xt7h1834252m https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7h1834252m/data/mets.xml Beatty, Adam, 1776-1858. 1844  books b92-148-29450386 English Collins & Brown, : Maysville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Agriculture. Soils. Essays on practical agriculture  : including his prize essays, carefully revised / Adam Beatty. text Essays on practical agriculture  : including his prize essays, carefully revised / Adam Beatty. 1844 2002 true xt7h1834252m section xt7h1834252m 






ESSAYS



 oN



PRACTICAL



AGRICULTURE,



     INCLUDING ISIS



PRIZE ESSAYS,



   CAREFULLY REVISED.



       BY ADAM BEATTY,
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL SoCEirr.



MAYSVILLE, iK.,
COLLINS  BROWN.



1844.
 This page in the original text is blank.
 












                   DEDICATION.

  DEAR SIR:-An intimate acquaintance of more than forty
years; and the many evidences of kindness, and friendship ex-
perienced, during that long period; together with a knowledge
of your devoted attachment to the interests of Agriculture;
and of the great benefits you have conferred upon the agricul-
turists of the United States, by your pre-eminent and success-
ful efforts, in the National Councils, to rear up a home market
for agricultural products, emboldened me to ask your permission
to dedicate to you this first effort, as far as I know, at a treat-
ise, in book form, on the important subject of agriculture, by a
Kentuckian.
  I am conscious that the volume, now presented to the public,
has defects, which I would have gladly removed. I humbly
hope, however, that it will be found to contain some practical
information, which will prove beneficial to the farming commu-
nity; and that it may induce some abler writer to give to the
public a more perfect treatise on the most important of all hu-
man occupations.
  Witha deep sense of gratitude, for the many acts of kind-
    ness and friendship received, I assure you of my most
    cordial friendship and esteem.



ADAM BEATTY.



Hon. HENRY CLAY.
 
























United States of America, District of Kentucky.
        BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this 24th day of February,
1843, ADAM BEATTY, of said District, deposited in this office the
title of a book, which is in the words and figures following:
  "Essays on Practical Agriculture, including his Prize Essays, carefully
revised, by Adam Beatty, Vice-President of the Kentucky Agricultural
Society, 1843."
  The right whereof be claims as author and proprietor, in conformity
with the act of Congress, entitled "an act to amend the several acts,
respecting copy rights."
                    A copy attest.
                           JOHN H. HANNA, Clerk
                                        District of Kentucky.
 



















P RE F ACE .



  A comparison of the agricultural products of the best culti-
vated soils of Europe with those of the United States, natural-
ly not less fertile, will satisfy all careful observers, that there
must be some radical defect, in our system of husbandry.
When we look lo the agricultural works of European authors
for information, on this important subject, we find so little of
practical utility, and so much inapplicable to our circumstan-
ces, as greatly to discourage all efforts to obtain useful informa-
tion from that source, to aid the American farmer, in his agri-
cultural operations.
  The dense population of those countries, in which the great-
est improvements, in agriculture, have been made, furnish vast
quantities of manure for enriching their land; and the cheap-
ness of labor affords great facilities for manuring and cultiva-
ting their soil, in the most perfect manner. The high price
of Agricultural products, and a steady home demand, subject
to little fluctuation, justifies the great outlay of capital, which
their system of agriculture requires.
  These circumstances, together with the difference of climate,
constitute some of the principle reasons why the European
system of agriculture cannot be successfully adopted by the
farmers of the United States.
  Whilst we look to the agricultural works of European au-
thors for information as to their system of husbandry, and avail
ourselves of every thing, which is applicable to our circum-
stances, we should bear in mind, that the condition of things
in the United States is such as to require that we should rear
up a practical stytem of our own.
 




