Jamestown alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1882, 1881-12-23
SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE.

10 many Ol Tue people VI lHlS ItOur.
sshing community this may, be no
Aew subject, forit has:bcen discussed
Il all its bearings by men OF expert.
,nce. The agricultural papers have
.ong discussed this question Of sci.
,nce in its relation 10 agriculture, or
agriculture as u science. 1t is moi
my purpose to dwell at length upon
his subject. Time and space will
not permit, but would direct your
attention to a few facts and sugges.
lions. When the settler first begins
break up the prairie, it is only nee.
'ssary to lightly stir the soil that
he grain may get hold and re-
umerative crop Is sure to follow.
Gut as this virgin soil becomes ex-
,austed as 1t surely must, in time,
With successive cropping, something
more becomes necessary in order t.
ealize fair compensation for the
.abor. In these times of rapid pro.
;ress in arts and science giving Ut
.uch variety Of farm machinery
.dapted to increase tho amount Of
work for the time expended, there is
70 reason why the farm should not
oe IN a better state Of cultivation,
md the return be more renumerative
.han formerly. Our farms are our
homes. 1t is here We gain our living
and while one half Of the world is
thus providing for its temporal wants
The other half is anxiously looking to
see whether we have bread and to
spare. Our aim should be to increase
our farm productions that We may
nave means to improve our farms and
.dorn our homes. No farmer can Ok.
cuse himself for not having shade
,rees and small fruit in cultivation
.round his home. But they need at
teution and proper cultivation,yet thia
plan is not followed out by our farmers
as generally as it should be, when ask.
,ng them ''why" the ready ans wer il
=. Oh cannot afford the time and ex.
pense,' and yet they will pay out
yearly twice the amount for canned
goods necessary to plant and care
for these necessities, and they can be
crown in abundance in our rich Da.
kota soil. And yet few farmers real.
lze that this is the truth. In farm
management we reason from cause
TO effect, and 80 plan our operations
Geology is called into use as we &C
10 purchase piece of land or locat.
a claim. And yet few farmers appear
to realize that his work has any con
usction VIII tever with science. Ii
buying we examine, unvonsciously
it may be, its geological formation
whether it is best suited to the grow
ing of grain, whether the subsoil il
OF such character az to retain mois
ture or not, ifit is Of a gravel deposit
We at once condemn It, but if de
post of clay we call it good one
Chemistry also performs an import
ant part in the labors of the farm
the farmer is the chemist, the farm
his laboratory, and his success depend'
on supplying the soil with those pro
perties that contain the elements fo
| the crop. Allowing this to be tn
| case, it would be great incentive
| to farmers to strive for the ascen
darcy in having a rich soil an'
| thorough cultivation. The question
| of a h, gh standard will each year be
| come more apparent. The rapid de
velopment Of Dakota with its ricl
soil and abundant crops must add
new impetus to our energies to keel
up the high standard we shave at
tanned. We must place before US tn
| motto "System Progress I'm
proyements we sometimes hear mel
say Farmiug don't pay" but i
this quoted by men Of enterprise ant
energy or by those who neglect tn
4 necessities of thorough cultiva
tlop. Some may say this is fame
and easy to talk about. Still there i
the reality which will yearly becom
mora aud more apparent to our mos
enterprising farmers, and these ar
questions chat must sooner or late
be met and solved, and l leave it Z
the minds of all intellectual farmer
if these are not facts.
OBSERVER, Grand Rapids
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