The Goodland republic., 1907-03-01
Farmers HELD a EHTINe
TWO ExPERrs FROM FARsI
SCHOOLS TALK
mpoztam Points Broughf Ont On
SEED Selection and Preparation
OF the seed Bed.

! The farmers institute advertised
for some weeks was held at the Wal
ker opera house on Saturday. There
was a small gathering at 10 o'clock
/ in the morning and an informal ses-
sion was held. At o'clock theus
was quite q gathering at the after
noon session
/ v. ". Goodrich, secretary Of the
/ organization, presided in the absence
OK the president, and introduced the
/ speakers
Prof J. H Miller, OF the state Agri-
/ cultural college at Manhattan, who
/ has charge Of the farmers institute
work, and o Il. Filing, OF the Hays
! Experiment station, were the speak
ers from abroad, and several OF our
Sherman county farmers took part IN
| the discussions. The meeting was an
interesting and a profitable one.
Prof. Miller said that in go Of the
105 counties in the state farmers' in
stitutes had been organized and good
work was being done. He urged the
increasing OF the membership in this
/ county. There are forty or fifty mem
bers here, whereas there should be
over 100 in the organization with a
meeting at east once a month. He
/ spoke also OF the boys eorn-growing
| contest in the state the last year, in
which 5000 boys took part.
The discussions took a wide range.
/ On the corn contest he said that one
/ quart Of selected seed corn was given
/ out to the lads who engaged in the
! contest and prizes were offered. He
mentioned one boy who raised thirty
/ six bushels OF corn on one-fOurth Of
! an acre He said also that they had
/ a potato and garden truck contest.
/ For garden truck a plat OF ground
/ 5Ox5O feet was allotted and for pota-
! toes 5Ox15O feet. Remarkable results
had been reported.
Mr.. Miller urged the trying OF milo
maize raising here, for grain and
| stock feeding purposes He reported
that milo maize would yield about
double the average amount OF corn
raised on an acre, and was equally
good for fattening purposes. He ad-
vised the grinding Of the grain. OBJ
lection was made that it would not
mature here, but the professor said
that it would mature in ordinary sea-
sons If IT was planted as early as corn
is generally planted.
Prof. Filing spoke upon wheat cul-
ture and the best methods, and the
best varieties OF wheat to raise. kan
sas raised ninety million bushels OF
wheat, and yet the general average
Of yield per acre was only about 13.I
bushels per acre, whereas the gen.
eral average Of the United States
was 1S-5- He thought that Kansas
ought to make a better average One
way to do this was to select seed
carefully, and, especially seed having
a large berry.
E1 ax17HfT11 -, 49,
much larger yield was secured by
this means amounting in some com
PARSONS TO 25 per cent. He spoke |
npOn the manner Of making tests for |
time Of seeding, and reported that
early seeding turned out best and
yielded a larger number Of bushels to 1
the acre He urged thorough tiIIage
and early seeding for all varieties Of |
wheat
Prof. Miller followed, speaking up
on the subject Of selecting seed corn,
and the breeding or improving the 4
quality o. seed corn by careful Sc
lection. He exhibited several charts Il
to illustrate the subject. He also
spoke upon the subject OF late culti-
vatiOn Of corn by means Of a single Il
hne-tOothed harrow or cultivator. The
meeting was one OF interest and i'm
pOrtance to all our farmers.
One thing Prof. Miller said was
new to the western Kansas farmer. 1t
was that the time would come when
It would be necessary to return fer
tility to the soil and that every far
mer should economic and use stable
and barnyard manures on his land.
Every ton OF wheat or corn took out
Of the soil SO worth OF fertility, he
said, If one had to purchase CONNER
cial fertilizer at SIS per ton A three
steer would leave 81 per cent
On the soil, II pains were taken to
conserve manure Of what he took of
to make his growth. He spoke
also Of utilizing clovers anr Iegumin-
ous crops to restore nitrogen to the
soil.