                              6
  In preparing the premium essays, and other agricultural
treatises, contained in this volume, it was the author's design
to render them eminently practical, and applicable to our cir-
cumstance8; and he flatters himself they will be found highly
useful to the practical farmer.
  Although the premium essays were written particularly. for
Kentucky, the author entertains a hope, that they will be
found useful in every part of the country, and particularly in
the Great West   The discussions, upon most of the subjects,
w ill be found applicable to all parts of the Union.
  The essays on setting woodland in grass; on grazing and
feeding cattle, as practised in Kentucky; and upon the cultiva-
tion of the yellow locust, will be found, the author humbly
hopes, eminently useful.

 






















                  TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Agriculture of Kentucky-showing what it was, and a compari-
  son with the agriculture of other countries, and especially those
  most advanced in agricultural improvement. And also upon
  the best mode of renovating the soil of Kentucky, where it has
  been deteriorated byiimprovident cultivation.            9
Cultivation of Corn.             .       .       .81
Cultivation of Hemp.              .      .       .97
Cultivation of Tobacco.           .       .      .115
System of Agriculture best adapted to Kentucky.          127
Rotation of crops.                 .         .145
Advantages of manufactures to Agriculture.   .     .         168
Breeding horses for agricultural purposes, by W. Williams.  184
Ditto by A. Ileatty.                   .191
Letter to Thomas B. S tephenson, Esq., corresponding secretary
  of the Kentucky Agricultural Society, on the nature of soils,
  and the means of rendering them fertile.                  201
Letter to same-on food for plants, and whence derived. .  . 205
Letter to same-on the means of reclaiming, and preserving the
  fertility of soils. ..209
Letter to same-on the deterioration of soil, and means of reno-
  vation.                       .213
Letter to Edmund Ruffin, editor and proprietor of the Farmers'
  Register, Petersburg Va., on the relation of the constitu-
  tion of soils to their fertility.     .217
Letter to same-on the importance of alkalies in soils.  .  . 225
Letter to Thomas B. Stephenson, Esq., on the relative value of
the most important grasses.                                231
 






8



On setting woodland in grass.
On the Cultivation of the Locust.
On grazing and feeding cattle in Kentucky.
On making and preserving Timothy Meadows.
On the cultivation of wheat in rich vegetable soils.
The mode of feeding root crops to Sheep, c. c.



         . 240
       . 251
         . 264
         . 273
         .  281
         .. 284

 

















               AGRIUULTURE OF ENTUCKY,

Showing what it was, and a comparison with the agriculture
  of other countries, and especially those most advanced in
  agricultural improvement. And also, upon the best mode
  of renovating the soil of Kentucky, where it has been dete-
  riorated by improvident cultivation.
  Agriculture may be defined to be, the art of cultivating and
improving the earth, so as to render it fertile and productive.
The term is derived from the Latin words ager, a field, and
cultura, culture, or tillage. The term agriculture, therefore,
implies not only the cultivation but the improvement of the soil.
  The cultivation of the earth was, probably, not much atten-
ded to whilst it was only sparsely inhabited, and when its in-
habitants depended chiefly upon game for a subsistence. At
a somewhat later period, when the human race, on some parts
of the earth, had become too numerous to depend upon the
precarious subsistence furnished by the chase, the pastoral
life gradually took the place of the hunter state. The domes-
ticating and feeding of such animals as contributed to the sub-
sistence and comfort of man, would, necessarily, cause him to
pay some attention to the providing of pasture for his herds,
at least so soon as that which was spontaneously furnished by
nature, began to grow scarce. And in proportion as the ne-
cessity for artificial aids increased, we may reasonably con-
clude, that more pains were taken to provide pasture for their
herds, during summer; and to lay up a store of such articles
as might furnish the most convenient subsistence for them
during the winter. In the more southern climates but little
,,For this, and the three following essays, premiums were awar-
(lEd by the Kentucky Agricultural Society, at their annual meeting
in Frankfort, January 1841."
                             B
 




