1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



413 



which they grow than when they are cut down 

 while they are green; and if those seeds are in 

 whole or iii part carried off the farm, the crops are 

 exhausters of the farm, as well as of the ground 

 which had produced them. Were the ripened 

 seeds To he wholly returned to the soil, if may be 

 believed that the ive back- to ii all the nu- 



tritive matter which had been derived from it. 

 But, in practice, seeds are. employed for many 

 purposes, and are generally carried off the farm 

 which produces them. When this is done in 

 whole or in part, the plants produced are in an 

 eminent degree exhausters of the farm, as well as 

 of the soil on which they have grown. 



Further, certain plants, from their mode of 

 growth and cultivation, are more favorable to the 

 growth of weeds than other plants. The cereal 

 grasses, from growing closely together, and not 

 admitting, or admitting partially, the eradication 

 of weeds, are more favorable to the growth and 

 multiplication of weeds than such plants as the 

 turnip and the potato, which are grown at a con- 

 siderable distance from each other, and admit of 

 tillage during their growth, and whose broad sys- 

 tems of leaves tend to repress thegrowth of stran- 

 ger plants. 



Having these principles in view, certain rules 

 may be deduced from them, for the, order in w hich 

 the crops ol* plants in cultivation in a country shall 

 succeed to each other on the same ground. 



1st, Crops consisting of plants of the same or 

 similar species, shall not follow in succession, but 

 shall return at as distant intervals as the case will 

 allow. 



2d, Crops consisting of plants whose mode of 

 growth or cultivation tends to the, production of 

 weeds, shall not. follow in succcession. 



3d, Crops whose culture admits of the, destruc- 

 tion of weeds, shall be cultivated when we culti- 

 vate plants which favor the production of weeds. 

 And farther, crops whose consumption returns to 

 the soil a sufficient quantity of manure, shall be 

 cultivated at intervals sufficient to maintain or in- 

 crease the fertility of the farm. 



And, 4th, when land is to be laid to grass, 

 this shall be done when the soil is fertile and 

 clean. 



These rules may be applied to the plants which 

 form the subject of common cultivation in the 

 fields. In this country, the plants chiefly cultiva- 

 ted on the large scale are — the cereal grasses, 

 chiefly for the farina of their seeds; certain legu- 

 minous plants, as the bean and the pea; plants 

 cultivated for their fibres, as the flax and hemp; 

 for their leaves, roots, or tubers, as the turnip, the 

 cabbage, and the potato; and certain leguminous 

 and other plants for forage or herbage. The plants 

 of these different classes are yet to be described; 

 and they are now only referred to with relation to 

 the order in which they may succeed to each other 

 in cultivation. 



The 1st class of these plants consists of the ce- 

 real grasses. These are chiefly wheat, barley, 

 ,oats, and partially rye. All these plants are in an 

 eminent degreee exhausters of the farm. They 

 are all suffered to mature, their seeds, and are 

 wholly or partially carried away from the farm. 

 Further, from the manner of their growth, and 

 mode of cultivation, they all tend to favor the 

 production of weeds. For these reasons, and on 

 the general principle thai plants of the same or 



similar kinds should not follow in succession, the 

 cereal grasses should not succeed each other, but 

 should be preceded or followed by some crop, 

 which either exhausts the soil less, or admits of a 

 more perfi ct eradication of weeds. 



2d, The leguminous plants cultivated for their 

 as the bean and the pea, are all exhausters 

 of the soil. They ripen their seeds, and these 

 seeds arc for the most part carried off the farm. 

 Some physiologists suppose that they are less ex- 

 hausters of the soil than the cereal grasses. It is 

 probable that they do exhaust the, soil somewhat 

 less than the cereal grasses. But the essential 

 difference between them, when considered with 

 relation to their effect upon the soil, is, that, from 

 their growth, and the manner of cultivating them, 

 they are greatly less favorable to the production 

 of weeds than the cereal grasses. By their broader 

 system of leaves, they tend to stifle the growth of 

 weeds more than the cereal grasses: and further, 

 they admit of tillage during a great part of their 

 growth. This is especially the case with the bean, 

 which is therefore regarded as a useful cleaning 

 crop, and so is cultivated in rotation with the ce- 

 real grasses, as a mean of preserving the land 

 clean. 



3d, Hemp and flax, which are cultivated chief- 

 ly for their fibres, and all plants cultivated for their 

 oils, are exhausters of the soil. They are suffer- 

 ed to form and ripen their seeds and their stems 

 afford no return of manure to the farm. 



The next class of plants, from the large return 

 of manures which the consumption ol them af- 

 fords, may be regarded as enriching or restorative 

 crops, in contradistinction to the others, which may 

 be termed exhausting crops: — 



1. The turnip, the rape, and other plants of the 

 cabbage genus, cultivated for their roots and leaves, 

 and consumed tyion the farm. 



2. The potato, the carrot, the parsnip, the beet, 

 and other plants, cultivated for their tubers, and 

 roots, and consumed upon the farm. 



3. The leguminous plants — the clover, the tare, 

 the lucerne, and others — when cut green for for- 

 age, and consumed upon the farm. 



The plants of the latter class, namely the legu- 

 minous, when mixed with gramineous, plants, as 

 the rye-grass, arc commonly termed the artificial 

 grasses, but would be more correctly termed the 

 cultivated herbage or forage plants. They are 

 often suffered partially to ripen their seeds, and are 

 made into hay; and in this case they follow the gen- 

 eral law, exhausting the soil more than when used 

 green. And when the hay-crop is carried away 

 from the farm, they are to be regarded as ex- 

 hausting rather than restorative cro] s. 



In speaking of these different classes of plants, 

 the following terms ma}- be employed: — 



1. The cereal grasses may be termed corn- 

 crops. 



2. The leguminous plants cultivated for their 

 seeds, pulse crops. 



3. The turnip, and other plants of the same 

 kind, cultivated for their roots and leaves, may, 

 with reference to the mode of consuming them, 

 be termed green crops; or, with reference to the 

 manner of preparing the ground for them, fallow- 

 crops. 



4. The potato, and plants of other familes cul- 

 tivated for their roots and tubers, may in like 

 manner, be termed green or fallow crops. 



