Ohfervatiom upon Summer-Fa//oii\ Jan. 



TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



GENTLrMEN, 



The necclTity of Summer-Fa lloft-, upon all clay foils, is well dcfcribed in the A- 

 gricultuial Siirvt-y of Yorkrtiire ; and 1 beg leave to tranfmit you a few Re- 

 marks maile on that feiftion of the Report, by a Landed Proprietor of tiiat 

 diftrid, which you have leave to publifh in your Magazine. I am, &c. N. 



Why does the farmei" fallow more than tlie gardener ? The 

 firft has worfe foils to contend with than the latter, and he has 

 always lefs force, in proportion to his farm, than the gardener 

 has to cultivate his garden : The latter can alfo generally com- 

 mand more manure •, for he either is a market-gardener, near 

 a great town •, or a gentleman's gardener, having the care of 

 his mafier's garden ; he can alfo command a greater occafional 

 force. I do not think it proper to include, in this queftion, 

 fmall gardens, belonging to farmers and fmaller proprietors j 

 for the fmall fize of fucli gardens is in favour of my argument. 

 Could farmers command, at a reafonable rate, a force as fu- 

 perior to the cultivation of their farms, as the gardener can in 

 proportion to his garden, what number of fervants and their 

 families v/ould they not maintain ? and, {b-i£lly fpcaking, the 

 whole country would be cultivated like a garden. But here, 

 commerce, or, more properly, manufa£lure, interferes ; and, by 

 offering high wages, renders this cultivation impoffible to effecSl:, 

 without a great advance in the price of the farm-produce. 

 Here again commerce and manufactures ftep in, and lay, this 

 mufb not be j v/e mud be unfettered ourfelvcs, but it is for our 

 benefit, ergo, for the benefit of the country, that the farmer 

 fhculd be Ihackled ; and the farmer, thus enclofed on all fides 

 In a circle, is obliged to fallow his ground, becaufe he cannot, 

 by a great force, eradicate his Vv'eeds, and clean his ground, in 

 a given time, as fliort as that required to render fallows unne- 

 ceflary. To this may be added, the want of manure 5 and, e- 

 ven what takes place with the bcft farmers, and who have the 

 moft force, untoward fcafons, fuch as the iaft, which on a 

 farm, by preventing and poilponing the work, ultimately dimi- 

 nifiies the force. This very idle idea of not fallowing farms, 

 has been taken from obfervations inaccurately made on the cul- 

 tivation of gardens, v/ithout attending to the above circumftan- 

 ces ; and that almoll every crop in a garden is drilled, or plant- 

 ed in lines, with fuificient fpace to admit fometimes the plough 

 or horfe-hoe, but alwayg the hand-hoe. Obferve, fay the e- 

 nemies of fallowing, how you a£t againfl your intereil : Why, 

 they never fallow in a garden ; But more injury has been done 

 by not fallowing, than any advantage which has been gained 

 by continued cropping. Virgil, in his Georgics, comrfiands 

 worn-out lands to be fallowed for two years j and I have known 

 land in this condition moderately manured, when made com- 

 pletely clean by a double fallow, make every farmer or labom- 

 tr, who faw it, a conv£rt to that mode of management. 



