable esculent, the introduction of which occasioned almost a total change in the English agricultural system in so far as related to the management of light soils. Vol. I. B

Before clover and turnips were cultivated on a great scale, the husbandry of Britain was necessarily imperfect. The scourging crops much exceeded the meliorating ones ; of course the produce of the ground was considerably inferior in quantity to what it is now, whilst a great loss was sustained by the public from not receiving through the whole year a regular supply of butcher meat, with which they are now fortunately provided. Another disadvantage, accompanying the old system, was, that Hght soils could rarely be cleaned without suffering them to remain unproductive for a year, when under summer fallow ; whereas, since turnips were introduced, these soils are much more effectually cleaned than formerly, whilst a valuable crop is obtained in the same year. Summer fallow has long been extensively practised in England, and at this day perhaps more so than necessary, especially upon common field land, as will be more particularly noticed in another place. With all fields held in severalty, the introduction of clover and turnips proved of singular advantage, not only "in a private, but also in a public point of view. A judicious rotation of cropping can thereby be exercised, and one culmiferous crop heed not follow another, which could not formerly be avoided ; whilst the culture of leguminous crops enriches the soil, increases the stock of manure for rendering it productive, and furnishes the means of supplying *he markets with fat cattle and sheep through every month of the year.

The improvement of the English rural system was in some degree promoted by the exertions of Jethro Tull, an inventive genius, who possessed more imagination than solid sense to direct it. By him the drilHng or row system of husbandry was brought into practice ; and so eager was he in its support, as to neglect the impracticability of executing it in numberless situations. But the strongest proof, that the imagination of Tull was more brilliant than his judgement was profound, may be gathered from his hostility to manures, and from his substituting additional tillage in their place. The doctrines of Tull, however, like those of every plausible theorist, were adopted by several people ; and, to a certain extent, are even fashionable at this day. The utility, nay, the necessity of manures, is now acknowledged by all persons; but his plan of drilling every B 2 kind of grain continues to be supported, though it is demonstrable that this mode of sowing is chiefly applicable to leguminous crops ; and only in a few soils and situations practicable with culmiferous ones.

The plan of cultivating the fields in the regular manner followed in garden husbandry, is no doubt very desirable, did circumstances suffer it to be executed ; but we are apprehensive that physical impediments are in the way of such a plan, not easily to be removed. These shall be noticed in the section where Drill-Husbandry is treated of.

Little further alteration in the rural economy of England occurred, except in the superior attention bestowed on live-stock, by Mr BakewelL and others, till the establishment of the national Board of Agriculture, under the auspices of Sir John Sinclair, Baronet, when a general desire seized all ranks to promote internal improvements. Hartlib, a century and a half before, and Lord Karnes, in his Gentleman Farmer, had pointed out the utility of such an establishment ; but it was left to Sir John Sinclair to carry it into

AGRICULTURE. gl

execution. To the unwearied endeavours of Sir John are the public indebted for this admirable institution, which has certainly done much good, and may still do a great deal more. Two advantages, among many, may be mentioned : 1st, A great number of new men were brought forward by the Board, whose names the public would probably otherwise never have heard of ; and these being chiefly practical people, professionally concerned in farm -management, agriculture, by their endeavours, was rescued from the hands of theorists, and a revolution of no small extent accomplished in rural affairs : 2dly, Before the Board was instituted, the bond of connection betwixt agriculturists was slender, and served few useful purposes. Each trusted to his own information, and knew little more about the practices of conterminous districts, than of those of China or the most distant countries. The establishment of the Board removed at once all these evils and difficulties. A common fortress, erected for the benefit of all agriculturists, and to which each might resort for advice and protection, was immediately recognised. Farmers, who resided in the most distant quarters of the kingdom were made acquainted with one another j and, by the B 3

22 HISTORY OP

publications of the Board, a rapid dissemination of knowledge took place nmongst the whole profession. The art of agriculture was brought into fashion ; old practices were amended ; new ones introduced ; and a degree of exertion manifested, which had never before been exemplified in this island.

The numerous agricultural silrveys. executed under the authority of the Board, were also of singular advanrage, as they brought to light the practice of every county ; and, while they pointed oul the obstacles which lay in the way of improvement, the most effectual methods of removing them were likewise explained and elucidated. The very coUision of argument occasioned by such discussions, incited agriculturists to investigate the principles of the art which they professed, and induced them to search after new channels of improvement.

That the first measure adopted by the Board, viz a general survey ol the whole island, was a useful one, has been acknouk g;d by every person; but doubts hc.AC been entertained by many, con- Ct:rjng ihr. a:!h;y ox sevtjal subsequent n.casures, wnich UtsciVes scmt consideration, it has been urged, and with some degree of truth, that the endeavours of a public Board should be limited to objects which exceed the powers of an individual to accomplish ; and that a Board, composed of materials like the present one, ought never to interfere with the minutiae or practice of farming, but leave these matters entirely to the management or direction of those by whom the art is exercised. Under these impressions, it has been stated, that the Board were discharging their duty, when they recommended to Parliament a division of common field and waste land j aJid, in like manner, that their efforts would constantly be of advantage, when directed to a removal of every obstruction to improvement which required legislative interference. A recommendation from a public board carries a weight with it, insuring a degree of success not to be obtained by the petition or complaint of one or two individuals. Hence the propriety of originating, atthe Board of Agriculture, all laws and regulations influencing or operating upon rural economy seems apparent, because the members of such a Board may reasonably be supposed to possess a degree of knowledge in rural science, rendering