Chap. XII Of St. Foin
St. Foin, from the Country we brought it from, is call’d French Grass: And for its long Continuance, some having lasted Forty Years, ’tis call’d Everlasting Grass, tho’ it be not strictly a Gramen.
’Tis call’d in French, Sain Foin, i. e. Sanum Fœnum, from its Quality of Wholsomeness, beyond the other artificial Grasses, green and dry. ’Tis also call’d Sanctum Fœnum, Holy Hay.
’Tis a Plant so generally known to every Body, that there is no need to give any formal Description of that Part of it which appears above-ground, It has many red Flowers, sometimes leaving Ears Five or Six Inches long: I have measured the Stalks, and found them above Five Feet long, tho’ they are commonly but about Two Feet.
The Reason why St. Foin will, in poor Ground, make a Forty times greater Increase than the natural Turf, is the prodigious Length161 of its perpendicular Tap-root: It is said to descend Twenty or Thirty Feet. I have been inform’d, by a Person of undoubted Credit, that he has broken off one of these Roots in a Pit, and measured the Part broken off, and found it fourteen Feet.
This Tap-root has also a Multitude of very long horizontal Roots at the upper Part thereof, which fill all the upper Stratum, or Staple of the Ground; and of thousands of St. Foin Roots I have seen taken up, I never found one that was without horizontal Roots near the Surface, after one Summer’s Growth; and do much wonder how Mr. Kerkham should be so mistaken, as to think they have none such.
Also these Tap-roots have the horizontal ones all the Way down; but as they descend, they are still shorter and shorter, as the uppermost are always the longest.
Any dry Ground may be made to produce this noble Plant, be it never so poor; but the richest Soil will yield the most of it, and the best.
If you venture to plant it with the Drill, according to the Method wherein I have always had the best Success; let the Land be well prepared before you plant it. The Seed, if not well ordered, will very little of it grow; therefore ’tis convenient to try it in the manner mention’d in the Chapter of Hoeing; where are also Directions to find the proper Quantity and Depth to plant it at: I have observ’d, that the Heads of these Seeds are so large, and their Necks so weak162, that if they lie much more than half an Inch163 deep, they are not able to rise through the incumbent Mould; or if they are not cover’d, they will be malted164. A Bushel to an Acre is full twenty Seeds to each square Foot, in all I try’d; but there is odds in the Largeness of it, which makes some Difference in the Number.
The worst Seasons to plant it are the Beginning of Winter, and in the Drought of Summer. The best Season is early in the Spring.
’Tis the stronger when planted alone, and when no other Crop is sown with it165.
If Barley, Oats, or other Corn sown with St. Foin, do lodge, it will kill166 the young St. Foin that is under it: But then so great a Crop of Corn will certainly answer the very little Expence of drilling the St. Foin again, either the next Year, or as soon as the Corn is off the Ground.
St. Foin drill’d betwixt Rows of Barley or Oats, always is stronger than when drill’d amongst Corn that is sown at random; and therefore is in less Danger of being kill’d by the Lodging of the Corn; neither is the Corn in Rows so liable to fall as the other.
The Quantity of Seed to be drill’d on an Acre will depend, in great Measure, upon the Goodness of it; for in some bad Seed, not more than One in Ten will grow; and in good Seed, not One in Twenty will miss; which is best known by stripping off the Husks of a certain Number of Seeds, and planting the Kernels in Earth, in the manner directed for finding the proper Depth to plant at, which, in this Case, let be half an Inch: This being done, the Quality of the Seed will be known. But until frequent Trials have furnish’d Experience enough to the Planter to know the Difference, let him observe, that the following are good Signs; viz. The Husk of a bright Colour, the Kernel plump, of a light-grey or blue Colour, or sometimes of a shining black; yet the Seed may be good, tho’ the Husk is of a dark Colour, if that is caused by its receiving Rain in the Field, and not by heating in a Heap, or in the Mow; and if you cut the Kernel off in the Middle, cross-ways, and find the Inside of a Greenish fresh Colour, it’s surely good; but if of a yellowish Colour, and friable about the Navel, and thin, or pitted, these are Marks of bad Seed.
The Quantity, or rather Number of Seeds convenient to drill, ought to be computed by the Number of Plants167 we propose to have for making the best Crop, allowing for Casualties168.
In drilling St. Foin not to be ho’d, and before the Ploughs of my Drill were so perfect in making narrow Chanels as they are now (for, when the Chanels were open, they had Six times the Breadth, wherein Part of the Seed was wasted), then my Quantity was One Bushel to an Acre, sometimes Six Gallons.
But a single Acre (in the middle of a large Field of St. Foin) being drill’d late in October, the frosty Winter kill’d at least Nineteen of Twenty Parts169 of that Bushel. At first it made such a poor Appearance, that ’twas by mere Accident, or it had been plow’d up for a Fallow; but, missing of that, a few Plants were perceiv’d in the Summer, which by their Singleness grew so vigorous, and so very large, that the Second Year of Mowing it170 produc’d a Crop double to the rest of the same Field, which was drill’d in the Spring, with the same Proportion of Seed, and none of it kill’d: tho’ all this Field was a much better Crop than some that was sown in the common Manner, with Seven Bushels to an Acre. I have generally observ’d the thin171 to make the best Crop, after the First or Second Year.
I have also often observ’d in Lands of St. Foin, lying dispersed in a common Field (but where there was not Common for Sheep), and where the Ends of other Lands kept in Tillage, pointed against the Pieces of St. Foin, and the Horses and Ploughs turning out upon the St. Foin172 did plow and scratch out a Multitude of its Plants; so that it was thought to be spoil’d, and Law-suits were intended for Recompence of the Damage; that afterwards this scratch’d Part, supposed to be spoil’d, became twice as good as the rest of the same Pieces, where the Ploughs did not come to tear up any Plants.
The Reason why the single St. Foin Plants make the greatest Crops, is, that the Quantity of the Crop is always in Proportion to the Quantity of Nourishment it receives from the Earth; and those Plants which run deepest will receive most; and such as are single will run deeper than those which are not single.
Also the single do send out all round them horizontal Roots, proportionably stronger and larger, whereby they are better able to penetrate, and extract more Nourishment from the Staple, or upper Stratum, than the other can do, if there be a competent Number; which is, when ho’d, fewer than any-body imagines. ’Tis common to see a single St. Foin have a bigger Tap-root than Twenty thick ones: Their Length is in Proportion to their Bigness: Therefore that single Plant may well be supposed to have Twenty times more Depth of Earth to supply it, than all those Twenty small Roots can reach to. And tho’ these under Strata are not so rich as the upper; yet, never having been drain’d by any Vegetable, they do afford a very considerable Quantity of Nourishment to those Roots which first enter them.
The small thick Plants are so far from equalling the Product of the single, by their Excess of Number, that the more they are, the smaller, shorter, and weaker they become; less Nourishment they have, and the less Crop they produce; and are soon starv’d, decay, and die, unless reliev’d by the Expence of frequent Manure, or that the Soil be very rich.
Single Plants exceed the other by a Multitude of Degrees, more than a Giant does a Dwarf, in Strength, as well as Stature; and therefore when natural Grass happens to come, are so much the better able to shift amongst it.
The single Plants seem also to exceed the other in their Longevity; for ’tis observ’d, that all St. Foin that has continu’d great for a good Number of Years without Manure, has been so single, that the Owners have determined to plow it up at the Beginning, for the Thinness of it.
How long this may last by Culture, I can’t tell; but undoubtedly much longer than without it; and I can say, that I never knew a Plant of St. Foin die a natural Death; the most common End of it is Starving. And when an hundred thick Plants have not the Nourishment which One single Plant has, ’tis no Wonder that these (in a Croud173 thus besieg’d with Hunger) should be starv’d before it.
