ROTATION OF CROPS. HI 



out of the pots, and planted out in the open field rather closely, in rows which are about 

 three feet apart. When they have finished growth for the season they are lifted and 

 removed from the field; the ground receives a coating of rotted manure, which is either 

 plowed in or worked with a spade, leaving the surface rough to be acted upon by the frost. 

 In the following spring the surface is again worked over, and the soil placed in good order 

 for planting. At the proper period young grapes are again planted as before. These are 

 removed at the end of the season, and the ground receives similar treatment to that of the 

 previous year. Notwithstanding this treatment, the third crop is very indifferent, and if a 

 fourth successive crop is planted, it will prove to be an entire failure. 



Experience shows, that by selecting a field which has never been occupied with grapes, 

 the young plants will make an average growth of about four feet in length the first year; the 

 average growth of the second year will reach about two feet; the growth of the third year 

 will be exceedingly weak, the best plants reaching to about eighteen inches in length, many 

 weak kinds not reaching the length of one foot. 



This result of diminishing yearly growths has not been sensibly affected by the applica 

 tion of different manures, and the question naturally arises, that if a deterioration of growth 

 becomes so marked in so short a time, and with such attention to the soil, what may be 

 expected when acres are closely planted with grapes, as in the case of vineyards, where the 

 entire soil speedily becomes filled with roots? It need not be a matter for surprise if vine 

 yards become unproductive after producing several satisfactory crops. 



It is a fact well-known to florists, that even the smaller plants require a change, and such 

 small growths as petunias and verbenas, if continued for a few years on the same ground, 

 will not give satisfaction, however richly fertilized with different manurial applications, and 

 that when it is desirable to grow these plants year after year in the same spot, it is necessary to 

 remove six or eight inches of the soil, and replace it with fresh earth from other sources. 



Clover, which is the great renovater of the soil, may be cultivated upon the same land 

 until it becomes &quot;clover sick,&quot; and ceases to produce it. 



In his experiments at Rothamstead, Mr. Lawes found that with occasional variations due 

 to the character of the seasons, the average annual produce of a certain field for twenty suc 

 cessive years without manure was sixteen bushels of wheat per acre, and sixteen hundred 

 weight of straw. This soil was a strong clay loam resting at a depth of five or six feet upon 

 chalk, and probably produced a larger yield under the circumstances, than most soils. In the 

 case of turnips, when treated in the same manner, he found that after a few years they ceased 

 to grow larger than radishes, and he could not afterward by the application of any kind or 

 quantity of manure obtain a crop equal to the first. The result was very different with the 

 wheat experiment above referred to, for by the application of four hundred weight of Peru 

 vian guano, the crop was at once doubled. 



Strawberry plants require a constant change of ground, in order to do well, and are 

 constantly seeking to occupy new territory by throwing out their long &quot;runners;&quot; and it is 

 said, by those familiar with the cultivation of mushrooms, that they never rise in two succes 

 sive seasons from the same spot. 



Nature has in such, and various ways, sufficiently indicated the law of rotation as the 

 law of successful growth, and we doubt whether any agriculturists can improve upon it. 

 Exceptions to this law are found, but they are exceedingly rare, change being the great 

 demand for all varieties of plant-growth. 



By a judicious system of rotation^ the soil not only has the different elements of plant- 

 food extracted in various proportions suited to the growth of different crops, thus preventing 

 the exhaustion of a few elements suited to one variety, but permits certain crops, that might 

 be injured by a direct application of manure, to have the benefit of that which has become 



thoroughly decomposed and blended with the soil, and hence, suited to its successful culture* 

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