19 



growth, is plowed under in the fall. Potatoes are put upon this land 

 the third year, the aim being to plant as early as possible in the 

 spring so as to get a crop off in time for wheat. (F. B. 454.) 



In planning a cropping system the financial returns expected 

 should take a prominent place. As an illustration, on a farm where 

 a three-year rotation of corn, oats and clover has been adopted, the 

 total average yields which may be expected after it is put in opera- 

 tion are about as follows: 



Corn, 24 acres, at 60 bushels per acre bushels 1,440 



Oats, 24 acres, at 40 bushels per acre bushels 960 



Hay, 24 acres, at 2 tons per acre tons 48 



All of this produce can not be sold, however. The stock must 

 be fed, and for this purpose it is assumed that the following quantities 

 will be required throughout the year for the different kinds of stock : 



Pounds. 



4 mares, grain fed, 15 pounds each daily 21,900 



2 colts, grain fed, 1 pound each, 300 days 600 



2 cows, grain fed, 4 pounds each, 180 days 1,440 



Total 23,940 



The figures given are averages. It is expected that the grain fed 

 the heavy type of draft horses kept on this farm will average nearer 

 20 pounds during the busiest part of the working season and con- 

 siderably less than 15 pounds in winter. Usually in winter, when 

 but little farm work is going on, only one team will be fed grain. 

 In the above estimates no account is taken of the hay fed to stock, 

 as it is often the custom to use oat straw and corn stover as the only 

 roughage either winter or summer. (F. B. 370.) 



An important feature of a correct cropping system is that the 

 principal operations be performed on a fixed day each succeeding 

 year or as near it as the weather will permit. 



Conservation of Manure. Not a pound of solid or liquid 

 manure should be permitted to go to waste, if the wastage can be 

 prevented. The method of conserving and handling manure on 

 a model farm is thus described: The method can be used only on 

 farms on which stock is kept in stalls, and it is therefore not appli- 

 cable to all styles of stock farming ; but it is so unique, so perfectly 

 systematized, and bears such an intimate relation to the success 

 attained, that an account of the farm would be incomplete without a 

 full statement of it. Behind each row of cows is a gutter 18 inches 

 wide and 7 inches deep. These gutters have no outlets. They are 

 thoroughly cleaned daily. (The whole barn is disinfected twice a 

 week by a free use of creolin, and the interior is frequently white- 

 washed.) When cleaned, the gutters are sprinkled with ashes or 

 dry dirt to absorb what moisture may be present. During the day 

 a quantity of absorbent, consisting of leaf mold, rotten sod, etc., is 

 placed in them. Each gutter ends near a door. The manure is 

 lifted from the gutter into a cart backed up to the door. The end of 

 the gutter next the door is slightly lower than the other end. One 

 man lifts the manure with a fork and places it in the lower end of 



