bout the end of July, when the grass was fully ripened, the food was changed, and tares, were sown in I\l:cch, \\ ere given, and continued, till the se , and crop of clover was ready for the sidle. On the sth of August, ten of the tops were sold, which allowed more justice to be done to those who had hitherto been in hand. On the 24th September, the remainder w ere disposed of; though, unfortunately, one of them died of a surfeit on the preceding day, which reduced the account of profits nearly at the rate of 10 II( r cent.
It should have been mentioned, that the farm-yard, or courtine, was regularly littered with straw, which occasioned much excellent dung to be collected. A plentiful supply of water was also at hand ; and the cat rle reposed, during the heat of the day, in open sheds around the yard much more comfortably than they could have done in any field whatever. This circumstance is mentioned, because several dealers sagaciously con cluded, that the confined air of the court, and the reflec tion of sunshine from the houses, would keep the cattle so warns as to prevent tallow from being gathered in any quantity. On the contrary, they were better tallowed than beasts of their size, fed for the like time, generally are. The one which died of a surfeit had 4 stone 61b. Troy, or 961b. Avoirdupois of tallow, and the weight of the carcass was only 34 stone Dutch.
The profit and loss account of this parcel, which was made up with every possible attention to accuracy, may now be stated, and it is presented, merely that the result of the experiment may be sufficiently understood.
Deducting the 2601. 6s., when the cattle were put to grass, the net profit was 1061. 7s., besides what was ob tained from swine maintained on the offal.
The clover and tare land, which yielded food for the cattle, extended nearly to eleven acres, viz. eight of clover and three of tares ; but the surveyor's certificate, given below, will be the best evidence on this point. It may be added, that six acres of the clover were good, and would have produced 300 stone of hay per acre ; the other two were only middling, and could not be es timated as exceeding 200 stone. Of the tares, one acre or thereby was good, the remainder indifferent. The second crop of clover, owing to the severe drought, was very tight.
" Illrrkir, :2d Oclober, certify, that I have this day measured the clover and tale ground be longing to Mr brown, the produce of which was con sumed by cauy in the yard, betwixt the first of June and this date, and die contents of the clover to be eight acres, and of r handredtht part of an acre ; and the tares, two acres, and ninety-six hundredth parts of an acre, Scotch nteastvc.
It may be objected, that nothing is stated for the trouble of cutting and carting the clover and tares ; but it is presumed, this was much more than compensated by the great quantity of fine manure accumulated dur ing the process. Had the advice of some people been taken, the profit account might have been considerably augmented, by taking credit on that head ; but it was not wished to state it a halfpenny higher than could be sufficiently instructed. Indeed, whoever reflects upon the difficulty of converting straw into dung on clay soils, where turnips cannot be raised with advantage, must al low, that a benefit of no small importance is gained from using grass in this manner, independent of the direct profit arising from the bestial.
Had it been practicable to run a comparison betwixt the lot depastured in the field, and the one fed at home, the advantages of the latter mode would have been more strikingly displayed ; but as the former were mixed with other parcels purchased at different periods, it was impracticable, to present a comparative statement, which would have any pretension to correctness. Both lots. however, were sold exactly at the same price, and on the same day, which affords a sufficient foundation for two inferences, 1. That cattle will feed equally well on cut meat, if care is taken to furnish them with a full supply in a regular manner, as they will do in the field, when allowed to roam at large : 2. That the saving of grass must be considerable, though we are unable, from the above circumstance, to ascertain the extent of it with precision. However, from the total result on the dif ferent parcels of cattle, and other stock depastured, we are inclined to believe, that the saving per acre will amount to 50 per cent., or, in other, words, that a field of clover and ry e-grass will feed one half more beasts, when cut by the lithe, than when it is depastured. A caution must, however, be offered to such people as may attempt to feed in the former way, that a very great degree of attention is necessary in every step, otherwise loss, instead of gain, may eventually follow. The yard, in which the cattle are fed, ought to be com modiously fitted up ; a plentiful supply of water kept within its bounds ; a careful servant provided for man agement ; tares sown in different successions, to come in when the grass arrives at maturity ; and fresh pro vision furnished regularly, at least five times per day. Unless tares are provided when the clover becomes hard and unpalatable, cattle will make no further pro tress; but having that article of different ages, the process of feeding went regularly forward in the instance mentioned. Some may object, that such a mode of filed ing is a troublesome one, and that the old way of allow ing the cattle to seek their own food is much more easy and convenient. We grant that a good deal of trouble accompanies homc-feeding ; but arc yet to learn the branch of good management, which can be executed with as little trouble as is sustained when the system is slovenly and improvident. The like objection was urged against summer on its first introduction ; it was afterwards repeated against the drilling of turnips ; and, in short, every perfect plan is of consequence ex posed to it. Perhaps a general adoption of home-feed ing would be the greatest improvement that can be in troduced on clay soils, which naturally arc unlit for the growth of turnips. All such soils require a good deal of manure belime they can be farmed successfully ; and where situated at a distance from a large town, no ad ditional supply can be procured. To use resources within their bounds, seems therefore to be sound wisdom, even laying aside all consideration of profit in the first in stance. If the clover-break, where a six-course shift is followed, were regularly cut with the sithe, and con sumed at home, perhaps every farmer would manure one-sixth more ground annually, than what he is at pre sent capable of doing.