niences must be submitted to in adverse seasons, because I would change my mode of culture to suit the season.* Instead of practising questionable modes of culture, after the land had received a good furrow before winter, I would decline harrowing, and immediately drill it in spring with even one horse, which would be quite able to make such a drill as would cover the beans sown by the barrow; and both land and seed might remain in this state for some time without harm. This plan possesses the farther advantage of being in time even after the oatseed is finished, as the land will require no harrowing to lighten the earth upon the seed, which is no more than covered; and the seed, being so situate, will vegetate 14 days earlier than if it had been ploughed with the ordinary furrow. When dry weather ensues, the land may be worked to advantage, while the crop is growing. Such an expedient may be adopted on land suitable for beans and in clean condition, rather than the crop should be mistimed. 2450. It was an observation of the late De Candolle, that "it is remarkable that the botani cal character of the Leguminosa should so strictly agree with the properties of their seeds. The latter may be divided into two sections, namely, the first Sarcoloba, or those of which the cotyledons are thick, and filled with fecula, and destitute of cortical pores, and which, moreover, in germination do not undergo any change, but nourish the young plant by means of that supply of food which they already contain; second, the Phylloloba, or those of which the cotyledons are thin, with very little fecula, and furnished with cortical pores, which change at once into leaves at the time of germination, for the purpose of elaborating food for the young plant. All the seeds of the sarcoloba are used as food in different countries, and none of those of phylloloba are ever so employed." 2451. The ancient Greeks had some strange notions regarding the properties of the bean. Thus Didymus the Alexandrian says, "Do not plant beans near the roots of a tree, lest the tree be dried. That they may boil well, sprinkle water with nitre over them. Physicians, indeed, say that beans make the persons that eat them heavy ; they also think that they prevent night dreams, for they are flatulent. They likewise say, that domestic fowls that always eat them become barren. Pythagoras also says that you must not eat beans, because there are found in the flower of the plant inauspicious letters. They also say that a bean that has been eroded becomes whole again at the increase of the moon: that it will by no means be boiled in salt water, nor, consequently, in sea-water," &c. + extent than they were some years ago, the change being effected partly from peameal having become less an article of food of the labouring population, and partly from a nicer sense of cleanly culture entertained by our farmers. It is a matter of general observation, that annual weeds are much encouraged in growth amongst pease; and the pea being a precarious crop, yielding a small return of grain, except in fine warm seasons, the mere circumstance of a good crop of straw is insufficient to afford remuneration for a scanty crop of grain, accompanied with a foul state of land. Hence turnips have been generally substituted for the pea. 2453. The pea, for a long period, was only sown broadcast; but seeing their tendency to protect weeds, and observing it was conjectured that pease sown in drills that drill-culture rendered the land clean, would admit of the land being cleansed in the intervals. In practice, however, it was found that the straw by its rapid growth soon creeps along the ground, and prevents the use of the weeding instruments. 2454. But the more common practice now is to sow pease and beans together, their seasons of growth coinciding. The stems of the bean serve as stakes to support the bines of the pea. The proportion the pea bears to the bean when thus mixed, is as 1 to 3, or sometimes only as many pease are sown as their straw shall serve to make bands to bind the beans in sheaves at harvest. 2455. It is somehow considered of little moment how the land shall be ploughed when the pea is to be sown by itself. Sometimes only one furrow after the stubble is given; and when the land is tender, and pretty clean, a sufficient tilth may be raised in this manner to cover the seed, which requires neither a deep soil for its roots, which are fibrous and spreading near the surface, nor a deep covering of earth above them, 2 inches sufficing for the purpose. But the single furrow does no justice to the land, whatever it may do for the crop. The land should certainly 2452. Pease are sown to a much less receive one furrow at least in spring, after ON THE SOWIng of pease. * Brown On Rural Affairs, vol. ii. p. 57-59. + Owen's Geoponika, vol. i. p. 82. the winter furrow; and that furrow may either be a double drilling or an ordinary furrow, according to the mode of culture adopted, or it should receive at least a close grubbing. 2456. Pease are sown by hand when cultivated broadcast, and with the barrow when in rows, in every third, or more commonly in every furrow. When sown with beans, they are deposited by a barrow; when sown on drilled land by the hand, the seed falls to the bottom of the drills, and is covered by the harrows being made to pass across the drills. 