The Inner Kaimrig field of twenty five acres of very poor soil at an elevation of about 750 feet has afforded one of the most useful and instructive lessons in grass growing on the Clifton Park System. Full particulars of the cropping of this field and its successful results are given in Chapter 3, to which the reader is referred.

Outer Kaimrig Experiment

The experiment with the Outer Kaimrig field began in 1890, and the particulars are given in Chapter 3. The mixture used in 1899 was:

xx	lb.	xx	lb.
Cocksfoot	10	White Clover	2
Tall Fescue	5	Alsike Clover	2
Tall Oat-like Grass	5	Chicory	4
Hard Fescue	2	Burnet	8
Crested Dogstail	1	Kidney Vetch	3
Golden Oat Grass	1	Yarrow	1
Rough-stalked Meadow Grass	1	Sheep's Parsley	1
Late-flowering Red Clover	2	Field Parsnip	1
49 lb. per acre
Note. It may be remarked here that there are several species of grasses and other deep-rooting forage plants that are well suited for mixtures laid down on my system, but that are not generally used by me, and correspondents have asked me why I do not use them. The species I refer to are especially Meadow Foxtail, Meadow Fescue, and Timothy grasses, Lucerne and Sainfoin. On soils, that are suitable for them these are most valuable, but on light dry Cheviot hill land the three grasses named suffer from drought, while the Lucerne and Sainfain, so valuable on the chalk soils of England, do not succeed with me.

The parsnip was put down as an experiment, but I have since formed the opinion that chicory is the more suitable plant, and is superior to the parsnip. The pasture -- the seeds for which were sown 8th May 1899, with oats, which proved a good crop -- has given much satisfaction, and kept the following stock in 1900: from April 27th to June 13th, 60 half-bred ewes and twin lambs; from June 13th to July 27th, 80 ewes and twin lambs; from July 30th to August 21st, 180 lambs; from August 21st to September 1st, 100 ewes; from October 5th to November 10th, 60 ewes. The ewes and twin lambs 'were increased from 60 to 80, as 60 ewes and their double lambs proved quite insufficient to keep the grass down. The field latterly could have kept much more stock, but has been lightly grazed towards the end of the season, as it is first year's grass. I regard this field as an interesting proof of what may be done with the vast areas of run-out and poor lands in these islands. The field is the most outlying one on the farm; it is extremely exposed, and has no plantation or hedge to protect it; its elevation is from about 700 feet at the foot of the field to 800 at the top. It had been taken out of the hill about seventy years ago, and worked on the five-course shift, and has never been manured since, with the exception of some artificials with the turnips, and the manure (a most important exception, I admit, if we consider all its effects) of a good turf grown with deep-rooting grasses and plants. Those who have not seen the field cannot believe in the amount of stock it has carried, but the explanation simply is that, if you grow a full supply of the most deep-rooting plants, you tap depths quite out of the reach of the shallow-rooting ryegrass, and certainly add about 30 per cent to the available rootage area of the field; the large supply of plants of rapidly productive powers does the rest.

Bank Field Experiment

The Bank field consists of twenty-seven acres, rather more than half of which is poor, stony, and exposed, and in some parts very steep land. The remainder consists of, fair medium soil for that part of the country. For the last nineteen years twenty-four acres of the field have never been manured, excepting with the artificials used with the turnips. The remaining three acres have once -- some years ago -- had some farmyard manure, and the seed mixture used in 1900 was:

xx	lb.	xx	lb.
Cocksfoot	14	Alsike Clover	1
Tall Fescue	7	Yarrow	1
Tall Oat-Eke Grass	7	Burnet	8
Rough-stalked Meadow Grass	1	Kidney Vetch	3
Late-flowering Red Clover	2	Chicory	3
White Clover	2	xx	xx
Total, 49 lb. per acre

This mixture, I think, is an improvement on former mixtures, as, at about the same cost, there is supplied a larger quantity of the most hardy, drought-resisting, early, and productive grasses. It is a safe mixture, because the seeds of the large grasses are much less liable to fail than those of the smaller ones, and it is calculated to leave a greater quantity of vegetable matter for the succeeding crops. (As an alternative mixture to that sown on the Bank field in 1900, I approve of the following mixture suggested by Mr. Hunter, as suitable for laying down good soils at a moderate elevation on my system, and I have myself used it successfully on such soil on another part of this estate. This mixture contains, in addition to the kinds used in the Bank field, Meadow Fescue, Meadow Foxtail, and Timothy grasses, all valuable on good low-lying moist and rich soils: Cocksfoot, 8; Tall Fescue, 4; Meadow Fescue, 6; Meadow Foxtail, 4; Tall Oat-like Grass, 4; Timothy, 3; Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, 1; Late-flowering Red Clover, 2; White Clover, 2; Alsike Clover, 1; Yarrow, 1; Burnet, 8; Kidney Vetch, 3; Chicory, 3; Total, 50 lb. per acre.)

Later observation of the suitability of the golden oat grass to this description of soil has suggested the addition of 1/2 lb. or 1 lb. per acre. After the first ploughing of the grass and our usual rotation of cereal and turnip crops, it has been found that the fineness of the tilth then permits the use of a smaller quantity of seeds than used in 1900 for the Bank field; consequently, the Inner Kaimrig and Harewells fields were laid down in 1903 with only 10 lb. cocksfoot, 5 lb. tall fescue, and 5 lb. tall oat grass, together with the other seeds used in the Bank field mixture, and thus far the results are entirely satisfactory. Farmers, I observe, have a prejudice against grasses which, like cocksfoot and tall fescue, may become coarse, but such grasses are either fine or coarse, as the farmer is intelligent or uninformed. The intelligent farmer sows plenty of the seeds, and grazes the grasses so that they may be kept in a constant succession of young leaves; the uninformed farmer puts down a small quantity of the seeds, with the result that each plant grows like a bulrush, whereas by crowding the plants each one becomes small and fine. We have a pasture of about four acres at the head of Bowmontside field, which was laid down in 1887 with the intention of its being taken up again with the rest of the field, but it was fenced off and left in permanent pasture, as the land was so steep. The mixture consisted of:

xx	lb.	xx	lb.
Cocksfoot	16	Perennial Red Clover	2
Perennial Ryegrass	4	White Clover	4
Hard Fescue	2	Alsike	3

This pasture has done well, and always remained fine, and even when let up to a considerable extent, so that part of the pasture was a mass of cocksfoot heads, the grass and flowering stems were not coarse.

Returning to the Bank field experiment. As our previous hay crops had been very heavy -- sometimes about three tons an acre -- I adopted the following treatment in order to lessen the hay crop, and so favour the subsequent pasture. After harvest, and rolling the field, it was stocked for five weeks with four hogs an acre and eleven calves for the entire field, and from the first week in April to May 20th with never less than two ewes and twin lambs per acre, and often three ewes and twins. The field was then shut up for hay, which is estimated at about two tons an acre, and would have been certainly much more had it not been for a drought so severe that sheep absolutely refused to go up to the top of one of our hills, while the tails of the peacocks have fallen out far earlier than usual. In the hay there is very little chicory, and hardly any seeding stems, and, as the chicory is composed almost entirely of young leaves, it is thought that it will not cause the hay to be dusty, which is the great evil arising from fully developed chicory when used for hay. The produce from the coarse grasses is as fine as could possibly be desired. In the judgement of a visitor, whose opinion is to be valued, it would be impossible to produce a finer sample of hay. With the exception of about three acres, only once manured with dung about six years ago, the field has never been manured since 1887, in the ordinary sense of the word; and yet, from the colour and luxuriance of the clover and kidney vetch, the agriculturists who saw the field thought it had been dressed with nitrates -- and so it had been most fully from the atmosphere. The fact is that with our system no manure is required over and above that supplied by a deeply rooted turf, the nitrogen collected from the atmosphere by our abundant clover and kidney vetch, and the artificials used with the turnip crops; and this has now been amply proved by stock and crops all along the line. In the case of last year's (1901) drought, when there was such a general failure of grass, and especially of clover, the Bank field had a most luxuriant appearance all the season through, and the results clearly prove that, with the aid of the new farming system, the farmer may regard the worst drought with absolute indifference. From 1st October 1900 to 1st October 1901 the value of grazing and hay obtained was estimated by us at £7 3s. an acre. Our estimate has been referred to a tenant-farmer, who is employed as a valuator, and his estimate comes to rather more -- £7 7s. 6d. an acre.

From 2nd October, 1901 to Ist October 1902 the field has been stocked as appended, and I purposely allowed it to be so much later in the autumn and winter than was judicious in order to see how the new mixture would stand the roughest treatment; and the effect of this, as might have been anticipated, has been a decline of the clover, though this seems to be recovering, and there is now an abundant feed of grass in the field, which is still stocked with sixty ewes. The list of the stock is as follows:

From 1 st October 1901 to 31 st December 1901 four ewes per acre with the assistance of one cartload of either cabbages or turnips per day for the field.

From 15th March to 24th May 1902 three ewes and single lambs per acre, with the assistance of two cartloads of turnips per day for the field.

From May 24th to 28th July 1902 two and a half ewes and single lambs per acre.

From July 28th to 1st October 1902 three ewes per acre.

From May 1st to 10th June 1902 five cattle.

From June 13th to 4th September 1902 two horses.

This field, sown in 1900, according to my eight-course rotation system, ought to have been ploughed up three years ago, but has been retained in grass partly because it has grazed so well, partly because visitors asked to see the Bank field, partly because it was the first mixture of the kind ever used, and partly because I wished to see by analysis (vide Dr. Voelcker's reports, Appendix 4) whether the fertility of the soil was increasing or diminishing. Its grazing value is still (1907) so great that it has been decided to leave it in grass for another year.

