518 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



probably raise two or three hogs for pork and will keep a few chickens. It 

 assumed that the permanent pasture for two cows and two colts during the 

 season, and possibly two or three hogs, depending on whether it may or 

 may not be cheaper and less troublesome to buy pork than to put up hog 

 fences and feed corn, together with the buildings, garden, and orchard, will 

 require about 8 acres (ordinarily a cow requires 2 acres of pasture each 

 season), thus leaving 72 acres of the farm which can be put into culti- 

 vated crops. 



Rotation to be followed. 



These 72 acres will be divided into three fields of 24 acres each without 

 division fences, and a three-year rotation of crops will be observed as fol- 

 lows: 



One 24-acre field will be planted with corn, using selected seed and fer- 

 tilizing the field with all the barnyard manure available, and in addition 

 applying about 400 pounds of steamed bone meal per acre. As this land 

 still produces a luxuriant crop of clover no lime will be added at present 

 other than that contained in the bone meal. The corn crop will be culti- 

 vated, not necessarily the regulation three times and then laid by, but as 

 often as may be necessary to keep the upper 2 or 3 inches of soil loose, 

 mellow and free from weeds. The corn will be planted on a clover sod 

 "Which has been plowed down in the fall and left rough through the win- 

 ter. 



The second 24-acre field will be planted to oats, or possibly winter wheat, 

 as winter wheat is again coming into favor with farmers in the section. 

 The oats will be put in on corn ground which has been thoroughly disked 

 and put into fine condition for this crop. No fertilizer will be used on the 

 oats. Selected seed of the Swedish Select variety or of some other variety 

 that does well in the neighborhood will be sown. With the oats and ahead 

 of the drill a mixture of about 10 pounds of common red clover and 12 

 pounds of timothy will be sown. 



The third 24-acre field will be in hay, the timothy and clover mixture 

 seeded with the oats the preceding year. 



Yields to be expected. 



In this first replanning of the farm, then, provision has been made for 

 a three-year rotation of corn, oats, and clover, each to occupy the same 

 field but one year before that field is refitted for another crop in the rota- 

 tion. The total average yields that may be expected from this rotation 

 after it is put into operation are about as follows: 



Corn, 24 acres, at 60 bushels per acre bushels. .1,440 



Oats, 24 acres, at 40 bushels per acre bushels. . 960 



Hay, 24 acres, at 2 tons per acre tons. . 48 



