The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-01-19
Diversified Crops
THE IMPORTANCE OF CROP ROTATION FOR
THE IRRIGATION FARMER
OREGON -sborf Line Dsmonsfrafion Train Lserans.

The basis of farm success is organ
ization, system on the farm; the
basis of organization on the farm is
crop management; on the successful
management of the crop largely rest
these five fundamentals:
/. Economy of Business.
2. Maintenance of Soil Fertility.
8. Productivity of the Soil.
4. Subsistence for Livestock.
5. Farm Profits at end of Season
The term Rotation of Crops is
used to designate system OF crops
which give a recurring succession OF
field plants with differing plant food
requisites.
asr Reasons for Rotation.
The primary purposes of crop no,
tation are list, Prevention of Crop
Sick" soils, the result of continuous
cultivation of the same crop for pc.
Rod of years; End, The elimination OF
weeds, insect pests and CROP diseases:
Bird, Increase in the productivity OF
the field crops by conserving the soil
fertility.
First Irrigated Crop.
The first crop to be grown in any
appreciab1e degree s'under the ditch"
was wheat. Wheat followed wheat
year after year on the river plain
farms of Utah and Idaho until in
some instances the yield of grain fell
25 and even SO per cent below what
It first gave the farmer. This was
on comparatively virgin soil which
we think is rich as cream. Why is
this? Feeding at the same depth on
the same plant food elements absorb
the readily available plant food of
this particular element so this class
Of plants is then sparingly fed Like
starved pig, it cannot make its
owner the profits the well fed ones
do.
All plants do not feed alike. They
either use different foods or the same
food from different depths. There
fore, plants feeding at different
depths of soil, although they may use
the same food elements, the deeper
feeding plants can follow the shallow
feeders without serious immediate
loss, although eventually, unless these
absorbed food elements be restored,
the available plant food will become
exhausted and the soil will therefore
be impoverished.
draw his money from the bank with
out making deposits will at last find
his checks returned marked short"
No bank will permit continued over
drafts. We should not be taking off
all the time, without putting back the
food elements upon which plants
feed, some of the time. If we do, we
have a crop sick soil that does not
pay it's checks" for want of funds
the available food elements that have
been taken through previous with
drawals
Our Utah and Idaho soils are either
of granite or volcanic rock formation.
These soils seem to hold an abund-
ance OF potash, a reasonable amount
of phosphates, a limited amount of
nitrates, abundance of lime, but a
great deficiency in organic matter
commonly known as humus Here
are the essentials we need in these
soils; they constitute the soil barom-
eter since the lessened amount of any
one of these will most seriously af-
feet the general crop culture. Humus
not only increases the water holding
capacity of the soil but it also carries
an appreciable amount of nitrates.
Hence we need, early in our cropping,
to get humus in the soil. Feed the
soil constantly, that It may, in turn.
feed our crops. How may we do this?
BY growing crops that tend to store
what little humus we have with nitro
gen, while 1t increases the humus
content of the soil. These are legume
crops-alfalfa, beans, peas, alsike, red
clover and vetches constitute the le-
gume family group-which have
proven profitable for us to grow in
the west. Choose the one that is best
adapted to your farm environment,
and you feel will grow you the most
dollars. Give it a permanent place
in your field crops.
These plants seem to have the pc
culiar property of utilizing the free
nitrogen of the air and thus store nj
trates in the soil, and accumulate hui
mus, the one thing our soils seem
most to need. How is this done?
Through a most peculiar little family
of lower organisms known as bac-
terra, which grow on the root hairs
and tiny rootlets of the root system
OF these legume plants. This creates,
as 1t were, fever in that particular
part of the plant, calling for more air
ana more water. In chemical pro-
cess not easily understood, the free
nitrogen obtained from the surround
ing air is worked into nitrates avail
able to succeeding plant life.
Perennial legumes are always deep
feeders, bringing a part of their min
eral food from soil depths below the
feeding ground of ordinary crops.
This value to succeeding crops is
shown in the opening paragraph to-
Coburn's Alfalfa: "There are some
silent subscribers that do their
work with ease and in their way,
more effectually than any team or
plow ever hitched. The clover plant
is righteously famed as one of these
but alfalfa is its superior. Its roots
work Sunday as well as Saturday
night and day, they strike 5, 10, Is or