The Colfax chronicle., 1904-05-07
FARMER AND PLANTER.
FARM EXPERIMENTS.
every Individual Farmer Should BE
the Head of n Private Expert
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. 1t is this fami-
ly tie that binds 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-
tors
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 a 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 soil
many years before the colleges.
l.
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 TO: making steam
has been exhausted. 1t is a common
law Of nature that for every sin there
is punishment and for every good
deed reward. A soil can not con-
tinue giving up annual returns of in
creasing value if continually robbed
of its plant food without any recQm-
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 is a 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 new |
variety of seed gives surprising re-
suits. Often q new piece of machin- !
cry saves labor and thereby adds dol |
lars to the farmer The practice of |
fall pIowing in some sections proves |
beneficial and in others detrimental. A /
fertilizer enriches the land and enables
he owner to get better crops. All these
hings should become public property.
A practical study of soils and their
effects on plant life may be conducted
n an easy and inexpensive manner
rhe nature of plant food may be DEM
'nstrated on the same land and in the
anne field. A small tract could be di-
Tided into eight distinct sections and
Ipon these the experiments may be
One portion may be fer
ilized with nitrogen, another with
acid, a third with potash.
he fourth with potash and nitrogen,
he fifth with nitrogen and phosphoric
cid, the sixth with phosphoric acid
nd potash, the. seventh with COM
'lete fertilizer, composed of nitrogen,
acid and potash, and the
ighth be simply an unfertilized plat.
The experimental farmer does not
equire the diploma of business col
ege to keep a record of the products
given area He can keep ac-
cunts with every form of experiment
nd every mixture of fertilizer with
ut seeing the inside of double entry | .
ct. of books. The record would give
he cost of preparing land, the fertiliz-
rs used, labor and seed expense and
esults in different crops. In this
tanner every farm becomes an expert
rental station and the owner or oper- !
tor, the foreman and conductor. When ,
is plan Of operations and conclusions :
re made public he becomes an educa- ,
,r to the extent of his labors.--Joel !
in Farmers Home Jour !
al