20 FOB BETTER CBOPS 



On similar soil in Wayne county in southern Illinois, an 

 experiment tield was started on forty acres of land in 1905. A 

 four-year rotation of wheat, clover, corn, and cowpeas (or soy 

 beans) is practiced on four ten-acre fields, so that each crop may 

 be represented every year. Two tons of ground limestone and 

 one ton of fine ground raw rock phosphate, per acre, are applied 

 once in four years on part of each field, while no limestone or 

 phosphate are applied to the remainder, which is cropped and 

 treated alike in all other respects. At $1.25 per ton for the 

 limestone and $7.50 per ton for the phosphate, the cost of these 

 materials amounts to $10.00 per acre once in four years; whereas, 

 in 1910 the land treated with limestone and phosphate produced 

 17 bushels more wheat, 2i tons more clover (in two cuttings), 19 

 bushels more corn, and nearly 8 bushels more soy beans, per 

 acre, than the land not so treated. Here is very satisfactory 

 profit and positive soil enrichment. Still greater benefit is ex- 

 pected in the future, because hereafter the manure applied or 

 the clover and crop residues to be plowed under will be in 

 proportion to the crop yields of the previous rotation. 



The treatment recommended for these soils, which are well 

 represented by the extensive worn "clay lands" in Ohio, Indiana, 

 southern Illinois ("Egypt"), and Missouri, is as follows: 



Apply 1,000 to 2,000 pounds to the acre of finely ground 

 natural rock phosphate with as much organic matter as possible 

 (manure, legume crops, etc.,) and plow under, then apply two 

 or three tons to the acre of ground natural limestone and mix 

 with the surface soil in preparing the seed bed, and then grow 

 a good rotation of crops, such as wheat, clover, corn, and cow- 

 peas, or wheat, clover, wheat, clover, corn and cowpeas; or 

 corn, cowpeas, wheat, meadow and pasture (clover and timothy 

 being seeded with the wheat crop for two or three years' 

 meadow and pasture). At the end of the rotation another 

 heavy application of rock phosphate in connection with all availa- 

 ble farm manure, should be made, preferably to the pasture 

 ground and plowed under for corn. 



If necessary, limestone must be added occasionally to keep 

 the soil sweet. About two tons per acre every rotation will be 

 sufficient. (Blue litmus paper, which can be obtained from a 

 drug store, if placed in contact with the moist soil for 20 min- 

 utes will be turned red if the soil is sour). 



The Value of Farm Manure — Farm manure always has 

 been and probably always will be one of the most important and 

 abundant materials for soil improvement. It is a necessary 

 product on every farm and on stock farms a product which 

 accumulates in very large amounts. If not used for soil im- 

 provement, it becomes a worthless nuisance about the stables, 

 whether in the city or in the country. 



