FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 341 



For the live-stock farmer on our most common soil, I would 

 suggest a five-field system, a four-year rotation of corn, corn, 

 oats, and clover, being grown upon four fields for five years, 

 while the fifth field is kept in alfalfa. If the straw and half the 

 corn stalks are used for bedding and all other produce for feed, 

 and if 60 per cent of the nitrogen in the manure is used for the 

 production of crops, then a permanent system is provided for the 

 maintenance of nitrogen. 



For the farmer who sells grain and hay, wheat may well be 

 substituted for the first corn crop, clover being seeded on the 

 wheat to be plowed under the next year for corn. If only the 

 grain and clover seed and the alfalfa hay are sold, all clover, 

 stalks, and straw being returned to the land ,this also provides a 

 system for the permanent maintenance of nitrogen. 



While these systems are distinctly for live-stock farming or 

 for grain and hay farming, they should be considered as only 

 suggesting the basis for solving the nitrogen problem ; and a 

 combination of these systems in diversified farming will often 

 be preferred to either one alone. The important point is that 

 the landowner should know the essential facts and base his prac- 

 tice upon them in order to provide for permanent fertility. 



These statements fairly represent the teachings of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois and the practice of progressive farmers in this 

 state. 



In the article cited, Mr. Stockard compares average corn 

 and wheat yields in different states for the ten years 1900- 1909 

 and the four years 1910-1913, as reported by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. He makes the following statement : 



"With the use of complete fertilizer, Ohio and Indiana each 

 secured an increase of 3.2 bushels in their corn yield, while Illi- 

 nois, following the one-element idea, increased her crop only .3 

 of a bushel per acre." 



In reference to wheat, he says : 



''With the use of complete fertilizer, the average yield per 

 acre in Indiana and Ohio has remained practically the same, 

 while in Illinois the one-element idea has resulted in a decrease 

 of one bushel per acre." 



