Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Sept. 23, 1902, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER Tuesday, September 23, 190: if The Influence of Wheat Growing on Soil Fertility. The Minnesota Experiment Sta tion is conducting a series of experi ments for the purpose of demon strating the influence of continuous wheat growing on the fertility of the soil. These experiments have now been carried on for eight years, and the conclusions reached are summa rised in the following statement. It may be pointed out that whilst these conclusions are predicated on the use of clover as , the recuperative crop, yet that like results would doubtless be obtained from the use of cow peas, soy beans and vetches, grown in the rotation in the place of clover. CONCLUSIONS. 1. When wheat was grown contin uously upon the same soil for eight years, there was a loss of 1,700 pounds per acre of nitrogen, about 300 pounds being utilized as plant food and 1,400 pounds lost by the de cay of the animal and vegetable mat ter of the soil and the-liberation of the nitrogen as gaseous and soluble compounds. During the eight years of continuous wheat cultivation there was a loss of over 21 per cent of the total nitrogen' of the soil, equivalent to an annual loss of 175 pounds per acre in addition to that used as plant food. 2. When wheat was grown in rota tion with clover and oats, five crops of wheat being removed in eight years, later yields per acre were se cured and the total loss of nitrogen from the soil was reduced to 800 pounds or about 450 pounds in ex cess of that utilized as plant food. When corn was grown with clover and oats in a rotation and farm ma- j At-- x a i i r "A nure was useu, uiu luiai iuss ux miru gen from the soil, for eight years, was less than 100 pounds in excess of that removed as plant food. 3. When the oats and barley were grown continuously the losses of ni trogen from the soil were nearly as large as when wheat was grown con tinuously. 4. When corn was grown continu ously the loss of nitrogen from the soil was less than half as large as when wheat was grown continuous ly. When corn is introduced into a rotation of crops, the losses of ni trogen are less than if wheat were grown. 5. When wheat was grown contin uously there was an annual lossof over 2,000 pounds per acre of humus due to the fermentation and decay of . the animal and vegetable matter of the soil. When wheat was grown in a rotation with clover and oats, no material loss of humus from the soil occurred. 6. The loss of humus changed the physical properties of the soil, caus ing it to be less retentive of mois ture, lighter in color, and heavier in weight per cubic foot. During times of drought, the soil from the contin uous wheat cultivated plot contain ed less water than the soil from the plot which produced wheat in rota tion with clover. Humus conserves the moisture of the soil, while the rotation of crops, the use of farm manures, and the growing of clover, conserves the humus of the soil. 7. When bare summer fallowing is practiced, a heavier loss of nitrogen occurs than when wheat is grown continuously. Summer fallowing fav ors the decay of the humus and the loss of nitrogen. While larger crops of wheat are produced after ayear of fallow, this increase is followed by a heavy loss of the total nitrogen of the soil. Summer fallowing rap idly exhausts the soil of its nitrogen. 8. When the nitrogen and humus of the soil were conserved by the ro tation of crops and the production of clover, an increase of 20 bushels per acre of corn, and 5.6 bushels of wheat were secured. 9. Wheat is not an exhaustive crop when it is grown in a rotation, but when it is grown continuously the fertility of the soil is impaired. It is not the crop itself that reduces the fertility, but it is the lack of sys tematic methods of farming which cause the decline of fertility. Old w'.ieat soils readily recuperate when some humus forming materials are returned to the soil. By jthe rota tion of crops, the use of farm ma nures and the cultivation of clover ihc heavy losses of nitrogen and hu mus from the soil can be checked, and larger yields and a better qual ity of wheat secured. Agricultural Education. "Do graduates of agricultural col leges easily secure positions? If so what are some of them, and what salary do they pay?" So asks a correspondent of the Chi cago Rural Voice and Editor Burke answers as follows: "Our correspondent's question may be answered broadly by the statement that it is doubtful if graduates from any professional or technological school to-day are in such immediate demand at good wages as are grad uates from the agricultural colleges of the country. To be more specific, we may say that the Wisconsin Col lege never yet has been able to sup ply the demand for graduates, espe cially those from its short course, and we are advised the pay reaches all the way from $40 to $60 a month and board, at the start. Iowa sent thirty-three of its agricultural boys to fine positions at the close of the last school year; Ohio Agricultural College makes the fine record of hav ing now engaged in practical agri culture 80 per cent of its graduates. To be still more specific, we know of one graduate of Cornell who step ped from schooL into a thousand-a-year job,, and who was raised to $1, 400 salary the second year; another agricultural student, we are advised, is in charge of China's agricultural educational work at a high salary, and still another . purpose. The young man who graduates from an agricultural college, determined to and capable of putting to practical account