The Greeley tribune., 1908-01-09
NEED OF SOIL
SQUARE DEAL MUST BIZ
GIVEN IT AT ALL TIMES.
Strong and Interesting Article
By One of the Richest Far
mers Of the Country.
Read It.

Under the title, The Greatest
Business Problem in America" The
Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post
of January 4, has an article that
should be read by every farmer in
the country. The article Is written
by Samuel w. AllertoD, who has for
years and still does farm several
thousand acres Of land in q middle
wastern state. The article contains
statements SO startling, and yet. we
believe true, that concerted move
should be made at once, to check the
Wanton waste of the resources of the
soil.
In part Mr.. Allerton says:
THE reckless and wholesale de-
pletion of the fertility of the soil In
this good land of ours, is beyond all
question the biggest and the most Sc
rious une now confronting the Ameri-
can people-it is bound to remain
the biggest problem for many years
to come."
SO serious is the outlook, accord
ing to Mr.. Allerton. who has given
the matter great deal of thought
aud consideration, that he has deter
mined to devote the rest of his life,
aud much of his fortune to educat-
ing the farmers Of the country in the
way of ''giving the soil square
DEAL" From his own experiments
MIR. Allerton is we'll authorized to
speak. He has taken ppa great deal
Fof land that had been Impoverished
by reckless farming. built up the
land by fertilization until now it
produces double the crop that 1t did
when he first took possession, and
has paid handsome interest on the
investment besides the growing better
of the soil right along. While his
ueighbors now, with exactly the
same foundation of soil, are growing
about 80 to 35 bushels of corn or oats
to the acre. he is growing rs to so
bushels, with practically the same
amount Of work and with but one or
two dollars difference in cost per
acre.
Mr.. Allerton's neighbors are rotat
ing oats and corn, oats and corn,
year after year. He is rotating clover,
corn and oats. Glover, like alfalfa
and peas, being leguminous plant
helps to enrich the soil. Besides
this MIR. Allerton feeds about SIS per
cent OF tile corn and grain, and prob
ably also of the clover, to sheep, hogs
and stock, thus securing the manure
to put back into the soil. The rest
of the crop he sells, without loss to
the soil.
AS result of wasting the soils
energies there Is a streak OF unpro-
ductive land In southern Illinois,
that is steadily creeping northward,
and threatens to cover the entire
state. The land was at one time as
fertile as any in Illinois. There are
large tracts of land in Virginia,
where farm after farm can be bought
for almost nothing. Not many years
ago these same acres were the pride
of the state for productiveness, and
produced fortunes for their owners In
the never falling tobacco crop. They
have been depleted by taking from
them the elements to grow crops.
while comparatively nothing has
been put back into the soil to stave
off bankruptcy.
A farmer does not need to have an
elaborate scientific education to un-
derstand the really necessary things
about the elements which go into
the making Of crop. The main
ones are phosphorus, nitrogen and
potash. Phosphorus is the element
that makes the crop go to seed and
to mature-which makes the ear of
the corn or the head of the grain fill
wtGh plump, ripe kernels. Nitrogen
rs size to the plant, and the
70 ash contributes the element Of
health or stamina to the plant.
When grain crop is yellow and
does not grow to size, 1t lacks nitro
gen; when 1t grows rank and dark
green and does not mature and pro-
duce grain, IL lacks phosphorus; and,
when In addition, 1t Is inclined to
lodge and the stalk or straw Is soft
and lacks polish. the soil Is lacking
In potash.