24 
visited, appreciate the effect of this factor upon their returns over a 
period of years. 
For greater assurance of returns the farmer is interested in a system 
of farming which will economically maintain humus in the soil, and 
thus add to its water-holding and drought- resisting capacity. 
The sale of corn is relied upon to some extent for income, but more 
generally corn is raised to meet the live-stock needs. As shown in 
Table IV, the yield of corn throughout this region is low. Many 
farmers, however, are increasing their yields by feeding most of their 
crops to live stock, thereby returning a good supply of manure to the 
soil each vear. 
SILAGE. 
Five of the operators with upland farms and ten of the operators 
with bottom and valley farms had silos. The use of silage has long 
proved to be profitable under certain conditions and is being increas- 
ingly practiced by farmers hi this region. Some farmers harvest 
the corn and put up the stalks for silage. The use of saccharine 
sorghums for silage has been tried in only an experimental way by a 
few of the farmers, but with favorable results. Sorghum makes sat- 
isfactory silage, and in view of its excellent drought-resisting qualities 
it should have an important place among the farm crops of this 
region. In certain sections of the South it is used for this purpose 
almost to the exclusion of corn, and uniformly good results are 
obtained. Pastures suffer along with other crops during the periods 
of drought, and many farmers in this area, particularly those exten- 
sively engaged in dairying, realize more and more the importance 
of providing silage for the winter feeding period, and to supplement 
the pastures during the periods of drought. 
WHEAT. 
The greater part of the crop receipts was from the sale of wheat. 
The soils throughout this area can not stand continuous grain farming. 
Wheat and other grains should remain, as they are now, subsidiary 
crops on the general live-stock farm. Winterkilling does not occur 
to any great extent. During the year of the survey, however, 45 
acres of wheat, or 7 per cent of the acreage planted, was so killed on 
the farms from which records were obtained. 
RYE AND BARLEY. 
Rye and barley are relatively unimportant crops in this region, 
though on the thinner soils in the ''uplands" rye would perhaps 
bring as good returns as wheat. Rye was grown more often than 
barley. 
