THE ROTATION OF CHOPS 403 



THE ROTATION OF CROPS 



By SAMUEL FRASER 



GENESEO, N. Y. 



THE rotation of crops or the order in which crops are grown upon 

 the same land during a period of years is of such moment to the 

 successful development of our agriculture, and consequently of our 

 national welfare that it must receive consideration. The farm value 

 of our farm products has increased rapidly in the last few years, having 

 risen from $4,717,000,000 in 1899 to $7,412,000,000 in 1907. The 

 figures indicate an increase in value for 1907 of 50 per cent, over 1899. 

 This remarkable growth in the value of farm products is largely due 

 to an increase in the area tilled. Now that the best land is settled, it 

 is essential to increase the productivity of an acre, and as the rotation 

 of crops is one means of securing this result its usage must extend. 

 The use of manure and fertilizers' have been recommended and proved 

 to be of value in the eastern states for increasing crop yields. The 

 value of plant breeding and the development of plants which are 

 capable of giving heavier yields and products of better quality has 

 been recognized; and the productions of many workers have added 

 millions of dollars annually to our national welfare. It is safe to say 

 that anything that benefits the farmer and increases his ability to 

 produce wealth is of distinct value to the nation and of direct interest 

 to the world. 



A study of the rotation of crops used at any particular period in 

 the history of a nation is of value as a guide to the status of agricul- 

 ture. Agriculture had its birth in the ages of antiquity, when some 

 mother conceived the idea that she might save herself and her child 

 from famine by growing or affording protection to some of the plants 

 which furnished food. From this time on and for a long time the 

 requirements of the people were scanty, and the crops grown were so 

 few that no rotation could be carried on. Evidence shows that the 

 neolithic people of Europe had the rudiments of agriculture, that they 

 grew cereals, had cattle and were conversant with the arts of weaving, 

 spinning and pottery-making. Among other places, they inhabited the 

 hills of Britain and Ireland, where terraces made by them on the hill- 

 sides in Wiltshire and even as far north as the Cheviot Hills and the 

 Grampian Mountains of Scotland are still visible. These races prac- 

 tised irrigation and a system of agriculture something like that now 

 in vogue on the hills of parts of China and among the Coorgs, a hill 



