The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-11

enterprisng town in Missouri on learning
 that 1 was to visit their town on eer-
 tain date with our exhibit car, set 10
 work to make up money 10 pay premiums
 for best samples of corn, grains and
 other farm products something over S5oO
 was subscribed to be distributed as premi
 1lms was eompllmented by being se-
 lected as one of the judges for awarding
 the premiums. There was quite an assort-
 ment of corn brought in; corn of all
 shades and colors. There were many fine
 samples vet, all the samples showed that
 no care whatever had been given to breed
 ing or selection. After the premiums were
 awarded l gave a lecture and explained
 why the premiums were awarded to cer
 tain lots and why others failed. After the
 lecture many of the exhibitors came up
 and said: You are right and we see
 where we lost, but we are coming again
 next year better prepared
 ,The enterprise proved so interesting and
 Sd successful that another corn show was
 given the following October and I was
 invited to again visit the town with the
 car On arriving I found that the business
 men had renewed the premium offers and
 that the corn exhibits showed marked im
 provement over those of the previous
 show. I was again selected as one of
 the Judges and in examining the corn
 found that tho competition was much
 closer Intn al llle HlSl SiOM uud lhlS HIT
 provement will continue now that 1t Is
 once started. This experience also shows
 what may be accomplished by the
 united efforts Of all the good people. If the merchants and business men would encourage the farmers in this educational movement much good would be accomp- lshed and good results would be brought about in very short time. These mat 1 ters I mention to show what can be accomplished by q little concerted effort on the part of our business men and l farmers and where such efforts are made l it is here that We find prosperous and scientific farmers. This class of farm
 CTS not only grow the hest corn, but they have the best of every thing else on their farms. Therefore, one of the best
 movements for improving our corn and all other crops is the county and dis trct fairs and also the boys corn grow ing contests, or the two can be worked i in nicely together for the boy who grows
 a lot Of good corn would take a pride In bringing 1t to his county fair. Separate premiums should be offered, however, for the boys.
 Fertilizers.
 1 When we open a furrow in virgin
 soil in any country, it is then that a loss of plant food commences. We should
 right from the beginning make study of the soil and adopt some system of i farming that will enable us to keep up
 our soils to a high state of fertility. With the opportunities we have in this age of education and progress there Is no longer any excuse for conducting sys- tenn of farming that wastes and wears out our soils The question. as 1t appears to me, that should be of the greatest consideration to every farmer is how we i may farm our lands IS to not only to get q good living and bank account for our labor, but at tne same time to cultivate our lands in such a way that we are leaving more plant food in the soil than we take ont and are preventing
 the dashlng rains from washing out all the plant food there is in them and
 from having this plant food carried off by the streams to the Gulf. Certainly the history of tie early methods of farm ing as practiccd by our ancestors in the New England and the South Atlantic states should be q warning to us in these matters. If the farmers of the central
 west, the great corn belt, expect to es- i cape tho same sad experiences that the i farmers Of the e2st have undergone in ! the expense Of having 10 rcsert to com- l lnercial fertilizers, they should begin at ! once tO establish some well regulated sys- l tenn of crop rotation on their farms ! Let us investigate q little as to what has 1 been accomplished along this line in some
 
 l ago, in the state of Wisconsin. the farm CTS were being worn out in the grow i ing of this grain and the financial condi- ] tions Of the country were growing worse i all the time. Some of the more enterprise ing farmers became alarmed at the con- dltiOns and began to advocate a change. l Fortunately, for Wisconsin, this change or new order Of farming came in time to save many of tie farms of the state ! from ruin The attention of the farmers f, was called to the conditions in the New 1 England states, where a large per cent of l the oainln8s Of the crops went to de- i fray the cost Of commercial fertilizers. A l rotation Of crops was established with i grass and livestock as the basis of this ! rotation and the dairy GOV was also l put into this rotation The history of i what this new order of farming and what dairy farming has done for Wis l consln is open to tine world One thing. ! that is worthy of. attention of the reader ! here Is that Wisconsin pays annually | only about one cent per acre for com
 mercial fertilizers while South Carolina i pays annually about forty cents per acre l for commercial fertilizers The New Eng | land states and the southern states now | see the mistake they made years ago and | are now striving to torsbuild their worn out farms and the are doing this by | crop rotation with grasses and livestock | and especially the dairy COW as the basis | of such rotation. In the New England ] states great progress has been made in | the past twenty years fn building up 1 these wornout farms and in some of these states, notably Vermont and afassa- . 1 chusetts, the dairy cows are giving as | large, if not larger. profits than the | cows of any other section of our coun- | try.