234 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
ROTATION OF CROPS IN SCOTLAND. the principal rotations practiced in the Lothians, and ex- 
_ amine them by the standard above laid down; but before 
Featherhall. Midlothian, 30th May, 1845. doing so, it will be necessary to inquire, what are the 
To the Editor of the Albany Cultivator . substances of which the different crops are composed ? 
Sir —In my last I pointed out to yx>u that the charac- At the risk of repeating what may already have appear" 
teristics of a philosophical course of rotation of crops, ed in your journal, I transcribe the results of some of 
are, placing plants requiring the same substances for their Sprengel's analytical researches into the constitution of 
development, as far from each other in the course as vegetable bodies, and I also add a table prepared by 
possible ; and the affording facilities for the disentegra- myself, showing the qiantities of inorganic substances 
tion of the soil, and for destroying and preventing the per Scots acre, carried off, by a good crop, such as is 
growth of weeds. I shall now draw your attention to usually raised in my own district, (a fertile one.) 
TABLE showing the quantity of inorganic substances contained in 1000 lbs. of each of the different productions named 
with the exception of the Turneys and Potatoes , which shore the quantities in 10,000 lbs. 
Wheat. 
Barley. 
Oats. 
Beans. 
Vetch 
!» 
•n 
« 
B 
> 
« 
O 
B 
ri 
Turneps 
P n ATOES. 
Grain. 
i 
w 
Grain. 
Straw. 
Grain. 
Straw. 
Grain. 
Straw. 
Grain 
Straw 
< 
0 
B 
(x 
& 
O 
P 
O. 
P 
b 
K 
b 
H 
a 
£ 
Roots. 
Leaves. 
Roots. 
Leaves. 
Potash,. 
2.25 
0.20 
2.78 
1.80 
1.50 
8.70 
4-15 
16-56 
8-97 
18-10 
8-81 
19.95 
31.05 
23.86 
32.3 
40.28 
81.9 
Soda,.. 
2.40 
0.29 
2.90 
0.48 
0 32 
0-02 
8-16 
0-50 
6-22 
0-52 
3-94 
5.29 
5.79 
10.48 
22.2 
23.34 
0.9 
Lime,. 
0.96 
2.40 
1.06 
5.54 
0.86 
1.52 
1-65 
6-24 
1-60 
19-55 
7-34 
27.80 
23.48 
7.?2 
62.0 
3.31 
129.7 
Magnesia,. 
0-90 
0.32 
1.80 
0.76 
0.67 
0.22 
1-58 
2-09 
1-42 
3 24 
0-90 
3.33 
3.05 
2.54 
5.9 
3.24 
17.0 
Alumina,. 
Oxide of Iron,. 
“ of Manganese, 
Silica,... 
Sulphuric acid,---- 
0.26 
trace 
0.90 
0.25 
trace 
1.46 
0.14 
0.20 
38.56 
0.14 
0.40 
0.06 
0.02 
0.02 
45.88 
0-34 
0-10 
007 
0-05 
0.22 
009 
0-05 
0-15 
I 009 
0-08 
0-31 
0.14 
1.90 
0.63 
5.36 
0.32 
0.3 
1.7 
0.50 
0.32 
0 4 
0.2 
4.00 
28.70 
11.82 
19.76 
1-26 
2 29 
2-00 
4-42 
27-72 
3.61 
14.73 
3.83 
0.84 
0.84 
49-4 
0.50 
0.37 
0.59 
1.18 
0.35 
0.79 
0-89 
0-34 
0 50 
1-22 
3-53 
4.47 
3.58 
8.01 
5.40 
5.40 
4.2 
Phosphoric acid, •• 
0.40 
1.70 
2.10 
1.60 
0.70 
0.12 
2-92 
2-26 
1-40 
2,80 
0-25 
6.57 
5.05 
3.67 
4.01 
4.01 
19.7 
Chlorine,.. 
0.10 
0.30 
0.19 
0.70 
0.10 
0.05 
0-80 
0-80 
0-43 
0-84 
n.96 
3.62 
2.11 
2.39 
1.60 
1.60 
5.0 
TABLE showing the quantities of inorganic substances per 
Scots acre, carried off by the following crops in pounds. 
rfi 
V 
o 
a 
0) 
B 
<D 
tt 
<o 
3 
o 
P-t 
£ 
3 
Eh 
£3 
PQ 
d 
w 
3 
o 
CD 
PQ 
Potash, . 
121.23 
6.32 
199.35 
13.74 
85.11 
43-65 
69.38 
Soda,.. 
52.81 
7.01 
95.36 
10-14 
28-98 
4.05 
22.15 
Lime, . 
56.05 
3.80 
114.64 
19.80 
98.86 
9.42 
25.96 
Magnesia, . 
13.19 
3.37 
23.68 
7.68 
11.92 
3.00 
11.26 
Alumina, . 
