REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING PROFITABLE CROPS. 17 



which yielded at the rate of 26 bushels of wheat to the acre, was 

 double-disked immediately after the wheat was taken off. 



The first of December, 1908, all plats were plowed to a depth of 5 

 inches and sown to wheat. The resulting yields are given in Table I. 

 In two years' time the plat continuously seeded to wheat has pro- 

 duced 41 bushels of wheat. However, the first year's yield, 26 

 bushels, was produced after summer fallow and the second year's 

 yield, 15.66 bushels, shows a decrease of nearly half. It is quite 

 probable that the third year will give a very low yield and that in a 

 series of five years the quantity of wheat produced from continuously 

 seeded plats would be much smaller than from the other methods of 

 cultivation. 



It follows, then, from this experiment, that deeply plowed summer 

 fallow will give much better yields than shallow-plowed, continuously 

 cropped land. Plats 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 were all plowed at the same 

 depth, and the last four were fallowed also after turning under the 

 green crops. The yields indicate that the addition of organic matter 

 (humus) to the soil is beneficial in increasing the production of 

 crops and that this increase is proportional to the quantity rather 

 than the quality or kind of organic matter added. 



INCREASED PROFITS. 



The yields shown in Table I were obtained in plat work, where the 

 varieties received the best possible attention, thus giving higher 

 yields than would have been probable under field practice. In our 

 estimate of the increase in profits brought about by thorough methods 

 of cultivation, the yields are estimated at two-thirds the value given 

 in the table. 



The estimate made of increase in net profits is based largely upon 

 observation of the general cost of farm work in the State. It may 

 not be absolutely accurate in every particular, but it serves well in 

 bringing out a comparison of the common methods of cultivation 

 employed with the more intensive methods suggested in this paper. 



Approximate cost of cultivation per acre by the common method. 



First plowing (5 inches deep) $1. 25 



Second plowing (5 inches deep) 1-25 



Two harrowings 20 



2.70 



Approximate cost of cultivation per acre by the improved method. 



Double-disking stubble $0. 50 



First plowing (5 inches deep) 1-25 



Second plowing (8 inches deep) 2. 00 



Third plowing (4 inches deep) 1-25 



Three harrowings 30 



Rye seed for green manure 2. 00 



7.30 



178 



