FALLING STARS. 



FALLOW. 



19 



has at least the advantage iu a scientific point of view that it excludes 

 from the domain of logic much that is extraneous to it ; for the fallacies 

 of form may be reduced to the syllogism with four terms which the 

 analytical process of demonstration can alone discover, whereas those 

 of the matter must be corrected by the formation of valid principles 

 and a correct generalisation of terms, which belong to the synthesis of 

 induction, which is totally alien from logic as the science of demon- 

 strative reasoning. 



For an enumeration and exposition of the several sophisms, see the 

 sections on fallacy in Whately's ' Logic ; ' and for the exposure of that 

 'f fallacies which he has called political fallacies, the work of 

 Bentham, already cited. 



FALLING STARS. [AEROLITES.] 



FALLOW operations are those acts of cultivation which depend for 

 their fertilising influence rather on the mere tillage of tfie soil, its 

 disintegration, disturbance, and exposure to external agencies, than 

 on the direct addition of fertilising matter. Originally the term ///<< 

 applied to that portion of land in which no seed is sown for a whole 

 year, in order that the soil may be left exposed to the influence of the 

 I /here, the weeds destroyed by repeated ploughings and harrow- 

 ings, and the fertility improved at a less expense of manure than it 

 wm i M be if a crop had been raised upon it. Even then a large portion 

 ! tlie benefit derived from fallow was attributed to the mere tillage 

 operations included in the term ; but, in addition to this, manuring 

 was (and indeed still is) an almost invariable part of a summer fallow. 

 A bare summer fallow is, however, now comparatively rare, and 

 fallow crops, those which allow of fallow operations during their 

 growth, are the fertilising agents substituted in its place. 



The practice of fallowing land is as old as the Roman Empire. It 

 appears that wherever the Romans extended their conquests and 

 planted colonies, they introduced this mode of restoring land to a 

 certain degree of fertility when exhausted by bearing grain. The 

 principle on which it was recommended was, however, erroneous. It 

 was thought that the land grew tired of raising vegetable produce and 

 required rest, and hence this rest was often all that constituted the 

 fallow ; the tillage, which alone is the improving part of the process, 

 being almost entirely neglected. Where land was abundant and the 

 population thin, it was no great loss to allow a considerable portion of 

 the soil to remain unproductive ; and it was cheaper to let land lie fallow 

 during the course of a whole year, which gave ample leisure for every 

 operation, than to accelerate the tillage and increase the manure put 

 upon it. But when land becomes of greater value with the increase of 

 population, it is a serious loss if a great portion of the soil be thus left 

 in an unproductive state. Accordingly the attention of agriculturists 

 has been turned to lessen the necessity of fallows, and to substitute 

 some other means of restoring fertility. It is acknowledged by all 

 experienced farmers that manure alone is not sufficient for this pur- 

 pose. The ground must be tilled and noxious weeds destroyed ; and 

 tin- only efficacious mode of doing so is to stir the ground at the time 

 when their seeds have vegetated, their roots have made shoots, and 

 before any new seed can ripen. But this is exactly the time when 

 corn is usually growing, and when the land cannot be stirred to 

 expose it to the heat of the sun and to dry the roots which are turned 

 up. The only apparent remedy is therefore not to sow it during one 

 Hummer, anil on this principle lands are usually fallowed. The manner 

 in which this is done has been noticed before [ARABLE LAND] ; and 

 the common process is so simple, that, provided the purpose of 

 fallowing be kept in view, the operations require only a little attention 

 to time and weather to be performed aright. 



There is no difference of opinion respecting the manner of extir- 

 : weeds by repeated ploughing and harrowing, but there is with 

 respect to the influence of the heat of the sun upon the land. Some 

 men are of opinion that light is the great purifier of the soil ; that it 

 ijioses certain noxious particles, which are the result of the 

 formation of the seed, and which have been termed the excrements of 

 plants. Physiologists agree that the roots draw the nutritive juices 

 out of the soil, that they undergo a chemical change in the plant, and 

 that there is an exudation also from the roots, which may be looked 

 upon as the residuum of the natural process. De Candolle, Raspail, 

 and other eminent physiologists have placed this point beyond con- 

 troversy ; but no one has yet been able^o collect these matters so as to 

 analyse and compare them ; and the reasonings on the subject have 

 merely conjectural. In particular soils and situations a scorching 

 nin lias a pernicious effect on the soil which is exposed to his rays ; 

 anil where it is shaded by a crop which covers it completely, it seems 

 to have acquired fertility, which the exposed surface has not. But 

 this is not sufficient to establish a general rule. Some soils which are 

 of a wet nature are greatly improved by being as it were baked in a 

 in. Not only are the weeds destroyed by the abstraction of 

 itv, but the soil thus becomes lighter and more friable. On 

 sandy noils the reverse is the case, and on intermediate loams the 

 .ill tie more or less advantageous as they approach nearer to the 

 i to the sand. In light sandy soils, then, it is probable that the 

 only advantage of a naked fallow is to kill weeds, especially the couch- 

 urn rtpfni), which is apt to infest light soils : and that the 

 i re to the sun in hot weather is not only no advantage, but 

 'rimental. If, then, any means can be devised of clearing 

 lands from weeds without leaving them fallow for a whole 

 AND SCL nrv. VOL. iv. 



summer, a great advantage will be obtained. This ha oeen effected 

 completely by the cultivation of turnips and clover, which was first 

 practised in the light soils of Flanders, and afterwards introduced into 

 the similar soils of Norfolk, from whence it has spread all over Great 

 Britain, and is beginning to be adopted more generally in Ireland. 