Experiments in Alghope Field

This field was laid down with a crop of barley in 1884 by the new tenant, the mixture consisting of ryegrass and clover, with a very small quantity of cocksfoot. In 1896, or twelve years later, about sixteen acres of the central portion of the field was ploughed, and the turf laid over as flat as possible. In 1897 it was sown with rape, which was eaten off by sheep. In 1898 it was sown with oats (which proved to be a fair crop), and:

xx	lb.	xx	lb.
Cocksfoot	14	Yarrow	1
Tall Oat Grass	4	Sheep's Parsley	1
Hard Fescue	2	White Clover	2
Crested Dogstail	1	Late-flowering Red Clover	2
Burnet	8	Alsike Clover	1
Chicory	3	xx
Total, 39 lb. per acre

After the first ploughing the reversed turf was not stirred, but the ground merely harrowed. In 1899, in consequence of the fence having been taken down between the experimental portion and the northern portion of the field, which had been laid down to grass after a course of cropping, the stock neglected the former, and hence the wild grasses in the reversed turf got too much ahead, and injured the newly sown grasses; and this, of course, interfered with the experiment. In 1900, however, the newly sown grasses showed much better, and the stock distributed itself evenly over both portions of the field, and the experimental portion has much improved. In 1901 the field is to be entirely grazed with cattle till the autumn, or until the grasses have shed their seeds. So far as we can see, the field seems to show that by simply reversing the turf of an old pasture it may be cheaply laid down with superior grasses at a very moderate expense, as, after ploughing once, nothing further is required except harrowing and rolling. It is, of course, essential that tall strong grasses like cocksfoot, tall fescue, and tall oat grass should be freely used, as these will overcome the grasses and weeds existing in old pasture to a very great extent, if not entirely, though the latter is a point that remains to be proved. I omitted tall fescue in this experiment in order to lessen the cost of seed.

It was very noticeable how superior the end rig of the experiment was to the rest of the field, and this evidently arose from more seed having fallen there (from the sowing machine slowing). This confirms, of course, what is well known, that the rougher the ground the more is the seed required. It yet remains to be proved whether, in such cases, it will pay better to put down more seed, or rely on the difference being made up by allowing the grasses to seed. I regard this experiment as one of great importance, as, for various reasons, it would often pay better to reverse the sod, and lay down after a crop of rape, than to put the land through a course of cropping. The above alluded to central portion of Alghope field has turned out to be as satisfactory as could be expected, taking into consideration that the lifting of the fence injured the experiment. In 1902 1 dug up some turfs of it (then four years old) in order to compare them with turfs taken from the section laid down in 1884, and found much more rootage in the former, and that the turf was thicker. Altogether, the pasture was much improved by the operation, and is now free from moss, while the pasture of 1884 is thick with it, and in a most unsatisfactory condition in consequence. In the south-west comer of the 1884 section I have experimented this year (1904) by reversing the turf, harrowing it, sowing grass and clover seeds with rape on one portion, and grass and clover seeds with buckwheat on the other. So far as I can see at present, the buckwheat will be much more favourable to the grass than the rape, as the former disintegrates the surface soil thoroughly, and so leaves it in a much more open condition than is the case on the rape section, the surface soil of which is quite hard. Next year, on the 1884 section, I am going to experiment by ploughing up the turf thinly, turning it back again, and sowing cocksfoot, clover, chicory, burnet, and kidney vetch, and some golden oat grass over the interstices. This, I think, will be successful, and, should it be so, the idea will be of great value to those who have poor mossy pastures which they wish to improve at small expense. I am in hopes that it will succeed, from observing the immense improvement that took place in the mossy slopes of the terraces at Clifton Park, when the turf was lifted and replaced after levelling the inequalities in the slopes. No grass seeds were sown, nor manures applied, and yet there was an immediate and great improvement in the slopes, and the moss quite disappeared.

(Later note on the foregoing experiments: Partly from the immense growth of Holcus lanatus that sprang up, and partly from the defects of the season, neither of these experiments was encouraging; but there can be no doubt that a certain proportion of the newly sown mixtures was introduced, and until the plots have been grazed, which they will be in October 1907, it will be impossible to speak decidedly on the subject.)

Difference between Five-course Rotation and that on My Farm

Our rotation is as follows: Turnips out of grass, oats, turnips, and either oats or barley with grass seeds, when the land is left for four or five years in grass, fields being taken up again a year earlier or later as may appear advisable from the condition of the grass. If we take three rotations of eight years each, which is practically my system, there will be twelve years of grass, six of turnips, and six of corn. Taking five rotations on the five-course system, there would be ten years of grass, ten of corn, and five of turnips. The great change in the system is that by altering the old system from grass crops in divisions of two years each to the new one of putting them into periods of four years each, I am enabled, at no greater average cost per annum, and even at less, to put down a first class grass mixture which will not only yield much more and certain food, but leave behind it for the succeeding crops a rich and deeply rooted turf.

Experiments of the Cambridge University Department of Agriculture at Abbotsley with Permanent Pasture on Poor Clay Soil

At the meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, held at Park Royal, London, in 1903, 1904 and 1905, the Cambridge University Department of Agriculture exhibited turfs from their experimental pastures at Abbotsley, Hunts, and the Department made the following reports:

June 1903. 'Four turfs from Abbotsley, Huntingdonshire, showing pastures produced on stiff clay soil by various "seeds" mixtures. The seeds were sown about June 1st 1900 and 10 cwt. basic slag per acre was applied in the following autumn.

'Details of the seeds mixtures will be found in the Fourth Annual Report of the Department. The turfs exhibited are (a) from Plot 1, a mixture of perennial ryegrass and clovers -- 47 lb. seeds, costing 14s. 6d. per acre, moderately satisfactory; (b) from Plot V, a mixture of permanent grasses and clovers -- 38 lb. seeds, costing 45s. 9d., moderately satisfactory; (c) from Plot VII, same as Plot V, but sainfoin in place of clovers -- 50 lb. seeds, costing 46s., not satisfactory; (d) Plot VIII, sown with Elliot's 1895 mixture (the Inner Kaimrig Mixture of 1895, vide Chapter 3) -- 45-1/2 lb. seeds, costing 39s. 6d., most satisfactory.

'On the poor clay soil of Abbotsley eight different mixtures have been tried, and at the present time Elliot's is much the most promising. The soil is now evenly covered with herbage, which looks as if it would be permanent. None of the other mixtures have, so far, produced a close turf.'

June 1904. 'Set of seven turfs from Abbotsley, Hunts, showing the pastures produced in the fourth season by various mixtures of seeds sown in 1900, viz.: (1) mixture of ryegrass and clovers, costing l4s. 6d. per acre; (2) mixture of perennial ryegrass and the chief pasture grasses and clovers, costing 28s. per acre; (3) a mixture of the chief pasture grasses and clovers, without perennial ryegrass, costing 30s. 6d. per acre; (4) one of Elliot's special mixtures (the Inner Kaimrig Mixture of 1895, vide Chapter 3), costing 39s. 6d. per acre. All the above manured with 10 cwt. basic slag per acre in autumn 1900. No. 4 represents much the best of the pastures.

'No. 4 mixture was that used by Mr. Elliot in 1895 for laying down twenty-five acres of poor land, and now in the fourth season. The turf from this mixture now exhibited is labelled as follows: "Much the best of the pastures, a close even sward, closely grazed by stock." '

June 1905. In June 1905 the Cambridge University (Department of Agriculture) again exhibited a series of turfs from their Experimental Pastures at Abbotsley, then in their fifth year; and the turf from Mr. Elliot's 1895 mixture (the Inner Kaimrig Mixture of 1895, vide Chapter 3) was thus described by the Department:

'The best of the pastures; surface evenly covered; herbage much liked by stock, and always closely grazed.'

'In placing the Abbotsley plots in order of merit, we may say, "No. VIII (Mr. R. H. Elliot's 1895 Mixture) first, the others nowhere" ' -- Professor Middleton on the 'Formation of Permanent Pastures', in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture for November 1905.

Note. It will be observed that the Inner Kaimrig Mixture of 1895, designed for poor light Cheviot hill land, has proved the best of all the mixtures sown on the poor stiff clay soil at Abbotsley, Hunts, thus showing the adaptability of the Clifton Park Mixtures to all classes of soils.

Success of the Clifton Park System in Growing Potatoes without Manure

I now pass to an experiment with potatoes in the case of the Haugh field of twenty-seven acres -- a shingly spotted haugh on the banks of the Bowmont -- which, in our early experience of the farm, always suffered extremely from drought. It was laid down in 1893 with one of my mixtures containing chicory, burnet, etc., and was ploughed up at the close of the year (1900), and partly sown in 1901 with potatoes, and partly with turnips. The former, which were manured with dung and kainit, at an estimated cost of £2 10s. an acre, gave 15 tons per acre. Those which had no manure gave 14 tons 6 cwt. Estimating the potatoes at £2 per ton, the result was £1 2s. in favour of the unmanured portion. In the case of the Balderston farm potato experiments near Linlithgow in 1903, no less than 20 tons of dung per acre and 71 cwt. of 'artificials' per acre were used. The Up-to-Date variety gave 10 tons 18 cwt. 6 lb. The same variety at Clifton-on-Bowmont gave 13 tons 14 cwt., and there were practically no diseased potatoes, only an occasional one such as, I am told, is commonly seen in nearly all cases, whereas there were 7 cwt. 2 lb. of diseased potatoes in the case of the Balderston experiments with the Up-to-Date variety. The Evergood variety gave less in quantity than we obtained from the Up-to-Date variety, and was free from disease, so that had I been allowed to compete I should have come out at the top with the aid of a variety which stands fifth on the list, and shown a much larger profit, as I used neither dung nor artificials. See also Chapter 7.

Turnips Grown without Manure

In the Big Haugh field some drills of turnips were sown without any manure in 1901 and 1903, and answered so well that in 1904 I ventured on sowing a whole field (the East Countridge) with them. The result has been most satisfactory, and competent judges have declared that it would be impossible to have a finer crop of turnips. But though the crop and the quality of the turnips were both good, I do not advise farmers who may adopt my system of farming to run the risk that would be incurred by omitting the usual application of artificial manures, for though they may be dispensed with in favourable seasons the stimulus required in unfavourable seasons could not be wisely dispensed with.

