1 Jonz, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, 413 
Acriculture. 
FIRST STEPS IN AGRICULTURE. 
8tu Lesson. 
THIRD STAGE, 
By A. J. B. 
Rorarron, 
Before reading this chapter, turn to the 6th Lesson of the Second Book. 
There you will find the meaning of the word rorarton, and the onsecr oF 
ROTATION, and certain RuLES to be observed in the practice. The lesson 
concluded with an example of the rour-coursE or NoRFOLK ROTATION. 
There are two cases in which roratton of crops is unnecessary. One is 
when you are in a position to supply the crops with a sufficient quantity of the 
manure exactly suited to their requirements. 
The other is when the soil is of such surpassing richness that the same 
crops may be grown year after year on the same land without apparently 
diminishin 2. its fertility. 
The last condition is a common one in Queensland. The rich virgin scrubs, 
the extensive fertile plains of the table-land, and the level tracts lying between 
the coast and the Main Range are examples of lands on which rotation is not 
needed. 
The first case is one which seldom occurs inland, especially at a distance 
from railways. The carriage by wagon, and even by rail for long distances, acts 
as a bar to a constant supply of manure. 
Here then is where, by a good system of rotation, you may raise certain 
crops to advantage, even with a very limited supply of manure. 
Many of the farm lands taken up forty or fifty years ago are also benefited 
by alternating the crops. 
‘All books on scientific farming lay great stress on the value of rotation, 
and with good reason. It does not require a very brilliant intellect to under- 
stand that it is most damaging to any soil to continue growing the same crop 
year after year. The particular plant-food required for that crop is gradually 
used up, and then the farmer who puts all his eggs in one basket declares that 
the soil is worn out. If he would only think a little, and think in time, he 
would come to the conclusion that whilst one crop requires a great deal of 
nitrogen, another will restore nitrogen to the soil, and by alternating even two 
crops, the land will last all the longer. 
It is not possible to lay down a law of rotation which is applicable to all 
soils alike or even to the whole of one district, but some rotations there are 
which are generally beneficial in most countries. 
A very useful rotation is a crop of cow-peas followed by corn, and this 
again by a root crop. It is considered a good thing to interpose a grass 
rotation, and to follow the grass with corn and then to go back and begin again 
with peas, and follow the next grain crop with clover. But climate has a great 
deal to do with successful rotation. In some European dry climates the crops 
most suitable are wheat, barley, and beans; in damp countries, grass, oats, 
turnips, and rape are grown. 
Wheat, sown after potatoes or turnips, produces heavier crops and plumper 
grain in a moist district than after clover or grass. 
But, according to the state of your land, you may successfully stick to a 
rotation of grain and green crops, or you may grow wheat, barley, or maize 
even several times in succession. This, however, means that in no case must 
manuring be neglected. Now that artificial manures are so easily obtained it 
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