Another Advantage the single have, in respect of Moisture: These reach to a Depth where that is never wanting, even when the upper Stratum or Staple is parch’d up, as appears by the Experiment of the Mints, that if any Root of a Plant has Moisture, that Root will communicate a Share to all the rest. Hence it is, that, in the driest Summer, these single Plants make a great Crop, when the other yield next to nothing. I remember I once saw a Farmer coming out of a Ground with a Load of St. Foin Hay, which he assured me was all he could find worth cutting, out of Forty Acres of this thick sort, in full Perfection, Three Years after sowing: He valued his Load at Three Pounds; but withal said it came off so much Ground, that the Expence of Mowing, Raking, &c. was more than the Value; when, in the very same dry Summer, there was Three Tun of St. Foin to an Acre in a Field174, where it was drill’d single and regularly.
And I have often observ’d, that where the Plants are thin, the Second Crop of them springs again immediately after cutting; when Plants that stand thick in the same Ground, spring not till Rain comes; and I have seen the thin grown high enough to cut the Second time, before the other began to spring.
The best way to find what Number of these Plants it is proper to have on a Perch of Ground, is to consider what Quantity of Hay one large Plant will produce (for, if cultivated, they will be all such).
Without Culture these Plants never attain to a Fourth Part of the Bulk they do with it: Therefore very few have seen any one Plant at its full Bigness. One Plant, well cultivated, has in the same Ground made a greater Produce, than One thousand small ones uncultivated.
But the Hay of a large single cultivated Plant will weigh more than half a Pound; and 112 Plants upon a square Perch, weighing but a Quarter of a Pound apiece one with another, amount to Two Tun to an Acre.
If St. Foin be planted on some sorts of Land early in the Spring, and ho’d, it may bring a Crop the same Summer; for I once planted a few Seeds of it on sandy Ground in my Garden, at the End of February, which produced large Plants above Two Feet high, that went into Blossom the following June; tho’ there was a severe Frost in March, which kill’d abundance of Wheat, yet did not hurt these Plants: This shews that St. Foin is a quick Grower, unless it be planted on poor cold Ground, or for Want of Culture.
And tho’ the poor Land, and ill Management generally allotted to it, cause it to yield but One mowing Crop a Year; yet it has yielded Two great ones on rich sandy Land, even when sown in the common ordinary matter.
Thin St. Foin cannot be expected to cover all the Ground at first, any more than an Orchard of Apple-trees will, when first planted at Thirty Feet Distance from each other every Way; yet this is reckon’d a proper Distance to make a good and lasting Orchard. But if these should be planted at Three Feet Distance, as they stand in the Nursery, it would not be more unreasonable than the common Method of sowing St. Foin is; and there would be much the same Consequence in both, from covering all the Ground at first Planting; except that the St. Foin, being abundantly longer rooted downwards than Apple-trees are, has the greater Disadvantage, when by its Thickness ’tis prevented from growing to its full Bulk, and Length of Roots175.
The Difference is only this: People are accustom’d to see Apple-trees planted at their due Distance: but few have seen St. Foin planted and cultivated at the Distance most proper to St. Foin; or ever consider’d about it, so much as to make the necessary Trials.
I have constantly found, that, upon doubling any Number of narrow Rows, having equal Number of Plants in each Row, the Crops have been very much diminish’d; and, upon leaving out every other Row, that is, lessening the Number of Rows to half, the Crops are increased; and where Two Rows are wide asunder at one End of a Piece, and near at the other End, the Plants are gradually less and less, as the Rows approach nearer together.
We ought never to expect a full Crop of St. Foin the First Year176, if we intend to have good Crops afterwards, and that it shall continue to produce such, for the same Reasons that must be given for planting an Orchard at other Distances than a Nursery.
The common Error proceeds from mistaking the Cause of a great or small Crop.
Where the Spaces betwixt Rows are wide (if there be not too many Plants in them) we always see the St. Foin grow large, and make the greatest Crop; but when ’tis young, or after cutting, we see room (as we fansy) for more of such Plants, to make a yet larger Crop; not considering that ’tis the Wideness of those Spaces, and less Number of Plants, that cause the Crop to be so large, there being more Pasture for those Plants.
Where these Spaces are narrower, and the Rows of equal Thickness, we see the Plants less when grown, and that they make a less Crop; and yet there seems to be room for more Rows, which we fansy might make the Crop larger, not considering that ’tis the Narrowness of those Spaces that causes the Plants and Crop to be less, for want of sufficient Pasture.
Thus, fondly increasing the Number of our Rows and Plants, we bring our Crop (unless the Soil be rich) to nothing, by too much over-stocking their Pasture; and, if that Pasture be over-stock’d, the Crop will be diminish’d more than in proportion to that Over-charge; for perhaps ’tis not impossible to prove (if we would be curious), that Plants, by wanting a Fourth Part of their due Quantum of Nourishment, will be diminish’d to half177 of the Bulk they would have attained to, had they been supply’d with the other Fourth Part.
I have observ’d ho’d St. Foin to grow more, and increase its Bulk more, in Two Weeks, than unho’d St. Foin in the same Ground (and without any other Difference) hath done in Six Weeks; and the quicker it grows, by being better fed, the sweeter and richer Food it will make for Cattle, whether it be spent green or dry178.
At whatever Distance the Rows be set, if they have too many Plants in them, the Crop will be very much injured; and the greater the Excess is beyond the just Number, the more void Space there will be amongst them; because the smaller the Plants are, the less Ground they cover.
I have had the Experience of drilling at all Distances, from Thirty-three Inches to Seven Inches, betwixt the Rows; and recommend the following Distance, for the different Methods of drilling; whether the St. Foin be design’d for hoeing, or not. As,
First, For Horse-hoeing, I think it is best to drill double Rows with Eight-inch Partitions, and Thirty-inch Intervals; which need only be ho’d alternately, leaving every other Interval for making the Hay thereon.
Indeed I have never yet had a whole Field of ho’d St. Foin; but have enough to shew, that Horse-hoeing makes it strong upon very poor Land, and causes it to produce two Crops a Year upon indifferent Land.
It is not necessary to hoe this every Year; but we may intermit the Hoeing for three or four Years together, or more, if the Land be good.
Whilst the Plants are small the first Year, Care must be taken not to cover them with the Plough: Afterwards there will be no great Danger, especially in Winter, the Earth not being suffered to lie on them too long.
Secondly, For Hand-hoeing, drill the Rows Sixteen Inches asunder, and single out the Plants, so as to make them Eight Inches apart at least in the Rows, contriving rather to leave the Master-plants, than to be exact in the Distance: This must be done whilst they are very young, or in Summer; else they will come again that are cut off by the Hoe.
Lastly, when St. Foin is drill’d without any Intention of hoeing, the best Way (I think) is to plant single Rows, at Eight Inches Distance, with no greater Quantity of Seed, than when the Rows are at Sixteen Inches Distance; because, by this Method, the same Number of Plants in the Rows, that are but Eight Inches apart, will be much more single, than those in the Rows at Sixteen Inches apart are, without being set out by the Hoe.
Which of these Methods soever is practis’d, the Land should be made as clean from all Grass, and as well pulveriz’d, as possible, before Drilling.
The Tines of the Drill-harrow must exactly follow the Shares, which leaving the Chanels open, the Tines cover the Seed, some at Bottom, and some on each Side; so that it is cover’d very shallow, tho’ it lies deep within the Ground, where there is more Moisture, than nearer to the upper level Surface: This causes the Seed to come up in dry Weather; and yet it is not in Danger of being buried by a too great Weight of Mould incumbent on it.
