60 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. 3, 1835. 



[From the Genesee Farmer.; 

 ROTATION OP CROPS. 



I have ever consiilereil tlie notion wliich has 

 been advanced hi some of the Enplisii agricultu- 

 ral joiirnuls, tliat the matter thrown oft' in the soil 

 by a species of plants is poisonous to other ])U'.nts 

 of the same kind, if grown in succession, as most 

 nnphilosopliical, and contrary to fact. Some of 

 the advocates of a doctrine of an absolute ncces- 

 «ity in all cases for a rotation of crops, found in 

 this supposition of excrementiiious poison, a very 

 convenient argument for their system, and hence 

 it has obtained some currency both at home and 

 in this country. Farmers, however, of all men, 

 should he the last to he wedded to theory, as theirs 

 is a profession emiueut'y practical. It is too late 

 ill the day to "doubt" that the system of rotation 

 in crops, under proper circumstances, is of the 

 first importance in agriculture. Its efl'ect, how- 

 ever, does not depend on the extinction of excre- 

 mentiiious poison, but by a renewal of the proper 

 food of plants. That the influence of rotation 

 )ias been overrated by some English and Ameri- 

 can theorists will not lie disputed, and when the 

 lime conies to underrate, of which some symp- 

 toms can be discerned already, it is at least pro- 

 bable it will be as injudicioiis'y decried. That 

 corn will grow in succession lor half a century on 

 the Genesee flats — wheat for thirty years on some 

 of the favored wheat lands of west New York — 

 and oats for twenty years on some of the slaty 

 soils of Cattaraugus, without much diminution of 

 quantity, I can readily believe ; but exceptions 

 like these to the system of rotation only demon- 

 strate the propriety of the course in general. To 

 us it appears the doctrine of rotation is founded 

 on very simple principles, capable of easy and 

 successful application, and hardly leaving room 

 for doubt or disputation. 1 hat plants during 

 their growth do take up, and appropriate as nour- 

 ishment, very dift'erent materials from the same 

 soil, will not be questioned by any one who has 

 paid the least attention to vegetable physiology. 

 For instance, does the pine apple or the orange 

 take as much silex from the earth as the bamboo 

 or the rattan, some of the species of which have 

 an outer covering so hard as to strike fire when 

 struck together? — or, to select a more familiar 

 example, docs the linden contain as much of the 

 salt called potash astheehn or beech ? — and liow 

 does it ha| pen that while 1000 His. of wormwood 

 yield 784 lbs. of saline matter, the box and the 

 aspen produce but 70? This faculty of taking up 

 particular substances as food, and the necessity of 

 the supply, holds good in the cereal grasses, such 

 as wheat, rye, barley ; in corn and oats ; in roots, 

 such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, &c. They 

 all find and assimi'ate as nourishment diflereut 

 ingredients from the same soil, or approjiriate 

 them in very different proportions. If the soil of 

 my 'arm abound in those aliments essential to 

 the production of wheat, 1 can raise crop after 

 «rop from the same land, and I'otatiori is needless ; 

 and this course of successive crops will be suc- 

 cessful in exact ratio to the continued supply of 

 proper food. If, however, the proper food of the 

 wheat plant be limited, a rotation of crops, and 

 manuring, by which this quality can be restored, 

 is indispensable. It is so with corn, oats, and most 

 other plants. The rich alluvion of the Genesee 

 flats is apparently inexhaustible by corn ; perhaps 

 90 parts in 100 are suited to the growth of that 

 important article; hut this fact does not prove that 



other and less favored soils cuiiiuit be exhaiisti-(', 

 or vvil not be benefited by iirotalion. i have seen 

 some of the oat lauds spoken of by Mr Allen in a 

 former number of the Farmer, and feel a pleasure 

 in bearing testimony to the general correctness of 

 his views, and justness of his remarks, yet the 

 facts he has stated furnish perhaps one of the 

 strongest arguments in proof that different plants 

 take up different materia's from the same soil, and 

 iherefiire that rotation must, iii most cases, he ad- 

 vantageous. '1 hose lands in the southern tier ol 

 counties of which Mr Allen has spoken, as pro- 

 ducing such abundant crops of grass and oats, are, 

 it is well known, worthless for wheat, the flour of 

 the little they do produce being of a very inferior 

 quality, and no more resembling that of the coun- 

 ties hoydering on the lakes, than does the rye flour 

 of the eastern states. I should put hut little con- 

 fidence in the theoretical notions of any man, who 

 could imagine that the farriuiigofa whole country 

 can be made to conform to a single system, or | at- 

 tern. There is an almost infinite variety in the 

 original ingredients of our soils and their ( ropor- 

 tions, and the mode of treatment, to be judicious, 

 should be as near as possible made to conform to 

 these variations. 1 here are some general princi- 

 ples eveiy where applicable, and there are others 

 which have but few exceptions; of the latlerclass 

 I consider to be the doctrine of the utility of rota- 

 tion in crops. My friends, the practical as well as 

 theoretical Ulmus, or the "doubting" R. M. W ., 

 may be so fortunate as to possess farms which 

 will admit of an unbroken succession of wheat 

 crops, but 1 imagine the farmers of Old Onondaga 

 will in general agree with me, that the simple ro- 

 tation of wheat and clover has more enhanced 

 the productivenessof their farms, and consequent- 

 ly rendered them more profitable and valuable, 

 than would successive but necessarily diminished 

 crops of that valuable grain, and important staple 

 of our country. w., a. 



