V^l 



AND HORTICULTURAL R E (i I S T E R . 



PUUMSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.UIKET STREET, (Aa«.c»LTunAL Wa..ehouse.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNKSDAY EVENING, JULY 20, 1842. 



[NO. 3. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For Ihe N. E. Farmer. 



ROTATION— BY J. H. TURNER. 



A No. ■' the N. E. Farmer, dated June 22(1, 



342, has just como under [ny notice. In this No. 



e Editor has done me the honor of copying cn- 



re from the Farmer's Register, a piece which I 



rote some time ago, on the rotation of crops. 



,o this he has appended a note, in which among 



berthings, he says, "Nature teaches rotation." 



I this I wish to offer a few remarks. 



I take il for grunted that all who have seen this 



mark, have also seen the piece which called it 



irth. It is ther(!fore needless for me to say, that 



that piece, 1 did advance the sentiment that Na- 



re in her course proceeded upon the plan of no 



ed rotation. This sentiment I still feel disposed 



defend, the opinion of the Editor to the contrary 



twithslanding. 



And that I may enter upon my task at once, I 



.mid observe, that without intending to invade the 



iVince of the geologist, I think it more than pro- 



Ible, that the earth now presents an aspect very 



Rerent from what it did at the time of its crca- 



«u. I admit that agriculture, and not geology, is 



•proper d.-parlment: but still I will venture to 



Dress tiio opinion, that large portions of the earth 



.ich are now covered with immense forests, or 



i,ich have been reduced to cultivation, and are 



w bearing large and lu.\uriant crops, were at 



It nothing but barren and naked rocks. If I may 



>iture to specify, I would name that rich and 



iititifui .gouuuy around Lexington, in Kentucky, 



forming one of this description : also, that por- 



u of Pennsylvania, embraced in the counties of 



•rk and Lancaster. A continuation of the same 



lo passes through what is called the Valley of 



r: I -ginia. In nearly or quiie all of this section of 



■i I mtry, there is a remarkable similarity of fea- 



,1 j es. The soil is for the most part very shallow, 



t ( jedded on a limestone rocli at a very little dis- 



1- ce from the surface, and though so shallow, is 



fertheless exuberantly rich. 



And now, how can we account for these remark- 



e facts — that there should be any soil at all ; 



I that this soil, though so shallow, should be so 



] ? I account for them in this way : 1 have as- 



ned that all this section of country was at first 



lere barren rock. Whilst in this state, nature 



3 too skilful a manager to plant forest trees 



re, for ihey could not subsist. But she planted 



at could and did subsist, viz: mosses and licli- 



. These, vith the aid of the lime substratum, 



-e rapidly iecomposed, and thus speedily chang- 



into a little, thin, nutritious soil. Here, then, 



3 a beginning. What she employed next, I 



not tell — probably '' grasses of various kinds, 



I afterwards shrubs." The materials, whatever 



y were, continued to be skilfully managed, until 



afficiency of soil was accumulated for nature's 



at crop, and then she planted the forest tree 



I Here then is a change, a great change, from the 

 very lowest to the very highest order of vegeta- 

 " I tion— from no soil at all, to a soil of the richest 

 character. 



! But this is not rotation, in' the general and proper 

 signifioalion of that terirf It is properly and em- 

 piratically the creation of a soil. But rotations are 

 never employed in making- a soil : they are always 

 resorted to where n soil already exists, and where 

 cropping is in actual operation. A degree of fer- 

 tility must, therefore, actually exist, or the whole 

 policy of rotations must necessarily be fru.strated. 

 To prove this, let me inquire, what is the main ob- 

 ject of all rotations ? It is, as I conceive, to main- 

 tain a fertility already in existence, or to increase 

 that fertility. No one ever thinks of resorting to 

 a rotation, until he has brought the soil lo that 

 state in which it is capable of bearing a crop of 

 some kind. 



But it was stated a little while ago, that nature, 

 in the case of the barren rock, employed her mos- 

 ses, lichens, shrubs, &c. until she produced a soil 

 capable of sustaining the forest tree, and that then 

 she planted it. This seems to be the great object 

 to which all her efforts are constantly tending. All 

 her previous efforts are mere preparations in refer- 

 ence to this: And having attained it, the question 

 is— does she ever change it ? I maintain that 

 there is no instance upon record, in which nature, 

 uninterrupted in her course, has ever been known 

 to substitute a tree of soft wood fir one of hard 

 wood. On the other hand, if the sap dies of old 

 age. or is killed by lightning, or is uprooted by the 

 hurricane, not a 'pine., but another oak springs up 

 in its place to repair the injury. 



