SOIL IMPROVEMENT IO/ 



or three months, then ceases almost entirely. There most un- 

 satisfactory labor conditions prevail. 



Some Good Rotations. A favorite three-year rotation where 

 wheat and root crops are grown is wheat, clover, rye, and pota- 

 toes. The wheat and clover are seeded in the fall. The wheat 

 is cut the next summer, and the clover stands two years. The 

 clover is followed by a winter cover crop of oats or rye which 

 is grazed and followed by potatoes. 



Where cotton or tobacco is the main crop, a good three-year 

 rotation is the one described, corn and crimson clover, cotton 

 or tobacco, small grain, and cowpeas or soy beans. 



A good four-year rotation is clover, wheat, and tobacco ; in 

 this the clover stands two years. Another four-year rotation 

 is potatoes, oats, clover, and wheat. A five-year rotation which 

 includes small fruits is corn, wheat and cowpeas, early potatoes 

 and beans, and strawberries for two years. 



Where dairy-farming and market-gardening are practiced, 

 manures and fertilizers are largely relied on instead of crop 

 rotation. 



EXERCISE 



1 . Plan a rotation to bring in the staple crop of your section with re- 

 gard to the principles explained. 



2. Plan a rotation to bring in sweet potatoes as chief crop on sandy 

 soil ; tobacco as chief crop on loam ; hay as chief crop on clay soil. 



3. Plan a rotation to improve a clay soil that lacks humus; one 

 to improve a thin, sandy soil. 



4. Set aside two plots of equal size. Divide one into three parts 

 and cultivate on it the crops in one of the three-year rotations described. 

 On the other plot grow for three years the main crop in the same ro- 

 tation. 



5. Write an exercise on "crop rotation," illustrating it from your 

 observation of the farms of your neighborhood. 



