PLANNING THE FARM 1 15 



supporting bacteria which bring into the soil atmospheric 

 nitrogen ; by providing a good seed bed ; by opening up 

 impervious subsoils by the roots; by improving the 

 mechanical conditions of the furrow-slice so that it may 

 be put into better tilth; and by increasing the farm 

 supply of manure. 



As a general rule cultivated crops prepare the im- 

 mediate conditions of the land for the grains ; grains for 

 the grasses, especially where the grasses are grown the 

 first year among grain crops ; and the grasses, in turn, 

 prepare the land for cultivated crops, as in the following 

 rotation: First year, corn; second year, wheat; third 

 year, clover; and repeat indefinitely. 



All the crops in the rotation should be in practical 

 sequence, as : First year, corn ; second year, wheat ; 

 third, fourth and fifth years, timothy and clover for 

 hay and pasturage; sixth year, grain. Here the corn 

 prepares the land for the wheat, and also provides a solid 

 furrow-slice with mellow seed bed, suited to insure a 

 catch of timothy and clover seeded with the spring 

 wheat; the wheat gives a profitable crop, while the 

 clover and timothy plants have a year in which to 

 start among the wheat so as to yield well the third 

 year ; the grass sod provides splendid conditions for 

 the oats, barley, flax or other grain grown in the 

 sixth year; and after receiving part of the year's 

 product of stable manure, the grain stubble, plowed 

 in either fall or spring, puts the soil in splendid condition 

 for the crop of corn, with which the rotation is again 

 inaugurated. 



This rotation scheme includes crops each of which 

 gives a large average net profit; requires the expense 

 of plowing each field only twice in six years, once for 

 the corn and once for grain ; keeps in check weeds and 

 plant diseases; maintains a good percentage of organic 

 matter in the soil; provides for a high annual rate pf 



