4 BULLETIN 713, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
mind that the money expended in getting higher yields should in- 
crease net returns by more than this expenditure. 
In order to secure good crop yields under the system of farming 
in vogue in the locality under discussion it is necessary to use com- 
mercial fertilizer. The practice of liming the land is becoming well 
established and is a means of rapidly building up its fertility. In 
order to get proper results from fertilizer and lime, however, the soil 
must also be kept supplied with humus. Grass and clover are de- 
pended on mainly to supply this requisite, but these, sown usually 
with wheat, frequently fail to make a stand, thus interfering with the 
usual rotation. In this way the land loses in fertility; and in order 
to allow it to recuperate, it is often allowed to le idle a year or more. 
This fact, in large measure, accounts for idle improved land on many 
farms. 
Many practices for insuring a stand of grass and clover have been 
tried with more or less success. Among these are the spreading of 
straw on the land sown to wheat and grass-clover mixture. Another 
practice is to summer fallow the land. Then, after thoroughly har- 
rowing and packing the seed bed, the grass-clover mixture is sown 
without a nurse crop. Sometimes land thus prepared is covered with 
straw, to conserve moisture and protect the young plants. The prac- 
tice of liming the land, as previously mentioned, has proved to be one 
of the most effective means of insuring a stand of clover, and when 
this practice becomes established the problem of maintaining fertility 
will be largely solved. ; 
Lespedeza, widely known as Japan clover, is finding its way slowly 
into the system of farming in this locality. It is found growing in 
most waste places, along highways, and is creeping into the pastures. 
This legume may be sown with red or alsike clover in the early 
spring. In places where the soil is too poor for the grass and red- 
clover mixture, the lespedeza will usually grow, and while it will not 
get high enough to cut for hay it will furnish pasture, besides holding 
and enriching the soil. It will reseed each year, thus holding the 
land indefinitely if not disturbed. It matures later than most meadow 
grasses and other legumes, thus furnishing good summer and fall 
pasture. On fertile soil it makes a good hay crop, or it may be cut 
late in the fall for seed. 
The proper stocking of the farm is one of the most important fac- 
tors in maintaining good crop yields. This depends largely on suc- 
cess In maintaining meadows and pasture. Thus the problem of 
stocking the farm is closely related to the problem of insuring each 
year a stand of grass and clover. If the farmers in this region will 
establish the practice of liming the soil, in order to make the grass 
and clover crop more reliable, and if they will sow alsike clover and 