2457. Like beans, pease are sown on ploughed lea in some parts of England. In Scotland, the farmers know their interest better than to bestow good grass land, which will yield a luxuriant crop of oats, on so generally thriftless a crop as the field-pea. On lea, the pea is dibbled in on the face of a flat lea furrow-slice, the holes being placed about 9 inches asunder. When varieties of the white pea are cultivated in the field, as in the southern counties of England, these various modes of sowing them by themselves may deserve attention; and also in the neighbourhood of large towns, where the garden pea may be cultivated in the field, and sent in a green state to the vegetable market; but in other respects they are inferior to raising them in company with the bean. 2458. Since the pea can be cultivated along with the bean, it can grow on strong soils; and its spreading roots enable it to grow on thin clays, where the bean does not thrive. The pea thrives best on light soils. In clay, it produces large bulk of straw, and the production of grain depends on the season being dry and warm; and as these are not the usual characteristics of our climate, the probability agrees with the fact that the pea yields but an indifferent crop. On light soils, its straw being scanty, though the yield of grain is large in proportion, it is not usually prolific. Sir John Sinclair states that the pea does not yield a crop above once in ten years.* 2459. Dung is never given to the pea when sown by itself, it having the effect of producing much straw and little grain. 2460. Of the varieties of the field-pea I have shown one, the partridge gray pea, in fig. 190. It is suited to light soils, and late situations, and is considered of excellent quality, and prolific when the crop is full. It is superseding the gray Hastings, which were sown in similar circumstances. The pea least adapted to clay soils, and late in ripening, is the common gray pea, which, taking the same time to ripen its seed as the bean, is suited to sow with the bean, when both sorts of grain are cultivated together. Its haulm is considered excellent fodder, better than that of the early varieties. 2461. Pease are sown thick, 4 bushels per acre being the common allowance when sown in rows and drills, and 4 bushels when sown broadcast. 2462. When pease and beans are reaped together, they are separated when thrashed simply by riddling, the peas passing through the meshes of the riddle, while the beans are left on the riddle. 2463. Many varieties of the garden pea are cultivated in the field in the neighbourhood of large towns, for the supply of the vegetable market. This species of culture is chiefly conducted in the neighbourhood of Loudon, and in the counties of Middlesex, Kent, and Suffolk. The early Charlton pea has long been in cultivation and is prolific. The pearl, and blue and white Prussian pease are very prolific. The Carolina, blue scimitar, and blue and green tall and dwarf imperial are also good. It is a pity that the Danzig pea yields so poorly in this country, for a more beautifully round, small, bright yellow coloured, transparent pea cannot be imagined. It is imported, however, for splitting and boiling whole. ON THE SOWING OF TARES. 2464. As it is very desirable to have tares ready for cutting as a forage crop for horses in the time of harvest, and as * Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, p. 384. harvest may be early in any season, it is prudent to sow early a small extent of ground with tares; and although the harvest may be delayed longer than expected, and it continue longer than will allow the horses to enjoy the tares before they have become too old, the crop will nevertheless not be lost, as the pigs will be delighted to eat them, when confined in the courts before and during the harvest. 2465. For this reason, tares should be sown as early as the beginning of March, and successive sowings should take place until May, when the crop will continue until the commencement of the consumption of the turnip. In doing this, it should be borne in mind, that the periods of cutting will approach nearer each other, as the sowings approach the summer; so that the farther the season advances, the greater intervals of time should elapse between the sowings, and the larger the space of ground sown at each time. 2466. Tares thrive admirably well on all kinds of soils, and on ploughed lea without even manure; but, in this case, it should be remembered that it displaces an equal extent of the oat crop-an undesirable competition, if carried to the extent of several acres. 2467. They will also grow well upon the unoccupied ground or fallow break, but not without manure. The manure may be spread upon and ploughed down with the stubble in autumn; but if the manuring is delayed till the spring, the culture is precisely that of the pea when sown broadcast. 