FARMERS: REGISTER— CLOVER ROTATION. 



235 



moslly confinod to the farm of Mr. Jolin Rogors, 

 and a still more li;i«ty glance at those of some of 

 his nei^^hbors. 



I had believed from the opinions and experience 

 of several imjiro\in,i^ tarmers? presented heretoiore 

 in the Farmers' Rejrister, that wherever gyj;suni 

 acted, and produced heavy crops of clover, the 

 great means to secure -the profit to the land and 

 to jis pro[,rietdr's purse, was to turn in the green 

 clover as a manure for a succeeding crop of wheat. 

 This was the practice here to great extent but a 

 few years ago. I3ut.it only oi»tained with Mr. 

 Rogers for one crop of wheat in his six-field rota- 

 tion, in 1828, and previously, [see Report, page 

 231] his other crop of wheat then succeeding corn: 

 and now he has abandoned not only his clover lay 

 for wheat, but has adopted the four-field rotation 

 of corn, wheat, clover, clover. This Ls for his 

 Cloverton farm, and may be considered his regu- 

 lar s3-stem: but he has several other fields on and 

 near the mountain top, which he cultivates a? eir- 

 cumslances require, and under no regular and fixed 

 rotation. It added to my surprise, while it served 

 to confirm the correctness of the change, to hear 

 that other good farmers in the county were chang- 

 ing or intended to change to this four-shill rotation, 

 from the six-field, which has Ijeengenertd — viz: 

 1 corn — 2 wheat — 3 clover — 4 clover — 5 wheat — 

 6 clover. The reason given was that the blue- 

 grass increased rapidly with this rotation, and that 

 the fiftli crop, wheat, was ofien rendered very un- 

 productive on account of the. blue-grass becoming 

 fixed in the clover of the previous year^ and which 

 was scarcely hurt by the usual fallow process for 

 the clover. Another reason was, that it was Ibund 

 too laborious to plough, under for wheat every 

 summer and autumn one-sixth of the farm. It is 

 considered by Mr. R. a great sacrifice of fertility 

 to plough under clover the second year afer it 

 comes uj) (cui the year succeeding the Wheat croj)) 

 compared to letting the land have the benefit of its 

 growth for a year longer — he does not consider the 

 manuring by clover as less- beneficial when turned 

 in diy in tlie winter, for a succeeding corn crop, 

 than when ploughed in green for wheat. The 

 clover (notvvithstanding the increase of blue-grass) 

 is a heavy growth on the third as well as on the 

 second year-atier being sown. This prevents the 

 objection to its continuance which would. generally 

 be ibund in the lower countiy, even where good 

 clover grows, viz. that the clover is so inferior in 

 the tlurd y«ar, and has been so much eaten outbj' 

 weeds, as scarcely to deserve the name of a "clo- 

 ver lay," for the benefit of the next crop of grain. 

 The fiirmers here think that their lands could not 

 stand the more severe cropping of Mr. Carter, 

 Mr. Selden, and others, of three grain and one 

 clov-er crop in four years, and of course, the clover 

 turned in for wheat before it is two years old. But 

 Mr. Carter and Mr. Rogers have each means for 

 mrprovement which the other has not, or which 

 are used to less extent. Jf the former takes three 

 grain crops in four years', lie also gives all his clo- 

 ver to the land (neilher grazing nor mowing to 

 any extent) and has all the offal of his corn crop 

 from his embanked marsh, to increase his manure'. 

 Mr. Rogers makes and ap[;lies much manure,l)Ut 

 less j)robably than the other, because he can ma- 

 nure so much more cheajjly and efiectually by 

 giving clover plaster, and another year of the 

 grass part of his rotation, But his clover is not 



all given to the land. He mows largely for hay 

 and for seed, and also grazes for a short time after 

 summer is over, and when the clover is to be 

 ploughed in. This grazing is found serviceable to 

 break down the heavy cover, and permit the 

 jiloughs to operate more effectually; and it is not 

 thought to retard the improvement of the soil. 



The mode of cultivation of corn described in 

 the report of Mr. Rogers [|;age 231] which leaves 

 the clover to- stand until in bloom, tbcn to be 

 ])loughed in, has been found in firai^tice to be at- 

 tended whh hazard. If the land becomes very 

 dry belbre the clover is turned in, it cannot be done 

 well, nor the soil be well broken, and the crop is 

 greatly injured. Under more favorable circum- 

 stances the success was complete. 



The. clover was good on every ])art of Mr. Ro- 

 gers' fields, and generally as luxuriant as I ever 

 saw any where, except on spots very highly en- 

 riched with putrescent manures and gypsum. 

 Such a cover he expects to be followed by a C4"0p 

 of corn equal to thirty-five bushels the acre, or 

 30 of wheat, on the best land. The land concern- 

 ing which this opinion w:as expressed, in answer 

 to my inquiries, was so high up the mountain that 

 it is not likely that it had received any manure ex- 

 cept plaster and clover — though that in([uiry was 

 not made. 



It is a general practice in this neighborhood to 

 apply the wheat straw dry and unrotred, and often 

 tresh from the thrashing machines, as a top-dress- 

 ing "for the poorest parts of the clover land. It is 

 not laid so thick as to kill the- grass, and aids its 

 growth and the fi^rtility of the land so much, that 

 a load of straw used in this- manner, is thought 

 much more beneficial than if it had been passed 

 through file farm yard, in any of the usual pro- 

 cesses of' making manure. On the liiriu described 

 in the re[)ort as William H. Meriwether's, T since 

 sold to William |j. Craven) I saw a piece of land 

 thus covered with straw, from which oats, and ev- 

 idently a very good growth, had been lately reap- 

 ed. Yet this growth was caused by this dry top- 

 dressing apj)lied affer covering in tlie seed, and of 

 course late, on a sjiot so worn as to have been 

 otherwise very unproductive. This is certainly a 

 very cheap mode of applying the straw, indepen- 

 dent of its alleged (and universally admitted) su- 

 perior efficacy. 



There is always found one striking exception 

 to the general natural fertility of the niountauis. 

 All the ridges imd points exposed to tlie force of 

 the nortli west winds, are comparatively poor, 

 which is supposed to have been caused by the 

 leaves having lieeii always blown off by the violent 

 \vinds from that quarter. The east winds are 

 generally accompanied by rain, and the leaves 

 being wet are not carried off. 



The culture of tobacco, formerly the principal 

 object of every farm, and still so on many, has 

 almost disappeared on the most improved and im- 

 proving farms. It is considered that the constant 

 antj iremitting attention required throughout the 

 year, by a full crop of tobacco, leaves no time and 

 labor for the effectual improvement of the soil. 

 IVIy experience of the cotton crop, which also oc- 

 cupies nearly as much of the year, disposes me to 

 admit the force of this objection to tobacco. It is 

 the leisure time of the farmer judiciously used, 

 that is most pi-ofitable to his land and ultimately 

 to his income — and of leisure time, a full crop of 