There is one event and one only, in which na- 

 ture resorts to a rotation, and that is when man in- 

 terferes with her usual course. If the forest of 

 oak be removed by man, and the soil on which it 

 n-rew, be reduced to poverty and then abandoned, I 

 will admit, that in this event, nature resorts to a 

 rotation. In repairing the injury, she substitutes 

 the soft wood for the hard. But then it ought to 

 be borne in mind, that in this case nature has been 

 turned out of her usual course, and that therefore 

 no general conclusion ought to be drawn from this 

 special exception. 



But if the case of the barren rock and the accu- 

 mulation of a rich soil upon it, appear to be too 

 fanciful, we will suppose another case, which, un- 

 fortunately for our country, is of too frequent re- 

 currence. We will suppose a piece of land so 

 poor as to bo incapable of any production whatev- 

 er. In summer it bleaches in the sunshine, and 

 in winter it merely receives the frosts and snows 

 which fall upon it; hut no crop docs it produce. 

 Let us suppose further, that instead of nature, 

 some skilful farmer takes this hopeless spot in 

 hand. In what way would he go about it in order 

 to ensure success ? Is it by any system of rota- 

 tion which has ever yet been thought of, much 

 less, carried into effect.' Does not every one see 

 that this is a case which is plainly beyond the 

 reach of any rotation ? He must then here, as 

 nature did in the case of the barren rock, first 



create a soil in which there is some fertility, and 

 then if he is a believer in the virtue of rotations, he 

 may with propriety resort to them. 



Nor is this a case of mere fancy. If I am cor- 

 rectly informed, n considerable portion of Flanders, 

 now fruitful in every desirable production, was 

 once a mere barren bench. Not even mosses nor 

 litchens grew there. No blade of grass of any 

 kind relieviMl the eye of its dull prospect. And 

 how did the enterprising farmers of that now de- 

 lightful country, effect this mighty change ? Was 

 it by any rotation .-' No. They carefully hus- 

 banded every available resource — they collected 

 and applied all their manures, liquid as well as 

 solid, and by a long course of patient perseverance, 

 extruding from generation to generation, have 

 made their country the fruitful and delightful spot 

 which travellers represent it to be. Whether, 

 therefore, barren land be taken in hand by nature 

 or by mnn, the very same process is to be pursued : 

 a fruitful soil must first be created. When this is 

 effected, man often, and perhaps generally, resorts 

 to his rotations; but Nature, when left to her own 

 course, never does. 



I cannot conclude this without expressing to the 

 Editor my obligations for the very favorable and 

 even flattering terms in which he has been pleased 

 to speak of me as a writer. I never knew, till he 

 told me so, that I had any talent at all of this kind. 

 In all my efforts in this way, I can, in candor, say 

 that I invariably aimed at nothing but truth and 

 simplicity. If I failed, I determined that I would 

 not subject myself to that keenest of all sarcasms — 

 " Monies parluriunt nascilur ridicutus niws" — or, 

 as the Saviour of sinners has beautifully expressed 

 it — "This man began to build, but was not able 

 to finish." If, therefore, I have succeeded in con- 

 tributing to the amusement or instruction of any 

 reader, I have in this my most grateful reward. 

 J. H. TURNER. 



Remarks. — In our note appended to Mr Turner's 

 article, (see vol. xx.. No. 51,) we expressed an 

 honest opinion of him as an agricultural writer. 

 We think not a whit the less of him now for com- 

 batting our assertion that " Nature teaches rota- 

 tion." We are thankful to him for his communi- 

 cation, and if he is the man we take him to be, he 

 will not suspect the sincerity of our thanks because 

 we accompany them with a reiterartion of our re- 

 mark, "Nature teaches rotation." We think we 

 can prove this from Mr Turner's own facts. He 

 Bays — " There is one event, and one only, in which 

 nature resorts to a rotation ; and that is, when man 

 interferes with her usual course. If the forest of 

 oak lie removed by man, and the soil on which it 

 grew be reduced to poverty and then abandoned, 1 

 will admit that in this event, nature resorts to a ro- 

 tation. In repairing the injury, she substitutes Ihe 

 soft wood for the hard." Upon this fact we are 

 agreed. "But" — adds Mr T. — "in this case na- 

 ture lias been turned out of her usual course, and 

 therefore no general conclusion ought to be drawn 

 from this special exception." Here we join issue. 

 The exception ought to authorize the general conclu- 



