FARM MANAGEMENT 333 



The Potato Crop. — The chief field crop that is raised 

 for sale is potatoes; so the whole farm is planned to give 

 good crops of potatoes. The first crop of clover is cut for 

 hay. Sometimes the second crop is cut for seed, but more 

 often it is plowed under to add plant food for the potato 

 crop which is to follow. All the manure made on the farm 

 is also applied to the clover land. The clover and manure 

 have made the land rich and the clover crop has aided in 

 cleaning it of weeds. The potatoes have a clean, rich soil 

 in which to grow. 



Com. — Only a part of the clover sod plowed up is planted 

 to potatoes. The remainder is planted to corn. The corn 

 and potatoes are regarded as one crop in the rotation, since 

 they are both cultivated crops and have about the same 

 effect on the soil. He gives his corn land the same careful 

 preparation that he gives his potato land, and consequently 

 gets good crops. 



Oats. — After he has grown his crop of corn and potatoes 

 he wishes to seed his land to clover again, because he has 

 found that it is the best crop he can raise to put his land 

 in good condition for corn and potatoes again; besides, he 

 needs the clover hay for his cows. As clover must be sown 

 with a grain crop, he seeds this corn and potato land the 

 following spring to oats. With oats he sows clover and 

 timothy seed for a crop the year after the oats are harvested. 



Clover. — Getting a catch of clover is the key to his 

 success as a farmer; so he takes every precaution to be 

 sure of a stand. The cultivation given the corn and potatos 

 saves moisture, and the manure and clover in the soil give 

 up plant food, so that there is more moisture and plant 

 food in such land the following year than there would be if 

 the field had been pastured or had grown a crop of grain. 

 This extra moisture and plant food help to start the clover 

 seed sown with the oats the year after the land grows com 

 and potatoes. 



Results. — That this kind of farming pays is shown by 

 results. Besides good crops of clover, corn and oats, the 

 potato crop on this farm brings from $60.00 to $100.00 per 

 acre annually. As it costs about $30.00 per acre to raise 

 potatoes, it is plain that there is a profit on these crops. 



