The Van Buren press., 1898-11-19
FARMER AND PLANTER.
EXPERIMENT STATIONS.
10 Get best Results Experiment Farms
Should Follow Up the Work of
the stations.

10 Get Hest Results Experiment Farms
should Follow Up the Work of
the Stations.
Many individuals seem to think that
because the general government has
seen fit TO organize experiment sta
tions in every state for the purpose Of
arriving at as near absolutely correct
conclusions in regard to the great
science of agriculture, as it is possible
for poor erring humanity to do, and
that as these conclusions will in every
instance be the outcome of painstak-
ing research and accurate experiment.
atlon, much more SO in fact than the
average farmer would have either
means, time or inclination to deter
mine for himself, and that as this ex-
perimentation is paid by the general
! government, that there is no need
therefore of the farmer using his own
time and means i'll experimenting for
himself. This idea is erroneous; the
stations made experiments to estab-
lish general principles, and now it is
the province of every good farmer who
aspires to be at the head of his occu-
patton to experiment, each for him
self, until he ascertains how best to
apply those principles to his individu-
al farm.
Luckily for the farmer, we have
quite number of experiment farms
in existence that keepimmediate prac-
teal results, just such as every busy,
go-ahead farmer is interested in, in
the foreground. Prominent among
these, we may mention Rothamstead
in England, with which every grain
raiser is pretty thoroughly aequaint-
ed; but we have one right atour doors,
one which has already aptly been
termed the Rothamstead of America,
IN which we are Ill yially interested,
but of which comparatively few have
as yet heard; we refer to the vxperi-
North Carolina. In a conversation we
had with one of the directors of ex-
pertinent stations, that gentleman
stated that their object was not to
make money or to save money; but
to spend money. Now, this is exactly
the opposite of what the majority of
our farming brethren want and need.
Money-maling and money-saving in
formation is just exactly what they
think they need, first, last, and all the
time; and this is just exactly the in
formation the experiment farm at
Southern Pines proposes to give. I'm
like the major portion of the farms
that are carried on in connection with
our several experiment stations, which
are mostly located on old and we'll
worn soils, this particular experiment
farm was located originally on virgin
soil, yet 1t contained but little plant
food, and was uniform in composition.
The main object in locating this
farm was to fully answer the impor-
tant question, what amount of phos-
phoric acid nitrogen and potash are
needed, and in what proportion to
each other, for best development of
horticultural products? This question
could be answered much more surely
and satisfactorily by selecting a soil
not rich in all the elements that go to
make fertile soil and one that was
totally unaltered by cultivation, than
by choosing lands that were richer,
but from which a greater or lesser
number of crops had in time been re-
| la 4
of manure or fertilizer been applied
either of which would have materially
modified or nullified results. If it were
possible to learn nothing else by a
visit to the experiment farm at South
ern Pines, one can certainly learn a
lesson in accuracy. AS instances OF
the nicely, exactitude, precision and
accuracy that characterize each and
every operation of the farm, we would
call the readers attention to the fact
that in the first clearing of the land
all trees and stumps were removed en-
tirely and nothing burned on the land
so as to prevent any alteration in its
natural character.
in looking over the barn, we could
not help noticing the large mum.
ber of bundles of grapevine and other
cuttings stacked up. Our first question
of course, was: Are you going to
propagate from them?" The answer
was: NO; every particle of prunings
are carefully saved and accurately
weighed, so that all the actual growth
on a plat can be accurately ascer-
tanned" This same adherence to the
strictest accuracy, even to the very
smallest and apparently most insignifi-
cant and unimportant of details, char
acterizes the entire farm and every
thing and everybody connected with it
While watching one of the plow-hands
cultivating the plats, we saw that he
had sack along, into which all the
dropPlngs of the horse were put as
fast as dropped, and carried to the
barn at noon and at night. Looking
at this from the farmers standpoint,
as O. matter of course it looked as if
they were unnecessarily particular;
vet these, and many more such in
stances, we have neither time nor
space to mention, are essential to
strict accuracy. They certainly serve
to show that whenever the horticul-
tural society of North Carolina sends
out its report of work performed, OF
results obtained, at the experiment
farm at Southern Pines, such report
may be depended upon as being strict
ly accurate.