The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-11-01

ued productivity OF the SOIL,
Applying his lesson TO home condi- |
lions, Mr. Hlll set aside lightly the |
ore deposits in Minnesota, which have
been given an important place among |
the natural resources of the state, and |
in which the Great Northern road Is
extensively interested, and gave all
Importance TO agriculture as the foun.
dalton Of all Industrial prosperity In
the state and throughout the north
west And as to the need OF dlversi'
fication, he said in the course OF his
address: "You cannot take wheat out
of the ground year after year without
putting anything back. any more than
you could keep on taking 1t out of an
elevator without putting in more grain
to replenlsh your supply"
Mr.. Hill told of his efforts to induce
the farmers Of the northwest to raise
cattle and hogs and of his free dis
tribution of 800 thoroughbred bulls Of
the best breeds and from 5000 to 1000
head of highly-bred hogs. For this he
was severely criticised, he said, by
persons who thought that he was cast
ing a grave reflection upon the fertil-
ty of the Minnesota and Dakota soil
and the value of its grain products.
But he had found his reward in learn
ing that the farmers could get between
So and $40 more for their half.breed
heifers than for the scrubs, and in the
fact that the farmers were gradually
learning that with the cattle running
on their land the fertilization of the
land with their manure was worth
one-third of the value of the food that
the cattle had eaten.
Il was born on a farm in Ontaria
Can, where they had to work and
they had to think" said Mr.. HILL "and
they always held their own wherever
in Manitoba, or anywhere else, they
hold their own because they know how
to keep the fertility of the soil. You
take a gold mine and dig the gold out,
and it is an end to it. You take the
coal mine and dig it and market the
coal and there is hole in the ground.
And that is all you have left. But
you keep the fertility of the soil, and
1t is a perennial mine-it never fails.
And with proper care and proper ferti-
lization there is no limit to what you
can do"
AS an example Of profit in cattle
raising Mr. Hill relates one of his own
experiments. when wheat was sell
ing at SIS cents In Minnesota" said he,
Il thought l would try what wheat
would do to feed steers. Now, fed
them here ten miles from where we
are, lot Of steers one winter. found
that l got 80 cents bushel for my
wheat that fed to steers. That Is a
lot better than selling it for SIS cents
"The agricultural yield per acre In
Minnesota, cultivated land, as shown
by the last United States census is
$467. The average yield in the state
of Iowa is $3.50 an acre, and the diff
ference applied to the cultivated land
in Minnesota would be over 800 1000, 00C
a year. Now, that Is reason why
they should diversity"
Speaking of natural resources, Mr.
Hill said: "All you have in the north
west-in Minnesota and the two Da
kotas at least-is soil and climate
Everything of value comes from foul
sources. The seas Is one of them, bu
it only contributes about 21s per cen
of the whole, and the other 97k pc
cent is contributed by the farm, tn,
forest and the mine. Now we hav'
some mines in Minnesota, but the.
either don't belong to us or have beef
sold to some other people,"
, Then he went on to show the deple
ton of the vast forests of Minnesota
and said that the trees remainin!
, were almost counted.
without the farm" said he, 9TH
state of Minnesota would be practical
ly desert. and If you go on cultivat
=, ing the land without renewing II
without fertilizing it, it will in tim
be as much of a desert as the vale,
Of the Euphrates that once held "a
=. far as we know the Garden of Eden.
> France has no great mines of irol
or copper or gold or silver or coal. bu
it has a fertile soil and it has fruga
industrious, patient people; and wha
, is the result compared with Grea
>, Britain? | think it was under tn
=. ministry of Lord Liverpool, in 1915
that Great Britain started on an are
- Of expansion and colonization, openin
!, up new fields, new colonies, and Ell
: couraging the manufactures of Grea
-, Britain to produce the various con