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Show - ... . fr : i lversiried Crops A Diractar si ASriaul- OrV. lural Ealantion. THE IMPORTANCE OF CROP ROTATION FOR vm.., .1 THE IRRIGATION FARMER "K" , Ortjon Short Lint Vimenj Ira lion Train Ltctun. Basis of Success. The basis of farm success Is orgai b.atlon, system on the farm; tl basis of organization on the farm crop manaKement; on the auceesBfi management of the crop largely rei these five fundamentals: 1. Kconomy of Huslness. 2. Maintenance of Koil Fertility. 3. l'roductlvity of the Soli. 4. Subsistence for Livestock. G. Farm Profits ut end of Seasoi The term "Rotation of Crops" I used to designate a system of croj which give a recurring succession i leld plants with differing plunt too requisites. Reasons for Rotation. The primary purposes of a crop r tatlon are 1st, Prevention of "Cro Sick" soils, the result of eontlnu iu cultivation of the samo crop for a p rtod of years; 2nd, The elimination weeds. Insect pests and crop disease 3rd, Increase In the productivity c the field crops by conserving the so fertility. First Irrigated Crop The first crop to be grown In an appreciable degree "under the ditch was wheat. Wheat followed whea year after year on the river plal farms of Utah and Idaho until I some Instances the yield of grain fel 20 and even 50 per cent below wha !t llrst gave the farmer. This wa. on comparatively virgin soil whlcl we think is rich as cream. Why 1 this? Feeding at the same depth oi Ihe same plant food elements absorl the readily available plant food o this particular element so this clas of plants Is then sparingly fed. Llk i starved pig, it cannot make It swner the profits the well fed one do. All plants do not feed alike. The; either use different foods or the sann food from different depths. There fore, plants feeding at dlfferen lepths of soil, although they may us the same food elements, the deepe feeding plants can follow the shallov feeders without aerlous lmmedlati loss, although eventually, unless thesi ibsorhed food elements be restored the available plant food will becomi xhausted and the soil will therefon be Impoverished. The depositor who continues t 3raw his money from the bank with 3ut making deposits will at last ft in bis checks returned marKed "short.' No bank will permit continued over drafts. We should not be taking ol ill the time, without putting back th food elements upon which plant teed, some of the time. If we do, wi have a crop sick soil that does no "pay Us checks" for want of funds-the funds-the available food elements that havi been taken through previous with drawals. Our Utah and Idaho soils are elthe of granitic or volcanic rock formation These soils seem to hold an abund ance of potash, a reasonable amoun of phosphates, a limited amount o nitrates, abundance of lime, but i great deficiency In organic mnttei commonly known sb humus. Hen are the essentials we need In thes soils; they constitute the soil barom fter since the lessened amount of anj one of these will most seriously af feet the general crop culture. Humui not only Increases the water holdint capacity of the soil but it also carriei in appreciable amount of nitrates fence we need, early in our cropping to get humus In the soil. Feed the soil constantly, that It may. In turn leed our crops. How may wo do this! liy growing crops that tend to stort what little humus we have with nltro gen. while It Increases the humui content of the Thene are It-gum crops alfalfa, beans, peas, alslke, red clover and vetches constitute the le gtimo 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 fel will grow you the most dollars. Oive It a permanent place In your field crops. These plants seem ti have the peculiar pe-culiar property of ut"l?.lng the free nitrogen of the air and thus store nitrates ni-trates in the soil, and accumulate humus, hu-mus, the one thlryr our soils seem most to need. How Is this done? Through a most peculiar little family of lower organisms known as bacteria, bac-teria, which grow on the root hairs and tiny rootlets of the root system of these legume plants. This creates, aa It were, a fever In that particular part f the plant, calling for more air and more watr. In a chemical pro-pese pro-pese not easily understood, the free nitrogen obtained from the surrounding surround-ing air Is worked Intn nitrates avail able to succeeding plant life. Perennial legumes are always deep feeders, bringing a part of their mln-sral mln-sral food from soil depths below the reeding ground of ordinary crops. This value to succeeding crops in ihown In the opening paragraph to Poburn's Alfalfa: "There are some silent sub-s'illeni that do their work with ease and In their way. more effectually than any team or i'.ow ever hitched. The clover p!ant s righteously famed as one of tht-se. ut alfalfa Is Its superior. Ms rootg s-ork Sunday as