Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1903-03-07
Husbandina Soil Fertility.

lis is Cl0 great lesson u oC
learned by this generation. Our faith
ers knew nothing of it. They found
land SO rich in plant food and in
humus that they deemed it impossi-
bic to wear out the soil. They took
innumerable crops from the land, and
threw their manure into the river
and streams. 1t become a habit to
rob the land. Plant food and humus
in the land were growing less and
less with each succeeding year, but
they did not know it. AS the humus
went. the ability of the soil to hold
moisture went with it. The farmers
began to believe that the years were
getting more drouthy, though this was
not the case. Their land had lost
power to resist drouth. This was
for two reasons. tt humus had
held moisture in the soil, and the
richness had developed large plants,
which in turn sent their roots down
into the subsoil. With the lessening
of the fertility, plants made small
root growth and SO failed to reach
the supplies of moisture in the cool
soil far below. When few hot weeks
came, the small rooted plants soon
wilted and the ground deficient OF
humus dried out. 1t is said that the
presence OF humus doubles the capa-
city of ordinary soil to hold water.
Humus can be restored to the soil
only by the use Of barnyard manure
and of green crops plowed under.
Where the clovers can be grown,
the decay Of their roots in the soil
Will hep matters some. The clover
is likely to fail on land devoid of
humus, and this complicates matters
m 70 ho
TO its first estate.
The first thing for farmers to do is
10 prevent further loss of fertility
and humus. Unfortunately, there are
multitudes of farmers to-day still fol-
lowing the old wasteful methods and
2uining the rich heritages they have
received from their parents. We may
expect to see their farms become
poorer year by year, till they pass
into the hands of the men that hold
the mortgages or go to people that
buy them for a song. 1t is much
easier to conserve tie fertility and
humus of our lands than it is to re-
store them when they have been dis
sipated.-Farmers' Review.
In Buying Glover Seed.
A bulletin of the Department of
Agriculture says: The prices charged
for clover seed vary greatly, each
large dealer having two or more
grades, of different prices. Unfor-
tunately for the buyer, each dealer
has his own grade names, and even
the standard terms, prime, choice and
fancy, as used by different dealers, do
not always mean the same thing. If
for these indefinite terms could be
substituted a statement of the per-
centage of pure and germinable seed,
the buyer could tell at once what sam
pie was the most advantageous for
him to buy. 1t is safe general con-
clusiOn that the sample which, while
reasonably free from weed seeds, con-
| tains the largest amount of pure and
vigorously terminating clover at the
| least cost is the best one for the
| farmer to buy. Low-priced samples
| seldom fulfill this condition, nor do
| those sold at exorbitantly high prices.
Usually the high grade, medium
priced samples are really the cheap
| est, but the only way to determine the
value of a sample is to test the seed.
| The result of the purity test shows
how much pure seed is present and
| the termination test determines how
much of this pure seed will grow.