VOL. LXIX
INDIANAPOLIS, FEB. 7, 1914
NO. 6
The Advantages oLG-od Crop Rotation
*-*^ Experiment Sta    M X
Years ago, when there were vast
areas of cheap virgin soil which was
rich in humus and in fertility, there
was no occasion for the rotation of
crops. The tendency then was, and is
yet, to some extent, to rotate farms Instead of rotating crops. But the
country could not continue such a system indefinitely.      Vast areas of cheap
Soil Management That is Conducive to Permanent
Agriculture.—W. F. Purdue
crop rotation is beneficial to the soil by
way of helping to maintain fertility,
and by improving the physical condition.     Furthermore, it  is the most ef-
ing unfavorable season for one crop is
often more or less favorable for another. It distributes the work more
evenly   throughout   the   year   and   en-
fails to provide for maintaining the fertility of his soil; second, the conservatism of farmers with regard to trying
a new method, or a method different
from that followed by their fathers;
third, the peculiar adaptation of certain
sections to one particular crop, which
is considered the "money crop;" fourth,
the  tendency  to  put  off  from  year  to
virgin soil no longer exist, and worn-
out soils have become so common as
to attract the attention of all thoughtful people.
That it j>ays to follow a definite system- of crop rotation was long since
conclusively demonstrated by thousands of farmers and by our experiment stations. In most communities
it is possible to compare the farm of a
man who is following a rotation, with
those of his neighbors round about
who are following a haphazard method
of cropping. Nearly all of our state
experiment stations, at least those in
the corn belt, have accurate records
of the yield, quality and value of crops
grown in rotation, as compared to the
continuous growing of one or two crops,
and the results of these experiments
may be had free of charge by writing
'he experiment station in your own
state and requesting them.
Briefly  stated,   It   may   be  said  that
fective means of combating weeds,
which would otherwise deprive the soil
of much of its fertility. Certain weeds
thrive wonderfully where but one crop
is raised. Cockle burrs are prominent where corn is grown year after
year, or where corn and small grains
are alternated without early fall plowing. Foxtail and smartweed thrive on
lands where small grains have been
grown continuously. Even as valuable as clover is, such weeds as plantain, daisy fleabane and wild carrots
grow and take possession of fields that
have been reseeded to clover continuously for many years. Rotation ls
also an effective means of waging war
upon insect pests and fungus diseases.
The blights, smuts and rusts can largely be held In check by a chance of
crops, while they will multiply and destroy crops if rotation is not followed.
Rotation lessens the danger of crop
loss, owing to the fact that an exceed-
ables the farmer to utilize men and
teams to better advantage. It furnishes
a balanced ration for live stock and
renders unnecessary the purchase of
high-priced feeding stuffs.
Reasons Why Rotation is Neglected.
Taking everything into consideration, the benefits derived from crop rotation are so many and so great that
one can not but wonder why it is not
practiced more generally and more .systematically. No system of farming
can be made permanent without It.
The grain farmer as well as the live
stock farmer should practice some system of rotation. Some of the factors
which are most effective in preventing
the general adoption of crop rotations
are: First, the large percentage of
tenant farmers, together with the prevalence of short term leases. Nor Is
the tenant farmer as much to blame,
or as short-sighted as the landlord who
year the starting of a rotation, with
the idea that it is less profitable at the
present time, and merely a means for
producing larger crops in the more or
less distant future; fifth, the fact that
when an attempt is made to follow a
rotation there are difficulties to be
overcome in the form of interference
by drought, or excessive wet weather,
freezing out of the clover crop,  etc.
The old Idea of a rotation was that
the land needed rest. In the Southern
cotton belt some farmers, seeing the
havoc wrought by the continuous cultivation of cotton on the same land
year after year, and depending simply
on the use of commercial fertilizers to
get the crop, adopted the plan of letting a field lie Idle each alternate year
to rest lt, as they said. But Nature
will not allow land to rest, for she scatters the seed of grass and weeds and
the land ls as busy at work growing
Continued on page 38.