32 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



if the land were devoted to one crop. This enables him to utilize his 

 own labor to the fullest possible advantage, and to reduce the expense 

 necessary for hired labor. It is important, therefore, in selecting crops 

 for a rotation, to select those that will compete with each other for the 

 labor of men and teams as little as possible. The common rotation of 

 corn, oats, wheat and hay fulfils these requirements fairly well. To 

 illustrate, the preparation of land and seeding of oats take place in the 

 early spring. Between the seeding time of oats and the time for planting 

 corn there is sufficient time to prepare the land for the latter crop. The 

 cultivation of corn will precede the harvest of hay and oats. The prep- 

 aration of land for winter wheat will take place after the harvest period 

 and prior to the harvest of corn. This fully occupies the time of the 

 farmer during the growing season. There will sometimes be conflict 

 between the harvest of wheat and hay, and the cultivation of corn, necessi- 

 tating a little extra labor at that time. 



Essentials of a Good Rotation. — A good crop rotation should contain 

 (1) an inter-tilled crop, (2) a cash crop, (3) crops to feed, and (4) a crop 

 to supply humus and nitrogen. All crops may be roughly classified 

 under three heads, namely: exhaustive, intermediate and restorative. 

 All crops, when harvested, remove from the land more or less plant food, 

 and in this sense they are exhaustive. No crop restores to the soil any 

 considerable amount of plant food unless it is plowed under or allowed 

 to decay on the surface of the soil. Notwithstanding these facts, certain 

 crops leave land in poorer condition for subsequent crops than it was 

 before. These are designated as exhaustive crops, and include wheat, 

 oats, rye, barley and millet. Their ill effect upon subsequent crops may 

 be due to any one or a combination of a number of factors, among which 

 are physical condition of the soil, injurious insects, plant diseases, reduc- 

 tion of soil moisture and a failure to supply either organic matter or nitro- 

 gen in any appreciable quantity. 



It is wise, therefore, to select as many restorative crops as possible 

 and so arrange the crops that these will be followed by the exhaustive 

 crops. These two classes of crops should alternate as far as possible. 

 In conjunction with this, one should select crops that will yield well 

 and for which there is a demand, either for feeding on the farm or as a 

 cash crop. The best varieties of the crops entering into the rotation 

 should always be used. These will be determined largely by local con- 

 ditions. 



Sequence of Crops. — It is a good plan to follow a crop with a long 

 growing season by one having a short growing season. This is typified 

 when corn is followed by oats. In turn oats or barley is removed from 

 the land in ample time for seeding winter wheat, which occupies the land 

 for a rather long period. In this connection it is wise to provide in the 

 rotation a place where manure may be hauled directly from stables and 

 barnyards and applied to the fields. Where there is an abundance of 



