ROTATION OF CROPS 203 



1. Wheat, or some other cereal. 



2. Beans or clover, or peas. 



3. Potatoes, cabbages, turnips, etc. 



In some parts of the Cambridge Fens one 

 finds at the present day a three-course 

 rotation, consisting of 



1. Potatoes, mangolds, or mustard. 



2. Wheat. 



3. Oats. 



The introduction into this country, in the 

 first half of the eighteenth century, of the 

 turnip crop led farmers in the east of England 

 to adopt what has come to be known as the 

 Norfolk four-course shift or rotation. This 

 rotation, with its modifications, is now the 

 most important in Britain, and has also been 

 largely adopted in various parts of Europe 

 and America. The Norfolk rotation in its 

 simplest form consists of 



1. Turnips or swedes, partly consumed on 



the land by sheep, and partly drawn 

 to the homestead for cattle. 



2. Barley. 



3. Clover. 



4. Wheat. 



But the rotation is essentially the same if 

 mangolds or potatoes are partly substituted 



