28 BULLETIX 853, U. S. DEPABTMEBTE OF AGE I CULTURE. 
averaged 47 per cent of the total. One of the reasons for this lower 
proportion of concentrates fed on the farms with siios is that good 
silage itself contains some corn and is therefore partly a concen- 
trate, and also that less concentrate is required, because of the 
succulent nature of the feed. 
Although the cows on the farms having silos produced IS. 7 pounds 
of butter fat more per cow than those on the farms without silos, it 
should not be assumed that this difference or the corresponding 
difference in labor income is due wholly or even largely to the silo. 
The farmers with silos were better all-around farmers than those 
without. They had a larger average investment per farm, worked 
more crop acres per man. and had more and better cows. The silo 
was therefore only one of the several factors contributing to their 
success. 
CROPPING SYSTEMS. 
A co mm on rotation on many of the farms is corn or potatoes fol- 
lowed by oats, and then by hay two years or longer. Where wheat 
is grown, the rotation usually is corn, oats, wheat, hay two or three 
years. Buckwheat is generally sown on the rougher land or land 
that has become foul with weeds. On some farms buckwheat fol- 
lows oats in the rotation and serves as a nurse crop for the grass 
seed. On many farms the hay is cut as long as it gives a fair yield. 
Some of the meadows do not run out in four or five years. A few 
farmers are trying out a rotation of corn, wheat, hay, hay. 
Judging by the percentages of area devoted to each crop, it would 
appear that the rotation most generally practiced is corn and pota- 
toes, oats, wheat, rye or buckwheat, and hay three years. 
MAINTENANCE OF SOIL FERTILITY. 
One of the important problems of this region is that of keeping up 
crop yields. The test of good farm management is not only the 
earning of a good current net income, but the keeping up of the fertility 
of the soil as well. To keep up this fertility, the farmer must rely 
on the use of manure, lime, fertilizer, and legumes. Practically the 
only legumes grown here are red clover and alsike. On the farms 
where manure is produced in sufficient quantity, manure spreaders 
were used with very satisfactory results. Too many farmers, how- 
ever, still practice the wasteful method of throwing -the manure 
outside under the eaves of the barn and hauling it to the field but 
once or twice a year. 
FERTILIZERS. 
Commercial fertilizers are quite extensively used. Fifty-one per 
cent of the farmers concerned in this study used fertilizers on corn, 
45 per cent on wheat, 47 per cent on buckwheat, and 36 per cent on 
oats. Most of the farmers used less than 150 pounds per acre. 
