A Gentleman, who fome Years fince bought an Estate in Worcestershire, was, as I am inform'd, the first who made ufe of Coal-Afhes to mend his Ground in that County; he had Courage enough to withstand the Ridicule of the Country People, till his Crops open'd their Eyes, and fince that, his Method is become the common Practice with extraordinary Succefs. But before I enter upon his Method of proceeding, it may not be amifs to obferve, that the Farmers of Worcestershire were us'd to practise that Way with their Land before his Time, which is call'd Devonshireing, which is by cutting off the Turf or Surface with a Breaft-Plough, and laying it in Heaps over large Faggots of Furze, and fetting the Furze on Fire in order to reduce the Turf to Afhes; by this Means a great Part of the Turf is burnt, but the whole Heap is never fo entirely mellow'd by fuch Fires, but that fome Turfs are left untouch'd, so that they must be afterwards broken to Pieces by fome Inftrument: This they afterwards fpread over their Land, and plough'd it in to fow Corn upon.

The Gentleman I speak of, which began the Improvement, had upon his Estate several Coal-Pits, and a Parcel of Land over-grown with Furze-Bushes, so that he wanted not for Materials to burn his Turf without extraordinary Charge, and fo thoroughly, that one of his Heaps would make twice as much good Mold, as the Farmers had in one of theirs.

He had several Coal-Mines upon his Estate, and found there great Heaps of the smaller dufty Coal, round the Openings or Mouths of the Pits; this he refolv'd to use upon his Land,

in Order to burn it to better Purpose than his Neighbours did with Furze alone; and therefore inftead of making large Faggots of Furze, he only made small Brushes, big enough to fet the Heaps of Coal and Earth on Fire; thus having prepar'd a fufficient Number of Brushes, he cut up the Turf, and made his Heaps of Earth and Coal in Lines, about four Feet Diftance from each other, and to every Heap put one Brush only. When these Heaps were well confum'd, he began to plough along the Sides of these Heaps, till he had plough'd to a fecond Row of Heaps, and then spread one Row of Heaps upon the fresh plough'd Land, and so on till he had plough'd over his whole Ground; then with a Breast-Plow, he mix'd this fine Mixture with the Earth, and fow'd Wheat upon it, which prov'd fo extraordinary a Crop, that all the Farmers in his Neighbourhood follow'd his Example; and by this Practice, his Land which was at his first coming to it, worth hardly ten Shillings per Acre, is now worth two Pound per Acre.

Confidering that the fmall dufty Coal is efteem'd as nothing worth, and thrown away in the Coal Countries at prefent; this Hint may not be differviceable to the Farmers in fuch Places.

The following Letter feems to come from Farnham, or thereabouts, as I guess from fome Remarks which I have receiv'd, written in the fame Hand, and alfo from the Nature of the Soil mention'd in this. And as it relates to the Improvement of light Land, by Brining of Corn, I think it very neceffary to infert it, with a few Remarks.

To

Inding by your Treatifes upon Husbandry and Gardening, that you difdain not to accept of the leaft, Hints upon thofe Subjects, I thought it would not be taken ill if I fhould drop in my Mite.

A fort of a Chymift came down to these Parts fome Years ago, to teach us a Dreffing for Corn, by the Way of Brining; which ap plied to Wheat, or Barley, would, as he said, make the poorest Ground bear a Crop continually, and fo rank, as that a Peck of Wheat lefs, per Bufhel, would fow an Acre. Which fome Gentlemen in this Neighbourhood tried with Success for two Years; but the Undertaker came into these Parts no more, and, by what I find, he could not afford to drefs the Corn any longer at that Price, which was but ten Shillings per Acre; whereas, had he demanded twenty, those who have large Farms, with much light Ground, would have been glad of fuch a Dreffing, for those Grounds which lay at fuch Distance, that the very carrying out their Dung thither, would have stood them in as much.

In our Conference upon this Matter, I guess, that he drefs'd with Oyl, alledging the Authority of Virgil:

Et nitro prius, & nigra perfundere amurca.

But we must confider that Advice to have been calculated for a Country where thefe, Faces are cheap. But what is the Quantity proper for each Grain, and whether it fhould be fimple or mix'd, to make the Corn imbibe it, and at what Price to be purchased by thofe who have Ufe for a Quantity, I leave to the Curious to enquire; and fhall only add, that if fuch a Brining could be brought to Perfection, fo as to anfwer the Defign at Twenty Shillings per Acre, it would, for all the light Grounds in home Countries, be the moft beneficial Improvement that has been found out in t thefe later Ages, and particularly to him who could keep the Arcanum to himself fo as to have the Monopoly. If you do think it merits to be inferted amongst your Ingenious Discoveries, I wifh our Country the Benefit of it, and you, Sir, the Credit; and am,

SIR,

Yours, &c.

T. S.

In anfwer to this Letter, I fhall take Occafion to obferve, that in the common Way of Sowing Corn, our Farmers always allow too much Seed: The Grains are laid fo near to one another, that light Land cannot nourish them when they grow up; fo that for to allow a Peck lefs in every Bufhel, is but reasonable, and then there will be more Nourishment for every Grain, and every Plant confequently will have more Stalks and more Ears, and the Grains will be better furnish'd. I have try'd feveral Brinings for Corn, and one of them fucceeds fo well, that I have had many Roots that have produced upwards of one hundred Stalks apiece, especially about the Skirts or Outfide of the Ground; the Grains were laid about fix Inches apart, and eat down by Sheep; and here I may obferve that twenty Shillings per Acre will more than pay for the Brining.

CHAP.