1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



247 



in every pea of a pod, and thus destroj' it. In this 

 country, however, the mischief caused by the Brii- 

 cluis is seldom very serious ; liut m North Ameri- 

 ca another species (i/. pisi /,.) is most alarming- 

 ly destructive ; its ravatjes bein<T at one time so 

 universal as to put an end, in some places, to the cul- 

 tivation of that favorite pulse. No wonder, then, 

 that Ivalm should have been thrown into such a 

 trepidation, upon discovering some of these pesti- 

 lent insects just disclosed in a parcel of pens he 

 had brought." from that country, lest he shnuld be 

 the instrument of introducing so ti^ital an evil into 

 his beloved Sweden." (Jtitrod. io Eiit., vol. i. p. 

 178.) 



Here it is evident that the injury is caused to 

 unhoused peas. But Stephens, speaking, of this 

 insect, says, ''Found occasionally within the me- 

 tropolitan district; but, I suspect not a truly indi- 

 genous species: it sometimes abounds in deposi- 

 tories of peas to a very destructive extent." (7Z- 

 liistr., vol., iv. p. 213.) Its precise habits, with 

 indications of the periods occupied in its trans- 

 formations, and especially of the time when it ar- 

 rives at the perfect state, have not been ascertain- 

 ed, although very necessary, as the destruction of 

 the beetle, previous to laying its eggs, would great- 

 ly prevent the spreading of the mischief. — J. O. 

 W. May 17, 1837. 



P. S. I observe that, in almost every instance, 

 it is the largest peas which arc attacked. The m- 

 88Cts are stili enclosed in some of them. 



MARLING. — THE FOUR-SHIFT ROTATION. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Shirley, July lOlh, 1837. 



land in the coni-field of 160 acres. In fact, it wag 

 selected, as the poorest in the field, and the most 

 infested with sorrel, (wliich is generally a sign of 

 lands being exhausted,) to be marled. 



While writing, I cannot Jet your strictures on 

 my favorite four-sliiii system pass without some 

 notice, and I will, therclbre, call your attention to 

 some of them. In your "Memoranda of hasty 

 visits to the country," you object to the manure's 

 ;ill being applied to the clover fallow for wheat, 

 and say you doubt much whether this manure 

 tloes not serve to ini:rease the product of straw in 

 a far greater proportion than grain, and that it in- 

 creases the risk of rust," &.c., &c. Now, the fact 

 is, that my manured land invariably matures the 

 wheat better than any other part of "the field, and 

 has less rust. In fact, I never saw the rust in 

 wheat on land lately manured iii my life. Ma- 

 nure is a sovereign remedy for all diseases of 

 wheat — and a good clover lay is equal, or nearly so, 

 to a heavy manuring; and the four-shift system is 

 one of the best^ if not the very best way of" getting 

 a good clover lay. In the lour-shift fallowing sys- 

 tem, on good land, (and I never advised poor land 

 to be put into the system, but rather advised Col. 

 Taylor's four-shift, corn system for Jand that would 

 not bear it,) you are certain of a good crop of 

 wheat after clover fallow. (For even last year, the 

 most disastrous of all years for wheat, I made a 

 fair crop on my fallow.) You are also certain of a 

 good crop of corn. (I have never yet failed in mak- 

 ing a good crop of corn, on good land, after clover- 

 fallowed wheat.) And the third grain crop, wheat 

 after corn, is never very good, to be sure; but we 

 do not expect much from corn-field wheat. It 

 helps out, though, and answers admirably as a pre- 

 paration for the clover crop, which is the main 

 stay of the sj'stem. The fallow wheat is the most 

 profitable crop; the corn is also a profitable crop, 

 and the cleansing crop; and the corn-field wheat, 

 though not very profitable, is the preparatory crop 

 for the clover, and helps out into the bargain. I say 

 we never expect much from the corn-field wheat. 



Your account of the "Shirley farming and crops," 

 in your "Memoranda of hasty visits to the coun- 

 try," though upon the whole rather flatterina:, 

 shows the effects of the eight weeks' drought we j And, let me ask you. did you, or anyone else, ever 



suffered, from early in April until 12th of June; 

 and I wish you could now see the change in the 

 crops, wrought by the last three weeks repeated 

 rains, (which gave u^ great trouble in the wheat 

 harvest, but which were the salvation of the oat 

 and corn crops,) and I think you would be in a better 

 humor with our system. The oat crop, though 

 not a full crop, is now a very fair one, and the corn 

 promises to be a very heavy crop. Even the 45 

 acres which was twice destroyed by insects, and 

 ploughed up, and replanted so late, is now very pro- 

 mising; and. if we have a seasonable fall, will 

 make a fiill crop after all. The marled land still 

 maintains its superiority over the corn along side 

 of it; but that is improving very fast. The marled 

 land is not quite thick enough, or I believe it would 

 make as much corn to the acre as any land is ca- 

 pable oi; in this part of the world. I think, if it 

 were a third thicker, it would make fifteen or 

 eighteen barrels to the acre; and, as it is, I think it 

 will make twelve barrels to the acre. It is as 

 , heavy a growth of corn, (except that it is not quite 

 thick enough,) as I ever saw. I had no idea the 

 imarl would have produced so great an effect, and, 

 therefore, I did not plant it thick enough, for it was 

 by no means very strong land before it was ma- 

 nured and marled — very inferior to most of the 



see a heavy crop ofv.'heat after a heavy crop of corn, 

 in any system — three-field, five-field, or any other 

 system f For, if you did, I never did; that is to say 

 compared to fallow wheat. In our four-shift sys- 

 tem, it is not desirable that the corn-field wheat 

 should be a very heavy crop. For, if it was, it ivould 

 smother the young clover sown on it, which would 

 be the destruction of the system; for we rely prin- 

 cipally on the clover to restore the land after the 

 three grain crops. Clover would never succeed on 

 wheat, as heavy as our fallow wheat generally is. 

 It would all be smothered, nine times out of ten. 



In your "Memoranda of hasty visits to the coun- 

 try," you also say the whole growth of clover, and 

 large supply of manure, "enable the wheat to 

 withstand all attacks, and sources of great damage 

 usual to the crop elsewhere," (which is saying a 

 great deal in favor of the system,) "except the 

 evils produced by luxuriance of growth. Thus 

 the loss in labor, if not in grain, from lodging, will 

 be considerable this year, and is suffered more or 

 less every year: and rust coming on just before- 

 the ripening of the crops of the highest promise, 

 has repeatedly caused great loss here, when the 

 poorer lands elsewhere generally were but little 

 hurt." You are entirely mistaken in supposing 

 that the poorer lands in my neighborhood were 



