CULTIVATED CROPS tl 



As farmers change from grain raising to a more diver- 

 sified type of agriculture, more live stock will be kept and 

 more corn raised. The average 160-acre farm will then 

 raise from 30 to 50 acres of corn each year. 



A Young Man's Opportimity. — If a young man begins 

 farming on one of these farms when he is twenty years old, 

 and continues until he is fifty, he will raise during his active 

 life approximately 1,200 acres of corn. It will make quite 

 a difference to him and his family whether he follows indif- 

 ferent methods of farming and gets an average yield of 30 

 bushels per acre, or whether he follows good methods and 

 gets 50 bushels per acre. It will pay, and pay well, any boy 

 who expects to raise corn to thoroughly master the subject, 

 so that he will get the extra 20 bushels per acre. 



Requirements. — Nearly every large business is made up 

 of many details, and corn growing is no exception. The 

 lour general requirements for a good crop of com are, good 

 seed, good soil, good tillage and good climatic conditions. 



Good seed is easily secured by selecting good ears of corn 

 from good plants, and by carefully curing, storing, testing 

 and grading it. 



Good soil may be had in almost any part of the United 

 States by properly caring for the land we have. By prac- 

 ticing rotation of crops, by keeping live stock and feeding 

 on the farm most of the field crops raised instead of selling 

 them and thus losing fertility, by draining land that is 

 too wet, and by keeping in check noxious weeds, land may 

 be maintained at a high state of productivity. 



Good tillage means doing the things which make the 

 soil the best possible place for the crop to grow. This 

 requires a knowledge of the soil, of the movement of water 

 in the soil, of the habits of plants, and of the methods by 

 which plant food is liberated. 



Climatic Conditions. — Good seed, good soil, and good 

 tillage are within the control of the farmer. Climatic 

 conditions are not, though he may do many things to guard 

 against unfavorable weather. He can drain his land to 

 avoid an excess of moisture and to make his soil warmer. 

 He can regulate his tillage operations to conserve moisture 

 in case of drouth and to aid in warming the soil, if it is too 



