CHAPTER XVIII 



THE HAY CROP 



THERE has long been a notion that the man who 

 sells hay is certain to reduce the fertility of his 

 soil, and doubtless hay making and selling has 

 been practiced and still is practiced by many farmers with 

 this result. But there is no reason why a farmer who 

 practices the proper rotation of crops, and is situated 

 near a good hay market, should not make hay his money 

 crop profitably for himself and his land. 



But in many sections near the large cities the practice 

 is to run the land, year after year, in timothy until it will 

 no longer make a paying crop, and then plow for com. 

 This practice is certain to reduce the fertihty of the soil, 

 especially where such farmers are making milk for the 

 city in addition to selHng hay. 



At a farmers' institute in one of the best counties adja- 

 cent to the city of Philadelphia, we noticed that the 

 farmers were mowing their lands for years before turning 

 back to hoed crops. I urged that they should adopt a 

 shorter rotation and grow more clover. But they told us 

 that it was no use, as they could not grow clover as they 

 once did. The reason was perfectly plain. They had 

 run their land in timothy till it was deficient in the mineral 

 matters that clover needs and had gotten it into an acid 



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