IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING AND FERTILIZING LAND
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
VAUX, of Woodford, in the County of Essex, Land Surveyor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of December, in the second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Vaux, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Vaux, my exors, admors, and assigns; or such
others as I, the said Thomas Vaux, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILLING AND FERTILIZING
LAND;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
Thomas Vaux, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear..
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Vaux, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being

page_text: had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say): :-
The discovery which it is the design of the following Specification to
develope, is a mode of recovering and improving land, and particularly waste
.and poor land, by tilling and sowing or planting only small portions or parts
of any quantity, leaving the other parts of the land and surface in grass or
other vegatable pasture, by which means winter food for cattle is obtained, and
also a good and clean surface for sheep to tread and lie on during the winter
is secured, as hereafter shewn. It is well known that turnips and other
vegetable substances suitable for feeding sheep, are grown on lands where
they cannot be fed off without many and great disadvantages, consequently
such vegetable substances have in almost all instances to be drawn and carted
to the homestead or carried to grass land which affords a suitable surface or
tread for sheep; and it is equally well known that it would be of great import-
ance, if practicable, to feed off the crop where grown, such a course being not
only a considerable diminution of labour, but also causing, by the manure of
the sheep, a vast improvement in. the soil. Now, this Invention effects both
these objects, for by it sheep will be enabled to feed off the: crops produced
thereon, and have at the same time a surface which they can walk and lie
upon without the necessity of their running over and reposing on the tilled
portions of the land.
}
In order to give the best information for the purpose of carrying out this
Invention, I will suppose it to be desired to improve a piece or parcel (say
ten or more acres) of very poor or waste land, and to which, if tilled in the
ordinary manner, turnip husbandry is not applicable, that is, if it be too wet
for sheep in winter, though it is to be observed that the plan is also applicable
to lands of a better quality. The process is as follows:-Begin by paring off
about one foot square of the turf sward or vegetable surface, and then, at an
equal distance (that is, about one foot square) pare off and remove another
square of about one foot of the sward or other vegetable surface; and so pro-
ceed in like manner throughout the whole ten acres, leaving the other parts
or remainder in its original state, by which means there will be one fourth of
the ten acres pared, and three fourths remaining with its sward or vegetable
surface unremoved; and every square so pared will be surrounded or encom
passed by the original turf or vegetable surface, as is exemplified in the Draw-
ing No. 1, the parts thereon painted green, marked b, b, b, representing the
original turf or surface unremoved, and the squares left white, and marked
a, a, a, representing the portions pared off. Or, the dimensions of the tilled
parts may be twenty-four inches square, instead of twelve, in order to raise a

page_text: full crop. These will be the proportions at the first working; and although only.
one fourth of the soil will be tilled at the commencement, yet the whole may,
if desired, in the course of a few years, by degrees, be tilled, as is hereafter
detailed. Having pared off the turf, as above mentioned, the parts from which
this has been done should be tilled to such depth as the soil admits, say from.
six to eight inches deep, or more if desired, and the earth or mould so tilled:
spread over the adjoining spaces of sward or pasture, in order to its being
pulverized, such pulverization being greatly aided by exposure and atmospheric
influence, care being taken not to let it remain so long as to injure the pasture.
When the soil is clay or of a clayey nature, in order to take advantage. of
the beneficial effects which frost produces, care must be taken not to lose or.
endanger its benefits by allowing the mould or earth to remain too long on
the sward or pasture. The tilled earth should, with hoe or shovel, be drawn
into small heaps, each containing as much as will fill one hole; and the mould
may afterwards be again turned over upon a fresh part of the adjoining sward,
whereby all danger of destroying or injuring the pasture will be avoided; or.
the earth may, in the first instance, be placed in small heaps instead of being.
spread out, and on their becoming congealed by frost, they should be turned
over occasionally. The grass will prevent the uniting of the tilled and the
untilled earth. The best disposition of the sods, especially when these opera-
tions are commenced in the autumn or early in the winter, will be to place
them in the holes (one sod in each), first rolling or folding them. into a cylin-
drical form, and placing them upright on edge, where they may remain until
the earth is returned into the holes, when they may be taken out and placed
upon it (still keeping them on the edge), and there remain until the time
arrive for reducing them to ashes, as in common practice. It will, however,
be a matter of choice, whether they will be disposed of in this manner, or be
placed upon the grass. As paring off the turf with the implement known
under the several names of paring spade, breast plough, denshering spade,
flaughter spade, &c. &c. is but little practised in many parts of the country,
the following mode may be substituted :-The turf may be separated from the
spit or mould at the same time. it is dug, and in most cases by a single
stroke of the spade, and for that purpose a spade may be used with a sharper
edge than the ordinary digging one; and this part of the work may be per-
formed by boys and old men or women when pulverizing the earth. Should
too much earth at the first operation be left with the turf or sod, it could be
separated afterwards when drier, and previously to the turf being reduced to
ashes. In burning the soils care should be taken not to raise, the heat to a
higher degree than is requisite to produce combustion in its mildest or slightest

