172 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
of early manhood, and who is making himself also a pro¬ 
ficient in chemical science as the means of yet farther 
advance in his favorite pursuit. Truly yours, 
John P. Norton. 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
Featherhall, Mid-Lothian, Scotland, April, 1845. 
To the Editor of the Albany Cultivator: 
At the request of my valued friend Mr. Norton, I pro¬ 
pose, should my time permit, and your columns afford 
room, to give you a series of short papers on the Agri¬ 
culture of the Lothians, in the hope that they may prove 
interesting to a portion at least of your numerous read¬ 
ers. 
I am unwilling to suppose that there is nothing in the 
experience of a district, so long famous for its agricul¬ 
ture, that may not be studied with profit, even by indi¬ 
viduals possessed of great skill and knowledge in that 
most useful of arts; but at the same time I am aware that 
the most valuable parts of our system, may have already 
been transplanted, and may even now be flourishing in 
the United States, with all the luxuriance which a virgin 
soil imparts. Had I been ignorant before, the perusal 
of some late numbers of your excellent periodical must 
have convinced me that your countrymen are applying 
their favorite maxim, “ go ahead,” in a most emphatic 
way to this branch of industry—a course in which all 
men must wish them good speed. Having these consid¬ 
erations before me, it is with considerable hesitation, 
that I venture to make my appearance in the columns of 
the “ Agricultural Literature” of America. 
Trusting to your indulgence, I shall therefore devote 
this letter to some introductory remarks on the rotation 
of crops. I am fully aware that the sanguine expecta¬ 
tions of some, as to the application of chemistry to agri¬ 
culture, lead them to believe, that at no distant day, rota¬ 
tion ol crops will be numbered with the things that were 
—that the finger of science will point out to us,not only the 
substances removed with each crop, but also how we may 
replace them in an economical manner. I am too ardent 
an admirer of chemical science to doubt its power to do 
this, but I cannot believe that it will very materially af¬ 
fect the axiom that a sound and philosophical system of 
rotation, is the basis of all judicious and profitable agri¬ 
culture; for even were we so far advanced in chemical 
knowledge, as to be able to grow luxuriant crops of 
wheat year after year, on the same land, without deterio¬ 
rating it, it is evident that the supply of this sort of grain 
would soon exceed the demand. From thus being the 
most remunerating of crops, owing to the limited extent 
of land on which it can be grown, it would gradually be¬ 
come less so, while the supply of the other corns which 
are hiss remunerating, owing to the fertility with which 
they can be grown on moist land, would be shortened, 
and the price of course enhanced; and when that point 
was reached, at which the profits were equally balanced, 
the further application of the principle would be arrested. 
I apprehend therefore, that the legitimate occupation of 
chemistry, is to point out to us how we may avail our¬ 
selves of the large amount of inorganic substances laid up 
for us in our own soils, by supplying those of which 
they mi y be in want—to show us how to draw upon na¬ 
ture, so that our drafts may be honored—how to pay the 
interest, thxt we may have the use of the principal, rath¬ 
er than that we are to look upon our fields, as a mere ex¬ 
tension of space—the floor of a manufactory, into which 
we are to bring from without, all the raw materials re¬ 
quired for the production of the substance we propose to 
obtain. 
The theory upon which the rotation of crops is based, 
is, that different plants require different series of the in¬ 
organic substances contained in the soil, for their growth 
and development; but as these substances require the 
action of tillage and the seasons to reduce their particles 
to that minute state of division, in which they can be ab¬ 
sorbed by the spongioles of plants, therefore ihe less fre¬ 
quently those plants which require the same series of in¬ 
organic substances are reared on the same soil, the more 
copiously will they be supplied with properly prepared 
food, when they are reared. 
The following table from the Transactions of the Ag. 
Chem. Association of Scotland, shows the amount of in¬ 
organic substances contained in three different soils, and 
that a fertile soil contains at least 9 or 10 of these sub¬ 
stances. 
Organic matter,. 
Silica (in the sand and clay,). 
Alumina (in the clay,). 
Lime,. 
Magnesia,. 
Oxide of iron,. 
Oxide of manganese,. 
Potash,. 
Chlorine,’ } Chiefl y as common salt > 
Sulphuric acid,. 
Phosphoric acid,. 
Carbonic acid combined with the 
lime and magnesia,. 
Loss. 
Very fer¬ 
tile. 
97 
648 
57 
59 
8* 
61 
2 
4 
2 
2 
4* 
40 
14 
Per. with 
manure. Barren. 
50 
8-33 
57 
18 
8 
30 
3 
a trace. 
0 
0 
! 
If 
4| 
0 
1000 1000 
40 
778 
91 
4 
1 
81 
i 
a trace. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4£ 
1000 
Now it must be evident to every one, that if we go on 
for a length of time raising any particular crop which 
carries off a larger quantity of any of those elements than 
the relative proportion of it in the soil, we must by and 
by reduce the fertile soil to the state of the barren one. 
As an example, we may take potatoes, which contain a 
large quantity of lime, magnesia, potash, soda, and phos¬ 
phoric acid. Now it will be seen that these very sub¬ 
stances are almost all wanting in the barren soil; we 
may therefore conclude that if we go on raising potatoes 
year after year without adding the whole of the substan¬ 
ces removed, we will reduce the fertile to the state of the 
barren soil. 
From what has been stated, it must be obvious that a 
proper course of rotation, is that which removes equal 
relative quantities of the different substances composing 
the soil, and which places those plants which feed on the 
same substances, at as great distances from each other in 
the rotation as possible. This holds good even in the 
vicinity of large towns, where, from the facility of ob¬ 
taining manure, a large portion of, if not all the substan¬ 
ces carried off, are returned to the soil; as by adhering to a 
judicious rotation even in this case you present such a 
profusion of aliment to the different classes of plants, as 
to convert good crops into luxuriant ones. In forming a 
correct judgment of any course of rotation, we must also 
take into consideration the facilities it affords for eradi¬ 
cating weeds, and keeping the land in that state of abso¬ 
lute freedom from them, which, while it adds profit, so 
it ought to be the pride of every agriculturist. 
In my next, following up this subject, I shall give you 
some account of the rotation of crops as practiced in the 
different districts. I am, sir, your most ob’t serv’t, 
Jno. Girdwood. 
MR. MITCHELL’S LETTERS—No. VI. 
Island of Jersey—its Agriculture and Exports—Jersey 
Cows. 
St. Saviour’s Parish, Jersey, March 1, 1845. 
Luther Tucker, Esq. —Jersey is like a garden; the 
soil rich, the tillage thorough, the enclosures small, and 
surface most various. I have not yet seen a single field 
of more than half a dozen acres, nor one of more than 
three, presenting the same plane to the sun. The fences 
are high hedge rows, about twelve feet broad at bottom, 
by four or five at top, covered writh green turf and ivy, 
and shooting up tall elms of eighteen inches diameter from 
their tops. The law obliges every man having such 
trees along the south side of a neighbor’s enclosure, to 
keep them lopped—the consequence is, half the hedge¬ 
rows bear the strange growth, of a tree without limbs. 
The farms are small, and farmers many, who in most in¬ 
stances, own the lands farmed. .Jersey laws, unlike the 
English, provide for younger brothers, and at the death 
of a father, makes one farm into many. The size ran¬ 
ges from five to forty acres. The lands grow' chiefly ap¬ 
ples, potatoes and grass. The agricultural exports are 
cider, potatoes, wheat and cows. The orchards are scat¬ 
tered thickly over the Island; scarce a house being with- 
