CHAPTER IX 

 SYSTEMS OF CROPPING 



One of the first farm-management questions to be 

 considered is the kind of crops to grow and the order 

 in which they shall be grown. 



242. The Choice of Crops. The choice of crops is much 

 more than a question of which crops will sell for the most 

 per acre, or even which will produce the most net profit 

 per acre. Corn may pay better than oats, yet it may be 

 wise to continue to grow oats. One can raise all the corn 

 that he has time to grow and raise some oats besides, - 

 because most of the work on the oat crop comes at a time 

 when the corn crop does not require attention. Barley, 

 oats and spring wheat require work at about the same 

 time, so that a farmer usually chooses one from these. 

 Rye and winter wheat are also competitors, but neither 

 one interferes much with the work of raising spring grains. 



The general principle is that a farmer should have 

 work for the entire year. Each day he should do the kind 

 of work that pays best on that day, although it may be 

 much less profitable than work that he might do at some 

 other time. The same principle applies in all occupations. 



While a small number of crops is better than a single 

 crop, yet it is not well to have too many nor to have too 

 small areas of each. In order to grow potatoes profitably, 

 one usually needs to have considerable special machinery, 

 such as a planter, a digger, and a sprayer. One cannot 



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