se
with that of 'great', as it was called, or broad clover, Weston
pressed on the English farmer. But their progress was wofully slow. At
Hawsted in Suffolk clover and turnips were first sown about 1700, and
the eastern portion of England was far ahead of the north and west; as
late as 1772 Arthur Young wrote that 'sainfoin, cabbages, potatoes,
and carrots are not common crops in England; I do not imagine above
half or at most two-thirds of the nation cultivate clover.'[253] Yet
their introduction must have been of the greatest benefit to the
farmer and the public; his stock of hay was increased, he could
utilize his fallows, and keep a much larger head of stock through the
winter, who would give him a greater quantity of manure. Every one
where turnips were grown could now have fresh meat during the winter.
The slow progress of these great blessings is perhaps the strongest
testimony in our history of the innate conservatism of the farmer. The
green crop was for long considered to be suited only to the garden,
and as our forefathers were prejudiced against the spade it was
difficult to get such crops cultivated even there; but it should also
be remembered that no crop was possible in the common fields which did
not come to maturity before Lammas, unless some special agreement was
made as to it.[254] Clover, Sir Richard Weston said, thrives best when
sown on the worst and barrenest ground, which was to be pared and
burnt, and unslaked lime added to the ashes. Then it was to be well
ploughed and harrowed, and about 10 lb. of seed sown per acre in the
end of March or in April. 'It will stand five years, and then when
ploughed up will yield three or four years running rich crops of
wheat, and then a crop of oats, after which you may sow clover again.'

In the seventeenth century the practice of liming and marling, which
had been largely discontinued since the fourteenth century, was
revived (Westcote, in his _View of Devon_ in 1630, calls liming, &c.,
a new invention), and there was also a great improvement in
implements. Patents were taken out for draining machines in 1628, for
new manures in 1633-6, ploughs 1623-7 and 1634, mechanical sowing
1634-9. Only six were taken out, however, between 1640 and 1760 that
concerned agriculture.[255] The Civil War checked the improvement, for
though the great mass of the people had nothing to do with either
party, the country was of necessity in a very unsettled state, and
both sides