But take heed that no other Harrow come on it after ’tis drill’d; for that might bury it. I never care to roll it at all, unless on account of the Barley; and then only in very dry Weather, with a light Roller, lengthways of the Rows, immediately after ’tis drill’d; or else stay Three Weeks afterwards before it be roll’d, for fear of breaking off the Heads of the young St. Foin.
Be sure to suffer no Cattle to come on the young St. Foin the first Winter179, after the Corn is cut that grows amongst it; their very Feet would injure it, by treading the Ground hard, as well as their Mouths by cropping it; Nor let any Sheep come at it, even in the following Summer and Winter.
One Acre of well-drill’d St. Foin, considering the different Goodness of the Crops, and the Duration of it, is generally worth Two Acres of sown St. Foin on the same Land, tho’ the Expence of drilling be Twenty Times less than the Expence of sowing it.
One of the Causes why St. Foin, that is properly drill’d, lasteth longer180 without Manure than the sown, is, That the former neither over nor understocks the Pasture; and the latter commonly, if not always, doth one or the other, if not both; viz. Plants too thick in some Places, and too thin in others; either ’tis not single, but in Bunches; or if it be single, ’tis too thin; it being next to impossible to have the Plants come true and regular, or nearly so, by sowing at random. Plants too thick soon exhaust the Pasture they reach, which never is more than a small Part of that below the Staple: When the Plants are too thin, the St. Foin cannot be said to last at all, because it never is a Crop.
They who sow Eight or Ten Bushels of good Seed on an Acre, in a good Season, among their Corn, with Intent that by its Thickness it should kill other Grass, reduce their St. Foin almost to that poor Condition I have seen it in, where it grows naturally wild without sowing or Tillage, upon the Calabrian Hills near Croto: It makes there such a despicable Appearance, that one would wonder how any body should have taken it in their Head to propagate so unpromising a Plant; and yet there has scarce been an Exotic brought to England in this or the last Age, capable of making a greater or more general Improvement, were it duly cultivated.
Some think the Cytisus would exceed it; but I am afraid the Labour of shearing those Shrubs by the Hands of English Servants, would cost too much of its Profit.
Luserne, requiring more Culture, and being much more difficult to be fitted with a proper Soil, never can be so general as St. Foin.
But now let us consider the best Methods of ordering St. Foin for Hay and Seed. The Profit of St. Foin Fields, arising from either of these Ways, is a great Advantage to their Owner, above that of natural Meadows; for, if Meadow-hay cannot have good Weather to be cut in its Season, it can serve for little other Use than as Dung, and yet the Expence of mowing it, and carrying it off must not be omitted. But if there be not Weather to cut St. Foin before blossoming, we may expect it till in Flower, or may stay till the Blossoms are off; and if it still rain on, may stand for Seed, and turn to as good Account as any of the former: So that it has Four Chances to One of the Meadow.
The elevated, but not mountainous, Situation of the dry Land whereon St. Foin is mostly planted, renders it so commodious for making of Hay, that it escapes there the Injury of Weather, when Hay in low Meadows is utterly spoil’d.
On the high Ground the Wind will dry more in an Hour, than on the Meadows in a whole Day. The Sun too has a more benign Influence above, and sends off the Dew about Two Hours earlier in the Morning, and holds it up as much longer in the Evening. By these Advantages the St. Foin has the more Time to dry, and is made with half the Expence of Meadow-hay.
But before the Manner of making it be describ’d, the proper Time of cutting it ought to be determin’d; and upon that depend the Degrees of its Excellence (besides upon the Weather, which is not in our Power); for tho’ all Sorts of this Hay, if well made, be good, yet there is a vast Difference and Variety in them.
The several Sorts may be principally distinguish’d by the following Terms; viz. First, The Virgin. Secondly, The Blossom’d. Thirdly, The Full-grown. And, Fourthly, The Thresh’d Hay.
The First of these is best of all, beyond Comparison; and (except Luserne) has not in the World its Equal. This must be cut before the Blossoms appear: For when it stands till full-blown, the most spirituous, volatile, and nourishing Parts of its Juices are spent on the next Generation; and this being done all at once, the Sap is much depauperated, and the St. Foin can never recover that Richness it had in its Virgin State. And tho’, when in Blossom, it be literally in the Flower of its Age, ’tis really in the Declension of it. If it be said, that what is not in the Stalk is gone into the Flower, ’tis a Mistake; because much the greatest Part of its Quintessence perspires thence into the Atmosphere.
And moreover, That all Vegetables are, in some Degree, weaken’d by the Action of continuing their Kind, may be inferr’d from those Plants which will live several Years, if not suffer’d to blossom; but, whenever they blossom, it causes their Death, tho’ in the first Year of their Life. For in Plants (as Dr. Willis observes in Animals) Nature is more solicitous to continue the Species, than for the Benefit of the Individual.
Part of a drill’d St. Foin Ground was cut the Beginning of May, before blossoming181; and from the Time of cutting, until it was set up in Ricks, being about Ten Days, the Sun never shone upon it182; but the Weather was misty: At last it was forc’d to be carried together for fear of Rain, so green, that out of the largest Stalks one might wring milky Juice; yet by making the Hay up in several little Ricks, and drawing up a great Chaff Basket in the Middle of each, its Firing was prevented; but it look’d of a dark Colour by heating; and was the very best183 Hay that ever I had.
The other Part of the Ground was afterwards cut in the Prime of its Flower, and made into Hay by the Heat of the Sun, without Rain or Mist: This came out of the Ricks at Winter with a much finer Colour, and as fine a Smell as the Virgin Hay; but did not come near it in fatting of Sheep, or keeping Horses fat at hard Work without any Corn, as the Virgin Hay did.
This superfine Hay cannot well be had of poor uncultivated184 St. Foin: because that may not be much above an Handful high, when ’tis in Condition to be so cut; and would then make a very light Crop, and would be a great while ere it sprang up again: But the rich will have Two or Three Tun to an Acre, and spring again immediately for a second Crop; so that little or no Quantity would be lost by so great an Improvement of its Quality. For ho’d St. Foin upon a poor chalky Hill, cut at the same time with that uncultivated on a rich Valley, does in dry Weather grow again without Delay, when the Valley attends a Month or more for a Rain, to excite its vegetative Motion.
This Hay the Owner (if he be wise) will not sell at any common Price; but endeavour to have some of it every Year, if possible, for his own Use.
The Second Sort of St. Foin Hay is that cut in the Flower; and tho’ much inferior to the Virgin Hay, it far exceeds any other Kind, as yet commonly propagated in England; and if it be a full Crop, by good Culture, may amount to above three Tun to an Acre. This is that St. Foin which is most commonly made; and the larger it is, the more nourishing for Horses. I have known Farmers, after full Experience, go Three Miles to fetch the largest stalky St. Foin, when they could have bought the small fine leafy Sort of it at home, for the same Price by the Tun.
The next and last Sort of St. Foin that is cut only for Hay, is, the full-grown, the Blossoms being gone, or going off: This also is good Hay, tho’ it fall short, by many Degrees, of the other Two Sorts: It makes a greater Crop than either of them, because it grows to its full Bulk, and shrinks little in drying.
This gives the Owner a Third Chance of having Weather to make good Hay, and spins out the Hay-Season ’till about Midsummer; and then in about a Fortnight, or Three Weeks; after the Hay is finish’d, the Seed is ripe. But, first, of the manner of making St. Foin Hay.
In a Day or Two after St. Foin is mow’d, it will, in good Weather, be dry on the upper Side: Then turn the Swarths, not singly, but Two and Two together; for by thus turning them in Pairs, there is a double Space of Ground betwixt Pair and Pair, which needs but once raking; whereas, if the Swarths were turn’d singly, that is, all the same Way, suppose to the East or West, then all the Ground will require to be twice raked; at least, more of it, than the other Way.
