130 THE COW 



ought to be a margin of safety between what the 

 live-stock requires and what the farm wUl ordi- 

 narily produce. The effort to keep all the cattle 

 that the farm can maintain in ordinarily produc- 

 tive years will be sure to meet with lean years when 

 our plans go wrong. It will be well to carry over 

 from year to year some reserve of hay and not 

 to keep so much stock that choice timothy hay 

 cannot be sold, for its sale value is always far 

 above its feeding worth. 



The choice of a farm is exceedingly important 

 and many factors must be considered. Some of 

 these are as follows: 



The soil: Is it fertile? Has it natural sup- 

 plies of lime sufBcient to make it easy to grow 

 legumes, especially clovers and alfalfa? Has it 

 the physical characters that adapt it to the true 

 grasses? Does it need artificial drainage? Is it 

 free from large stone so as to permit the use of 

 modem tillage implements? Is there at least a 

 part of it where the com plant will be at home? 



Topography: How much of the land is level 

 enough to permit the use of the tractor and other 

 heavy implements and to allow inter-cultural til- 

 lage without washing and denuding? Does it slope 

 south and east or does it face north and west? 

 The difference in the two exposures is very impor- 

 tant. Does the tillable land where we expect to 

 grow com enjoy good air drainage so that there 

 will not be frosty pockets? This may not be vital 