Causes of Young Pastures Failing

When they do, it is commonly attributed to want of sufficient food for the plants. I believe it is more often owing to defective soil conditions. Dr. Voelcker, chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, tells me that he has often been consulted on the point, and on analysing the soil found that there was plenty of plant food in the land if the roots could only have freely travelled through the soil. I have the following reason for believing that the hard pan which sometimes exists just below the ploughing depth is often the cause of failure, partly because the roots of grasses and clovers cannot penetrate it, and partly because it checks the rise of water from the subsoil. The Longshot field -- Crookhouse farm (vide Chapter 6) -- is a case in point. When previously in ordinary arable cultivation, during about forty-five years, it never would grow grass. I laid it down twice to permanent pasture, and in the second case with an excellent mixture, but which did not contain any of the deep-rooting plants I now use. In both cases the pasture was a failure. In 1895 1 again laid it down to permanent pasture. The field, now five years old, has been throughout a complete success. This I attribute to the deep-rooting plants used, and especially the chicory, which was a very large crop, and which, as described in Chapter 6, went straight down into the subsoil, after penetrating the very hard pan which lay below the ploughing depth. From the facts connected with this field previous to my occupation of it, and which I have personally ascertained from the former tenant, I have reason to surmise that the failure of land to grow grass and clover well, either when in rotation husbandry or being laid down to permanent pasture, must often be owing to hard pans below the ploughing depth, and this, of course makes it the more advisable that plants like chicory and burnet, which can penetrate the hardest pans (vide Chapter 6), should be freely used. But besides the evils arising from hard pans, there is the fact that our soils are not kept sufficiently open owing to the deficiency of humus in the land, and hence the roots cannot readily traverse the soil, which, as Dr. Voelcker has shown, often contains enough plant food if it were fully available for the use of the plant. If, then, you do not give the plant a soil well opened up, and kept open by humus, you must spend more money in manure. In other words, as far as the plant is concerned, a small quantity of manure in an open soil is of more practical value than a much larger quantity of manure in a soil of inferior physical condition. There are three losses entailed by inferior physical conditions of soil:

1. that the plant is less able to contend with adverse seasons;
2. that the expense of manurial application must be greater; and
3. that much of the manure that is applied in excess of the requirements of the plants will be lost by waste or downward percolation, while much of it is liable to enter into insoluble compounds in the soil.

Mixture of Drought-Resisting Plants for Bare Rocky Surfaces

Arthur Young, in his Elements and Practice of Agriculture, has recommended for chalk soil a mixture of yarrow, burnet, trefoil, white clover, and chicory, so that the pasture would be formed of plants not one of which is a grass plant. On full consideration, I think it probable that Arthur Young is quite right in limiting his selection for thin lands to plants that he was sure would flourish on them, and as there are often, on hill lands especially, gravelly slopes of thin soil, on which grasses at once dry up in a drought, I have corresponded with Mr. James Hunter as to the proportions for a mixture composed entirely of drought-resisting plants other than grass, and he has sent me the following mixture, to which, however, he has added one grass. The mixture is as follows:

xx	lb.	xx	lb.
White Clover	4	Chicory	4
Kidney Vetch	6	Ribgrass	4
Yarrow	1	Crested Dogstail	3
Burnet	8	xx	xx
Total, 30 lb. per acre

Such a mixture might be sown on the steep, gravelly banks of a field, and the remainder of the land sown with whatever mixture was most suitable. Two acres of the Shereburgh field, where the soil is shallowly distributed over a rocky surface, were sown in 1900 with this mixture, and in 1904 the results shown were most satisfactory, and a fair amount of grazing has been attained, where almost nothing could have been expected from an ordinary grass mixture. This year (1907) shows a continued satisfactory result, so much so that I can confidently recommend that a trial should be made of this mixture for poor, shallow heads of fields, on which a good mixture would be thrown away.

Importance of Drought-Resisting Plants

The severe droughts of 1898-9 proved the great value of the mixtures used, as in the former year we had about three and in the latter two tons of hay an acre. In 1899 the results were most remarkable, as the land was exposed, light, and shallow. We were indebted for the bulk of the crop to the kidney vetch and clover (the late-flowering red clover used stands drought in a wonderful way), and especially to the former. The field (vide remarks on kidney vetch, Chapter VI), was a veritable oasis surrounded by a girdle of scorched hills, and with any mixture ordinarily used the crop must have been a disastrous failure.

How Most Cheaply to Re-seed Pastures

Superior grasses are liable to decline in pastures, because the culms are eaten by stock, while grasses, inferior in quality or productive power, like Holcus lanatus, bent grasses, and crested dogstail (the last, though a good grass, is a small producer, and it is not desirable to have a large quantity of it) tend unduly to increase. Mr. Faunce de Laune sought to overcome this by turning out stock at the time when the flowering culms were growing, and re-stocking after they had seeded; but this course would often not suit the circumstances of the farmer, and I think it would be better to hurdle off a strip on the side of the field on which the strongest winds blow, and then remove the hurdles after the seed had fallen or been blown across the field. I am led to suggest this from having observed how cocksfoot spread in the southerly portion of the Alghope field from a strip cut off for planting. I have noticed the same effect in the Glebe field. In the Cottage Park large grasses have appeared from cows and horses being fed on hay of tall grasses, and the land having been dunged. In cases where the winds are not strong, it would probably answer better to enclose a strip of about an acre in the middle of the field, and then shift the hurdles each year. By this process the whole field could be cheaply re-seeded, and, as I have elsewhere shown, letting up the grass would destroy the moss, which commonly exists to a greater or less degree in nearly all old pastures, and would heavily re-seed the enclosed portion, as letting up the grass opens the ground and favours the germination of the seed.

The Grazing of Pastures

Dr. Shirra Gibb says: 'I have obtained excellent results from what I term "rotation grazing" -- alternating breeding sheep, feeding sheep and cattle -- either yearly, or in some cases quarterly. I consider this much better than mixed grazing so often practised.'

Aftermath Must Be Lightly Grazed

The Inner Kaimrig (sown in 1895) gave two tons of hay an acre, which is a heavy crop, considering that it is the poorest field on the farm, and grazed well till it was ploughed up at the end of 1899. Bowmontside field, sown in 1897, gave in 1898 about three tons an acre of hay. It is one of the best fields of the farm, and yet it has grazed badly, though it was top-dressed with dung in the autumn of 1899; while the Inner Kaimrig had no manure, and the grasses in the Bowmontside field still remain poor and weak, though the pasture has quite closed up at the bottom. Though the season of 1898 was one of drought, and thus unfavourable to the Bowmontside field, much of the unfavourable result is, in my opinion, to be accounted for by the fact that the aftermath was closely eaten; while I took pains to see that, in the case of the Inner Kaimrig, it was lightly grazed, as the land was of such poor quality. In grazing, then, the poorest field on the farm, though unaided by manure, has beaten one of the best, though it was aided by manure. This experience supports that of Mr. Knight (vide Chapter 6).

Effects of Haying Land First Year

All our experience proves that if the land is heavily cropped with hay the first year to the extent of from two to three tons an acre, farmyard manure should be applied before winter sets in. If that is not available, apply superphosphate and kainit, but no nitrates, as these encourage the grasses at the expense of the clovers. I have since come to the conclusion that even if farmyard manure is available, it is not advisable, for the sake of the pasture, to have a crop of more than two tons of hay in good and one and a half in the case of light land, and that the crop should be diminished by light grazing in the spring.

Importance of Rolling Land when Laying Down to Grass

Grass seeds often fail from the want of moisture close to the surface. This want can be diminished by fine tilth and heavy rolling. Both tend to raise water from below by capillary (from capilla, a hair) attraction. This is explained by the fact that if you immerse a tube of very small bore, and open at both ends, in a vessel of water the water within the tube will rise to a sensible height above the surface of the water in the vessel , and the smaller the tube the higher will the water within it rise. On this well-established principle depends the rising of water through the interstices of the soil, and the smaller these are made by fine tilth, and the compression of the land by rolling, the more freely will water rise to the surface. Per contra, there is hardly any capillary attraction through dust, as the spaces between the particles are too wide, and hence a mulch of dust keeps moisture in the soil -- in other words, the moisture being kept further from the surface cannot readily evaporate. A fine surface soil, then, when in a loose state, conserves water by preventing it rising to the surface; while you have only to roll it if you wish to bring moisture to the surface to aid in the germination of the seed and the support of the young plants which, from lack of moisture, are apt to be starved to death. It is important to note that rolling in warm weather makes land warmer, and in cold weather colder (vide Fletcher, Soils, page 176).

Effects of the System in Preventing Loss from Wash

On 23rd August 1900 a most severe thunderstorm raged along the Cheviots, inflicting great damage, and especially in the case of turnip fields, where soil and turnips together were in some cases washed right off the land. In the case of the three turnip fields at Clifton-on-Bowmont, one of which received the water from a steep hard hill above, there was no loss. In the latter case no muddy water left the field. It was all absorbed in consequence of the decaying turf, and decaying roots of the deeply rooting plants, which acted as channels to let the water quickly down into the land, and it rose in the shape of clear water at the foot of the field, running out under the gate for several days. The Harewells field in 1903 -- a very wet year-showed the same results as regards the absence of wash.

Moss. Important Result in Outer Kaimrig

This field was laid down to grass in 1890, but with only a most trifling amount of deep-rooters -- 1 lb. of chicory, 3 lb. of burnet, and 1 lb of kidney vetch. Four years afterwards it showed so much moss that I ordered it to be ploughed up. It was relaid again in 1899 -- in 1903, and next year, 1904 (when the field was ploughed up), there was no moss. I attribute this happy change partly to a large supply of deep-rooters being used, and partly to the vegetable matter from the ploughed-up turf.

Moss. Letting Up Fogged-up, or Mossed-up, Hill Pastures

It has been previously pointed out that letting-up pastures destroys the moss, and it would be important to experiment as to how far it would pay to let up portions of hill pasture by keeping stock off till the autumn, or by hurdling off a section of a pasture each year.

