as generally useful as any. To have good crops,' M. Duhamel obferves, it is not enough to have plowed the land well, but it is alfo requifite it fhould be enriched by good manures. These are diftinguished into three forts;

1. Manures obtained from the mineral kingdom. 2. Manures produced from vegetables.

3. Manures to be got from animal fubftances.

Under the first clafs, he enumerates, 1. All forts of fresh earths.-2. The scourings of ponds, efpecially if frequented by cattle.-3. Sand, though in itself barren, is proper to make clayey foils fit for plowing, and for nourishing grain, either by diminishing their tenacity, or by opening paffages for the water and fun-beams.-4. Quick-lime enriches land, but is not proper for very light foils.-5. Light lands may be mended with clay; but all clays are not proper for this purpofe: the best way to diftinguish them is to make a trial on a fmall fpot of ground. Clay fhould be dug two years before it is fpread upon land, that it may be mellowed by the influence of the atmosphere, frofts, &c.-6. Marl is an excellent manure; but is a treasure not to be found on every eftate. This manure does not fully disclose its virtue till the third year after it has lain upon land, though fome difference may be perceived in the second; but then it continues in vigour till the twelfth or fifteenth year; after which its virtue gradually decreafes. Marl is beft fuited to cold moist lands, or damp meadows; but by no means agrees with fuch as are naturally too dry.-7. Foffil-fhells spread on land, enrich it much. The good effects of this manure are visible the first year, and its virtue lafts five or fix. It is particularly adapted to strong foils.-8. Peat-afhes, are good for either grafs or corn; the virtue of which manure will be vifible two or three years.-9. Coal-afhes are alfo a very good manure for paftures; but turf-afhes are fuperior.

Under the fecond clafs of manures, he mentions the great benefits of artificial paftures; and fays, if you have a field to which it would be troublesome to carry manure, it is only neceffary to fow it with faintfoin or lucerne, which will yield plenty of hay for seven or eight years. The land being for that time refted and enriched with the leaves and young branches that will have rotted on it, will be in a condition of yielding,' he says, 'feveral as good crops as if it had even been dunged.'-[Here we muft beg leave to diffent a little from M. Duhamel; as we think the mowing plenty of hay from a piece of ground, for feven or eight years together, without giving it' any other affiftance befides the leaves and young branches which may chance to rot on it, will be the moft ready way to impove

rish it.]-There is, however, he says, another method [which] indeed bids fairer for fuccefs] of enriching land by its own produce. Sow buck-wheat, tares, clover, beans, and other fucculent plants; which, if plowed in, when nearly at their full growth, and about to bloffom, will ferve as a manure.-In this way turnips are of wonderful efficacy; efpecially if eat upon the ground by fheep, whofe dung will contribute to its farther improvement.-Rotten plants are a good manure, and there are feveral methods of difpofing them to putrefaction. Some cut rushes, heath, &c. whilft green; then fpread them with stubble or damaged ftraw, in hollow ways, where the mud is collected, and in ftreets where cattle pafs; and when half rotted, the whole may be ufed upon the land, to good advantage, efpecially if mixed with dung.-In Bretagne, where ftraw is scarce, and dung more fo, they make heaps, composed of a layer of rushes and another of turf alternately. These heaps remain eighteen months or two years expofed to all weathers; when the vegetable matter rots, and the whole mixture makes a good manure. He concludes this fection with mentioning some subftances, which may be of fervice where plentiful.-1. Ashes of vegetables of any kind.-2. Soot, which has a wonderful effect on paftures.-3. Buck, or foap-boilers afhes have a good effect on meadows.-4. Tanners bark; or, 5. Saw-duft, may be ufed, mixed with dung or afhes.-6. Hufks of grapes, in wine countries, or the preffings of apples in cyder countries, do well with dung.-7. The leaves of trees and the cuttings of hedges would be good manure, if they were not made ufe of as fodder for cattle.-[If this is the cafe, where M. Duhamel refides, we cannot help thinking there is great occafion for the exercife of all his talents, for the improvement of agricul ture, in a country, where the cattle are to be fed as above. Artificial pafture would, certainly, there be of the greatest service.]-8. The cakes of linfeed, colefeed, &c. after the oilhas been extracted, are excellent manure, when ground into powder:-and fo are, 9. All kinds of fea-wreck, the algas, &, when rotted with dung, or burnt for afhes.