page_text: form. This may be best effected by making the heaps of turf small, such as
will yield about two bushels of ashes, and whilst burning. they should be kept
in a smothered state. The ashes should be equally apportioned amongst all
the tilled squares, or, if the land be tilled in stripes, then they should be distri-
buted so as to appropriate a due proportion to each plant. Many persons have
great objections to paring and burning the sward, it will there bef be satisfac-
tory to observe, that it will be necessary on waste lands only, for wherever
there is ley, there is in the same farm other land in tillage on which the
farmyard manure is applied. Instead, therefore, of using it on the fallow, or
otherwise, as at present, it may be appropriated to the raising of winter.cattle
food (turnips, mangel wurzel, &c.) on poor pasture land; paring and burning
will therefore only be resorted to in preference to carting manure too great. a
distance. When the turf is not converted into ashes, it may be placed at the
bottom of the tilled part, where it will answer an excellent purpose as manure;
thus showing, and, I trust, .satisfactorily, that paring and burning are indis-
pensable on waste lands only. These operations being completed, sow. or
transplant in the proper season; say from April to July, the Swedish turnip;
cabbage, or mangel wurzel, one plant in each of the tilled spaces or parts
marked in Plan Figure 1, a, a, a; and four plants in each square of twenty-
four inches, taking care, in the latter case, to place each plant not less than
three inches from the side of the untilled ground. This will leave the four
plants eighteen inches apart on the tilled portions, and thirty inches apart the
other way.
3
Transplanting the Swedish turnip :-In addition to many other advantages,
is that of affording time to obtain fresh newly-burnt ashes when wanted, which
cannot at all times be ensured at the season when the seed should be sown,
especially in the damp climate on the moors in the North of England and in
Scotland. Those, therefore, who do not approve of transplanting, will do well
to proceed with their operations of paring and burning, &c. in the autumn.
In returning the ashes and the earth into the holes or stripes, I should recom-
mend the ashes.being placed nearly at the bottom of the holes. They will be
sufficiently mixed with the tilled earth on stirring or turning it previously to
sowing. By any of those modes the crop produced will be found equal to
any that could be obtained from the land had it been entirely disposed in
tillage in the ordinary way. It is necessary to observe that, as there will be
a large quantity, especially the first year, of undecayed vegetable matter (roots
'and fibres) in the tilled portion of the ground, which, although an excellent
manure, will cause the whole mass to be too light, unless proper means of
avoiding it be adopted, it must therefore be well trodden down, and such