As soon as both Sides of the Swarths are dry from Rain and Dew, make them up into little Cocks the same Day they are turn’d, if conveniently you can; for when ’tis in Cock, a less Part of it will be exposed to the Injuries of the Night, than when in Swarth.
Dew, being of a nitrous penetrating Nature, enters the Pores of those Plants it reaches, and during the Night possesses the Room from whence some Part of the Juices is dry’d out: Thus it intimately mixes with the remaining Sap; and, when the Dew is again exhal’d, it carries up most of the vegetable Spirits along with it, which might have been there fix’d, had they not been taken away in that subtile Vehicle.
If St. Foin be spread very thin upon the Ground, and so remain for a Week in hot Weather, the Sun and Dew will exhaust all its Juices, and leave it no more Virtue than is in Straw.
Therefore ’tis best to keep as much of our Hay as we can from being exposed to the Dews, whilst ’tis in making; and we have a better Opportunity of doing it in this, than in natural Hay; because the bigger the Cocks are, the less Superficies (in proportion to the Quantity they contain) will be exposed to the Dew, and St. Foin may be safely made in much larger Cocks than natural Hay of equal Dryness can, which, sinking down closer, excludes the Air so necessary for keeping it sweet, that if the Weather prevents its being frequently mov’d and open’d, it will ferment, look yellow, and be spoil’d. Against this Misfortune there is no Remedy, but to keep it in the lesser Cocks, until thoroughly dry. St. Foin Cocks (twice as big as Cocks of natural Hay), by the less Flexibility of the Stalk admitting the Air, will remain longer without fermenting.
This being able to endure more Days unmov’d, is also an Advantage upon another Account besides the Weather; for tho’ in other Countries, People are not prohibited using the necessary Labour on all Days for preserving their Hay, even where the certainer Weather makes it less necessary than here, yet ’tis otherwise in England; where many a Thousand Load of natural Hay is spoil’d by that Prohibition for want of being open’d; and often, by the Loss of one Day’s Work, the Farmer loses his Charges, and Year’s Rent; which shews, that to make Hay while the Sun shines, is an exotic Proverb against English Laws; whereunto St. Foin being, in regard of Sundays and Holidays, more conformable, ought to be the Hay as proper to England as those Laws are.
But to return to our Hay-makers: When the first Cocks have stood one Night, if nothing hinder, let them double, treble, or quadruple the Cocks, according as all Circumstances require, in this manner; viz. Spread Two, Three, or more, together, in a fresh Place; and after an Hour or Two turn them, and make that Number up into one Cock; but when the Weather is doubtful, let not the Cocks be thrown or spread, but inlarge them, by shaking several of them into one; and thus hollowing them to let in the Air, continue increasing their Bulk, and diminishing their Number daily, until they be sufficiently dry to be carried to the Rick.
This I have found the most secure Way: Tho’ it be something longer in making, there is much less Danger than when a great Quantity of Hay is spread at once; for then a sudden Shower will do more Harm to one Acre of that, than to Twenty Acres in Cock.
And the very best Hay I ever knew in England, was of St. Foin made without ever spreading, or the Sun’s shining on it. This Way, tho’ it be longer ere finish’d, is done with less Labour than the other.
Not only a little Rain, but even a Mist, will turn Clover Hay black; but St. Foin will not with any Weather turn black, until it be almost rotten, its Leaves being thinner than those of Clover.
If St. Foin be laid up pretty green, it will take no Damage, provided it be set in small round Ricks, with a large Basket drawn up in the Middle of each, to leave a Vent-hole there, thro’ which the superfluous Moisture of the Hay transpires.
As soon as its Heating is over, these Ricks ought to be thatch’d; and all St. Foin Ricks, that are made when the Hay is full dry’d in the Cocks, ought to be thatch’d immediately after the making them.
That which is laid up most dry’d, will come out of the Rick of a green Colour, that which has much heated in the Rick, will have a brown Colour.
The Seed is a Fourth Chance the Owner has to make Profit of his St. Foin: But this, if the Hoeing-Husbandry were general, would not be vendible in great Quantities for planting; because an ordinary Crop of an Acre will produce Seed enough to drill an Hundred Acres, which would not want replanting in a long Time.
The other Use then of this Seed is for Provender; and it has been affirmed by some, who have made Trials of it, that Three Bushels of good St. Foin Seed given to Horses, will nourish them as much as Four Bushels of Oats. When well order’d, it is so sweet, that most Sorts of Cattle are greedy of it. I never knew so much of it given to Hogs, as to make them become fat Bacon; but I have known Hogs made very good Pork with it, for an Experiment; and being valued at the Beginning of their feeding, and the Pork by the Score when the Hogs were kill’d, which, computed with the Quantity of Seed they eat, did not amount to near the Value of the same Seed sold for sowing; that being Three Shillings per Bushel, and the Profit made by giving it to the Hogs was but Two Shillings a Bushel.
The Goodness of the Seed, and of the Hay out of which it is thresh’d, depends very much upon the manner of ordering them.
This thresh’d Hay, when not damaged by wet Weather, has been found more nourishing to Horses than coarse Water-meadow Hay; and, when ’tis cut small by an Engine, is good Food for Cattle, and much better than Chaff of Corn.
It requires some Experience in it, to know the most proper Degree of Ripeness, at which the seeded St. Foin ought to be cut; for the Seed is never all ripe together; some Ears blossom before others; every Ear begins blossoming at the lower Part of it, and so continues gradually to do upward for many Days; and before the Flower is gone off the Top, the Bottom of the Ear has almost fill’d the Seeds that grow there; so that if we should defer cutting until the top Seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which are the best, would shed, and be lost.
The best time to cut is, when the greatest Part of the Seed is well fill’d, the first-blown ripe, and the last blown beginning to be full.
The natural Colour of the Kernel, which is the real Seed, is grey or bluish when ripe; and the Husk, which contains the Seed is, when ripe, of a brownish Colour. Both Husk and Seed continue perfectly green for some time after full-grown; and if you open the Husk, the Seed will appear exactly like a green Pea when gather’d to boil, and will, like that, easily be split into Two Parts. Yet St. Foin Seed in this green Plight will ripen after Cutting, have as fine a Colour, and be as good in all Respects, as that which was ripe before Cutting: Some, for want of observing this, have suffer’d their Seed to stand so long, till it was all ripe, and lost in Cutting.
St. Foin Seed should not be cut in the Heat of the Day, whilst the Sun shines out: for then much, even of the unripe Seed, will shed in Mowing: Therefore, in very hot Weather, the Mower should begin to work very early in the Morning, or rather in the Night; and when they perceive the Seed to shatter, leave off, and rest till towards the Evening.
After Cutting we must observe the same Rule as in mowing it; viz. not to make this Hay whilst the Sun shines.
Sometimes it may, if the Seed be pretty ripe, be cock’d immediately after the Scythe; or if the Swarths must be turn’d, let it be done whilst they are moist; not Two together, as in the other Hay aforemention’d. If the Swarths be turn’d with the Rake’s Handle, ’tis best to raise up the Ear-sides first, and let the Stub-side rest on the Ground in turning; but if it be done by the Rake’s Teeth, then let them take hold on the Stub-side, the Ears bearing on the Earth in turning over. But ’tis commonly Rain that occasions the Swarths to want Turning185.
If it be cock’d at all186, the sooner ’tis made into Cocks, the better; because, if the Swarths be dry, much of the Seed will be lost in separating them, the Ears being entangled together. When moist, the Seed sticks fasts to the Ear; but, when dry, will drop out with the least Touch or Shaking.
