MANAGEMENT OP GENERAL FARMS IN OREGON. 



21 



may be attributed, at least in part, to the low yield and large acreage 

 of the oat crop on the clay farms. 



(5) Perhaps the greatest cause of the lower efficiency of the clay 

 farms is the practice of summer fallowing approximately one-fourth 

 of the rotation area each year. During the year 1912, 24.5 per cent 

 of the rotation area on the clay farms lay idle as summer fallow, as 

 compared with 2.7 per cent on the silt loam farms (see fig. 1). The 

 practice of summer fallowing diminishes net receipts in two ways. 

 In the first place, the land being summer fallowed represents idle 

 capital from which there is no return. Secondly, the cultivatioji of 

 the idle land during the summer-fallow year materially increases the 

 operating expenses. On the clay farms 46.1 per cent of the gross 

 receipts were required for operating expenses as against 37.7 per 

 cent on the silt loam farms. The work of cultivating the summer 

 fallow is very largely responsible for this difference. 



STARTING CLOVER ON THE CLAY SOIL. 



From what has been said in this discussion it should be evident 

 that the profitableness of farming on the clay soil can be greatly 

 increased by adopting cropping systems or rotations that will do 

 away with the summer-fallow practice, and in which clover and other 

 leguminous crops will have a prominent place. Until very recently 

 a very large percentage of the farmers on the clay soil thought this 

 was not feasible. During the last few years, however, many attempts 

 have been made to grow clover on the clay soil. During the season 

 of 1916 a detailed study of 53 trials of growing clover was made in 

 order to determine (1) whether clover can be successfully grown on 

 this type of soil and (2) the most practical ways of getting a stand. 

 The success of the 53 trials, which included 1,111 acres, is shown in 

 Table XVI. 



Table XVI. — Results of seeding clover alone and with different nurse crops on Salem 

 clay soil, Marion County, Oreg. 



Nurse crop. 



Tirne^of clover 

 seeding. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 trials. 



Total 



acres 



seeded. 



Percentage of cases in which 

 the stand was— 





Good. 



Poor. 



Failure. 



Spring oats . . 



Feb., Mar., Apr... 

 do 



19 

 1 

 4 



13 

 2 

 5 

 9 



392 

 18 

 87 



202 

 70 



107 



235 



81.9 



100 



100 

 85.7 

 14.3 

 81.8 



100.0 



10.5 



7.6 







Spring wheat 



.do 









do 



11.4 



3.0 



Do 



Fall 



85.7 



Winter oats . . . 



March 



May-June 



7.5 



10.7 



N;0 nurse crop, clover sown alone. . 











Total 



53 



1,111 



83.8 



6.5 



9.7 









It wiU be noted that a good stand was secured on 931 acres of the 

 1,111 acres seeded. In other words, 83.8 per cent of the area seeded 

 gave satisfactory results. A good stand was secured on 100 per cent 

 of the area seeded alone late in May or early in June. A good stand 