                             10
necessity would exist for laying up a supply for winter use.
But in northern climates attention to this subject must have
sooner become necessary, and that necessity must have grad-
ually increased, with the increase of population.
   It is probable that the first efforts to introduce a system of
agriculture were rude and imperfect; and this science, like
most others, must have arisen by very slow and almost imp
perceptible degrees, and was a long period in arriving at even
a moderate degree of advancement.
   Hesiod, who is supposed to have been a contemporary of
Homer, was the first Grecian, and one of the earliest writers,
of whom we have any certain information, who composed a
regular treatise on the subject of agriculture. It is remarka-
ble that his poem was entitled "Weeks and Days," because
agriculture requires an exact observance of times and seasons.
  Hesiod was succeeded, in Greece, by Democritus, Socrati-
cus, Xenophon, Tarentinus, Architas, Aristotle and Theo-
phrastus. The science of agriculture must have doubtless
made considerable advances during the period these distin-
guished writers flourished.
  The celebrated Carthagenian general, Mago, wrote no less
than twenty eight books, on the subject of agriculture, which
Columella, himself an able writer on the subject, tells us were
translated into Latin by virtue of a decree of the Roman Sen-
ate. That illustrious general and statesman, Marcus Cato,
the censor, at a subsequent period wrote the first Latin treat-
ise U)1on the science of agriculture, which was dedicated to
his son, and has come down to the present times. Varro com-
posed a more regular treatise, upon the same subject, which
was embellished by the extensive Greek and Latin erudition
of its learned author. Virgil, the most distinguished of the
Roman poets, wrote a beautiful poem upon this interesting
subject. We are told by Servius, that Virgil in writing his
Georgics, used the books of Mago, referred to above, and
hence we learn, by reading the Georgics, that some discove-
ries had then been made in the science of agriculture, that
even now are regarded as very important. I shall mention
but one other ancient author, Columolla, who flourished in the
reign of the Emperor Claudius. He wrote twelve books, on
 





                             11
the science of agriculture, which contain a great variety of
useful facts, and observations.
  It would occupy too much space to enumerate the many
distinguished writers, on the subject of agriculture, who have
flourished in modern times; and I shall name only such as I
shall have occasion to refer to in the progress of this essay.
  Agriculture has ever been esteemed a science of great im-
portance, and those engaged in its pursuit have always been
held in the highest estimation. In Rome, the greatest gener-
als, and the most illustrious Senators and Statesmen app!iod
themselves, most assiduously, to this highly honorable pursuit.
Their most distinguished generals, upon their return from the
toils and glories of successful war, were eager to re-engage in
the cultivation of the soil. They thought it no disgrace, after
having triumphed over the enemies of their country, to parti-
cipate in the daily labors of their farms.
  At a period of great and imminent danger, the Roman Sen-
ate (believing that its safety could be ensured only by the ap-
pointment of a dictator) passed a decree, charging Cincinnatus
"to see that no detriment befel the Republic." The effect of
this decree was to confer the whole power of the Common-
wealth, for the space of six months, upon a single individual.
That individual, when notified of the decree, by delegates sont
for the purpose, was found following his plough. He accepted
the charge which had been conferred upon him; placed him-
self at the head of the army; triumphed over the enemies of
the Republic; and on the sixteenth day surrendered up his dic-
tatorial powers, and returned to the cultivation of his little
farm. A second time, at a more advanced period of his life,
this illustrious citizen was called from the labors of his farm,
to lil the office of dictator; and a second time saved his coun-
try from the imminent danger with which it-was threatened.
  I might refer to other instances of a similar character, if
the nature of this essay did not admonish me of the necessity
of avoiding details which are not essential to its utility. But
I will be pardoned for giving the following beautiful extract
from Virgil's second Georgic, by way of illustrating the favor-
able opinion, entertained by the Romans of an agricultural
life, in Virgil's time, as translated in the harmonious verse of
Dryden.
 





