The Selection of Crops 259 



it may be said that nature carries on for the farmer 

 more or less of a selective process, it must be remem- 

 bered that the rotation of crops, involving of necessity 

 an artificial selection of species, interferes with this 

 process. The old practice of maintaining mowing 

 fields for ten to twenty years without breaking the sod 

 might allow the grasses most congenial to the soil and 

 climate to establish themselves, but successful farming 

 on this basis is now scarcely possible. It is essen- 

 tial, therefore, especially in dealing with meadows and 

 pastures, to know what members of the grass family 

 or other forage plants find the environment congenial. 



It is commonly remarked, with much reason, that 

 more is to be gained by the proper selection and proper 

 care of the forage crops which have maintained suc- 

 cessful, though perhaps unrecognized, existence among 

 us for years, than by seeking for better results from 

 some introduced species. No cultivated plant pos- 

 sesses qualities that will defend the farmer against the 

 evil effects of poor or ill-directed culture, and when 

 intelligent, thorough methods prevail, many of the 

 familiar species will do for us all we can reasonably 

 expect. Occasionally an introduced species may serve 

 a useful purpose, as is true of alfalfa, but in general a 

 more economical production of cattle foods will be 

 reached most surely through an improvement of meth- 

 ods in growing what we already have. 



2. It is obvious that the home production of feed- 

 ing stuffs must be adapted to the kind of stock kept. 

 A herd of good dairy cows can hardly be most suc- 

 cessfully managed on the old basis of exclusive pastur- 



