Ch. VIII.] ON SOILS AND COURSES OF CROPPING. Uh 



of them, as follows*: — It being borne in mind that he considers the basis- 

 of each to be either a have summer fallow, or a fallow on which drilled turnips 

 are cultivated, and its conclusion to be with the crop taken in the year pre- 

 ceding a return of fallow, or turnips ; when, of course, a new rotation com- 

 mences, unless tiie land should be then laid down to grass. 



No. I. 



Being intended for deep stro7ig lands, for which it is alone calculated, 

 begins with a summer fallow, and is carried on alternately with — 



1. Wheat ; and 2. Beans, 

 or the occasional substitution of clover and rye-grass for the latter. On 

 this plan, provided the bean crop be drilled and attentively horse-hoed, as 

 well as abundantly manured, Mr. Brown is of opinion that the same course 

 may go on for any length of time, while the land remains clean ; and will 

 probably turn out one of the most profitable rotations that can be exercised. 

 Of that, indeed, there can be no doubt, so long as the ground will support 

 such cropping ; but in reference to what has been stated on this subject in 

 a former Chapter, vve think it a dangerous system to be continually pur- 

 sued, and that an alternate change of barley or oats for wheat would be 

 found more advantageous. 



Every soil which is intermediate between absolute clay and sand, or 

 gravel, has obtained the name of loam ; and as loamy clays may be^ 

 ranked, so far as regards the course of crops, under the head of the best 

 description of clay soils, they may be cropped under nearly the same prin- 

 ciples as those applied to light ground, from which they differ only in their 

 degrees of quality. Rich free loam, is unquestionably the most profitable 

 description of land, as it is of easy cultivation, and almost uniformly pro- 

 duces excellent crops. The minutiee of its management depend, however, 

 much on the nature of the subsoil : if that be retentive, the surface will 

 require to be cleaned from root-weeds once in a rotation of six or eight 

 years, by means of a summer fallow; whereas, if it be incumbent upon a 

 porous bottom, an effectual cleansing may be given by a drilled crop of 

 turnips. 



No. II. 



Upon rich clay loams, of a less strong quality than the former, or where 

 it may not be deemed advisable to carry the first rotation into execution, 

 the following may be practised ; according to which the labour will be more 

 equally divided, and the different species of grain being alternately sown, 

 will be found a safer course : thus — 



1. Fallow, or Turnips, dunged, 5. Clover and Rye-Grass. 



2. Wheat. 6. Oats or Wheat. 



3. Beans, drilled and horse-hoed. 7. Beans, drilled and horse-hoed. 



4. Barley. S. Wheat. 



This rotation Mr. Brown states as excellently calculated to ensure an 

 abundant return throughout the whole of it, " provided dung is administered 

 upon the clover stubble ; without which supply the rotation would be 

 crippled, and inferior crops of course produced in the concluding years." 

 On the necessity of a second application of dung during the course, vve 

 entirely agree with Mr. Brown ; but not in his opinion of the propriety of 

 laying it upon the clover stubble, particularly if that crop be followed by 

 oats. The clover, we think, would be more beneficially improved by a 

 dressing of ashes, or gypsum ; and the second coat of dung better applied 



* See the General Report of Scotland, vol. i. part 3 ; and Brown's Treatise on Agii- 

 culture and Rural Affairs, vol, i. chap. viii. 



I 2 



