10 CULTIVATION METHODS AND EOTATIONS FOR GREAT PLAINS. 



which have prevailed for the last ten years and the average yields 

 obtained in. the Great Plains it has also been the most profitable 

 when immediate cash returns alone have been considered. This has 

 been a strong incentive to adopting a one-crop system of wheat grown 

 continuously on the same land, year after year, with sometimes an 

 occasional summer fallow to clean the land of weeds. 



It must be admitted that this system has often brought in larger 

 immediate cash returns than could be obtained from a simple diversi- 

 fication of crops. Mere diversification without any systematic rota- 

 tion often means simply devoting a portion of the farm to the growing 

 of some less profitable crop in the place of wheat. There is an advan- 

 tage in growing several different kinds of crops, all of which are not as 

 likely to suffer loss from either poor yields or low prices as would a 

 single crop of any one kind. Such a system can not, however, be 

 defended unless these substituted crops can be fed or otherwise 

 disposed of in such a way as to bring more than the relative market 

 prices, as compared with wheat, which have prevailed in the Great 

 Plains for the last ten years. But our investigations have shown 

 that with a properly planned rotation of corn, wheat, oats, and barley 

 the average farm value per acre for all the crops will be greater than 

 that obtained from growing wheat continuously. Such a system 

 must, of course, involve proper methods of soil preparation, as well 

 as rotation of crops. If in addition to the increased yields obtainable 

 under a rotation system the coarse grains can be fed on the farm, the 

 net profits from this system will be further increased. If by returning 

 the manure produced from the coarse grain, fodder, and hay crops to 

 the land the soil can be maintained in better chemical, physical, 

 and biological condition, it will not only further increase the yields 

 in favorable years, but will also decrease the danger from drought 

 in unfavorable ones. Nor is this all the advantage to be gained from 

 crop rotation and its concomitant feature of stock raising. Under 

 such a system the labor of the farm is more evenly distributed through- 

 out the year, thus requiring less expense for extra laborers at harvest 

 time and better utilization of teams and tools. And last, and per- 

 haps most important of all, is the fact that a farm operated on such 

 a system affords greater incentives and opportunities for true home 

 building. It is believed that all of these desirable objects can be 

 attained by adopting systems of rotation adapted to local conditions. 

 It can, therefore, be stated with a reasonable degree of certainty that 

 crop rotation is the major factor in the great problem of dry-land 

 agriculture in the Great Plains area, with cultivation methods as an 

 important minor factor. 



These investigations have been carried on at Judith Basin, Mont.; 

 Dickinson and Edgeley, N. Dak.; Highmore and Belief ourche, S. 



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