10 BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



stitution of corn and potatoes for the barley and flax of the second 

 year and the addition of timothy to the clover at the end of the 

 rotation. 



An article in the Farm Journal in 1853, written by a Chester 

 County farmer, describes essentially the same rotation in the follow- 

 ing words: "The rotation is (1) corn on sod; (2) oats; (3) wheat; 

 (4) clover and timothy mown or pastured; (5) hay; (6) hay; (7), 

 (8), and (9) pasture." Further on in the article, referring to the 

 oat crop, the writer remarks : " If it were convenient to plant wheat 

 after corn, this crop would probably be dispensed with." 



Thus the cropping system which is now standard in the county 

 had its beginning about 125 years ago. It was not at all general, 

 however, until about 1820, about which time clover became a uni- 

 versal crop in the county, though this crop had been introduced from 

 Lancaster County as early as 1756. 



A CHANGE IN THE LOCAL AGRICULTURE. 



In the late forties (1845-1850) the agriculture of the North 

 Atlantic States suffered a severe depression. About this time there 

 was a marvelous extension of agriculture into the Ohio and the Mis- 

 sissippi Valleys. Improvements in agricultural machinery were 

 taking place rapidly. The most important of these was the invention 

 of the reaper. About the same time great improvements were made 

 in plows, haying machinery, and thrashers. . 



As a result of these improvements the average farm family was 

 able to farm fi much larger area. For this reason the farms estab- 

 lished in the West were larger than those of the older settled portions 

 of the East, and production on them was less costly. The small farms 

 of the East were not in position to compete with the larger farms on 

 the rich soils of the West. 



Table I gives some idea of the profound changes that occurred in 

 eastern agriculture during this decade. At the beginning of the dec- 

 ade swine were the most numerous farm animals in Chester County, 

 there. being 64,500 of them. By 1850 their number had fallen to 

 36,600. The second most important animal, from the standpoint of 

 Lumbers, was sheep. This industry suffered more severely than the 

 swine industry, the decrease during the 10-year period being from 

 56,700 to 13,400. In 1840 Chester County had 45,000 cattle, exclusive 

 of dairy cows. These were mainly beef cattle. But the county was 

 unable to compete with the West in the production of beef, and the 

 industry declined rapidly, the decline continuing till 1890, at which 

 time cattle other than dairy cows had decreased to 12,000 head. Since 

 that time there has been some increase in these cattle. 