There are Two ways of threshing it, the one in the Field, the other in the Barn: The first cannot be done but in very fine Weather, and whilst the Sun shines in the Heat of the Day: The best Manner of this is, to have a large Sheet pegg’d down to the Ground, for Two Men with their Flails to thresh on: Two Persons carry a small Sheet by its Corners, and lay it down close to a large Cock, and, with Two Sticks thrust under the Bottom of it, gently turn it over, or lift it up upon the Sheet, and carry and throw it on the great Sheet to the Threshers; but when the Cocks are small, they carry several at once, thrown upon the little Sheet carefully with Forks; those which are near, they carry to the Threshers with the Forks only. As fast as it is thresh’d, one Person stands to take away the Hay, and lay it into an Heap: And sometimes a Boy stands upon it, to make it into a small Rick of about a Load. As often as the great Sheet is full, they riddle it thro’ a large Sieve to separate the Seed and Chaff from the broken Stalks, and put it into Sacks to be carried into the Barn to be winnow’d.
Two Threshers will employ Two of these little Sheets, and Four Persons in bringing to them; and when the Cocks are thresh’d, which stand at a considerable Distance all round them, they remove the Threshing-sheet to another Place. There belong to a Set for one Threshing-sheet Seven or Eight Persons; but the Number of Sheets should be according to the Quantity to be thus thresh’d: The sooner these thresh’d Cocks are remov’d, and made into bigger Ricks, the better; and unless they be thatch’d, the Rain will run a great Way into them, and spoil the Hay; but they may be thatch’d with the Hay itself, if there be not Straw convenient for it.
But the chiefest Care yet remains; and that is, to cure the Seed: If that be neglected, it will be of little or no Value187; and the better it has escap’d the Wet in the Field, the sooner its own Spirits will spoil it in the Barn or Granary. I have known it lie a Fortnight in Swarth, till the wet Weather has turn’d the Husks quite black: This was thresh’d in the Field, and immediately put into large Vessels, holding about Twenty Bushels each. It had by being often wet, and often dry, been so exhausted of its fiery Spirits, that it remain’d cool in the Vessels, without ever fermenting in the least, till the next Spring; and then it grew as well as ever any did that was planted.
But of Seed thresh’d in the Field, without ever being wetted, if it be immediately winnow’d, and a single Bushel laid in an Heap, or put into a Sack, it will in few Days ferment to such a Degree, that the greatest Part of it will lose its vegetative Quality: The larger the Heap, the worse: During the Fermentation it will be very hot, and smell sour.
Many, to prevent this, spread it upon a Malt-Floor, turning it often; or, when the Quantity is small, upon a Barn-floor; but still I find, that this Way a great deal of it is spoil’d; for it will heat, tho’ it be spread but an handful thick, and they never spread it thinner: Besides, they may miss some Hours of the right times of turning it; for it must be done very often; it should be stirr’d in the Night as well as the Day, until the Heating be over; and yet, do what they can, it never will keep its Colour so bright as that which is well housed, well dry’d, and thresh’d in the Winter: For in the Barn the Stalks keep it hollow; there are few Ears or Seeds that touch one another; and the Spirits have room to fly off by Degrees, the Air entering to receive them.
The only Way I have found to imitate and equal this, is to winnow it from the Sheet; then lay a Layer of Wheat-straw (or if that be wanting, of very dry-thresh’d Hay); then spread thereon a thin Layer of Seed, and thus Stratum super Stratum, Six or Seven Feet high, and as much in Breath; then begin another Stack; let there be Straw enough, and do not tread on the Stacks; by this means the Seed mixing with the Straw, will be kept cool, and come out in the Spring with as green a Colour as when it was put in, and not one Seed of a Thousand will fail to grow when planted. A little Barn-room will contain a great Quantity in this Manner.
I have had above One hundred Quarters of clean Seed thus manag’d in one Bay of a small Barn. We do not stay to winnow it clean before we lay it up in the Straw; but only pass it through a large Sieve, and with the Van blow out the Chaff, and winnow it clean in the Spring.
This Field-threshing requires extraordinary fine Sun-shiny Weather, which some Summers do not afford at the Season, for threshing a great Quantity of it; for ’tis but a small Part of the Day in which the Seed can be thresh’d clean out. They who have a small Quantity of it, do carry it into a Barn early in the Morning, or even in the Night; whilst the Dew is on it; for then the Seed sticks fast to the Ear: As it dries, they thresh it out; and if they cure it well, have thus sometimes good Seed, but generally the Hay is spoil’d.
There is one Method of saving all the Seed good, and the Hay too, by carrying it unthresh’d to the Barn or Rick, in a particular Manner, tho’ it be a great Quantity, more than can presently be thresh’d; but must be laid up in Mows or Ricks, as Corn is. Then if it be carry’d in, in the Dews or Damp, the Hay is sure to be spoil’d, if not both Hay and Seed: When ’tis taken up dry, the Seed comes out with a Touch, and the greatest Part is lost in pitching up the Cocks, binding and jolting in carrying home.
To avoid this Dilemma, a Person who happen’d to have a great Crop of Seed on One hundred and Fifty Acres together (and being by Weather delay’d ’till Wheat-harvest came on, so that most Labourers went to Reaping) was forc’d to a Contrivance of getting it in as follows; viz. Three Waggons had each a Board with an Hole in, fix’d cross the Middle of each Waggon, by Iron Pins, to the Top of the Rades or Sides: There was a Crane which a Man could lift, and set into the Hole in the Board, and, having an Iron Gudgeon at the Bottom, which went into a Socket in the Bottom of the Waggon, would turn quite round: The Post of the Crane was Ten Feet Four Inches long, its Arm Four Feet Eight Inches long, brac’d; having a treble Pulley at the End of it, and another to answer it with an Hook.
About Forty Sheets were provided, capable of holding each One hundred and Fifty, or Two hundred Pounds Weight of it; these had Knots or Buttons at the Corners and Middles, made by sewing up a little Hay in these Knots, as big as Apples, into Part of the Sheet; for if any Buckle, or other thing, be sew’d to a Sheet plain, it will tear the Sheet. Half these Buttons have Strings ty’d to them; these Sheets are spread among the Cocks, fill’d by Two, and ty’d up by Two other Persons: There is also a light Fir Ladder, wide at Bottom, the Top of it fasten’d by a Piece of Cord to the brace of the Crane: they hitch the Hook of the lower Pulley to a fill’d Sheet, and by a little Horse at the End of the Pulley-rope, draw it up sliding on the Ladder; ’tis up in a Moment: Then the Man who is below, hitches the Crook of the Pulley to the lower Round of the Ladder, and the Loader above pulls up the Ladder from the Ground, till the Waggon comes to another Sheet. The Waggons are lengthen’d by Cart-Ladders before and behind, for the more easy placing of the Sheets. When about Twelve or Fifteen of them are loaded, they have a Rope fix’d to the Fore-part of each Waggon, which they bring over the Top of all the loaded Sheets, and wrest it at the Tail, to hold on the Sheets fast from falling off with Jolting. Then the Loader pulls out the Crane, and puts it into the next Waggon in the same Manner. One Waggon is loading whilst another is emptying in the Barn, by treble Pulleys likewise; because ’tis inconvenient to take it out of the Sheets by Prongs; but the Pulleys will easily draw off Two or Three Sheets together. One Waggon is always going to the Field, or coming home. This Contrivance makes more Expedition than one would imagine: Three Loads have been loaded, and sent off, in the same Time this way, that one Load of Hay has been loading, binding, and raking off the Outsides of it, in the next Ground, in the common Way.
