118 CHYMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE. 



Fallowing has, according to this view of the subject, 

 arisen from necessity. We know with certainty that the 

 crops in gardens surrounding dwellings may be multiplied 

 and continued indefinitely, by means of tilling and manur- 

 ing ; but the necessity for this is not felt, as long as the prod- 

 uce is sufficient for consumption, and when the expense 

 attending the means of procuring an increase beyond that, 

 would be so much clear loss. 



In proportion as population has increased, lands have 

 been cleared up, and cultivation extended and improved ; so 

 that production has always kept pace with consumption. 

 As the wants of society permit fallowing less at this time 

 than formerly, it has begun to disappear, especially where 

 those wants are most pressing ; and more particularly, when 

 there is an assured prospect of an advantageous market for 

 agricultural productions. 



Fallowing was necessary as long as grains only, all of 

 which exhaust the soil, were cultivated ; during the intervals 

 of tilling the fields, a variety of herbs grew in them, 

 which afforded food for animals, and the roots of which, 

 when buried in the soil by the plough, furnished a great 

 part of the necessary manure. But at this day, when we 

 have succeeded in establishing the cultivation of a great 

 variety of roots and artificial grasses, the system of fallow- 

 ing can be no longer supported by the shadow of a good 

 reason. 



The scarcity of dung occasioned by the limited number 

 of cattle that could be maintained upon a farm, caused the 

 custom of fallowing to be continued; but the ease 

 with which fsdder may be cultivated furnishes the means 

 of supportijig an lincreased number of animals ; these in 

 their turn supply manure and labor; and the farmer is no 

 longer under the necessity of allowing his lands to lie 

 fallow. 



Artificial grass lands ought now to be considered as 

 forming the basis of agriculture ; these furnish fodder, the 

 fodder supports cattle, and the cattle furnish manure, labor, 

 and all the means necessary to a thorough system of culti- 

 vation. 



The suppression of the practice of fallowing is then 

 equally serviceable to the cultivator, who increases his pro- 

 ductions without proportionally increasing his expenses, and 

 to society, which derives from the same extent of soil a 

 much greater quantity of food, and additional resources for 

 supplying the work-shops of the manufacturer. 



