The leader., 1904-04-09
FARMER AND PLANTER.
FARM EXPFRIMFNTS.
Every Individual Farmer Should ne
tas Head of Private Experi-
ment Station.

Every man owning or operating q
farm should be the foreman Of an in
dividual agricultural experiment sta
ton. The record of his many successes
and failures ought to be published
for the benefit of the farm community
in which he resides and for the edifi-
cation Of farmers generally Man is a
social being and interested in the af-
fairs OF his neighbors. It is this fami-
ly tie that bint.s humanity in one great
cooperative union. Without the ex-
perience of others man goes on in the
dark pathway of uncertainty and
wastes much of his life in scaling the
mountains once explored by his ances-
.ors.
A college education is not absolutely
necessary for any farmer to become a
successful instructor in the science Of
agriculture. Many of the best men OF
the past had little more than COM
mon school education. They entered
into the study of nature with determ-
ined minds, and, to certain extent
conquered the enemies of soil husband
ry. They found out, by constant COM
munion with nature, the many defects
In system and the weaknesses of soils
and consequent effect on plant life. The
first school Of agriculture was estab-
lished less than century ago, yet
there were great tillers of the coil
many years before the colleges.
The first lessons in agriculture
must convey some idea of soils and
their components. A good worker can
not succeed on poor soil if he does not
know how to replenish wasted fertility
AS we'll expect an engineer to furnish
power after the fuel for making steam
has been exhausted. 1t is common
law Of nature that for every sin there
is a punishment and for every good
deed a reward. A soil can not con-
tinue giving up annual returns of in
creasing value if continually robbed
of it's plant food without any recon-
pense. That food consists of nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash and is
necessary to healthful plant life.
The farmer who discovers some
thing new in soil cultivation and I'M
parts that information TO his neigh
bors il public benefactor. If he makes
two blades of grass grow where but one
had grown before his method Of OBJ
tanning such results is worth much to
all tillers of the soil. Sometimes a new
variety of seed gives surprising re-
suits Often a new piece of machin-
cry saves labor and thereby adds dol
lars to the farmer. The practice of
fall blowing in some sections proves
beneficial and in others detrimental. A
fertilizer enriches the land and enables
the owner to get better crops. All these
things should become public property.
A practical study of soils and their
effects on plant life may be conducted
in an easy and inexpensive manner.
Tile nature of plant food may be dem
onstrated on the same land and in the
same field. A small tract could be di-
vided into eight distinct sections and
upon these the experiments may be
conducted. One portion may be fer
tilted with nitrogen, another with
phosphoric acid, a third with potash,
the fourth with potash and nitrogen,
the fifth with nitrogen and phosphoric
acid, the sixth with phosphoric acid
and potash, the seventh with a COM
plete fertilizer, composed of nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash, and the
eighth be simply an unfertilized plat
The experimental farmer does not
require the diploma Of business col-
lege to keep a record of the products
of O given area. He can keep &C
counts with every form OF experiment
and every mixture of fertilizer with
out seeing the inside of double entry
set of books. The record would give
the cost of preparing land, the fertiliz-
ers used, labor and seed expense and
results in different crops. In this
manner every farm becomes an expert
mental station and the owner or oper-
ator, the foreman and conductor. When
his plan of operations and conclusions
are made public he becomes an educa-
tor to the extent of his labors. --Joel
Shoemaker, in Farmers Home Jour
nal.