                             12
          ",Oh happy, if he knew his happy state!
          The swain, who, free from business and debate,
          Receives his easy food from nature's band,
          And just returns from cultivated land."
          "He boasts no wool, whose native white is dyed
          With purple poison of Assyrian pride,
          No costly drugs of Araby defile:
          With foreign sweets, the sweetness of his oil.
          But easy quiet, a secure retreat,
          A harmless life that knows not how to cheat,
          With home-bred plenty the rich owner bless,
          And rural pleasures crown his happiness,
          Unvexed with quarrels, undisturbed with noise,
          The country king his peaceful realm enjoys."1
  In a country, in which the profession of an agriculturalist
was so highly honored, and which held out such strong in-
ducements to cultivate and improve the soil, the science of ag-
riculture must doubtless have made considerable advances.
  It has been said by a modern writer, that a system of rota-
tion in crops was not introduced before the eighteenth centu-
ry. This, though it may be true, in relation to modern agri-
culture, is not strictly correct. Indications may be found, in
ancient writers, that this system was not wholly unknown.
Thus Virgil, in his first Georgic:
         "Both these unhappy soils the swain forbears,
         And keep a Sabbath of alternate years.
         That the rpent earth may gather heart again,
         And bettered by cessation, bear the grain,
         At least where vetches, pulse and tares have stood,
         And stalks of lupine grew, (a stubborn wood;)
         The ensuzng season, in return may bear,
         The bearded produzc of the golden year.
         For flax and oats will burn the tender field
         And sleepy poppies harmful harvests yield.
         But sweet vicissitudes of rest and toil,
         Make easy labor, and renew the soil."
  But whatever knowledge the ancients had acquired, in re-
lation to a system of rotation in crops, was probably lost, when
the Roman territories were overrun by the northern barbari-
ans. The skill which had been previously acquired, in agri-
culture, shared a common fate with all the other sciences; and
the whole would have been completely obliterated had not ma-
ny of the works of the most illustrious authors of Greece and
Rome been saved from the barbarian deluge which swept over
 





                             13
the whole of the Roman territories. Many years elapsed be-
fore agriculture began to revive, and the science might be
deemed only in its infancy as late as the sixteenth century. It
was about the middle of that century that "Tussers' celebrated
five hundred points of husbandry was published in verse."
And it was not till 1645 that the culture of turnips and carer
was introduced, articles that pow constitute so important a
part of English husbandry. It was still later before a regu-
lar svstem of rotation of crops was commenced. Among the
Romans, "fallowing was a universal practice," and the same
system was adopted in England, and pursued until the eigh-
teenth century, when a rotation of "green and white crops"
was gradually substituted in the place of fallows. This may
be considered as a most important era in the science of agri-
culture. From this period it advanced with rapid strides, to-
wards a state of comparative perfection. And it is only since
that period, that agriculture has assumed the rank of an "ex-
act science."
  To comprehend fully the benefits of rotation in crops, it is
necessary to understand the philosophical principles of agri-
culture, and to have some idea of the food or aliment of plants.
"Comparatively speaking, very little was known of the ulti-
mate general principles of agriculture until the splendid dis-
coveries of chemistry had provided means of tracing them
out. The laws of vegetation were entiiely unknown, and the
whole machinery of nature's kingdom was mysterious. The
range of the farmer's calculations was limited to certain max-
ims-wise ones indeed-but few in number. It was known
that some soils would produce one species of grain better than
another, and that there was a vast difference in the vegeta-
ting power of soils. Bat there was the limit of knowledge;
and these few truths only ascertained by simple experiment.
Why these things were so, no one knew; and no one thought
it possible to know. The want of general principles, of
course, was universally felt; and to this want we must attrib-
ute many strange and ridiculous rules of farming, common
even at this time, which we may well call the superstitions of
agriculture; such, for instance as rules for sowing or reaping
in a particular age of the moon, or day of the week."
  "Chemistry has provided some general principles which
 





