612 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No, 10 



grain feeding, which alone was admitted to cost 

 nearly or quite as much ae the market price of the 

 meat. A flock o( poor pheep were on some farms 

 also, of which, before shearing time, half the wool 

 of many was hnniring on the brii^rs, and the re- 

 raaininir fleeces tilled with bins. I'iiis sort of gra- 

 zing system accompanied the old iliree shilt rota- 

 tion; and inveterate as were old hnbiis, and patient 

 as we are of lonix-borne grievances, this evil was 

 eo great, that none could deny but that the mere 

 expense of the dividing fiances, necessary to keep 

 the cattle irom the fields of grain, cost more than 

 all the returns from the grazing animals. 



The four-shift rotation, recommended and prac- 

 ticed by Col. Taylor, was — 

 1st year, corn — 



2nd " wheat, and clover sown — or if too poor 

 for wheat, lel't at rest, and not 

 grazed — 

 3rd " clover, (or weeds) not mown or grazed-- 

 4th " clover, not mown or grazed. 

 This rotation, as before stated, was the first in- 

 troduction of manuring fields by their own vege- 

 table cover, and this practice, and the admission of 

 the opinions on which the new practice was found- 

 ed, was a prodigious step towards agricultural im- 

 provement. It IS true that even this rotation is op- 

 posed to the rules of good husbandry in most 

 respects. But the giving of two and a half years 

 out of four for vegetables lo grow, that were to die 

 and decay on, and be finally plouirhed into the land, 

 was a feature that compensated for every fault, 

 and made the rotation decidedly meliorating, if 

 on land capable of being enriched by the mere ap- 

 plication of vegetable matters. 



In the first of these numbers, it was stated in- 

 cidentally to other matters why this rotation be- 

 came of less benefit and more objectionable, in 

 proportion to the time, and to the effect with which 

 it operated; and if it imjiroved the productive pow- 

 er of any land, that it also greatly increased the 

 labors of tillage, and the destruction of products, 

 by increasing weeds and noxious insects. In con- 

 sequence of this objection, very few disciples of 

 the great introducer of and advocate for this rota- 

 tion have continued long to pursue it strictly. 



The four -sh ft and clover fallow rotation differs 

 widely from that of Col. Taylor. This has been, 

 and I believe still is pursued with great success by 

 Hill Carter, of Shirley, John A. Selden, of West- 

 over, and has been on some other of the best lands 

 on James River, where it has since, in other 

 hands, been either netrlecied or abandoned, for 

 some modification of tiie three-shift rotation. This 

 four-shitl system is 

 1st year, corn — 

 2nd " wheat, and clover sown, and not 



grazed — 

 3rd " clover, not grazed, and ploughed in 

 deepl}' in August and September, 

 and the field sown in wheat — 

 4th " wheat, to be followed by corn, in re- 

 commencing the rotation next year. 

 A sufficient standing pasture was kept on other 

 land. Mr. Carter, fbra considerable length of time, 

 substituted oats for corn in the first year. 



The farmers above named, (whose accounts of 

 their systems and iheir products were reported at 

 length in vol, i.. Far. Re;!.,) and others also, 

 undoubtedly made great crops, and great improve- 

 ment of larid, under this very severe rotation. But 



those results were due more to the excellence of 

 their general management that to their rotation. 

 None but admirable executive liiriTiers can possi- 

 bly overcome the great difficulties which accompa- 

 ny this rotation. He who, in our dry climate, on 

 a stiif or even medium soil, can plough every Au- 

 irust and Se|)lember one-tijurih ol all his arable 

 surlace, to the depth of 8 or 10 inches, and 

 turn in and cover ellectually a heavy coat of 

 clover — and this without failing in any year- 

 shows thereby alone his ability to execute the 

 most arduous undertakings, and to do well every 

 thing which he may make a part of his gene- 

 ral |)lan of operations. This rotation, in such 

 fiands as have directed it, has some admirable 

 filatures; but it must be executed in the most per- 

 fect manner, or these best Itjatures are lost, and 

 tiiere will remain only the great evil of three fi- 

 brous-rooted, narrow-leaved, and exhausting grain 

 crops, in succession. 



The great merit of the four-shift rotation, in 

 general, and considering it as embracing both of 

 these very different varieties, is its easy adapta- 

 tion to more mild or more severe cultivation, with- 

 out any different arrangement or number of fields. 

 Thus, Taylor's rotation may be rendered still 

 milder (as is needed on the poorest lands,) by 

 omitting the wheat crop; and as the land im- 

 proves, the richer spots may be thrown under the 

 more severe cultivation of the other Ibur-shifi sys- 

 tem, as practised by Mr. Cartcror Mr. Selden. But, 

 in any form, the rotation still remains objectiona- 

 ble, for the succession of iirain crops, (if there are 

 even two in the course,) as well as for other 

 things, in one or the other variety, which have been 

 already stated. 



Every rotation yet known in Virginia is more or 

 less objectionable upon one or more of the follow- 

 ing irrounds: 



The adoption of certain usual crops, without 

 regard to the various qualities, and the wants of 

 the soils, or even to the demand of the market. 

 Thus every farmer is sure lo make corn and wheat 

 (or oats,) his principal, if not his only crops. Thus 

 the fields are deprived universally of the most im- 

 proving culture of roots, which dip into and draw 

 from the soil deeply — and of pea-crops, which f(?ed 

 on the air, and give the product to the soil as ma- 

 nure — and of all annual green manure crops, which 

 would cleanse the soil by their getting in, their 

 growth, and ploughing under, as well as manure it; 

 and the store cattle and hogs suffer for the want of 

 roots and other succulent food, and those which are 

 necessarily well fed, consume grain almost exclu- 

 sively. Besides these and other objections, which 

 any good practical farmer, or sound theorist, would 

 make, I would further object to the great defect of 

 the preparatory crop not serving to destroy the 

 weeds which will obstruct, and the insects which 

 will prey on, the succeeding crop. Two great ex- 

 ceptions to i his last general fault are presented when 

 wheat follows clover, or tobacco, both of which 

 are plants of the broad-leaved kind, unlike in all 

 respects to the succeeding crop, and of such unlike 

 conditions also, that it may be presumed that 

 the growth of either has served well to destroy 

 many of both the weeds and insect depredators, 

 which are injurious to wheat. Accordingly, thesa 

 two crops are the best forerunners of wheat; which 

 after them always is an excellent crop lor the land 

 and the season. 



