SYSTEMS OF CROPPING 273 



afford to have these without a considerable area. The 

 Interest and depreciation on these machines will likely 

 amount to $25 to $50 per year, an amount that is too 

 high a tax for a small area to carry. The same may be 

 said of special machinery for small orchards and for many 

 other crops. These remarks do not apply to the raising 

 of small quantities of vegetables and fruits for home use. 



With the exception of some very specialized types 

 of farming, some crops that are to be fed to animals 

 should be grown in order to keep up the fertility of the 

 land. 



In choosing what crops to grow, it is well to follow the 

 practice of the best farmers in the section until one gets 

 started. Changes may then be introduced gradually. 



243. The Rotation of. Crops. Rotation means that the 

 crops grown on each field are changed from time to time. 

 Practically every farmer does change crops occasionally. 

 Still, we have farms on which nothing but cotton has been 

 grown for years; others, on which no crop but wheat 

 has ever been planted. Sooner or later, all farmers will 

 come to practice some rotation. If no other system is 

 followed, the land will be abandoned for a time to grow 

 weeds, which is a primitive kind of rotation. The present 

 practices are haphazard, but some of the best farmers in 

 all sections are coming to more or less definite systems. 

 We do not usually speak of the haphazard changes as 

 crop-rotation. 



244. Crop-Rotation and Diversified Crops. The advan- 

 tages of having a variety of crops are often confused with 

 the advantages that come from crop-rotation. Diversi- 

 fication of crops keeps the laborer employed the year 