Dr. Horne, in The Principles of Agriculture and Vegetation, Edinburgh, 1757, page 159, mentions a method for destroying moss, and recommends that a pasture should be shut up from May 15th to the beginning of December, and then grazed from that time to April, after which the field is to be shut up for hay. 'The fog', he says, 'being so long covered by two successive crops of grass, is cut off from the benefit of the air, and so dies.'

Safety of the System as regards Hay and Pasture

One of the most experienced farmers on Bowmont Water once told me that he estimated that they suffered from drought one season out of three. Since taking up the Clifton-on-Bowmont farm, in 1887, our hay crops have always been good, though we have had some seasons of severe drought, besides other minor droughts. In one of these, with the old system, much of the stock would have had to be sent off the farm; the flocks in the neighbourhood greatly suffered, while we had abundant feed, in consequence of the drought-resisting nature of the mixtures used, and it may be mentioned that the stock kept considerably exceeded that formerly kept on the farm previous to my occupation of it.

Effects of the System in Abolishing Weeds

By taking turnips after grass instead of oats, the cereal crop with which farmers begin their cropping rotation, you spring any weed seeds there are in the field, whereas in the case of taking oats after grass the tendency is to plough down, and so conserve both weeds and their seeds. As we take a second turnip crop before laying down, this, of course, still further cleans the land, so that weeds are abolished by the time we lay down to grass. We then so fully fill the field with grass plants, and fill up every vacancy by re-seeding if necessary, that there are practically no weeds in the pasture, a fact to which my attention has been called by more than one visitor.

Comparison of the Results of the New System at Clifton-on-Bowmont with those of an Adjacent Farm

I have found that the Inner Kaimrig field of twenty-five acres has kept as much sheep stock as the eighty-seven acres of the fields of an adjacent farm, where the soil and situation throughout is certainly better than that of my field, which is by far the poorest on the farm, or certainly was so till well supplied with humus from the ploughed-down turf. The adjacent farm is kept on the old five-course system, and the mixtures used are clover and ryegrass. But this is far from being all. When my neighbour puts down turnips he will have to manure them with dung or artificials, and will probably do so with both; while the fine turnip crop grown in the adjacent field (East Countridge) to the Inner Kaimrig, without any manure, proves that my land requires neither.

Grass Inoculation, or Laying Down Land to Permanent Pasture by Transplanted Turf

I began to experiment as regards this many years ago, but did not continue to do so, as I came to the conclusion that all our old pastures were too full of weeds and inferior grasses to justify inoculation from them, and now that a perfectly clean pasture, undistinguishable from old grass, can be created under my system of farming in four or five years, by using the proper seeds, there seems to be no justification for resorting to the expensive and troublesome method of forming a pasture by inoculation.

Success of the System as regards Crops, Stock, and Cultivation

Lord Leicester (vide Chapter 2) found that he could produce better crops on poor land without manure than he could produce on good land under the old four-course system, if only he laid the former down to grass for a period of not less than six years, and, after ploughing up, began his rotation with turnips. This gave time for the turf to rot, and then he was sure of a good crop of corn the following year. My experience is the same as Lord Leicester's, but, as I have explained (Chapter 3), I feel sure that, with the mixtures I suggest, a much better turf can be produced in four years than could be produced in six years with the mixture used by Lord Leicester. The period he requires -- a minimum of six years -- is, if my mixture with deep-rooting plants be used, longer than is necessary, and, so far as our experiences go, would not be as suitable for a tenant farmer. I need hardly say that all views on this point must be formed in accordance with the circumstances of each particular locality -- i.e. a longer period under grass may suit some districts, and a shorter one other localities.

Effect of the System after Ploughing the Second Turf

Though the advantages of the system are at once apparent, it is not till the second turf is ploughed up that the immense effect of plant roots as tillers of the soil is fully apparent. The first turf does much, of course, in the way of ameliorating the soil and adding to its bulk; but the ease with which the second turf is ploughed up, and worked for turnips, shows a complete amelioration of the physical condition of the land, the cause of which is at once apparent when, on closer inspection, you find it to be interpenetrated with rootlets and vegetable matter in various stages of decay. It is now a good nest for plants, and the results of this are apparent all along the line, on the turnips, oats, grass, and the hay crops, while a great improvement takes place in the health of the stock -- partly from the plants used (some of which, like burnet and yarrow, have a proved good effect on the health of sheep), partly from the variety of food existing in the pasture, and partly from the land being in a more healthy condition, as a deeply aerated soil, well supplied with humus, at once dries up quickly after rain, and yet maintains itself in a sufficiently moist condition from the moisture-retaining power of vegetable matter. The results of the whole surroundings have had a remarkable effect on the sheep at Clifton-on-Bowmont, and not only has their health, condition, and quality improved, but the death-rate, which, in the case of flocks kept partly on hill lands and partly in fields, on large farms, is about 5 per cent, has fallen to about 3 per cent. The healthy conditions have told most markedly on the turnips, which are quite free from disease, though the season has been most favourable to the appearance of this serious evil -- one of the worst that the farmer has to contend with.

Filling Up Vacant Spots in First Year's Grass

I have previously called attention to this (Chapter 5). Sinclair points out (page 243, 2nd edition, Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis ) that even in a field where blanks are not very noticeable, owing to the leaves of the plants covering the ground, they will amount to from 10 to 15 per cent of the area. It is important to remember that, if a field is not fully shaded with grass, vacant spots -- small though they may be -- much increase the loss of moisture from the field, especially in the case of drying winds. Young grass plants more often suffer from want of moisture than from want of manure. It is important always to use a rake to cover the seeds. I once found that in the case of a tilly ridge there was a considerable number of vacant spots, which I was at a loss to account for, till the steward told me that he had not used a rake, but merely scattered the seed on the ground, because in the case of other fields he had found that the re-seeding had succeeded without any raking. In certain soils it would, no doubt, but even then the use of the rake is advisable, as the seeds can be covered with soil, when they would be less visible to birds and mice. It is of the utmost importance to fill the field with grass plants because (1) more stock can be kept, (2) weeds can be excluded more effectually, and (3) every part of the soil will be at once permeated, and so kept open by rootlets. Farmers have in some cases refused to credit the account of the stock we have kept per acre; but if they will fill up their land with plants which produce abundantly, and are of rapidly reproductive, drought-resisting and deeply rooted character, they could keep one-third more stock, and keep it in much better health and condition, and be sure, too, of better crops when the land is again ploughed up.

Success of the System as regards Turnip Disease

While I never remember to have heard such numerous complaints as regards this in the district there is not a sign of it at Clifton-on-Bowmont, and our turnips (about seventy acres in three fields in different parts of the farm) have looked most healthy throughout, and one of the fields has not been limed within the last forty years. While not denying that this disease may be propagated, even when good soil conditions exist, I am satisfied that, as in the case of man and animals, healthy surroundings will keep off disease, or reduce it to a minimum, even when the season is most favourable to its appearance. In the case of the Clifton-on-Bowmont fields there was an ample supply of vegetable matter from ploughed-down turf, and the whole soil was thus admirably calculated to withstand vicissitudes of weather. And that favourable soil conditions are of the utmost importance as regards the diseases to which turnips are liable, we have excellent confirmation in the case of the Crow Wood field, on the Linton farm, which was once in my hands. This I found, on a careful analysis, had less than 1/2 per cent of lime in the first nine inches of the soil, and it has not been limed within about the last fifty years. I was urged to lime the field, but refused to do so, as I could hear of no turnip disease. The farm was let about thirteen years ago, and the tenant informs me that on the part of the field which consists of a fine sandy loam there is practically no disease -- perhaps a turnip here or there; while on another part of the field, where the soil was of a different character, the disease had in former years made its appearance, but was checked by an application of lime. But, as we have seen, the disease practically has been non-existent on the sandy portion of the field, though it contained so little lime that agricultural chemists tell us that crops, under such low lime conditions, cannot be profitably grown. Good physical conditions, then, whether in the .case of a soil well permeated with vegetable matter, or in the case of a sandy loam of equally good conditions, being favourable to the health of the plant, seem equally unfavourable to turnip disease. Large sums are spent in heavily liming land for no other reason than because it is a preventive of turnip disease. But from my long experience on this estate I am strongly of opinion that all the money spent on remedies or preventives might be saved were the land well stored with turf in various stages of decay. My experience in the case of my Indian coffee plantations strongly confirms this view. As long as our soils were stored with the vegetable matter of the primeval forest all diseases to which our coffee was liable only existed to a trivial extent, but as the land became exhausted of its vegetable matter, and our soils thus lost physical condition, such diseases much increased. They can, however, be again reduced if the soil is dressed with applications of top soil taken from forest lands. I am now applying the same treatment to my coffee as I am to the Clifton-on-Bowmont farm -- i.e. applications of vegetable matter in various stages of decay, through the medium of jungle top soil in the former case and turf in the latter. Since writing the preceding remark I have been told by Mr. Lillie, the tenant of the Burnfoot farm, that he has no turnip disease on his highest and poorest field, while he has a bad attack on a low-lying field, which is one of the best on the farm. In the former case the land had never been limed, but had an application of marl about seventy years ago. This high-lying land had been left six years in grass before the present crop of turnips had been taken, and there was a good turf. The low-lying field was cultivated on the five-course shift.

