Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-06-12
Rotation Of Creps-Seme Benefits Of.
w. H. WHITE.

particular mode OF IeftlllzlnS IL, IN oreer
to prsduce good crops; neither do they
pay any regard TO the laws Of rotation,
although these are essential, ass found
IN after experience. For experience
teaches that if any one variety or family
Of crops or plants be constantly taken
from the same soil, without making any
adequate return, the land, sooner or
later. fails to yield = return, at all in
proportion to the,expense Of productions;
whereas when q variation, or ratation,
Indifferent crops on this same soil, is
practiced, more satisfactory return is
had. In all Of our elder farming dis
tricts the original system Of culture is
necessarily greatly changed. My
memory extends not near as far back as
that of many others who may read this
Yeti revcrts to a time when much Of
Cur land was devoted to grain crops Of
sfsome kind. 1t was then found that
much of the soil would grow fair crops
only once in two, three, or more years,
without manuring. Accordingly it
became necessary that a rest Of this
duration should be given or at most, in
our culture, the land was only plOwcd
ETC., the farmers adopting the iallow
system, exposing the soil to the air, rain
etc., so that the action Of the elements
might assist in pulverizing the soil, and
in naturally decsnposlng the accumu-
lated stores effertilizers ia it, in this
way rendering them available as plant
food. Why this failure to produce a
crop regularly: To answer this under
standingly we need investigate the cen-
stitution and requirements Of plants,
their mean, Of taking up pabulum, and
the offices the soil performs i'll relation
thereto. Plants are composed of diff
ferent elements, some Of which GENE
emily from or through the soil. The
functions ofthe soil are to hold or AK
these elements. elaborate and yield them
and yield them as food for plants. Some
plants require a certain quantity OF one
element, others need an amount OF
some different element. These differ
.nt elements are supposed to be held in
the soil. mostly as compounds, and be-
fore becoming available to the plant, it
becomes necessary that they should be
digested, elaborated, in the soil. Now
if the soil becomes deficient in any one
element essential to the particular plant
grown on it, it is very evident that It
cannot supply that element in sufficient
quantity to the plant which demands it;
neither can it if the plant-food in it be
abundant but locked up in combination
with other elements; so that particular
slant will fail to thrive on tbs land, not
because the soil is worn out" bat
merely because it is deficient in this
element properly elaborated. If we
take plants Of different class, demand
Ing some other elements Yhich is in
excess in the soil, we 6Id that such
plants will thrive and produce abun-
dainty. The reason. then. why one
class Of plants fails in soil in which
they have drawn frsn the soil so much
Of the elaborated element needed by
them as food that enough does net re-
main to support them IN vigorous growth
Such elements may be restored BY add
ing 10 their amount by the application
sfmanure and fertilizers, but the guam
tity must be in proportion to the
exhaustion. In practice we find that
the supply may be econsnized by some
system ofvariation, whether it be some
regular course Of different cropping or
some less elaborate method. Whether
we apply animal manure, plOw under
green crops, apply mineral or other
fertilizers, Or depend upon the fertility
Of the soil alone we also find that by
change We realize much better returns
for the labor, time, fertility ETC., ex-
pended.
Some crop. rapidly exhaust fertility
by appropriating large quantities Of the
elements essential to their growth ;
others either use less, or have the abil;-
ty to collect their food more readily
from broader area. Some roots re-
move from the soil in any ordinary
crop a comparatively small amount Of
certain elements which if abundant in
an available form, would vastly pro-
mote their growth and increase their
yield while straw crops demand an
available quantity Of elements very
different from those needed by grain
crops. The growth of one variety O.
crop in measure prepares or FITS the
soil for some other; the reflections Oh
excrcted matters thrown off by the frs
crop enter the soil and form new com
binations, which in turn are decompos
oil, and their elements are frequently
the most required for the nutrition 0
the next. Almost all plants have thei
enemies growing year after year in th,
same soil. They increase most abun
dainty where single crop is grown
for on coming to the surface each sea.
s'n, they find their most desirable foo,
a. hand, ana accordingly thrive an,
multiply rapidly. Frequently the sam
crops, successfully grown in the sam
soil. Will contract disease from som
ciuse often not readily ascertainable
This liability is diminished, if not en-
tirely got rid Of, by rotation.
To realize Ia crops, the greatest pos
Hble benefit from the application G
manure. they should succeed ear