Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-21
crop. The largest farm in Illinois be-
longs to the Hiram Sibiey estate. twenty

crop. The largest farm in Illinois be-
| longs to the Hiram Sibley estate. twenty
five miles northwest Of Champaign. 1t
| includes 1900 acres and yields an aver
age of forty Ave bushels to the acre. The
Funk brothers of BLOOMINGTON have
1900 acres, about one-fourth Of which
| is in corn. 1t all belonged to the late
Isaac Funk, and after his death was d.
vided among his nine children without a
will and without a lawyer. 1t Is all in
one piece. A. P. Grant Of Winchester has
5000 acres OF corn on the bottom lands
which are especially adapted to 1t. The
late e. e. Chester of Champaign, who
was president Of the Corn Growers As
ISOLATION. had a large farm well Guilt
waited for seed.
IF a farmer knows the use to which
his corn Is to be put he can modify the
proportion of oil, starch and protein in
tie kernel by breeding and by cultivation.
and we are teaching him how to do IT.
Corn that Is intended for glucose should
be cultivated in a certain way. and II 1t
Is intended to fatten hogs 1t should be
cultivated in a different way If 1t is
intended for sale In the open market 1t
should have high percentage of oil.
because that Is the most valuable element
in the corn. Aside from domestic uses
and the feeding of animals, the largest
part of the corn crop Is used for glucose.
The primary elements of corn are starch
and oil. The starch Is turned into glu-
cose by the action of sulphuric acid.
Glucose is q very ancient product 1t
has been made for ages. and Is about
two-ffthS as sweet and every bit as whole
some as cane sugar. The conventional
objections to glucose have no foundation;
on the contrary. 1t Is more likely to be
clean and wholesome than the sugar
which comes from Cuba and the other
West indies. Glucose factories are mod
els Of neatness, and we do not know any
tionery made of glucose is quite as
healthful and Is likely to be purer than
that made from sugar. We can say the
same OF oleomargarine, which. as rule.
Is much more wholesome than the aver
age butter. We know how that Is made.
but we cannot say the same Of all butter.
Before the starch is made the germ Is
extracted and put under hydraulic pres
sure to express the oil. which runs about
5 per cent Of the whole. Corn oil Is COM
paratively new. but the quantity produced
Is increasing very rapidly. When refined
1t Is used as a substitute for olive oil on
the table. for linseed oil in painting and
inferior qualities are used for soap and
toilet articles. The pulp Of the corn
germ. after the oil has been extracted, Is
| used AZ q substitute for rubber and for
adulteration. It has no tensile strength:
1t cannot be stretched. but 1t can be COM
| pressed. 1t Is elastic to pressure. and Is
| just as good as the natural rubber where
Corn that is to be used for the table,
or for the fattening Of hogs, should be
| cultivated in a different manner from
| that intended for glucose. and we are
| teaching our students the difference.
Study Of the Soils.
But we do not devote ourselves exclu-
| sively to corn. That Is only a small part
| of our work. Our total expenditure for
experiments last year was $125.0O0. OF
| that amount only $4,000 went to corn
and $4,000 was spent on an tnvestiga-
| ton Of the soils of the state. We are
studying all Of the principal types OF
soil and are making soil map of I'LL
nois by counties, noting every kind Of soil
| In areas as small as five acres so that
| a farmer can know exactly what sort he
| has on his farm and how 1t should be
cultivated. At the end Of this year we
| shall have surveyed every county In the
| state.
The object Of all this Is to make farm
| ing a settled scientific business on a sound
| and economical basis. We want to stop
| the heller skelter cultivation of the
ground There is an old saying that a
successful farmer must mix brains with
| his manure. and that Is what we want to
| promote. II a farmer" uses more fertili-
| ger than is necessary, or If he put or
| fertilizer that is not required. he wastes
SO much money, and the wastage in that
| respect among the, farmers In the
United States amounts to millions of dol
| lars every year. We want to save that
wastage SO far as we can: We publish
ment Of their soil. We reach $1,000 peo-
! pie by our bulletins and send out hun
dred or more practical men in our grad
yates every year. who are scattered over
the state and carry their knowledge with
them.
| Exhaustion Of the Soil.
| I'VE hear a great deal said about the
destruction Of our forests. but the ex-
haustion of the soil Is quite as great a
| national danger. Large areas in Illinois
and in every other state that were once
rich and productive are now becoming
poor and unproductive- By proper treat
ment that soil can be redeemed.
| Another great problem is the lack OF
labor, but 1 expect that will solve itself
| in time. At present, however, it is diff
cult to find people who are willing to
work on the farms. A few years ago
| farm hands were satisfied with $l2 and
| SIS a month and board, now the average
| wages in Illinois is $25 month, but for
| the same amount Of labor a man can get
| $50 a moath in the mines. For that rea-
| son and because they don't like the fsola-
| ton. immigrants will not go to the farms.
1t is only a certain type of men who
| make SOOO farmers, any way. al hAiS %
more difficult than formerly and requires
| more intelligence. better judgment and
| greater foresight. Farming is becoming
| more and more an exact science. Farmers
are steadily gaining knowledge and
/ control of the forces of nature and are
| cultiyating the soil on business principles.
principles which make the profits larger
| and more certain. Prof. Davenport thinks
| that the invention Of labor-saving ma
| ckinery will relieve the farmer Of much
| of his hard work and he predicts that
| the tide will turn, one Of these days;