i!w I'lii': soiiTiimm cui/iiVA'roR. 
lect Ifind lit rotation, but wliiuli i.^ ihe rnsiill luit 
of r .‘asoning utul design, but ol neeessily. For 
ilie wlieat, or oiils, d 'iiianding a j)rej)aratory 
cdeansiiig culture, vui.s/, it raised lieie iU all, 
iolluw corn. And as wheat and oalnare taken 
off the hind early in .siiiuiner, the Held Miiii have 
rest Iroiiia tillage orexhaustino cjop the remain- 
der of that growing Heanon. And if the wlieat 
an I oat ground be not separate lioin the other 
land in tillage, the weed.-) and natunil grass, 
•which rapidly cover Ihe land alter the grain has 
been removed, r/tv/x/. be lell imirrtived, :ind thus 
be permitied to die ujion and manure the la. id 
^lightly, before the next .succeeding year's croji 
of corn shall begin again the sh ut ronn I ol ex- 
iituislioti. Now whether the practice be this 
very simple and very scourging two shift Iota- 
lion— or of three shills, by ad.iiiig a ihird year 
ot rest — or cd any longer and still bi'tier stie- 
cessions ol ciops — the pe:i crop may be added 
thereto, even without tiny other change, so as t.i 
.serve admirtibly well to mitigate the severity o 
the most cxhaus;ing course, or to increase the 
inanuring elfeets ol the most lenient tind melio- 
rating. 'I'hiis, in the year of rest, il there be 
one, a good broadcast jiea crop may be substi- 
tuted fur the le.ss rich tii.d less den.se growth ol' 
weeds aiul .scanty gras.ses. Alter rea|)ing the 
wheal or oat crop, peas mtiy be immediately 
sown, if not obtained by [irevious sowing with 
llie grain, as above relerred to. Anil with the 
last jilowing ol every corn crop, jiea-s may be 
again sown broadcast, and (il' succeeding as 
well as this year at Fort Hill,) a line secondary 
crop obtained fur the single cost ol the seed :ind 
the labor of casting them. Nor would it be ne- 
ce.ssary that all the.se intervening pea crops 
should he a| plied as manure. Peihafis one of 
them given wholly to the land in three or linir, 
or even live years, might sullice lor lertilization, 
and the irtlier pea crop be in part or in whole 
mowed and cured, Ibr hay or winter forage, or 
otherwise consumed on the land by latlening 
cattle and hogs. 
In addition to the highly valuable manuring 
and cleansing ijutiliiies of the jiea crop, il has 
another important value in any rotation, pre- 
sented in the duini'e vj condUion which 
itmalce.s in land previously under either cotton, 
corn, wheat or oats. In such change of ci ndi- 
lion consists, in my opinion, the greatest benclit 
of a sy.stem of rotation. On this particular 
head some remarlcs and new views will be oller- 
ed, though i shall not discuss generally the am- 
ple subject ol the theory ol rotation, nor present, 
either as approving or to oppose, any other and 
more generally received reasons for the practice 
of rotation. 
1 deem that a change and succe.ssion, or rota- 
tion ofseveral dillerent crojis, is benelicial main- 
ly in two modes, as follows: 
1st. IJeeause one crop, by its necessary and 
peculiar tillage and management, serves to pre- 
pare the land for the reception of another of dif- 
ierent kind, and requiring dilfercnt tillage. — 
Thus, corn, cotton or tobacco, all requiring af- 
ter tillage, are not hurt, but on the contrary are 
improved, by being grown on land loul with the 
weeds, &c., or a jirevious growth, and on which 
and with no belter preparation, vvheat or oats 
could not thrive. And these crops, therefore, 
reiptire to lollow either of the former tillage 
and cleansing crops. By such following ol ci- 
ther corn, cotton or tobacco, by wheat, oats or 
rye, il is obvious that both must faro belter than 
to reverse the order, or to let any one ci op be 
kejit for succe.s.sive years on the same held, or 
to be attended only with other crops ot similar 
tillage and similar character and habits. 
2d. The many disasters which in so many 
ways sometimes injure all cultivated crops, 1 
suppose to be mainly caused by in.sect.s; of which 
many kinds of the most injurious may be so 
minute in size as to escape oFservalion. Now 
every crop and jilanl has its particular tribes of 
parasites, or depredating insects or animalcules, 
which if not confined by their natural wants to 
that jiarticular growth, or to its near kindred 
plants, for sustenance and for shelter, cannot 
thrive on other ilillerctil jilants, and hi- slieliered 
111 other very diliereiil euiidiiioiin of the land, 
I'hus, if any one crop, and id cour.se one kind 
ol coiidiiioii ol the ground, he coi,tinu''d ihroug., 
many year.s — whcitier ol wheal or com or cot- 
ton— Il may be salely ililerred ih.il the tribes of 
de|)redators of which the .Mr.-slenatice and shel- 
ter are more luvored by .-ticli crop and iislillage, 
will continue to inerea«e generally Irmn year to 
year, and U, beeoine more and more desirlielive 
in their ravages. Other circumstances, as of 
wealhi-r, &.c., when favorable, will still more 
favor such iiii.u'ease, and if unfavorable, w'ill 
obstruct and perhaps c..neeal the in jiirv, still in- 
llie.led ho.ievcr, in a less degree. But with 
such vaiialion-;, and on a general tiverage ol 
year.s, erojif) of the like kind continued year 
alter yci'ii', and the lati.l kept in line condilion, 
must serve to riu iler the crops mote and more 
disctised and unproductive, even ihiniah no ac- 
tual decrease of feitilily id the soil he .sullercd. 
Now, iiistetid of tins, sujiposc every yetir, or 
even sometimes oftencr, there shall occur as 
complete a change of crop and ol condition of 
the land, as the interposition of a brocideast and 
dense cover of jicas, helween each two tillage 
or grain cro|)s. It is scarcely po.ssible to con- 
ceive a greater change; and il is very improba- 
ble lliiit the myriads ot insects which h:id beeti 
sustained and kept increasing on any one crop, 
whether ol corn, cotton or wheat, ctiti thiiveor 
even live alter such great change of circum- 
.slancc.s. 
I shall not prcsnme to propose for this region 
any parlienlar scheme id rotation as the best. 
To decide such a <iue.stion is tilways extremely 
dillicult lor the most experienced and cnlighlcn- 
ed eiillivator, lor himsell'and in the jdiiee of all 
his foregone labors and observations. And far 
le.ss (pialilied would any person he to prescribe 
a preei.se plan of rotation, in a region and for 
circumstances very ililfereiii from those to which 
he had been accustomed. But if the above gen- 
eral views are .sound, they may he easily and 
benefteially applied to practice, and in various 
modes. 1 will merely add, that the power, how- 
ever, of introducing the pea crop in so many 
ways, and for the several iliH’erent produets of 
peas, green food, liay, or manure, oilers lacili- 
tics here for rotations more perlect in operation, 
or more in conformity with rea.son and theory, 
than any known to me in practice el.sewhcic. 
In the use of green crops as a manure, it is 
a common error of new beginners to make the 
attempt on poor land. The green (or dry) ma- 
nure crop for the poorest land, should be merely 
its own natunil growth of weeds, permitted to 
die and lall and decay on tlu' ground, and this 
to be interpo.scd as olten as may be between the 
tillage and exliausiing crojis. This manure oi' 
weeds, if ol less amount and value Ilian an ar- 
tilicial manure crop, as peas, at least costs noth- 
ing for .seed, preparation or tillage. To obtain 
piolitable retni ns from peas or clover, the land 
.should be able to bring at least a moderate 
gniwili. For very nearly the same co.st ol . seed 
and plowing would be incurred by having such 
green crup.s, or eillier of two pieces of ground, 
of which the one would yield four limes as much 
growth, and consequently ell'ect four times as 
much manuring and improvement as the other. 
Though Ihe jioa crop is very valuable lor dry 
liiragc, making indeed an e.xcellent hay, it by 
no means follows that grasses for hay should he 
neglected, as they are here, and which neglect is 
a most de.served opprobrium of the Agriculture 
of South Carolina in general. I will not enter 
upon the copiousand important subject of grass 
husbandry and its products, so much needed in 
this State, and yet .so ea.sily at command. One 
particular crop and practice will only be refer- 
red to, hecau.se well known to all now present. 
This is seen in the meadow of C. C. Pinckney, 
Esq., near the village of Pendleton. The 
growth is the Rice grass, (Cersia orizoUcs,) 
which is a native and a very productive and val- 
uable gra.ss lor hay, and which, as Mr. Pinck- 
ney’s meadow shows, maybe produced in abun- 
dance in every bottom having a stream running 
ihiough, by means of a very simple an.l > :,eap 
mude of irrigaiion. This g ass thrive.- Ii t in 
this .southern clim.He, and may be obu- reil in 
every |)ie('C of snitahlc ground by merely • aiis- 
ing the stream to flow or trickle slowly n a a the 
.surface, It is nut relerred to as the la ;■ ass 
l'or*cultnre and inodticl, but as one ca.- : ob* 
liiined, and at small cxpen.se. J have kimu n it 
in my own wet meadow ground for ar.s, 
and highly ajipreciate ils peculiar jiiuii ive- 
ne.ss and good qutiliiies for hay. But 1 h not 
learned how to give it entire pos.sessio', e the 
gioniid, as i.s done by Mr. Pinckney, no; is its 
growth in \ irginia by :iny mean.s eqii:il m size 
to that u liieli is seen in Boutli CiU'olina. 
'I’he management and maintenance o -ood 
meadow landjl'or hay, are cheaper than iho>e of 
even the pooiesi lane under tillage cicps; and 
Ihe net piinlucl oi hay is not suniassed by -my 
hut the r ichest ol' tillage crops. 'Yet no t.dof 
agiicultural product, essentially nece.-sa, for 
oitliuary eorisuniption, is so much negh cii d. — 
lJuridieds of thousands of dollars are ev .\ vear 
paid for New England hay, imported into 
Charleston and Savannah, and consumed ;'i lo- 
calities where the greatest labor of the e hiva- 
tonsare employed to keep down the exniirrant 
growth ol i.'ra.ss. And in these same loea lilies, 
which ate peculiarly and admirably sui'< for 
]jiolitable dairy and other live stock piooucts, 
all such products are scarce, mean and at very 
high prices. 
These latter ob.servations apply much nn le to 
the sea boiird than to thi.s region. But there is 
very little more attention paid here to gi;. ■ hus- 
bandly; and if the scarcity of jirodui ts be less 
than ill ;md near the cities on the sea boai..!, it is 
utily because iliere is less demand for theiu, and 
less consumption to [iroduce scarcity. 
Mo.st planters do not feel the nece.ssiiy, nor 
understand the propriety, ol working tia} crops, 
because, as they say, ibcy now make eti: ugh 
long forage for their stock, and if they were to 
make hay, they would have no market lui it. — 
flay ought not to be sold at all I'rom mdinary 
jilanlations; and in no cases except of excessive 
and dispiopui tinned production, owing to very 
extensive and rich meadow grounds, or ui great 
demand and high price for hay, as in the ir igh- 
borhood of towns, together with ilie lacil.iy of 
obtaining jmrehased manures in return. In or- 
dinary ca.ses the planter who makes liay will be 
himself the most profitable consumer oi i:, if 
using il properly. And, perhaps, those who 
think that they have and con.sume enougii linage 
lor Iheir slock, Irom their present corn luilder 
tind other oflal of grain crojis, might find it still 
better to add iliereto lliehay Irom a lew aciesof 
meadow. But even if there be no deficit luy of 
food rcipiiriiig such addition, and there vvcie 50 
acies ol good meadow added to a plantation of 
500 acres of arable land, all this new product of 
glass might be profitably rea|)cd and consumed 
on tlie plantation. And before increasing the 
stock products by the use of these new re.sources 
for feeding and latteninganimals, an eaiiii i and 
mo.st advantageous use may be made of b y by 
every planter, and to a large amount, by substi- 
tuting it for the corn fodder wkich is now uni- 
verstilly gathered, and which laborious and in- 
jurious process might tlien be dispensed wiili al- 
together. 1 am sensible that my thus denounc- 
ing a practice which is almost universally ap- 
iroveii and in use, and in my own country no 
e.ss than yours, will appear to many as ;in ag- 
ricultural heresy, not only unsustained by plau- 
sibility, but even absurd and ridiculous. Vet I 
am well assured, and by experience as well as 
by theory and reasoning, that the gathering of 
green corn blades, or cutting off the tops, lor 
loildcr, is alway.s injurious to the grain; and 
I hat the lo.ss in the value of the grain added to 
the co.st of labor, and risk of securing the crops 
of fodder, together greatly exceed the whole 
value of the fodder usually saved. It would 
perhaps require more time and space tl»«n all 
these remarks should occupy, for me to present 
to you at full length all ihe grounds for this opin- 
