"This," Said He, "Is Altogether The Fruit Of My Own Contrivance; I
Purchased Some Years Ago The Privilege Of A
Small spring, about a
mile and a half from hence, which at a considerable expense I have
brought to this
Reservoir; therein I throw old lime, ashes, horse-
dung, etc., and twice a week I let it run, thus impregnated; I
regularly spread on this ground in the fall, old hay, straw, and
whatever damaged fodder I have about my barn. By these simple means
I mow, one year with another, fifty-three hundreds of excellent hay
per acre, from a soil, which scarcely produced five-fingers [a small
plant resembling strawberries] some years before." This is, Sir, a
miracle in husbandry; happy the country which is cultivated by a
society of men, whose application and taste lead them to prosecute
and accomplish useful works. "I am not the only person who do these
things," he said, "wherever water can be had it is always turned to
that important use; wherever a farmer can water his meadows, the
greatest crops of the best hay and excellent after-grass, are the
sure rewards of his labours. With the banks of my meadow ditches, I
have greatly enriched my upland fields, those which I intend to rest
for a few years, I constantly sow with red clover, which is the
greatest meliorator of our lands. For three years after, they yield
abundant pasture; when I want to break up my clover fields, I give
them a good coat of mud, which hath been exposed to the severities
of three or four of our winters.
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Words from 65335 to 65606
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