The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-15
Agricultural Department
CONDUCTED sY FULTON s. WHITE.
Farm Education.

education. That our people are well ad-
 vanced along these lines is proven by the
 fact as stated-that of our great export trade furnishing to the world so much
 from our American farms. But still there
 Is great room for improvement, and the
 matter of our prominence in the matter
 of leading the world on farm products
 may be ascribed to our rich soil and cli-
 matic conditions as much or more than to
 the education of our farmers; for we have
 in our rich lands. with favorable weather,
 the necessary conditions for bringing
 about great results But how much better
 results might be obtained If our people
 were only better educated is a question.
 Now we do not mean by farm education 1 that 1t is necessary for a man to know all
 the arts and sciences, but that the farmer
 should acquaint himself and should be l familiar first with his common surround ings. The American farmer for the past
 has worked more on the theory of force l than that of reason. That Is he has con-
 eluded that his soil is capable of produc-
 ing certain crops, and all that is necessary l for him to do is to apply force and the
 result will be satisfactory.
 But the time has come In this country when farming carried on under this idea cannot succeed. The farmers must edu- cate, must think and must reason out re- suits frfom the beginning, that is so far as 1t Is possible to do so. But first of all the farmer should fully aeduaint himself with his own particular surroundings; he must study the character of his soil, as well as the climatic influences upon the crops which he wishes to produce. Then, too, the first and most important lesson of the farmer to learn is what crops his soil is best adapted to- and then select from among these crops such crops as will pay him best to grow. The next step then | Is to know how to produce these crops
 with as little wear and tear upon the soil
 as possible. Now here comes in a very l important thought and one that cannot
 be too strongly impressed upon the farmer How to till the soil so as to produce as | little wear and tear as possible. Now while we boast of our agricultural ad- vantages and also of the fact that We as American farmers are expected to furnish
 produce for the markets of the world i and while we are proud of our record that | the greater exports of this country come from our farms. yet is 1t not fact that these great results-crops--hav been pro- duced largely at the expense of our soil, and have not our lands been left the
 worse in wear and tear in producing such results2
 To fully answer this question we only have to visit the farms of this country, where we have ample opportunity to see something of the results of producing these big crops without any thought or care for the soil or results. To the stu dent of agriculture who travels, secs and studies conditions 1t Is alarming to note how fast our rich soils are being worn out and turned out and to see how much worn out land we have all over our coun- try, and to note that the system of wear ing out and turning out is still going on. And the question is where is 1t to end ? Now let me repeat that one of the most, in fact we might say the foremost, thought of the farmer should be how to care for and protect his soil while pro- ducing these crops. It is expected now of the American farmer that he must feed the world from our farms and with this thought of responsibility before us how very important Is 1t for us, first of all, to | educate ourselves along the lines of farm ing so as not to be constantly wearing out our lands There is also another side to this question of looking after and keep ing up the soil, which is that the soil can be so much more easily and cheaply kept up than bulded up after once it has been allowed to run down.
 The same thing may be said of the soil as of a good work horse In good condition, that 1t takes less feed to keep him up than it would to build him up if he was allowed to run down and became poor in flesh. Then while he was being builded up we would be losing in valuable ser vice and time for he could not give the service while recuperatlng that he could if well kept up and not allowed to run down. So of the soil. If we allow the soil to become worn entirely out before we commence to build, the cost to build Is much greater. Then we have to walt and lose the time and use of the soil while 1t is being builded up In view of these undisputed facts and conditions we ask would 1t not be wise for our Amer lean farmers to call halt on l-wearing and educate themselves so as to be able to produce crops without wearing out the land in the production of the crops; and also would 1t not be well for every Amer lcan farmer to determine at once that he will not wear out and turn out any more of our rich heritage, but instead go to work to reclaim some that has already been worn out and turned out But it will require thought and education to do this The question is if our soil is gone what have we left. and how can we expect to maintain our record as the greatest farm ing country of the world? The rich Amer lean soil Is the foundation of all our na- tional wealth, and this being true how im- portant it Is for us to know how to retain tnlS Wealtnf
 | It is said that we have more land in this country than anything else. and also i In some sections we have heard farmers say that they had a soil that could never
 be worn out, but in this they are but bad | ly misled. for there is no soil that can I stand constant cultivation and not become exhausted But even if we do have so much land as 1t Is claimed. the question 1 is. is there not constant increased de- mand for our lands? Let the prices which American farms are now bringing answer this question. So in view of these facts we would advise all farmers. if they have not already done so, to commence to edu- cate themselves along these lines and after they have learned to produce crops without wearing out their lands, then learn what crops your soil and general conditions are best suited for and spend our efforts in growing these crops. But the natural growth of all crops which we are to produce should also be carefully studied. We must know in order to suc- ceed. the characteristics of these crops when to plant, how best to plant and how to cultivate, as well as when and how to harvest.
 This is the beginning of farm education,