The laft class of manures, from animal fubftances, is compofed of the flesh of dead animals, or the cleanfings of flaughterhoufes, &c. which greatly enrich land; as do alfo the fhavings of horn, &c. as well as cuttings of parchment or leather. Near the fea, the fhells of fish are of good fervice.- But the moft common manure is fupplied by the excrements of animals, of various forts; and particularly the yard-dung, which comprehends the litter ufed under the horses, cows, &c.-The. cuftom of folding fheep on land defigned for wheat is excellent, though not enough attended to.-With regard to the ma

nagement

nagement of the yard-dung, M. Duhamel advises that of horfes and cows to be mixed together; as the latter will enrich the former, from which, in return, it receives fo much heat as may be neceffary to promote a fermentation. It is proper, he adds, to put the dung in a moift place, that it may the fooner rot; but no great quantity of water fhould be collected in the dung-hole, because too much water prevents any thing from decaying and particular care fhould be taken that no water runs from the dung-holes; for, having washed the ftraw, it will carry off the excrementary part, which is principally ufeful for vegetation. When the litter is partly rotted in the ftercorary, he advifes it to be taken out, and laid in a heap, fhaded from the fun. This heap fhould be compofed of layers of dung and ftreet-dirt, or the like, alternately; which will thus become excellent manure. The whole will be much improved, if the urine of the cattle be conveyed from the ftables, &c. in gutters to the ftercorary; or it may be received in cifterns, and from thence carried out upon the land; the good effect of which method, is faid to be very extraordinary. This chapter is concluded by the following obfervations upon the probable operations of manures, though without determining which are moft fo. For, though the advantages accruing from dung and rotten vegetables are too well known to be called in question; yet, he fays, it is not known whether they operate by detaining the moisture that is abfolutely neceffary to vegetation; -by loosening the particles of foils that are too compact, that the roots may have power to extend ;-by exciting in the bofom of the earth a fort of fermentation, by means of the fat and oily matters they contain, a fermentation which affists that kind of digeftion by which the nutritive juice of plants is prepared in the earth;-or, finally, whether fome parts of dung, either oil or volatile falts, do not enter by way of food into the fubftance of plants. It is then neceflary always to stick to facts, and reafon by experience.'

Book III. treats of the diftempers of grain, and the remedies that may be made use of to guard against many of them.

Book IV. is upon the subject of getting in grain: previous to which, we have fome general obfervations on harvest, as, 1. The neceffary preparation; 2. The proper feafon; 3. The manner of cutting the corn.Under this last head, we meet with a curious extract from a paper of M. de Lille, on the mowing of wheat. But as the fubftance of this paper has been already retailed to the public in feveral of the magazines, and elsewhere, we shall content ourselves with laying before our Readers an important remark made by M. de Lille on the pof

ture

ture of the mower *. In mowing grafs and oats, he observes, the mower traces two parallel lines with his feet, which he moves forward alternately to every ftroke of the fcythe. [But] in mowing corn, the mower's path fhould be only traced in a fingle line; because he fhould step one foot before the other, in fuch a manner, as that the left foot which is behind, fhould, as it were, drive the right foot forward; a posture fomething like that we put ourselves in, when, foil in hand, we are about to fence.'

