The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1894-01-19
Save the FertIlIsers.


tiers of Kansas that the soil was so
rich that manure was an actual in
jury TO it making crops grow too
rank, writes Professor S. c. Mason
in the Industrialist. If we may
judge by the care which some farm
ers take to keep manure from their
land, that opinion must still prevail
in the state. Not only do we see
manure left in the yards to leach
and waste, often for several years,
before any attempt is made to haul
it on the fields, but the location of
the yard is often on the bank of some
ravine or stream so that the drainage
and wash from the stables and ma
nure piles is at once carried away by
rains and the land deprived of even
this chance of getting back part of
what has been taken from it.
In feed lots where large numbers
of cattle and hogs are fattened,
manure of the most valuable quality
is produced. because of the highly
concentrated nature of the food con-
sumed; yet these yards, for conven-
fence in keeping them clean and be-
cause of the better shelter afforded,
are oftenest located on bank where
all of the valuable fertilizing nate
rial produced is swept away. If we
add to such waste the burning over
of stubble fields that a furrow may
be turned for the next wheat crop
and the burning of straw-stacks as
soon as the thrasher is clear of them,
we will only make a beginning at
summing9up the sins which the
average farmer is guilty of against
the soil he believes to be proof
against exhaustion.
One great source of waste occurs
in nearly every town in the state
from the hauling of manure from
public and private stables to some
common dumping ground" either on
the river bank where the next high
water washes it away or TO some va
cant tract where it either remains to
become a nuisance or is occasionally
burned. The sandy soil of the bot
tom lands near the rivers, when
heavily MANFRED, affords the very
best truckers soil, and O. few market
gardeners are taking advantage of
such opportunities. So far there is
still a great opportunity to utilize
vegetables is usually equal to the de-
mand, small fruits as a rule are
scarce, except in the very Eastern
counties, and much greater area
might be grown with profit Large
quantities of vegetables might be
raised and canned to the exclusion OF
canned goods from other states. Can
ming Establishments conducted on bus
mess principles and not as .'boom'
! have proved a success in a num-
| Der of localities, and have contrib
| uted greatly to the prosperity OF
their communities. With the estab-
lishment of many more, the industry
of vegetable and small-fruit garden
ing could be greatly extended, and
| the waste of stable manure from our
! towns become thing of the past.
| Seed farming, or the raising of veg
etable seeds under contract with
large seed houses in the East, has
proved a source of profit TO num-
t Der of growers, and is business that
is capable of great extension. Where
| land can be rented at reasonable
| for the hauling, business of this
kind might be built up that would
| give handsome return.
If farmers and gardeners alike
will learn in advance the lessons
which are the very elements of agri-
culture in the Eastern states, the
fertility of Kansas soils may be pre-
served from exhaustion. At present
much of our farming is but drawing
upon the capital which should be the
inheritance of future generations.