CHAPTER IX. 



ROTATION OF CROPS. 



Much has been written during the past two thousand years 

 concerning the rotation of crops ; yet we are, probably, at this 

 day less certain concerning the various principles upon which 

 the importance of rotation depends than concerning those 

 which govern almost every other branch of agriculture. It is 

 one of those cases in which, v/hile science and practice un- 

 doubtedly walk hand in hand, the relation which each bears to 

 the other has never been very definitely defined. In different 

 countries, and in different parts of our own country, different 

 rotations have been adopted ; and, in the absence of any good 

 reason for objecting to the local custom, it will be usually the 

 safest guide for the farmer to follow it. 



In this country, perhaps the most generally prevailing rotation 

 is the following : First, Indian corn ; second, oats ; third, wheat j 

 fourth, grasses for mowing ; fifth, pasture. 



This rotation is subject to the objection that it leaves no place 

 for the root crops, and probably, as a general rule, the scarcity of 

 labor in most parts of the country, and the consequent difHculty 

 of taking proper care of root crops, justifies their omission ; but it 

 is very certain that we can never achieve complete success until, 

 by an increase of population or by an increased ability to cultivate 

 these crops by horse-power, we are able to bring them up to their 

 proper position as a part of the rotation — that is, to cultivate as 

 large an area of roots as we do of corn, of oats, or of wheat. 



The rotation that I have adopted in my own case, v/here 

 exceptional circumstances allow me to perform more labor on a 



