| 1. Year—No. 1—Fallow | No crop. |
| No. 2—Wheat after wheat | 15 bushels 3½ pecks per acre. |
| 2. Year—No. 1—Wheat after fallow | 37 bushels — pecks per acre. |
| No. 2—Wheat after wheat | 13 bushels 3¼ pecks per acre. |
| 3. Year—No. 1—Fallow after wheat | No crop. |
| No. 2—Wheat after wheat | 15 bushels 3¼ pecks per acre. |
| 4. Year—No. 1—Wheat after fallow | 42 bushels — pecks per acre. |
| No. 2—Wheat after wheat | 21 bushels 0¼ pecks per acre. |
| 5. Year—No. 1—Wheat after wheat | 17 bushels 1¼ pecks per acre. |
| No. 2—Wheat after wheat | 17 bushels — pecks per acre. |
Taking the first four years, we have a total yield from the plot sown every year of 66 bushels 2¼ pecks, and from the two crops alternately fallowed, a total yield of 79 bushels. The next year, when wheat was sown after wheat on the land previously fallowed, the yield was almost identical with the yield from the plot that has grown wheat after wheat for so many years.
So far, these results do not indicate any exhaustion from the practice of fallowing. On the other hand, they tend to show that we can get more wheat by sowing it every other year, than by cropping it every year in succession. The reason for this may be found in the fact that in a fallow the land is more frequently exposed to the atmosphere by repeated plowings and harrowings; and it should be borne in mind that the effect of stirring the land is not necessarily in proportion to the total amount of stirring, but is according to the number of times that fresh particles of soil are exposed to the atmosphere. Two plowings and two harrowings in one week, will not do as much good as two plowings and two harrowings, at different times in the course of three or four months. It is for this reason that I object, theoretically, to sowing wheat after barley. We often plow the barley stubble twice, and spend considerable labor in getting the land into good condition; but it is generally all done in the course of ten days or two weeks. We do not get any adequate benefit for this labor. We can kill weeds readily at this season, (August), but the stirring of the soil does not develope the latent plant-food to the extent it would if the work was not necessarily done in such a limited period. I say theoretically, for in point of fact I do sow wheat after barley. I do so because it is very convenient, and because it is more immediately profitable. I am satisfied, however, that in the end it would be more profitable to seed down the barley with clover.
We must raise larger crops; and to do this we must raise them less frequently. This is the key-note of the coming improved system of American agriculture, in all sections where good land is worth less than one hundred dollars per acre. In the neighborhood of large cities, and wherever land commands a high price, we must keep our farms in a high state of fertility by the purchase of manures or cattle foods. Those of us in the interior, where we can not buy manure, must raise fewer grain crops, and more clover. We must aim to raise 40 bushels of wheat, 50 bushels of barley, 80 bushels of oats, and 100 bushels of shelled corn, and 5 bushels of clover-seed per acre. That this can be done on good, well-drained land, from the unaided resources of the farm, I have no doubt. It may give us no more grain to sell than at present, but it will enable us to produce much more mutton, wool, beef, cheese, butter, and pork, than at present.
“But, then, will there be a demand for the meat, wool, etc.?” The present indications are highly favorable. But we must aim to raise good meat. The low-priced beef and mutton sold in our markets are as unprofitable to the consumer as they are to the producer. We must feed higher, and to do this to advantage we must have improved stock. There is no profit in farming without good tillage, larger crops, improved stock, and higher feeding. The details will be modified by circumstances, but the principles are the same wherever agri-culture is practised.
[ CHAPTER IX.]
HOW TO RESTORE A WORN-OUT FARM.
I have never yet seen a “worn-out” or “exhausted farm.” I know many farms that are “run down.” I bought just such a farm a dozen or more years ago, and I have been trying hard, ever since, to bring it up to a profitable standard of productiveness—and am still trying, and expect to have to keep on trying so long as I keep on farming. The truth is, there never was a farm so rich, that the farmer did not wish it was richer.