CROPPING SYSTEMS 409 



Nearly all farmers will want to vary the rotation from 

 time to time as prices and other conditions change. It is 

 not often desirable to follow an absolutely fixed system 

 year after year. The example of England is often cited 

 as a region where farmers have fixed rotations, but this 

 is not the case. The farmers of England vary the areas 

 from year to year and change the rotation to meet changes 

 in prices of products. The farmers in the Northeastern 

 States probably have about as definite rotations as do 

 those in England. 



In the South and in the new regions of the United 

 States, very much more attention should be given to 

 crop rotation. 



251. Two rotations on one farm. Many farmers use 

 more than one crop rotation. Potato growers often grow 

 potatoes in a three-year rotation of potatoes, small grain, 

 clover; and at the same time, use a longer rotation on 

 other parts of the farm. A rotation of corn, small grain, 

 and hay, making a five- or six-year rotation, is often used 

 for the other land. The two rotations often change fields, 

 so that a field is sometimes in one of the rotations and 

 sometimes in the other. 



In the bean-growing section of New York and Michi- 

 gan, the beans are usually grown in a rotation of beans, 

 wheat, and hay. The same farms often have another 

 rotation of corn, oats, wheat, and hay. The two systems 

 are usually worked in together, so that a field is sometimes 

 in one and sometimes in the other rotation. 



In tobacco-growing sections, tobacco is often grown in 

 a very short rotation on the richest land, and the remainder 

 of the farm used for a longer rotation with general farm 

 crops. 



Often it is desirable to have a rotation on small fields 



