The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-11-12
q SYSTEM OF RorATIoN.
Farmers Do Not Realize the Neces
s1ty of aWeu Planned System.

rAEMers 10 Not Realize the Neces-
~ OF aWell Planned system
A close observation Of the various
systems Of farming practiced through
out the country leads to the conclusion
that a majority of farmers do not re-
a,lize the necessity or the advantages
OF 2 well planned system Of rotation.
They are governed too much by the
prospective money value Of crops to be
grown. Leaving out Of count to q
great extent the condition Of the land,
as to loss or added fertility, or the de-
structlVe Influences Of insects that
often follow too continuous cropping,
the groWths that nature produces to
hide the nakedness of soils constantly
teach us that rotation is necessary.
The destruction of crops by insects
that feed upon them that have accu-
mulated by a continue ton of the same
crops teaches us that rotation is a ne
cessNy. The decreasing volume of
crops grown in succession teaches us
also that the system is ruinous.
Taking the other side Of the ques-
ton, we soon learn that by system Of
rotation carried on in regular order,
land can be kept up and made to inn
prove. Three years to corn followed
by one or two years of small grain
crops and then three years to grass
|. will mot give as good returns as a
closer rotation, say one year to corn,
one to small grain and one to grass or
clover. By the former plan, now too
often practiced, the first crop Of corn
under normal conditions is the best,
and the same is true of the other crops
and the last crop is the poorest. The
decreased value of a certain crop
forces the farmer to change to some
other. b 'gs
Why should it not be better for the
farmer to follow the hint given in the
successful growth of the first crop
after a change? And work in that di-
rection all the time, making a narrow
rotation a source of profit, rather than
to be forced into long rotation by the
Improbable yield of crops?
1t is possible to improve Worn-out
meadow, or pasture by coat of ma
nure and reseeding, but with the wise
farmer this course is only followed as
makeshift Or the necessity Of circum-
stances and surroundings For it is an
accepted fact that better sward can
be secured by blowing the land, there
by destroying many weeds as well as
being able to get better seed-b bed. In
the growth of clover the second year
after sowing, we expect the maximum
crop, and experience teaches that we
cannot keep succeeding crops up to
this standard by reseeding, but to be
able to grow a maximum crop again
some other cultivated crop must oc-
crupy the land for season The grow
ing of single crop in succession ex-
hausts the properties Of the soil nee
sary for the production of that crop.
BY a system Of three-year tation-
corn, wheat and clover are able to
keep in check many obnoxious weeds
that would otherwise overTun our
farm. We are sometimes asked If we
do not get weeds that are hard to con-
troll in the manure we haul fran town.
If all is applied to the fields kept in
regular rotation, we have no trouble
with the weeds. But if the manure
is put ON the permanent pasture, we
expect trouble. A friend has great
dread Of morning -glordes carried on the
farm in this way. We have no trouble
in keeping them under control when a
| three-year rotation Is followed; but if
we grow corn in succession three or
four crops we should expect.soon to be
overrun with them and to have them
get entirely beyond our control.
In the management Of garden crops
| we are careful to follow a rotation.
We do not grow potatoes on the same
plat two years in succession. The
| strawberries are set In new soil each
time. The sugar corn is changed each
year to soil not occupied the previous
year in sugar corn. In growing this
crop on the same land two or three
years in succession we found the ear
| worms grew more abundant each year,
almost running the third crop.
In growing clover, if it were posi-
BILE to grow three or four crops in sue
| cession-if the soil would sustain so
many crops should expect to be
checkmated by the accumulat ton Of the
many insects that feed ON it. The root
and stem borers and the nudge we
would expect to increase in numbers
each succeeding year and make their
| increased numbers a ruinous force
against the. clover crop. The other
staple crops Of the farm, wheat and
corn, have their insect enemies that
gain in numbers and force when the
crops are grown in succession. All
these matters should come in for care
full consideration by the farmer when
he maps out his system Of farming.
| Liz COAt1At0OuS$ CIOPpNuS SyStSM Gil
| tails more and harder work. 1t re-
quires that the land be plowed oftener;
this is the heaviest draft on the power
| OF the farm. And further, the crops
require more continuous cultivation to
keep down the weeds.
| Glover, when it comes in so regular
~, is the cleansing crop Of the farm.
The roots of this crop will do more to-
wards aerating and loosening the soil
than is possible to be done with the
best tools and the highest SYSTEM Of
cultivation. Grass Of some kind is al
way considered renovating crop,
but if never in the rotation it is allow
ed to perfect itself, it is Of Indifferent
value. or Of allowed to occupy the land
! till it fails, it is Of itself of no pract-
cal value in the rotation. John NJ.
Jamison in Country Gentleman.
Some Adyices About Marshes
Thousands Of the marshes and
sloughs Of the Northwestern states
that used to be so soft that they we're
waste lands, are now dried out and.
i are being plOWed up in many cases. "a