The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-16

! spoke briefly on agricultural matters
and the evening closed with the singing
OF America, which was preceded by q
rising vote of thanks on the part Of
the audience to the students of the col
| lege and Dean Liggett for the evenings
| entertainment and instruction.
Afternoon Session.
| Although there were but two address
| eS on the programme for the afternoon
| the senate chamber was well filed at
O'Clock. the time set down for the adj
| dress OF Prof. E. S. Golf, of the Wis
1 consln School of Agriculture on 'TilIage
| as Preventive of Drought
Prof. Golf spoke In part as follows:
| we can all understand in general way
| that cultivation of land is productive of
moisture. We all know that when we
| plow up the ground it makes it possible
for the rain that falls to seep into the
ground, While, if the ground We're allowed
to remain hard, the water will run Off
| without doing any particular good.
11Ilage also tends to prevent the parch-
ing of ground by preventing to certain
| degree the evaporating process If you
! take a solid brick and lay 1t in water it
| Will only take a short time for the water
| TO creep UP until the brick is thorough
~ saturated, and great percentage of
water evaporated If, on the other hand.
you crumble the brick into small pieces
| you Will find that it will take ten times
| as long for the water to creep up and
also that only one-tenth the amount Of
water Will ever get up from one particle
to the other
rms is the principle of tillage. When
the dirt is crumbled, It permits the
water to soak into the ground and when
~ unere 1t makes 1t more difficult for
the suns rays to draw it out.
The ia f1Ix h,,A
SUBJECT of drought when there is plenty
OF water, but when the dry season comes
there Is a great deal of thinking done
When 1t is too late. Experiments have
SHOWN that an acre Of land that has been
tliled after rainfalls, contained over two
parFels OF water more than the land that
mad been untouched.
Ahese experiments were taken in a
country where there is more rainfall than
there is here, and probably tbo anooTr+
that would be saved here would not he
so great, but this alone is the best reason
done 9ioulu pe
me question that next arises IS how
shali we cultivate our farms so aS to
otaln the greater possible amount or
~ II is a well known fact that
ground so that it will reach the roots
VI the grain. 1t is the best thing ~ 100
q layer or perfectly dry dirt on tor foS
ILe reason that it will prevent +be
moisture from going out. You all know
noM ollncult 1t is to mix a little wo+ar
IT. NJ q considerable amount of drv dirt
cinIo "'er won mix, and on this prin-
nlen+ "HI not leave the roots of the
80. as matter of fact Hob+ raE-
Idlilng at certain times causes AZ rra+ a..
70 run on the land and nrobahI, 49,
more damage than good O'''"iS 0oes
- SECURE the best results tha farroa,.
riusC pe careful with his MOVING ~
luI[oWs Should be plowed the reo,,ini+e
o 1 and close together, SO as to briner
49,. dS near as possible a crunhled
Conoltlon of the dirt, which Is the 49,
state Tor retaining moisture t0o"i
AT the conclusion of Prof. CORE odd,,o,.-
me me members of the society present Lo or9
nm pusy answering complicated oIas
.ionS concerning agricultural dif7cnI4iee
tney mad encountered '0S
Inc SUBJECT that appeared to bother
'Ilo farmers nest was how deem tho1,
4aI1 prov, and apparently no one couTd
Cibhs ae tlielr particular needs. Oliver
'lops, OF Preston, raised a general Ia11ob
ny advocating allowing the pillow tn sinI[
os ueeply into the ground as the horeac
could stand 1e nurses
D. W. underwood of Lake Citv who
acted as presiding officer. wanted IN heor
1llils concerning the application or
the theory of ttllage to small fruit trees
olio nc c@IIeo up Wyman Elliot, of Min
ject. 0 SUI
Prof. Greene was not called unon 70
olscusS the subject of the retention of
water. He told of trip he made in Man
uoDa and the Northwest territory whe,,o
they save one years rainfall and plant
rideir crops so as to get the benefit of two
Years. he recornted the fact that all the
ralnfall that was required to insure a
crop in that section was EIGHT nobae
winch, by their thorough system of Gull
UVauon, they made an ample sufficiencv.
mrs William E. Bramhal appeared be-
fore the society in the interest Of tha
forest reserve in the northern part Of the
state. She recounted the history of the
tract OF land, and basing her argument
IN It's favor upon the fact that trees draw
ana preserve moisture, and would there
lore be of great good to the farming
country surrounding the tract. She con-
tended that If the lumbermen were per-
mltted to take out the timber the result
would be the same as in Michigan, where
In the localities where the timber has
peen cut the drifting sands make it al
most impossible to live
At the close of Mrs Bramha1Ps adj
dress motion was made calling for a
resolution on the subject to be sent to
the representative of the state in con-
gress. 1t will be presented for ratifca-
ton at this mornings session.
The address of the afternoon session
was delivered by A. P. Grout, of Win
chester, ILL.,, ON Types and Quality in
Farm Stock Mr.. Grout had several
half-size illustrations of different breeds
of cattle, which simplified the subject
Mr.. Grout spoke in part as follows:
Il have studied this question, not to
establish theory, but from necessity,
and / was forced to take charge or some
farms which had to a great extent lost
their fertility. The only way 1 could
see to do this was to raise stock So
I went and secured a partner, and we
sent them to market, and then began
kicking, for at the end of the year the
elevating company of the steers was
about all we got out of them.
Il came to the conclusion that I did
not know as much about cattle as 1
should. / had no idea of giving up, for
l was then, as now, firmly convinced
that the raising of grain without giving
back anything to the soil would surely
result in abandoned farms. The present
system of grain raising is a curse to the
country, and 1 sometimes think that
Illinois would be better off if every corn
crib was wiped off the state
The first thing to be considered is not
profit, but the keeping up Of the SOIL If
stock raising is the remedy, then begin
to look how you can do it successfully.
Some form of stock raising is the basis
Of profitable farming 1t isn't the land,
but it's fertility, that is valuable, and
it is that what we should look out for.
1.-THE second question is what kind Of
stock shall be raised, and this can only
be by looking around and study as to
which is the best breed for the purpose