96 On the Agricultwe of England^ Manures^ ^c, 



posed in the after cultivation of the crop ; and for the 

 ensuing crop, ploughing will be useless, as well as in- 

 jurious, as a line tilth, with less than half the expense, 

 may be readily procured, without exposing the ma- 

 nure, by means of the scufflers or cultivators, common- 

 ly used in that country, which are very similar to the 

 hoe, or fluke harrow used here. 



The number of crops taken, before the ground 

 is returned back to grass, should not be many, but 

 must be, in a great measure, governed by the views 

 and situation of the cultivator : if they are exhaust- 

 ing, and more than two are taken, ameliorating 

 crops, as turnips, potatoes, peas, or clover, should in- 

 tervene, and 1 believe there are few crops which af- 

 ford sufficient shade, and produce a plentiful supply of 

 fodder and litter for cattle, and will admit of efiectual 

 horse-hoeing, which may not be justly deemed ameli- 

 orating, provided a sufficiency of manure has been ap- 

 plied to the soil. Indian corn has ever been my fa- 

 vourite summer fallow crop, for if properly arranged, 

 it affiords sufficient shade, and admits the most perfect 

 cultivation, and if the value of the grain, fodder, and 

 litter of this crop is considered, the plant may be just- 

 ly esteemed far more valuable than any other that has 

 yet been discovered; but it is a large, and very power- 

 ful plant, and when grown without manure, and the 

 fodder stalks and roots are suftered to perish in the 

 field, which is too often the case, it becomes a power- 

 ful exhauster, and unless it has been planted on 

 grounds recently reclaimed from the forest, or on deep 

 fresh bottoms, its effects on the fertility of the soil are 

 manifest. 



