92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



accord in;T to the method above described. When this sliall have been 

 effected, that is to say, in the space of six years, or in tho yeir 1856, 

 the worst will be over, and the battle may be considered as gained. 

 The fic-hls will tlien be in a clean and fertile condition, and their 

 value will consequently be o;rcatly increased. The farm of seventy 

 or eiglit}'' acres, ■which in 1849 only sustained three or four miserable 

 cows, and perhaps no more than an equal number of sickly sheep, 

 •will 1)6 capable in less than ten years of furnishing an abundant 

 subsistence for ten or twelve cattle, and other stock in tlie same 

 proportion. 



One of the great advantages of this system of rotatijn of crops 

 is, that the pastures, which in summer furnish summer-feed for the 

 stock, are in due proportion to the (quantity of roots and hay destined 

 to winter-feed them, and in due proportion to the straw which the 

 grain crops yield for their bedding. I will observe here tiiat farmers 

 — except those who live near towns Avhere they can easily procure 

 manures — ought never to sell a single load of hay, straw, or roots, 

 since the whole ought to be consumed on the firm, with the view of 

 procuring a sufficiency of manure therefrom, whereby the fertility of 

 the soil is to be sustained. But if the farmer is not to sell hay, or 

 straw, or roots, what is he to sell ? I answer, the third of the land 

 being under this system appropriated to grain crops, he will always 

 be able to sell a part of them. The half of the farm being in hay 

 and pisture, will allow it to produce a large quantity of butter, #heese, 

 butcher's meat and wool, and to sell a considerable part of these after 

 having supplied the wants of the family. It may be said, that six 

 years is a long time to wait for the renovation of the whole farm ; 

 but I will reply, that I know of no other means by which it may be 

 done in less time, from its own resources; and it is worthy of observ- 

 ation that the land is improving every year. The produce is larger, 

 even for the first year under this system, than it is under the present 

 method of culture, and from year to year the land is improving, field 

 by field, and is producing more and more, so as to pay tlie farmer 

 better than it does at present, and to recompense him doubly after- 

 wards, when the whole shall have been improved under a system of 

 I'otation, 



It may be objected that two years of pasture is a long time of rest 

 for the land; but you will observe that the land does not remain 

 unproductive during this period of repose. This plan not only con- 

 tributes to re-establish the almost exhausted fertility of the soil, but 

 it is also the best means of furnishing the farmer with the first 

 necessaries of life, and the articles which, so to speak, will most 

 readily find an outlet in our markets, such as beef, lard, mutton, 

 butter, cheese, wool, and other products already named." 



If deemed desirable to try the above plan on such of our farms as 

 have a sufficiency of pasture lands unfit for tillage, the benefits of 



