Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-09-26
MAKE STUDY OF YOUR CROPS
They Are Good Teaehers-The Fields
Are Laboratories for the Study
Of Methods in Farming.
BY Or. A. N. HUME,
Professor Of Asronomy, South Dakota
state College.

State College.
+ 1t 10 safe to say that with the begin
ming OF the growing season everyone
Is interested in the subject of crops
In general. Certainly it is of great
advantage to pause at least q moment
after the seed time to consider wheth-
er n mistakes have been made
which may be improved i'm the crop
ping operations for he coming year.
1T ia stated in a very old book that
one should consider the lilies of the
field" and it may be almost as good
advice, providing no lilies are at
hand, to consider the crops OF the
field. 1s 1t not very possible, for
instance, that toe much of some one
crop has been planted or sown, and
that our crop rotations have become
lone-sided? 1t is almost universal ex-
perience that where a given crop is
especially we'll adapted farm practice
falls into the habit of putting in that
crop, largely to the exclusion OF 9TH
ers. For instance, the writer Is ac-
quainted with a fielo of corn in the
corn belt upon which the crop rota-
ton is corn. corn, corn, and soy beans.
On another field the crop rotation is
corn, oats, wheat, and clover. 1t is a
fact that last year the yield OF corn
from the first rotation was only about
'one-third of the yield of corn In the
second rotation. In other words, the
second rotation yielded the same
amount of corn of of one-third of the
area. The profits of the rotation
were figured out carefully. The corn
on the nrst field paid barely enough
to cover expenses. The O in the
second rotation vas ten times as prof
itable as in the first rotation. This
latter is not a general statement. 1t
IL based upon actual computation.
That which is true in the corn belt is
Outlines true in the wheat belt, or If
we want to go away from home. we
md 1t true in the cotton belt. An in
spection Of fields on any farm will
give a sure indication of what the ro-
tation practiced for the year actually is.
Let US make careful examination and
see whether perhaps there is not too
much Of one crop to the exclusion of
other crops in the rotation. If we
find that the rotation consists princi-
pally Of one crop, and one only, it may
be further observed that even this n
crop 10 not doing SO well as 1t might
otherwise do. II the crop be corn, it
is likely that II corn has been raised
many successive years upon the
ground. there will be a great develop
ment Of insects, such as for instance,
corn root lice. Probably also the
ground will have become rather light
colored and low In humus content. If
the ground be devoted to small grain.
as wheat or oats, and II 1t has been
too constantly devoted to these grains,
It will likely be also low in humus
content. light in color and rather COM
pact and hard in texture. Moreover.
It IL likely that weeds, such as wild
mustard and others such as are pecul-
aar to small grain crops, will be much
In evidence. Broad rotations help to
combat the evil competition of weeds
with farm crops. Corn and oats make
better rotation when alternated than
continuous corn. Corn, oats and clio
yer ID again = better rotation for a
grain farm than merely corn and oats.
n Corn, oats, wheat and clover Is prob
ably better than even q three.year
rotation. and this Is partly for the rea-
son that - q general rule a given
crop makes q better yield when It fol.
lows not . crop Of its own kind but