The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-09-08
IMPROVING Il SOIL

Professor Hopkins OF the Illinois ex
pertinent station is not satisfied With
maintaining Il fertility OF the soil
While annually taking large crops from
II but shows the Sarne may be increased.
He results that SHOW the
profit OF the plan he recommends.
When some crops OF corn yield 96
bushels per acre and others only SO or
% under experiments that were en-
pecled to produce the results ii is evil
dent the plan was properly worked out
before it was adopted. DR.. hopkins
strongly recommends that d systematic
rotation be adopted and strictly adj
l1errd to. The farm should be divided
into as many fields as there are years
in the rotation adopted. = three year
rotation of corn, oats unG clover is
good but most Of the western farmers
condition OF the prairie soils it is not
necessary to limit the corn tc only one
crop in the three years.
Two crops OF corn can safely be
raised in succession but more than two
crops ought not to be grown one after
the other. y four year rotation OF oats,
With which clover is Sown. clover for
hay and possibly a seed crop and two
crop OF corn makes what most farm
erS consider the most satisfactory
rotation. The sowing Of clover in the
first crops of corn at the time OF last
cultivation is recommended. Many
tanners will be unwilling TO follow this
suggestion because OF the cost of seed.
but the gain in Che second crop OF corn
will undoubtedly return the expense
several times over.
To add to the PHOSPHORUS in the soil
it is recommended that SEQ to 500
pounds Of steamed bone meal or twice
that amount OF raw rock phosphate,
per acre. shout be applied. This should
be lone on the clover at II time con
venient before blowing it under. For
| the sake of not having too much p!ow-
ing in the spring, if from no other rea-
son this dover sod should be Dlowcd in
/ tho fall.
The farm should be divil,C 1T. four
as nearly equal sized fields Is possible.
Every year there would Ne. on the
quarter section farm. forty ecrcs to
cover with phoSphorous) II plow in
the fall. There would he the same field
to have cut for hay earlier in the sea-
son, and possibly for seed or for Il
second crop of hay and forty acres of
oats in which clover had been sown,
besides eighty acres CT corn. The oats
are sown on the field that has been
twice in corn. To manage a farm in
this way will raise more corr and oats
thar if the whole farm was put into
those grains in the same respective
proportions and the land will be in
oNNA@A eN'N' $3.50 ~ vi
becoming Sc poor that no profitable
crops can be grown.
The results at Urbana show thai
where corn was grown continuously for
IS years the crop was Is bushels lower
than where the same system had beer
followed for 10 years, the additional Is
years OF cropping having reduced the
crop at the rate OF one bushei per yeal
Cfrom 40 to % bushels). In the two
year rotation. SO generally followed b.
the grain growers OF this section. thu
crop yielu has been reduced from 40 t.
So bushels While in the three year
rotation where corn follows clover the
yield has been so bushes. Where the
limestone INC n meal have beer
used in the rotation the yield Of corr
has increased to sc bushels per acre.
If his can be done should not very
many more farmers do it? Visitors arr
c rdially invited to the station to SET
waat is being done and as we have
often said OF other stations much ma,
be learned by such a trip.