I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.
Early settlers, unfortunately, tended to be careless with the use and care of their soil. This was the case across the country, as Americans were used to thinking that there would always be more land for new farms. And by the 1880s, they saw this would not be the case much longer, and they began to take an interest in keeping their soil fertile.
They rotated corn with oats and hay to prevent crop diseases in insects. Crop rotation also helped keep the soil supplied with different plant foods, instead of wearing it out by growing the same crop year after year.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.
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