Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1908-09-18
SCIENCE APPLIED
TO FARMING
How Young Man Profited by
What He Learned at
College.

agricultural college, we practiced a
four-year rotation of crops; twice
corn, once oats, once wheat; and now
go this one better since | learned the
value of legumes as soil enrichers.
We SOW clover with ali our oats ex-
cept small piece each year, which we
sow with alfalfa after grain is cut.
The alfalfa we allow to stand three to
four years and then follow it with
corn. We let just enough clover stand
to meet our requirements for hay and
seed, pasturing the remainder of the
field and then blowing it under in the
spring, to be followed with corn
again.
Not many years ago we were told
that we were wasting our time in
growing wheat and that corn was the
real money crop. Here is the answer
to this statement which we have
worked out in practical way: We
are just the wheat crop ahead, as the
increased yield in corn caused by the
rotation has fully made up for the loss
in acreage. In fact, we are now able
to truthfully say that we are the
wheat, clover and alfalfa ahead-a
clear gain--and this is no mean con-
sideration when you figure the value
of clover and alfalfa fed in connection
with corn.
The is one feature of what learned
at the agricultural college is worth
many times over what | expended for
my education there. To understand
the value of alfalfa hay in all feed
operations is worth a course in an ag-
ricultural school. A few of our farm
ers tried growing alfalfa and pro-
nounced it a failure. They urged
against it that it would produce only
two crops year; that the first crop
would come in the wet end of the sea-
son, which would render the hay i'm
possible to stack without spelling
that the second crop would not yield
we'll in dry season, and that it was,
after all, not good feed.
While attending the college had
my eyes opened on the question of alf-
alta, and on my return to the farm |
said, eve will grow alfalfa" The
result has exceeded our expectations
We now keep Is acres in alfalfa and
get five tons of excellent hay from
every acre each year, and an abund-
ance of good, safe pasturage besides
Not only is it relished by all stock but
it is by far the easiest feed to handle.
Before | went to college an ear of
corn was an ear of corn and nothing
more. If it had a reasonable size it
looked good to me. | knew nothing
and cared lesss about the proportion
of corn to the cob, and the value of
well-filled butt and tip, about the
wedge shaped kernel, about indenta-
ton and the various other vital fea-
lures of an ear of corn. While at
home on my first vacation from school
| went to our corn-crib and tried to
pick out quantity of good seed-corn;
was astonished to find that there was
scarcely a presentable ear in the en-
tire crib. Now | can go into any one
of the cribs on the farm and pick out
70 ears every one of which will score
above 70-and do this without any
hunting over the pile either. We used
to think that our 9O0-bushel cribs did
well if they shelled out 900 bushels
and often they would fall below that
mark. Now these same cribs invari-
ably shell out more than 1000 buhsels.
All this change has been accomplished
in five years simply and solely by the
process of intelligent selection-for we
grow the same variety of corn now as
when we went to college.
Before | took my agricultural course
the oats grown in our locality were
practically confined to two varieties
one fair yielder in favorable year,
but, unfortunately, most years were
unfavorable. and these oats had
strong tendency to lodge and were
very susceptible to rust; the other
kind. late variety. had heavy straw
and would not lodge, but was a poor
yielder. In school learned Of a new
variety of oats imported from Russia
by the experiment station. | brought
several bushels of this kind home.
This is the variety we now grow, and
the yield is not only much larger but
far more dependable, and these oats
will stand up after our heaviest
storms, even after they are dead ripe
This makes cutting a comparatively
easy and successful operation. But
the point which wish to emphasize in
this connection is that one neighbor
after another had seen the success of
our college oats" and secured seed,
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