114 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 2. 



ducing a grain crop; that the clover turned in for 

 improvement is much more pure, and freer from 

 perennial and noxious weeds, such as St. John's 

 wort, camomile, daisy, blue thistle, and that worst 

 of all pests the prickly nightshade; and that con- 

 sequently, the three-shift system will produce 

 probably as much corn, and certainly much more 

 wheat than the four-shift; wherein I have known 

 this latter crop often nearly destroyed L>y some one 

 or more of the pestiferous plants just mentioned, 

 to say nothing of the far greater increase of insects 

 injurious both to corn and wheat. The farm on 

 which our Trismegistur- -Col. John Taylor, of 

 Caroline lived, and on which he pursued the four- 

 shift system, was excessively annoyed before his 

 death by these nuisances. But when I first knew 

 it,' some forty odd years ago, then under the three- 

 shift plan in its worst form, and before he owned 

 it, not a thing of the kind was to he seen. Several 

 gentlemen who have followed the rival system 

 have often complained to me of the constant dimi- 

 nution of their wheat crops. Of this, there was 

 110 doubt; but whether to ascribe it to the redundant 

 accumulation of unrotted vegetable matter; to the 

 greater increase of destructive insects; to the more 

 rapid multiplication of the noxious weeds al- 

 ready enumerated, to which I might have added 

 the still more formidable enemies — running-brier, 

 trumpet flower, yellow locust, sassafras, and per- 

 simmon, they did not undertake to assert. Now, 

 if the four-shift advocates, versus three-shift advo- 

 cates, admit the foregoing facts, which can be es- 

 tablished beyond cavil or refutation, let the non- 

 committed farmers and planters decide between 

 them. How this controversy originated, seems 

 to me of no importance; but its continuation 

 surely need not be long, if only a few reputable 

 farmers would undertake to try the rival systems 

 fairly. The friends of each have taken for granted 

 that which both Flemish and Chinese husbandry, 

 'tis said, have proved to be untrue. This is the 

 necessity for resting land — in other words, leaving 

 it uncultivated for some years. Both in Flanders 

 and China, unless my information be incorrect, all 

 arable land is made to bear some crop every year, 

 and its fertility is at least preserved, if not in- 

 creased, by the application of manures and a pro- 

 per rotation of crops. Why might it not be so in 

 Virginia?* 



*The "four-shift" rotation referred to above is that 

 recommended by Arator, of corn, wheat, and two 

 years' rest, either with or without clover — and not the 

 very different rotation called also "four-shift" of three 

 grain crops with clover fallow. Each system has its 

 peculiar disadvantages, (which we do not mean to 

 discuss here — ) but the latter "four-shift rotation" is 

 truly such as "Commentator" advocates on the author- 

 ity of Chinese and Flemish practice. There is no 

 year or seaso7i of rest — but the fourth crop (clover) is 

 turned in as part of the manure necessary to bring three 

 grain crops in succession. As to Arator's four-shift ro- 

 tation, of which we have had long experience, howe- 

 ver beneficial for restoring lost fertility to poor lands, 

 it is certainly liable to the objections stated above, of 

 encouraging the increase of troublesome weeds, and 

 destructive insects— of both which evils we have had 

 woful experience. As to the causes of diminished 



The article on draught, from the "Library of 

 Useful Knowledge" is an excellent one, and 

 should be diligently studied by every person who 

 owns either a plough or a carriage of any kind, 

 since the principles on which they ought to be 

 constructed in order to render them as perfect as 

 practicable, are probably as little understood as 

 any other art. can be, which is of" such great im- 

 portance to mankind. 



"A" has presented some very useful hints on 

 the management of sheep, which in most parts of 

 Virginia are worse treated than any other other 

 stock, although as profitable, perhaps more so, in 

 proportion to first cost, than any other. In sum- 

 mer they are rarely noticed, except to shear, or to 

 furnish a lamb for the table; and in winter, too 

 often left to shift entirely for themselves. 



COMJIE5TATOR. 



COMMENTS ON FARMERS' REGISTER — No. 11. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Mr. C. W. Gooch's two letters contain much 

 interesting and valuable matter. It is therefore to 

 be regretted that he should have blended with it 

 any thing as a settled truth or principle, which is 

 still a subject of controversy among some of the 

 best w r riters, both in this country and in Europe. 

 Such are his assumptions as to the cause of "Ma- 

 laria," and the best state in which to cut grass for 

 hay, which he says, is "in full bloom.'''' With- 

 out expressing any opinion myself on either topic, 

 I will here only remark, that it cannot probably be 

 unknown to Mr. Gooch, that numerous well writ- 

 ten treatises have been published within a f^w 

 years past, on the causes of malaria, maintaining 

 not only different, but contradictory opinions, and 

 that the subject may truly be said to be "adhuc 

 sub ji/rf('ce" — yet undecided. Again, it is quite 

 improbable that Mr. G. should be ignorant of the 

 statement made by Sir Humphry Davy in his Ag- 

 ricultural Chemistry, of the ninety-seven experi- 

 ments made by the Duke of Bedford's gardener, 

 at Woburn Abbey, for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing at what particular stage of growth it was most 

 advantageous to cut the different kind of grasses 

 subjected to these experiments. The number of 

 grasses subjected to trial was ninety-seven, and in 

 most of the cases, as well as I recollect, the quan- 

 tity of nutritive matter ascertained by accurate 

 analysis, to be contained in the grass cut when the 

 seed was ripe, exceeded the quantity in it when 

 in flower, to an enormous extent. Quere, does 

 Mr. G. use the term "grass-knife" as synonymous 

 with grass-scythe, or is it a new implement?* 



His suggestion to mix two kinds of grass-seed 

 together, is probably a very good one, and might 

 be extended to the mixture of three or four, if we 

 may believe some late English publications on ar- 

 tificial grasses. 



The description which he gives of what his 

 neighbors have called "blue-grass," renders it 



production in our experiment of this rotation, referred 

 to above, we can throw no additional light on the re- 

 markable results. Ed. Farm. Reg. 



*The term was meant for the scythe, it is presumed, 

 as it is often so applied in this part of Virginia. — Ed. 



