The sun., 1908-05-15


so an acre.
The richest region Of the West ls no more
exempt than New England or the South.
The soil Of the West Ia being reduced In agri-
cultural potency by exactly the same processes
which have driven the farmer OF the East
with all his advantage Of nearness to mar
kets from the field,
SOIL WASTE STARTLING.
But the fact OF soil waste becomes start
ingly evident when We examine the record
OF some states where single cropping and
other agricultural abuses have been preNa-
lent. Take the case Of wheat, the mainstay
Of single crop abuse. Many Of us can re-
| member when New York was the great wheat
producing state Of the Union The average
yield Of wheat an acre In New York for the
last ten years was about eighteen bushels
For the 6rst Ave years Of that ten year period
II was 1874 bushels. and for the last five ia
| bushels In the further West Kansas takes
high rank as a wheat producer Its average
yield an acre for the last ten years was l4le
bushels For the first hye Of those years
II was 1914 and for the last five 1918. Up
in the Northwest Minnesota wheat has made
name all over the world. Her average
yield an acre for the same ten years was
1912 and for the last Ave i2s We perceive
hero the working Of uniform law, independ-
ent Of location, soil or climate. II is the
law Of diminishing return due TO soil destruc-
tlon. Apply this to the country at large
| and Il reduces agriculture to the condition
Of a bank whose depositors are steadily draw
ing out more money than they put In.
AoBBISo THE SOIL TO oEr LARoEsT RETURNS
When the most fertile land In the world
produces 40 much less than that Of poorer
| quality elsewhere. and this low Yield shows
a tendency TO steady decline the situation
becomes clear We are robbing the soil
| 10 an effort TO get the largest cash returns
| from each acre OF ground In the shortest
possible time and with the least possible
| labor. This soil Ia not mere dead matter,
subject TO any sort Of treatment with i'm
| punity. Chemically II contains elements
which must be present In certain proportions
for the support Of vegetation, Physically
| II is made up Of matter which supplies the
principal plant food. This food. with It's
chemical constituents In proper admiIture,
| Ia furnished by the decomposition Of organic
matter and the dislntegration OF mineral
matter that proceed together. Whatever
| disturbs either factor Of the process, what
ever takes out Of the soil an excessive amount
OF one or more OF the chemical elements
upon which plant growth depends, ends
In sterllity. Any agricultural methods that
move In this direction mean soil impoversh-
ment: present returns at the cost OF future
oss: the exhaustion Of the land exactly a.
the animal system Ia enfeebled by lack OF
proper nourishment
THE REMEDY
We frequently hear II said that the reduc-
tlon In yield IL due to the wearing out Of the
coil, as II 1t was a garment to be destroyed
by the wearing. The fact il that soils either
increase or maintain their productivity in
definitely under proper cultivation. II the
earth the great mother Of human and animal
life ia TO wear out" what Ia TO become OF
the race? The two remedies are ss well
Ascertained as Ia the evil Rotation OF crops
and the use Of fertilizers act as tonics upon
the soil. We might expand our resources
and add billions OF dollars 10 our national
wealth by conserving soil resources, instead
Of eIhausting them. as we have the forests
and the contents OF the mines. For there
| il good authority for the assertion that the
| farmer could take from the same area OF
ground In four years grain crops out OF
| total Of seven years as much as the whole
seven now give him. leaving the products OF
the other three years when the land rested
from grain a. q clear profit due to better
methods.
Ihave dwelt upon the conservation Of farm
resources because OF the commanding I'M
portance OF this industry and because Of its
I relation TO our future Nearly 80 per cent.
OF our people are engaged directly in agri-
culture. But all the rest depend upon II.
| In the last analysis commerce, manufactures,
| our home market. every form Of activity
runs back TO the bounty OF the earth by which
every worker. skilled and unskiled, must be
| fed and by which his wages are ultimately
paid. The farm products Of the United states
in 1908 we're valued at te,7s4. 900, and IN
1907 at F,U2,OOO 900. All Of our vast doc
nestle commerce, equal In value TO the foreign
trade Of all the nations combined. Is sup
ported and paid for by the land.
INTELLIGENT CULTIVATION NEEDED,
OF our farm areas only one-half is i'm
proved. Il does not produce one-half OF
what II could be made to yield, not by some
complex system OF intensive cultVe, but
merely by ordinary care and industry in
! telllgently applied II ia the capital upon
which alone we can draw through all the
| future but the amount OF the draft that
will be honored depends upon the care
| and intelligence given to its cultivation.
Were any statesman to show us how to add
| 81 OOO, 900. 900 annually to our foreign trade
| Il would be the sensation OF the hour. The
way ~ do this in agriculture is open. Our
| share In the increase would not be the per
centaRe OF profit allowded by successful
| trading, but the entire capital sum, On the
| other side stands the fact that the unap-
propriated area suited TO farm purposes Is
| almost gone, and that we have been for the
last century reducing the producing power
OF the country. Nowhere in the range OF
national purposes Ia the reward for con-
seryation OF national resource so ample.
Nowhere Is the penalty OF neglect so threaten
ing.
HOW SHALL WE PEED OUR GROWING PoPU-
IATTON
By tho fixed rate Of In crease in the past we
must count upon population OF over 200 OO-
| 900 In the United States In the year 1850. The
annual increase from natural growth Is about
u; per cent. each year. Adding for i'm
migration only 10000 a year which Is less
than three-quarters OF the figures reached In
recent years we shall have about SO,OOO .oOO
people In 1928 and at least OO,OOO,O0O by the
middle OF the century. Where are they to
10. how are they TO be employed. how fed,
| how enabled TO earn a living wage? The
pressure OF all the nations upon the waste
places Of the earth grows more Intense as
| the last OF them are occupied. We are ap-
preaching the point where all our wheat prod
! uct will be needed for our own uses and We
shall cease 10 be an exporter OF grain, There Ia
still some room In Canada but Il will soon