2468. Tares are almost always sown broadcast; and as the plant, when growing healthily, is succulent and unable to support itself, a few oats are mixed with the seed, whose stems serve to support the bines of the tare. The Hopetoun oat is the best for this purpose, as possessing the strongest stem; and next to it is the potato oat. Wheat could support the tare better than even the oat; but stock dislike wheat when mown as forage, so that the plant would be wasted, whereas the oat plant is a pleasant forage. and 1 bushel of oats per acre will suffice for seed when the land is good, and has been well manured; but on a light soil, though manured, from 2 to 24 bushels per acre will be required of the tare, the plant not growing there so rank and strong. When sown alone, which some farmers prefer, from 3 to 4 bushels of seed will be required per acre. I have seen a large proportion of a crop of tares destroyed by rotting on the ground, when too thickly sown, in a season that happened to be moist and warm; and therefore a sprinkling of oats sown amongst them is a wise precaution to support the crop and prevent the rotting. 2470. Tares are cultivated for seed as well as forage, and the culture, as far as the soil is concerned, is quite the same. It is recommended to sow beans amongst tares intended for seed, to afford them support in climbing; and the proportion the beans should bear to the tares is as l to 4 of measure of the seed. Tares for seed are also cultivated with the bean, sowing the tares in the proportion of 1 to 4 of beans in measure. The tares are easily separated from the beans by riddling. Tares intended for seed should be sown as early in spring as the state of the land will permit the work to proceed. Both the pigeon and poultry are fond of the seed of the tare. 2471. The tare belongs to the natural order of Leguminosa, of the system of Jussieu; the order and class Diadelphia Decandria of Linnæus; and in sub-class iii. Perigynous Exogens; alliance 42, Rosales; order 209, Fabiacea; tribe 3, Vicia of the natural system of Lindley. The cultivated tare or vetch is named Vicia sativa. In the wild state it is a native of Europe, in corn or cultivated fields; plentiful in Britain; also in North America, about Fort Vancouver. Flower purple. This is a very variable plant in the form of the leaflets, in the size of the stems, and in the colour and size of the seeds. The Vicia Narbonensis, Narbonne vetch, and the Vicia serratifolia, serrate-leafleted vetch, are cultivated on the Continent. Dr Anderson has recommended the culture of the Vicia sepium, hedgevetch; and a writer in the Bath Papers advocates that of the Vicia cracca, tufted vetch. All these are eminently beautiful native plants, but are too tiny in the leaf and attenuated in the stem to render them probably profitable in cultivation. There are 108 described species of Vicia a name said to be derived from vincio, to bind together, because the species have tendrils by which they bind themselves to other 2469. From 1 to 2 bushels of tares plants. VOL. I. 20 2472. The white-flowered or Hopetoun tare, Vicia sativa, flore albo, is a variety of tare which "bids fair," as Mr Lawson says, "in a short time to supersede the old summer tare. It was selected from a field a few seasons since by Mr Patrick Sheriff, late of Mungoswells, EastLothian, the originator of the Hopetoun oat, and several other improved varieties of cereal grains, who, in the beginning of winter 1838, kindly sent to the Highland and Agricultural Society's Museum about 12 seeds of this new vetch, several of which were sown the following spring; and the produce, both in seeds and bulk of haulm, compared with any of the other varieties which were grown alongside, was fully double. Its seeds are of a light bluish or green colour, and possess little of the strong taste peculiar to the common tare; so that, in addition to its other properties, these may become at least useful with the white-seeded variety, or Canadian lentil, for culinary purposes.” * ON THE ROLLING OF LAND. 2473. The common land-roller is an implement of great simplicity of construction, the acting part of it being a cylinder of wood, of stone, or of metal. Simple as this implement appears, there is hardly an article of the farm in which the farmer is more liable to fall into error in its selection. From the nature of its action, and its intended effects on the soil, there are two elements that should be particularly kept in view-weight and diameter of the cylinder. By the former alone can the desired effects be produced in the highest degree, but these will be always modified by the diameter. Thus, a cylinder of any given weight will produce a greater pulverising effect if its diameter is one foot, than the same weight would produce if the diameter were two feet; but then the one of lesser diameter will be much worse to draw; hence it becomes necessary to choose a mean of these opposing principles. In doing this, the material of the cylinder comes to be considered. Wood, which is frequently employed for the formation of land-rollers, may be considered as least adapted of all materials for the purpose; its deficiency of weight and liability to decay renders it the most objectionable of all others. Stone, though not deficient in weight, possesses one marked disadvantage, liability to fracture; this of itself is sufficient to place stone rollers in a doubtful position as to fitness. This brings us