Advantages of Deep-Rooted Plants

The results which have been attained from filling the land with deeply rooted turf are as follows: the crops ripen earlier; the land is warmer; it dries much more quickly. Carting on the land does little harm to it, or to the, young grasses and plants. Superfluous moisture passes downwards so rapidly that all wash is avoided. The land can be much more easily and deeply ploughed and worked. The deep-rooters can penetrate the hardest pans. Weeds are absolutely extinguished, and at Clifton-on-Bowmont, for the last eighteen years there have been none worth removing. No risk of clover failure, though there has been much failure on adjacent farms. No turnip disease, though there has been much in certain seasons, with the exception of one small portion of the land, and that only occurred once. No manure required except some artificials with turnips when first turf is ploughed. As far as we can see at present, no manure is needed when the second turf is ploughed, as the land is then fully charged with deeply-rooted decaying turf. Products of all crops certain, either in very dry or very wet seasons. More stock can be kept at same cost., They can be kept in much better health owing to the properties of some of the plants used. Less capital is required for working the farm. As the deep roots decay the land is permeated to its greatest depth (chicory will go down from three feet to four feet in fifteen months, and 1 ft. 6 ins. in three months) with vegetable matter. The land can thus be deeply aerated, and more moisture carried into it to the advantage of the land in droughts. In dry weather the land cools sooner, and more dew will be precipitated. By the steady increase of humus, and the deepening and tilling of the soil by roots, the fertility of the land can be continuously improved without additional expense. Manurial matter which has sunk low in the soil can be retrieved by the deep-rooters. Land well supplied with humus retains much heat which would otherwise be lost. It also retains 20 per cent more moisture than a mineralized soil. It is important to note too that the air passing over a humus-fed soil, would be cooler and moister than air passing over a mineralized soil. The dewfall* therefore would be greater and when the land throughout the country becomes generally humus-fed, the rainfall would be more advantageously distributed, and fall over a greater number of days in small showers instead of heavy falls of rain, as is the case when land is clothed with forest. (From The Journal of Board of Agriculture, p. 499, November 1907: 'It was found in the course of the experiments with reference to dew ponds that colour affected the deposition of dew to the extent of no less than five times in favour of a pan painted white, as compared with one painted black.' Should this experience be correct it follows that a soil darkened with humus will precipitate more dew than a light-coloured one.)

Tough, clayey, and unworkable soils, which readily, run together, can be ameliorated by the system, and completely altered in character. Finally, roots, by virtue of the acids in them, can utilize portions of the mineral matters locked up in stones. I have now given twenty-five distinct advantages which will certainly be obtained from the adoption of my system. I may add that owing to the want of the means of duly keeping up a good supply of humus in the land the soils of Great Britain are, to a very large extent, in deplorably bad physical condition, and this has been much worsened by liming and the injudicious use of artificial manures.

Manures Used for Turnips at Clifton-on-Bowmont

First crop taken after grass -- 6 cwt. to 8 cwt. of basic slag, 1 cwt. of sulphate of potash, and 1 cwt. nitrate of soda per acre. Analysis, 26 to 30 per cent total phosphate. Fineness, 80 to 90 per cent will pass through sieve 10,000 to the square inch. Second crop after oats -- 5 cwt. to 6 cwt. bone manure per acre. Analysis, 2 to 2-1/2 per cent ammonia, 32 to 35 per cent of phosphates, 24 per cent of which are soluble. If the field seems poor it receives the larger quantity stated, and if in good heart the lesser.

Why Land on My System Increases in Fertility, Even Though a Breeding Stock is Kept, While Practically No Cake is Used, and Hitherto Only a Small Quantity of Artificials with Turnips

This is a point alluded to in the letter of a tenant-farmer quoted in the Preface, and has puzzled him, and many others, not a little, seeing that, as he points out, even valuable old pastures quickly degenerate when a breeding stock, or young animals, are kept without extra cake feeding. The explanation is that the old pasture only produces white clover, which is a comparatively small collector of nitrogen; while with my system, once every eight years, a large heavy crop of red clover and kidney vetch is grown, which supplies a large quantity of nitrogen to the soil, while the deep-rooting plants bring into use much mineral matter which is quite out of the reach of the grasses. With these manurial agencies, and the rich turf we can now grow in four years' time, we are able to keep that breeding stock which old grass cannot do without deterioration, because we supply the soil with a large amount of humus. The effects of this are fully enlarged upon by Warrington, Roberts, and other writers. The presence of humus conserves manure (ammonia) in the soil that would otherwise be washed out, and a soil destitute of humus will contain hardly any nitrogen. The fertility of all virgin soils is largely owing to the nitrogenous humus they contain. What plants most require are things dependent on that physical condition of the soil which, with the aid of humus, is so fully supplied -- air, moisture, and warmth. The importance of humus in all light soils is immense, as it enables such soil to retain manurial matters. Humus also brings into action the inert mineral matter of the soil. Finally, with the aid of the deeply rooting plants I use, the humus is in every rotation more and more deeply distributed in the soil, and the area of root range is continuously being so enlarged. These points, and others to which I have elsewhere alluded, fully explain our ability to produce crops which have surprised the farmer alluded to in the Preface, as well as many of his friends.

Decomposition of Vegetable Matter More Rapid on Warm Slopes

In Keith's Agriculture of Aberdeenshire, page 637, it is stated that 'in thin soils, incumbent on gravel, decomposition of vegetable matter is more rapid than its reproduction; and being, when decomposed, soluble in water, it is carried through the porous subsoil along with the lime, animal manures, and whatever else water can hold in solution. For this reason land of this description having a south exposure is generally more shallow and exhausted than when screened from the sun's heat by an inclination to the north.' At the present time, when our farming system requires to be largely remodelled in order that we may successfully grapple with the difficulties of the age, this is a point of considerable importance, and deserving of further investigation in order to estimate exactly the effects of the various aspects in the case of thin soils overlying porous subsoils, or which have been well drained. In such cases it seems evident that the warm aspects should be kept in grass as long as possible, and, when taken up, should be cropped with turnips, and laid down to grass the year following, as the waste of vegetable matter and manure is far greater when the land is under plough than when it is lying in grass. No experiments have been made that I am aware of in order to determine the comparative loss of nitrates on the various aspects. Dr. Keith's book, which I have alluded to previously (vide Chapter 5), was published in 1811, and furnishes us with more than one illustration of the great neglect of Government in failing to keep alive and direct continuous attention to points of the greatest importance to British agriculture. It is constantly being assumed that farmers may be relied on for adopting whatever course will pay them best. There never was a greater delusion. More than one hundred years ago the superiority of cocksfoot to ryegrass was amply proved. The former, from its superior productive power, is cheaper than the latter. The former tells in the most superior manner on the subsequent crops, and in ameliorating the condition of the soil. But the farmer still prefers the practically dear ryegrass to the cheaper and more advantageous cocksfoot.

On the Quantity of Clover Seed that should be Used

It has been customary in Scotland to sow from 10 to even 14 lb. of clover with the mixtures used in rotation husbandry. Our usual seeding, which we find ample, is 1 lb. of alsike, 2 lb. of late-flowering red clover, and 2 lb. of white clover. With 2 lb. of white clover we have abundance of the plant, and in one five-year-old grass field it has been abundant throughout. An agriculturist of great experience in Northumberland informs me that he had noticed the rapid disappearance of clovers in pastures when sown in large quantities ever since he could remember anything. Red clover is only a degree more difficult to grow than white, and is liable to fail, he says, from the same cause; but when he used 2 lb. or 3 lb. of white clover it gradually increased as time went on. And the dreaded fourth year never came. Were it not that the plants were liable to be destroyed by slugs, in the event of the early summer being wet, he would only sow 1 lb. That was his experience up to 1893, but in a letter received from him in October 1900 he informs me that he has continued his experiments, and for the last few years only sown 1 lb. per acre of white clover, and no clover of any other description. Our experience this year certainly seems to show that even with 5 lb. we have been sowing too much. In the case of some acres cut off at the head of the Outer Kaimrig field for planting, at an elevation of about 800 feet, I ordered half of the grass part of the mixture used in the field to be put down in the part severed for the plantation, partly for shelter to the plants and partly as cover, and partly to re-seed the field, as the seeds, from the prevailing wind, would be blown over the land below. But, owing to an error, half of the whole mixture was sown, and it was rather less than half, I am informed. The clovers thus sown in error were rather less than 1 lb. each of alsike, late-flowering red clover, and white clover. With this small seeding we had such an enormous crop of clover that the plants of the plantation were mostly smothered, and I thought all the grasses must be so too; but these have now sprung through the decumbent clover to such an extent that I have ordered the ground to be continued as an experiment, and not to be replanted for another year. This accidental experiment has, as regards red clover, proved most interesting, as it has been shown that this clover lasts longer than is usually supposed. The land was sown in 1899, and yet there was an abundant supply of red clover in flower in 1903, and I exhibited at a meeting of the Farmers' Club at Kelso on November 20th of that year plants in flower, and about four feet long.

The Downward Penetration of Chicory and Burnet Roots

In consequence of the Kale having washed away part of the bank of a field on the Morebattle Tofts farm, we have this year (1904) easily perceived the value of these plants in opening up hard pans, and acting at once as drainers, aerators, and tillers of the soil. The seed of the plants I am about more particularly to allude to was sown in 1897, the land was hayed the year following, and grazed for three years afterwards, when the field was ploughed up. A strip on the margin of the river was left, and in it were chicory and burnet plants. Two of the former were carefully taken up. The chicory was in flower, and the plant was 5 feet 2 inches above ground, while the root measured 4 feet 5 inches. The root for about a foot from the surface was much crooked, but afterwards went straight down through a very hard clay pan about nine inches thick (a specimen of which, not unlike a piece of soft rock, is shown at Clifton-on-Bowmont along with the entire plant), and thence downward through a hard clay into the gravel which lay below it. The hard pan and the hard clay beneath it, are, together, 32 inches in thickness? The root near the surface was 4-1/2 inches round, and 1-1/2 inches at about 1 foot down. Another plant was removed, and has also been preserved. This divided into eleven roots close to the surface, each about 1-1/2 inches round down to about a foot from the surface. The main root went down 3 feet 4 inches. I may here mention that I have obtained from the Continent six varieties of chicory for experiment, with the view of ascertaining the kind most suitable for agricultural purposes. These were sown in the garden at Clifton Park on 26th June 1905, in good, deep soil, and in three months from the date of sowing some of the plants of each variety were lifted, and the roots and leaves measured, with the following results:

xx	Length of root inches	Length of leaf inches
Common Long-rooted Chicory	18	22
Magdeburg Large-rooted Chicory	18	20
Brussels Large-rooted Chicory	15	18-1/2
Brunswick Large-rooted Chicory	14	15
Red-leaved Lombardy Chicory	18	21
Improved Large-leaved Chicory	14	13

On 7th August 1906, the plants remaining in the ground, now nearly fourteen months old, were taken up. Underlying the soil where the chicory had been growing was found a gravel bed which at the time the plants were lifted was almost as hard and dry as a macadamized road, but in spite of this the chicory roots had gone right down, and were traced to a depth of from six to nine inches through this uninviting medium, and a total length of root of from twenty-six to twenty-nine inches was thus obtained in less than fourteen months. The small fibrous roots had gone further down, but were broken off, as they were too fragile to stand the disturbance of the gravel in which they were located. The four first-named varieties all showed much the same capacity in regard to root penetration, while the two last-named were much inferior in this respect. The variety that has all along been used at Clifton-on-Bowmont, and which has proved so successful there, is the Common Long-rooted or Wild Chicory (the first of the above-named varieties). Next to it we would place the Magdeburg variety. The Brussels and Brunswick also seem suitable, but we would not recommend these without seeing further trials on a larger scale.

