MANAGEMENT OF GENERAL FARMS IN OREGON. 



15 



RELATION OF LEGUMINOUS CROPS TO CROP YIELDS. 



Table VI shows that the group of silt loam farms having the 

 greatest percentage of the field crop area in legumes was operated 

 most efficiently. Apparently, therefore, the legumes were profitable 

 crops. Aside from being profitable crops themselves, legumes also 

 affect the yields of other crops. Table XI shows the influence of 

 leguminous crops on the yields of potatoes, wheat, oats, and hay on 

 the 144 silt loam farms in 1912. 



Table XL — Relation of percentage of field-crop area in legumes to crop yields on 14-4 

 farms on silt loam soil, Marion and Polk Counties, Oreg. {1912). 



Item. 



All 



farms. 



No 

 legumes. 



Per cent of field crop area in 

 legumes. 



Under 18. 18 to 33. Over 33 



Number of farms : 



Average percentage of field-crop area in legumes 

 Crop yields per acre: 



Potatoes (bushels) 



Wheat (bushels) 



Oats (bushels) 



Hay (tons) 



Crop index 



144 

 20.4 



150.2 

 22.0 

 37.7 

 1.94 

 100 



35 



132.8 



18.8 



28.5 



1.82 



83 



37 

 12.0 



145. 5 

 21.5 

 38.3 

 2.00 

 100 



37 

 26.0 



172.0 



23.8 



40.9 



1.86 



105 



35 



44.8 



183. 5 

 23.7 

 44.5 

 2.07 

 111 



There were 35 farms that grew no legumes, 37 that had an average 

 of 12 per cent, 37 that had an average of 26 per cent, and 35 that had 

 an average of 44.8 per cent of the field-crop area in leguminous crops. 

 The yields of potatoes and oats increased steadily, though not in the 

 same ratio, as the percentage of the field-crop area in legumes in- 

 creased; the yield of wheat of each of the three groups of farms 

 growing legumes was considerably higher than that of the 35 farms 

 having no legumes; and the groups of farms growing legumes had 

 slightly higher yields of hay than did the group having no legumes. 

 Crop index, it will be observed, varied from 83 for the group of farms 

 having no legumes to 111 for the group having an average of 44.8 

 per cent of the field-crop area in legumes. 



Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the percentage of increase 

 in the yields of potatoes, wheat, and oats for the three groups of 

 farms of Table XI which grew legumes, as compared with the yields 

 of these crops for the group of farms having no legumes. It will be 

 seen that the percentage of increase in the yields of potatoes and oats 

 advanced steadily from group to group, although not proportionally, 

 as the percentage of field-crop area in legumes increased; and that the 

 percentage of increase in the yield of wheat advanced in the two 

 groups of farms having an average of 12 and 26 per cent of the field- 

 crop area in legumes and then dechned one-half per cent m the next 

 group. The yields of wheat, potatoes, and oats for the group of 

 farms having an average of 44.8 per cent of the field-crop area in 

 legumes were 26, 38, and 56 per cent greater, respectively, than the 

 yields of these crops for the group of farms that grew no legumes. 



