ROTATION AND CULTURAL METHODS AT EDGELEY, N. DAK. 23 



distribution of the rainfall are such that attempts to overcome the 

 controlling influence of rainfall by means of cultural methods de- 

 signed to store water in the soil in advance of the growing season 

 meet with only limited success. 



Phrased in other words, 15 years of thorough investigation have 

 failed to discover any one method or any royal road to the solution 

 of the problems of crop production in this section. Success is to be 

 attained rather through the application of many small details em- 

 braced under the general term of good husbandry. Work must 

 be well and timely done. Good seed of the best varieties, free from 

 disease, should be sown in good season in a well-prepared seed bed 

 free from weeds. 



Whether plowing is done in the fall or the spring may be of mate- 

 rial effect in any one year, and so also may differences in the time of 

 plowing in the fall, but in the average of a series of years these 

 factors are of minor importance provided seeding is not unduly 

 delayed. 



Fallow may, be usefully enlisted as an emergency measure for 

 cleaning up land that is infested with weeds or in preparing for a 

 crop the following season an excess acreage that for any reason it has 

 been impossible to utilize for cropping in the current season or on 

 which for any reason there may be an early crop failure. Fallow 

 does not, however, increase the yield over that on cropped land suf- 

 ficiently to warrant giving it any recognized place in a cropping 

 system. 



Green manuring is entirely unjustifiable, as it increases the expense 

 without increasing the yields. Any crop produced should be har- 

 vested, as little or nothing is to be gained by plowing it under. 



The effect of barnyard manure is comparatively small, but it ap- 

 pears to be cumulative. The results indicate that one would not be 

 compensated for any considerable expense incurred in manuring land 

 for field crops, but that he will be paid for disposing of the available 

 manure by judiciously applying it to the fields in a systematic rota- 

 tion. It should be applied in preparation for the corn crop. 



Corn has not been a strong competitor of the grain crops. In 14 

 years it has matured only five good crops of grain, averaging for this 

 period a little less than 9 bushels per acre. In addition, it has pro- 

 duced an average of about 3,600 pounds of stover or fodder per acre. 

 It deserves, however, an important place in the rotation. The yields 

 of small grain following it are materially increased over those follow- 

 ing small grain and fully equal or even exceed those on fallow. When 

 properly handled corn can take the place of fallow in cleaning the 

 ground of most weeds. Its inclusion in the cropping system dis- 

 tributes labor and team requirements better than unmixed grain farm- 

 ing and by preparing the ground for small grain helps to prepare for 

 the early seeding of a large acreage. As the most valuable part of the 

 average crop is the fodder, it tends to diversification, as live stock is 

 necessary in order to consume it on the farm where produced. 



