516 JEFFERSON COUNTY, IOWA. 



since then as high as two dollars per bushel. Last 3-ear I sold 

 at an average of seventy-five cents per bushel, or two hundred 

 and twenty-five dollars per acre, the average number of bushels 

 being three hundred per acre, Avhich is an ordinary yield. The 

 Early Red seems to take the lead of the several varieties grown 

 here. 



W. J. EMERSON, 



^ VEGA, JEFFERSON COUNTY. 



Drainage — Fertilizers — Ploiving — Rotation of Crojys — 3Iix- 

 inrj Seeds — Meadows — Shelter. 



My farm, situated in the southenstern part of the State, 

 is composed of one hundred and nineteen acres of j)rairie in 

 cultivation, divided into fields of convenient size. My princi- 

 pal object in cultivating land is to produce the greatest amount 

 of grain, or grass, possible from any given area. To this end 

 there are three things that not only require, but demand care- 

 ful attention, viz. : Drainage, fertilizing, and proper plowing. 



DRAINAGE 



I consider as of the first importance, for without it much of 

 the land in tliis and adjoining counties would be comparatively 

 worthless. In speaking of draining ground we do not neces- 

 sarily mean the laying of tile drains, which, however, I think 

 the proper method of draining fields, as well as cellars. But 

 owing to the lateness of introducing tile, and the attendant 

 cost of laying it successfully, few have gone into the enter- 

 prise. Those who have, claim that the products of their fields 

 have been increased one hundred per cent, in ordinary seasons 

 by it; in very wet seasons they arc able to produce fair 

 crops, when without the drain the yield was notliing. The 

 ordinary method of draining ground with the plow, or those 

 fields which arc quite level, with both plow and scraper, is of 

 so much importance that it can not be neglected with impunity. 



FERTILIZERS. 



Applying fertilizing elements to the soil is a matter under- 



