PLANNTN(i A CROPPING SYSTEM. 



27 



wcopmm 



that foed will run short. In such casos the onl}' resource is to buy, 

 unless the farmer is willing to dispense witli a portion of his stock. 

 It should be remembered that when a farmer is ])uying feed he is also 

 buying fertility. One of the most successful farmers in this country 

 says: "I usually keep enough stock to eat all 1 raise, and I usually 

 take the chance of keeping a little more; for it does the farui no harm 

 to buy a little feed if it is needed." 



FABM SELECTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE METHODS USED IN 

 PLANNING A CROPPING SYSTEM. 



The plan selected to illustrate the methods used in arranging a 



cropping system to fit defmite conilitions is one recently drawn lur 



a farm in northern Illinois. The nuiu- 



ager had already determined approxi- 

 mately the possil)ilities of this faru) 



under the particular type of farming 



he desired to follow. The number of 



conditions to be met was unusually 



large. Figure 1 shows the arrange- 

 ment of the farm as it was presented 



to us. It will be seen that the arable 



land aggregates 103 acres. This is all 



good land, sloping in a fairly uniform 



manner to the south and west, sulli- 



ciently for drainage purposes. It was 



desired to keep about 25 cow^s, 5 to 15 



head of horses (some of these to be kept 



for city owners), 50 to 60 hogs, and 100 



hens. It was desired that a farmstead 



be reserved in the northwest corner of 



the arable portion. 



It was preferred that all the stock 



should be provided with pastiu"e. At 

 the outset it was plain that ordinary 

 permanent pastures for all this stock 

 would occupy too much land.' It was 

 therefore decided to provide more pro- 

 ductive temporary pastures. The con- 

 dition of the land justified the assump- 

 tion of the following yields: Silage, 9 

 tons; hay, 2 tons; soiling corn, 7 tons. 

 It was assumed that by feeding 5 

 pounds of hay or 20" pounds of soil- 

 ing corn per head daily, the pasture could be made to carry 1 cow 

 per acre. 

 102— m 



48. 08 acres. 



31.05 acTN. 



»«______— 



23. 87 acres. 



Fig. 1.— Plan of farm as submitted by the 

 manager for the recommendation of a 

 suitable cropping system. 



