The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-08-22
FARMING IN NE,
BRASKA.

OF the introduction of scientific train.
ing by the agricultural colleges as fol- !
lows:
''There are fewer farms and fewer
stores in Nebraska than there were
four years ago, but both are larger and
more profitable. Farming is no longer
carried on in desultory way. 1t has
become an exact science. Business
methods have been introduced by use
OF which men of industry and lntclli-
gcncc win and the other kind of farm
crs lose i'll the competition. This is
true not only here, but all over The
west. The agricultural colleges are
largely responsible for these conditions.
Nowadays, it is as necessary for a farm
er to be educated for his occupation as
for u lawyer or doctor, and the degree
OF bachelor Of agriculture is conferred
by the universities as well as of arts and
medicine.
"Ihe State University of Nebraska,
Tor example, is a typical institution and
illustrates the demand as well as the
appreciation of the people tor learning.
1t IS situated at Lincoln, was founded
i'll 1869, and the brick for the first
building were hauled sixty miles from
Nebraska City before a railway was
opened "A class of two was graduat-
ed IN 1873 and class of nearly two
hundred this summer. There are
eighty instructors i'll the faculty, 1000
students on the rolls, and an alumni of
several thousand, who are the solid
men OF the State. 1t ranks with the
great institutions of the country, and
Is especially important because it gives
a practical education applicable to the
climate and the soil and other cOndi-
tlons OF the country that cannot be con-
lrolled. 1t turns out every year bOtan-
lists and husbandmcn, agriculturlsts ir-
rlSatlon engineers, veterinarians, hor-
ticultursts, geologlsts, chemists and all
other classes of culture, who are need
ed ana scatter over the State, dcvoting
their talents and industry to securing
the largest returns for the least labor.
"1ou find these men everywhere in
Nebraska and many Of them upon the
farms, where they are engaged in what
may be called concentrated and system.
attic farming. Nebraska is divided
ov longitudinal lines into different
zones. The eastern half of the State has
heavy and sufficient rainfall. The
western half IS too dry to make agricui,
turc safe without irrigation. The
| casternmost counties are devoted en-
tlrcly TO farming, the next strip to
farming and fattcning cattle for the
| market, the next to farming and ranch
| ing, placing the most important in.
dustry first, the next to ranching with
little farming on the side, and the
western counties to ranching, with inn
ported vegetables and butter
"Aurora stands in the center of the
fattening district. 1t has a favo.itc
| locality where corn and alfalfa-those
two great mortgage lifters-grow with
equal Insurance, and is surrounded by
what arc called "feeding farms,n to
which lean mountain cattle are brought
by railway train and turned into beef.
They may properly be called meat
factories, Tor they convert the raw
material of the country-grain, grass
and water-lnto beef, mutton and pork.
"Thc establishments are conducted
upon strictly business and scientific
principles. One of IL feeding farm
ers' told me that scventy-iivc bushels
of corn and few dollars worth of
alfalfa would put from 400 to 500
pounds of beef on the bones of steer,
and that one hog can be fattcned upon
the leavlngs of three steers, so that the
pork is a clean profit. a shipbuidcr
nowadays can tell you exactly how
many miles an hour the steamer he Is
designing can make before the keel is
laid. He calculates the resistance of
the water, the revolutions of the wheel
and the amount of coal consumed, and
then by mathematical process can
determine to within few hours how
long it will take her to 90 from San
Francisco to the Philippines. A
scientific farmer at feeding farm can
calculate with almost as much accuracy
the amount of food it will take to Gt a
carload OF steers for the market He
has learned at the agricultural colleges
how much nitrogen, albuminojds and
protein IS necessary to produce 400
pounds OF beef, and mixes the food of
his cattle accordingly. He under
stands that the amount of nutrition i'm
the corn and the alfalfa depends upon
the ,imc when they are cut. that the
| "'ho"ho VI Slu'iC llDcF Ill plant IN
creascs rapidly after certain period
OF growth and that hay or corn harvest
cd before it is quite ripe contains an
excess OF water which is wasted in
feeding. His scientific training enables
him to solve the secrets of nature and
carry on his operations in ulling the
soil and in fattening the cattle with a
mathematical eXactness."
What is the moral in all this ? w
think Farmers Voice points il u,
very clearly as follows
| "Sclcntilic agriculture Is the only
agriculture that will win out in the
face of steadily increasing competition.
Every young man in This country who
cOntcmplatcs a life on the farm or in
any relation whatever to agriculture
should ponder well this fact, with the
opening of the new school year, now
near at hand, arrange to enter and fit
himself for the duties and responsible
ties and the success that surely will be
his if he will but learn and apply his
learning to his chosen calling"
A curious failure If sensitizcd papcr
and dry plates is reported by L!csc-
gang. The materials being proven Of