I will not relate the manner of making a Rick of this Seed in its Hay, of monstrous Dimensions, by a sort of Mast-pole Forty-four Feet high, with a Ten Feet Crane at the Top, which made the same Expedition; because I think, that where such a Quantity is, Dutch Barns with moving Roofs are better. Such a Rick is troublesome to thatch, and the Wind has more Power to blow the Thatch off so high in the Air, than if it were lower. Neither would I advise any one to reserve much more St. Foin for Threshing, than his Barn will contain; because tho’ sometimes it brings the greatest Profit by Threshing, yet some Years ’tis apt to be blighted.
I have been told by my Neighbour, that he had a Crop of Five Quarters of St. Foin Seed on an Acre; but the most Profit that ever I took notice of, was on half an Acre, which was drill’d very thin, and had no Crop of Corn with it; by which Advantage it produc’d a good Crop of Seed the next Year after it was planted, and the Third Year this Half-Acre produc’d (as was try’d by a Wager) within a Trifle of Two Quarters of Seed, which was sold for Two Pounds and Ten Shillings: The thresh’d Hay of it was sold in the Place for One Pound, and Two Quarters of Chaff sold for Twelve Shillings; in all Four Pounds and Two Shillings. There was also a very good Aftermath, which was worth the Charges of Cutting and Threshing: So that the clear Profit of the One Year of this Half Acre of Ground amounted to Four Pounds Two Shillings: And it was remarkable, that at the same Time the rest of the same Field, being in all Ten Acres, had a Crop of Barley sown on Three Plowings, which (the Summer being dry) was offered to be sold at One Pound per Acre.
I believe the greatest Part of the St. Foin that is sown, is spoil’d by being indiscreetly fed by Sheep188; which Damage is occasion’d merely by suffering them to continue feeding it too long at a Time, especially in the Spring; for then the Sap moves quick, and must be depurated by the Leaves; and as the Sun’s nearer Approach accelerates the Motion or Ferment of the Juices, more Pabulum is receiv’d by the Roots; but for want of Leaves to discharge the Recrements, and enliven the Sap with nitro-aereous Particles (the Sheep devouring the Buds continually as fast as they appear), the St. Foin’s vital Flame (if I may so call it) is extinguish’d; the Circulation ceasing, the Sap stagnates, and then it ends in Corruption189. But let the Sheep eat it never so low, in a short time, without continuing thereon, or cropping the next Buds which succeed those they have eaten, the Plants will recover and grow again as vigorously as ever, and if with a Spade, in the Winter you cut off the St. Foin Heads an Handful deep, and take them away, together with their upper Earth, the Wound in the remaining Root will heal, and send out more Heads as good as those cut off, if those second Heads be preserv’d from Cattle, until they attain to a Bigness competent to bear Leaves sufficient for the Use of the reviving Plants: Nay, I have seen Plants of St. Foin cut off in the Winter a Foot deep, and the Earth of that Depth taken away; and the remaining Root recover’d, and grew to an extraordinary Bigness: But this was preserv’d from Cattle at first.
I esteem St. Foin to be much more profitable than Clover, because St. Foin is never known to do any perceivable Damage to the Corn amongst which ’tis planted; but Clover often spoils a Crop of Barley190; and I have known, that the Crop of Barley has been valued to have suffer’d Four Pounds per Acre Damage by a Crop of broad Clover’s growing in it in a wet Summer: In a dry Summer both Sorts of Clover are apt to miss growing; and if it does grow, and the next Summer (wherein it ought to be a Crop) prove very dry, it fails on most sorts of Land, tho’ it was vigorous enough to spoil the Barley the Year it was sown; at best, ’tis of but very short Duration, and therefore is not to be depended on by the Farmer, for maintaining his Cattle, which the broad Clover will also kill, sometimes by causing them to swell, unless great Care be taken to prevent it. The broad Clover is esteem’d a foul Feed for Horses. The Hop Clover is gone out of the Ground sooner than the broad Clover; I never knew it cut more than once: Indeed Cattle are never swollen by feeding on it; but then it affords but very little Feeding for them, except the Land whereon it grows be very rich.
St. Foin is observ’d to enrich whatever Ground ’tis planted on, tho’ a Crop be taken off it yearly.
Poor Slate Land191, when it has borne sown St. Foin for Six or Seven Years, being plow’d up, and well till’d, produces Three Crops of Corn; and then they sow it with St. Foin again.
Rich arable Land was planted with it, and mow’d annually with very great Crops (’twas drill’d in Nine-inch Rows, with Six Gallons of Seed to an Acre; One Crop of it was sold at Four Pounds per Acre): This, after about Seven Years, and in full Perfection, was plow’d up by a Tenant, and continued for many Years after so rich, that, instead of dunging or fallowing it for Wheat, they were forc’d to sow that upon Barley-stubble, and to feed the Wheat with Sheep in the Spring, to prevent its being too luxuriant.
But ’tis to be noted, that the Land must be well till’d at the breaking up of old St. Foin, or else the First Crops of Corn may be expected to fail: For I knew a Tenant, who, the last Year of his Term, plow’d up a Field of St. Foin, that would have yielded him Three Pounds per Acre; but, thinking to make more Profit of it by Corn, he sow’d it with White Oats upon once Plowing; and it proving a dry Summer, he lost his Plowing and Seed; for he had no Crop of Oats, and was forc’d to leave the Land as a Fallow to his Successor.
Many more Instances there are of this Failure of the Crop of Corn after St. Foin has been broken up, and not well till’d.
When St. Foin is grown old, and worn out, as ’tis said to be when the artificial Pasture is gone, and the natural Pasture is become insufficient for the Number of Plants that are on it, to be maintained; and is so poor, that it produces no profitable Crop, so that the Ground is thought proper to be plow’d up, and sown with Corn, in order to be replanted192; the most effectual Way to bring it into Tilth speedily, is, to plow it up in the Winter, with a Four-coulterd Plough, and make it fit for Turneps by the following Season; and if the Turneps be well ho’d, and especially if spent by Sheep on the Ground, ’twill be in excellent Order to be sown with Barley the following Spring; and then it may be drill’d with St. Foin amongst the Barley.
To return to the Benefit Land receives by having been planted some Years with St. Foin: All the Experienc’d know, that Land is enriched by it; but they do not agree upon the Reason why.
They agree as to the Οτι, but not the Διοτι.
Some are of Opinion, ’tis because the St. Foin takes a different Sort of Nourishment to that of Corn: But that I think is disprov’d in the Chapter of Change of Species, where ’tis shewn, that all Plants in the same Soil must take the same Food.
Mr. Kirkham thinks St. Foin has no collateral or horizontal Roots in the upper Part of the Ground where the Plough tills for Corn; and therefore has no Nourishment from that Part of the Soil which feeds the Corn. This would be a very good Account for it, were it not utterly contrary to Matter of Fact, as every one may see.
But so far it is right, that large193 St. Foin draws the greatest Part of its Nourishment from below the Reach of the Plough; and what Part it does receive from the Staple is overbalanc’d by the Second Crop, or After-lease, being spent by Cattle on the Ground; different from Corn, which is very near wholly maintain’d by the plow’d Part of the Earth, and is all carry’d off.
For tho’ the under Stratum of Earth be much poorer than the upper; yet that, never having been drain’d by any sort of Vegetables, must afford considerable Nourishment to the First that comes there.
And besides, in such Land whose Poverty proceeds from the Rain’s carrying its Riches too quickly down through the upper Stratum, the under Stratum must be the richer194 for receiving what the upper Stratum lets pass unarrested.
