FALLOW is a portion of land in which no seed is sown for a whole year, in order that the soil may be left exposed to the influence of the atmosphere, the weeds destroyed by re peated ploughings and harrowings, and the fertility improved at a less expense of manure than it would be if a crop bad been raised upon it.
The practice of fallowing land is as old as the Roman Empire. It appears that, where ever the Romans extended their conquests and planted colonies, they introduced this mode of restoring land to a certain degree of fertility when exhausted by bearing grain. The attention of agriculturists has in later times been turned to lessen the necessity of fellows, and to substitute some other means of restoring fertility. It is acknowledged by all experienced farmers that manure alone is not sufficient for this purpose. The ground must be tilled and noxious weeds destroyed ; and the only efficacious mode of doing so is to stir the ground at the time when their seeds have vegetated, their roots have made shoots, and before any new seed can ripen. Light sandy soils require only cleansing from weeds ; and if this can be done without leaving them fallow for a whole summer, a great advantage will be obtained. This has been effected com pletelyby the cultivation of turnips and clover, which was first practised in the light soils of Flanders, and afterwards introduced into the similar soils of Norfolk, from whence it has spread all over Great Britain, and is beginning to be adopted more generally in Ireland. On
light lands the preparation for the turnips, the abundant manuring and subsequent hoe ing, are as effectual in cleansing the land and bringing it into a fertile state as any complete fallow could ever be; and the clover smothers and destroys the weeds which may have come up amongst the barley or oats sown after the turnips. On heavy soils it is often impossible to keep the land clear of weeds, in wet cli mates and 'unfavourable seasons, without a complete fallow, and when this is the case it is best to do the thing effectually. Upon cold wet soils, which should always first of all be well underdrained, no pains should be spared to get the land perfectly clean.
The advice given by the late Mr. Sham was —Avoid fellows if you can keep your land clean ; but, when you fallow, do it effectually, and improve the soil at the same time by chalk, lime, or marl, according to circum stances. Do not spare either ploughs or har. rows in dryweather. In short, neither plough ing nor manuring alone will keep a soil in a good fertile state. There must be an occa sional fallow for some soils, and turnips or similar husbandry for others.