FARMERS' REGISTER. 



579 



Paris, and the proper exertions to make and apply 

 nianure, that five years' rotation may be relied 

 upon to give fine crops on lands in good heart, 

 and to Iceep the land in a state of regular and pro- 

 gressive improvement. Although the number of 

 acres that are in grain i)y having six divisions in- 

 stead of five, would be liiwer, 1 believe the quan- 

 tity made would not be lessened, and I am con- 

 fident the land would improve liister. with ;he 

 advantage ol' summer pasture for stock and the 

 diminution of labor in seeding only one-third ol 

 the lijrm, instead of two-fifihs, with the further 

 advantage of commencing, whenever (he extra 

 field was to be iirouglit into the rotation, with a 

 naked fillow; which I ihuv will be Ibund indispen- 

 sable. From tlie increase of strong perennial 

 plants upon our lands, since they have been less 

 iieqiiendy than formerly planted in corn, I suspect 

 we sliail be obliged to resort to naked fallows once 

 in six or seven years to keep them clean enough 

 (or wheat. For tliese reasons J should preler six 

 divisions; the sixth field I would use as it is pro- 

 posed the fourth and fil'h should be used in the 

 two preceding rotations, to be sown with a mix- 

 ture of grass seed for pasture. 



Six years' rotation. — Ist corn, 2d wheat, 3d 

 clover, 4ih wheat, 5ih clover, 6'.h clover; this 

 course of crops may be practised lo great advan- 

 tage upon weak or worn lands. It may be varied 

 thus; divide the arable land ol" a farm into three 

 fields, one of which for corn and clover in equal 

 parts, one in wheat, (half corn and the other lialf 

 (iillow,) and one in clover. Under this course 

 one-sixth of the liirm would be in corn, one-third 

 in wheat, and one-hall" in clover. That part of 

 the clover that is in the enclosure with the corn, 

 to be mowed for hay, and the produce of the field 

 that is in clover to be applied to the support of 

 stock in summer, by soiling and by being pastured. 



Seven years'' rotation. — 1st corn, 2d rye, 3d clo- 

 ver, 4th wheat, 5th clover, 6ih wheat, 7th clover. 

 Perhaps as beneficial a rotation with a view either 

 to profit or improvement would be, 1st corn, 2d 

 rye, (the corn and rye to be consumed on the 

 farm,) 3d clover, 4lh wheat, 5th clover, 6ih wheat, 

 7tli pasture for six years, on which I would sow 

 greensward, orchard and herds-grass, meadow oat 

 and red clover. It will be remarked, that in this 

 rotation tlie last crop in the course is wheat, and 

 the first and second corn and rye, being three 

 crops in succession. It is supposed the land would 

 be amply compensated (or this by the entire crops 

 of rye and corn being consumed on the iarm, and 

 each field in its turn being in pasture six years. 

 Where one-seventh of the land is manured (or 

 corn, the produce of two-fifths of the land that is 

 in grain consumed upon it, and three-sevenths of 

 the farm in grass, there can be no doubt of pto- 

 duce and improvement sufficient to sa;is(y any 

 reasonable man. 1 am informed the lands on the 

 south branch of Potomac are cultivated in corn 

 six, seven and eight years in succesc-ion, after 

 which they are pastured as long, and in that time 

 are supposed to be cornpletely renovated. 



Of the foregoing rotations, I should prefer the 

 five years' rotation for good land, but think it would 

 be more periect, if the (iirm was thrown into six 

 divisions and one of them kept in grass the whole 

 round. For weak or thin land, I should think the 

 change I have suggested indispensable. With 

 that variation one-hal("the land would be in grain, 

 and the other in grass. 



To avoid repetition, I have purposely omitted 

 mentioning tobacco, not (i^om a belief that its cul- 

 ture should be abandoned; on the contrary, 1 

 think it will be loi:g one of the best articles of 

 produce lor a Virginia plantation ; at any thing 

 like the present prices, it unquestionably is so. 

 Persons distant from market, or those who can 

 midie tobacco ol" the first quality, will probably 

 find it their interest to continue its culture for a 

 great length of time. If it is made upon new 

 land, it does not en;er into the rotation of crops ; 

 it is used as a preparation (or other crops. II" it ia 

 made upon old land, it should be planted upon the 

 lands that in th.e ddferent rotations I have given, 

 are allowed for corn. It will be (bund an easier 

 crop to the land than corn, and will invariably be 

 succeeded by a better crop ol" wheat. 



Miscellaneous observations. — It is obvious, that 

 at the commencement of an improving system 

 upon an exhausted (arm, or uj)on poor land, it is 

 proper to begin with gentle rotations ; when the 

 soil is improved, it will bear more severe cropping. 

 By the hiuh price oi' wheat, farmers have been 

 induced to cultivate too much land in grain, and 

 there is reason to believe, that stock, the great 

 source of manure, being neglected or almost given 

 up, the soil will be exhausted by the severity of 

 cropping. The late change in Europe to a stale 

 of prolbund peace, must cause the price of grain 

 to lall, which, added to a decrease in the produce 

 of the land, must bring distress upon the farmer; 

 stock of every kind must rise on account of its 

 scarcity, a circumstance which cannot be remedied 

 for many years. The ready answer given by 

 every man, when he is asked why he works his 

 land so hard, is, that he must have the crop ("rom 

 all the land he cultivates, that less will not support 

 his family and defray his expenses. Great and 

 weighty considerations, I admit; but is it not a 

 fatal error to believe, that one hundred and fifty 

 acres of land, in an exhausted stale, will produce 

 j more than a third, or at any rate half, the same 

 land, well cultivated and improved by the manure 

 [that can be made, the (ree use of plaster and clo- 

 ver, and the proper mixture of ameliorating with 

 exhausting crops ? Let these questions be tested 

 by experience. 



John Wickhara, esq., when he purchased his 

 I upper (arm, I understand, could not expect more 

 I than from two thousand to two thousand five hun- 

 I dred bushels of wheat, annually, according to the 

 ! season. His crop is now ("rom lour to five ihou- 

 ; sand bushels. Thomas Marshall, esq., took pos- 

 • session of his estate, when two and a half barrels 

 I of corn, and five or six bushels of wheat to the 

 j acre, would have been thought good average 

 crops ; he now makes from six to eight barrels ol" 

 'corn, and from fifteen to twenty-five bushels of 

 [ wheat to the acre. For these ("acts, many of the 

 j members of this society can vouch. Little more 

 than half Mr. Wickham's land, produces more 

 than double the grain he used lo make upon two- 

 thirds. Mr. Marshall has been equally successflil. 

 I liope those gentlemen will (avor (he public, 

 through this society, with a full statement of their 

 improvements. Sir John Sinclair says that the 

 lands in some districts in Scotland, were (brmerly 

 cultivated in grain, three years in four; the rent 

 was then from twenty-five to thirty shillings per 

 acre ; the same lands are now in grain not oltener 

 than three years in six ; they pay (iom five to six 



