THE ROTATION OF CROPS 



409 



Livestock is a Necessity ox a Self-sustaining Farm. Frequently the four- 

 course rotation used on the Cornell University Farm could be profitably made into 

 a five-course, by retaining the grass for two years, making hay the first year and 

 pasturing it the second. 



ically. Thus the one school improved the animals, hut paid less 

 attention to the foods, while the other made the ration the primary 

 consideration. Lancaster County, Pa., has made history both for its 

 productivity and its rotation of crops. The two are inseparably con- 

 nected. Corn, oats, wheat and clover and timothy are grown in the 

 above mentioned order, and the farmers of this vicinity, realizing the 

 value of manure, have purchased western live stock and corn and with 

 the roughage grown have fattened the stock and made money. The 

 object of a rotation should be to convert sunshine into dollars, in such 

 a manner that the soil used shall be as productive at the end thereof, 

 if not more so, than it was at the beginning. 



Wheat or corn growing employs a minimum amount of help for 

 short definite portions of the year. Mixed farming, where live stock 

 is kept, requires the retention of help throughout the year, and in this 

 way it is of social importance, a floating population being a serious 

 menace to a nation. 



Where the one crop, as wheat, is grown, there is much more trouble 

 in maintaining the soil in good physical texture. When clover is 

 grown, the stubble and roots plowed under increase the amount of 

 organic matter in the soil, which upon decaying forms humus. Humus 

 aids in developing bacterial activities in the soil, the importance of 

 which is now recognized, although feebly understood. The strong 

 taproots of such plants as clover or alfalfa upon decaying leave air 



