The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-26
THE SCIENTIFIC FARMER.
Some Prevalent Misconcep-
tions of the Meaning of
the Term.
SUGAR, WHEAT AND PEACHES.
Sketch of an Agr!culturiSt Who
Employs Inherited Methods
and No Others.

There exist at the present time many
peculiar misconceptions of the meaning OF
the term scientific farming" The words
usually convey to the uninitiated a sugges-
ton of the handling of minute and more
or less obnoxious insects, whose instincts
toward plant life are of predatory char
acter. To others, again, the words conjure
up visions OF laboratories, reJorts and test
ing apparatus, presided over by hoary-
headed chemists. Both these ideas are
incorrect. Correctly interpreted, scientific
farming means consideration of the laws
of reproduction as regards plant life, the
question of the adaptabillty of soils and
climates, and comprehensive knowledge
of the treatment to be accorded to them.
With the compilation of collection OF re-
liable data in regard to the subject IN Its
various aspects, science does not deal IN
s'guess-work," which is often the way of
the farmer with inherited ideas only.
Science investigates, and nowadays pub
fishes results, and the intelligent worker
of the soil keeps posted by reading the
daily papers and various bulletins, print
ing containing matters of interest to him.
When the beet sugar industry OF Ger
many was given the great impetus by the
which made Germany to-day the producer
of more sugar than any other country In
the world, the law as passed stated that 1t
would be paid on the basis of twelve
pounds OF beets to one pound OF sugar.
The scientific farmer went to work and
bred up the beets until six and a half
pounds gave one pound of sugar, thus col
fecting export duty nearly double The
result has been that only two years ago in
Visalia German sugar was laid down and
cost "A Of cent pound less than our
home product. But in connection with
this industry of beet sugar-one which
every true Californian hopes to see be-
come onesof the largest of our States prod
ucts-is the growing of relia ble-and per-
feet seeds that can be depended on to pro-
duce the beets that yield the greatest per-
centage of saccharine. This business has
been carefully looked into and conservative
estimates show that each acre adapted to
this culture will yield the grower $3.50 at
the present price of seed.
Experiments made in our own country
by the test of 100 varieties of potatoes
showed that many of them did not yield
over sixty bushels to the acre; the best
went 1873 bushels; but near Gridley, Colo
RADIO, they yielded 3S2 bushels to the acre.
The San Joaquin Valley grows two crops
year, and with good seed and intelligent
cultivation they will yield more than is re-
allied at Gridley.
These illustrations are only to call the
attention Of readers of THE CALL to the
importance OF the farmer being up to date
in his methods. A wheat-grower, bache-
lor, ex-schoolteacher in our big county of
Tulare, produced this season 1904 sacks of
wheat from 100 acres of land. Argentina,
India, or Russia, will certainly have to get
a very big "move on" to beat this record.
To scientific farming alone can such re-
y IL L
ideas in that ex-schoolteacher's mind.
Another instance of scientific horticul-
ture came under the observation of the
writer last year. A fruit-grower in Tulare
County produced nineteen and a half tons
of Salway peaches per acre. The trees were
three and a half years planted in the Or
chard and each acre contained seventy
five. Thoughtfulness, comprehension of
the trees, and attention to their needs in
their wonderful and phenomenal growth,
brought about this result with the peach
yield, in the same manner as in the case of
the ex-schoolteacher's wheat product of
thirty sacks per acre.
1t has been inherited ideas that have kept
many of the farmers of to-day pursuing
the old beaten track, because they learned
that way from their fathers. The world
moved on with the speed of lightning and
has now caught and harnessed electricity
for its servant, while the farmer, with his
inherited ideas, has stood still. The re-
suit has been that either the farmer has
had to fall in line by following methods
more in accordance with scientific farm
ing or he has had to go to the wall.
As for the shiftless farmer the one who
seems to enjoy so much of the attent ion
of writer's on agriculture, it seems to be
waste of effort to endeavor to lift him out
of the rut of shiftlessness. If all the in
formation that has ever been published
about farming, beneficial or otherwise,
were concentrated in book, printed with
big type. and placed in the hands of
shiftless farmer, for his especial benefit, it
would avail him nothing. Such farmers
are generally too busy to read, always
hunting up Sunday JOB for their hired
every day. To such men scientific farm
ing cannot appeal. MAJOR G. ]. BERRY.