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VII. — The Best Mode of Providing a Continuous Succession of 
Green Crops, including Boots, Sfc. By R. L. Evekett. 
Prize Essay. 
The subject about to be discussed is eminently practical, and 
must have often occupied the attention of all farmers in its relation 
to the land they till. Stock, more especially in recent years, has 
been the most paying element of the farm. The farmer's success 
has consequently largely depended on the amount of stock his 
land has been able to carry, and much careful thought has been 
bestowed upon the means of obtaining the largest possible yield 
of vegetable food. The system which our thought and expe- 
rience have led us to adopt appears to us to possess the double 
merit of providing a constant succession of green crops, and at 
the same time of bringing out the utmost productive powers of 
the land ; the abundant supply of herbage enabling the largest 
possible amount of stock to be kept, and swelling the profits of 
the farm in this particular branch whilst largely increasing the 
general fertility of the farm and adding pleasantly to the receipts 
from corn. 
Confining ourselves to arable land exclusively — for such we 
understand to be the only legitimate scope of this essay — we, at 
the very outset, feel embarrassed by three difficulties : — 1st. There 
is a difficulty of climate ; 2nd. That of rotation ; and 3rd. That 
arising from the widely-different kinds of stock for which pro- 
vision may be required. 
In regard to climate, it will at once be evident to any one 
practically acquainted with different parts of this island that 
what is possible and expedient in the warmer counties will often 
be unsuitable in those which are colder ; plants which thrive 
well in one not being adapted for the other, A course of double 
cropping, which will be possible in average seasons in the south, 
will but rarely be practicable in the north ; consequently, no 
rule can be laid down which will be found suitable in all places. 
And so with respect to rotations. The arrangement of green 
crops must be made to agree with the general system adopted 
on the farm, and thus the plan suitable for the four-course 
system will require some modification when applied to a rotation 
extending over a longer period. 
The kind of stock for which provision is to be made must 
also modify any prescribed course of cropping. Some farmers 
prefer sheep, and some neat stock ; some are breeders, while 
others graze, or unite the two systems, or keep principally dairy 
stock. We are encouraged, however, by the thought that if we 
