APPENDIX III 217 



The land is divided into two equal parts, one of which is 

 used for producing the summer fodder, the other half pro- 

 vides the winter keep. The half providing the summer fodder 

 also produces fodder in the form of the cabbage second crops, 

 which is fed throughout the winter months. 



The land used for the soiling rotation, which supplies the 

 fodder during the summer, is divided into eight plots of equal 

 size, each plot producing sutHcient fodder for approximately 

 eighteen days. The land from which the first five crops have 

 been cut is immediately ploughed up and planted w ith cabbage, 

 the remaining three plots being sown with crops for the 

 following year. The rotation is designed to separate crops 

 of similar character as much as possible in point of time, 

 which has up to the present prevented any signs of crop sick- 

 ness, while the land has steadily increased in productiveness. 

 The soiling rotation detailed in the tables provides a complete 

 and safe succession of fodder throughout the summer, when 

 the dates of sowing named are adhered to, and the only failure 

 to be recorded up to the present time is the maize crop. It 

 has been decided to abandon this crop because of its uncer- 

 tainty in Shropshire — very heavy crops have been obtained 

 from time to time, but in a season such as the one through 

 which we have just passed, maize, in Shropshire, is almost 

 useless. The Mixture No. 7 in the Table will in future be 

 substituted, when it is claimed the cropping is at least as re- 

 liable as anything can be in arable land cultivation. The 

 rotation which provides the fodder for the winter months is, 

 like the soiling rotation, designed to alternate the crops as far 

 as possible, thus avoiding crop sickness in the soil. 



The system now practised embodies the experience gained 

 by a continuous scries of experiments carried out since 1909, 

 during which time the chief weaknesses have been eliminated. 

 It has been the aim to discard all crops which do not give 

 maximum yields, and it will be seen from the Table that only 

 heavy yielding crops have been retained. The mangel is the 

 only root crop included, as it must always remain one of the 

 chief succulent crops of the dairy farmer. It is the most 