page_text: treading or pressing must be proportionate to the quantity of this valuable:
manure, always bearing in mind that when the quantity is large the whole can.
hardly be too much pressed together or saddened, on peat and moory soils in
particular. In addition to treading, and as a means of preventing cracks, I.
would strike ("job") a spade down between the tilled and the untilled parts.:
On clayey soils, cracks or fissures may, however,. appear, in dry weather.
betweeen the tilled and untilled parts, especially on poor soils in. hey, where-
there is but a small portion of vegetable matter.. When; after heavy rains?
the tilled parts will become panned, it will then, on their first appearance, be
necessary to fill them up, otherwise the plants will suffer from drought. These
cracks may be easily filled by the hoe, rake, or spade, and the expence is sa
trifling, that I consider it unnecessary to make any further observation as to:
them, except that the spade may, ou some occasions, be made to answer a
two-fold purpose, namely, when the tilled part has become sad,. the bad effects.
of which may be obviated by stirring or moving the tilled earth, by striking a
spade down between the tilled and the untilled parts, and pressing it gently.
back, and so making the whole lighter; at the same time fill up the cracks.
I have done this with great advantage after the bulb of the turnip has begun:
to form, and the extent or degree to which this lightening up of the soil may.
be carried will be easily ascertained by practise. Any measure short of
causing the leaves to droop,. so that they would not recover in the course.
of one or two days, may not only be safely, but with great advantage, adopted.:
This practice will be found very superior to that of hoeing to accomplish the
same object. As a considerable time will frequently elapse between the
period of returning the earth into the holes after its pulverization, and
the period of sowing or transplanting, it will, in the interval, become sad.
The mode of lightening it just stated must be adopted before commencing the
sowing or planting. From this it will be perceived that when the earth is
returned a long time before sowing or planting, it will not require to be
trodden down as is recommended in peat and moory soils.
And it is proper
to remark that when the pasture b, b, b, presents grass in the spring, and
previous to commencing the operation of sowing or planting the tilled'
parts a, a, a, the grass should be fed off, in order to prevent its rising to such
height as to interrupt the growth of the turnips or mangel wurzel, &c..
This should be done again in the month of August. At this latter period.
sheep or lambs may be let in, but only when hungry; and although they would
do but little injury by lying amongst the turnips, it would be desirable not to
allow them to do so; it will, therefore, be better to remove them as soon as
beir lunger is satisfied: Towards the close of the year the produce.of the

page_text: tilled parts a, a, a, will be ready for feeding off, when such portion or quantity
of the turnips, cabbages, or other crop, may be drawn or pulled up as wanted
for use and store. On this being done, some part or the whole of the earth
or soil in which they have grown should be spread over the surface of the
sward or pasture parts b, b, b. By this means, when the sheep are. feeding
on the turnips, &c., they will trample upon it and pulverize the same; and
when the crop has been fed off the earth is to be returned, which, enriched as
it will then be with the sheeps' manure, will materially fertilize the soil for the
next crop, and from the same causes the pasture b, b, b, will also be greatly
improved in quality as well as quantity. And in order still further to increase
it, instead of retaining the tilled parts from year to year in precisely the
same places, it may be advisable in each year after the first, or once in every
succeeding three or four years, to cut from one side of the several untilled parts
a few inches (say from four to six inches wide) of the adjoining turf or pasture,
and then allow the grass on the opposite side of the tilled parts to grow or
spread to a like extent; or place the turf so cut off on the other or correspond-
ing side, that is, place it on the opposite side of the tilled part from which it
is taken; or grass seeds may be sown, and then till and treat the newly pared
part as above described, by which means, in a few. years, the pasture will be
vastly improved, and become of a very superior character. I would here also
notice the very beneficial results which all persons acquainted with the art of
agriculture will perceive must follow from spreading either a part or the whole
of the tilled portion of the soil over the sward or pasture parts, in order to its
pulverization by the treading and manuring of the sheep, and then drawing
such fertilized soil back again, in the manner before stated. The advantageous
results to be obtained thereby will be so great, that in this respect alone this
mode of leaving portions of adjoining pasture surface for receiving the soil for pul-
verization, as well as for receiving the dung and urine of sheep, is of the utmost
importance; but, combined as it is with the advantageous desideratum of the
pasture surface offering at the same time a firm and good surface for the
sheep to walk and lie on while consuming the produce of the tilled portion,
the system as a whole will be found very superior and far more economical
han any of the modes heretofore practised for tilling and fertilizing all such
soils as are not (when tilled in the ordinary way) sufficiently dry in winter
for the grazing of sheep, without injury both to them and the land:
It may
be well to observe that on very adhesive soils, in wet weather, the tilled
earth or mould should not be spread over the sward or pasture parts before
the sheep are brought upon it to consume the crop, as it would puddle and
injure the soil and starve the animal; the sheep should, therefore, be brought

