SECRETARY'S HEPORT. Qg 



pasturing might perhaps be secured by a sufficient top-dressing, 

 (also leaving the aftermath,) and a crop of haj be taken instead, 

 during one of the pasture years, if not both ; but no rotation can be 

 deemed perfect hei'e, which does not include the culture of Indian 

 corn ; and it should be borne in mind, that if potatoes be substituted 

 for the other roots named, inasmuch as they neither demand nor 

 receive at our hands so liberal manuring, nor so deep and thorough 

 tillage, nor send their roots so deeply into the subsoil, the subsequent 

 condition of the land must be correspondingly inferior, and the 

 practice might be of no substantial benefit over what is ordinarily 

 practiced at present. 



Another rotation which has been highly commended in the Prov- 

 ince of New Brunswick, is an eight yenvs course, and embraces both 

 potatoes ;ind other roots. It is this : supposing the land to be in sod 

 and in low condition, it is plowed late in the fall in furrows six to 

 eight inches deep, laid flat and rolled ; the first crop oats, seeded 

 thick, harrowed and rolled; as soon as the oats are off, plow in the 

 stubble ; second crop potatoes, manured in the drill with, at least ten 

 cords barn-yard manure to the acre; third year wheat; fourth, 

 turnips, cari-ots or beets, or a part of eacii, manured and planted in 

 the drill, witli at least as much manure as for the potatoes ; fifth, 

 barley or rye, and seeded down to herdsgrass and clover ; sixth, 

 seventh and eiglith, hay, and at the expiration of the eighth year 

 plowed again, and the course repeated. Sometimes this is varied by 

 substituting Indian corn for the fourth crop, in whole oi- in part. 

 Tin's, it will be seen, gives eight crops, and all remunerating ones, 

 for two years manure, and leaves the land better than when the 

 course began. 



I have just received from a highly intelligent and practical culti- 

 vator in the eastern part of the State, the following communication, 

 in which a six years rotation is proposed, not in itself materially 

 unlike severul above named, but connected with so judicious treat- 

 ment as renders it a most valuable contribution : 



"If the primary object, or the sole object is to bring back the- 

 fertility of piiiti;illy exliausted land, I would recommend the careful 

 husbandry of all the resources ot the farm — the slops I'loin the 

 house, the liquid from the stables and cattle stalls, the contents of 

 the piivy. |)0u,try hou.5e Jind hog jien. mixed with, sufficient r/z-.y muck, 

 sods or loam to absorb all the li(^uid, and kept from the wasting inflla- 



