Ch. VIII.] ON SOILS AND COURSES OF CROPPING. 119 



In all these humid and elevated situations, tillage is however a dan- 

 gerous speculation, and can onlj^ be considered advisable in so far as it 

 conduces to the production of turnips and hay, to create manure, with a 

 view to the permanent improvement of the soil for pasture ; for the crops of 

 grain, which necessarily form part of the rotation, can never be depended 

 on for profit, any further than as they are useful as litter and fodder for 

 the cattle. 



The most eligible rotation for every kind of soil may thus be generallv 

 ascertained by reference to the local circumstances of the district in which 

 it is situated, and may be either long or short in a direct proportion to the 

 richness of the soil on which it is to be executed ; and, although we have 

 only enumerated a few of the grain crops whicii are commonly cultivated, 

 yet they may be all indiscriminately grown, provided they be not too fre- 

 quently repeated, nor allowed to perfect their seeds. We have, indeed, 

 lately seen an account of the cultivation of a farm in the north of Ger- 

 many, comprising nearly two thousand acres of tillage land, which is regu- 

 larly arranged under a double course of twelve years, each ending with 

 three years pasturage, yet bearing different crops during each, so as to present 

 only one rotation of twenty-four years*; and Mr. Maxwell of Fletton, in 

 Huntingdonshire, an experienced farmer, who furnished a report of the 

 agriculture of the county, recommends the following course as a general 

 basis of management to be adopted upon every kind of soil, except the 

 fens ; also stating, in corroboration, some extraordinary instances of its 

 success upon strong land. 



No. IX. 



1st. Clean deep winter and spring ploughing for a vegetable crop 

 of whatever kind is best suited to the soil ; as turnips, mangel-wurzel, 

 tares, or cole-seed : this to be hoed, but not to stand for seed. 



2nd. A crop of white corn, of whatever kind, is best suited to the 

 soil : and with this, clover — 20lbs. of seed per acre t. 



3rd. Clover, either grazed or mown, but not to stand for seed, 



4th. Beans, sheep-fed, and hoed. 



5th. A crop of white corn suited to the soil. 

 Thus, instead of cole-seed, any other vegetable ; instead of barley any 

 other white corn ; instead of clover, any other grass-seed ; instead of 

 beans, any other pulse or ameliorating crop ; and instead of barley again, 

 any other species of corn may be used, while a small portion of either 

 division may be set apart for supplying such seeds as, from their ex- 

 hausting nature, are not admitted for general cultivation J. 



* The rotation is as follows : — 



1. Cole-seed, well dunged. 13. Oats. 



2. Aiituinii sown grain, 14. Beans well dunged. 



3. Potatoes, dunged. 1 .5. Autumn sown grain, 



4. Barley. 16, Clover, mown. 



5. Clover, mown. 17. Autumn sown grain. 



6. Ditto, Ditto. 18. Tares cut green, and turnips, dunged. 



7. Autumn sown grain. 19. Spring corn, 



8. Peas and Tares. 20. Peas. 



9. Autumn sown grain. 21. Autumn sown grain. 



10. 11, and 12. Clover and pasture. 22,23, and 24. Clover and pasture. 

 The autumn sown grain is either wheat or rye. 



f In Flanders, where red clover is very extensively grown, and the seed largely ex- 

 ported, the quantity of seed sown is only 61hs. j er English acre. — Radcliff's Agric. of 

 E. and W. Flamlers, p. 61. Here the usual proportion is almost 12lbs. on dry soils, 

 and from 14 to 18 on strong loam or clay ; though different quantities are sown when 

 intended to produce seed, hay, or pasture. 



+ Parkinson's Survey of Huntingdonshire, p. 108. 



