278 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



re-seeded in the fall. If a frost kills a crop, it may be 

 re-planted, or, if too late, a catch-crop may be put in 

 for that year and the rotation continued the next year. 



248. Variation of Crop Areas. An objection to rota- 

 tion is that it fixes the area of each crop each year. 

 Some persons think that a farmer should watch the market 

 and vary the areas of different crops to meet the market 

 demands. Usually it is very unwise for a farmer to enter 

 this field of speculation. 



The real business practice for most men to follow is 

 to decide on what crops pay best from year to year. Decide 

 on the proper acreage of each. Fix the rotation, and then 

 raise the same area each year, regardless of prices. If the 

 original selection is wise, this practice will have every- 

 thing in its favor. It will use a constant supply of labor 

 and machinery, rather than have equipment idle every 

 other year as the farmer oscillates, usually just in time 

 to miss rather than meet the high prices. 



249. Examples of Rotations. A five-year rotation of 

 corn, oats, wheat, grass two years, is practiced by many 

 of the best farmers of the northern states. This re- 

 quires that the farm be divided into at least five fields. 

 Corn, oats, wheat, each occupies one-fifth of the farm. 

 One-fifth is in clover and timothy one year old, and 

 one-fifth in timothy, as the clover is usually not very 

 abundant the second year. On many farms in this sec- 

 tion there is a permanent pasture. If there is none, one 

 of the meadows in the rotation is used as a pasture. In 

 this rotation, manure is usually put on the corn, and 

 some fertilizer may be used on the oats and the wheat. 

 The grass and clover are seeded in the wheat. With the 