to cast-iron, which is undoubtedly the most appropriate of all materials for this purpose. It is unnecessary here to enter into the inquiry as to the most advantageous diameter for a land-roller; the subject has already been elaborately discussed: + let it suffice to say, that experience has proved that a diameter of 2 feet is, under any circumstances, the one that will produce the best effects with a minimum of labour from the animals of draught; the weight being of course proportioned to the force usually applied, which is in general 2 horses. The weight of roller, including the frame corresponding to this, is from 12 to 15 cwt.; but it is better that the roller itself be rather under the weight, and that the carriage be fitted up with a box, in which a loading of stones can be stowed, to bring the machine up to any desired weight. Such a box is besides useful in affording the means of carrying off from the surface of the ground any large stones that may have been brought to the surface by the previous operations. In a large and heavy roller, in one entire cylinder, the inconvenience of turning at the headlands is very considerable, and has given rise to the improvement of having the cylinder in two lengths; this, with a properly constructed carriage, produces the land-roller in its most perfect form. 2474. Fig. 222 is a perspective of the land-roller constructed on the foregoing principles: is the carriage-frame, crossed by the horse-shafts b. The cylinder c is in 2 lengths of 3 feet to 3 feet 3 inches each, and 2 feet in diameter; the thickness of the metal is according to the weight required. The axle, in consequence of the cylinder being in two lengths, requires to be of considerable strength, and of malleable iron; upon this the two sections of the cylinder revolve freely, and the extremities of the axle are supported in bushes in the semicircular end-frames. Two iron stay-rods pass from the end frames to the shafts as an additional support to the latter. The price of the land-roller, fitted up as here represented and described, is, according to weight, from £10 to £14. * Lawson's Agriculturist's Manual, Supplement, p. 48. 2475. In using the roller, the 2 horses are yoked in the same manner as in the double horse-cart, shown in Plate III. The rolling is always effected across the line of ridges, for otherwise the open furrows would not receive any benefit from it. Although the dividing of the cylinder into two parts facilitates the turning of the implement, it is not advisable to attempt to turn the roller sharp round, as part of the ground turned upon will be rubbed hard by the cylinders; and where young plants grow upon those parts, such as young clover, the probable effect would be to kill them. The rolling is executed in feers of 30 yards in width, hieing the horses one half of the feering, and hupping them in the other half, the same as in ploughing ridges, two-out-and-two-in, fig. 25. It is not necessary to carry the feering-poles to the field for making these feerings; the first line of the feering being easily kept straight across the field by placing clods or stones in the line. When the ploughman becomes fatigued in walking, it is quite allowable for him to sit on the front of the framing, for which purpose a space to sit upon is either boarded or wrought into a seat with hardtwined straw-rope, and thence drive the horses with double reins and whip. With such an indulgence a frail ploughman, employed mostly in ploughing, could take a day or more at rolling, when urgent work was employing at the time the stronger horses in the cart. Were a 6-feet roller to proceed uninterruptedly for 10 hours, at the rate of 24 miles per hour, it would roll about 18 acres a-day; but what with the time spent in the turnings and the markings-off of feerings, 14 acres a-day may be considered a good day's work7 acres at each yoking. When the weather is favourable, and a large extent of ground has to be rolled, it is a good plan to appoint 2 pair of horses to work the roller, from dawn to night-fall, each pair working 4 hours at a time. In this way, 16 hours' constant rolling, from 4 in the morning to 8 at night, may be obtained in the course of 24 hours, and 33 acres rolled within the day with one roller. This roller is an instrument used not so much to crush clods as to render the surface of the ground smooth; at least it effects the latter purpose much better than the former, which is best executed by a class of implements named clod-crushers, to be afterwards described; and the roller should only be used when the surface of the ground is dry. ON THE TRANSPLANTING OF TURNIP BULBS FOR PRODUCING SEED. 2476. It is quite easy for every farmer to raise as much turnip-seed every year as to serve the wants of his farm. 2477. As 3 lbs. per acre is the most that is required for seed to sow a crop of turnips, and as 30 bushels the acre is a very moderate crop of turnip-seed, at the weight of 50 lbs. the bushel, the small space of 10 square yards of ground will supply all the seed required for every acre of turnips grown on the farm. It is necessary to keep the plants producing the different sorts of turnips at a considerable distance from each other; because, if planted |