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Potatoes After Corn

Categories: CROP-ROTATIONS

When potatoes are grown in the corn belt, a five

years' rotation of corn, potatoes, oats, wheat, and clover, or corn,

potatoes, wheat, clover, and timothy, is one of the best. When a late

potato crop is grown, there is not time for seeding to wheat in cool

latitudes, and the oat crop, or the soybean, fits in best. Farther

south, where the oat crop is less profitable, there usually is time to

go directly to wheat.



The advantage in this rotation is that the fresh manure can be used on

the sod for the corn, and the potato thrives in the rotted remains of

the sod and manure. Corn leaves the soil in good physical condition for

the potato. Commercial fertilizer is used freely for the potato, which

repays fertilization in higher degree than most other staple crops. The

land can be prepared for seeding to wheat and grass with a minimum

amount of labor. The rotation is excellent where there is enough

fertility for the potato, which usually can be by far the most

profitable crop in the entire rotation.



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