446 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



and a summer fallow once in four years. The portion which 

 is in roots the first year is in grain the second, the third in 

 grass, the fourth in grain again, and then goes back to roots, 

 which is the fallow crop — the land then being deeply ploughed 

 and brought to its highest condition, and the bulk of the manure 

 of the farm applied to it. Where the land is not sufficiently 

 strong to bear such repeated croppings the same course is pur- 

 sued, with this difference, that the land is allowed to remain 

 longer in grass, which, if properly managed, rests it, and pre- 

 pares it again for another course of tillage. Instead of a four- 

 years' rotation it may thus be extended to any number of years, 

 which is equivalent to having less breadth of land under the 

 plough. 



To adapt this or any other system to our farms, we should 

 be forced to extend the time of the rotation very considerably, 

 and to substitute in most cases maize for wheat. This would 

 be an advantage to the land, however, because maize has sev- 

 eral of the properties of a summer fallow, being a crop requir- 

 ing careful culture and a plentiful supply of manure. We can 

 therefore lengthen our rotation without injury, and probably 

 with profit, if we divide the time the land is to remain in grass 

 by cultivating on the same portion at the Avidest intervals the 

 roots and maize. In pursuing some such system as this we 

 Id probably receive the largest return for our manure 

 and keep our land in a good state of fertility.-' 



* The mildest rotation that can be established as the practical result of these 

 remarks would be a tei arse, which would be based upon the cultivation 



of one- tenth of the farm in roots; one-fifth or two- tenths in rye, oats, or barley; 

 one-tenth in maize ; and six-tenl . Under this course each tenth would 



be successively cultivated as follows : — 



Turnips, or oilier roots. 



Oats, rye, or barley. 



Grass. 



Gi 



Grj 



Mi 



Oats, rye, or barley. 



Grass. 



Gra . 

 If the manure heap will adi tit of it, or fertilizi 



r with the rye, oats, or 

 barley; but this should not b apted without v i aanuring and thorough 



cultivation. 



