The Bulletin. 13 



Rotations and Soil Improvement. — In our work it has been neces- 

 sary to have many different rotations and many small fields, both 

 of which is bad practice for general farming. 



With fields as large as possible and a well-planned rotation, in 

 which clover or some other soil-improving crop occurs rather fre- 

 quently, together with what live stock the farm will profitably carry, 

 one will succeed in building up a farm under ordinary conditions, 

 perhaps much faster than the following plan which we have followed 

 on one field of about 8 acres. In this experiment we have kept in 

 mind the fact that feed enough can not be grown on a run-down 

 farm to make enough manure to either build it up or to maintain 

 its present state of fertility. All of the crop can not be returned to 

 the soil, and if feed is bought, although it may be fed at a profit 

 and the farm built up, the farm the feed came from is running down. 

 So that "the permanent prosperity of Agriculture" depends upon 

 other factors as well as stock raising. 



Some farmers must produce crops and produce them profitably 

 and the fertility of the soil must be maintained, if not increased, 

 or else there is no permanent agricultural prosperity. 



In view of this, our experiment on the 8 acres mentioned above is 

 worth special mention as the conditions have been severe in the ex- 

 treme. The field in question was run down to where profitable crops 

 could not be grown. It had been grown to corn continuously with 

 an occasional crop of rye, for forty or fifty years, with little or no 

 manure. Our cultural treatment and fertilizer application, has re- 

 mained practically the same since 1905, the beginning of the experi- 

 ment. 



The ground was plowed to a depth of about 8 inches, followed 

 by frequent and thorough tillage throughout the growing season. 

 With this treatment, excepting the plowing, which was not deep 

 enough, should have resulted in larger yields than we have secured 

 had the land been moderately productive in the beginning. The 

 yield the first year was about 16 bushels corn per acre. At the last 

 cultivation of the corn crop, crimson clover was sown at the rate 

 of 12 pounds seed per acre, which resulted the first year in a very 

 poor stand and growth. This was plowed under late in April of 

 the following spring and corn planted in May. 



The results from the 8-acre experiment are as follows: In 1906 

 16 bushels of corn per acre, which is less than the cost of produc- 

 tion. In 1909, 39 bushels were produced per acre, a crop that showed 

 a profit. 



This shows the value of clover as a soil-improving crop and that 

 the productivity of the soil can be maintained and increased without 

 stable manure. 



