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XXXII. — Considerations on the Rotation of Crops. — By John 

 Towers, C.M.H.S. 



The very valuable introductory paper on the present state of 

 the science of agriculture in England, from the pen of Philip 

 Pusey, Esq., M.P., cannot fail to excite the deepest interest 

 in all men of intelligence, who have at heart the prosperity of 

 British husbandry. The facts elicited and the prospects held 

 forth in the course of the eleven first pages are calculated to arrest 

 the attention and to stimulate the exertions and hopes of every 

 one ; for by the experience of the past they give assurance of the 

 future, and require no comment. But the observations which we 

 find in pp. 12-14 inclusive must not be passed over in silence, 

 for they refer to those operations of ^'^ succession or rotation" 

 which are of little less moment than the quality and due prepara- 

 tion of the land. 



In allusion to the ^'^ four-course" system it is stated at p. 13 

 that, though the Norfolk, or alternate, or four-course system of 

 husbandry has conferred such great though silent benefits on the 

 country, it may be doubted whether that system have not accom- 

 plished all that it is capable of, and must not pass into another. 

 Already it has begun to fail in one of its green crops, probably in 

 the other." 



I have collected some evidence in proof of this startling position, 

 subsequent to the perusal of Mr. Pusey's article, and shall allude 

 more particularly to it hereafter, but before doing this t beg to 

 submit to the English Agricultural Society the scheme of a system 

 of rotation which once excited great attention in France."^ I met 

 Avith it some years since in Loudon's Gardener's Magazine, vol. 

 ii., introduced by a letter of the venerable projector (a native of 

 our country, though residing at Paris), to the editor, from which 

 the following is an extract : — " I now send you a farming scheme 

 made for the French government soon after the revolution, 

 with a view to show them how they might cultivate 100 acres 

 of land with only 2 horses. The Directoire approved of the 

 system, and wished to have it published, as did my worthy friend, 

 the late M. Thouin. It was then the custom in France to sow 

 about 70 seeds to every square foot, and, as I proposed to 

 sow only one quarter of that quantity, the proposal was very 

 acceptable to the Directory, who were in dread of a famine." 



The other parts of Mr. Blaikie's communication are not import- 

 ant. The address and date, Paris, Rue de Colisee, No. 23, 

 July, 1826. 



" This rotation would only be applicable to the richest soils, aud where 

 manure can be obtained in great quantities.-"-RicHMOND. 



VOL. I. X 



