ROTATIONS FOR TRUCK FARMING 145 



Winter wheat is sometimes followed by winter wheat with a 

 catch crop of very early cow peas or soy beans started quickly by 

 disking the stubble. This plan is pursued for two, three or four 

 years, and then the ground is seeded to clover and timothy after 

 the last crop of wheat. After one year of clover and one or two 

 years of timothy the sod is turned under and corn is grown two 

 or three years with a winter cover crop sown in the corn each 

 summer until that fall wlien wheat is to be started again. 



In cotton fields the crop should be followed each year with a 

 winter cover started each summer in the cotton. After three 

 3 r ears of cotton on the field, corn crops, or perhaps early potatoes, 

 are grown for two seasons. Or corn is grown one season and pota- 

 toes one season. A winter cover crop should follow in each case. 

 The ground is then given one year's rest from any market crop by 

 leaving the winter cover for an early hay crop during that summer. 

 A crop of cow peas may be grown and the soil prepared for cotton 

 the following spring. 



Shorter rotation courses are always more beneficial to the soil. 

 The yields are better and other advantages of rotation are realized. 



Washington's Rotation. In the years preceding 1800, George 

 Washington was using the following seven-crop rotation on one of 

 his farms in Virginia : 



Wheat, fall sown. 



Buckwheat, for manure. 



Wheat, fall sown. 



Clover or grass, three years. 



Corn and potatoes in alternate rows. 



Rotation for Peanut Growers. Southern peanut growers may 

 adopt a four-year rotation somewhat like this : 



First year, cotton and bur clover. 



Second year, corn and cow peas. 



Third year, peanuts, followed by winter oats. 



Fourth year, peanuts for hogs after oats. 



In some sections the peanut crop is grown between the rows 

 of corn as shown in figure 91. In that case the rotation may be 

 much shorter, and cotton need not enter into the rotation. 



Rotations for Truck Farming. In gardens and truck farming, 

 rotations should be practiced. It is in such places that the greatest 

 benefits are realized. When a single crop is grown continuously, 

 in the same part of the garden, some of the greatest difficulties 

 are found. Beets, potatoes, turnips and other root crops, are 

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