TILLAGE 25 



loss of moisture. Thus at least two reasons for early plow- 

 ing are removed. The green crop, whether plowed under 

 or pastured off, would add considerable vegetable matter 

 to the soil, which would be of more value to the next crop 

 than the plant food that would be liberated by the early 

 fall plowing. As the country becomes more thickly settled, 

 and better methods of farming are practiced, farmers will 

 have fewer fields lying idle during the fall. Many farmers 

 now get from 50c to $4.00 worth of feed per acre from their 

 fields after the main crop has been harvested. This in- 

 come is almost entirely net profit, and cannot be over- 

 looked as more intensive systems of farming are made 

 necessary by higher priced land. 



Fall Feed. — On many farms pastures are very poor dur- 

 ing the fall and cattle must be fed dry feed or, what more 

 often follows, allowed to get poor or to run down in milk 

 flow. Such conditions are very undesirable, and in most 

 years unnecessary. Clover sown with the grain crop in 

 the spring, or rye sown in the stubble as soon as the grain 

 crop is removed, or rape sown at almost any season of the 

 year, will in ordinary years furnish an abundance of fall 

 pasture. Good fall pasture not only furnishes cheap feed 

 during the fall, but gives stock an excellent start for winter. 

 While the old habit of getting all the land plowed in the 

 fall was an excellent one, and necessary when grain was 

 the only crop, there are now many instances where much 

 better results would be obtained were some of the fields 

 made to produce fall pasture rather than left bare during 

 the fall, in which condition more or less plant food is lost 

 by such exposure. If catch crops are grown on the field so 

 that early fall plowing can not be done, it is better to plow 

 late in the fall than to wait until spring. Most crops do 

 better on fall plowing than on spring plowing. Spring 

 plowing, being loose, is likely to become too dry. 



No Best Time. — There is no best time to plow. The 

 time must be determined by conditions. It is hoped that 

 those who read this lesson will think about the things 

 mentioned, and observe what the best farmers in their 

 neighborhoods are doing. They will then be better able 

 to decide intelligently when to plow. 



