English Farming. 349 



it was an admitted fact and- success ; even at that time 

 their worth was not fully understood. 



During the long time tliat has intervened her population 

 has increased very rapidly, and it has become absolutely 

 necessary for the agriculturists to conduct the management 

 of their farms in such a way as to realize the greatest quan- 

 tities of bread stuffs and meat from the nunil)er of acres 

 under improvement. 



The whole number of acres in England amounts to 

 thii'ty-two and one-half millions — this includes all of her 

 waste land and everything ; and when we consider her pop- 

 ulation, amounting to over twenty-two millions, with all 

 theii- building sites, roads, fences, etc., it must reduce the 

 number of acres for agricultm*al purposes very materially. 

 Before the introduction of clover and turnips, it was 

 thought necessary to let their best lands lie idle ever}^ 

 fourth year and the poorer lands every third year, or, in 

 other words, tliey summer-fallowed their lands ; in either 

 case there was no crop raised one-fourth or more of the 

 time. This rest or fallow made it a question of very seri- 

 ous consideration with their dense population. Even since 

 my own remembrance a few old-fashioned farmers have 

 followed tlie old plan, but progressive farmers have seen 

 that by fallowing then- lands until about the 10th or 20th of 

 June, the season for sowing turnips and other roots gener- 

 ally, they could raise a crop of roots the same year, thus 

 raising four crops in f om- years, instead of three crops in the 

 same time, as by the old rule. This was considered a great 

 improvement, and may be called the commencement of the 

 science of rotation of crops. 



