8UGGES8I0NAL GBOPPING, 



15 



of hidden meaning. Learn the theory of rotation, and you become a 

 farmer (of a sort) straight away. You just move your crops about 

 like pieces on a chess-board, and 



But before we see what happens, let us follow the fate of some 

 beautiful chess theory that we have worked up. On the board 

 of our brain the pieces move with automatic precision to our theory's 

 triumphant end. The enemy obligingly moves his pieces just as he 

 is wanted to, and becomes hopelessly entangled in the meshes which 

 we have spread for him. 



In actual play things are exasperatingiy different. The enemy 

 makes a lot of moves which we never anticipated, and by amazing 

 luck (we are sure he does not really see our trap) keeps out of 

 danger. 



The automatic, theory-ridden farmer has an opponent to reckon 

 with when he sits down to the board, whose name is Nature. This 

 player (we generally allude to it as of the feminine gender) has her 

 own particular moves, and they are generally ones that he never 

 expected. So many are the surprises sprung upon him by this subtle 

 strategist that he is often driven to his wits' end for expedients to 

 hold his own, and, perhaps, at last has to throw all his lovely 

 problems to the winds, and trust to his native wit to save the 

 situation. 



The rotation of crops in the garden, like that on the farm, is sub- 

 ject to influences which are not under the grower's control. A good 

 system is a grand thing, and we should all do well to get a sound 

 theory into our minds, for at the worst it gives us a standard to work 

 to, but at its best it is not everything. 



My chief objection to the theory of rotation of crops is that, set 

 up to stand alone, it often leads to failure. There is a sort of sugges- 

 tion that, as long as you shift your crops about from one year to another, 

 you have done everything that need or can be done, and are 

 sure of a satisfactory yield. It is a mischievous doctrine, and the 

 man who follows it, whether he be farmer or gardener, has trouble 

 ahead. 



If rotation of crops is preached in conjunction with high cultiva- 

 tion, it becomes less objectionable, but at the same time less 

 necessary, for highly cultivated ground will produce crops of the 

 same kind continuously for many years. One of the greatest Potato 

 growers who ever lived has stated that he has grown Potatoes on 

 the same ground for many consecutive years, and the crop has not 

 deteriorated in the slightest. I have grown Onions on the same 

 piece of ground for five consecuiive years, and the crop has im^Droved 

 annually. The same may be said of Scarlet Eunners. Broad Beans 

 and Peas thrive well on the same ground year after year, always 

 providing the soil is properly cultivated. 



Thick-and-thin supporters of change-cropping have a very 

 awkward obstacle to get over in Asparagus. Here we have a plant 

 which produces a great niaas of tibrous roots, and is therefore a gross 

 feeder, yet no one would dream of shifting an Asparagus bed every 



