92 THE LAND AND ITS PROBLEMS 



year barley (in which " seeds " were sown) ; in the 

 third year " seeds " in which clover and rye grass played 

 the chief part ; in the fourth year wheat. Oats were 

 used to substitute, in part, wheat or barley according to 

 the type of soil and season. 



This system led to great developments in the United 

 Kingdom, but it was too universally adopted and too 

 slavishly applied. 



THE ROOT CROP 



The chief object of the root crop was to clean the land 

 for corn and provide winter food for sheep and other 

 stock, but there are thousands of acres on which turnips 

 and swedes will not grow with any certainty of profit ; 

 this was proved generations ago — but we still persist in 

 attempting to grow them universally. 



Mangolds contam a higher percentage of nourishment 

 than any of the other varieties of roots, and provide 

 excellent " bulky " food for dairy cows in winter. 

 Further, they are one of the most certain of crops 

 and should rarely fail if properly cultivated. It is a 

 good sign that the area under mangolds has somewhat 

 increased. 



But much more land could profitably be taken from 

 the turnip and swede crop and be given to the growing 

 of fodder or soiling crops^ {vide Appendix No. III). A 

 really heavy (or smother) crop of one of these plants 

 most effectively cleans the land— the weeds cannot 

 grow. 



There is a further drawback to turnips and swedes 

 where they are fed off by sheep (i.e. where sheep are 



^ A fodder or soiling crop is a green crop which is cut and fed 

 to stock, or upon which the stock are " penned " to eat it down. 



