OUTLINE OP CROP MANAGEMENT 



83 



I hope in the course of a few years, we shall 

 make a more respectable figure as fanners than 

 we have hitherto done." 



Fallowing. 



A significant part of Washington's letter is 

 the statement that land was "respited" for 

 eighteen months. He meant that the land was 

 allowed to lie idle or fallow. It is an old notion 

 that land "rests" when allowed to go wholly 

 uncropped ; and, in fact, it is true that the 



succeeding crops may be better for the fallow, Fig. 109. ' ' The mowing machine, ' ' I823. invented and patented 



but in most instances equally good results can lliZ^tJa'^rS^To^i^ZftL^^'L^^^^^^^ 'Tu 

 be secured by other means and without the loss f-^f^X Ti.ili^Lr7eyo^nr^rf±r%ti.^X^^i 

 01 a year s crop. The fallow was a regular part against a whetstone. 



of early rotation practices. Fallowing was employed by the Jews, Greeks and Romans. It is common in 

 many large parts of Russia and other countries to-day. 



In special cases and in regions of insufiicient rainfall, fallowing is still an 

 allowable practice ; but in general it belongs to a rude and unresourceful type of 

 agriculture. In most of the humid regions of this country the practice, if employed 

 at all, is diminished to "summer fallowing," whereby 

 the period of idleness is reduced to a minimum. The 

 summer fallow was formerly often employed in order 

 to fit the land for wheat. The land was kept in more 

 or less clean and free tillage from spring till fall, 

 without crop, for the purpose of destroying weeds and 

 of putting it in good condition of preparation. With 

 improved tillage implements and well-planned rota- 

 tions, these special results usually can be secured 

 without resort to fallow. 



Fig. 110. Revolring hay-rake as pictured In 1846. "This 

 implement, with a horse, man and a boy, will rake 

 from fifteen to twenty-five acres per day. It can be 

 used to good advantage even on Quite rough ground." 

 Price, $7.50 to $9.00. 



Why rotations are useful. 



There is no dispute as to the value of rotation of 

 crops. The only differences of opinion are in respect 

 to its feasibility in particular cases and the merits and demerits of the different courses. Many experi- 

 ments have reenf orced common experience as to the importance of rotation, particularly in recuperating 

 old lands. Experiments made at Rothamsted are perhaps the most conclusive, because of the long period. 

 Wheat has been grown without rotation for sixty-six years and other crops for varying periods. No 

 method of fertilizing potatoes or clover kept up the yield without rotation. Rotation alone did not fully 

 maintain the yield of any crop, but the combination of manure or fertilizers with rotation increased it. 

 At the Louisiana Experi- 

 ment Station (to cite only 

 one more illustration), it 

 was found, as a result of 

 eleven years' work with a 

 three-course rotation 

 (first year corn, second 

 year oats followed by 

 cowpeas, third year cot- 

 ton), that the yield in- 

 creased from 12 to 25 

 per cent even without 

 the application of ma- 

 nure. In another part of. ^'Wi' -^ '-*' -* t\ 



the same experiment, ma- _^ v -^ s^.^ 



nure was applied and the Fig. m. Hussey's reaping-machine; from a print of 1852. 



