43 3 Fallowing Defended. O0:» 



in the completed manner •, while the immenfe difference be- 

 twixt working with the plough and the fpade, renders every 

 comparifon ridiculous. 



A fallow field, which exhibits a confli£l betwixt the farmer 

 and his weeds, does not dcferve that appellation ; for the in- 

 tention of the fallow is to extirpate thefe weeds. We are in- 

 clined to think, that the fhocking fituation of many Englifli 

 fallows may be attributed to the feeding and folding them with 

 {heep. The farmer, from being obliged, by the conditions of 

 his leafe, or the rules of common-field management, to fallow 

 every third or fourth year, is tempted to draw fomething from 

 thern when in this unprodu6live ftate, and, to gratify his ava- 

 rice in the firft inftance, facrifices the good hufbandry which 

 it is his ultimate intereft to pra£life. A well managed fallow 

 fhould be wrought as early in the feafon as polFible, and con- 

 tinually turned over where the leaft particle of quickens ap- 

 pears. It is no argument againft the utihty of fallows, that 

 they are often managed in a different way ; this goes only 

 againlt the impropriety of the management, but does not mi- 

 litate againft the pi'adice itfelf. 



Upon the whole, the neceffiry of Summer fallow turns up- 

 this fingle point : — Can wet lands be advantageoufly em- 

 ployed in railing turnips or cabbages ? a queftion which the 

 p-attical farmer y who is fufficiently acquainted with the na- 

 ture ot fuch foils, and the immenfe labour required to bring 

 them into pi-oper tilth, will have no difficulty to anfwer in the 

 negative. It is not difputed but ihat turnips and cabbages will 

 grow upon thefe foils : but the quefhion is, Whether the extrar 

 ordinary labour they require, and the damage fufbained by the 

 ground, during the confumption or carrying ofF the crops, will 

 not exceed the value of the produce ? Does Mr Kent mean 

 to recommend the turnip-hufbandry under fuch circumftances ? 

 If he does, the recommendacion furniihes a prefumption that 

 he is unacquainted with the cultivation of wet lands. If he 

 does not, how is the ground to be kept clean, and enabled to 

 yield a regular uninterrupted produce ? 



Nothing that is faid in defence of Fallow, is meant in vin- 

 dication of the abfurd fyitem of taking only two crops to 

 one fallow, as pradifed upon many Englifh common-fields. 

 It is only meant to fhow that clay foils, and every foil in- 

 cumbent upon a wet bottom, cannot be kept clean, without 

 the affiftance of this radical and ancient pradice. Hpw 

 often it ihould be ufed, muft in a great meafure be left to the 



difcretion 



