Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-12-15

No one thing interests me more thar
to study the mental and applied process
es of trained business man. Recently
| was called to spend a day with Burt
Olney, of the Burt Olney Canning Com
pany, upon the company's farms neal
Oneida, N. Y, with the object in view
of arranging q system Of ventilation fol
the various barns and outbuildings
This was accomplished after fashion
and then found myself studying tht
agricultural practices of man Of affairs
who tackles the problems of soils and
plant feeding with the same keen
analytical judgment with which hs
works out better methods for preserving
human foods.
Seldom if ever was the writer sc
thoroughly pumped-not as a matter OF
curiosity, but for business purposes
What is being done on these many farms:
Chiefly the growing Of peas, beans and
beets for the company's factory; buying
non- productive land and making 1t pro-
ductive. How? By drainage, cultivation
and fertilizers. This is dry year, and
yet saw a second growth of clover and
timothy, which would, If cut at the right
time, have yielded from one and one-hali
to two tons of bay an acre, left for ma
uure, and this upon land which few
years ago produced nothing. One could
readily satisfy himself as to the truth OF
this statement from the appearance OF
adjoining fields.
Mr.. Olney has become drainage en-
thusiast. II call it," he says, "a drain
age crank" Whatever may be the cor
rect wording, this business man has
struck the keynote of soil fertility res
toration upon our Eastern farms. Drai-
age and organic matter, thoroughly rot
ted by cultivation, will bring riches out
of the most productive fields. OF
course, found Mr.. Olney doing many
things which the landowner without
capital could not do-changing water
courses, filling ravines and making new
land. But the drainage and fertility
building is within the reach OF every
man who can carry shovel and use 1t
and drive team before plough. He
has several trunk line open bitches, into
which lateral tile lines now open; but
they are rapidly being filled after laying
II to IS inch sewer pipe.
Mr.. Olney proposes to have as few
outlets as possible. He has found, as
others have, that every outlet is source
of trouble. No, we cannot all do this.
1t is expensive to buy 1S-inch tile, but
we can run lsterals into open bitches,
and soon the extra crops will pay the
whole expense, trunk lines included.
Here Is another evidence Of soil improve
ment at dizzy pace without COWS,
articles concerning which have recently
appeared In the Tribune Farmer.
Mr.. Olney took these lands when they
were starving for nitrogen. He knew it,
and so trained every known force and
agency upon nitrogen generation, until
now he is satisfied that he has more
than is needed for his leguminous bean
and pea crops. His system is drainage
and the ploughing under of pea vines
and bean tops, fortified with the turning
under of green rye each year, and, when
a sod is ploughed, covering a good
growth Of grass and clover.
What will this business man do now?
Why, simply increase the use OF muriate
of potash and acid rock and cut short
the expensive nitrates. Lime has been
used for two years, and while Mr.. Olney
was not ready to give an opinion from
his experiments he was strongly i'm
pressed with its place in plant feeding.
Plans are now being made and executed
for steer feeding this winter.
Mr.. Olney frankly admits that his
farm operations are not all successful.
Whose are, by the way9 But where he is
wrong, there be fortifies, and does it in
teusely. He confesses dependence up
on agricultural schools and colleges, re-
ceiving the best of service from Cornell.
Our own college chemist, Professor
Storrs, advised me that Mr.. Olney sub
mitted and had analyzed last year while
he was associated with Cornell no less
than twenty samples of soils.
This article is not written because Mr..
Olney has done what has not been ac-
complished before, but to add more evil
dence that trained business men can
succeed in farm operations, and give
those of US who have small capital OBJ
ject lessons which we can, to greater
or less extent, copy.-Dean II. E. Cook,
st. Lawrence University in Tribune
Farmer.