The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-11-24
EARLY FLOWING; SOIL MULCH
THAT WAS VITAL POINT IN VIII
LARD'S LECTURE.
Experience Has shown That Such
Method Produces the Largest
Yield.

When the coaches were run up in
front OF the Rock Island depot at
GoOOdland at $3.50 o'clock Friday
morning, a number Of farmers from
the country and men from the city,
we're there ready to enter the wheat
car to hear the wheat lecture Of Prof.
J. 7. Willard OF the Kansas State agri-
cultural college It was the Corn
and Wheat Special OF which the
country has heard so much in the last
few weeks. Those in attendance were
well pleased with the points made in
the raising Of wheat, and the great
point" as all agreed, was on the mat
ter Of conservation Of moisture in the
soil. Prof Willard showed by the use
OF charts, complied from actual ex-
perience in wheat culture, that where
the ground IS Immediately plOWed at
ter the crop has been removed and
well narrowed to form a mulch Of
fine soil, the crop production will be
twice as great as where the land is
allowed to lay and dry out
Hence, the great thing for the far
mers OF Sherman county to do, If they
wish to make a success of wheat rails
ing, is to pillow the ground at a good
depth as soon as possible after har-
vest, and Immediately harrow the
ground several times, If necessary, to
get that mulch so essential to the
sealing Of the moisture in the ground.
The farmers who have adopted that
method already in western Kansas
have been the sure winners, and will
continue to Outclass the more sluggish
farmer who allows the dry fall wealth
er to steal the elements Of success
Everyone at the lecture seemed to
be interested in the wheat talk, and
as a consequence the corn lecture was
not given for want Of an audience.
However, in another place in this
paper, is a report Of the corn lecture
at Edison, reported by z. W. Albright,
Following is a synopsis OF Prof
Wizards farmers institute lecture on
wheat production:
From the point Of view of the
chemist the production Of a crop is
q question Of a demand for certain
quantities Of chemical elements and
supplying that demand. The sub
stances entering into a wheat crop
come partly from that unlimited
source, the air, and partly from the
soil OF the latter some are very alb
undant, others not so. The necessary
elements most likely to be deficient in
any soil are nitrogen, potassium,
PHOSPHORUS and calcium.
Experiments at ROthamsted, Eng
continuously on the same land for
sixty years without manure and with
certain manures annually applied,
show the dominant position Of nitro
gen in wheat production A rich ad-
ditiOn OF mineral fertilizers increased
the yield over that Of the unfertilized
plat only about two bushels per acre,
while heterogeneous fertilizer alone in
creased the yield eight bushels. Nit
Il ~
increase Of twenty bushels
Nitrogen gets into soils naturally in
but two ways; First by being carried
down in the form Of compounds dis
solved from the air by rain-Water.
These originate in part by electrical
discharges which cause the oxygen
and the nitrogen to unite, the re-
mainder are products of the decOmpO-
sitiOn Of organic matter which escape
into the air. Second, by the action Of
microscopic organisms which have the
power OF acquiring nitrogen from the
air OF the soil This property is pos
sessed in high degree by those micro
organisms that have formed the habit
Of growing on the roots Of leguminOus
plants such as the clOvers, peas, beans,
etc.
Every ton Of wheat produced re-
moves about ten pounds Of potash,
fifteen Of phOsphOric acid, and forty
i've Of nitrogen. At the present mar
ket cost Of fertilizers at wholesale on
the Atlantic seabOard these quantities
OF potash, phOsphOric acid and nitro
gen would cost SS.T5. These figures
should awaken in every farmer the
Importance Of conserving soil fertility
that he may put OF, If possible for
ever, the evil day when fertilizers
must be bought.
ct is seen that with the exception
OF about "a pounds Of nitrogen Pc,
acre in compounds brought to the soil
by rains, crops must get their nitro
gen from stores already existing in
the soil. These consist mostly Of or
ganfc matter, humus. The humus by
its further decomposition furnishes
nitrogen to crops and disintegrates
the mineral constituents OF soils IN
fortunately, moreover, in supplying
the wheat crops under continuous
culture Of this cereal, nearly six times
as much nitrogen is lost by chemical
changes in the soil as is removed in
the crop Wheat and other grain
crops are thus very hard on land in
respect to nitrogen To restore this
fertility, then, IeguminOus crops must
be grown and either plOwed under as
green manure or fed to animals and
the manure produced applied to land
Mixed farming and animal husbapdry
must take the place Of exclusively
cereal production.
water is the most important Of all
the soil constituents Experiments
have shown that to produce a pound
OF dry substance in wheat about $50