 The advantage of the turnip culture is so great in light lands, that it 

 has gradually been extended through the different gradations of loams, 

 till it has reached even the colder and stiffer clays, on which it would 

 at one time have been thought absurd to attempt to raise this root. 

 But this has been attended with an important benefit. It has made 

 the cultivators of heavy soils turn their attention to the drying of 

 their lands, by draining, and to improving their texture by burning 

 and by deep tillage, in order to make them capable of bearing turnips ; 

 and although the extended culture of this useful root is not what we 

 should recommend for cold wet clays, we highly approve of all 

 improvements which will make such lands capable of bearing good 

 crops of turnips. Unless the turnips can be consumed by sheep on 

 the spot, or by cattle near at hand, without injuring the land in taking 

 off the turnips and carting on the manure, there will be no great 

 advantage in a crop of turnips ; and some other substitute must be 

 found for the occasional fallow before it can be altogether abandoned. 

 The great hope of the clay-land farmer, as to the possibility of the suc- 

 cessful cultivation of a fallow crop on such land, rests on the mangold - 

 wurzel and the cabbage crop [CABBAGE ; MANOLD, Cultivation of], 

 which are especially fitted for soils of the stiffer class. On light lands 

 the preparation for the turnips, the abundant manuring, and subsequent 

 hoeing, are as effectual in cleaning the land and bringing it into a 

 fertile ' state as any complete fallow could ever be ; and the clover 

 smothers and destroys the seed weeds which may have come up 

 amongst the barley or oats sown after the turnips. There are several 

 ways in which the cultivation of light soils may be varied without 

 adhering strictly to the Norfolk rotation, so as to introduce a greater 

 variety of produce. Tares may be sown on the better sorts of light 

 lands after a good tillage given immediately after harvest. If they 

 are fed off or cut green in May and June, early turnips may be sown 

 after them, which will be fit to feed off or draw for the cows in 

 September, iu good time for ploughing up the land for wheat-sowing. 

 In this case the land gets all the ploughing necessary to clean it com- 

 pletely, and exactly at the best time. Three ploughings may be given 

 after the tares if the land is not clean, and the turnips being well 

 hand-hoed and horse-hoed, the land will be perfectly clean to receive 

 the wheat-seed. Manure may be put on for the tares or the turnips ; 

 and if these are fed off with sheep, they will so enrich the soil, that 

 the next crop cannot fail to be abundant. As a general rule, however, 

 tares are better adapted for the clay soils ; and rye is a better crop to take 

 before turnips on sandy loam. By varying the management of light 

 land according to circumstances, and with some judgment, many more 

 profitable crops can be raised than by the common simple rotation, in 

 which a fourth of the land is sown with turnips. If this crop fails, 

 which is often the case where it recurs so often, the whole system is 

 deranged, and the loss is very great. The introduction of a greater 

 variety of produce in the cxiltivation of light lands, in imitation of the 

 Flemish practice, and the increase of stock kept in consequence, would 

 be an important step in the improvement of British husbandry. 



On heavy soils it is often impossible to keep the land clear of weeds, 

 in wet climates and unfavourable seasons, without a complete fallow, 

 and when this is the case it is best to do the thing effectually. Upon 

 cold wet soils, which should always first of all be well under-drained, 

 no pains should be spared to get the land perfectly clean : if both 

 climate and circumstances interfere with the thorough cultivation of a 

 fallow crop, then let the soil be exposed to the frost of two winters 

 and the heat of one summer and part of another, as already mentioned 

 [ARABLE LAND.] Only one crop is lost by this method, and if the 

 land is properly worked, cleaned, and manured in autumn, it may be 

 sown with barley or oats in the spring of the second year. The crop 

 will be ample, and the subsequent produce of clover equally so, and 

 the land so clean, that, with proper manuring, several crops may 

 succeed, such as wheat, beans, oats, tares, wheat, without the necessity 

 of another intervening fallow. The advice we would impress on the 

 minds of the cultivators is. Avoid fallows if you can keep your land 

 clean ; but when you fallow, do it effectually, and improve the soil at 

 the same time by chalk, lime, or marl, according to circumstances. 

 Do not spare either ploughs or harrows in dry weather. If you dare 

 not trust to the drainage which the land has received, then lay the 

 stitches high and dry before winter, and deepen the water furrows 

 well with the spade. By following these rules the stiffest land may 

 be brought into a good state of cultivation ; and the farmer will not 

 find, by the growth of weeds, docks, and thistles, that his labour and 

 manure are thrown away, as is too often the case. Experience has 

 fully proved that the air and the dews impart fertility to the soil, and 

 that land which has been well fallowed and stirred requires less 

 manure than it would otherwise do. Fallowing alone will not make 

 up for want of manure, nor will manuring be sufficient without 

 ploughing and cleaning the land properly, and exposing it to the 

 influence of the atmosphere, especially in autumn and in spring ; but 

 a great saving of the one and the other may be effected, by judiciously 

 varying the crops so as to admit of ploughing the land at different 

 seasons of the year. 



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