East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-11-03

Methods Are Necessary.
Corvallis, Nov. 2.--(Editor of East
Oregonian. Il read with much inter-
est your comment on my statement re-
garding the injurious effects of the
present system of growing cereals in
the semi-arid districts. In order to
explain more fully my position, kind
ly grant me space in your paper.
1t is not my purpose to be an alarm
list, but simply to point out, according
to my judgment, the serious errors of
popular husbandry. | am not yet a
convert to any system of farming that
will enrich the father and impoverish
the son. Neither do believe that it
is the highest type of citizenship that
disregards the inherent rights of pos
terity.
To despoil country for the selfish
purpose of accommodating wealth is
wrong in principle and dangerous in
practice. True agriculture means the
production of maximum crops with
the least injury to the perpetuity of
the productivity of the soil.
The doctrine of inexhaustibility of
soils is simply nonsense. That old
thread-bare story of Scilly is a myth.
1t is perhaps true that Il restricted
area tributary to Mount Etna is an
nually replenished as the result "f
the weathering of the mountain. The
valley of the Nile is supposed to be
replenished by the sedimentary deposit
from the annual foundations. But re-
cent agricultural explorers declare
that the productivity of this valley IS
not so much due to this sedlmentaly
deposit as it is to the growing of ber-
seem, an annual clover.
AS to the depth of soils, this matters
but little with cereals whether ii is
10 feet or 1000 feet deep. Wheat
roots rarely go deeper than four feet.
1t Is doubtful If there is another
section in the world that yields such
bOunteous crops of wheat with so lit
tie moisture as does the Columbia
river basin. For example, the average
precipitation last year, as given by
the seven different points of observa-
tion was 12.47 inches and this was AZ
inches more than normal. 1t ranged
from 7.74 inches at Umatilla to 2S.34
inches at Weston.
The problem confronting agricul-
ture in this section is not one of ex
haustion of the plant food in the soil,
for most of the wheat land is phenom-
enally rich in plant food. 1t is a
question of the physical condition of
the soil or in other words, it is the
question of the ability of the soil to
conserve the maximum amount of ca
pillary moisture. Thus it is a problem
of moisture and not of soil fertility.
1t is a well established fact in agri-
culture that soils which are well sup
piled with organic or vegetable mat
ter are capable of producing crops
with much less moisture than are soils
which are deficient in. organic matter.
Thus the fundamental principle of
successful agriculture iii chis section
is the maintenance of organic matter
in the soil. Now as to the relation of
the bare summer fallon 20 organic
matter, it is probably safe to say that
a first-class summer fallow will oxi-
lize, or in plain TENS, burn up more
organic matter than is necessary to
produce four crops of-oU bushels of
wheat per acre.
The nitrates as a result of the oXida-
| ton of the organic matter, do not
| leach out of the soil in semi-arid dis
tricts as they do in humid sections,
hence there is no material loss Of soil
| fertility as a result of the summer-fal-
| low in eastern Oregon.
! The great injury to the potentially
! of the soil is the physical change due
/ to the gradual reduction of the or
I ganic su uostance. There Is slight re-
plenishing by plowing the stubble and
weeds under, but in some sections the
farmers even burn the stubble. In
fact. in general sense, there is prac-
| tically no attempt whatever on the
part of the farmer to keep up the
vegetable matter in the soil.
! Organic matter in the soil performs
a distinctively three-fold function. II
is the source of supply of soil nitrogen
conserves moisture and holds the fine
particles of soil together, thus pre-
vents drifting. The first evidences OF
a lack Of organic matter in the soils OF
semi-arid districts are crop failures In
dry seasons and the drifting of soils
summer following in some sections
is absolutely indispensable in order t
conserve a portion of the moisture vi
two seasons to insure crop of cereals
Associated with the summer-falloN
should be some method to replenisf
the organic matter in the soil. Ir
sections like Umatilla county this car
be done with alfalfa ana stock, but il
the more arid sections perhaps the
4 a.