The reafon for this difference of pofture was difcovered by an accident. M. de Lille employed for mowing his wheat feven workmen that came to mow his oats. The third day of working five of them were taken ill, and replaced by three others; but this occafioned his having ten fick men at the end of the week. He vifited thefe workmen, and enquired into their diforder; fome were feverish; but all complained of exceffive pains in their left fides. At first he thought they were all feized with the pleurify; but afterwards finding reason to conclude their diforder to be only a cramp; he prefcribed reft, as the propereft remedy.- -The next day obferving 'two mowers at work on his cornt, he went towards them, and faw that their pofture was the fame as in mowing oats. He exclaimed at this aukwardnefs, which he immediately faw was the cause of the firft mowers illness.'He then took one of their feythes, and putting himself in a pofture as if he was going to mow oats, demonftrated to them, that having, in mowing wheat, a much greater weight to carry on the scythe, it required a very painful inflection of the body to bear the corn to the left. He then put himself in the pofture he had observed in fome Flemifhment, who had worked for him the preceding. year, and showed that this was the most proper attitude for a man to exert his whole ftrength, the fway of his body, from the right to the left, helping him to bear the weight of the corn without any stress on his fides. The man took his fcythe again, and, having tried this new method, was convinced that it was right. This circumftance is related as a demonftration that

We are willing to hope that this remark will be recommended,. by fuch of our Readers as may have an opportunity of doing it, at the approaching harvest; when it may be a means of preferving eafe and health to many a laborious workman, if generally adopted, as it seems to deferve.

This is the first time we have seen a distinction made between oats and corn; by what follows, however, we presume the Author meant to have wrote wheat, inftead of corn.

Who lepped, as above described, with one foot before the other, fo as to trace only a fingle line with both feet.

the

the strongest and most robuft workman cannot long ftand to this work of mowing wheat, if he attempts doing it in the manner in which oats are mowed.

In order to promote the practice of mowing wheat, M. de Lille next enumerates the advantages which this method has, preferably to that of reaping. 1. The work is cafier, and lefsfatiguing; 2. is more expeditious; 3. requires fewer hands; 4. employs lads, old women, and men almoft paft labour, in fome parts of the work, as gathering the corn, &c. 5. the quantity of ftraw is increased, and the fodder rendered more valuable, by the grafs being mowed up therewith; 6. the grafs of mowed fields grows again, and affords excellent pasture after harveft, to milk-cows in particular. Hence it follows, that a farmer can keep more cattle; faves his hay, and makes a greater quantity of dung; from whence arifes a fuccefs, almoft incredible.An objection, indeed, has been made, that in a rainy year mowed wheats will fooner sprout than others;-but, we are told, there is a very good and eafy way of guarding againft that accident, by only difpofing the gavels [fheaves] in a triangular form; fo that the head of one gavel may lay on the foot of another. This method is neither tedious nor tiresome ; to be done quickly, it only requires a little dexterity in closing the triangle; the foot of the third gavel may ferve as a bolster for the head of the firft.' We are then told, that the rain in the harvest of 1756 was very troublefome; that a great deal of corn sprouted: but that what was laid in this manner did not. -The laft chapter of this book treats of houfing and dreffing

corn.

Book V. treats of the prefervation of grain, and affords many ufeful directions for that purpose.

Book VI. gives us the principles and advantages of the new hufbandry; the general principles of which, we are told, may be reduced to two principal objects ;-frequent tillage*, and the faving of feed.The advantages of frequent tillage may ap pear from hence; Let land be ever fo well cultivated in autumn, when wheat is fowed, it finks in the winter: the particles get nearer together, and the weeds get up, which rob the corn of its nourishment; infomuch, that when the winter is over, the land is nearly in the fame condition as if it had never been plowed. It is, however, at this time that the corn fhould branch and grow with moft vigour. It is then in fpring that plants

*Though the word tillage properly fignifies, as here, the culture on firring of land by inftruments, in contradiftinction to manure; yet in fome counties tillage is underfood to mean manure itself; and is frequently ufed in that improper fenfe.