DISCUSSION OP FARM MANAGEMENT 



93 



certain fields may be kept more profitably in grass 

 than in any other crop ; but such fields will not 

 enter into the regular crop rotation system. 



A convenient and desirable time to manure land 

 is while it is being used as meadow or pasture. If 

 the manure is applied a year or so before breaking, 

 it will stimulate the growth of grass and cause a 

 greater production of hay or pasture. Meanwhile, 

 the soil is enriched by an increased root-growth 

 and the formation of more humus. Besides these 

 beneficial results, some plant-food will be supplied 

 by the manuring for the use of the first crop that 

 is grown on the breaking, at a time when available 

 plant-food is much needed, because the larger part 

 of the fertility in new breaking is in an unavailable 

 condition and cannot be used readily by the new 

 crop. 



Soils in which the organic matter and humus are 

 deficient may be improved in fertility and texture 

 by green-manuring. A cheap and practical method 

 of green-manuring is to plant a crop adapted to 

 this purpose (the annual legume crops, such as 

 cowpeas, soybeans, field-peas and vetches being 

 preferred) in the grain stubble immediately after 

 harvest. The method at the Kansas Experiment 

 Station is to follow the binder directly with the 

 drill ; thus, when the harvest is finished the field 

 has been replanted. Cowpeas, rape or sorghum 

 seeded in this way usually make a good stand and 



an excellent growth, and furnish forage or pasture, 

 or the crop may be plowed down for green-manure 

 or left as a winter cover. 



It is necessary, in carrying out permanent plans 

 for crop rotation, to have fields of nearly equal area, 

 in order to grow about the same acreage of the 

 several crops each year, thus making it possible to 

 keep a certain number of live-stock, and from year 

 to year to have regularity and uniformity in the 

 farming business. 



In order to demonstrate the working of practical 

 systems of crop rotation, as outlined, assume for 

 illustration a farm of 160 acres, divided into eight 

 equal fields, as shown in the diagrams : 



Rotation Plan No. 1. 

 The farm plan, showing crops on all fields for one year. 



Corn 



-I "cTi^rberoo 

 Cl u"« <■' <i o 



lOA--" 



^' Wheat m^f''"'^ 

 ' f^ "> o ! 



'O O OOi 



!'o°f?t? I Clover 



lOftoo I 

 „ti 0', 



OaTs iWhcot 



BarlsLj 



Wheat- 



'Corn, 



O o 



r. 0^ 

 " O C% Cb 



yTimber 



O O o 

 ^ Fhsture 

 ^ O o 

 o 



w-<- 



->E^ 



Fence 



Divisioi-i]., 

 Lilies J 



1901 Grain. 

 \0l Corn. 

 ,05 Whecrt- 

 >04 &rain 

 ,05 &ra53 

 ^0S Grass 



, 07 Wheat 



1901 Wheat 

 'OS G-rain. 

 '03 Corn 

 ;04- WHeot 

 ,05 G-rafrL 

 ,06 Grass 



J 07 Grass 



O O njWPnstare 







'MffCorn 



00 o i, 

 ,?0 o o 

 oOOo 



'OSForaoe 

 fRoots 



IQI Gross 



'03 . 



'04Foraiie 



...fifoots 



OOP Ho;rnniy. 



1901 Gruin. 

 'OZ G-rass 

 ;03 Grass 

 0+ Wtiepr 

 '05 Grant 

 !06 Coni 



- 07 Wliea! 



W-<f- 



1901 Wheat 

 '01 G-roin. 

 ,03 Grass 

 'W Grass 

 ',05 Wheot 

 06 &raia 



P '07 Corn. 



Fence -- 



livisioit 

 Unes 



Divisioit"!. 



->-e: 



Figs. 130 to 133 are fur- 

 nished by Professor A. D. 

 Wilson. Tliey are diagrams 

 of actual farms in Minne- 

 sota that have been rear- 

 ranged and adapted to 

 practical methods of rota- 

 tion of crops. 



Fig. 132. Plan of farm b3f3re (left) and after (right) laying out into regular fields; also plan for systematic rotation of crops. 



