Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1906-04-20
content myself by stating that

1
general that portion has been carrying
about twice as much stock as neigh
|boring prairie sod. But in the case
Of the remaining 10 acres l have some
useful and interesting data at hand.
l allowed this part of the field to seed
the fourth year and l estimated the
yield of seed at 10 bushels per acre.
Of this I am not sure, for soon after
1t was in the shock a terrific hail
storm swept my farm as with
Bosom. Corn, wheat, oats, and every
thing except my bronze grass, sheep
and pigs was completely DESTROYED,
estimate that half of the bronze grass
seed was shelled out. At any rate I,
threshed out only 5 bushels of seed
per acre and cut a ton and a half of
hay per acre. Owing to the zdestruc-,
tive effects of the storm hay went to
$40 per ton that year. q. fs,,g
L debated long in nv own mind
about what to do with that 10 acres
of bronze. grass the fifth year. But
the truth of the matter was. 1 needed
hay badly and had noticed wherever
horses had left the droppings upon
the field while making hay and secur-
ing the crop that punches of grass of
greenness had appeared. This set
me to thinking that perhaps the pre-
valent sod bound'' theory for the
decreased production of old bronze
grass fields might not be the true one
Bronze grass hay is rich in protein,
might not the soil need nitrogen? AT
any rate determined to put the mat
ter to a test. So / covered about two
a Of hn fn1I r,itI
barnyard manure at the rate of 10.
itrogen-exhaustion theory I sowed
nitrate, using 100 pounds per acre
and left the remainder of the field
|untreated.
The results were prompt and sur
prising. Where had spread the rot
ten manure there was good stand of
seed, about 10 bushels per acre and
over a ton and aholf Of hay. But
where the nitrate was applied it
looked as il the fairies had been at
work. My man sowed the nitrate by
hand and as he was not skilled in
broadcast sowing heidid not cover the
ground evenly He did not time his
stepping with his throwing and the
result was quarter-noon-shaped
patches of luXurant dark green grass
|sandwiched in on a field of pale grass
green. The sight was so unusual that
strangers riding along the road would
stop to inquire the cause of the un-s
usual appearance Many people went
over the field in curiosity and much
chatting did my man get when the
cause was known. It is needless to-
say he acknowledged the corn and
finally came to enjoy the phenomenon
as much as anybody. Where the
nitrate touched the seed was plump
and the. hay heavy. But the re-
mainder of thefeld that had received
nothing produced practically no seed
and probably less than ton Of hay
per acre. That year the whole field
gave us is tons of hay and SO bushels
of seed And it demonstrated to my
mind the fact that the old "sod-bound"
theory was wrong and that my field
was suffering from nitrogen exhaus-
| ton. At any rate determined not to
pillow 1t up until had experimental
further. 5S
But the next question which arose
was: Where should / get nitrogen.
GUS fertilizer that should be available
to any farmer In the bronze grass belt?3
Nitrate of soda is expensive, rail
freight rates are high and the price
of hay lis low. Why not use fresh
farm manure? This contains notable
amounts Of soluable nitrogen and what
| Is better 1t contains fresh supply OF;
lnitrifying bacteria. Besides ! had 81
good supply of fresh horse, sheep and
cow manure. So with some confidence
Il directed my men to give the re-
mainder of the field a heavy coating
I OF fresh manure, which they did ali the
rate of 10 loads per acre. They even
Tapped on q little ways where the
nitrate was soWn the previous year.
And so this field started In on its
sixth year. But it should be stated
that after the frost was well out the
field was given a thorough narrowing
with a heavy iron harrow. This fined
| the manure and completed its distri-.
button. And the results fulfilled all
expectations. The harvest yielded 100.
bushels Of elegant, plump seed and
20 tons of hay found their way into
the hay NOW The heaviest stand
was where the fresh manure Tapped
1.-The nitrate. 1T Is worthy OF note that
where the nitrate alone was used the