558 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the so-called "cheap" land in other sections of this country which fails 

 to produce crops except when heavily manured and fertilized? 



The records of the Iowa Weather and Crop Service during the past 

 thirteen years show that the state average of rainfall has been 31.07 

 inches annually. From an agricultural point of view the most important 

 feature of the climate of Iowa is that its maximum of rainfall comes in 

 the crop season, April to September, inclusive. In the six crop months 

 ■the average rainfall is 22.48 'inches, or 71 per cent of the annual total 

 and in the four most critical months. May 1st to September 1st, the 

 average for the state is 16.29 inches, or 51 per cent. Although there are 

 fluctuations in the amount of rainfall in the crop season, the records of 

 the past half century show that there has never been a crop failure and 

 fairly good crops have been produced in the driest or wettest seasons. 

 The land seeker is asked to contrast the value of Iowa lands under these 

 moisture conditions with the value of lands in regions of limited or un- 

 certain rainfall or in those sections where irrigation invariably introduces 

 an element of expense and uncertainty. 



stating the load The hay loader saves much time and labor. 



Cheap land, in the sense in which this term is applied to land values, 

 can not be bought in Iowa. But land at a cost of seventy-five and even 

 one hundred dollars per acre never fails to prove a splendid investment 

 in the hands of a man who puts into practice those methods of farm 

 management which maintain the fertility of the soil and produce large 

 crops of high quality. On the other hand, almost certain failure awaits 

 the farmer, on this high-priced land, whether he be owner or renter, 

 who lacks training and experience. This is true because farming in this 

 state is a business which demands a high order of executive ability as 

 well as a considerable fund of technical knowledge. 



There are large opportunities in Iowa for land owners and renters 

 of experience along the lines of general crop growing, live stock produc- 

 tion and dairying. Practically the entire state is adapted to the growing 

 of corn, oats, barley, potatoes, hay, wheat, rye, timothy seed, millet, 

 alfalfa, clover seed and buckwheat. This state is in the center of the 

 great corn belt. Corn is the money crop. The area in corn each year 

 varies from nine million to nearly ten million acres. First-class corn land 

 may be bought in each of the ninety-nine counties at prices ranging from 

 fifty to one hundred dollars per acre. A farmer can successfully grow 

 corn each year on about one-half of the land which he keeps under cultiva- 

 tion. That portion of the cultivated area which is not in corn must be 

 devoted to secondary crops and legumes. This system is essential to 



