Till of late years the practice of rolling was but little used, or even known, and it is in many places exercised so slightly, as to be of little service. Its utility, when it is exercised as it ought to be, consists in rendering a loose' soil more compact and solid, which, by making the earth adhere to the roots of plants, cherishes their growth. No roller that can be drawn by two, or even by. four, horses, will carry this effect too far. By milling, moreover, the moisture of the earth is kept more in, and, in a dry season, this circumstance may reasonably be pre sumed sometimes to constitute the differ ence between a good and a bad crop. The coMmon practice of breaking clods by means of mallets may judiciously be superseded by the roller, preceded for a day or two by harrowing. When firm and tough clay clods are to be broken, a large and heavy roller will be required for this purpose, with circles of iron of the depth of six or seven inches, which will completely reduce the most stubborn clods, and, from its decided usefulness, must by no means be regarded as arefinc ment in husbandry, productive of expense, without ample corresponding advantage. With respect to grass lands, the mowing for hay is extremely facilitated by the practice of rolling.
The practice of scarifying grass lands is used by a variety of persons, and is di- meetly opposite to that of rolling them in its principle and effect. For this purpose a plough, consisting only of four coulters, or narrow teeth, is employed; and it is as serted that the crops of hay are consider ably increased by the loosening of the earth occasioned by this process, the roots acquiring the power of fresh vegetation, while rolling is stated to increase the te uacity of many pastures, in NI hich it ought rather to be diminished. Previously to the manuring of grass land it is observed to be particularly beneficial, as whate ver it be that is spread over the gvound finds, in consequence of this method, more rapid access to the roots, and smaller quantity is remarked to answer the end proposed than a considerably larger one without this practice. The operation may undoubtedly be beneficial in sarious instances and soils,,ind expe riments indeed have es inced that it is 'so. The use of the roller, however, upon grass lands of a certain description, will be admitted to be preferable ; and with regard to arable land, tItis new process by no means interferes with the application of the roller, for all the purposes which have been mentioned.
Drill flusbundry.
The system of drill husbandry has been long known to be extremely prefera ble on sandy soils. and dry loams, and in NorfoIlt particithudy it made a rapid a,pd extensive progress upon such lands. It has latterly been introduced on the strong soils of Suffolk. The objects of this hus bandry are, the promotion of the -growth of plants by hoeing, and the saying of seed ; objects, it will be universally ad mitted, ot great importance. It was well known, that in gardens the hoeing and transplantation of vegetables often dou bled their vigour: an:dogy tlierefore natu rally led to the conclusion, that a similar result would occur from the same ma nagement of arable lands, and experience ltas decided both the practicability and the advantage of it. Land sowed. with wheat,
however well prepared and finished it may be in the autumn, sinks in winter, so that in the spring it possesses too great tenacify to admit the free extension of tile routs for the collection of nourish merit, and stands in extreme need of ploughing and hoeing to counteract these effects. Grain WWII before winter, there fore, requires the process of hocinginex .pressibly more than what is sown in the spring; the land in the latter case not haying had the same time to harden, nor to produce ma.ny weed.s by. exposure to the winter snow and rain.
As the vigour of the plants upon the drill system is very consulerably increas ed, the land nuist be sowed much thin ner than in the old practice ; a circum Ntance, which, in unreflecting minds, has -operated as a considerable objection, it appearing at the first view, which on such is not only strong-, but often indelibly im pressive, that the vacant spots are com pletely lost or wasted. In the common practice, however, even in the most pro ductive lands, the seeds, th.„,t, very thickly sou-n, produce each but one or t wo ears, whereas two or three are universally produced by each in the latter mode, and sometimes a single one will produce 13 or 21 In the old method, there being by far more plants than nourishine»t, many must perish without attaining maturity, and many of the remainder can exist on ly in a languid and drooping- state ; where as in the other method all have as much nutriment as they require, and though comparatively few, being fitr more vigo rous in their vegetation, they afford a larger produce than the numerous bat sickly plants cultivated in the ordinary method.
For the application of this new mode, however it is expedient that land shonld have been brought into good tilt!) by the old method, wloch being done, it should be so thinly sown as to leave sufficient room for the plants to extend themselves. It must be divided for this purpose into rows, 30 inches distant from each other, which will give an interval of two feet between the rows, every plant there by having ample room to extend its roots and collect its food. In such con siderable intervals, :Also, the i•arth may be hoed round the plants withoet the hazard of injury to them. The first hoe ing- should be applied when the wheat is in leaf, before wtnter, ancl is designed to draw off the wet, and dispose the earth to be mellowed by frost. The second, after the Inull frosts are passed, is calcu lated for making the plants branch free ly. The third may be vet?. slitt-lit, and Zooid be given when the ears begin to appear. The last shoold be given when the IA heat is in bloom, and is of the great est importance', as it makes the ears fill at the extremities, and increases the size of the grain. In the middle of the inter vals a deep forrow must be traced, and the earth be thrown to the right and left on the foot of the plants. Ity the careful application of the earth in this manner the plants are supported, and prevented from being laid, and the ground is pre pared for the next sowing, in which the seed is to be put in the middle of the ground that formed the intervats.