                              14
 will ultimately banish from the farmer's manual all these relics
 of a barbarous and ignorant age. The celebrated Sir Hum-
 phrey Davy has probably accomplished about all for agricul-
 ture, which well can be; and his lectures on this subject,
 should be familiar to every farmer who would know himself
 and would teach his children the real simple reasons why one
 system of farming is better than another." In the applica-
 tion of science to agriculture, the first thing to be attended to
 is the soil. This is the basis of all agricultural pursuits. A
 thorough acquaintance with its "nature and uses" is essential
 to the successful operations of the husbandman.
   All soils are composed of different species of earths, usually
combined, not only with each other, but with sundry other sub-
stances, in a great variety of proportions. And upon these
proportions depends, in a great degree, the adaptation of dif-
ferent species of agricultural products.
   The usual earths, found in our soil, are the following: Silex,
Lime and Alumina. These are usuallv found combined or
mingled with each other, in different proportions. Silex, (sand)
when uncombined with any other earth, is wholly incapable of
sustaining vegetation. If some vegetables are occasionally
found growing in pure sand, they are, probably, sustained by
food derived from the atmosphere. But sand combined in due
proportions, with Alumina, (clay) is found to constitute a very
valuable soil. Clay, of itself, though more capable than sand
of sustaining vegetation, is known to be but slightly adapted
to that purpose. Yet when these two earths are combined, ill
proper proportions, they form a soil well adapted to many ag-
ricultural products. Thus it is shown by the Cultivator for
January, 1838, that by the simple process of hauling upon a soil,
naturally very sandy, from fifty to one hundred loads of clay
Per acre, a product of corn was secured, from one hundred and
ten to one hundred and eighteen bushels per acre. It is prob-
able, however, that in the soil, thus so greatly fertilized, there
was contained a portion of lime and vegetable matter. But
the great yield obtained in this instance, is doubtless to be at-
tributed chiefly to the simple addition of clay to the other in-
gredients in the soil,
Farmers' Guide, p. 29. Since the publication of the Farmers'
Guide, vast improvements in agricultural Chemistry have been made
by Sprenge], Liebig, Johnston, and other eminent chemists.
 





                              15
   The other earth (lime) is not what is usually called by that
name, the quick lime, obtained by burning limestone. This
is a product of art and not of nature. The limestone itself,
when disintegrated, is what constitutes this earth. In this
state it is combined with a large quantity of carbonic acid and
water.  These two ingredients constitute about half its ori-
ginal weight. In this state it is the most useful of all the
earths, in forming a good soil. It is the abundance of this sub-
stance, in the rich limestone region of the west, and particu-
larly in Kentucky, coupled with a large quantity of vegeta-
ble matter which renders our lands so extremely fertile.
   The earths mentioned above, are usually described as unor-
ganized substances. They are always found combined, in
greater or lesser proportions, with organic or vegetable and
animal matter. And it is to these substances that the earths,
especially the two firmer, are chiefly indebted for their fertil-
izing qualities. One of the principal ingredients in all ve-
getables, is carbon. And as lime (I use the term in the sense
explained above) contains a large quantity of carbon, in a
state of combination, it follows that it must afford a consider-
able quantity of food to all vegetables, provided they are ca-
pable of extracting it from its state of combination with the
earth of which it forms a component part. There is no doubt
vegetables do possess this power. It is one of the proper-
ties of the living principle in all vegetables, to be capible of
decomsounding compound substances, and absorbing such of
the compound parts as are suitable food to accelerate their
growth.' It is by this principle vegetables are enabled to
evolve carbon and water from calcarious earths; and as lime,
when deprived of a portion of its carbon and water, has a
powerful affinity for these substances, it will attract them
from the atmosphere, and other surrounding substances, and
thus be enabled to furnish a constant supply of food to all
kinds of vegetables.
  But although vegetables have the power to decompose lime,
and appropriate one of its components as food for their susten-
ance, yet this power can be exercised only when other sub-
stances are present to aid in carrying out the process. Water

  Conversations on chemistry, p. 279-80.
 




