THE ROTATION OF CROPS. 175 



manure is purchased and brought upon the land. In some 

 places, in the county of Kent for example, a six years course is 

 recommended : thus, 1st. swedes, [ruta baga,] well manured, and 

 fed off with sheep, who at the same time have a plentiful allow 

 ance of oil cake, than which nothing contributes more to the 

 enriching of the manure ; 2d year, barley or oats ; 3d, clover ; 

 4th, wheat ; 5th, peas or beans ; 6th, wheat. In this case, the 

 wheat, the beans, and the peas, have a dressing of dung ; and in 

 some cases, in the third year, beans are substituted for clover ; 

 and in the fifth year, clover for peas and beans. 



&quot; On land of a second rate quality, the five-field course is com 

 mon : 1st, turnips ; 2d, barley ; 3d, clover ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, oats. 

 This is found to bring the clover tilth too often ; to remedy 

 which the following course is sometimes adopted : 1st, turnips ; 

 2d, barley; 3d, half clover, half peas or tares; 4th, half wheat, 

 half oats ; 5th, half oats, half peas. This brings the clover 

 round only once in ten years, when the crop becomes much 

 more certain.&quot; 



A very experienced farmer has been kind enough to commu 

 nicate to me what he deems an eligible rotation for a &quot; farm, of a 

 heavy soil, varying from four to eight inches in depth, resting 

 on a stratum of strong brick clay from two to three feet in 

 thickness, the substratum being the red crumbly or dried marl, 

 intermixed, in some places, with thin slaty stone, and containing 

 occasionally gypsum. All the arable land has been drained with 

 tiles, in the furrows or divisions of the land, which vary from 

 five to nine yards in width, about eighteen inches deep. The 

 cold springs, pressing beneath the stratum of clay, in the greater 

 part of the farm, have been cut off in an effectual manner by a 

 few large tinder-drains, varying from ten to sixteen feet in depth. 

 About half the arable land is considered to be totally unfit for 

 the growth of turnips ; on the other half the cultivation of tur 

 nips has for several years been part of the rotation, and lately 

 with considerable success, for the purpose of carting off into the 

 farm-yards and pasture-grounds ; but no part of the land is dry 

 enough, or properly calculated for feeding off the turnips with 

 sheep.&quot; 



Each division of the farm consists of twelve fields or enclo 

 sures, and is worked on a double rotation of six years. The 

 rotation has been, 1st, common turnips ; 2d, barley ; 3d, white 



