CORN 



43 



East of the Mississippi River and north of Mason and Dixon's Line, 

 common red clover is best suited for this purpose. Alfalfa, crimson clover 

 and alsike clover may be substituted for it under certain conditions. Over 

 a considerable portion of this region the most usual rotation is corn, oats, 

 wheat, and clover and timothy. This provides for a rotation ranging 

 from four to seven years, depending on the length of time the land is 

 left in grass and whether or not corn is grown more than one year in the 

 rotation. In this rotation the corn should follow the sod on which may 

 be scattered the manure prior to plowing. No other crop is better adapted 

 to utilize the available nitrogen and mineral constituents that are slowly 

 brought into a state of availability through decomposition of the roots, 

 stubble and manure. 



On fertile soils in a high state of cultivation corn may be grown two 

 years in succession. This will require sufficient manure to apply on the 

 corn land two years in succession, or will demand an application of com- 

 mercial fertilizers for the second year's crop. 



In the South the crops associated with corn in the rotation are quite 

 different. In most cases cotton is the chief money crop; cowpeas and 

 soy beans are the chief legumes; and winter oats is the principal small 

 grain. The rotation frequently consists of cotton followed by cotton, 

 with cowpeas planted between the cotton rows. The third year the land 

 is planted in corn and seeded to winter oats after the corn has been removed. 

 After the oats are harvested in the fourth year the land is broadcasted with 

 cowpeas, and these harvested for hay. This rotation has proven successful 

 in many parts of the cotton belt. 



Many of the experiment stations have tested different rotations. 

 The following tabulation gives the average results with corn in two rota- 

 tions covering a period of more than twenty years at the Ohio Experiment 

 Station: 



CoNTiNtrotrs vs. Rotation Corn. Twenty Years' Work. 



* Five-year rotation. 



f Three-year rotation. 



J Average for 17 years. 



