FOR BETTER CROPS 



12a 



man}' instances four crops of grain may come i)etween the grass 

 crops without too quickly depleting the land of the humus 

 supply. 



If the hay crop grown should be'a legume, as for instance red 

 clover, then the most profitable rotation is clover cut twice in 

 one season, a cultivated crop as corn or potatoes next season, 

 and a cereal crop seeded to clover the third season. Such a- 

 rotation is unrivaled for the maintenance of maximum produc- 

 tion in crops. 



But there may be instances when it is not desirable to rotate 

 hay crops. Certain soils have special adaptation to growing 

 hay, and they may be so situated that hay crops grown upon 

 them are more remunerative than other crops; such are re- 

 claimed tide lands by the sea, and in some instances river bot- 

 tom lands subject or not subject to overflow. 



In some cases hay is so dear relatively that it is more profit- 



Marvesting the hay crop 



able to keep the land growing hay for successive years when 

 once a good stand has been obtained. The production in the 

 crop is then maintained by applying artificial fertilizers. In 

 other instances good crops may be grown for a long term of 

 years without fertilizers, as when certain marsh lands have been 

 reclaimed, and yet in other instances a certain hay crop may 

 have so high an adaptation to certain soils, that it may produce 

 many successive crops of hay without injury to the land, such 

 as the alfalfa crop. 



Mixed Grasses for Hay —Some grasses grow best alone. 

 This may arise from inability to cope with other grasses, as in 

 the case of alfalfa; hence, except under peculiarly favorable con- 

 ditions, the aim is to grow alfalfa alone. Or, it may arise from 

 the greatly aggressive character of these grasses, which enables 

 them soon to crowd out other grasses. Such are Johnson grass, 

 grown in the south, Bermuda grass also grown there. Kentucky 

 blue grass, which grows over almost the entire United States- 



