SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 15 



By giving due attention to all these details in the planting and cul- 

 ture of our great staple, corn, the yield would be greatly increased, even 

 in the most unfavorable seasons, with practically no additional cost. And 

 with the high prices now prevailing for land and labor, surely the time 

 has come for a more general use of brains, combined with muscle, to 

 secure the best results in the corn field. It is the farmer who thinks, 

 as well as labors who is winning sucess, and there is no vocation that 

 offers greater opportunities for research and study than does that 

 of the farmer. 



It is not creditable to the farmers of Iowa that the average corn crop 

 of this state is only a little more han thirty bushels per acre, when 

 with our soil and climatic conditions the average should be fifty bushels 

 per acre. Poor seed corn is undoubtedly the chief reason for the poor 

 average, and the planting of corn on worn out, exhausted soil is entitled 

 to second place. The remedy for the greatest loss is within .he reach 

 of all, and if the suggestions in this paper are followed to the letter, by 

 every farmer in the state, there will never again be heard a single 

 complaint in regard to poor seed corn. 



To restore the fertility of exhausted corn fields, with manure is out 

 of the question, for the acreage is large and the supply of manure limited, 

 but every worn out field now producing from ten to twenty-five bushels 

 of corn per acre can be made to double this yield by seeding with clover 

 and timothy and pasturing for a number of years. To seed with grass 

 and remove a crop of hay proves of little benefit to the soil, but when 

 pastured and especially when a good stand of clover is secured, three 

 years in pasture, with enough grass for two animals, and only one to eat 

 it, will restore fertility as no other means could do, that is within our 

 reach. 



In red clover an all wise Creator has provided for us a plant that does 

 not depend, as other grasses or grains, on the surface soil for support, 

 but sends its roots deep into the clay subsoil, and brings to the surface 

 plant food, thus placing it within reach of the shallow rooted grain 

 crops. No other agent known to man can perform this work equal to 

 red clover, and no subsoil plow, with all the power that could be applied, 

 could penetrate the clay subsoil to a depth of 15 or more feet, and bring 

 to the surface of the ground the plant food, stored away for ages, and 

 make it available for the production of other crops that have not been 

 provided with subsoil roots, and must depend for food upon the ground 

 near the surface. 



Two crops of corn in succession is all that should be taken from the 

 best soils, the third year a crop of small grain, to be seeded with clover 

 and timothy, and the removel of not to exceed one crop of hay and 

 at least two years in pasture to be again followed by corn, would al- 

 most double the present yield of this cereal and at the same time main- 

 tain the fertility of the soil indefinitely . 



In conclusion I will quote an old adage that I often heard in my boy- 

 hood days in Scotland, and it is just as true here as it was on the other 

 side of the Atlantic Ocean: "To secure success in farming, clean your 



