tlie Farming of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstcin. 329 
is so valuable that rearing calves is not considered a profitable 
operation. Thus bare fallow is preferred to a turnip-crop, 
because turnips taint the butter, and there are no steers to feed. 
Professor Wilson made some interesting calculations upon 
the quantity of meat that could be produced per acre by 
farming on the Danish plan, and on our four-, five-, and six- 
course rotations, on the ground that — 
" We are accustomed to base our calculations of the meat-producing capa- 
bilities of our farms upon the quantity of green crops they can produce ; and 
what is true in regard to meat is equally so in regard to milk ; experiments 
and experience have shown us that they bear a certain known ratio to each 
other. If this rule were applied without any modifications to the Danish 
rotations, the result would be very- small and unsatisfactory indeed ; we may, 
however, take the straw produce of their grain crops into our calculation, as 
having the same food-value as the green crops, since chemistry has shown us 
that it is far more profitable to use the straw as fodder than merely for litter 
purposes." 
Professor Wilson then calculates that, allowing 30 cwt. of 
straw per acre for the grain-crops, 10 tons per acre for seeds, 
and 20 tons per acre for roots, we should find that the four 
Danish rotations selected by him would give as follows : — 
Green-Food per 
Acre, per Annum. 
Meat per Acre per 
Annum. 
1 
cwts. Ihs. 
106 equal to 78 
2 
120 
90 
85 , 
63 i 
4 
88 
66 
Against this he contrasts our four-course system for light 
land (roots, barley, clover, wheat) ; five-course for heavy land 
(roots, barley, two-years' clover, wheat) ; and six-course for the 
heaviest land (roots, barley, clover, wheat, beans, wheat) ; and 
he makes the following calculation of the produce in green-crops 
and meat : — 
Green-Food per Meat per Acre per 
Acre per Annum. Annum. 
cwt. lbs. 
160 equal to 120 
170 , , 125 
120 , , 90 
Professor Wilson's Report was written in 1866, and his 
argument is apparently based upon the assumption that the 
Danish farmer ought to endeavour to make as much meat per 
