UNSOUND SYSTEMS OF TILLAGE 67 



True enough, there are many farmers afflicted with 

 both bodily and mental indolence, and one must 

 admit that in the main farmers — as befits the con- 

 servative occupation in which they are engaged — are 

 very critical. Nevertheless, I hold that the more 

 critical they are, the more progressive do they 

 become, once they are convinced of the soundness 

 of any doctrine, tested by practical, and not 

 theoretical, methods alone. 



To return to our subject. We can best point out 

 the economic deficiencies of the present tillage 

 methods by taking some actual rotations and studying 

 them in detail. 



A WELSH ROTATION 



Some time ago the Glamorgan Agricultural War 

 Committee made arrangements for the writer to visit 

 a large number qf farms in the neighbourhood of 

 Cardiff, for the purpose of studying in detail the 

 existing methods of tillage, and suggesting improve- 

 ments on them. The rotation which exists in this 

 district (it is also a rotation which is carried out in 

 many other districts) is as follows: — 



1st Year, — Winter wheat; 



2nd Year, — Spring oats; 



3rd Year, — Roots; 



4th Year, — Spring barley with seeds; 



5th Year, — Seeds mown; 



6th Year, — Seeds grazed. 



With the rotation before us it is necessary to study 

 other features of the district. In the first place, the 

 average annual rainfall of the district for the thirty- 



