Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-01-30
First Principles In Farming.

Il W0 tNiuk IL ImpOItoub 0voEy y0oSS ouO
especially when new subscribers are
coming In in great numbers, to recall
the attention Of our readers to the first
principles of agriculture, the A. B. C.s,
SO to speak, of the first lessons in
farming.
First, the farmer must become >ac-
qusinted with his soil, its texture, its
water holding capacity, its humus con-
tent. He must understand, II he Is to
farm successfully, the movement Of
water in the soil, how it sinks BY gravi-
tation. He should know the depth OF
the soil, the character of the subsoil, to
what extent and how far water can pass
through 1t. He must know how to con-
troll moisture in all kinds of seasons,
how to get rid of the surplus in periods
of excessive rainfall, how to use it to the
greatest advantage in normal seasons,
how to conserve 1t in seasons Of shortage.
He cannot do this unless he knows
something of the subsoil. He should
know that water is held in the soil in q
thin film around the soil grain; that the
finer the soil grain the more water it
will hold, and the coarser the soil grain
the less it will hold. This explains why
sandy soil is always drouthy land, why
clay soils by reason Of the smallness of
the grains hold a large amount OF moist
ure, and why volcanic ash soils and
other soils where the grains are very
small grow splendid crops with even
twenty inches of rainfall annually, while
sandy soils become drouthy even when
they have forty or fifty inches.
Every farmer should have tw O-inch
auger with gaspipe extensions each not
more than two feet long, with which he
can bore down ten, twenty, thirty feet, If
necessary to find out what he has under
the surface.
We have spoken of humus content, q
very important matter. Soils that are
rich in humus have great water holding
capacity. Farms kept rich in humus, by
constantly furnishing it humus material
in the way of turned under sod and barn
yard manure, always stand drOuth or
wet, and can be depended on in all sea-
sons, if properly handled.
He must also have working knOwl-
edge of how plants grow, OF the root
system Of every plant. He must under
stand corn roots, wheat roots, oat
roots and grass roots, in order that he
may know what is a proper seed bed.
1t is then up to him to find out what i'm
plements he should use to bring about
this desirable condition. He must
know something of the structure of
plants, how they obtain their food, what
materials they obtain through the leaves
as we'll as through the roots. He must
understand their fungus diseases, their
insect enemies.
He must, If he Is to succeed, know the
kind of crops that succeed best on his
particular farm, and from these he must
choose the crops for which he has an
available market either on his own farm
OF elsewhere.
He must know something about the
growth Of animals as we'll as of plants,
must have a working knowledge of
balanced rations, by which we mean
simply that feed or combination OF
feeds best adapted to each particular
kind of live stock at each particular stage
of it's growth; what should be fed to
the dairy COW, the working horse, the
idle horse in winter; and what is re-
quired for finishing for the market.
This at first sight would seem to be
a large stock of first principles, all OF
which are essential, and the new sub
scriber may ask where he is to obtain
this, and whether he must 60 to an
agricultural college to secure 1t. No.
Send your boy there, If you can, but not
until he knows something about practi-
cal farming. Go to the short course, II
you can, and get in touch with other
farmers. They will perhaps give you as
much help as the short course itself.
You must depend on yourself to get
hold of these first principles. Get your
eyes open. Learn how to see things cor
rectly. Learn how to put this and that
together and draw your own conclusion.
Agricultural colleges alone cannot
make you a good farmer; neither can in
stitutes nor experiment stations, nor
books on farming, nor agricultural
papers. They can help you If you have
first got in the notion of helping your
self. Otherwise they will only give you
a dose of the big head. Bear in mind
that every farmer must educate himself
using the helps that are within his
reach. Nothing can help any man In
anything unless he is first willing to
help himself. There is great open
book before every man, If he will only
open his eyes and read. When as we
travel over the country We talk with
farmers who are kicking against progress
and finding fault with agricultural edu-
cation, we feel like praying the prayer
of Elisha when bis servant could not see
the horses and chariots of fire around
him: "Lord, pray thee, open bis eyes
that he NAV ee."-Wallace's Farmer.