THE CALL OF THE LAND 



determine best varieties, methods of culti- 

 vation or rotations. With systematic study 

 the trade must be astonishingly profitable. 



We have learned that manure, besides 

 fertilizing, invaluably maintains and in- 

 creases humus. Rotation, with emphasis 

 upon grass crops, also conserves humus. 

 Grassing land for a series of years makes it 

 profitable as meadow or pasture, increasing 

 corn yield, in cases, 25 to 50 per cent. 



In feeding cattle a given balance of 

 nutrients through corn and alfalfa, with a 

 little stover or unhusked corn, secures the 

 cheapest beef production. Alfalfa is vastly 

 superior to prairie hay, and the extension of 

 its area, supplanting the less valuable and 

 lower yielding native, means a vast incre- 

 ment to our wealth. Good feeders no 

 longer use prairie hay with corn alone, but 

 with corn and a protein food like oil meal. 

 They are giving new attention to rough 

 fodder. Cornstalks, wasted by unenterpris- 

 ing farmers, if shocked immediately after 

 the ears ripen, possess a food value one-third 

 that of the corn itself. 



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