well as SituVlav. light and dsy. they strike 5. lu, 15 or 20 feet deep, making mnumeraDie . perforations, while storing up nilro-, nilro-, Ken, and when thea roots decay they l leave not only a generous supply "f jl fertility for any desired erop. but mil-jt mil-jt lions of openliiRs into which the aira and rains of heaven find their way, and help to constitute an unfailing reservoir of wealth, un which tuo husbandman can draw with little fear of protest or overdrafts." Professor Puffum, somo yeara ago lB at the Wyoming Experiment Station, , made a test showing tho gain on al-,'f al-,'f faifa ground for small grain and io-j io-j tatoeB over the same type of soil where alfalfa was not grown. His results re-sults obtained are hero given. Wheat, gain In bushel per acre, 12; gain In value of harvested crop l (local prices), $10.00. a Oats, gain in bushel per acre, 41; gain In acre value of harvested crop f (local prices). $16.00. Potatoes, gain In bushel per acre, f 29; gain In acre value of harvested II crop (local prices), $16.00. Therefore, get the land Into a legume le-gume of sorno kind, alfalfa, vetch or y field pea, as soon as you can that It may be better prepared for auccess-t auccess-t ful and profitable after crops. In case the farmer Is In doubt Just what crop to put In, he will make no 1 mistake to seed down to alfalfa while t he Is planning out the crop rotation thrft his environment wnuld seem to Indicate best for blin to adopt, a Rotation Destroys Weeds, n The elimination of weeds la ef-a ef-a fectually accomplished by tho intro-f intro-f duetlon of cultivated crops like po-s po-s tatoes, stock roots, sugar beets, field i? beans and truck gardening crops. The s Irrigation ditch Is even a greater car-g car-g rier of weeds than the winds. Where an entire Irrigation district adopts the t practice of crop rotation and cutting f ditch and canal bank weeda, they can !- be, and are, exterminated. Most of t our worst weed pests are annual and t when all users of a given ditch prac-r prac-r tlce a good crop rotation the weed v qeustlon Is solved. Get Station Bulletins. " Because weed and Insect pests as well as fungus diseases are fully dis-B dis-B cussed In Station bulletins which can 9 be had by addressing the director of your state experiment station, I shall pass up any discussion of them, j Rotation Fundamentals. Let us now consider the fundamen-.. fundamen-.. tals which we should concern our-r our-r selves with. In adopting a rotation for B our Irrigated lands, where we cannot , afford to grow many cheap forage or p grass crops, unless upon said farm t we can convert these cheaper crops Into more remunerative meat, dairy e or poultry products. 1. All plants tend to exhaust the soil. They abstract some one or more r food elements to the full amount of availability. 2. All plant do not exhaust the ( soil In the same way and manner , equally. , 3. Plants grown constantly or con-r con-r tinuously on the same field favor the spread of Insect pests and certain plant diseases. 4. Some plants, by methods of fill-r fill-r age, are favorable to weed growth. whllo others are not. , G. Plants differ In habits of root , growth. , 6. All legumes are soil bulMrrs and soil renovators.-7. renovators.-7. Some form of stock raising, J combined with crop growing, will furnish fur-nish manure for making humus and building up the soil. The old ICngllsh . adage "No grass no cattle; no cattle '. no manure; no manure, no grass," Is i true everywhere. Rotation on Irrigated Ldt. I Every rotation on the irrigated lands In this region should contain: 1st. At least one money or cash crop; 2nd, At least one cultivated crop; 3rd, At least one legume crop; 4th, At least ne live stock or feed-1 feed-1 Ine crop; 5th, These should be so grouped as to most economically distribute farm labor throughout the year. 6th. So arrange the rotation that the farm can turn cheap and bulky feeds Into milk, poultry or meat products. pro-ducts. 7th. Thus make factory methods on the farm, turn ordinary waste products pro-ducts Into profits. The mest packer so utilizes tbe calf, lamb and pig that now there is nothing lost but the blat and the squeal. The adoption of a definite crop rotation ro-tation and the practice of factory methods on the farm will stop the leaks which now reduce the profits and tremendously Improve the quality while It Increases the quantity of the output of every farm In this district. I know an Irrigated farm In the Roekiea where the ugexted method nnmed above Is followed and the returns re-turns for the period of their crop r-tatfr-n of six years, which I clicked up last year, svernged 1 0 gross jer acre crop per season. I)o not be sat isfied until you fee you hive Worked out a crop rotation adapted to ymir soil, climate snd market environment and Hint rotation is averaging you a rs return of $'0 per acre crop per ea.nn. |