                               16

 is the great solvent by which vegetables are enabled to absorb
 the substances which constitute their appropriate food. Hence,
 during a very dry season, the crops suffer greatly, not be-
 cause nature has not supplied the appropriate aliment for
 their sustenance, but because the necessary solvent is not pre-
 sent, in sufficient abundance, to enable them to appropriate
 to their use the food, which nature has provided for them. If
 the rain is superabundant, the solvent may exist in too large
 a proportion, and thereby weaken the aliment, and render it
 less nourishing.
   Organic matter, when reduced to its primary elements, ex-
 ists in a liquid or gaseous state, and will readily combine with
 water or the atmosphere, and may thus be absorbed by all
 vegetable substances, by means of their roots and leaves.
 The earths are of a more solid nature, except the carbon of
 lime, and seem not susceptible of being absorbed to any con-
 siderable extent so as to constitute a part of vegetable
 growth.
   But though incapable, in themselves, (except lime) of fur-
nishing any considerable aliment to support vegetable growth,
they are the principle media through which food is furnished;
and their greater or less adaptation for this purpose assists in
constituting what is called fertility or poverty of soil. I say
principle media, because it is well known that the atmosphere
is also a medium through which plants are furnished with ali-
ment by means of the absorbing power of their leaves.
   1 have been thus particular in showing how carbon consti-
tutes food for vegetables, not because it is the only source of
supply, but because the remarks made, on this subject, will
serve to illustrate what may be said in relation to other sub-
stances, which enter into the sustenance of vegetables.
  It was supposed, in the time of Lavoisier, that the elemen-
tary principles of all vegetable substances were oxygen, hy-
drogen and carbon, and that animal substances, in addition to
these, contained nitrogen and phosphorus. But more modern
chemists have discovered, in both vegetable and animal sub-
stances, a variety of compounds, such as lime, potash, phos-
phorus, sulphur, and the oxides of various metals. It has been
  Some vegetables are found to contain, in combination, a small
portion of the silex.-Farmers' Guide, p. 31.
 





                             17
supposed, "that the food of plants is, when consumed, either
pure carbon or some gaseous compound of carbon." But
this cannot be correct. It is reasonable to infer that the ele-
mentary principles of all the substances mentioned above, as
found combined with vegetable substances, should constitute a
part of their food.t As the black mould of the rich Kentucky
soil is composed of vegetable and animal decompositions, it
must contribute largely towards the sustenance of vegetation.
It is upon this principle, also, that all manures contribute to
the fertilization of the soil. They are composed chiefly of in-
gredients, which constitute the proper food of plants, and con-
sequently must facilitate their luxuriant growth. Some ma-
nures, such as "quick lime," are valuable, in consequence of
their aiding in the decomposition of vegetable matter. Oth-
ers, because they assist in extracting from the atmosphere ele-
mentary principles, which serve as aliment for plants. Such,
perhaps, is plaster of Paris, (sulphate of lime.)t
  The productiveness or unproductiveness of the soil depends
upon the elements of its composition. If those elements
abound, which afford the pabulum or food necessary for the
particular crop, which is intended to be grown upon the soil,
it may be expected that the crop will flourish and yield abun-
dantly. If there be a scarcity of the elements, which furnish
the peculiar or appropriate food for the intended crop, the
yield will be proportionably small. But though a particular
soil may be deficient in the elements suitable to one crop, it
may abound in those which furnish the appropriate pabulum
for another. Hence it is necessary that there should be a fit-
ness or adaptation of the soil to the particular vegetable or

  Farmers' Guide, p. 40.
  tThe investigations of a succession of able chemists, have abun-
dantly proved the truth of this suggestion. Besides the organic sub-
stances, which furnish appropriate food for vegetables, the following
inorganic substances have been found in the ash of plants, and con-
sequently constitute a part of their food. Potash, Soda, Lime, Mag-
nesia, Alumina, Silica, Sulphuric acid, Phosphoric acid, Chlorine,
Oxide of iron, apd Oxide of Manganese. These are not all found in
te same plants.-Johnstone's lectures on the organic elements of
plants, part ri, p. 318-323.
  tSince this essay was written, Liebig's valuable work on organic
chemistry has been received. He explains, in a very satisfactory
manner, how plaster of Paris (sulphate of lime) operates as a ma-
nure. I have noticed his views, on this subject, in the essay on the
system of agriculture, best adapted to Kentucky."
 




