Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-05-21

coed together. Whatever disturos5 either
factor of the process. whatever takes out
of the soil an excessive amount of one
or more of the chemical clements upon
which plant growth depends. ends in
sterility. Any agricultural methods that
move In this direction mean soil i'm
yroverishment; present returns at the cost
of future loss the exhaustion of the land
exactly as the animal system Is en-
feebled by lack of proper nourishmcnt.
TWO CHIEF ABUSES
Our agricultural lands have been abused
in two principal ways. first by single
cropping, and second by neglectinE
fcrtilizai ion. 1t is fortunate for US that
nature is slow to anger and that VIC may
arrest tho consequence of this rufnous
policy before it is too late In all paris
of the United States, with only isola cd
exceptions, the system of tillaSe has been
to select the crop which would bring
in most money at the current market
rate, TO plant that year after year. and
to move on to virgin fields as soon as the
Old farm rebclcd by lowering the quality
and quantity of its return. 1t is still
the practice; although diversifcstion of
industry and the rotation of crops have
to-day taught in every agricultural col
lege in this country. The demonstration
Of the evils of single cropping is mathc-
NAUTICAL in its completeness. At the
experiment station Of the agricultural
ill., of Ut, - ~,
they have maintained a experimental
plots of ground, adjoining one another
and as nearly identical In soil. cultivation
and care as scientific handling can make
them. On these have been tried and
cornpa red different methods OF crop rota-
ton and fertilization together with sys-
TENS Of single cropping. The results of
ten years experiment are now available
On tract Of good ground sown con
tinuousiy for 10 years to wheat the aver
age yield per acre for the first five years
was ooo2 bushels and for the next five
1852 bushels Where corn was grown
continuously on one plot while on the
plot beside it corn was planted but once
in five years in a system Of rotation, the
average yield of the latter for the two
years it was under corn was as bushels
per acre. The plot whore corn only was
grown gave DOS bushels per acre for the
first five and Ill bushels for the second
of these years, an average of l6 bushels
The difference in average of these tw,
plots was 32.2 bushels. or twice the tota
yield of the ground exhausted by the
single crop system The corn grown al
the end of the 10 years was hardly hiT
lrigh, the ears small and the grains light
But the cost of cultiva ton remained the
same And the Same is true Of every other
grain or growth when raised continuously
on land unfcrtilized. We frequently hear
II said that the reduction in yield Is
due to tho wearing out of the soil as II
it was a garment to be destroyed by the
wearing. The fact Is that soils either
increase or maintain their productivity
indefinitely under proper cultivation. II
the earth. the great mother OF human
and animal life, is to wear out what
is to become Of the race?
TIVE TWO REMEDIES.
The two remedies are as well ascer-
tanned as is the evil, Rotation of crops
and the use of fertilizers act as tonic.
upon the soil We might expand oul
resources and add billions of dollars Il
our national wealth by conserving sol
| resources. instead of eXhaustinS hem IA
we have the forests and the contents o
! the mines. For there is good authorit!
| for the assertion that the farmer coul'
| take from the same area OF ground IL
four years grain crops out of tota
of seven years as much as the Will
seven now give him. leaving the pro
! cs nth Union h
land rested from grain as a clear prof
| due to better methods.
He can do far more than that by join
ing stock raising with grain raising. Ma
ture has provided the cattle to so wit
| the land There is as much money il
| live stock as there Is in grain. Locke
at in any way there is money in Nv
stock; money for dairy products, mono
for beef money for the annual increase
and most money of all for the next year
crop when every particle of manure
saved and applied to the land.
We need not consider at present rcall
| intensive farming, such as is done b
| market gardeners with high profit. o
such culture as in France, in HOLLAND
| in Belgium and in the island OF Jerse
produces financial returns per acre tina
seem almost beyond belief, What gu
people have to do is to cover less grounc
| cultivate smaller farms so as to max
the most of them, instead Of getting
scant and uncertain yield from severe
hundred acres, and raise productivity b
intelligent treatment to twice or thre
times its present level.
GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
] have dwelt upon the conservation
of farm resources because of the com
manding importance of this ndustr
and because OF it's relation to our fu
ture. Nearly 80 per cent OF our peopl
are engaged directly in agriculture
But all the rest depend upon it, In tn
last analysis, commerce, manufacture.
our home market, every form OF &C
tivity runs back to the bounty of tn
earth by which every worker, skille
and unskilled, must he fed and b