The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1909-06-08

very important subject assigned me
(Diversifcation), that I would like tt
have given it, or that the importance
of it to the farmer demands. We will
first say something of the importance
| of the soil, which is the all important
thing with the farmer The average
farmer will make profitable crops on
rich land, while the best of farmers
cannot on poor SOIL The two first
essentials to a productive soil is
thorough drainage and plenty of hui
mus. All soils are rich and produc-
tive that have plenty of humus, while
all soils are poor that are void of hui
mus. The cheapest and best and most
practical way of getting this humus
in cur soils is by diversifying and by
a thorough system of crop rotation,
and when ever practical grow two or
more crops on the same land the same
year: and be sure and have some of
the Legumes occupy the land at some
time every year if possible. The cow
pea we have for our summer Legume,
the cloverS and vetches We have for
our winter Legumes, so when we have
oats, rye, barley, etc. for our clover
crops in the winter, we should have
some of the winter Legumes. growing
along with them and the land will be
richer after the grain or hay is harvest
ed than it was when it was sown to
the winter crop. 1t is claimed by our
experiment stations that a good
growth of COW peas will store into the
soil from Is to 20 per cent. of nitrogen
for crops that follow them. One ton of
cow-pea hay is said to contain as
much food value as four tons of Tim
othy hay. When we diversity our
crops as much as we should we will
soon have rich and productive soils.
Diversifying crops does not mean the
planting and growing of all crops,
vegetables and fruits that can be
SiOWH III Jul CuA1dIe anu Sui, UuI we
must grow all the live stock that can
be maintained on the farm, by grow
ing all the grain and forage crops that
we can on the farm and feeding it to
the live stock. Then we are putting
it into a manufactured form that we
can make the most profit out of it that
it is possible for the farmer to make
out of his forage crops, especially
when we care for the manure and re-
turn it to the soil from whence it
came. 1t is almost impossible to es-
innate the true value of the loss to
our lands in the way of fertility when
we sell all our surplus crops off the
farm instead of feeding it to live stock
and return all of it to the land in the
form of manure to make our lands
richer so that we can grow larger and
more profitable crops Of all kinds.
Take the one article Of cotton seed,
our Experiment Stations claim that
cotton seed meal when fed to dairy
cows is worth from $40 to $50 per
ton. There was exported from the
southern farms the past season about
SOC, 900 tons of this valuable farm pro-
duct for which the farmer received
the paltry sum, on an average, Of
little over $14 per ton. Think of it,
brother farmer, the vast amount Of
wealth that leaves our farms in this
one article alone, when If we were
really diversifiers in its true sense,
the southern farmer would be many
millions Of dollars richer each year
on this one farm product. Nature has
done her part for the South. Our
on the other hand, do not
think, have used these God given ad-
vantages to their best interest. It is
said that some sections of our richest
cotton belt have up to this time paid
cut more money for feed for their
farm animals than the entire cotton