ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 157 



dian corn is to succeed small grains, we venture to recom- 

 mend the sowing of clover with the small-grain crop. It 

 far more than compensates, to the corn crop, the ex- 

 pense of seed and sowing, and gives, withal, much au- 

 tumn pasture. In other respects, such as the exhaustion 

 of the soil, it is a matter of little interest with the farmer, 

 what crops of each class are chosen to alternate with each 

 other. 



Farm-stock seems necessarily to be embraced in the 

 system of alternate husbandry. Cattle convert the bulky 

 products of the farm into meat, butter, cheese, wool, &c. 

 These concentrated products are carried to market at com- 

 paratively trifling expense. Cattle, which furnish labor, 

 and convert into manure the stalks, straw, coarse hay, 

 and other offal litter of the farm, are necessary to keep up 

 its fertility ; for without manure the soil will grow poor, 

 and its products annually diminish. Manures, we repeat, 

 are a main source of fertility and of wealth, — they are 

 the substantial food of our crops. Lime, and gypsum, 

 and other extraneous matters, are good as auxiliaries, 

 but none of these can be depended on, as means of fer- 

 tility, without the efficient aid of dung. This is the 

 bread — the '■' staff of life," to our farm-crops. Our sup- 

 ply of this essential requisite will depend on the amount 

 of stock we feed upon the farm ; and the amount of 

 stock we can keep profitably, will again depend upon the 

 fertility of the soil, and the abundance of its products. 

 So that grain, and grass, and root, and cattle husbandry, 

 are reciprocally and highly beneficial to each other. It 

 is maintained, by practical men, that grounds under good 

 tillage will yield as much cattle-food, in roots, straw, &,c., 

 as the same grounds would yield in grass, thus leaving 

 the grain as extra profit. 



The subject of clover, which we have classed with 

 ameliorating crops, merits a further and distinct no- 

 tice. 



We find that clover was cultivated at an early period 



by the Flemings, and constituted an important item in 



their excellent system of husbandry. Its introduction 



into British husbandry is of comparatively modern date. 



14 XV. 



