CHAPTER XV 



THE THREE C'S COWS, COEN AND CLOVER 



Diversified Farming. All who understand the con- 

 ditions are agreed that diversified farming will yield 

 the largest returns with least waste to the fertility of 

 the soil. But what is meant by diversified farming ? 



When a farmer grows wheat to sell, and little else, 

 that may be called wheat farming. If he depends upon 

 tobacco alone, we call that tobacco farming. If he 

 plants his entire farm to corn and feeds it to hogs for 

 the market, we may properly call that kind of farming 

 corn and hog farming. Whenever he engages in two 

 or more kinds of farming his work becomes "diversi- 

 fied." The greater the number of different things he 

 raises the greater the diversification. 



Clover. But we have agreed that it is not a good 

 thing to raise grain or tobacco exclusively, for the 

 market. We have learned that this kind of farming 

 soon wears out the soil, and does not pay in the long 

 run. We have learned, too, that milk products con- 

 tain little soil matter and are therefore easy on the 

 soil. We have observed that the animals usually sold 

 off the farm contain but small quantities of soil matter 

 in proportion to the feed that they consume. We now 

 know that clover feeds upon the free nitrogen of the 