the knowledge he has ac quired, is as certain of a good posi tion as anything on this earth could be." Some General Observations on Farm Improvement. Editor of The Progressive Farmer: Owners of lands cannot be too careful of the soil. The silica and other properties are easily carried off by heavy rains and floods, never to return without great trouble and expense. Deep plowing is only one way to prevent their escape. Side hill ditching, terracing, and horizon tal plowing, with subsoiling, will prevent floods from washing off the soil, and will retain the fertilizers applied or gathered from the rains. Lands properly cared for will pro duce some crop to shade and enrich themselves if not taken off; when removed, something else should be substituted to prevent barrenness. Good farmers will always have some remunerative crop on every acre of their lands, not only for what they bring in, but for their preservation, a part of which should be plowed under as the cheapest mode of fer tilizing. Stock and poultry raising is made most profitable by allowing the ani mals and fowls to gather their own food when the lands are dry; be sides, they distribute their excre ment without cost. To improve the fertility of the lands is a two-edged sword in acquiring wealth; while a part goes into the purse, the remain der is retained in the soil for future use. Good roads on the farm are as im portant as elsewhere. But water carriage is generally cheaper than hauling, especially so when most con venient, and as many productive fields lie near streams or canals made for draining, both of which may be utilized and more economical than transporting long distances over steep hills and bad roads. Mil lions of acres of unimproved swamp or bottom lands in almost every State might and should be made to produce something more profitable than malaria and musqitoes, and one or two men with poles, oars, sails or engines can market produce and lum ber at small cost. Soiling stock on rainy days is bet ter than tramping lands or using dry or concentrated food because more economical. JNO. F. FOAED, M. D. Iredell Co., N. C. Good Money in the Watauga Hay Crop. Mr. W. W. D. Edmiston, of New River, has a piece of meadow con taining only a little more than six acres on which there are twelve stacks of hay that, to put them at a very low estimate, will weigh 2,500 pounds each, or a total of 30,000 pounds on the plot. This hay can be easily cashed in the meadow at $10 per ton, or $150 for the lot. It pos sibly cost as much as 75 cents per stack to get it up and the remaining $141 are clear profits, or $23 1-3 per acre. If this isn't making money easily, what is? Boone Democrat. Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Franklin. j I EFFECTS OF FARM MACHINERY 01 AGRICULTURE A1W CIVIL- ft j y The Essay Which Won the Two-Hors, I Mowing Machine in the A. and Misy College Prize Competion. BY WALTER W. FINEEY, NORTH WILKES- BORO, N. C. ? (Concluded from last week.) f After the low state of agriculture during the Middle Ages, we come to j the age when inventors began turn- j ing their attention to machines to lighten the labor of harvesting; to a . time when competition was becom ing more fierce, labor more costly, and any saving of time a gain to civ ilization. EARLY HARVESTING MACHINES In 1786 a machine was constructed by William Pitt, of Pendeford, Eng land, which was a header. A cylin der, fitted with rows of comUlike teeth, was placed horizontally on the front part of the frame, and madejto revolve by power transmitted to it from the wheels. As the cylinder re volved, the inclined teeth caught the heads of grain and carried them over into the box of the machine. The animal was, of course, attached behind, a characteristic method of hitching in all these early forms, since it was essential that the grain should not be trodden upon, and no one had as yet thought of the side cut. In 1808 Mr. Salmon, of Woburn, brought ou a machine with several new features, the most Aumjtnt which was the cutter used. This coi JLf sisted of a row of vibrating knives acting over stationary blades, and was the first vibrating cutter. It was also the first to combine the re ciprocating and advancing motion, and was the first hint at the third class of cutters, or those with a re ciprocating knife. Numbers of new machines were brought out every year, but none were perfect enough to be of very great value to farmers. Up to 1831 there had been two French, one German, thirty-three English and twenty-two American inventions recorded. America was the birthplace of the successtul reaper. In no respect have American inventors exhibited their genius to a greater degree than in the development of farm machin ery. They have emancipated the farm laborer from a' galling task and made possible a wonderful progress in agriculture. The number of in ventors is very great, but as to which should have more credit for further ing the development of machines, it is difficult to decide. Each profitecj by the new inventions of the othe and as the result of their combined efforts in improvement we have t&e wonderfully complicated, but per fectly adjusted reaper and binder, cutting a five to eight foot swath in the heaviest grains, and leaving th bundles neatly tied and bunched co veniently for shocking. And in the immense wheat fields of the Wedt we have the combined header anid thresher which cuts the graiiHf threshes and sacks it ready to b hauled to the barn. These machine I 7T ( n A '"V
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 23, 1902, edition 1
2
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