440 



FARMERS^ REGISTER— EXTRACT FROM BARTON'S ADDRESS. 



the greatest importance to the farniei-. t mean the 

 alternation, or as it is more fiimiliarly calieil, the 

 rotation of crops. From the want of due attention 

 to the regular succession of our crops, much labor 

 is lost, and our fondest hopes frequently blasted ; 

 and there cannot be a more convincing evidence 

 of bad farming, than the growing of two succes- 

 sive crops of the same kind on the same ground. 

 Wheat may succeed after wheat, and corn after 

 corn ; but this does not prove it to be right. It 

 merely proves how bountiful Providence has been, 

 to supply us with a soil which will stand so mur- 

 derous a system. I know not that it matters much 

 whether corn be followed by wheat or oats, pro- 

 vided it be planted on a clover lay, or an abundant 

 supply of manure ploughed in, until our fields are 

 better set with clover. But one or the other is 

 indispensable to insure the succeeding crop, and 

 the steady improvement of the land. We may, 

 then, follow corn with oats, that with wheat, and 

 lastly, with rye, sown the last week in August, or 

 first week in September, with clover, or what is 

 better, with clover and timothy mixed. A crop 

 of clover is then succeeded by four grain crops; 

 and this advantage may arise from oats, instead 

 of wheat after corn, that more time is allowed to 

 us. We are sometimes compelled to cut our corn 

 too soon, or to postpone the wheat crop too late. 

 The chief danger, I apprehend, would be, that not 

 being under the necessity to cut up our corn, it 

 would be neglected, and much valuable provender 

 lost, and without which the barn-yard cannot be 

 properly supplied with manure. One of the evils 

 of wheat after oats, arising from the volunteer 

 growth of the latter, may be avoided by pasturing 

 hogs and other stock, immediately after harvest, 

 harrowing it soon after, and then giving it a deep 

 ploughing about the middle of September just be- 

 fore sowing the wheat. In this way, what is left 

 by the stock is buried beyond the reach of vege- 

 tation. But we raise too much corn and too little 

 wheat. We ought therefore to divide our farms 

 into seven or eight fields, so that we could select 

 one of the poorest every year, which had been 

 laying three years in clover, to fallow up in Sep- 

 tember, and harrow in wheat.* And by fallowing 

 this again with rye, the clover seed of the previ- 

 ous crop would be brought to the surface, and the 

 labor and expense of sowing be avoided. This 

 system difl'ers Avidely from the four-field shift sys- 

 tem of Mr. Carter of Shirley, to whose valuable 

 communication on the subject of the rotation pur- 

 sued by him, I would beg leave to call your atten- 

 tion. You Avill find it in the 3d No. of the Far- 

 mer's Register, an agricultural periodical, ably 

 edited by Mr. Ruffin, author of a work on cal- 

 careous manures, that ought to be read and stu- 

 died by all of us — and I am sure I could not do 

 you a better service than by inducing you to take 

 the Register above alluded to, or any other ably 

 conducted paper on agriculture. Reading of this 

 kind will excite observation and inquiry — will 

 elicit new ideas on this subject, and as we are now 

 half a century in the rear of agricultural improve- 

 ment in other parts of the world, enable us with 

 rapid strides to take that station to which our ge- 



* In a country abounding, as ours does, with fine rail 

 timber, thelabor would be counterbalanced by the many 

 ndvantagcs arising from 7 or 8 distinct enclosures. 



nefal intelligence, and the fertility of our soil, en- 

 title us. 



I will detain you a little longer on the subject of 

 grasses, These have been too much neglected by 

 us all. Our ricfi .soil, if not better employed, will 

 throw up rank and noxious weeds, and though un- 

 der the system recommended, every field will be 

 constantly in clover, or in grain, yet occasionally 

 there will be a partial failure of the former ; and 

 we ought to mix some other grass. Timothy an- 

 swers the purpose better with me, than any other 

 1 have tried. I am confident I have added a fourth, 

 perhaps a third to the quantity of my hay, by this 

 admixture. It seems to support and sustain the 

 clover, and, if we cannot get through our mowing 

 before harvest, it shades it, and still enables us to 

 turn a heavy swath after we have disposed of our 

 wheat. For pasture, the advantages will at once 

 strike you all. Moreover, I conceive the timothy 

 a clear gain, as it does not seem to interfere with 

 the clover, and only occupies the place of weeds, 

 or less valuable grass, particularly the third sea- 

 son. The soil requires a change of grass, as well 

 as grain, and affords nutriment j)eculiarly adapted 

 to each variety. And here, as in most other in- 

 stances, nature indicates the proper course. Most 

 of us, no doubt, have observed the regular succes- 

 sion of weeds and plants, in our fields, left to a 

 state of nature. It is even said, the common 

 mushroom will not grow two successive j'ears in 

 the same ground. Let us profit, then, by the hint, 

 both in our grain and in our grasses. I have, how- 

 ever, omitted to mention what I esteem, and it is 

 so esteemed both in Pennsylvania and Maryland, 

 a valuable grass; I mean the orchard grass. I 

 would not recommend it in our fields which are to 

 undergo a regular rotation ; because it will improve 

 for ten or a dozen years, and it grows in such tufts 

 as to render the ground difficult to be ploughed. 

 But for lots, and all who have not them, ought to 

 have three or four convenient to their barnyards, 

 for soiling until the pastures get a fair start in the 

 spring, it is an invaluable grass, both for late and 

 early calves and colts ; it grows equally as well 

 under the shade, as in exposed situations; and is 

 extremely well adapted to orchards, if any grass is 

 admissible there, and to groves of every descrip- 

 tion. It would be well adapted to groves of locusts ; 

 and I am glad to see your attention has been called 

 to the rearing of this valuable species of timber, 

 by one of the worthy members of this society. 

 Some of us, too, have small spots of ground too 

 wet and marshy for cultivation, and these are pecu- 

 liarly adapted to what is called herds grass,* or red 

 top. But it is said, there are upwards of 200 

 grasses, and surely out of this number we can find 

 some adapted to every variety of soil, and proba- 

 bly no country can boast of such a variety as 

 Rockbridge. But, gentlemen, a new spur must 

 be given to agriculture, before we can profit much 

 by the natural advantages we possess, and which 

 have been most bountifully lavished on us. We 

 must emulate the north, particularly New York, 

 where an agricultural society is supported in almost 

 every county, diffusing intelligence, and conse- 

 quently wealth, into every corner ; for in nothing 

 else is that axiom more correct, that "know- 

 ledge is power," and without it the farmer is fre • 



+ Timothy, m New England, is frequently improperly 

 called herds gras.s. 



