The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-04-09
Rotation Wf Crops

A rotation of crops means a change
of crops and any change of the order
of planting crops or the land is rota
tion. Whether or not it is a good ro
tation is entirely another question.
Why should We rotate crops! To
answer this inquiry briefly, let us e.
numerate Some crops exhaust the
land by taking out food materials and
by putting back into the soil absolute
ly no vegetable matter, so that the
natural rotting processes soon use
up all tine vegetable matter in the soil
Such a crop is exhaustive and runs
down the soil rapidly.
To correct a condition Of this ma
ture. it Is necessary to put some crop
on the land which leaves more vege-
table material in tho soil than it takes
out, in that way the vegetable matter
can be restored.
Some crops tend to loosen the land
Some crops tend to harden the land.
In order to keep the soil in desirable
tilth, it is advisable to rotate crops
that harden the land with crops which
mellow the land. Some crops such
as the legumes to which family be-
lupiEes. etc, have the power of accu-
mulating their own nitrogen supply,
and leaving more in the soil than they
| remove. The grains on the other hand
are exhaustive in this respect, conse-
quontly it is advisable in all good rO-
| tations to introduce leguminous
crop.
Rotations are peculiarly valuable
in Colorado. A great many of our soils
| are Unusually rich in mineral fertility,
but this mineral fertility is often lock-
ed up in unavailable forms until rot
ting vegetable matter, now generally
called organic matter, comes in con-
tact with the minerals in the soil. We
are acquainted in practice with this
development. When raw Colorado
lands are broken up, they may yield
we'll at first, but they always yield
more highly after alfalfa, so that
lands that have been properly rota-
ted with alfalfa or some other legum-
inous crop will yield more after years
of cultivation than they would yield
when the virgin soil was first put un-
der cultivation.
In Northern Colorado. this was am
ply demonstrated. Wheat, potatoes
and other crops gave good yields at
first. Then gradually the yields fell
off until alfalfa was discovered. After
alfalfa was grown upon the land and
broken up, the yields increased. and
often reached point vers much great
er than they had attained previously.
In the San Luis Valley grain prodnc-
tion had severely run dowr the lands.
The general planting of field peas in
the rotation again brought yields up.
where other farming conditions We're
favorable.
Farm and makret conditions will
| change so rapidly with the changes
| in population and social conditions,
| that a definite hsceme of rotation in
! which certain crops shall alternate
with other crops i'll a definitely laid
out yearly scheme. is often inadvisable
The good can be accomplished by see
ing that certain proportion of the
cultivated land is put into alfalfa or
| other leguminous crops each year,
and a certain proportion plowed up
each year. The essential thing is to
alternate soil destructive crops with
soil improving crops.
| With alfalfa it is seldom advisable
from the soil Improvement standpoint,
to leave the alfalfa on the land more
than four or five years. The writer is
perfectly aware that it is sometimes
economically advisable to leave alfalfa
longer than this. What is meant is
that from standpoint of improving
the soil. four or five years is as long
as the alfalfa should be left, when it
is broken up. From a standpoint OF
soil improvement, one cutting should
be plowed under. This will give al