Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1892-12-29

deeper and unlocks and takes ou
from the soil the elements of plan
food that the shallow rooted plant
cannot get. Rotate them with re
gard to the depth of their effective
mess.
He said that weeds rob US by tax
} ing the moisture from the grount
that is needed for the corn and othe
crops. OF course when they rot th'
energy gathered by them from tht
ground goes back to it, but all tn,
time that the crop was growing the
weeds were holding these elements
in their own construction where tht
roots of the corn or other crop coule
not get at them. But if one grows
a crop Of clover and thus draws
through its long roots the laten
energy deep down in the soil to the
surface and then turns that clover
under, the earth will be richer thereby
and noticibly so for several years
By a iudicious system of rotation
the land is improved. By growing
one crop for years it becomes in
tested with insects. Where wheat
is grown for years in field the Hes.
sian fly gets in, whereas it is never
found in field that has had clover
in it for a year. A good plan is to
give the land clover for one year
then wheat for two, ,and so on. From
the clover comes the vegetable mold
that is necessary to the growth of a
good crop.
J. l.. Erwin: ~ don't think
that cultivation adds to the fertility
of the soil. | doubt the notion that
We want to make a renovating crop
out of clover. What we want to do
is to kill or destroy those weeds on
the field that take from the strength
of the crop. / don't believe that
the energies of the soil evaporate.
The soil is the greatest absorbent we
have"
Mr.. Waters: ''Do you believe
that the clean cultivation of the soil
will injure it?'
Mr. Erwin: 81 do not; it would
have no effect for good or bad. The
best results we get are in the gar
den, where we simply hoe the weeds
to prevent the weeds from gaining
the strength that we want to 60 into
the plant we are cultivating 1t is
like feeding the pigs at trough and
letting the old SOW come along and
drink up all the pigs milk"
Mr.. Waters s.The cultivation
without planting would exhaust the
soil and make it worthless. Its
strength is carried down by the soak
ing water and up by evaporation. "
Mr.. Erwin: "Go to the plains
of New Mexico and you find that as
soon as water is turned on the arid
soil and it is the most productive
land in the world, and still this soil
has gone through the process OF
evaporation for years and years"
A. J. Blake. cit is a saying as
old as time is that unused land
| grows poorer and cultivated land
better all the time.'
THURSDAY MORNING.
This session was opened by Mr..
J. L. Erwin, of Fulton, who gave an
instructive talk on stock feeding. He
believes in the judicious mixing OF
foods and thinks the best results are
obtained thereby. One cannot af-
ford to keep pig more than nine
months or calf more than thirty
months. He cannot afford to feed
corn by itself and he can't afford to
feed ship stuff at s1.25 per hundred
ifhe did not gain thereby. But he
gains more per month in the gain OF
his hogs and calves in weight. Corn
does not contain the elements that
20 to make lean meat and SO if only
corn is fed there is much fat and
thereby loss. Stock increases in
weight faster on a mixture of corn,
bran and ship stuff than on any 9th,
ler food. One must get The hogs
ready for market in nine months
and the calves in thirty. All the
time they stay on hands after that
they are eating into the profits and
sometimes deeper than that. So ii
can be plainly seen that the food
| that makes the fastest growth, even
| if little more expensive, is the bes'
for the farmers pocket.
i The older an animal is the more
| food it takes to produce a pound Of
flesh. This is another reason why
the growth should be rapid.
i One reason why stock does no
grow better in the West is because
poor shelter is furnished, thus max
ling it necessary for the animal to US
lup all the food given them in keep
ing them warm and thus not increas
ing their weight pound. Good shel
ter produces a saving in feed. The.
should have good water. With thes
things the young stock will put Oh
flesh all through the winter. A youn
f pig out in the cold will put on les
/ flesh thgn big one, but the littl
. one will beat the big one in a warn