10 



FARMERS' REGISTER— ROTATION OP CROPS. 



the earth, forever occcupied by plants, to the I 

 growth of whicli it is best adapted, presents the 

 greatest mass of vegetation, vv^hich, under existing 

 circumstances, it is capable of bearing ; and by 

 their decayed remains, and their ceaseless change, 

 the exhaustion of any principle is soon I'estored, 

 and the fertility of the soil is preserved unimpair- 

 ed. Here the seeds of plants are abundantly 

 thrown on the lap of the earth, and unerring na- 

 ture selects those which it is best fitted to bear. 



But such has not been the course pursued by 

 man. Of the plants spontaneously produced by 

 nature, he has made a selection ; and has wisely 

 aimed at the extension of those best adapted to his 

 use. But his want of skill has marred his own 

 wishes. Ignorant of the principles of vegetation, 

 he has consigned to the earth that which it was 

 not fitted to bear ; or if at first fatted, his avarice 

 has induced him to continue the cultivation, until 

 it was no longer so. The soil has been tortured to 

 produce what it refused ; and it has been refused 

 that Avhicli it could produce. Man labored : the 

 earth was impoverished ; and scanty products 

 were the precursors of others still more so. 



Happily this gloomy result is not the necessary 

 consequence of the cultivation of those plants, 

 which minister most to the comforts of man. The 

 progress of information, and the important disco- 

 veries of the laws of vegetation, which scientific 

 research has made, during the last half century, 

 have gradually led to a correction of vicious prac- 

 tices. And the establishment of sound principles in 

 most of the departments of husbandry, now prove 

 that the cultivator may pursue an uninterrupted 

 succession of useful crops, and at the same time 

 maintain the soil in a state of unimpaired fertility. 

 ' This result is mainly attributable to the imita- 

 tion of the principle of change, which constitutes 

 the great and economical law of vegetable pro- 

 duction : an imitation Avhich has led to the most 

 important practice of modern husbandry, the ro- 

 tation of crops. 



I have thought that I could not better fulfil the 

 duty which has devolved upon me by the appoint- 

 ment of this society to prepare an essay upon some 

 subject connected with agriculture, than by at- 

 tempting a succinct developement of the princi- 

 ples upon which the rotation of crops is founded ; 

 to illustrate those principles by the practices of the 

 most celebrated agricultural districts; and to sug- 

 gest a few hints for a succession of crops for our 

 own country. If in this discussion I am led be- 

 yond the legitimate bounds of an essay, I must 

 throw myself on the indulgence of the society, 

 who will, I trust, pardon the trespass on their 

 time, in consideration of the extent and intricacy 

 of the subject, and of its importance in reference 

 to the peculiar deficiences of our own agriculture. 



The problem to be solved by the theory of a ro- 

 tation of crops is, to ascertain by what combina- 

 tion or succession of crops, the soil may be kept in 

 the highest state of improvement, and at the same 

 time be made to yield the greatest net production, 

 for a series of years. 



The first object of the rational cultivator, will 

 be to select the most valuable crops, which the pe- 

 culiar circumstances of his climate, soil and situa- 

 tion admit of He will further have reference to 

 his own wants, and the demand which arises from 

 markets. 



But when he has ascertained the crops which, 



under these circumstances, are the most valuable, 

 the soil may not be sufficiently enriched to pro- 

 duce them in the greatest abundance, or if suffi- 

 ciently fertile, the crops may be of a nature so ex- 

 hausting, as to have a tendency to impair it. He 

 will, therefore, in order to maintain his land in the 

 highest state of improvement, be under the neces- 

 sity, either of adopting crops less exhausting ; 

 of cultivating the exhausting ci'ops less frequently ; 

 or of supporting the fertility of his soils by manures. 



Wliei-e extraneous supplies of manures can be 

 obtained, as from a vicinity to towns, mineral ma- 

 nures, marshes, irrigation, &c. a course of ex- 

 hausting crops may be followed, Avithout impair- 

 ing the fertility of the soil; and the judicious cul- 

 tivator will avail himself of these extraordinary 

 means of enrichment. But as these favorable si- 

 tuations are comparatively few, and as the investi- 

 gation of the question will be simplified, by omit- 

 ting any allusion to them, it may be assumed as a 

 general principle, that every soil, from its own pro- 

 ductions, must be made to maintain its own fertility. 



The successful application of this principle, de- 

 pends upon a knowledge of the manner in which 

 vegetables in general, tend to exhaust or enrich 

 the soil ; and of the nature more or less exhaust- 

 ing of each vegetable. 



Plants do not, by the mere effect of their vege- 

 tation, impregnate the earth with any fertilizing 

 principles. Their ameliorating . influence results 

 entirely from the mechanical action on the soil ; 

 the beneficial operation of a peculiar mode of cul- 

 tivation, during their growth; and the return to 

 the earth of their decayed remains. 



As all plants do, to a greater or less degree, sub- 

 tract alimentary substances from the land in which 

 they grow, were the whole of their vegetation re- 

 moved from it, all plants would be impoverishing. 

 Their enriching tendency, will depend upon the 

 return to the soil, on their decay, of more of the 

 principles of vegetation, than they have subtracted 

 from it, during their growth. 



Were all plants alike in their organization and 

 vegetation, their comparative enriching effects 

 would be in the relative proportion of their vege- 

 tation removed from the soil on which they grew, 

 to that returned to it, — and to the period of their 

 growth at which it was removed. But this is not 

 the case, for vegetables are found to differ essen- 

 tially, in their exhausting effects, agreeably to 

 their peculiar character, and to the pai'ticular 

 mode of culture which they require. 



The food of vegetables is found dififtised through 

 the soil; or floating in the atmosphere. And 

 plants derive their nourishment, in part by their 

 roots from the principles contained in tiie soil on 

 which they are fixed ; and in part by their leaves 

 and succulent bai'k, from the atmosphere which 

 surrounds them. 



Vegetables having a system of large, succulent 

 leaves, and much open and tender bark, absorb 

 the greater part of their nourishment from the at- 

 mosphere. While those with firm and narrow 

 leaves, and close and hard bark, derive their sup- 

 port chiefly from the soil. 



It will be obvious from the enunciation of these 

 principles that, by the cultivation of vegetables 

 with a system of large leaves and tender bark, a 

 greater mass of vegetation can be produced, with 

 a given expenditure of the fertilizing principle of 

 the soil, than by the growth of those with narrow 