1.27 
3.80 
2.82 
5.13 
1.59 
0.69 
1.20 
Oxide of Iron. - •• 
0.79 
3.94 
0.42 
1.29 
0.24 
Do. Manganese, 
0.60 
0.09 
0.17 
Silica, . . 
20.40 
110.45 
39.96 
157.14 
119.90 
265-74 
10.85 
Sulphuric acid, •• 
13.71 
2.54 
81.27 
5.31 
25.29 
4.60 
3.41 
Phosphoric acid, 
16.40 
6.95 
&5.49 
11.10 
17.42 
2.64 
15.21 
Chlorine. . 
5.46 
1:30 
25.43 
2-67 
9-29 
0.52 
3-62 
I shall first then notice a rotation which prevailed 
over a great extent of country, but which for reasons I 
shall afterwards explain, is now much restricted. I refer 
to what is called the four course shift; it consists of, 1st 
year, naked fallow, beans, or (near large towns) potatoes, 
to all of which a liberal supply of manure is given; 2d 
year, wheat; 3d year, grass for hay or pasture; 4th year, 
oats. In a pastoral district or one where a light soil pre¬ 
vails, this course is modified thus: 1st, turneps manured; 
2d, wheat or barley; 3d, grass for hay or pasture; 4th, 
grass, pastured; 5th, oats. By referring to the 2d table 
you will find that this rotation may be called a correct 
one, as you will observe that the beans, potatoes, and 
turneps, take large quantities of substances which the 
Avheat and barley use sparingly, but upon which the suc¬ 
ceeding hay crop makes large demand, this again follow¬ 
ed by oats, requiring a limited supply. It has been 
found however, that in this course, it is often difficult to 
secure a plant of clover, (a matter of the first importance, 
owing to the land becoming what is technically termed 
“cloversick,” a circumstance which, notwithstanding 
the strong light of science now shed upon agriculture, 
is still unexplained ; this has given rise to a more ex¬ 
tended rotation, in which grass recurs after longer inter¬ 
vals, and is generally found to have the desired effect. 
In the best cultivated districts of Mid Lothian, the 
extended course I have just adverted to, consists of 1st 
year, potatoes manured; 2d, wheat: 3d, turneps manured; 
4th, barley or oats; 5 th, hay; 6th, oats. In East Lothian, 
where, owing to the distance from any large town, pota¬ 
toes are little cultivated, this course consists of first year, 
naked fallow manured, 2d, wheat, 3d grass, 4th oats, 5th 
beans manured, 6th wheat; on light descriptions of land 
the fallow is sometimes displaced by turneps. 
In the fertile district around Dunbar, the soil of which 
consists of a rich loam, a peculiar rotation precis, 
which has been termed the c< Dunbar system.” It consists 
of, 1st year, turneps manured, and consumed by sheep on 
the ground; 2d, wheat: 3d, grass (pasture;) 4th, wheat or 
oats; 5th, beans manured; 6th, wheat. The most remarka- 
ble feature in this course, is the raising of wheat every 
second year, the crops of which are most luxuriant. On 
referring to the table, it will be found, and the fact is a 
very curious one, that wheat contains a smaller quantity 
of inorganic substances per acre, than any other of the 
ordinary plants of agriculture ; we must not however, 
forget that it is rich in nitrogen, and we find that it 
requires a great supply of azotised manures, and accord¬ 
ingly that the treatment of the land in this district is of 
the most liberal character. On examination of the three 
last mentioned courses, you will observe that they pos¬ 
sess all the characteristics of a judicious rotation in a 
very high degree ; with the exception of the last, they 
introduce a large number of plants into the course, thus 
preventing their repetition, except at long intervals; they 
also afford two opportunities in six years, of deepening 
and minutely pulverizing the soil, and extirpating weeds 
during the cultivation of what have been termed fallow 
crops, which are always grown in rows, with intervals 
varying from 26 to 30 inches, in which the horse and 
hand hoe are kept constantly at work until the foliage 
of the plants prevents their further employment. 
I have now laid before you a short account of the ro¬ 
tations generally practiced in our best cultivated districts; 
on no farm however, are they adhered to without some 
slight deviations, as circumstances sometimes occur 
rendering departure from the particular course generally 
adopted, judicious or indispensible, as for instance when 
grass seeds fail, &c. ; the rotation is the rule however. 
In concluding this paper, it is with pleasure that I 
advert to the interesting fact, that here we find the reve¬ 
lations of science illustrating and explaining the maxims 
of a lengthened and wide spread experience, thus show¬ 
ing us the value of those researches, which some have 
been but too much disposed to decry, and bidding us 
hope the noontide of that day is not far distant, the 
morning of which has already dawned, when scientific 
knowledge, based upon carefully conducted experiment, 
will replace that knowledge which has only been ob¬ 
tained by the gropings in the dark of generations, and 
by a painful and dear-bought experience. 
In my next I will proceed to give you a detail of the 
methods pursued in the cultivation of the different crops, 
beginning with the fallow ones. Jno. Girdwood. 
