The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1899-08-11

heart. He wins from her his support
and sustenance for others; so know
ledge of natures secrets is ofgreat value.
and going to be of greater value in the
future.
In Dakota we found virgin soil, rich
as any in the world, and all we had to do
was to SOW the seed and harvest fol-
lowed; but conditions have changed, and
while we slept an enemy has come in
and sown crop Of thistles and noxious
weeds. We had not been long here be-
fore we found that the same land that
would produce a good crop Of wheat
would also produce luxuriant crop of
weeds and we have found that these two
could not be equally good, and that un-
less we fostered the good, the evil would
overcome it. We have arrived at the
stage where we must assist nature. Our
land is detcriorating in quality; we must
change this and by the application of the
science ofagriculture possessed by others,
bring our land back to its original fer
tility and even increase it. Take Great
Britain and Belgium for example, with a
soil which at the beginning was much in
ferior to ours, yet by careful cultivation,
after hundreds Of years of cropping is
much more fruitful than in the beginning.
1t should be our aim to lease the land to
the next generation in as good condition
as when we got it. If we take all out of
it we can get and leave the land impov-
erished, we leave poor heritage to our
boys, and could hardly say that we did
our duty TO the boys and to the land.
The weed question must be dealt with
and it can't be done successfully by in
dividuals. A neighborhood must. unite
their energies and as in the multitude of
council there is wisdom, so the judgment
of a number Of men who have given the
matter thought and have done work
along that line should surely devise some
plan that would fight this enemy with
success. Right here would suggest
that township netting could be held in
slack time where an Interchange OF
thought and experience on subjects vital
to the farmer could not but be profitable
to the farmer. On the experimental
farm they have found the weed question
a difficult one to solve. A great many
of our weeds are ANNALS, as french weed
and the mustard family. SO that all sucl,
weeds can be eXternliua,ed by destroy
ing them before they go to seed, but as
these seeds possess great vitality, long
time would be taken to get rid of them.
Professor Bailey has been experiment.
ing this year OH spraying, to find some
thing that would destroy the weed and
not hurt the grain and discovered that
blue stone i'll the proportion of one pound
to four gallons of water would kill the
weeds and not injure grain. The reason
is that owing to the texture of a grain
leaf a liquid would not run over the
whole surface but wou' d form in drops
and fall of, while on mustard leaf its
rough surface would retain the LIQUID
and the weed would be speedilo DESTROY
ed. This is cheap and simple expert
ment which anyone can try, a water
sprinkler and few cents worth of blue
stone being all that is necessary.
Weeds are here for purpose. The
old saying that nature abhors vacuum
is here true, the land abhors .nakedness,
and II we do not cothe it with a crop
which will be useful to both it and man.
it soon covers itself with the original OF
our grains and grasses. Probably the
principal reason Of their being here is to
force us to cultivate the land better; so
much for weeds.
Z Another. subject of great Importance is
how to preserve the fertility Of the soil.
This is done by manure, and also by a
rotation of crops. Just how to use ma
nure so as to secure the greatest benefit
is as yet in this state an open question
and one which the professors of the col.
lege could not answer. Many spread it |
thinly over the land as it is made and
they:think with benefit; but experiments
as to rotation have been made to large