66 



THE FARMERS' CABINET. 



VOL. I. 



edge of the character and properties of the 

 land he cultivates. 



As in each locality the soil presents shades 

 of difference, more or less marked, according 

 to the exposure, composition, depth of the 

 soil, &c., the proprietor ought so to vary his 

 crops, as to give to each portion of the land 

 the plants for which it is best adapted ; and 

 thus establish a particular rotation of crops 

 upon the several divisions of his estate. 



The wants of the neighborhood, the facili- 

 ty with which the products may be disposed 

 of, and the comparative value of the various 

 kinds of crops, should all be taken into the 

 calculation of the farmer, in forming his plan 

 of proceedings. 



There is another point in regard to crops 

 that ought to be well weighed by the farmer ; 

 though his lands may be suited to cultivation 

 of a particular kind, his interests may not al- 

 low him to enter upon it. The more abun- 

 dant any article is, the lower will be its 

 price ; he ought then to prefer those crops of 

 which the sale is most secure. If a product 

 cannot be consumed upon the spot, it is ne- 

 cessary to calculate the expense of transport- 

 ing it to a place ol of sale in countries where 

 it is needed. 



An intelligent farmer, whose lands lie at a 

 distance from a market, will endeavor to 

 avoid the expenses incident to the transpor- 

 tation of his products; and in order to do this 

 he will give the preference to those harvests 

 of fodder or of roots which may be consumed 

 upon the place by his dependents and his 

 animals. 



There is another circumstance which must 

 be attended to in sowing those lands which 

 are light, or which lie upon a slope; for 

 these it is necessary to employ such vegeta- 

 bles as cover the soil with their numerous 

 leaves, and unite it in every direction by their 

 roots, thus preserving it from being washed 

 away by rains, and at the same time protect- 

 ing it from being too much dried by the burn- 

 ing rays of the sun. 



In order to support by example the truth 

 of the principles which I have here laid 

 down, I will make a statement of the series of 

 crops that are found most advantageous in 

 those countries where agriculture is the most 

 flourishing. I shall commence with the prov- 

 inces of ancient Flanders, because there the 

 art of cultivating the soil to the greatest ad- 

 vantage had its birth. 



In the departments of Lille and Douai, 

 where the soil is of the best kind, and the art 

 of preparmg and employing manures is car- 

 ried to the greatest perfection, tlie following 

 series of crops are adopted. 



First Series. 



Flax or cabbage. 

 Wheat. 



Beans. 



Oats, with trefoil. 



Trefoil. 



Wheat. 



Second Series. Turneps, 



Oats or Barley, with trefoiL 



Trefoil. 



Wheat. 



Third Series. Potatoes. 

 Wheat. 



Roots, — turneps or beets. 

 Wheat. 

 Buckwheat. 

 Beans. 



Oats and trefoil. 

 Trefoil. 

 Wheat. 



In this rotation of crops we find that after 

 the soil has been manured, the crops that are 

 most exhausting are replaced by ihose that 

 are less so ; and those that foul the soil, by 

 those that cleanse it by requiring frequent 

 weedings. 



It is by similar means that nearly the 

 whole sea coast of Belgium, consistmg of 

 sterile sand, has been rendered as fertile as 

 the best soil; and the richest harvests have 

 followed from a judicious system of cropping. 



Upon the sands in the neighborhood of 

 Bruges, Ostend, Nieuport, Arvens, &c., the 

 cultivation of the grains is made to alternate 

 advantageously with that of beans, cabbage, 

 potatoes, and carrots. The system of crop- 

 ping practised in Norfolk, and so much 

 praised by the English, consists in com- 

 mencing the series by the cultivation of roots 

 in a well manured soil ; these are followed by 

 oats or barley with trefoil, and afterwards by 

 wheat. 



In the bed of dry sand which forms the soil 

 of Campine, the industrious inhabitants have 

 with equal success vanquished all obstacles, 

 and fertilized the soil. It is surprising to 

 find in these plains of sand, excellent crops 

 which, by their judicious arrangement, are 

 constantly meliorating the soil. The series 

 which is there followed is this : 



Potatoes. 



Oats and trefoil. 



Trefoil. 



Rye. 



Turneps, 



During a tour which I made with Napo- 

 leon in Belgium, I heard him express to one 

 of the council of department, his surprise at 

 the vast extent of waste land over which he 

 had just travelled : he was answered thus ; 

 '• Give us a canal to transport our manures, 

 and to convey our produce, and in five years 

 this sterile country will be covered with 



