THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



261 



the want of enough' hoed' crops (like our Indian 

 corn,) in the^British rotations. And the object is 

 effected by ' repeated plouj^hings and cross 

 pioughings, harrowings, raking and hand-pickiiii; 

 of root weeds, continued at intervals through a 

 whole year, during which the land ia kept as 

 naked as possible. "On the contrary, in the per- 

 fection of what is so improperly called "lailow" 

 for wheat in Virginia, a heavy growth of clover 

 is raised, and the second crop, if not also the 

 first, (as is the practice of some of the best 

 farmers on James river,) is left ungrazed and 

 unmown, to be well turned under in August or 

 September, by good ploughs drawn by 3^ or 4 

 horses ; then to harrow the 'new surface, and 

 close the seams between the furrow slices ; and 

 without more stirring of the earth, (if possible,) 

 to sow wheat thereupon, at the proper time, 

 and cover the seed with harrows if soft, or 

 Buch other shallow cutting implement, as the 

 degree of hardness .of the surlace may require. 

 The object is to have but one, and that a good 

 ploughing ; (unless the quantity of wire-grass or 

 blue-grass compel a subsequent shallow plough- 

 ing;) and this restriction to one ploughing is not 

 only to save labor, but to secure the clover ma- 

 nure below, and out of the way, and to keep a 

 clean surface above, of which the tilth and mel- 

 lowness are maintained by the gradual yielding 

 and sinking of the mass of clover turned under. 

 Such a coat of clover is an excellent manurint: 

 for the wheat succeeding, and moreover has been 

 obtained at small cost, as its broad leaves drew 

 its principal nourishment from the atmosphere. 

 The smothering growth, also, of thickly set and 

 rank clover, serves to keep the land clean of al- 

 most every thing but the clover itself, which is 

 ploughed under deep enough to be effectually 

 put out of the way of the succeeding wheat. The 

 total and sudden change, also, of the condition 

 of the field, by the ploughing and complete bury- 

 ing of the clover, and the leaving for some time a 

 perfectly bare surface, must serve to starve and 

 destroy nearly all the depredating insects that fed 

 ■ on the clover, and which, if not thus destroyed 

 would continue to feed on the wheat. Thus 

 wheat on clover, if well managed in all respects, 

 is an admirably clean crop, both from weeds and 

 from insects, and is heavily manured by the clover, 

 which experience has proved is well adapted as 

 a manure (or wheat. Hence, it is not strange 

 that the very best crops of wheat that can be ob- 

 tained from the land, are raised by this mode oi' 

 manuring with clover. 



In speaking above of the practice of ploughing 

 in clover to precede wheat, as being peculiarly 

 American, it was only meant in reference to it 

 as in regular and profitable use, and forming a 

 part of the ordinary system of rotation and culture 

 on some (farms. The like explanation and un- 

 derstanding should;^ be applied to several other 

 things spoken of in'this piece, as new improve- 

 ments here. It is certain that the ploughing un- 

 der of various green crops, as manure, and es- 

 pecially clover, has been sometimes done in Bri- 

 tain in modern times, and still more formerly 

 in Greece and Italy, judging from the recom- 

 mendations of the pradice by ancient writers. 

 I' But, "says Sir John Sinclair, "notwithstand- 

 ing the recommendations of the ancients — not- 

 withstanding the great need of manure — and the 



excessive price of every extraneous article of that 

 description — this practice is now in a great mea- 

 sure abandoned. Peas, buck-wheat, clover, and 

 other juicy plants, when ploughed in, yield no 

 doubt a portion of manure ; but they do little 

 more than restore the nourishment they had ab- 

 stracted from the soil; whilst it is extremely 

 diffi'ult to plough down rank vegetables in a 

 growing stale, so as to cover them in a complete 

 manner. The farmers of Scotland are, therefore, 

 of opinion that the only way of securing the 

 highest degree of benefit from green crops, is to 

 cut and bring them into a state of putrefac'ion, 

 before they be applied to the. soil." (General 

 Report, &c., of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 580.) That, 

 in the very different circumstances of Britain, the 

 ploughing in of green clover may be bad econo- 

 my, may be admitted, without affecting the pro- 

 priety of the practice in Virginia. The like ad- 

 mission may apply to sundry other processes 

 which are proper and economical and preferable 

 here, and which would be the reverse in Britain, 

 in Flanders, and still more in China. But the 

 distinguished and able agriculturist above quoted 

 was altogether wrong in his main theoretical 

 ground of objection, viz.: that crops ploughed 

 under only restore to the soil as much as they 

 had previously abstracted. He forgot, or was 

 not aware of the much larger portion of their 

 substance which most plants, and especially 

 clover and other broad-leaved plants, draw from 

 the atmosphere and form into substantial vege- 

 table matter, from the elements of air and water. 

 But for this, the most bountiful provision of na- 

 ture for : the productive power of the soil, the 

 draught therefrom on every farm, would regularly 

 exceed the returns by manuring, &c., 'by the 

 whole amount of crop sold off ; and certain|and 

 rapid exhaustion, would necessarily be the conse- 

 quence,' to every part of the cultivated face of the 

 earth, not regularly and abundantly supplied 

 with putrescent manures from abroad. Yet all 

 know that but a small proportion of the products 

 of a field being returned as manure, will serve lo 

 maintain, and under favorable condition of soil, 

 &r., may even greatly increase its productive 

 power. 



Perhaps there is no improving process or ge- 

 neral practice, of one country or district, and how- 

 ever peculiar to it, that has not been used in 

 some, and it may be many, isolated cases else- 

 where. But, the very fact of such trials, how- 

 ever numerous, being rare and remaining sepa- 

 rate, and not becoming general practicejeven on 

 a few farms, is enough to prove that the pro- 

 cesses or. plans were not found profitable — and 

 that such practical operations were but ex- 

 ceptions to the general rules of approved proce- 

 dure. If there is any one of the modes of enriching 

 by putrescent matters here spoken of, which 

 might be supposed altogether new, it would be 

 the plan introduced by Taylor, of manuring land 

 by its own vegetable cover, wholly or in part, 

 left lo decay on the fields. Yet even this was 

 advocated in Scotland, by Lord Belhaven, in 

 1707, and his publication is quoted by Sinclair, 

 for the purpose of strongly condemning the opi- 

 nion. The passage from Lord Belhaven is as 

 follows: "I must say, hy-the-by, that if in 

 East Lothian they did not leave a higher stubble 

 [when jeaping grain,] than in other|^^places of the 



