Norfolk Four Course
Rotation (1950’s)
At farming college we were told,
how important it was to learn,
The basic four coarse rotation,
good yields and a living to earn,
Roots Barley Seeds and Wheat, it
kept the ground in good heart,
This was the basic rotation, from
which to make a good start.
Roots you hoed around until, the
leaves met in the row,
Smother any smaller weeds,
nowhere for them to grow,
Always left a good clean field,
and always in good heart,
Next crop had the benefit, of
getting a jolly good start.
Spring barley follows the roots,
too strong a land and it will soon go flat,
Drilled in March when the soil
warms, an even plant stand begat,
Under sown with grass and red
clover, establishing the best
Docks were pulled and thistles
‘spudded’, first crop for to harvest.
The seeds grow on, once barley’s
cut, light sheep graze back end,
It tillers and bulks
tremendously, for winter feed depend,
Red clover with its vigorous
growth, its roots beneath to match,
Fixes fertility down in the soil,
from side to side of the patch.
If you graze the seeds and keep
it low, doesn’t produce the roots,
Fertility from the sun to leaves,
only small leaves stems and shoots,
Mown for hay grown to maturity,
two years if you can,
Will give you a wheat crop you
never had, at least that’s the plan.
When the hays been cleared, and a
fresh good cover of green,
Plough it in, green manure, the
clover roots have been,
To fix the Nitrogen in the
nodules, best crop of wheat you’ve seen,
No sprays or artificial needed,
to return to a proper rotation I’m keen.
Organically speaking, this is the
way, make the sun and the leaves,
Draw the goodness naturally; a
shower of rain receives,
Plants are working how they ought
to, compliment each other,
A good plant stand, and big broad
leaves, weeds you hope to smother.
Owd Fred
