14 BULLETIN 848, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



more horse feed is usually bought than on the larger, general crop 

 farms. The renting value of the farm and investment in machinery 

 and tools are also made less per acre of crops when double-cropping 

 is increased. 



Early peas or early potatoes may be followed by string beans, late 

 potatoes, turnips, spinach, kale, or radishes. Winter or spring grains, 

 if cut for hay, may also be followed by these crops. Winter cover 

 crops should be plowed under just before they head out, and, after 

 being thoroughly worked into the soil, may be followed by any 

 crop normally planted after the last spring frost. Many other suc- 

 cessions might be suggested, but each farmer must plan to suit his 

 own conditions. The point is to plan for high production per acre. 





Fig. 5. — Beets and gladioli in same row, permitting use of horse cultivator in 



intercropping. 



Intercropping is often practiced to good advantage. Late vege- 

 tables may be planted between the rows of earlier vegetables, allow- 

 ing the late crop to grow while the earlier ones are maturing. One 

 example was found of planting early and late maturing plants in the 

 same row (fig. 5) allowing for horse cultivation. 



In this connection it should be pointed out that over two-fifths of 

 the farms visited had less than half their farm areas in crops, the 

 remainder being woodland, scrub land, waste land, and a negligible 

 part in pasture. The half of the farm in crops had to pay interest 

 and taxes on the other nonproductive half. As the tillable area de- 

 creases in proportion to the total farm area, the business becomes, 

 smaller and in addition is increasingly burdened with idle capital. 

 When all the farms having 30 acres and under of tillable land are 

 sorted into two groups, those in which the tillable area is 60 per cent 

 and less of the farm area and those in which it is over 60 per cent of 



