﻿8 BULLETIN" 16, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



per acre should result. Figure 1 shows the effect of nitrate of soda on 

 grass grown in a tobacco rotation. The grass generally should be 

 allowed to stand two years, when the sod may be turned down in the 

 fall or winter in preparation for tobacco the next year. This fall 

 plowing is a very important point, especially in the Old Belt, as it 

 practically assures that the soil will be well fitted and early enough 

 fitted to give the tobacco the best chance to do well. 



OTHER CROPS OF THE ROTATION. 



It is impracticable to attempt to lay out any definite rotation plan 

 adapted to the needs of all tobacco farms. For the Old Belt section, 

 however, where there is less diversity in so-called money crops, a 

 rotation in which tobacco is followed directly by oats or wheat and 



Fig. 1. — A field of grass showing the effect of nitrate of soda. On the right the grass 

 was hardly worth cutting, while on the left, where nitrate of soda was used, a 

 yield of nearly 2 tons to the acre was obtained. 



then by two years of grass, as suggested above, would undoubtedly 

 be found practicable and suited to the majority of tobacco farms. 

 A number of possible variations from this plan will quickly suggest 

 themselves. For example, if this system of cropping, supplemented 

 perhaps by liberal fertilizing or manuring, tends to make the soil 

 too rich for the best results with tobacco, the difficulty could prob- 

 ably be overcome by introducing corn into the rotation directly on 

 the grass sod in place of the tobacco. A good crop of corn should 

 result, and it would do much in the way of reducing the surplus 

 fertility, for corn is an exhaustive crop, particularly on light land. 

 This would lengthen the rotation to five years and bring the tobacco 

 directly after corn. There is one serious objection to this plan. 

 Corn frequently harbors large numbers of wireworms, which might 



