206 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



experiment. Not only should the seed be strong in vitality, but 

 it should be uniform in size. (Ohio Ex. Sta. C. 96.) 



Efforts of the Experiment Stations. All the Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Stations have conducted many tests, but all have not 

 reached the same results; even under similar conditions; perhaps 

 this is partly due to different system of rotation, and partly due 

 to difference in soil, climate, and the amount and character of the 

 fertilizer used. These experiments have been mainly of three, 

 four and six year rotations, with substantially the following re- 

 sults: 



1. There is choice even among good rotation schemes. In 

 these experiments all those cropping systems gave large net profits 

 in which corn, small grains, and timothy and clover sod laid for 

 one to four years, were arranged in a four to seven year rotation, 

 with light manuring once during the course. 



2. The standard five year rotation followed on the check 

 plot is: First year, corn, following the application of eight tons 

 of manure per acre; 2nd year, wheat; 3rd and 4th years, meadow; 

 5th year, oats. This rotation has given an average gross income 

 per year, based on average farm prices, of $14.08. The cost of 

 production, including $3.50 land rental, is $9.05, leaving a net 

 annual income of $5.03 per acre. 



3. Several other rotation schemes were even more profitable 

 than the one used for a standard; while crops grown continuously 

 and crops not properly arranged in the rotation were less profitable 

 or even resulted in a loss. 



4. The best rotations in these experiments have yielded a 

 product worth from four to six dollars per acre more than is ob- 

 tained on the average farm throughout the state. 



5. Many farmers would profit were they to practice systems 

 of cropping which include the alternation of grain crops, grass 

 crops as clover and timothy sown together, and cultivated crops 

 arranged in any rotation scheme best suited to their conditions. 



6. The experimental evidence shows that the use of manure 

 and clover add to the nitrogen and that manure, also clover and 

 timothy, add fresh vegetable matter to the soil. 



7. Any systems of cropping that have provided for the 

 maintenance of a supply of vegetable matter in the soil, either by 

 manuring or by growing pasture or meadow crops, have given 

 profitable returns. 



8. The plots which have grown cultivated crops, such as 

 corn, potatoes and mangels, continuously without manure, have 

 given poorer returns than have the plots which have grown grain 

 continuously without manure. This is believed to be due to the 

 fact that the intertillage given these crops has caused a more rapid 

 depletion of vegetable matter than has taken place in the con- 

 tinuous grain fields. 



9. The four-year rotation: First year, millet; 2nd year, 

 barley; 3rd year, corn; 4th year, oats, gave no better returns than 

 did the plot on which wheat was grown continuously. All of the 



