SPECIAL FARM TOPICS 187 



pend largely on climate as well as character of the principal revenue 

 crop. 



In those sections largely devoted to the raising of potatoes a 

 carefully planned system of rotation is followed. As a rule in those 

 sections potatoes are grown only one year, followed by oats or wheat, 

 with which are sown clover and timothy for hay. The hay crop 

 is cut one year and the ground plowed in the fall for a new potato 

 crop. With potatoes frequent cultivation is the keynote to success. 

 Fourteen cultivations have been known to produce 140 barrels to 

 the acre, while an adjoining field similar in condition and soil pro- 

 duced only 70 barrels with two cultivations. (F. B. 365.) 



Careful selection of the seed, systematic spraying and frequent 

 cultivation are essentials in intensive cultivation of potatoes. Green 

 manure as a fertilizer has been the most successful. (F. B. 365.) 



Intensive Farming Applied to the Dairy. One of the biggest 

 national problems which is receiving attention today, is the con- 

 servation of natural resources. No one doubts the importance or 

 timeliness of this great question. But a still larger problem to con- 

 sider is the saving of human energy, for there is much waste of 

 human lives in weary, unprofitable toil. To many a dairyman this 

 conservation means that he could increase his profits tenfold, as 

 others have done, without running down the land or robbing some 

 other farm, by simply putting intelligence into his business, and 

 thus win for himself and family the opportunity for greater com- 

 fort, development, and useful service to humanity. 



Why is the average annual production of the cows in the United 

 States only 150 pounds of butter fat, causing a loss of $1.40 to the 

 owner, instead of 325 pounds of butter fat, making a profit of $40.40 

 annually the point to which dairymen have increased their grade 

 herds by simply putting intelligence into the business, and this is 

 by no means the maximum of what can be done. There is no rea- 

 son why all of the herds in the United States should not be yielding 

 as large an annual production as these, if they were as intelligently 

 handled. Dairymen do not stop to consider the tremendous trifles 

 in their business. While the difference in earning power of these 

 cows is only 11% cents per day, this small increase for each of the 

 18,000,000 cows in the United States would mean an additional 

 profit of $757,000,000 annually for the dairymen. 



The fundamental principle on which all agriculture is based 

 is: "How much of a given product can be permanently obtained 

 from an acre of land, and at what profit?" From this fundamental, 

 basal standpoint, the dairyman's problem is : "How much milk and 

 butter fat can be obtained per acre of land, and at what gain?" 



Wherever intensive dairying has been discussed, it has usually 

 taken the form of keeping a cow to an acre of land. What is the 

 meaning of a cow per acre? Absolutely nothing. This brings us 

 again to the same old misunderstood problem over which dairymen 

 have blundered. Many think that a cow is a cow, and that ends it. 

 There have been cows at the University of Illinois, purchased from 

 the dairy herds of the state, one of which produced ten times as 