’Tis well known, that many Estates have been much improv’d by St. Foin; therefore there is no occasion to mention Particulars. Only I will take Notice, that the First in England was one of about One hundred and Forty Pounds per Annum, sown with St. Foin, and sold for Fourteen Thousand Pounds; and as I hear, continues, by the same Improvement, still of the same Value. This is, I suppose, the same that Mr. Kirkham mentions in Oxfordshire.
Another Farm of Ten Pounds per Annum Rent, which, whilst in Arable195, was like to have undone the Tenant; but being all planted with St. Foin by the Owner, was lett at One hundred and Ten Pounds per Annum, and prov’d a good Bargain.
If it should be ask’d, Why St. Foin is an Improvement so much greater in England, than in other Countries? it might be answer’d by shewing the Reason why English Arable is of so much less Value than Foreign196 where the Land is of equal Goodness, and the Corn produc’d of equal Price.
Notes
161There is a vulgar Opinion, that St. Foin will not succeed on any Land, where there is not an under Stratum of Stone or Chalk, to stop the Roots from running deep; else, they say, the Plants spend themselves in the Roots only, and cannot thrive in those Parts of them which are above the Ground. I am almost ashamed to give an Answer to this.
’Tis certain that every Plant is nourished from its Roots (as an Animal is by its Guts); and the more and larger Roots it has, the more Nourishment it receives, and prospers in proportion to it. St. Foin always succeeds where its Roots run deep; and when it does not succeed, it never lives to have long Roots; neither can there ever be found a Plant of it, that lives so long as to root deep in a Soil that is improper for it: Therefore ’tis amazing to hear such Reasoning from Men.
An under Stratum of very strong Clay, or other Earth, which holds Water, may make a Soil improper for it; because the Water kills the Root, and never suffers it to grow to Perfection, or to attain to its natural Bulk. The best St. Foin that ever I saw, had nothing in the Soil to obstruct the Roots, and it has been found to have Roots of a prodigious Depth. If there be Springs near (or within several Feet of) the Surface of the Soil, St. Foin will die therein in Winter, even after it has been vigorous in the first Summer; and also after it hath produced a great Crop in the second Summer.
162The Kernel or Seed, being much swollen in the Ground, I call the Head: This, when it reaches above the Ground, opens in the Middle, and is formed into the Two first Leaves; the Husk always remaining at the same Depth at which it is cover’d: The String that passes from the Husk to the Head, is the Neck; which, when by its too great Length ’tis unable to support the Head till it reaches to the Air, rises up, and doubles above it; and when it does so, the Head, being turn’d with its Top downwards, never can rise any higher, but there rots in the Ground.
163In very light Land the Seed will come up from a greater Depth; but the most secure Way is, not to suffer it to be cover’d deep in any Land.
164We say it is malted, when it lies above-ground, and sends out its Root, which is killed by the Air. And whether we plant bad Seed that does not grow, or good Seed buried or malted, the Consequence will be much the same, and the Ground may be equally understock’d with Plants.
165The worst Crop that can be sown amongst St. Foin, is Clover or Rye-Grass; Barley or Oats continue but a little while to rob it; but the other artificial Grasses rob it for a Year or Two, until the artificial Pasture is near lost; and then the St. Foin never arrives to half the Perfection as it will do when no other Grass is sown amongst it.
The Injury these Hay-crops do to the St. Foin is best seen where some Parts of the same Field have them, and the other Parts are without them.
166When Barley, among which the St. Foin is planted in a dry Summer, is great, there are few Farmers that know till the next Spring, whether the St. Foin succeeds or not; because the young Plants are not then visible; unless it be to those who are accustomed to observe them in all the Degrees of their Growth. I have seen a Field of Ten Acres of such, wherein, after the Barley was carried off, nothing appeared like St. Foin; but when by the Print of the Chanels I searched diligently, I found the small St. Foin Plants thick enough in the Rows; they had no Leaves, they being cut off by the Scythe; no Part of them that was left had any Green Colour; but from the Plants there came out many Sprigs like Hog’s Bristles, or like the Beard of Barley: This whole Piece of St. Foin succeeded so well, that the Third Year its Crop was worth Three Pounds per Acre, the Land being good.
167Not that we need to be so exact as to the Number of Plants, whether they be Two, Three, or Four hundred upon a square Perch. Neither is it possible to know beforehand the precise Number of Plants that may live; for sometimes the Grub kills many, by eating off the first Two Leaves.
168Many even of the best of Seeds, both sown and drill’d, are liable to Casualties, but not equally; for about Twenty-eight Years ago, my Servants (being prime Seedsmen) had a Fancy in my Absence to try an Experiment of the Difference betwixt sowing and drilling of St. Foin; and in the Middle of a large Field of my best Land they sow’d a square Piece of Three Acres, at the Rate of One Bushel to an Acre, not doubting but, by their skill in sowing even, it would succeed as well as if drill’d; but it succeeded so much against their Expectation, that the Land all round it, which was drill’d at the same Time, with the same Proportion of the same Seed, brought extraordinary good Crops of St. Foin; but the sow’d Part was so very thin, that tho’ it lay still with the rest for Eight Years, it never was a Crop, there not being above Three or Four upon a square Perch, taking the Three Acres all together: Not that it can be supposed, that the sown would always meet with so many Casualties as this did; for then Eight Bushels sown to an Acre might have been too thin, and much thinner than all the rest of the Field was, tho’ drill’d with only One Bushel to an Acre: And ’tis often seen, that when an Acre is sown with seven Bushels of Seed, the St. Foin is as much too thick, as that sown with One Bushel was too thin.
I do not know, that of the many hundred Acres of St. Foin, that have been drill’d for me, ever one Acre was too thin, except when planted with Wheat: The young Plants were kill’d by the Frost.
169But I believe, there might remain alive Three or Four Plants to each square Yard, standing single, and at pretty equal Distances.
170But Note, This Acre was dunged, and in better Order than the rest.
171But, notwithstanding I commend the Planting of St. Foin thin, that most of the Roots may be single; yet I have Fields that were drill’d with but Four Gallons of Seed to an Acre; and yet the Rows being Seven Inches asunder, the Roots are so thick in them, that the Ground is cover’d with the St. Foin Plants, which seem to be as thick (in Appearance) as most sown St. Foin, whereon Seven or Eight Bushels are sown on an Acre. And I have other Fields that were drill’d with about Two Gallons of Seed to an Acre (which is Five Seeds to each square Foot), the Rows Sixteen Inches asunder, that produce better Crops, tho’ the Ground be poorer. The drill’d St. Foin, being regular, is more single, tho’ as thick as the sown; and for that Reason always makes a better Crop, and lasts longer than the sown that is of the same Thickness, but irregular.
172This Plowing and Scratching was a sort of Hoeing, which helped the St. Foin by a small Degree of Pulveration, as well as by making the Plants thinner.
173Sown Plants, when too thick, are crouded on every Side; but those that are drill’d, have always Room enough on Two Sides of them; unless the Rows are too near together.
174This was on rich deep Land in Oxfordshire; and the other St. Foin, which was so poor, was on thin Slate Land near Causham in Wiltshire in the Bath Road. It is now about Forty Years since.
175Horizontal-rooted Plants suffer no greater Injury by their Pasture’s being over-stock’d than Cattle do; because their Pasture lying near the Surface of the Ground, they have it all amongst them: But St. Foin, and other long Tap-rooted Plants suffer yet more, because great Part of their over-stock’d Pasture is lost by them all, when they hinder one another from reaching down to it, by shortening one another’s Roots, which they do when they all become Dwarfs by reason of their Over-thickness.
176But when it has been planted on rich sandy Land, and proper, it has produced very great Crops the first Year; but then the Summer wherein it grew amongst the Barley, must not be reckoned as the first Year.
