The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1899-07-12
WHOLE NO. 25o2.
SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE.
Enriching the Soil While Deriving a
Profit.

1SA A@@N - AAH ~ - - - - n - -
Enriching the Soil While Deriving a
Profit.
Scientific farming means much more
than is generally understood by the
term. Farmers are prone to suppose
that scientific farming is praeticed by
certain class Of experimenters only,
and that ordinary farming is a differ
ent pursuit. The fact is that scientific
farming simply means the best system
that can be put in practice 1t is not
founded on theory only, bat upon care
ful and laboriOus Investigations of the
methods in general use. Every farmer
should consider himself as a scientific
experimenter and should also aim to
improve his farm and everything upon
it. Improvement is the foundation Of
success in farming, and no rules can be
promulgated that can be made to APP
ply to all farms. the best farmers are
those who make their farms pay with
out decreasing the fertility Of their soils,
for when the soil becomes inpOverish-
ed large proportion Of the capital in
vested in the farm goes with that which
leaves the farm. One of the great ad-
vantages in dairying is that there IS
large amount of material brought on
the farms such as bran, linseed meal,
eOttonseed meal, gluten meal, etc
which substances not only replace the
elements removed in the beef, milk
and grains, but the manure heap Is the
accommodating point on which is de-
posted the plant food Of another sea
son. The scientific farmer is he who
does not fail to purchase the lOw-priced
feeding materials, make profit there
from aud enrich his farm at the same
time; yet he may know very little Of
what is termed science" though his
methods are really scientific and based
upon practical experience.
SKILL IN FARMING.
More skill is required to properly
manage a farm than in any other oecu-
patton, as farming includes many diff
ferent branches of business and, while
some are more skillfui as breeders, 9th
ers are more successful in growing
special crops. Gardening includes the
forcing processes, while fruit-growing
requires a knowledge Of insects and
varieties. In fact, there is no limit to
the field OF the farmers usefulness, and
the farmer who becomes an expert i'm
any particular line fellows scientific
methods Just as surely as he who studies
aud observes in some other direction.
III the farmer succeeds by the adoption
of the surest and most profitable sys-
TENS he should be all the more willing
to theorize and endeavOr to further inn
prove his practice. Farming at the
present day is rapidly drifting to that
point at which the farmer must be
specialist and give his attention to
some particular line. The dairyman
who has devoted the greater portion Of
his time to the improvement Of breeds
aud the production of superior milk,
butter and cheese would probably not
succeed should be venture into the
forcing of vegetables in winter, while
the florist would no doubt make a
failure with field crops. These facts
demonstrate that there is always some
something to learn and that, as the
improvements occur in mechanics, the
farmer is more or less affected by the
changes in economic conditions and
must adapt his operations accordingly.
He must be a scientific farmer in order
to keep pace with his competitors in the
march of progress
INCREASING THE PROFITS.
Ia ordinary farming with field crops
alone there is much to learn. The sim.
pie rotation of the crops of to-day is
scientific farming compared with the
system praeticed fifty years ago, when
the land was made to produce the same
kind of crop every year, or when a
grain crop was followed by another, as
it is now well understood by all pro-
gressive farmers that the constant crop
ping of the land with one or two grain
crops in succession results in exhaus-
ton Of the soil, because such crops re
quire the same elements of plant food.
Every system of cultivation that does
not bring to the farm something from an
outside source leads to impoverishment,
but the farmer knows how to gain
nitrogen by using clover in his system
OF rotation, and he thus follows scien-
tific methods, because experience
proves such to be correct He is aware
that narrow-leaved crops, such as wheat
oats and rye, should be followed pre-
ferably by crops having broad leaves,
and he uses plants that require cultiva-
ton in order to destroy the weeds thai
would iDjure sowed crops. He also
rotates, so as to take advantage Of the
crops that are produced above the
ground and those that yield roots
while crops that prove the least ex-
haustive are followed by those Of Op
posite characteristics Every time the
farmer studies and plans how to pro-
duce at the least cost and for the larges
yields he is using ''scienee" as an aid
and every year farming is becoming
more Observation-Disclosures Record