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

begin to realize that it is the soil and
 not the season that has caused such
 falling off in the yield of their crops. 1
 receive, almost daily, inquiries for in-
 formation concerning commercial fertili-
 gers and their use.
 While holding q farmers meeting re-
 gently in a town situated in one of the
 best sections of the corn belt an old
 gentleman, eghty-two years of age, stated
 that he owned fine farm bur that his
 land did not produce the crops It once
 did and that he knew it needed some
 kind of fertilizer. He requested me to
 get out and look his place over and tell
 him what kind of fertilizer to use so
 that he could get the big crops of corn
 he did twenty years ago Such experl-
 ences are common al over the country,
 why only last summer, 1906 I saw fields
 of wheat growing in a section of our
 wheat belt, a section which receives a
 vast amount of advertising about It's
 great wheat crops. that really were not
 worth harvesting.
 And, in some of our best wheat grow
 ing sections I have known farmers to
 sow their fields with seed that no miller
 or grain dealer would buy at any price.
 Yet, many such farmers wonder why thelr
 lands are not producing corn and wheat
 as they once did. Had my old friend
 referred to above, begun this system of
 crop rotation as outlined in my book,
 and which he is now forced to adopt on
 his farm, thirty years ago, we would have heard no complaint about his lands not producing as they did years ago. The only practical method Tor maintain | ing soil fertility and for producing big | crops, according to my ideas, Is by a well 1 defined rotation with grasses and clovers | forming the basis of this rotation and o1 fO 10 hogs sheep and poultry-all these should be placed fin every farm rotation and in many the horse and the mule may be added 10 the above list. Every farm ani- nal should be made use of as fertilizer factory from the chicken up. I so often
 wonder why farmers will allow themselves to be deceived in such matters and why they so often wait until the fertility of the soil is gone before they realize their
 loss. The time has come in the history
 of agriculture in this country when we cannot afford to allow ourselves to be-
 come oblivious to thse plain practical facts There are many reasons why we
 should give careful consideration to these facts. Look for moment at the rapid increase in population in our country. Soon we must feed these people. Again, the fll-prodieng or consuming class of people is increasing so much faster than .s the producing class that the farmers of tnls age have the greatest opportunity ever offered the farmers of any country for obtaining the very highest price for every farm product produced by them on I their farms. I repeat that there never ] has been time in the history of our l country when our farmers were as well 1 paid for every intelligent effort put forth 1 on their farms as they are today. But. 1 l wish to emphasize the term. Intelligent Effort. This has an entirely different 1 meaning rom many of the loose, slovenly methods of farming which are so common l ly observed all over our country.
 Need of Rotation.
 These facts. being true, and they chal- 1 lenge contradiction, would it not be wise I for every true patriotic citizen, every ] farmer in all our country, to call a halt i on the wear and tear soil system and es- i tabsh system of farming by crop rota- i tion which would not only give us a l great and profitable crops Tor feeding the
 world, but would enable us to leave our l lands in such shape that our children and our grandchildren after Us might go right ] on commencing where we left off. produc- l ing paying crops? Wo hear on every hand ] the complaint that farm labor is scarce. 1 that it is almost impossible to secure l farm help Besides, we wonder why our i boys do not want to remain on the farms. | It is a fact that for some years past ] there has been great exodus from tho l country to the cities. Who can blame the i bovs for not wanting to remain on the farm to endure a life of drudgery as Is l too often the case on the farms of this l country? Who can blame boy for want l ing to get away from farm that his 1 ancestors have laid to waste by robbing 1 1t of all it's plant foods and leaving for 1 the boy only an old worn out, and run l down farm all sireaked with gullies and i grown up to brush and briers; a farm that ! will require ten years of the best of the i boys life to restore to a state of culti- 1 vation that will reward him for his labor i or give him any returns on his invest 1 ment? | repeat Is it any wonder that i the boys want to get away from such l farms?
 ] In order to keep the boys and the girls 1 on the farm we must place agriculture ] upon a higher plane. We must have less drudgery on our farms. We must pay | more attention to the ornamental side of ! farm life. The young people on our farms l must have more reading matter. The dime novel and the almanac literature l so common on our farms must be sup 1 planted by bulletins on agriculture. by 1 good books and magazines. The boys must have time to look after their pet i dogs and some livestock of their own | while the good housewife and the girls must have time to keep the house clean | and decorated with pictures and fancy work and must have time to look after ths l roses and the flower beds. We must from I now on. heneeforth and forevermore. de- vote more of our time to the ornamental 1 and pleasant side of life on our farms if l we expect to have the boys and girls re- 1 main