56 THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL [CH. 



sown and as long as is practicable, (3) the seed must 

 therefore be sown in straight lines and not scattered 

 broadcast. The seed drill and horse hoe that he made 

 to carry these principles into practice have been the 

 forerunners of a long line of useful implements, and 

 they alone made possible the cultivation of turnips, 

 clovers and other of the new crops that began to 

 come in. 



These new crops completely changed the agricul- 

 ture of the country. They fell best into the rotation 

 worked out by Lord Townshend in the middle of the 

 eighteenth century : clover in place of the old fallow, 

 then wheat, then turnips, and lastly barley. Three 

 great advantages followed. The clovers and other 

 leguminous plants, sainfoin, lucerne, etc., led to a 

 gi'eat increase in the stock of soil nitrogen. The 

 substitution of a growing crop for the fallow con- 

 siderably reduced the wastage of plant food through 

 leaching. The clover hay and turnips provided food 

 for the live stock throughout the winter, so that it 

 was no longer necessary to slaughter them in late 

 autumn and salt them down to be eaten ^; the hus- 

 bandman was able to keep them alive and in good 

 condition all the year round. The animals consumed 



^ "At Hallowtide, slaughter time entereth in, 



and then doth the husbandman's feasting begin." 



Tusser, 1573. 



