Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1846-04-09
ROTATION OF CROPS.

II Is better 10 prevent the special exhaustion Of the
SUI lhnh 10 cure II. II IA ulcn difficult to discover
What the la6d really frquires and therefore. To euro
lie eVIl when II exists. The only method of prevents
ny WIN "h'cn we are yet acquainted, is by the in
PRODUCTION oil shiltul rotation alienation of unlike
crops Ia the wide forest, many generations of broad.
eaved Trees live and die and succeed each other bu,
The time comes at last when general peslieuee
seems 10 assa them all, their tops droop and wilher
Then branches fall of, their trunks not They die ,ut
anu mario" ieayed race succeeds them. This race
gain has lis lie, ot centuries perhaps; but death se1es il
too aud The expanded leaf of the Beech the Ash and
the Oak again cheer the cye-playinQ with the passing
z@phy s and glterng in The 80 10 the broad meas
dow, The old pasture changes. aud Of humble
'fassts succeed each other The fields increase in
age. The alienation OF crops therefore asserts 10 itself
s"ne'hng OF the dignity OF natural law and man is
evidently ~ The right when he initiates nature
IN procedure like this. But upon ha do its good IL
'eeis dependf by do the broad leaves alternate with
The narrow IN the ancient furesll Why do the Grasses
change IN the old Meadow Why does the farmer oh
tam larger produce. and for greater number of years
by growing unlike crops, alternately than by c,atinu
Ing year amer year 10 grow hesaml The reason is not
merely mat one crop carries of MORE and another crop
less el all those things which all OF our crops derive
from the SOIL but Thar one crop carries off more of one
lling, another crop VI another The grain carries
Oh phosphorus The straw silica, the bulb alkaline mattel
Alter, perhaps, ID 20 successive crops of the same
KIND, Inc surface soil through which the spread
clally requires, that The plant cannot obtain from
sufficient supply 10 nours and bring to maturity the
iuli grown plant within the time allotted To il in our
climate Tor It's natural growth. The rJos do their BEST
hey collect as diligently as they can but winter comes
on and The growth ends before the plant is fully ma
'uted In The case OF cora, the frs, effect of scarcity
say o phophorc acld is 10 make The ear smaller and
inc number OF grains less the next to continue the
S'o"h mo Inc "iner, aud only when very fine sea
Sun occurs 10 fpen the at all. But suppose we al,
eInaie The corn CROP which in lis grain carries of phos.
pho'c acid with a hay crop which requires much sill
va 81 foo' crop To which much alkaline matter is ne
eessaS Then The one ctop would live upon and remove
"nat Tue other had lett In great abundance Instead of
oo" Tue SOIL every year OF The same substances we
'uu DC eHhausling 1t more equally of all and we
W ao'e' Tor double the time at least TO crop it
"''n"ut 'he fisk of ceasng entirely 10 siye ms n
prom able return. We should gradually wnrk mn
also every available substance in the soil wbe,be,
sue" as are naturally present in it, or sucb as pe
nave ourselves added IN The form &c manure Nha,
Is tue oi Inc simple alienation OF a corn with n
green crop, is more true st,il Of LONGER and mora
complicated ro'aln. The greater the variety of crons
we grow, and the longer the interval be,wee, ia
successive cropsof the kind the more perfectly do
we a'a ourselves Of the benefits which an obed.nce IN
e suggestions OF this principle fitted to confer upon
20. NO rotation, is tue, however skful will alone
No." ae laho irom becoming ultimately exhausted -
nn,ass sh W. regular ana generous mannging will do th
mere ne, IN springs from beneath ar in The do
cayns fragments OF rock mixed with the soil or in sub
s'ancts oi"ught dawn from higher grounds or in TN
IA aie OF 'e rains thai fall upon the land soma peren
MAJ source o those substances which The crops AWAY
carry Oh from the so Blu, in a skilful rotation ,her
sths virtue. that land which is subjected Ia il Cam
he ruined IN 81 shon time.