OF FALLOWING. 255 



4. Potatoes or yams may be raised on strong land, but 

 wot to any great extent. They require to be sown so early, 

 that not one year in ten'will the season admit of root-weeds 

 being completely eradicated ; and in wet autumns, how are 

 they to be taken up ? It is the opinion also of the most in- 

 telligent farmers, that it is impossible to make foul ground 

 clean, with a crop of potatoes or yams, though if once 

 thoroughly cleaned, it may be preserved in that state, by 

 crops of potatoes and yams, for many years. 



5. Ptuta baga, or Swedish turnips, may be raised to ad- 

 vantage on strong soils. They may be sown in the end of 

 May, and taken off the field in September. They are also 

 easily preserved till wanted ; but if taken off early in the 

 season, the crop will not be abundant, and there is great 

 risk, when the crop of wheat is afterwards laid down, that 

 the land will be in bad order. If barley, however, were to 

 follow Swedish turnip, that objection would be removed, 

 as the land might, in that case, have both winter and spring- 

 ploughing. The following rotation might in that case be 

 tried: 1. Rutabaga; 2. Barley; '5. Beans; 4. Wheat; 5. 

 Clover ; and, 6. Oats. It is objected, however, to this rotation, 

 that ruta baga increases considerably in size, till checked by 

 the strong frosts in December ; consequently that if it were 

 taken up in September, it -would occasion a great loss of 

 weight and value in the crop ; and that the wheat crop, 

 after plain fallow, would probably exceed in value, both the 

 ruta baga and the barley : a loss rather than a benefit would 

 therefore arise from omitting summer-fallow. 



6. Cabbages, properly cultivated, yield a great quantity 

 of food for cattle ; but they are not calculated for an exten- 

 sive scale of farming. With cabbages, a certain proportion 

 of ground might be appropriated to the cultivation of green 

 kale ; the one for food in autumn, and the other in March 

 and April, which are the most hazardous months of the' 