177When Plants have not their due Nourishment, they suffer the more by Cold and Drought; so that want of Nourishment diminishing their Growth One-fourth, Cold, or Drought, or both, may diminish it another fourth.
178Cattle are the best Judges of the Goodness of Grass, and they always choose to feed on St. Foin that is most vigorous, and refuse that which is poor and yellow. And the richest sweetest Grass will always make the best Hay; for the drying of it does not change the Quality of the Grass.
179The first Winter is the Time to lay on Manure, after the Crop of Corn is off; such as Peat-Ashes, or the like; because, there being no natural Grass to partake of it, and the Plants being less, less will supply them; and because, when made strong in their Youth, they will come to greater Perfection: But I never used any Manure on my St. Foin, because mine generally had no Occasion for Manure before it was old; and Soot is seldom to be had of sufficient Quantity in the Country; and little Coal is burnt hereabouts, except by the Smiths, whose Ashes are not good. The Price and Carriage of Peat-Ash will be Ten Shillings for an Acre, which would yet be well bestowed in a Place where Hay is vendible; but, by reason of the great Quantity of watered Meadows, and Plenty of St. Foin, Clover, and Hay, raised of late Years by Farmers for their own Use, here are now few or no Buyers of Hay, especially these open Winters; so that laying out Money in that Manner would be in Effect to buy what I cannot sell. I think it better to let a little more Land lie still in St. Foin, than to be at the Expence of Manure; but yet shall not neglect to use it, when I shall find it likely to be profitable to me.
180I have now a great many single St. Foin Plants in my Fields, that are near Thirty Years of Age, and yet seem as young and vigorous as ever; and yet it is common for thick St. Foin to wear out in Nine or Ten Years, and in poor Land much sooner, if not often manured by Soot, Peat-Ash, or Coal-Ash.
181By cutting before blossoming, is not meant before any one Blossom appears; for here and there a Bud will begin to open with a red Colour long before the rest: Therefore, when we perceive only a very few Blossoms beginning to open (perhaps but One of a Thousand), we regard them as none.
182This also was an Advantage to this Hay; for Apothecaries find, that Herbs dried in the Shade retain much more of their Virtue than these dried in the Sun; but Farmers not having any such Conveniency of drying their Hay in the Shade with Safety, must always choose to dry it by the Sun; because in cloudy Weather there is Danger of Rain; and therefore such excellent Hay must be had by Chance; for to be well made in the Shade, it must be in Danger of being spoiled or damaged by Rain.
183This Hay, so cut before blossoming, has kept a Team of working Stone-horses, round the Year, fat without Corn; and when tried with Beans and Oats mixed with Chaff, they refused it for this Hay. The same fatted some Sheep in the Winter, in a Pen, with only it and Water; they thrived faster than other Sheep at the same time fed with Pease and Oats. The Hay was weighed to them, and the clear Profit amounted to Four Pounds per Tun. They made no Waste. Tho’ the Stalks were of an extraordinary Bigness, they would break off short, being very brittle. This grew on rich Ground in Oxfordshire.
184I reckon Manure of Peat-Ashes, Soot, or the like, to be a Culture.
185If the Swarths be not very great, we never turn them at all, because the Sun or Wind will quickly dry them.
186Sometimes when we design to thresh in the Field, we make no Cocks at all, and but only just separate the Swarths in the Dew of the Morning dividing them into Parts of about Two Feet in each Part. By this means the St. Foin is sooner dry’d, than when it lies thicker, as it must do, if made into Cocks.
187But there is yet another Care to be taken of St. Foin Seed, besides the curing it; and that is, to keep it from Rats and Mice after ’tis cured; or else, if their Number be large, they will in a Winter eat up all the Seed of a considerable Quantity, leaving only empty Husks, which to the Eye appear the same as when the Seeds are in them. A Man cannot without Difficulty take a Seed out of its Husk; but the Vermin are so dextrous at it, that they will eat the Seed almost as fast out of the Husks, as if they were pulled out for them. I saw a Rat killed as he was running from an Heap of it, that had Seven peeled Seeds in his Mouth not swallowed; which is a Sign, that he was not long in taking them out. They take them out so cleverly, that the Hole in the Husk shuts itself up when the Seed is out of it. But, if you feel the Husk between your Finger and Thumb, you will find it empty. Also a Sackful of them is very light; yet there have been some so ignorant and incurious as to sow such empty Husks for several Years successively; and none coming up, they concluded their Land to be improper for St. Foin.
188I never suffer Sheep to come upon St. Foin, except betwixt Mowing-time and All-Saints. And there is so much Danger of spoiling St. Foin by the Fraud of Shepherds, that I knew a Gentleman that bound his Tenant never to suffer any Sheep to come thereon; and by this means his St. Foin continued in Perfection much longer than is usual, where St. Foin is suffer’d to be fed by Sheep.
189Natural Grass is not kill’d by constant feeding, because no sort of Cattle can bite it so low as to deprive it of all its Leaves; and ’tis, like Eels, more tenacious of Life than the rest of its Genius, and will send out Leaves from the very Roots when reversed, as is too often seen where turffy Land is plow’d up in large Furrows.
190But this Damage may be prevented by drilling the Clover after the Barley is an Handful high or more; for then the Barley will keep it under, and not suffer it to grow to any considerable Bigness till after Harvest; nor will this Drill, being drawn by Hand, do any Damage to the Barley.
191The Poverty of this sort of Land, lying upon Slate or Stone, generally proceeds from the Thinness of it; and, if it were thicker, it would be good Land: Much of this Earth, being dispersed among the Crannies or Interstices of the Slate and Stone to a great Depth, is reach’d by the Tap-roots of the St. Foin, but cannot be reach’d by the Roots of Corn; and therefore, when constantly kept in Tillage, is of small Value: Upon which Account such Land is greatly improveable by St. Foin, even when sown in the common manner.
192Or if you perceive, that there is a competent Number of Plants alive, and tolerably single; be they never so poor, you may recover them to a flourishing Condition in the following manner, without replanting: Pulverize the whole Field in Intervals of about Three Feet each, leaving betwixt every Two of them Four Feet Breadth of Ground unplow’d. When the Turf of these Intervals, being cut by the Four coulter’d Plough, is perfectly rotten, one Furrow made by any sort of Plough will hoe one of these Intervals, by changing the whole Surface of it. The poorer the Land is, the more Hoeings will be required; and the oftener ’tis ho’d, with proper Intermissions the first Year, the stronger the St. Foin will become, and the more Years it will continue good, without a Repetition of Hoeing.
The Expence of this cannot be great; because the Plough, in hoeing an Acre in this manner Nine Times, travels no farther than it must to plow an Acre once in the common Manner.
I need not tell the Owner, that the Earth of these Intervals must be made level, before the St. Foin can be mowed.
193For large St. Foin, being single, has large Roots, and very long, which probably descend Twenty Feet deep: Now, if we allow Four or Five Inches the Depth of the Staple, to afford a Supply equal to Two Feet below it, taking the lower Nineteen Feet Seven Inches together, upon this Computation, the Part below the Staple gives the St. Foin about Nine Parts in Ten of its Sustenance.
194In light poor Land the Water carrying some impregnated Earth along with it down lower than it does in strong Land, that is more tenacious of such impregnated Particles, the under Strata of strong Land are likely to be poorer than those of light Land.
195These Estates consisted of thin Slate Land; which before it was planted with St. Foin, was valued at two Shillings per Acre, and some Part of it at One Shilling per Acre (as I have been inform’d); and yet Oxen are well fatted by the St. Foin it produces.
196’Tis doubtless from the extraordinary Price of English Labour above that of other Countries, occasioned by English Statutes being in this Respect different from all other Laws in the World.