24 BULLETIN 941, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



visited, appreciate the effect of this factor upon their returns over a 

 period of years. 



For greater assurance of returns the farmer is interested in a system 

 of farming which will economically maintain humus in the soil, and 

 thus add to its water-holding and drought-resisting capacity. 



The sale of corn is relied upon to some extent for income, but more 

 generally corn is raised to meet the live-stock needs. As shown in 

 Table IV, the yield of corn throughout this region is low. Many 

 farmers, however, are increasing their yields by feeding most of their 

 crops to live stock, thereby returning a good supply of manure to the 

 soil each year. 



SILAGE. 



Five of the operators with upland farms and ten of the operators 

 with bottom and valley farms had silos. The use of silage has long 

 proved to be profitable under certain conditions and is being increas- 

 ingly practiced by farmers in this region. Some farmers harvest 

 the corn and put up the stalks for silage. The use of saccharine 

 sorghums for silage has been tried in only an experimental way by a 

 few of the farmers, but with favorable results. Sorghum makes sat- 

 isfactory silage, and in view of its excellent drought-resisting qualities 

 it should have an important place among the farm crops of this 

 region. In certain sections of the South it is used for this purpose 

 almost to the exclusion of corn, and uniformly good results are 

 obtained. Pastures suffer along with other crops during the periods 

 of drought, and many farmers in this area, particularly those exten- 

 sively engaged in dairying, realize more and more the importance 

 of providing silage for the winter feeding period, and to supplement 

 the pastures during the periods of drought. 



WHEAT. 



The greater part of the crop receipts was from the sale of wheat. 

 The soils throughout this area can not stand continuous grain farming. 

 Wheat and other grains should remain, as they are now, subsidiary 

 crops on the general live-stock farm. Winterkilling, does not occur 

 to any great extent. During the year of the survey, however, 45 

 acres of wheat, or 7 per cent of the acreage planted, was so killed on 

 the farms from which records were obtained. 



RYE AND BARLEY. 



Rye and barley are relatively unimportant crops in this region, 

 though on the thinner soils in the "uplands" rye would perhaps 

 bring as good returns as wheat. Rye was grown more often than 

 barley. 