                              18

crop which is to be grown upon it. Again, a soil may posses
an abundance of those elements, which are suitable for the
food of a particular vegetable or other crop, but by growing
the same crop, for a succession of years, upon the same
ground, the pabulum most appropriate for such crop, may be-
come so much exhausted as to furnish only a stinted supply to
it, and hence its produce will be small. The elements suitable
for a different crop may, however, exist in abundance; and
hence the advantage, and in some instances, the absolute ne-
cessity for a rotation in crops. The correctness of these prin-
ciples will be illustrated by the observations of every intelli-
gent farmer. The s. me vegetable may be seen to flourish a
number of years, and then gradually give way to some other
vegetable growth. And again, that will be succeeded by an-
other, perhaps the former one again. The same ground will
not furnish the appropriate food, and in suitable quantity, to
flax, two years in succession, whilst hemp may be grown on
the sam. ground a number of years, with little or no deterio-
ration. Even timber, of a particular kind, after a long suc-
cession of years, will give way to another growth of trees.
Thus even our forests are compelled to yield to the great law
of nature, that no soil can sustain, in a flourishing condition,
any vegetable production when it shall cease to eoptain, in
sufficient abundance, those elementary principles and combina-
tions of matter, which constitute the appropriate food for such
vegetable."t
  The above extract, coupled with the remarks heretofore
made, will, perhaps, be sufficient to show the philosophical
principles upon whieh a rotation in crops is founded. But ag-
riculture is a practical science, and the surest test of utility is
actual experinent. On this subject we have the benefit of
many -experiments, made in the most accurate and careful
manner, which clearly demonstrate the great importance and
value of a good asytern of rotation in crop. We are per-
haps, indebted more to the celebrated Arthur Young, for ex-
periments on this subject, than to any other man. Although,
from climate and other causes, the agriculture of Englanil dif-
  For flax and oats will burn the tender field,
  And sleepy poppies harmful harvests yield.-1 Georgc.
  tReport ofthe committee on Education, to the Senate of Kentucky,
session 1838-9.
 





                              19

fers very much from ours, yet we may derive much valuable
information from experiments made in that coutry, in relation
to rotation in crops. The following experiments, made by
the distinguished agriculturalist mentioned Pbove, show, in a
very striking manler, the great difference in value between a
good and a bad system of rotation.
   These experiments were made with great accuracy and at-
tention, "upon a soil of the sandy loam kind, incumbent upon
a wet clay marl bottom, rendered'dry by means of previous
hollow draining, and of the annual value of fifteen shillings
the acre, broken up from the state of grass under which it had
been for a great length of time, and ploughed into ridges in
contrary directions, each succeeding year, no manure being
applied except in particular lands or ridges in the fourth
year.
  "The crops, in the whole of the thirty-six courses, were
reaped and threshed directly, distinct from each other to obvi-
ate the danger of mixing and errors, and are minuted acctu
rately to save the trouble of calculation. In the valuation all
the straw is valued at ten shillings per acre, and the crops are
likewise estimated-that 'the fluctuatious of price may not af-
fect the general conclusions-the turnips at 4 s. a ton, carted
off; cabbage at 5 s; wheat 5 s. a bushel; barley 2 s. 6d; oats
2 s. 3d.; beans 3 s.; potatoes 6 d." No part of the crops was
consumed on the ground. Each course ran through six yeas
yielding a crop each year.
       1st. COURSE.   pound;. s. d.        2nd COURSE.     6. 8. 6
1 Beans  3 qrs. I bushel  4 5 0 1 Beans  3 qrs. I