THE CULTIVATOR. 
126 
others of the same species; unless a suitable period has been allowed for 
producing the decomposition of the roots of the first, and thus supplying 
the earlh with fresh manure. 
To prove that different kinds of plants do not exhaust the soil in the 
same manner, it is perhaps sufficient for me to state, that the nutrition of 
vegetables is not a process altogether mechanical: that plants do not ab¬ 
sorb indiscriminately, nor in the same proportions, all the juices and salts 
that are presented to them; but that either vitality, or the conformation of 
their organs, exerts an influence over the nutritive action; that there is 
on the part of plants some taste, some choice regarding their food, as has 
been sufficiently proved by the experiments of Messrs. Davy and De Saus- 
sure.* It is with plants as it is with animals, there are some elements 
common to all, and some peculiar to each kind: this is placed beyond 
doubt, by the preference given by some plants to certain salts, over others. 
Principle 4. All plants do not restore to the soil either the same 
quantity or the same quality of manure. 
The plants that grow upon a soil, exhaust more or less of its nutritive 
juices, but all return to it some remains, to repair a part of its loss. The 
grains and the oleaginous seeds may be placed at the head of those which 
exhaust a soil the most, and repair the least the injury done it. In those 
countries where plants are plucked up, they return nothing to the soil that 
has nourished them. There are some plants to be sure, besides those 
mentioned above, that by forming their seed consume a great part of the 
manure contained in the soil; but ihe roots of many of these soften and 
divide the soil to a considerable depth; and the leaves which fall from the 
stalk during the progress of vegetation restore to the earth more than is 
returned by those before mentioned. There are others still, the roots and 
stalks of which remaining strong and succulent after the production of 
their fruits, restore to the soil a poition of the juices they had received 
from it; of this kind are the leguminous plants. 
Many plants that are not allowed to produce seed, exhaust the soil but 
very little; these are very valuable in forming a system of successive crops, 
as by introducing them into the rotation, ground may be made to yield for 
many years without the application of fresh manure; the varieties of tre¬ 
foil, especially clover and sainfoin, are of this sort. 
Principle 5. All plants do not foul the soil equally. 
It is said that a plant fouls the soil, when it facilitates or permits the 
growth of weeds, which exhaust the earth, weary the plant, appropriate 
to themselves a part of its nourishment, and hasten its decay. All plants 
not provided with an extensive system of large and vigorous leaves, calcu¬ 
lated to cover the ground, foul the soil. 
The grains, from their slender stalks rising into the air, and their long, 
narrow leaves, easily admit into their intervals those weeds that grow up¬ 
on the surface, which being defended from heat and wind grow by favor 
of the grain they injure. 
Herbaceous plants, on the contrary, which cover the surface of the soil 
with their leaves, and raise their stalks to only a moderate height, stifle 
all that endeavors to grow at their roots, and the earth remains clean. It 
must be observed, however, that this last is not the case unless the soil be 
adapted to the plants, and contain a sufficient quantity of manure to sup¬ 
port them in a state of healthy and vigorous vegetation; it is for w'ant of 
these favorable circumstances that we often see these same plants languish¬ 
ing, and allowing the growth of less delicate herbs, which cause them to 
perish before time. Vegetables sown and cultivated in furrows, as are 
the various roots and the greater part of the leguminous plants, allow room 
for a large number of weeds; but the soil can be easily kept free by a fre¬ 
quent use of the hoe or weeding fork; and by this means may be preserv¬ 
ed rich enough for raising a second crop, especially if the first be not al¬ 
lowed to go to seed. 
The seeds that are committed to the ground often contain those of weeds 
amongst them, and too much care cannot be taken to avoid this; it is 
more frequently the case, however, that these are brought by the winds, 
deposited by water, or sown with the manure of the farm yard. 
The carelessness of those agriculturists who allow thistles and other 
hurtful plants to remain in their fields, cannot be too much censured; each 
year these plants produce new seeds, thus exhausting the land and increas¬ 
ing their own numbers, till it becomes almost impossible to free the soil 
of them. This negligence is carried by some to such an extent, that they 
will reap the grain all round the thistles, and leave them standing at liber¬ 
ty to complete their growth and fructification. How much better it would 
be to cut those hurttul plants before they flower, and to add them to the 
manure of the farm. From the principles which I have just established, 
we may draw the following conclusions. 
1st. That however well prepared a soil may be, it cannot nourish a long 
succession of crops without becoming exhausted. 
2d. Each harvest impoverishes the soil to a certain extent, depending 
upon the degree of nourishment which it restores to the earth. 
3d. The cultivation of spindle roots ought to succeed that of running 
and superficial roots. 
* The new theory teaches, that plants do not part their food, but that they 
throw off, as excrementitious matter, whatever is not adapted to their wants. 
