153 ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 



corn. They are an economical implement upon the farm, 

 and are particularly so where root culture has obtained 

 a deserved footing. 



Drills drawn by horses, and sow^ing ten or a dozen 

 rows at a bout, are used to a considerable extent in Great 

 Britain ; and those most familiar with their use, claim for 

 this culture great advantages over the broadcast system. 

 The drill system enables the cultivator to keep his grounds 

 clean, and insures an augmentation of product. 



Fi2. 39. 



Fig. 38 is a delineation of Bement's, and fig. 39 of 

 an ordinary drill barrow. 



CHAPTER XV. 



ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 



To alternate crops, is to grow crops of different 

 kinds, and, as far as practicable, of different habits, suc- 

 cessively in the same field, as grain, roots, and grass. It 

 is an essential requisite in good farming, and forms a part 

 of it, wherever the soil will admit of it, and wherever 

 farming has arrived at any degree of perfection. It is 

 this which gave to Flemish husbandry a pre-eminence 

 over that of every other country, long before the new 

 system had obtained a footing in Great Britain. The 

 Flemings insist, that land does not require rest where this 

 principle is adhered to ; and we think it is Radcliffe who 

 states, that he saw the operations of harvesting the grain 

 crop, ploughing, and sowing turnips, going on in the same 