Chicory lasts in the land longer than is commonly supposed, and where only two pounds per acre were sown eleven and a half years ago, and the land (kept in permanent pasture) has in that time been hayed four times, there is still (1904) a fair proportion of plants in vigorous condition.

A burnet plant taken up at the same time had a tap root descending straight downward through the hard pan to a total depth of 2 feet 2 inches. Near the surface the root was one inch round, and at about a foot three-quarters of an inch. The plant is a very fine one, and shows its suitability for such soils. Its value for hard, dry, shallow soils is well known to those who have observed this valuable plant. It met, I may here observe, with much attention from agriculturists in England about from 100 to 150 years ago, if I may judge by the long notice of it in the Complete Farmer, which was published in 1793. Burnet is there recommended as a valuable fodder for winter, and early in the spring, and it is noticed that it not only remains green in hard frosts, but increases in bulk and grows if the winter should be mild. The straw was found to be very useful fodder for horses, cows, calves, and sheep, and the chaff of great value if mixed with any other ordinary chaff. Burnet seed was found to be as good as oats for horses, and for these it found, therefore, not only hay but corn. One of the farmers quoted in the article was satisfied 'that there is no better pasture for cows, whether milch or barren, than burnet'. Arthur Young is quoted as follows: 'Experiments have been made in most parts of the kingdom that prove the exhausting quality of ryegrass; its narrow leaf, and fibrous.roots, class it in this respect as well as its botanical arrangement, with corn; but the broad leaf of burnet, and its deep carrot root, indicate the contrary effect; and accordingly, in several trials that have been made, it has been found to ameliorate. The poorest soils in the kingdom agree well with it, even such as are too poor to produce any other herb. The hot pungent quality of the plant has been found exceedingly advantageous to sheep touched with the rot.' Another writer (Mr. Pitt) quoted in the article alluded to thinks the plant a good one to sow, instead of ryegrass, with clover or trefoil, being abiding, very early in spring, extremely hardy, bidding defiance to frost, and sustaining the chilling blast of the east wind without fading.

It may be of interest to mention that in Bacon's Essays, the one entitled 'Of Gardens' mentions the plants which perfume the air most delightfully when trodden upon and crushed. These are burnet, wild thyme, and water mints. 'Therefore,' he says, 'you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure (of the perfume rising around you he means) when you walk or tread.' I may add that we have a Shakespearian reference to burnet in King Henry V, Act V, Scene II.

The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover.

Importance of Laying Down Foul Land at Two Operations

I have to record this year (1904) one important experience, which confirms the opinion I have elsewhere expressed in favour of laying down land to permanent pasture at two operations, partly because if done at one the land can rarely be supplied with sufficient humus, and partly because our soils are so filled with the seeds of weeds and worthless grasses -- notably Holcus lanatus, or Yorkshire fog -- that I do not think a thoroughly clean pasture could be created at one operation. In confirmation of this view, I may quote the case of the Island field. This was sown in 1890 (with the Little Countridge field, of which it originally formed a part) with 14 lb. cocksfoot, 5 of tall fescue, 3 of timothy, 3 of hard fescue, 3 of crested dogstail, 1/2 lb. each of yarrow and poa fertilis, 2 of lucerne, and 2 each of alsike, white, and perennial red clover. In 1898 the field, less the Island portion, which was then fenced off, was relaid with one of our improved mixtures, including the deep-rooting plants. This year both portions of the field were cut for hay and though the take of grass in the Island portion in 1890 was excellent, the Holcus lanatus was so prevalent that the field at a distance looked white, while the rest of the land, sown in 1898, showed no signs of it, though, as we have seen, it had been laid down six years previously -- an ample time for Holcus lanatus to show itself had it been there. These facts show how completely our system of rotation springs and destroys weeds and worthless grasses.

The Agreement of Plants and Trees in Nature

It is well known that certain trees, shrubs and plants sometimes agree with each other, sometimes disagree, and sometimes seem indifferent as regards their neighbours. For instance, the coffee tree, when grown as it is in most parts of India under the shade of trees, is most particular as to its neighbours. Some trees are an abomination to coffee, to others the coffee seems indifferent, to others again it is markedly partial, and thrives under exceedingly. The same point occurs in the case of combinations of plants in a pasture, and it has been amply shown, for instance, that while ryegrass is hostile to clover, other plants are favourable to it.

Effects of the Excessive Use of Ryegrass

It is well known that almost any opinion, however unsound it may be, is, when once adopted, very hard to kill. Perhaps it is clung to with all the greater persistency because in time it is often assumed to be the result of a long and sound experience. The clinging to ryegrass is no exception. For over 100 years the objections to it have been pointed out, and attempts made to bring about a decreased proportion of it in grass seed mixtures. In Keith's Agriculture of Aberdeenshire (1811), which was a continuation of Dr. Anderson's original report of 1793, it was condemned as an exhaustive grass, and it is recommended that landlords in their leases should limit its use, while for poor land it was said to be one of the worst grasses ever known. William Curtis, in his Practical Observations on the British Grasses, London 1805, hits the origin of its use when he says that it was probably 'owing to its being a common grass whose seeds were easily collected'. He also notices that Holcus lanatus was the next grass, the seeds of which were collected and sown, and obviously for the same reason. Like Keith, he commends ryegrass for rich meadows, but condemns its use for upland pastures and dry situations. The writer of the article on Pasturage and Agriculture in the Encyclopedia Britannica for 1797 considers ryegrass unfit for pastures that are to lie for more than two or three years. Sinclair, as we have seen, writing in 1825, limits the use of ryegrass for permanent pasture to one-twentieth of the mixture, while for the alternate husbandry he advises a mixture of three-fourths cocksfoot, the remainder of the mixture to consist of six grasses and clovers, of which ryegrass was one. In 1833, Mr. Lawson of Edinburgh, took up the subject, and carries us back to the original reasons for using this grass -- namely, that the seeds of other grasses were difficult to obtain, which was undoubtedly the case. The effect on British agriculture by his recommending a large use of ryegrass in grass mixtures was most unfortunate, and I have heard one of our most intelligent farmers say that had cocksfoot been used instead of ryegrass in the rotations, their difficulties would have been much lessened, for cocksfoot in three years provides much vegetable matter to add to the humus of the soil, and it is to the absence of this humus, as I have frequently pointed out, that we must almost entirely ascribe the ruinous decline of fertility in British soils. The ryegrass question seems subsequently to have gone to sleep till 1882, when my late friend, Mr. C. Faunce de Laune, of Sharsted Court, took up the subject in a valuable and widely known paper, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England (Part I, No. 35) in 1882. This article, as is well known, not only aroused attention to the subject of ryegrass, but called attention to the enormous adulterations in the grass seed trade, and thus paved the way for much of what has since followed, and, as Mr. Hunter points out (vide Chapter 5), if Mr. de Laune had not gone back to the teaching of Sinclair to find out the truth, we should probably have been pretty much where we were twenty years ago. But the evil arising from the excessive use of ryegrass has since been found to be far more extensive than was originally supposed, and if the reader will turn to the paper I delivered at Cambridge in 1904 (vide Appendix 9) he will see that the greatest evil lies in the effect it has of diminishing the clover, with which it is usually associated-effects which have been fully proved, as I have shown elsewhere, and which have been proved again by the experiments of the Fifeshire Agricultural Association, which show that the amount of clover rises or falls as ryegrass is diminished or increased. But, perhaps, one of the best evidences of the small amount of red clover produced when it is associated with ryegrass has been met with on this property, one of the tenants on which makes annually large purchases of ryegrass and clover hay from various farms in the neighbourhood, and for many miles around. I have constantly observed and inquired into these purchases, with the view of noting the proportion of clover that appears with the ryegrass. An occasional cartload may show a fair amount of clover, but if the fields in Scotland generally (and I have no reason to suppose that things materially differ here from the rest of the country) show as little clover, then there can hardly be said to be any scientific rotation crops in Scotland at all-in other words, the alternation of crops which derive nitrogen from the air with those which must derive it from the soil. All the clover losses may not be attributable to the ryegrass, but that a very large proportion of these are has been amply proved by the experiments made on the subject. I know of nothing more striking in the whole history of the neglect of agriculture by the British Government than the fact that it is solely from the want of Government experimental farms that such a vast injury should have occurred to our soil, for, had they existed, farmers would have been duly warnedof the evils arising from the excessive use of ryegrass, and the immense losses that have ensued from failing to acquire atmospheric nitrogen, and the humus to be derived from clover roots, would have been largely averted. In this connection it may be added that, had my system of farming been pursued, a large proportion of the sums paid to the foreigner for nitrates would have been saved.

