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FARMERS' REGISTER— WESTOVER FARM. 



barrels corn. From 3 to 5,000 bushels of wheat, 

 and -\ of the land manured with clover. Under 

 the three shift system, you would have ^ in corn, 

 1^ in wheat, and the remaining J in pasturage and 

 weeds : for, without the standing pasture, it must 

 be so. Under this system, you would make three 

 or four hundred barrels corn, 1,000 to 1500 bushels 

 wheat, and have only about 20 acres of land ma- 

 nured : for the offal of the estate will not furnish 

 the means of making more. If under this system, 

 the pasture, or rested field, should be sowed in clo- 

 ver, it will be in a measure lost; and almost en- 

 tirely so, to the wheat crop; which is our staple 

 'and important crop. I will here revnark, that within 

 my experience, the corn crop is a more certain 

 one when it follows wheat, than when after clover. 

 It is then freed from the worms and other insects, 

 by which the corn is so liable to be destroyed. 

 Under the four shift system, you may in a few 

 years make your estate rich, and at the same time, 

 receive double the profit. Under the other, it 

 must always be kept at a stand or retrograding; 

 for it can never advance in fertility. 



The system pursued by Mr. Lewis (of Wyan- 

 oke,) is a most beautiful one, and his farm much 

 improved under it, (as any would be under his 

 neat and systematic management;) but there are 

 but few farmers who could be satisfied with so 

 small a return from such an extent of arable land 

 and labor employed. Under that system a farm 

 ought to become rich in a very few years, by not 

 mowing and grazing to such an extent as he does. 

 If the object of the clover lay is the improvement 

 of the soil, (which should be the case, where 

 we have so little demand for hay as a crop,) it 

 would be great economy and saving of labor, to 

 plough it under, and thereby manure a much 

 larger surface — the fodder and other offal of the 

 farm being sufficient for the teams and stock. 

 This, however, may be the most profitable and suit- 

 able mode of managing a farm of light soil. One of 

 stiff, by not mowing and grazing to such excess, 

 would in a few years, become as rich as desired. 

 Pursuing this course, you lose entirely the benefit 

 of the clover lay for the wheat crop, which is 50 to 

 100 per cent. For I am persuaded, if he now 

 makes 20 bushels of wheat to the acre, he would, 

 by having wheat to follow after clover, make 30 

 or 40. By the way, in answer to one of your 

 queries, why should not this system (the four field) 

 which I have been endeavoring to advocate, be 

 practised on light soils? I assert that it will cer- 

 tainly have this advantage, that the land can be 

 fallowed in almost all seasons, being seldom too 

 wet or too hard, both of which are frequent and 

 serious obstacles with stiff; and a much greater 

 surface can be put in wheat with less labor. The 

 yield may not, perhaps, be as great to the acre ; 

 but this is counterbalanced by a larger extent of 

 land with the same, or less labor employed; and 

 that the soil will bear it I have but little question, 

 provided the clover is all secured to the land, espe- 

 cially if assisted with plaster or lime. A portion 

 of the Shirley estate, is of this character of soil, and 

 yields abundantly in wheat; and I think I have 

 heard Mr. Carter say, that it was the most profita- 

 ble portion of his estate, by yielding good crops of 

 both corn and wheat. Such soils would no doubt 

 be much benefitted, as it regards the wheat crop, 

 by being trampled by cattle after the clover has 

 matured, or just previous to being fallowed, or 



rolled heavily in the spring. I find advantage 

 from such a course, even with stiff land ; havin^^ 

 frequently observed that such portions of the field 

 as were trodden by cattle produced better wheat : 

 owing, probably, to the clover leaving the land too 

 porous. This, however, should be carefully 

 avoided, until the clover has gotten its full growth, 

 and the blossom begins to die. 



The strongest proof within my knowledge, of 

 the rapid improvement under the four field and 

 fallow system, was in the Woods' farm, (a small 

 estate lying in that beautiful neck of land called 

 Curies') but I regret that I am unable to 

 give you a more enlarged account of the improve- 

 ment of that neck generally : (as I consider it 

 the garden spot of Virginia, in respect to soil.) 



In the year 1816, Mr. James M. Selden, took 

 charge of Woods' farm, of 250 acres of arable 

 land, the remaining 300 acres being all swamp 

 land, subject to the inundation of the tides. Pre- 

 vious to his taking charge of the estate, it had been 

 managed by overseers for a great number of years, 

 under this disastrous system of three fields. To 

 those who are acquainted with the character of the 

 soil in the neck, it would be superfluous to say 

 much. I shall therefore, only state, that it possesses 

 all tlie qualities of our best loam lands, only per- 

 haps, to a greater degree than any other within my 

 knowledge : and probably, would bear this harsh 

 and bad treatment, to a greater extent than most 

 other soils. Under this three field rotation, the crops 

 on this estate were never more than 3 or 400 bushels 

 of wheat: and from 100 to 120 barrels of corn. 

 He at once saw that to persevere in this system of 

 cultivation, was to work for nothing, and finally, 

 to be left in utter poverty, so he resolved on a 

 change to the four field and fallow system. The 

 crops, after the adoption of this change, were in 

 every rotation increased to double, and in a very 

 few years to five or six times the quantity. I will 

 here observe that Mr. James M. Selden, (who 

 was, I think, the best farmer I ever saw,) was the 

 first, who ever introduced the four field and fallow 

 system on James River. Under his very judicious 

 management, this little estate became much im- 

 proved, and finally, became one of the most prO' 

 ductive on the river, or perhaps in the state. I 

 reaped from one hundred acres of this little farm, 

 2400 hundred bushels of wheat, and the same year 

 made upwards of 500 barrels of corn. A portion 

 of the corn vvas made on a small piece of reclaimed 

 swamp land, but which never repaid for the trou- 

 ble and expense, and scarcely ever yielded as 

 much to the acre as the highland. The estate has 

 been kept under this system ever since, and is now 

 capable of producing 30 bushels wheat to the acre, 

 and from 7 to 10 barrels of corn. The average 

 crops of wheat, for the 6 years I had the manage- 

 ment of it, were near 2,000 bushels, never having 

 more than half in cultivation, viz. 125 acres. — 

 (This was from 1823 to 1829.) What was more 

 remarkable in the improvement of this state, is, 

 that it never had the advantage of a standing pas- 

 lure. The cattle of course, derived all their sus- 

 tenance from the cultivated portion of the estate, 

 (or clover field.) If, then, laboring under this 

 disadvantage, (which is a great one,) the improve- 

 ment has been so great, it would necessarily follow, 

 that it would have been much more rapid with the 

 assistance of a standing pasture. In conclusion, 

 my dear sir^ I have only to express my regret. 



