The Portland daily press., 1878-09-16
AGRICULTURAL.
The National Agricultural Congress.

ever, were OF those VINO are actveiy engaSeu
In the improvement of agricultural questions
and the investigation of our present methods
and formed an unusually intelligent audience.
Some disappointment was felt at the absence
of prominent Western and Southern men
who were expected, and at the evident want
of system in the management of the meeting.
Thomas p James, of Georgia, was appointed
President, and opened the meeting by an ad-
dress upon the value of education in agricul-
ture. He severely criticised many of the
agricultural schools and colleges in the coun-
try, emphasizing the value of practical in
struction. He said each school should have
complete farm connected with it.; but what
is greatly needed in agriculture is proper ed
ucation in its science. educate" should be
the farmsr's watchword, for education alon
will put agricultural art in its proper place,
and will do much toward bringing to our
country peace, prosperity and happiness.
E. 81. Barney, of Dayton, Ohio, read a
paper on the catalpa tree. The wood OF this
tree Is almost indestructable. He gave the
delegates little packets of wood, which some
what resembles chestnut, but is darker. In
these packets were specimens of the late
blooming or common catalpa and the early
blooming or hardy catalpa, a piece from
fence post which had been in the ground over
40 years, and a piece from bar-post which
had been in the ground Is years. These
pieces are apparently as good as new. Nu-
merous other instances were given of the
power of this wood to resist decay. 1t does
not become water-logged after IL years in the
water. Gate posts so and 80 years in use
have often been dug up as sound as when
new. He has recently received from Ullin,
Pulaski County, Southern Illinois, split
catalpa fence post, one of lot taken up and
reset after they had been in the ground over
40 years. Also, a gate post made from
catalpa log 10 inches in diameter, that had
been in the ground over 40 years. The CEN
tire of these posts has decayed down two
inches or more. Otherwise both posts are
sound; the eud that was in the ground shows
SO little signs of decay that it is
ifficult to determine which end was
in the ground. They look as if they
were good for all the remaining years of a
century. The tree can be propagated south
of latitude AZ deg.
Hon. B. G.. Northrop read paper on the
reclamation of the sand barrens of New Eng
land. He referred TO the efforts of Europeans
in draining lakes. Here, where land is so
plenty, it is not SO necessary to drain lakes,
but there is great deal of swamp land
which ought to be reclaimed. Much has
been reclaimed on the sea coast in New Jer-
sey, Massachusetts and elsewhere. The
practicability of retaining the sand barrens
of the Atlantic States is doubted, but most of
them were once well wooded, and all may be
again. Drifting sands in Europe cover 1000.
coo acres, of which 2OO,0 900 are in Gascony.
These can all be reclaimed by tree planting.
In France 100, 900 acres have been reclaimed
by tree planting. In this work the young
trees at the shore had to be protected for
time by line of palings. The cost of pro.
tecting and planting the pines has sometimes
been $40 an acre, but the Government gets
profit from the forests. In France, 100000
acres of sand dunes remain to be planted.
The results of such work in other countries
show how we may reclaim our barrens. In
this country the Scotch pine has proved the
best for planting both in Michigan and in
Cape Cod. The amount of land planted in
Barnstable county, Mich, is. 10 600 acres.
Before planting these lands could be bought
for rs cents an acre; since reclamation the
same lands have been sold for $14 an acre.
Prof. S. w. Shattuck, of Illinois, read pa
per on s'Draining on the Farm" looking at
the subject from an Illinois standpoint. No
permanent improvement could be made, he
said, without tile drainage, which was much
better than surface drainage. He read many
letters from farmers showing what had been
their experience in tile drainage. Most of
them had put their drains three feet deep;
the Professor favored at least four feet. The
tiles should be as many inches in diameter as
the square root of the number of acres to be
drains that is, in 9-acre lot they should be
3 inches, and in 25-acre lot inches. This
must depend on the character of the land.
No farmer should shrink from drainage be-
cause of its expense, for the result and advan-
tage are sure to be great. The putting down
OF tiles would give employment to the far
mers who are now unemployed half the time,
and are spending their time in discussing
questions of finance and currency. He rec
commended round tiles and the following of a
systematic plan of drainage, and described
the flaws and faults commonly found in tiles.
In 1876 there were 4 6S4, 853 feet of tiles sold
in Illinois, and in 1877 there were Il, OLE 913.
Tile-draining has been in use Illinois for 16
years.
Prof. Brewer read paper on "The Rela.
ton of Science to Agriculture" He could
not highly recommend institutions which in
structed young men solely in the science of
farming without accompanying experiment
on the soil, nor could he those which devoted
almost all their exertions to manual labor,
without instruction in the science. But the
science should be thoroughly taught Labor
should be made intelligent, and as much
drudgery as possible relegated to the ma
chimes. We must not put labor before brains.
1t is not to learn to plow, hoe, and reap, but
how to do it, and when and why, that a
young man should 60 to college. The acts
themselves can be learned without ever leav-
ing the farm. Teachers of agriculture should
have practice in running farm for mon.
ey, on business principles, before attempt
ing to teach at all. Primary instruction in
Europe and America is equally faulty. The
want of proper teachers is felt. Invest the
country in measure with some of the at
fractions with which it is viewed by one SCI
enti6cally educated, and the rush of the
young men to the cities will cease and the
agricultural colleges begin to fill up. The
primary school of to-day fails to lead the
farmers boy to any higher appreciation sof
his fathers pursuit. Lecture circuits were
favored as being of advantage to teache rs
and farmers, and much good might thus be
done; for despite the well known conserva-
tism of the farmer element. it is well known
that ground once gained among them is never
lost
DIR. E. L. Sturtevant, of South Framing
ham, read paper on agricultural plant feed
ing. He said: A consideration of the SUBJ
ject must relate to the plant, the soil, and
the acts OF man, in order to eliminate the
influences which interfere with uniform de-
velopment. He then spoke of the promi-
nent methods of fertilizing in the east, west,
and south. The natural soil contains all the
Inorganic food necessary for the support of
the plant, except three ingredients nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash-which are to be
applied in such ways that the plant may most
easily absorb and use them. 1t is much
easier to feed the soil than to feed the plant,
Az
plant that as great proportion as possible
may be used by it. One of the most impor-
tant things to be supplied is nitrogen, which
appears actively in its work as nitric acid.
When dung is spread on field the rain
washes Its feeding ingredients into the soil.
In this way the nitrogen passes further down
the potash next, and the phosphoric acid lies
near the surface. Consequently, this is not
the proper way to feed the soil in which we
wish to grow plants whose roots 90 far down
and which especially need phosphoric acid !;
but it is good method for those deep-reach-
ing plants which need nitrogen. The speaker
pursued this subject further, showing the eff
cheney of surface manuring in different cases.
The most valuable plant to the farmer is that
which utilHes the most of the inorganic
food in the soil.
DR.. Tichenor, of Alabama, read paper on
"Soil Exhaustion in which nothing new
was produced. Mr.. Gennert, of Maine, adj
vocated ''The Beet Sugar Industry" and
described recent effort to establish it in
Maine. The company which he represents
made contracts with 800 farmers, and 1000