General Success of the System

This has been shown most conspicuously in the case of the Inner Kaimrig, a field pronounced by a very competent judge to be, when I took it in hand, not worth 5s. an acre, and, by the former tenant, the worst field on the farm, a long ridge of it being black moorland soil. And yet this field, now (1904) young grass (sown up with a crop of oats in 1903), has this year, kept more stock than all the fields of an adjacent farm, the land of which is far superior in quality and situation. These aggregate over eighty-seven acres, while the Kaimrig field is only twenty-five acres. The field* has never been manured since it was enclosed from the hill about seventy years ago excepting with some artificials for the turnips, and, as shown in the Preface, there is practically no cake fed on the farm. This field has far exceeded my utmost expectations, and is a most valuable practical illustration of what poor, wom-out land is capable of producing if you. clothe it with a deeply rooted turf which has been built up on a strong leguminous foundation of clover and kidney vetch. (From April 13th to July 23rd an average of two and a half ewes with double lambs were kept per acre, besides 20 rams for six weeks. From August 6th to November 1st an average of four ewes an acre. From November 1st to 20th an average of two ewes per acre. The field could have kept much more stock, but we always graze moderately the first year.)

Next to the Kaimrig lies the East Countridge field, now (1904) in turnips out of grass. Though for the last two years I had successfully grown on a small scale turnips without any manure, this is the first whole field in which I have had the moral courage to grow this crop without manure of any kind excepting turf. The results have been most satisfactory, and competent practical judges declare that the crop could not be surpassed. ( Note, 1907. Though I have proved from growing a splendid crop of turnips without any manure other than ploughed down turf, I do not recommend that, from climatic considerations, this should be generally attempted, because, though it would be quite successful in a favourable season, the crop would often require the stimulus of artificial manures to force the growth of the young plants.)

The Bank field, now (1904) four years old, shows a fine turf full of white clover, the presence of which in quantity is always a sign of a thriving pasture. According to my system, this field ought to have been ploughed up at the close of the year 1904, but the turf has been so good that the field has been left year after year in grass, and it is still (1907) unploughed (this is discussed early in this same Appendix).

Next to the Bank field is the Harewells field -- a steep stony field -- which shows results almost more remarkable than those obtained in the Inner Kaimrig -- a crop of hay (first year's grass) of about two tons an acre followed by a fine aftermath.

I desire to call particular attention to these four fields, for they illustrate the chief points of my system, and, by the results prove its value beyond all possibility of doubt. The beginning of the system, and indeed that on which it entirely rests, is illustrated by the Inner Kaimrig, which has produced a heavy crop of Leguminosae -- clovers and kidney vetch -- to feed the grasses sown with them, and thus form them into a rich turf. With the grasses and Leguminosae are the strong and deeply rooting chicory and burnet, which keep the soil open -- in other words, till and therefore aerate it continuously, till the turf is ploughed up, while the strong and profusely rooted yarrow adds at once to the value of the pasture and the health of the stock, and leaves behind a large store of vegetable matter. The continuation of the system is to be seen in the shape of the turnip crop in the East Countridge field; a further result of the rotation is illustrated in the Harewells field; while the ultimate result is shown in the four-year old pasture of the Bank field, which, as we have seen, will yield a fine and deeply rooted turf to commence again our rotation system. The cereals and potato crops are always good, and, indeed, the land is now so stored with humus that it is impossible to produce an inferior crop no matter what the character of the season may be; and we have had several seasons of extreme drought, and one at least (1903) of extreme wetness. For the convenience of the reader I may repeat that our rotation begins with turnips out of grass, oats, turnips, barley or oats with seeds, and then four or more years in grass according to circumstances. Though we have adopted this system, I find that there are in some cases practical objections to it in connection with the labour of the farm -- the system giving insufficient employment to the people at one time, and too much at another, but this may be obviated by beginning the rotation with oats instead of turnips in the case of one of the fields, or even all. I consider, however, that it is of importance to begin the system for the first time as regards each field with turnips, in order to get the land thoroughly clean. I may add that whatever minor disadvantages may arise from departing from our rotation -- turnips, oats, turnips, and barley or oats with seeds -- the great point of deeply filling the land with humus, and tilling it with the agency of roots, would still be maintained by using my, mixtures, and keeping the land four or more years in grass. These are the dominating points of the situation, and the order of the crops in the rotation is a matter of comparatively minor importance, though the reader must clearly understand that the best results can only be attained by a strict adherence to our system of rotation.

The Financial Results which may be Obtained from the System of Farming at Clifton-on-Bowmont

I have been often asked to publish the accounts of my farm. As I have no desire to mislead the farmer (an evil that might often ensue, as was pointed out to me lately by a tenant farmer of great experience), I prefer not to do so. In Chapter 8 I have given some general financial results regarding the system on which, I think, landlords should farm their own land. The object of my work is not to exhibit my skill as a stock farmer, or the want of it, as the case might be, but my skill in most economically producing cereals, potatoes, and food for stock -- in other words, the introduction of an improved farming system which is calculated to attain these ends. To mix this upwith the stock department of the farm would be to introduce an element of the greatest uncertainty, as it is an element which fluctuates all over these islands. Each farmer must observe what can be produced from the soil by my system of farming, and apply to the conditions of his; own holding my principles and system, with whatever modificationsmay be suitable to his climate and present circumstances. All that the farmer requires to do is to visit one of our young grass fields, in which he will always find a large crop of clover and kidney vetch, which is the indispensable base of the system. The steward carries a crop book of each field for the last twenty years, so that the visitor can see exactly what the field has been doing, and how it,has been treated. The steward also carries a seed book, showing costof seeds and the mixtures used, and the visitor can learn from the shepherd what stock the field has kept. This year (1904), for instance, the Inner Kaimrig -- twenty-five acres -- has kept as much sheep stock, or rather more than the grass fields aggregating eighty-seven acres of the adjacent farm which is much better land, by the way, but which is farmed on the old five-course system, and on which the generally used ryegrass and clover mixtures have been sown, and I have no doubt this is a difference that would pretty generally be found to prevail in Scotland. A reference to Rothamsted experimental field, devoted to the rotation of crops, will show him how all the subsequent crops are benefited by the manurial matter left behind from a large crop of the Legummosae, and for evidence of this he can see the turnips, four years old grass of fine quality, cereals, and potatoes, all grown without manure other than of the turf grown on the land, and only aided by the manure left by the sheep and the dung of lean cattle, which last is generally applied to the nearest fields to the steading, all the more distant fields having to depend solely on the turf grown on them. The quantity of cake used is so small that the farmer quoted in the preface considered it to be practically none. What the farmer could keep in the way of stock with the aid of such crops grown as cheaply as mine have been, and what he could make out of the cereals and potatoes, he must calculate for himself, with reference to his own surroundings, and no publication of all my profits could aid him, though it is just possible it might mislead him, seeing that, obviously, my results might be much worse or much better than a farmer could obtain who imitated my system. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, once said: 'If I show one corner of a subject to a man, and he cannot see the other three corners for himself, then I can do nothing with him.' In the same way it is only necessary for the farmer to visit one of my young grass fields, which are always full of Leguminosae, and if, after going into the cost of production, he cannot see for himself all the consequential results which must arise from such a field, then I can do nothing with or for him.

But there is another and most important financial point to be considered. Farming, like every other business, consists of a capital account and the profits that may be made out of capital. It is of obvious importance that stock should be carefully taken of the latter -- that it should be seen whether it is advancing, standing still, or declining. Landlords' capital mainly consists of soil, and the condition of the soil mainly depends on the amount of humus it contains. About 100 years ago Scottish agricultural capital was on a sound footing, because the system pursued maintained the humus of the soil (vide paper delivered at Cambridge, Appendix 9). It is in an unsound condition now, because from continuous liming and the use of artificial manures the humus of the soil has immensely declined (hence the numerous complaints of the exhaustion of the soil), and is declining steadily except in those rare cases where enough farmyard manure can be obtained to keep up the supply of humus. The object of my farming system at Clifton-on-Bowmont is to show how Scottish agriculture may be restored to its originally sound position -- not only to replace, but to steadily increase, the humus of the soil, and render the farmer, as he once was, independent of the use of artificial manures, though, as I have elsewhere pointed out, these mav still be used under certain circumstances to a moderate extent. In other words, my farming system is directed to restoring the capital of the landlord to its originally sound and safe position, to lessen the expenditure at present required by the tenant, and place all his crops in a safe position for contending at once against foreign competition and vicissitudes of climate. How these ends may be achieved most economically has been shown at Clifton-on-Bowmont, and our agriculture never can be restored to a sound condition unless the principles carried out there -- principles the soundness of which are admitted all the world over -- are universally adopted in these islands.

Professor Barnes, Trinity College, Dublin, writes:

'I have been using Kidney Vetch, Burnet, and Chicory in my laying-down mixtures for several years, and have not found either of the two former to be very deep-rooted. Kidney Vetch always did very well with me for the first year, but failed completely afterwards; and I have no doubt but that it will not last on a soil deficient in lime, as mine is. I have therefore given up using it. I have observed that in this country it never grows naturally except on limestone soils and on such I would certainly recommend its use. In many of Mr. Elliot's fields it looked very thin after the first year. As to Burnet, sheep are very fond of it, and eat it so closely that it never gets a chance of growing to any size, and therefore makes but little show in the herbage. Chicory is a very deep-rooted plant, and does well whether the soil be deficient in lime or not, and I use it extensively. I am using at present the following seed mixture for one year's meadow and two years' pasture:


xx	lb.
Cocksfoot	8
Perennial Ryegrass	6
Italian Ryegrass	3
Meadow Fescue	4
Tall Fescue	2
Tall Oat-Grass	2
Timothy	2
Rough-stalked Meadow Grass	2
Broad-leaved Red Clover	1
Perennial Red Clover	2
Alsike Clover	1
White Clover	2
Trefoil	1/2
Chicory	4-1/2
Total, 40 lb. per acre

'My soil is a gravelly loam, about ten inches deep and very dry. On stronger and moister land I would certainly include Meadow Foxtail in the mixture. I have a very high opinion as to the value and necessity of humus, but I think that where a soil is deficient in mineral ingredients, a moderate application of suitable artificials will expedite the production of the clovers and grasses, and therefore increase the quantity of humus in a shorter time than would otherwise be the case.'

