222 THE POTATO 



nitrogen. Alfalfa, clovers, peas, and other legumes 

 grow so luxuriantly in many localities, and place 

 and leave such large amounts of fertility in the soil, 

 that the nitrogen problem consists simply of grow- 

 ing legumes in the rotation. The keeping of live- 

 stock and the return of manure to the land replace 

 some of all of the elements to the soil in a good 

 combination. 



A rotation of crops, and their arrangement as 

 far as location on the farm is concerned, is a matter 

 that must be worked out for the requirements of 

 the individual holding. 



The farmer is a manufacturer. He directs the 

 growing of meat and dairy products, the fruit, 

 grain, and vegetable crops from the soil and other 

 elements. To get all the returns from the business, 

 he must have no waste, and the by-products must 

 be manufactured into some marketable form. 

 His unmarketable potatoes must be utilized for 

 feed and his unmarketable fruits must be made 

 into cider, vinegar, or jelly. The farmer who 

 makes the greatest success is the one that produces 

 a pound of beef, a pound of pork, or a pound of 

 butter the cheapest. To do this he must know the 

 value of the grain and the hay he uses in producing 

 them. He must know on how much less food a 

 year-old animal makes a pound of gain than a two- 

 year-old animal. He must know how much food it 

 takes for a pound of gain for a steer and how much 

 for a hog. He must know how to market to the 

 best advantage the products that he raises on his 

 farm, whether directly from the fields or as meat, 

 dairy products or poultry, or as draft horses, 

 pure cattle, hogs or sheep. 



There is no *'best" breed of horses, no "best" 

 breed of cattle, and likewise no "best" kind of 



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