The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-10
Agricultural Department
coNnucrEn nY HUTTON 5. WHITE.

nothing about his subject. we may nave
much of such worthless advise. but. as
stated, the farmer should be too well ed
ucated to allow himself to be imposed
upon with this worthless advise.
Merely an Example.
Recently 1t was my pleasure to have
travelled most of one whole day in com
pany with one of the professors of one
Of our best agricultural colleges an en-
inent agrlculturalist, a man who has
given sixty years of hard study 10 agri-
culture. He said that recently at his col
lege he was organizing a class in agri-
culture when one young man said:
There is no use for me to come here to
study agriculture. l was born on a farm,
worked on farm ever since l have been
old enough, and l know all about agri-
culture" The professor replied; Why,
my dear sir, you are the man / am look
ing for, and, If as you say, you know
all about agriculture, why I will give
you a nice position, and a good salary.
But first I must examine you-ask you a
few questions to be sure l have found
the right man."
DO you pillow your land?"
Yes"
why 90 you pioW
'To prepare the land for planting"
rs this the only object you have in
plowing?' -
Yes, sir"
do you pillow after you plant the
crops?"
yes"
For what purpose do you pillow them
why. to kill the weeds and grass, of
course"
But. suppose there were no weeds and
grass to KILL would you still pIow?'
why II reckon not
why, my dear SIR said the professor,
are you going to fall down in your ex-
animation on the letter A. right in the
beginning? Why, I had only begun to
question you''
This is a very common idea, that we
should pillow to keep down the weeds. and
where there Is no weeds or grass there
is no need TO pillow, and this young man
had been brought up under this system of
farming. Perhaps under his father he
had been able to produce a half bale of
cotton per acre where the same labor
and expense should have produced one
bale 1t is doubtful If his father had
ever given him any lessons in subsoil-
ing, mulehing, drainage or the import
anee of firming the soil, so that when
the summer showers came the plant food
in a properly prepared seed bed would
be made soluble quickly, so that the
plants could the more quickly take 1t up;
that plants, like animals have to be fed
while growing; that plants can take food
only in a liquid form: that during dry
weather plants suffer for food as well as
moisture that when good showers come
they soften the soil, turn the plant food
in the soil into water. so that the plants
may send their feeders out and take up
this food. I do not suppose his father
had ever shown him how important 1t is
to have the soil in such a state of culti-
walton that sunshine, light, air, heat and
moisture might penetrate the soil and
stimulate the growth. Perhaps he had
never been taught that light, heat and
moisture are the three great essentials
in all plant growth, ana that no plant
can thrive long deprived Of any one of
these He had never beer taught the
Importance of stirring the soil as soon
after a rain as the soil would permit to
keep the soil from becoming baked and
the purpose of preventing loss of mois-
ture by evaporation. These and hun
dreds of other simple questions in ag-
riculture had they been asked of this