— Cult. 
4th. It is necessary to avoid returning too soon to the cultivation of the 
same or of analogous kinds of vegetables, in the same soil.* 
5th. It is very unwise to allow two kinds of plants, which admit of the 
ready growth of weeds among them, to be raised in succession. 
Cth. Those plants that derive their principal support from the soil should 
not be sown, excepting when the soil is sufficiently provided with ma¬ 
nure. 
7th. When the soil exhibits symptoms of exhaustion from successive 
harvests, the cultivation of those plants that restore most to the soil, must 
be resorted to. 
These principles are confirmed by experience; they form the basis of a 
system of agriculture rich in its products, but more rich in its economy, 
by the diminution of the usual quantity of labor and manure. All culti¬ 
vators ought to be governed by them, but their application must be modi¬ 
fied by the nature of soils, and climates, and the particular wants of each 
locality. 
To prescribe a series of successive and various harvests, without paying 
any regard to Ihe difference of soils, would be to commit a great error, 
and to condemn the system of cropping in the eyes of those agriculturists, 
who are too little enlightened to think of introducing into their grounds 
the requisite changes. 
Clover and sainfoinf are placed amongst the vegetables that ought to 
enter into the system of cropping, but these plants require a deep and not 
too compact soil, in order that their roots may fix themselves firmly. 
Flax, hemp, and corn require a good soil, and can be admitted as a 
crop only upon those lands that are fertile, and well prepared. 
Light and dry soils cannot bear the same kind of crop as those that are 
compact and moist. 
Each kind of soil, then, requires a particular system of crops, and each 
farmer ought to establish his own upon a perfect knowledge of the charac¬ 
ter and properties of the land he cultivates. 
As in each locality the soil presents shades of difference, more or less 
marked, according to the exposure, composition, depth of the soil, &c. 
the proprietor ought so to vary his crops, as to give to each portion of the 
land the plants ol which it is best adapted; and thus establish a particular 
rotation of crops upon the several divisions of his estate. 
The wants of the neighborhood, the facility with which the products 
may be disposed of, and the comparative value of the various kinds of 
crops, should all be taken into the calculation of the farmer, in forming 
his plan of proceedings. 
There is another point in regard to crops that ought to be well weighed 
by the farmer; though his lands may be suited to cultivation of a particu¬ 
lar kind, his interests may not allow him to enter upon it. The more 
abundant any article is, the lower will be its price; he ought then to pre¬ 
fer those crops of which the sale is most secure. If a product cannot be 
consumed upon the spot, it is necessary to calculate the expense of trans¬ 
porting it to a place of sale in countries where it is needed. 
A proprietor ought to provide largely for the wants of his animals and of 
the men living upon his estate, before arranging for the disposal of surplus 
crops; he will then calculate his various harvests in such a manner, as to 
be always secure of receiving from the earth the means of subsistence for 
those employed in performing the labor. 
An intelligent farmer, whose lands lie at a distance from a market, will 
endeavor to avoid the expenses incident to the transportation of his pro¬ 
ducts; and in order to do this he will give the preference to those harvests 
of fodder or of roots which may be consumed upon the place by his de¬ 
pendents and his animals. 
There is another circumstance which must be attended to in sowing 
those lands which are light, or which lie upon a slope; for these it is ne¬ 
cessary to employ such vegetables as cover the soil with their numerous 
leaves, and unite in every direction by their roots, thus preserving it from 
being washed away by rains, and at the same time protecting it from being 
too much dried by the burning rays of the sun. 
I hope it will be written upon the tables of your heart, in characters not 
to be effaced by ambition, avarice or pleasure, that the only sure and cer¬ 
tain happiness to be found on this side of the grave, is a consciousness of 
your own rectitude. All peace and homefelt joy are the reward of virtue. 
And there is no applause in this world w r orth having unless it is crowned 
with our own .—Sir J. E. Wilmotto his Son. 
* In addition to the reasons I have given why plants of the same or analo¬ 
gous kinds should not be cultivated in succession upon the same soil, there is 
another which I will here assign. M. Olivier, member of the French Insti¬ 
tute, has described with much care all the insects which devour the neck of 
the roots of grain ; these multiply infinitely if the same or analogous kinds of 
plants be presented to the soil for several successive years ; but perish for 
want of food whenever plants not suited to be food for their larvae, are made 
to succeed the grains. These insects belong to the family of Tipulae, or to that 
of flies. (Sixteenth Vol. of the Memoirs of the Royal and Central Agricultu¬ 
ral Society of Paris.) 
t Sainfoin thrives, we believe, only in a calcareous soil. The various at¬ 
tempts to raise it in the states, have hitherto, we believe, wholly failed.— 
Cult. 
