The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-03
Three Essentials to Agriculture.

thesexperience of Japan, France ana the5fsle of
Three Essentials to Agriculture.
There are three essentials TO any agriculture
worthy OF the: name The FIRST is rotation of
crops & Our low average yield is due to ratsing
the same crop Indefinitely on the same land,
until 1t has been worn out or so reduced that
the owner is In danger of poverty. Even with
out fertilizers, the yield of given area may
be immensely increased and its productive d.
version preserved from exhaustion merely by
the restorative variety of change which seems
to be. a law Of all living things. Some interest
ing facts have been brought out by the WORK
OF tile Minnesota state agricultural school. With
only ordinary fertilizati en, and with such farm
culture as could be applied TO large areas, the
average yield OF wheat on the plots under ex-
pertinent for seven years was 26.4 bushels per
acre; of oats, 672 bushels: Of corn, 42.S BUSH
els, and of hay the average of five years was
S.sl tons per acre. This was accomplished
the land being treated in this order: Corn.
wheat, meadow pasture, s}oats, The figures
given are nearly double the average yield from
the farms OF the state. " There is, therefore, no
production could be made two-fold what 1T is
by the mere application of more careful meth
DDS without any intensive cultivation whatever.
-4's*i Agricultural Possibilities.
This is but the beginning Of agricultural pos
sibilities. Calling in the aid of the second
method of increasing yield and preserving soil
productivity, which is a more liberal use Of
fertilizing material, such as is possible where
farms are of small size and cattle are kept,
there is abundant evidence of the extraordinary
results that may be obtained. Illustra lions
may be found In every part Of. the country
where individual small farmers have had the
intelligence to put the system into effect. A
recent report Of the department OF agriculture
cites the case Of farm in Pennsylvania which
was 80 exhausted as to be incapable Of produc-
tion. This little tract Of fifteen acres. devoted
strictly to dairying, and trented each year with
every particle Of the natural fertilizers thus
obtained produces revenue of about $4,000,
or 5000 per acre annually. There is no secret
In the process just; as there is no uncertainty
in the result, .sp.'- 800
The third factor in Improvement, better till
age is most interesting of ALI because it opens
up unmeasured possibilities. We no more know
what is the maximum food-beafing capacity Of
the earth or Of any small portion Of its surface
than we do the rate at which people may be
able to travel a century from But what
has been done is sufficiently startling. 1t has
been seen that population of 100000 900 people
in Japan is supported on 10000 cultivated
square miles, aided by the food products OBJ
tanned from the sea. This is because cutiva-
ton In Japan Is truly intensive; that is, it is
no longer even highly developed farming, but
market gardening. From two. and seven-tenths
acres in the suburbs of Paris there have been
grown IL single season., $50, 900 pounds Of veg
etables. market gardener of Paris declares
that all the food, animal and vegetable, required
for the 3.500000 people of two great depart
ments could be grown, bysmethods already in
use, on the $3.50 square miles of gardens sur
rounding the city. Thus while 1t appears that
III Belgium population of approximately 500
persons to the square mile can subsist on the
products OF farm industry alone, this figure
by high intensive Iculturet such becomes pos
sible and profitable where population Is ex-
tremely, dense, might be-: more than doubled.
: The food demand Of a. population. growing by
lCN IN fhn
front. Even If the soil produce only the thirty
bushels to the acre of-"wfeat which Great Brit.
Gin can raise q square, mile would grow 19, 200
cs sseb sne them
1874 bushels as supply. Distribute this in
terms Of any measured food ration and it will
not he inadequate: We may affirm with perfect
confidence, rs a conclusion of this brief inves-
tigation Of soil preservation and developments
that the possibilities, Of agriculture make .sit
Gtchlt tq set any specific limit to- the Fnopula-
ton thatHcoud sustain life on the produce Of
astT ,em area hoMeyer CUT
IL! the. details Of panufaeturing processes the
must be the ultimate goal of American hus-
bandry. a." The conclusion Is !. that, If
not another acre were to be redeemed from
the Wilderness, If }the koil: were treated kindly
and ntelligently and ifsindustry were .sdistribu-
Tea GUY ana popular attention concentrated upon
the best possible utilization Of the one unfailing
national resource. there would be produced all
necessary food for the wants. of, in round mum
bers $50 900 people. But this means such
study ana labor to raise production to it's high
est terms as have entered scarcely at all as yet
into the American comprehension
Needs Of the Hour.
Failing to understand the needs of the bour d,
to appreciate: the moral to which they point,
"nat fortune must awaft us2 Within twenty
years 125,oo0,00o people, and before the middle
OF the century over 2O00OOoOO must find room
and food and employment within the United
States Where are they TO live? What are
tney 10 do! BY that time our mineral resources
VIII have been SO nearly exhausted that the in.
dustrtes related to. them must fall into q minor
place BY that time IT, is apparent that our
cream OF q 3conquest OF world markets will be a.
burst bubble. Harold Boice has demonstrated
that the peoples Of, the Orient the hundreds
OF millions: of Japan and China. with their ini-
tlative quality, their proved ability to operate
modern machinery and to create it in their
workshops after once using It; their enormous
supply Of coal and iron; their lmitless cheap
labor and their patience like that Of Fate are
prepared to control the markets of the future
Ihey must control as against policy which has
established domestic conditions in manufacturing
business, on lines which make production SO ex-
pensiVe an affair that could not hope to
meet the mechanic of Germany on even terms
and must retire before the despised Chinaman
1t Is a mathematical fact that within twenty
years under present conditions our wheat crop
Will not be sufficient for home consumption and
seed. without leaving bushel for export. VIII
these coming millions 20 into the factories? But
where Gan they. expect to sell shop products in
q world Of connection. and who will furnish the
paFrolls EAn industry stops when these are not
Forthcoming. That is dead wall against
which England stands dismayed. The shops flre
there the workfngmen are there c1amoring for
employ ment, but capital can find no profit in the
enterprises: nobody. offers to advance money for
the payrolls OF Improbable business and a. top
heavy industry must surely full. Let us he
warned In time. On every side there Is menace
IT our national activity be not reorganized on the
basis Of the old-fashioned commonsense. = The
safety valve for older peoples has been found
IN emigration Their very relief has contrib,l-
ted to our danger. The United States cannot
follow their example 1t is against the genius
OF our people: and besides the circle Of the
northern hemisphere is closed: At home the
problem must be worked out; and its terms have
been clearly stated g. ',,szf.: