THE CULTIVATOR. 
189 
Of the Fallow. 
i The.fallow defined.—Its effects.—Similies to elucidatethe 
subject.—The soil mechanically retains, and chemically 
combines with air, water, and vegetable and animal ma¬ 
nures.—Whence the source of fertility.—Remarks on 
the practical parts of the fallow process. 
By fallowing, is meant a repeated mechanical moving 
i and pulverizing of the soil, to a depth of eight, ten, 
I twelve, or more inches, with the plough, the harrow, 
i and the roll; and permitting, during the process, which 
usually occupies the spring and summer months, no ve¬ 
getables to grow. 
This mechanical process usually commences at a dry 
time in the autumn : and the land, from the consequent 
unevenness by the furrowing of the plough, presents a 
large surface to the frosts, snows, sun and weather of 
the succeeding winter. The effects from such an expo¬ 
sure, shiver the most stubborn clods, and with no cost to 
the husbandman.* 
In the spring, the surface is harrowed and dressed 
down ; the weeds picked off or destroyed; and the field 
again submitted to the plough; when the under side is 
turned up to the heat and moisture of the sun and show¬ 
ers, and to the drying winds. This exposure should be 
continued, if the weather be favorable and time permit, 
till quite dry, then to have a shower and get dry again, 
with the surface in the roughest state; that the effects 
from the alternating extremes of heat, moisture, and 
dryness, (the great decomposing agents of Nature), up¬ 
on the largest possible surface, may the more speedily 
render the clods tender, the proper opportunities being 
taken for the operations of the harrow and roll. 
Another ploughing, and perhaps dressing succeeds: 
then a fourth ; and probably a fifth; when the duties 
and object of the husbandman are performed and ac¬ 
complished. 
A soil that has been so treated and exposed, even if 
very stiff in its nature, and poor when the operations 
■were commenced, is found greatly improved in its ten¬ 
derness and in its powers of fermentation, consequently 
in its fertility; and the benefit arising from the fallow, 
is in proportion to the time and labor bestowed, and the 
interval before a crop is again taken. 
Naturally good soils need but a short period for their 
restoration, because they are readily brought to a pul¬ 
verized state, and of course proportionally soon improv¬ 
ed in their powers of fermentation, f Whereas the stub¬ 
born and almost barren require at least a year, or in¬ 
deed better if two years are devoted to a well directed 
cultivation, before an equal degree of pulverization and 
powers of fermentation can be accomplished. 
From the tendency of the fallow to render light lands 
close, and stiff' lands light, it favors the approximation 
of the two different soils to the same state of fertility. 
Having gone through a detail of the particulars of the 
mechanical part of the fallow process, its effects are the 
next object of attention. 
The balance of affinities, or the equilibrium of the 
particles of matter composing the soil, are very essen¬ 
tially disturbed by the operations of the ploush and har¬ 
row; indeed so much so that scarcely two particles, it may 
be said, that were in contiguity before the commence¬ 
ment of the ploughings, are to be found together at the 
conclusion of the operation; also the particles of stale 
air and moisture that were within the inters:ices ef the 
soil at first, together with those particles in slight com¬ 
binations with the soil itself, have escaped, and their 
places are supplied with fresh ; consequently every way 
favoring fermentation in a high degree, as well as being 
rendered more easily permeable in all directions for the 
infant roots of future plants.! 
Now a soil, before it is broken up by the plough, is— 
as to its interior particles, and the air and water that 
may occupy the few cavities—in a comparatively quies¬ 
cent state, because the various particles have entered 
* If it were practicable to expose land to the effects of the 
winter season, more than is generally done, by one or two 
extra ploughings during that period, the advantage gained in 
fertility would be considerable. But, the fear of kneading 
the land whilst wet, and the impossibility when frosty, sets 
all attempts on any large scale at defiance. In a garden, a 
bed may be dug and re-dug during slight frosts, and thus 
fresh surfaces and clods turned up to the weather, when the 
great benefit of the winter’s exposure and pulverization can 
be obtained; and indeed is so by industrious gardeners. 
f Fermentation is the struggling of different affinities of 
materials in contact with each other, to enable their respec¬ 
tive proportions to continue at rest: or the struggling of va¬ 
rious particles of matter for the balance of affinities. It is 
one of the chief objects of a well directed cultivation to con¬ 
tinue this fermentation, having the seasons and the power of 
vegetation to assist, lest vegetation should be exposed to a 
too long continuance of the balance of affinities. 
Land dries much sooner when moved, than when left un¬ 
touched. Just harrowing the surface dries the soil rapidly, 
the weather being fine ; and why is this ? It is because the 
water and air in the unmoved soil is in a comparative state 
of rest or balance; and having the same surface exposed to 
the sun and winds for some time, they at length saturate 
the particles of the soil exposed to their influence, conse¬ 
quently at last excite little fermentation: when, however, 
the surface and clods are disturbed by the harrow or plough, 
every part is fresh to both sun and air, fermentation becomes 
strong (proved by a thermometer) and dryness rapidly en¬ 
sues. 
j A gardener, whilst digging, always takes care to break 
each spit in pieces, both on the top and in the trench. He 
does this, knowing from experience that this extra labor will 
be amply compensated for, by the proportioned superior pro¬ 
duce of the next crop. 
into a chemical union with each other. That is to say, 
the materials of the soil are saturated with those sub¬ 
stances they could then combine with ; and therefore 
would so continue to remain, if the subsequent variety 
of the seasons did not tend in some measure to destroy 
the equilibrium. 
A few examples may contribute to the better explana¬ 
tion of the above, and also materially assist future in¬ 
vestigation. They are the following:— 
What is the use of stirring or shaking two liquids 
when put together, or one or more liquids with one or 
more dissoluble solids? The object is, to facilitate a 
chemical union with each other, of their respective atoms 
which the occasional stirring effects, by removing one 
portion after the other of the atoms of one liquid, when 
they have been sufficiently long in contact to perfect a 
union with a portion of the atoms of the other liquid or 
dissoluble solid, till all the combinations of which the 
nature of the materials are capable of entering into un¬ 
der their present circumstances, have been completed. 
Let a sponge, or a piece of cloth, be thrown into any 
dying liquid That will combine with the materials of the 
sponge or cloth, and there permitted to remain awhile. 
The first effect will be, that every pore of the sponge, &c. 
will be filled with the liquid, and a combination with the 
dye, immediately in contact with the sponge, take place 
when all will be again quiet. If the dye is too diluted to 
give the requisite colour at first, the sponge is left undis¬ 
turbed, and the liquid also; for a considerable time, the 
shade will not be improved because a saturization has al¬ 
ready been effected with the sponge, and the dye in its im¬ 
mediate contact; but if the sponge, after having remained 
a certain time be taken and squeezed, then returned again 
into the liquid, it will absorb a fresh quantity of the dye 
by fresh particles being exposed to its surface, when a 
second coat will be formed; and so on with a third and 
a fourth, at every alternate immersion and squeezing, 
till the requisite shade be accomplished. In this man¬ 
ner any degree of shade of a dye may be communicated 
to a piece of cloth, or other material capable of taking 
it up, in a much shorter time than in any other way. 
Again, how does Nature effect the oxidation of the 
blood in the lungs of animals ? It is upon the same sim¬ 
ple principle: for what does she do to gain this im- 
portant end ? Let us for a moment observe ourselves in 
this instance ; we inhale a quantity of air into our lungs, 
and then immediately after exhale another quantity; a 
moment’s pause ensues, when the process is repeated 
again and again, to the end of our existence. Now the 
lungs are a body somewhat like a sponge, but composed 
of an infinite number of ramified tubes, by which means 
an immense surface is exposed to the air. 
The air that is inhaled is the amospheric, which is 
composed chiefly of nitrogen and oxygen. The air ex¬ 
haled is different, being partly nitrogen, partly carbonic 
add gas, with water in a gaseous form. We see, then, 
that the carbonic acid gas has been substituted for the 
oxygen, and if respiration be suspended, the air, just 
fresh received into the lungs, cannot yield up more than 
its quantity of oxygen, if continued within them for the 
space of an hour; and thus a balance, or equilibrium 
would be established; consequently, to gain more of the 
oxygen, the stale air must be expelled to admit its place 
being occupied by a fresh quantity of atmospheric air. 
This is effectually done by the moment’s pause after ex¬ 
halation, as the pause admits of the expired air escap¬ 
ing and ascending out of the way, having been rarified 
by heat, and rendered lighter than the atmosphere, and 
thus making a pure entrance for the inhaled air. 
Another simile, and a familiar one, may also be brought 
forward. It is of a fire that wants stirring, which exact¬ 
ly resembles a piece of land permitted to remain awhile 
unmoved. For the fire is becoming stale, or a balance 
of affinities is forming, or, properly speaking, the sur¬ 
faces of the fuel, immediately in contact with the air, 
formed a combination with the air whilst the heat was 
sufficiently strong to effect it; but by the hollowness 
consequent on combustion, from the consumption of a 
portion of the fuel, the particles in a state of ignition 
become more and more distant, when the heat propor¬ 
tionally declines, till falling below the power of decom¬ 
posing the air, which now only gets rarefied in its pas¬ 
sage through the embers, and thus robs them of their 
remaining heat, when the fire soon goes out. If, how¬ 
ever, it be stirred in due time, and with judgment, whilst 
the heat is sufficiently powerful to decompose the air, 
a large exposure of fresh, or unsaturized surfaces and 
particles are presented to the current of fresh air, toge¬ 
ther with the approximation of the parts in combustion 
which, by consolidating the heat that was before dis¬ 
tantly divided, materially prevents the further loss of 
the same, and consequently favors immediate ignition. 
The fuel being put closer together, is however, left suffi¬ 
ciently porous for the free circulation of the air, which 
accordingly enters into chemical union with those parti¬ 
cles that are capable of receiving it; when the oxygen 
of the air, from a gaseous form, assumes a more con¬ 
densed one wi'h the fuel, the latent heat is in conse¬ 
quence given out, and shows itself in the general red¬ 
ness; should hydrogen be present, as in coal or wood, it 
unites with this gas, and becomes cheeringly visible in 
the flame. 
To further elucidate this meaning respecting this ba¬ 
lance of affinities, and the advantage gained by moving 
the soil, the reader is requested to inspect a dung mix- 
hill that has been made two or three months. This mix- 
hill will be found, if trodden down hard by the horses 
and carts during the time of making, or the interior de¬ 
fended from the outward air by a covering of earth, in 
a comparative quiescent state; and why? Because the 
fermentation has gone as far as the fresh air contained, 
within lasted, when the balance of affinities takes place. 
Now let this heap of manure be turned regularly over, 
and each spit broken and shaken in pieces, after the 
manner of making a cucumber bed, and spread about 
to prevent the same two pieces that were together be¬ 
fore, from coming in contact again; the uncombined 
stale and gaseous moisture will then be facilitated in 
their escape; and from having less affinity for the ma¬ 
terials of the manure than the fresh air and gaseous 
moisture to which the materials are now exposed, will 
readily give place to them, when a fresh and strong fer¬ 
mentation ensues; and this arrives at a great height af¬ 
ter some hours, or a few days, and so continues, till the 
fresh store of air or moisture, and the new position of 
the particles of the manure are exhausted and saturat¬ 
ed, when all is quiet again. 
When a soil is broken up by the plough and highly 
pulverized, this essential effect, fermentation, is gained 
which cannot take place without the presence and con¬ 
sequent decomposition of air or water, or both. This 
being the case, these two questions necessarily arise. 
The first; is air always present in the soil? The an¬ 
swer is, that it is; because it is impossible that a pulve¬ 
rized and porous body, such as the soil, which is always 
exposed, can maintain a vacuum in its innumerable ca¬ 
vities. The next respects the presence more or less of 
water in the soil. The same answer is again given, that 
it is present. The rains are the occasional contributors, 
together with the dews; and the constant interchange of 
the air, charged with moisture, ascending and descend¬ 
ing through the upper part at least of the pulverized 
soil, by the influence of the interior fermentation, the 
day’s heat, and the night’s chill, leaves behind in this 
climate, a quantity sufficiently great to keep the soil 
moist even in the driest seasons. 
Of the two former there is a positive certainty : and 
of the latter, the ploughman’s experience equally satis¬ 
fies him of this fact; but it is not discoverable in un¬ 
moved land, which is in consequence generally hard, dry, 
and cracky, during the summer months. 
The next step to be taken in this inquiry is, to ascer¬ 
tain whether the soil, by cultivation, will mechanically 
retain, and chemically, or by cohesive attraction, as Sir 
H. Davy says, combine with air and water, and any ga¬ 
seous materials. 
What has been shown already relative to the porous 
nature of the cultivated soil, equally answers in this 
case. For having proved that the air is more or less 
present and diffused through the soil in proportion to 
its improved state; then this presence of the air denotes 
also its mechanical retainment. 
The next investigation relates to the capability of the 
various soils chemically combining with air and its com¬ 
ponent parts, and the products of decomposed vegeta¬ 
bles and animal manures, beginning with the latter. 
When vegetable and animal manures are applied to 
the soil and buried by the plough, they undergo fermen¬ 
tation, and gases of various natures are evolved ; these, 
passing into the finely pulverized earth, become ar¬ 
rested in their nascent state by the numerous particles 
of the same, and are so strongly retained, as to exhibit 
their presence for a series of years afterwards (although 
every part of the manure appears gone), by the supe¬ 
rior crops that follow, and which gradually consume 
them. If these gases were incapable of chemical 
union, then from their specific gravity being so far infe¬ 
rior to that of the soil, they must effect their escape in 
a greater or less degree, but more particularly so at eve¬ 
ry successive ploughing; consequently with the propor¬ 
tioned impoverishment of the land according to the fre¬ 
quency of the operation. However a long age of expe¬ 
rience has no proof of such results; therefore the de¬ 
tainment of the several gases for such a period must be 
more than mechanical, consequently then, is chemical.* 
The like reasoning applies to atmospheric air. 
The presence, or mechanical suspension of water in 
soils, has been before shown; and its chemical or cohe¬ 
sive combination with the particles of the earth, is on 
the same principle as water with lime ; though the union 
is not so strong; but the strength of the union, and the 
affinity of the soil for water, are increased by cultiva¬ 
tion.! 
* This is a strong practical fact, that the particles of the 
soil have a superior affinity for the component materials of 
animal and vegetable substances than the atmosphere; if 
true, the soil never can be so injured by exposure as some 
persons have imagined: indeed facts are every ’way in favor 
of exposure, so much so that it is absolutely necessary from 
the essential benefit the land derives by being allowed to 
breathe, to exchange its stale bad materials for those that are 
fresh and good. 
Meat, as of a dead sheep or horse, is sweetened and made 
tender by being buried in the ground for a day or so, for the 
soil commences a digestive process, and imbibes and retains 
all the putrid effluvia as it generates. Dogs are, by their 
instinct, aware of this when they bury a bone, otherwise, 
from die acute smell of their own species in general, their 
store would be easily discovered, if the least effluvia escaped 
during that time, and the treasure robbed; but the occur¬ 
rence is very rare. 
t A portion of soil being taken from a cultivated fallow, 
and compared with an equal quantity from an exhausted soil 
close by, and with corn in ear growing upon it, the diffe¬ 
rences were; that the fallow soil retained moisture longer 
than the exhausted soil, and when both were equally dried, 
the former regained moisture from the air quicker than the 
latter a most important fact. Again; a thermometer was 
inserted three inches into a soil cultivated a few hours before, 
and then put the same depth into the same soil close by, 
which had not been so recently moved; the result proved 