page_text: upon the clean sward to consume, the turnips, &c., and the earth or mould
immediately afterwards thrown over the dung, which will, by the operation of
drawing the whole back with the hoe or shovel, (a rake should not be used
for returning the earth, as the finest particles would then be left on the grass,)
be sufficiently mixed as before described; but it will only be necessary. to do
this in wet weather; or about one half of the turnips, &c. might on such
occasions be consumed without any of the tilled earth or mould. being thrown
upon the sward, and the other half could be eaten off afterwards as soon as
the weather became sufficiently fine to admit of the tilled parts being trampled
upon without puddling. I would further observe, that although I have particu-
larized squares of one foot and of two feet as convenient spaces of each of the
tilled parts or partions, variations may be made with advantage, and any of the
plans, as in the several annexed Drawings marked 1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, may be
adopted. If at any time after two or three crops of turnips, &c. have been taken
and eaten on the spot where raised, as described in the plans Nos. 1, 2, a greater
proportion of summer pasture or of meadow be required, every alternate row
of those of two feet square of the tilled parts may be sown-with grass seeds,
or some of the old turf placed thereon, which would leave a suitable breadth of
sward for one swath, or two if desired. If not required for hay, the tilled part
may be reduced to one foot by sowing seeds or placing old sward, as just
stated. And to accomplish the same objects as regards mowing, when the land
is laid out in squares of twelve inches, two rows adjoining each other of the
tilled parts alternately should be sown with grass seeds, as shewn in Figure 4.
It is necessary to observe that in order to prevent the grass being blown
among the turnips whilst being made into hay, it should be removed imme-
diately after it is mown.
In all deviations from the modes here stated, the plants should never .be
placed nearer each other than two feet, in consequence of the high state
of fertility which land may always be kept in. If, for instance, it be desired to
have two rows of plants in one of the tilled stripes,, as shewn in Figure 3, it
should not be less than thirty inches wide; and if three rows, four feet six
inches; and if four rows, seven feet; that is, the outer rows should not be less
than three inches from the untilled part, and the plants two feet from each other.
If. no additional summer food or meadow be required, every alternate row may
be planted with beans, hemp, or any other useful vegetable which will main-
tain an erect postion till matured. By either of the modes described in
Figures 1, 2, beath, ley, or other poor pasture lands, may at once (in the
first year) be made to support nearly ten times as many sheep in winter as
they now do in summer. In order, therefore, to cause a given quantity of such
land to carry as much stock in summer as in winter, about one half of the

page_text: whole plot should be appropriated to rye, rape, tares, or other summer
vegetable productions adapted; to the support of sheep, tilled in stripes, as
shewn in Figure No. 3. This plan will afford an excellent opportunity for sur-
face drainage, by having a grip or deep furrow on each side of the tilled stripe.
These, with the intervals of grass produced between tares and turnips, and the
jeaves gathered from the turnips or mangel wurzel, will support the stock
during the six summer months. The highly fertilized state which land thus
treated will always be in, will enable the cultivator to grow two crops of cattle
food in one year, raised by artificial means on the tilled portion of the stripes;
that is, either two crops of tares, and one of turnips and one of tares. When
the latter mode is adopted (which will seldom be but upon a small portion of
the whole) the turnips must all be removed in October from that part on
which tares are to be sown. In either case the winter tares will be ready for
use or rather consumed in time to transplant the Swedish turnip or to raise
a second crop of tares: In feeding off tares, in summer, the same mode of
hurdling off or keeping the sheep together should be pursued as is before
recommended for consuming the turnips.in. winter; and it will be. attended
with this additional advantage, that in the summer season the tilled land will
be sufficiently dry to bear the treading of sheep without puddling, and they
may be penned on the tilled or the untilled part, as may be deemed most
desirable for enriching either. The results; therefore, of the summer tares
and the winter turnip feeding will thus prove equally beneficial, both as
regards the fertilizing. the land and the fattening the sheep. From the fore-
going description it will be seen that this mode of tilling and fertilizing land is
very cheap, expeditious, and simple, as compared with the numerous ploughings
and harrowings, &c. &c. of the whole surface, and the carting of dung, which,
according to the present modes of agriculture, are now indispensable, and over
which it possesses this additional advantage, namely, that the most valuable
crops may be raised and fed off from lands now utterly unadapted to such a
purpose, and incapable, by any of the ordinary. ways, of profitable tillage. The
produce will also be progressively increased with a yearly decreasing amount
of. labour; and I do not consider it too. much to say, that thereby poor soils
would become so rich that they would yield the utmost quantity of winter
food for sheep and cattle that the best description of lands can be made
capable of.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Vaux, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
THOS (L.S.) VAUX.
-07

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1839, the aforesaid Thomas Vaux came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-nine.