Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/495

* FALLOW. FALLOW (AS. fealu, yellow. Icel. folr, OHG. falo, tier, fahl; connected with Lat. pallidus, pale. <;k. 7roi6s, polios, gray, Skt. pulitu, gray). Waste, untilled land; also land thai is plowed, and otherwise stilled, for a season without being cropped. Most of the wheat raised by the Ro- mans was sowed after the land was fallowed; in- deed, the usual rotation was fallow and wheat al- ternately. It was only fertile soils that could long support such an exhausting system; hence re- sulted the decreasing produce which the later Roman agricultural authors so often speak of and lament. The fallowing of land was introduced into all the countries which fell under the dominion of the Romans. During their sway. Great Britain exported large quantities of wheat; and for cen- turies after the Romans left it, no other mode of cultivating the land was followed. It may here be observed that wherever the system of fallowing, without giving manure to the crops, is practiced, it necessarily supposes that the soil is at least moderately fertile. This system is most successful on argillaceous soils, which are retentive of organic manure. It must be borne in mind that the chief use of fallow is to liberate material from which plants may derive their food, and which is already stored up in the soil as organic matter, although the weathering which the soil undergoes assists in rendering the min- eral substances it contains more available. The plowing and stirring, by admitting air, promote decomposition and nitrification, and at the same time destroy insects and weeds that impoverish the soil and choke the crops. With improvements in the plow and other tillage implements and the rapid increase in use of manures and fertilizers during the last half-century, the practice of fal- lowing has been largely abandoned ; but it could doubtless be revived with advantage in many cases. For summer fallow, the land should be plowed deeply about the last of May, and the surface put in fine tilth. When the weeds spring up. they should be destroyed by surface tillage. If the land is to be seeded to wheat or rye. the last stirring of the soil should be given not later than the middle of August. The number of plowings and the amount of surface tillage re- quired will depend upon a variety of conditions, but in some cases one deep plowing and one sur- face tillage will accomplish the desired purpose of destroying the weeds and preparing the soil for the succeeding crop by improving the tilth and increasing the supply of nitrates and other available plant-food. For winter fallow, the land should receive a deep plowing in autumn. Ex- posure through the winter allows the frost to pulverize the surface. In the spring, when the weather becomes dry. the cultivator or the plow opens up the soil and the process of extirpating the weeds goes on. In old cultivated countries, land is commonly so much reduced in its organic matter that fallows receive dressings of farm- yard manure, guano, etc.. to increase fertility. Since the general introduction of green manur- ing crops, the term fallow has departed some- what from its original meaning. These crops are sown on what was formerly the fallow, and are styled fallow crops. Green fallow is espe- cially applicable to light, poor soils. It pro- tects the soil from washing and loss of nitrates by leaching, chokes out weeds, improves the tilth, and, if leguminous plants are grown, it 1 I .". FALLOWS. enriches the soil in nitrogen gathered from the air by these plants, while some mineral mailer is brought to the surface from the subsoil bj I lie roots of tin' plants. (Sec Green Manumng.) In dry climates, however, green fallow laud is more likely t<> sutler from drought in autumn than is hare fallow. Bastard fallowing is a term applied in Scotland to the practice of plowing hay-stubble at the end of summer, freeing from weeds, and sowing with wheat in autumn. A similar practice, known as short fallow in Amer- ica, consists in plowing the soil immediately after removing a crop of grain, clover, etc., and keep- ing the soil well stirred until grain or grass is seeded in the fall. This treatment i- very bene- ficial, and the period is so short that there is not much danger of loss of nitrogen hy leaching. Con- sult : Roberts, The Fertility of the Land (New York, 1897) ; Storer, Agriculture (7th cd.. New York, 1897). FALLOW DEER (so called from the dun yel- low color). A species of deer (Duma platyceros) commonly kept in parks, in most parts of Europe. It is a native of the countries around the Medi- terranean, and has been introduced by man into the northern parts of Europe, where it has run wild in some places; it is also wild in Spain, Sardinia, and the Greek islands. How far its geographic range extends eastward is not cer- tainly known. It is represented in the sculptures of Nineveh, hut these engravings were probably copied from a different species, the Persian tal- low deer (Cervus Mesopotamicus) . Its introduc- tion into Great Britain has been ascribed to James VI. of Scotland, but it is known to have existed long before his time in Windsor Park. Hundreds of fallow deer now inhabit some of the English parks, where they generally receive seme attention and supplies of fodder in winter. In size, the fallow deer is smaller than the stag or red deer, from which it also differs in its broadly palmated antlers, about 25 inches long, its longer tail, and its smoother and finer hair. In color it is generally yellowish-brown in sum- mer, darker, or even blackish-brown in winter; more or less spotted with pale spots, particularly in summer, and when young. In one variety the spots are very marked; but in another (espe- cially preserved in Epping Forest, near London) they are not to be observed even in the young. The under parts, inside of the limbs, and interior surface of the tail are white, and a dark line passes along the back. When the fallow deer and red deer are kept in the same park, the herds seldom mingle, nor do hybrids occur. The fal- low deer loves the woods. Its flesh is one of the most esteemed kinds of venison. The remains of nearly allied fossil species occur in some parts of Europe. Compare Sika; and see Deer and Plate of Fallow Deer, Musk, etc. FAL'LOWS, Samuel (1835—). An Ameri- can educator and bishop of the Reformed Episco- pal Church. He was born at Pendleton, England, emigrated to America in 1848, and settled in Wisconsin. After his graduation from the Uni- versity of Wisconsin in 1859, he was appointed professor and vice-president of Galesville Uni- versity. He served with distinction during the Civil War. entering the army as chaplain of the Third Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer infan- try, September 15. 1862, and leaving it in 1805 as brigadier-general. From 1866 to 1874 he was a regent of the University of Wisconsin, and