380 DRY-FARMING 



the name to his famous book, "The Horse Hoeing 

 Husbandry," by Jethro Tull, published in parts from 

 1731 to 1741. Tull held that the soil between the 

 rows was essentially being fallowed and that the 

 next year the seed could be planted between the 

 rows of the preceding year and in that way the fer- 

 tility could be maintained almost indefinitely. If 

 this method were not followed, half of the soil could 

 lie fallow every other year and be subjected to con- 

 tinuous cultivation. Weeds consume water and 

 fertility and, therefore, fallowing and all the culture 

 must be perfectly clean. To maintain fertility a 

 rotation of crops sh(.)uld be practiced. AVlieat should 

 be the main grain crop ; turnips the root crop ; and 

 alfalfa a very desirable crop. 



It may be observed that these teachings are sound 

 and in harmony with the ].)est knowledge of to-day 

 and that they are the very ])ractices which are now 

 being advocated in all dry-farm sections. This is 

 doul^ly curious because Tull lived in a humid country. 

 However, it ma}' be mentioned that his farm consisted 

 of a very poor chalk soil, so that the conchtions under 

 which he labored were more nearly those of an arid 

 country than could ordinarily be found in a country 

 of abundant rainfall. While the practices of Jethro 

 Tull were in themselves very good and in general 

 can be adopted to-day, yet his interpretation of the 

 principles involved was wrong. In view of the 

 limited knowledge of his day, this was only to be 



