194 THE PRINCIPLES OF 



good farming the turnip crop is not fed alone, but with fair 

 allowances of hay, oil-cakes, and corn. This fact is often lost 

 sight of by candidates, who seem to think that the benefit of 

 folding is really a balance between the material of the crop 

 removed by the animals in increasing their live weight, and 

 the remainder of the crop which finds its way into the soil in 

 the form of animal excrements. This is, however, a practical 

 error, as the benefit to the land is really expressed by the 

 total manurial value of the entire crop consumed, minus the 

 amount retained by the animal for its own increase, plus the 

 value of excrements derived from imported foods which last 

 is a most important item. Another advantage to the soil in 

 contradistinction to the subsoil is the importation to the 

 surface soil of material collected by the root crop from the 

 subsoil, to which may well be added material from the air. 

 Add to these effects the improvement in texture to sandy or 

 light calcareous soils, and we have the sum of the benefits 

 which accrue from a system of sheep farming on arable soils. 

 Barley is decidedly the most suitable crop for the second 

 year, as in these days a better value is obtained upon suitable 

 soils from barley than from any other cereal. On the other 

 hand, it may be remembered with advantage that it is easy 

 to "overdo" land intended for barley, and that the best 

 samples of malting barley are not produced on land too 

 highly fertilized. Clover naturally takes up the third year, 

 and for reasons already given, as well as the firmness which 

 its growth insures, is an excellent preparation for wheat. 



The rotation, therefore, is well drawn, and truly scientific 

 in its object and arrangement. It is not without its faults, 

 but those faults are happily of a nature which can be readily 

 corrected. The shortness and the paucity of variety in the 

 crops embraced within the rotation as above given are the 

 most serious drawbacks. I have already pointed out the 

 possibility of substituting wheat for barley in the second year 