The Purchase of Grass Seeds

It is most important that the farmer should buy his seeds separately and mix them at home, because a careful observer may then easily see if each kind of seed is either mixed with other grass seeds or with weed seeds, whereas if they are mixed by the seedsman, the purchaser cannot readily detect in the mixture either a greater proportion of the lower-priced seeds or weed seeds. It is important that the farmer should each year ascertain the current prices of seeds, so as to make up his mixture in the most economical way. Even a seed usually expensive may become in a particular season comparatively cheap. This for instance, was the case one year with Tall Fescue, and I therefore increased my order by several pounds per acre for it, and used less of another of the seeds of the mixture.

I have shown that the farmer should never purchase mixed seeds. it will be found that if he buys them mixed, he can always get them at a lower price than if they are bought separately and mixed at home, because in the former case a large supply of the cheaper kinds of seeds can be supplied in the mixture without much fear of detection, and a considerable proportion of weed seeds as well. It is a not uncommon practice of farmers to bid one seedsman against another, till a price is reached so low that no good seeds could be supplied for the money except at a loss to the vendor. The farmer then goes home happy and thinks he has done well, while in reality he has been swallowing the cow and choking on the tail -- the cow meaning his total expenditure on the land for rent, taxes, working, and other expenses, while he hesitates to swallow that tail which is necessary to complete. his transaction for the year, and for as many years afterwards as he wishes his land to be in grass. In other words, if he takes pains to see that he gets the best grass seeds, and mixes them at home, he may be certain of getting the best results from his labour and expenditure, while by putting down inferior seeds he is sure to be a comparative loser.

Comparison between the Turf from Old Pasture and that from Deep-Rooting Plants

If you, cut up and examine a turf from an old pasture it is very shallow as compared with a turf of only four years of age composed of the deep-rooting grasses and plants recommended in my mixtures.

The Mixing and Sowing of Grass Seeds at Clifton-on-Bowmont

The grass seed mixtures are usually sown at Clifton-on-Bowmont about the first week in May, on the growing oats or barley which, have been put in two or three weeks previously, and our success has been invariable. It will be remembered that Clifton-on-Bowmont farm (not including the hill pasture) is from 400 to 800 feet elevation, and is in a rather late district. It has been our practice to sow the grass and clover seeds all in one mixture, at one operation, using an eighteen-feet seed sower for the purpose. The same seed sower is also used for sowing barley and oats. The mixing of the seeds is done on a smooth cement floor. Each species of grass and clover seed, chicory, burnet, etc., is spread evenly on the floor, one kind above another, and then the whole is turned over with shovels several times, from side to side of the room, until the whole forms a perfect mixture. The mixture is then put into bags ready for sowing, care being taken not to allow the heavy seeds to settle, or be unequally apportioned.

The Work of the Board of Agriculture

1. In grants for agricultural, education and research the Board spends from £7,000 to £8,000 a year.

2. Nearly all the suggestions and experiments given in their reports tend to involve the farmer in some expenditure beyond what he at present incurs.

3. But, as a rule, farmers have no money to spare for any extra expenditure, and the few who have are afraid to risk it, as the outlay might be lost owing to defects.of season or a fall in prices.

4. It must, then, be clearly proved to the farmer that any suggestion made to him must yield distinct advantages, combined with a reduction in the present cost of production, and a diminution of risks as regards crops, stock, and from adverse seasons.

5. What is the essential basis of the highest agriculture? It is that the soil should contain a considerable proportion of vegetable matter in various stages of decay. It is this which gives the great value to virgin forest soils and to newly enclosed pasture lands.

6. But if, and when, this vegetable matter declines to a low level, which it, of course, soon does unless supplied in some way, then all the difficulties of agriculture begin. The plant is involved in them because its roots cannot, as a rule, readily penetrate soil which is not kept open by humus; the agriculturist, because he has to spend more money in cultivation and manure, and even then obtains results far inferior to those which can be obtained from a soil well supplied with humus, if the land is aided by a slight degree of cultivation and a very small expenditure in manure. Then when the land is deficient in humus, as nearly all our cultivated lands are, the risks from defective seasons increase, there is less food for stock, and plants are more liable to disease and to suffer from the attacks of insects.

7. With the great evil of defective soil conditions which underlies our agricultural difficulties the chemist cannot grapple, nor can all the education and experiments on which the Board spends from £7,000 to £8,000 a year.

8. On the Clifton-on-Bowmont farm I have grappled with our agricultural difficulties as to system (though improvements are yet to be made before it can be brought to perfection), but, so far as the public is concerned, I have only grappled with them on paper.

9. From the numerous mistakes liable to be made in working the system, and in matters which, though to the uninitiated apparently trifling, largely influence results, I feel sure that much disappointment and loss must ensue unless those desirous of adopting my system have opportunities of studying it in the field in all its details, and are practically shown the importance of carefully attending to them.

10. For the general adoption of the system three things are absolutely necessary:

1. That farmers should be able to study the details of my system on a farm conducted as mine has been, on a system that is within reach of any ordinary farmer;
2. that he should have the financial results clearly proved to him; and
3. that seedsmen should be compelled by Act of Parliament to guarantee the purity, trueness, and germinating power of the seeds they sell.

11. From studying Arthur Young's great unpublished work, and observing, from other sources of information, what valuable experiences and discoveries have been gradually lost sight of from the inertness of our Government in failing to record, and practically illustrate by demonstration farms, facts of the greatest value to agriculture, I feel confident that the views I have above expressed are sound.

12. From the numerous visitors to Clifton-on-Bowmont I have received most gratifying opinions as to the value of my work. An agriculturist, whose opinion I highly value, in writing to me lately, said: 'What I saw the other day convinces me that you have revolutionized the methods hitherto pursued, proved to the hilt that the old are very inferior in results to those you advocate, and I cannot but believe that sooner or later -- the old dies hard -- what you have so persistently laboured at will be generally adopted.'

13. Though work on the lines of the Board, as shown in their reports, cannot accomplish the ends indicated in par. 10, I by no means wish the reader to infer that the work of the Board is of little value. All that I wish to insist on is that it never can be of the value that it might be unless it is accompanied by practical examples like those on my Clifton-on-Bowmont farm -- examples which show how agricultural improvements may be carried out, in some cases without additional cost, and in others with a considerable saving of the expenditure at present incurred.

Concluding Remarks

When visiting Clifton-on-Bowmont one day with an intelligent gardener, I remarked: 'Is it not wonderful to see such a fine crop grown on such poor soil?' He replied: 'Give me a good turf, and I don't care what the soil underneath it is' -- a point he practically illustrated as to the value of turf by robbing my park of it whenever he could, though he had full command of all kinds of manures. I may remind the reader here of the quotation on the title page, where it is declared that 'TO RAISE A THICK TURF ON A NAKED SOIL WOULD BE WORTH VOLUMES OF SYSTEMATIC KNOWLEDGE.' This is what has been done at Clifton-on-Bowmont. In little more than two years we can now raise a turf which, at a little distance, looks like old pasture, and on a close inspection might be taken for five-year-old grass, while in five years we have grown pasture that no one could distinguish from old grass. I much regret not having kept note of the remarks made by agriculturists to the amount of one hundred a year -- who have visited the farm. On remarking to a visitor that some of them had said that what they saw had been a revelation to them, he said: 'And it is a revelation to me too.' When lately showing an old agriculturist from East Lothian the Kaimrig field (vide Chapter 3) he finally observed with a strange mixture of wonder and annoyance in his face: 'We have been like children.' In some instances we have certainly trebled the letting value of the land. Dr. Voelcker (chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society of England) remarked when visiting the farm in 1904 that I should have kept in each field an untouched patch to show what the land originally was, for that it was now difficult to believe how bad it had been. What the tenant who had for long occupied the farm declared to be the worst field on it is now so changed that farmers will not believe in its ever having been bad land. But just as land of originally good quality, when mixed with a suitable proportion of vegetable matter, may be turned into the worst possible land when this necessary agent has been exhausted, so may the very worst land be raised to the value of good if you 'raise a thick turf on the naked soil', and if we keep on raising another before the preceding one has been exhausted we shall have done all we can to promote the fertility of the soil, and, therefore, the condition of agriculture. I once said to an old tenant on the estate: 'How much more stock can you keep on your young grass fields since you have adopted my advice as to altering your grasses?' 'I can keep', he said, 'one-third more stock,' which, I need hardly say, doubles the value of the land. 'Now,' I said, 'I wish to ask you another question. Did you not at one time consider me to be (the fate of most innovators at first) a madman?' He laughed heartily, wagged his head from side to side, and said, 'Oh, no, no, no!' but in a tone which meant 'Yes, yes, yes!' It may not be uninteresting to mention that it was a remark made by this tenant which led to much of the valuable results we have arrived at. He once said to me, many years ago: 'What we want is something green and sappy to go with these grasses when they dry up in summer.' 'You want, then,' I remarked, 'something which corresponds to the dry grass as turnips do to hay.' 'That's just it,' he replied. I then sent to Mr. James Hunter, of Chester, for a list of all those plants which stock would eat, and which would not dry up in summer, and my subsequent study of the consequential results arising from their use showed me their immense value in at once tilling the soil, adding to our stores of reliable food for stock, deeply manuring the land, and improving the health of crops and stock.

One word more. There are large areas of land in these islands steadily going from bad to worse. They are not suitable for permanent pasture, and still less are they suited at present prices for profltable arable cultivation under the old system. Much of what is still kept in arable is steadily declining in value, and no wonder, for, to quote again my late friend, Mr. Faunce de Laune, 'farming, as it is practised now, is more often the means of destroying natural fertility' -- he means by running out all the vegetable matter in the soil -- 'than adding to it, and it is therefore no wonder that the land becomes impoverished.' From the impoverishment of the soil, and large areas being allowed to what is called 'fall down' to profitless pasture, cottages are being rapidly emptied, and the whole conditions and prospects of our agriculture are most unsatisfactory. How this condition of things may be ameliorated I have shown in these pages. It now only remains for the Government to propagate what I have eventually, after many years of labour, proved to the hilt.

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Next: Appendix 4

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