Ore  evil  attending  these  lands  is,  that  of  being
too  wet;  the  signs  of  which  can  never  be  mistaken
Or  overlooked  in  any  season  of  the.  year.    In  win-

K  k  4  ter.
504  OCTOBfiK*

ter^  it  is  at  once  perceived  by  walking  on  it ;  at  all
times  of  the  year  by  the  herbage  which  generally
abounds  on  it,  such  as  rushes,  flags,  and  a  great
quantity  of  moss ;  and  also  by  the  colour  of  the
grass,  which  is  mostly  blue  at  the  points ;  some-
times of  a  dirty  yellow  hue,  and  always  coarse.  If
the  soil  IS  the  first  described  stiff  clay,  and  the  sur-
iiK:e  level,  the  evil  will  be  very  difficult  of  cure ;
if  of  the  other  sort  of  clay,  or  stiff  loams,  draining
will  have  great  effects.
Grass  fields  on  gravelly  soils  are,  if  the  gravel  is
sharp,  very  apt  to  bum  in  dry  summers ;  but  they
give  great  and  sweet  crops  in  wet  ones,  provided
the  land  is  a  gravelly  loam.  A  farmer  should  not
regret  having  a  pasture  or  two  of  absolute  gravel  in
his  farm,  being  of  excellent  use  in  winter  for  feed-
ing sheep  and  lambs  with  turnips,  &c.
