26 



CANADIAN FARM YEAR BOOK. 



Facts on Crop Peculiarities. 



Alfalfa: Alfalfa grows after all 

 crops so long as the soil is stirred 

 deeply, is well manured and is free 

 from weeds. The best fore-crop is 

 a manured hoed crop. 



Alfalfa continues on a field usually 

 four to ten years, but sometimes 

 fifteen to twenty-five years. 



It is a great error to say that al- 

 falfa must be off a field as long as 

 it has been on the field. The longer 

 a good stand of alfalfa has been 

 down, the shorter the time before it 

 can be put down again in alfalfa. 



A good stand of alfalfa leaves the 

 soil in splendid shape for following 

 crops, while a poor stand with its 

 spots of crusted soil and weeds 

 makes a very poor fore-crop. 



A soil in which the water level is 

 near the surface is not in good con- 

 dition for alfalfa growing. 



Barley: Barley is the child of the 

 best agriculture. It delights in soil 

 prepared to the point of a flower- 

 garden. Barley is grown on all soils, 

 from sand to clay — to be injured by 

 drought on sand and by lodging on 

 the clay. Brewing barley must have 

 a deep sandy loam, carrying lime, or 

 the fairly dense marl, and both sup- 

 plied with humus. 



Through some perversion of 

 thought, barley now is chosen to be 

 put in only when everything else has 

 had attention, and usually on fields 

 overrun with weeds. 



Barley must not come on new " 

 breaking. Barley does not do well 

 following itself. It does best after 

 manured hoed crops — sugar beets, 

 corn (maize), potatoes — especially 

 sugar beets. After potatoes the qual- 

 ity is good but the yield is not high. 

 Barley does not do well after turnips. 

 As sugar beet soil is the "barley 

 soil," these crops alone furnish a 

 very profitable rotation. 



Clover: The real clover soil is the 

 deep, medium moist loam and clay 

 containing humus and lime and un- 

 derlaid with a porous loamy subsoil. 

 Heavy sticky clay soil is made to 

 carry clover by heavy liming. Loamy 

 sand, poor dry lime or marl soils and 

 soils in which the water level comes 

 close to the surface are not good 

 clover soils. 



Clover grows after all crops so 



long as the soil is stirred deeply, is 

 well manured and is free from weeds. 

 The poor growth of clover when 

 grown with grasses and afterwards 

 pastured, is due to shallow cultiva- 

 tion and to the weeds co.aing from 

 the years of cereal growing. 



The best fore-crop is a manured 

 hoed crop. Always clover should 

 have a good place in the rotation, for 

 its failure seriously affects the live 

 stock. 



In Europe it is a well known fact 

 that clover should not follow clover. 

 On good clover soil clover may fol- 

 low once in six years, and on poorer 

 soils not oftener than from nine to 

 twelve years. Clover grass mixtures 

 may come on the same piece of 

 ground oftener without danger. 

 While clover sickness is not common 

 in Canada, it does exist and poor suc- 

 cess in growing the crop is possibly 

 due to this sickness. 



Like alfalfa, a good stand of clover 

 leaves the soil in splendid shape for 

 following crops, while a poor stand, 

 with its spots of cruste^ soil and 

 weeds, makes a very poor fore-crop. 



Com: Corn cannot stand wet land. 

 Excepting loose dry sand and sticky 

 wet clay, corn grows on all soils. 

 Corn does best on loam richly sup- 

 plied with humus. 



Corn and oats are the lusty bro- 

 thers among farm crops, due to the 

 vigorous root systems they possess. 

 The deep-going, wide-spreading roots 

 of corn, coupled with a disregard for 

 physical soil conditions, are the rea- 

 sons why corn will grow anywhere 

 in a rotation. 



Corn is not averse to following it- 

 self and does well when coming on 

 heavily manured grass and clover 

 sod. It can be used for the first two 

 or three crops on cleared woodland. 

 It follows the winter grains (wheat 

 or rye) to be followed in turn by 

 summer grains. Where the crop- 

 changing system is practised, com is 

 to be treated as a manured hoed crop. 

 Corn is like a baby, it must be nursed 

 while young. 



Oats: The oat turns up its nose at 

 no soil, if we except dry sand and 

 soil rich in lime. The oat particular- 

 ly likes a loam rich in humus, and is 

 well adapted for reclaimed swamp 

 lands. 



The oat is given the place In the 



