The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-02-24
The BrattlebOro Meeting.
RENEWING EXHAUSTED SOILS.

INV EAhAO0lED OOlD0s
A very thoughtful and practical pa
per, from thoroughly practical man,
was that presented by J. o. Sanford of
Stamford, W., on the above-named sub
ject. Mr.. Sanford is one of the few
butter-making dairymen in Vermont
who has solved the problem of carrying
a COW to the acre, and commanding
thirty. I've cents pound for his butter,
the year around. Of course, to be sure
of this, he has to sell direct to con-
sumers, but he lives near to the large
manufacturing town of North Adams,
Mass, which affords such an oppor-
tunity. He delivers the buter-and
the choice eggs from the poultry yards
of his son-direct to the houses of his
customers. Mr.. Sanford is known to
many of our readers as a member of
the State Board of Agriculture. We
avail ourself of the report of his paper
as we find it in the Ne,o England Home.
stead, abbreviating it somewhat:
The average yield of hay in New Eng
land is but trife above one ton per
acre. Taking into account the fact
that some farmers obtain more than
twice this, brings us to consider the
low yield from large class of New En-
| gland farms. Is the soil exhausted? A
variously composed disintegrated rock,
containing much plant food, gives our
soil peculiar fitness for perpetual
work, and the endless process of disin-
tegration yields certain fertilizing prop
critics that give to New England and
her Green Mountain ranges that pecu-
liar rich verdure that is 80 much adj
mired. We find in the very midst of
these rundown farms, large towns and
manufacturing villages whose inhab-
itants are calling for the products of
New England farms at generous prices,
but are obliged to 90 elsewhere for their
supply. II we consult the Western ag-
ricultural literature of the day, we shall
learn that they are exercised over the
rapid decline in the productiveness of
their lands, and are trying to solve this
same problem of how to restore and
maintain the fertility of the firm. Shall
we blindly complain of our ruined and
WORKOUT farms, forgetful of the fact
that this great national wealth of which
we boast is but the result of that sys-
tenn of farming that has transformed
the latent and mysterious elements of
fertility from the land into material and
enduring wealth?
We must recognize the fact that we
are surrounded by entirely different
conditions from our predecessors They
have left US the soil and the possible
knowledge of applying forces that will
produce crops far in excess of ANYTHING
they knew In order to succeed in our
conditions, we must learn to feed the
plants. Under the old system, the far
mer planted the seed and trusted to
providence for his crop, but we must
learn to trust ourselves, not unmindful
of our dependence upon the great
Father who gives us seed time and
harvest. Those valuable elements, nj
trOgen, potash and phosphoric acid, are
the farmers capital, his stock in trade,
and should never become exhausted.
Like his bank account, in order to draw
money on his checks he must make de.
posits. If he fails in this, his checks
are not honored. So with his soil. His
demands must be limited to the amount
on deposit there. How important it is
then, that all the mineral value of our
crops be returned to the soil. Our barns
and stables should be so constructed as
to save all the manure of our animals
both solids and liquids 1t is a com
paratively new theory that the liquids
contain more fertilizng value than the
solid eXcrement, and yet, since it is
considered to be true, how few farmers
take any special pains in saving it. The
plant food wasted on farms is enormous
The wasteful practices that allow &C
much of our fertiizing elements to &C
to waste are costing the farmers of oul
state hundreds of thousands of dollars
annually. 1t is undoubtedly true tha
many farmers are paying hard-earnet
money each year for potash nitrogen
and phosphoric acid, and at the same
time are allowing more of these ele
ments to 90 to waste on their own farms
than they buy. The manure made upor
our farms should be considered as
farm product. 1t represents a portion
of our farm crops and purchased goods
that is indispensable for us, for if W,
lose it we must buy more, for we can
not proceed WITHOUT IL. InlS SnOul(
be kept constantly in mind by ever,
fee der.
The system of farming that preceded
us has been called extensive farm
ing" and is that system that is adapted
to all new countries where fertile lane
is cheap and plenty. 1t requires larg,
areas. The more land the farmer haC
the greater his income. This gave thu
farmer grasping desire for more land
and the prominent idea on which h,
worked was to gather in. New England
has not had due credit for the wealth
that has been taken from her farms
We are in transition state, passin!
from the system of extensive to tina
of "intensive farming" Much of thu
land that was serviceable in the old i
of little value in the new. This new
system calls for concentration, for NOR
thorough and better cultivation an,
better crops from our best land. Ii
reality the farmer is a manufacturer
using his farm as the factory, by whicl
! he converts raw materials into DrO