522 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



in. All these precautions have one end in view, namely, preventing 

 " hollowness " and promoting firmness. 



GENERAL EFFECTS OF GRAIN, " ROOT," AND FORAGE CROPS UPON THE 



LAND. 



Grain crops exhaust the land (1) because they are sold off the pre- 

 mises ; (2) because on account of the narrow spaces between the rows, and 

 the length of time they occupy the land, they do not allow of the thorough 

 destruction of weeds. Land long under grain crops is apt to become both 

 poor and foul. 



Root crops are well calculated to take the place of the old bare or naked 

 fallow on a large class of soils. (1.) They are not sown until May, June, and 

 July; and, therefore, allow ample opportunity for cultivation from the secur- 

 ing of the previous grain crops in August or September until next summer. 

 (2) They do not thrive unless the land is fine and well-manured. (3) They 

 are sown at wide intervals, and constantly hoed and kept clean during 

 their growth. (4) They are consumed upon the farm, and therefore keep 

 up the fertility and increase the manure heap. As the object of the fallow 

 is to clean and enrich the land, it will be seen that its functions are in no 

 way interfered with by the growth of the roots. If root crops were sold 

 (as occasionally they are), they would be even more exhausting to the land 

 than the growth of grain crops. On the other hand, if grain is con- 

 sumed (as it sometimes is) upon the farm, as when peas or barley are 

 ground up for stock, they may themselves be viewed as renovating- 

 crops. 



Fodder crops are understood to be those crops grown for summer keep, 

 and for the sake of leaves and stem, rather than for the root or grain 

 Such are vetches, rye, clover, lucerne, trifolium, and rape. Some of them 

 are sown upon the fallow selection, and others are used to divide two 

 grain-crops, as when clover comes between barley and wheat in the Nor- 

 folk four-course rotation. Others again are mere " catch-crops," or stolen 

 crops, as when rape, or even stubble turnips are taken after a wheat stub- 

 ble, with the intention of providing extra keep in times of scarcity, or in 

 the early spring. With respect to the first use of forage crops, they have 

 been already recommended for clay lands. As to catch -cropping, or the 

 taking of roots after vetches or trifolium, in the same season, we must re- 

 member that by so doing one great advantage of^the fallowing season is 

 lost, because the land is occupied with these two crops from autumn 

 throughout the whole season. This seriously interferes with the proper 



