35 



withstanding these facts, it is not the best farm practice to put corn 

 many years in succession upon the same ground; better economical 

 results can be obtained if it is grown in rotation. On many Massa- 

 chusetts farms where corn is or should be an important crop, the only 

 other crop occupying any considerable area is hay, — mixed grass and 

 clover. Under these conditions, a very satisfactory rotation is mixed 

 hay for either two or three years, according to the quantity desired, 

 corn to be husked for grain one year and ensilage corn one year. 

 Corn does exceptionally well on a mixed grass and clover sod; and, 

 as has been pointed out in my articles on the hay crop in Massachusetts, 

 seeding to grass and clover in ensilage corn seems to be one of the 

 most satisfactory methods, unless the soils are very deficient in water 

 holding and conducting capacity. The decaying roots and stubble of 

 the clover sod will furnish to the succeeding corn crop a large pro- 

 portion of the nitrogen needed. Thus, for example, on one of the 

 plots of the experiment station in Amherst, which for fourteen years 

 had received an annual application of fertilizers supplying only phos- 

 phoric acid and potash, and without any application of nitrogen 

 throughout the entire period, corn gave a yield at the rate of about 

 56 bushels of shelled grain per acre, on a freshly turned mixed grass 

 and clover sod. 



Manures and Fertilizers. 



On all farms where stock is kept and where the principal crops are 

 mixed hay, corn and potatoes, the corn field is without doubt the 

 best place in which to use the manure. Corn is a rank feeding crop, 

 and capable of utilizing to great advantage elements of fertility sup- 

 plied early in the season in relatively unavailable forms, such as are 

 found in farm manures. The principal reason why corn, better than 

 either mixed grass and clover or potatoes, will utilize the elements 

 of value in manures, is because its principal growth is made so much 

 later in the season. Previous to the time when it makes heavy 

 demands upon the soil, the elements which are unavailable at the 

 time of application of the manure will have been rendered available 

 through the action of natural agencies. Every farmer of experience 

 knows that splendid corn crops can be raised upon manure alone; 

 and every such farmer knows also that on seeding after the cultivation 

 of corn on heavy applications of manure fine croj^s of timothy hay can 

 be produced. Under some circumstances, the use of manure alone, 

 then, in raising the corn crop may prove entirely satisfactory; but it 

 is the belief of the writer that, under the average conditions existing 

 upon the dairy farm at least, there is a better way than to depend upon 

 manure alone. Especially is this true if the hay produced upon the 

 farm is all fed to the farm stock. If the hay is to be fed out on the 

 farm, it is highly desirable that it contain a liberal admixture of clover. 

 If corn crops are raised on heavy applications of manure alone, clover 

 is not likely to do so well when the land is seeded as it will in those 

 cases where the application of manure is more moderate, and is sup- 

 plemented by small quantities of something supplying phosphoric acid 

 and potash. This fact has been pointed out and the subject discussed 

 at some length in the writer's articles on the hay crop and on clovers,^ 

 and it seems unnecessary to present facts and figures here to establish 

 the point. It will be useful, however, to point out the difference in 

 results produced upon one of the fields of the experiment station at 

 Amherst under the two systems of fertilization. This field was laid 

 out for the purpose of this experiment in 1891, and since that time it 



1 Agriculture of Massachusetts, 1904, 1905 and 1906. 



