56 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



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first year's tillage, when not followed by a crop having the ability to 

 take up and use them. 



Again, some plants have the power of taking up and storing plant 

 food for future use. The clover and pea, while large users of the ni- 

 trates, can be most profitably followed by a corn or wheat crop, either 

 of which require a large amount of this particular food. 



Plants also differ in the length of their feeding roots. Some feed 

 near the surface, others go deep into the subsoil, and it would seem 

 to be good policy that a surface feeder should follow a deep feeder, 

 and thus use all the soil. 



The length of time necessary to mature crops varies greatly. Some 

 use but a short time, others the entire season, and it is possible that 

 there would be some advantage in the following of a short by a long- 

 feeding crop. So, too, the methods of growing the crops should enter 

 into our calculations. Some are cultivated, others are not. The corn 

 crop has been properly called a fallow crop. In a well handled crop 

 of corn we not only kill the weeds, but put the ground in excellent 

 condition for a succeeding crop of wheat. 



In a systematic rotation 'we are constantly changing our treatment 

 of the soil, and do not give the weeds a chance to grow and mature 

 their seeds as in case of repetition of same or similar crops, nor are we 

 as likely to suffer from the ravages of insects and destructive fungus 

 diseases, for the longer a field remains in one crop the more favorable 

 it is for insects and diseases preying upon that particular crop. 



In making up our rotation we should not forget that nature's method 

 of furnishing nitrogen to the soil is through the growth of leguminous 

 plants. I doubt whether we can improve upon nature's plan, and hence 

 believe that no rotation is complete without at least one leguminous 

 crop. 



In a short rotation, some additional advantages accrue — for instance 

 if it be corn, wheat and clover — in most conditions once plowing will 

 answer — an economy of labor. So, too, machinery in this rotation as- 

 sists us in being able to grow and harvest a large acreage with a min- 

 imum of hand labor, for each crop is out of the way of the succeeding 

 one. Such a rotation necessitates more stock being fed upon the farm. 

 This means more manure, more humus, better preservation of moisture, 

 less danger from drouth, stronger plant vitality, richer soils. Any rota- 

 tion suggests a better maintenance of fertility, more system in farm 

 management, more even distribution of manures and tillage, and more 

 steady employment throughout the year. 