clearing ditches for diaiuing land ; drawing rails 

 for the repair offences, &c. &c. oxen are conce- 

 ded by all, to be the safest and best of teams. And 

 even before the plough the difference of speed is 

 not sufficient to make good the dift'erence in the 

 expense of keeping and attendance. A man wjth 

 a pair of oxen may put in twenty or twenty-five 

 acres of wheat in one season, while with a pair of 

 horses he can but little exceed thirty acres. 



I shall here add a comparative view of the ex- 

 pense of keeping a pair of horses and a pair of 

 oxen for eight years. I shall suppose them both 

 five years old, the first jiair of oxen to be fattened 

 and sold when nine years old, and their place sup- 

 plied by another pair five years old, and then to 

 be kept four years, and then fattened and sold 

 together with the horses, which wi.l then he thir- 

 teen years old. 



A yoke of oxen 5 years old will cost $80,00 

 Interest 4 years 22,40 



Keep 4 years 160,00 



Deduct oxen sold (supposed fat) 



RELATIVE EXPENSES OP ANIMAL LABOR, 



AS PERFOUMED BY HORSES OR OXEN. 



Animal labor is one of the most important items 

 in the expenses of the farm, whether ferformed 

 by horses or oxen ; hut as it will really he admit- 

 ted, there is a diff-rence in the amount, as per- 

 formed by one or the other, and that difference I 

 conceive to he altogether in tiivor of the latter. 



The horse is said to be one of the most expen- 

 sive animab kept on a farm. In order that he 

 may be kept in condition for work, it is necessary 

 that he should have a great deal of the best food 

 together, a warm stable, and hourly and almost 

 constant attendance, and whilst the ox requires as 

 little and as plain food as other animals of its size, 

 and less attendance. The horse is more liable to 

 disease and casualty than any other animal, the ox 

 less, — it is a very common thing for a farmer to 

 lose a horse, but a very rare one to lose an ox. 

 Likewise the horse, when arrived at maturity, or 

 an age which fits him for a farmer's team, begins 

 soon to depreciate in value, and is at length worth 

 little or nothing more than his hide — while tin- 

 ox at any age, if fat, is worth to the butcher more 

 than he even costs in his prime. 



The only objection urged against an ox is their 

 slowness. But in most of the ordinary business 

 of the farm, this can scarcely bean objection. In 

 drawing into the barn hay and grain in the time 

 of harvest ; drawing manure from the yard on tin 

 farm ; drawing wood to the door ; ploughing and 



Another yoke 5 years old cost 

 Interest 4 years 

 Keep 4 years 



Deduct oxen Bold 100,00 



d 324,00 



A pair of horses 5 years old cost 160,00 



Interest S years 80,00 



Harness for 8 years 50,00 



Shoeing for 8 years 50,00 



Kee]) and attendance for 8 years 575,20 



924,80 

 Deduct horses sold 100,00 



Total (;ost of 8 years' work by horses 824,00 

 Total cost of 8 years' work by oxen 324,80 



Difference in favor of oxen $500,00 



If the above estimation be correct, (and if it b* 

 not, I believe that a near approximation to the 

 truth w ill be found to increase the balance in favor 

 oxen) it will be seen that two pair of oxen may be 

 kept with less expense than one pair of horses 

 — Ohio Farmer. 



A KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The importance of a little spot to raise vegetables 

 for family comfort, convenience and economy i."< 

 not known to every one. I have practised for 

 juany years raising my own potatoes, beets, car- 

 rots, parsnips, cabbages, &c. ; also, sweet corn, 

 and beans, peas, squashes, and other garden vege- 

 tables for my fami'y table. Thus I obtain a verj 

 wholesome fiiod, and save much expense of pur- 

 chasing meat; — I am not plagued with a big 

 butcher's hill, — nor do I require so much bread, 

 as when I have none or few of these valuable 

 fruits. The labor, too, which I perforin with my 

 own hands has its benefits ; it is both hea'thful to 

 ,he body, and a saving of expense. I often find 

 .nys(-lf with a sweaty brow and a tired limb; but' 

 what of this ? it surely briugs health, and no one 



