i620 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



A five-years rotation Jor_ a stock farm 



1. Corn, on freshly plowed sod, and rye sown between the rows in 

 August 



2. Corn, well manured on rye plowed under. Plow the stubble in 

 autumn 



3. Oats, or oats and Canada field peas. Plow stubble for winter wheat 



4. Wheat, seeded with timothy in autumn and with clovers the follow- 

 ing spring. Top-dressed with manure after harvesting the wheat 



5. Mixed hay \ 



This rotation is now in use on the Cornell University farms. It is 

 designed to produce enough silage corn to feed a large herd of cattle, from 

 soil better adapted to growing oats and timothy. It is a flexible rotation, 

 in that the first year of com can be omitted and the meadow allowed 

 to produce a second crop of hay. This is an advantage whenever hay is 

 more desirable than corn fodder. 



On soils in which sods decay rather slowly, the second corn crop may 

 be better than the first one. Two coats of manure are applied, two green 

 crops are plowed under, and the land is plowed four times in five years, 

 if no change is made in the succession of crops. When fresh manure is 

 applied as a light top-dressing to new meadows, the maximum benefit 

 from its use is most likely to follow. This rotation is best adapted to an 

 intensive type of farming. 



A five-years rotation involving less labor and seeding is as follows : 



A five-years rotation for a hay farm 



1. Corn or potatoes, on manured sod 



2. Oats or barley, seeded with clover and timothy 



3. Mixed hay 



4. Timothy hay, top-dressed with manure 



5. Timothy hay, manured or fertilized 



This rotation is best adapted to the heavier types of loam soil. It has 

 one intertilled crop, requires two plowings, and will profit by light top- 

 dressings of manure on the meadows. If oats are used to seed down for 

 the meadow, there is more risk of losing the new seeding in dr}^ weather 

 than with barley. Either using a thin seeding of oats, or else cutting 

 them for hay before ripe, should be the rule. A fair crop of potatoes 

 can be grown, and the proportion of potatoes to corn can be varied to 

 suit the convenience of the farmer. In this rotation the hay crops are 

 the most important because of the cash income derived from them. The 

 aim should be, so to feed, the meadows that the maximum usefulness will 

 be reached in the third year. On many farms a rotation similar to this 



