ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM 



It is a well recognized fact that the different 

 crops make different demands upon the soil. 

 For this reason the crops which are associated to- 

 gether in the systems of rotation should be such 

 as will make supplementary demands upon the 

 soil's elements of fertility. This in itself, how- 

 ever, is not a safe guide in determining which 

 plants should be introduced into the field-system ; 

 for it might lead to the cultivation of the less 

 profitable of two competing crops and thus reduce 

 the farmer's total net profit. Yet it should ever 

 be kept in mind that if one of two competing 

 crops exhausts the soil while the other adds to its 

 fertility, this must be taken into account when 

 calculating the net profit which these crops can 

 be made to yield. The crops being chosen which 

 will, one year with another, enable the farmer to 

 win the largest net profit, they should be arranged 

 in the field-system in such a manner as best to sup- 

 plement each other in their demands upon the soil. 



A comparative study of the crops and field- 

 systems of Europe and America will throw some 

 light upon the situation in America. A three- 

 field system of crop rotation prevailed through- 

 out Europe during the Middle Ages. Under this 

 system, the arable land was divided into three 

 parts. One part was sown with winter grain, 

 one part with spring grain, and the third part was 

 fallowed. The fallowed field was cultivated care- 

 fully to destroy the weeds and to bring the soil 



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