The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1909-01-22
ROCK ISLAND-FRISCO
AGRICULTURAL CAR
oral Instruction and Practical
Exhibit of the Products
OF the Soil.

The agricultural and horticul-
tural car of the Rock IsIand-Fris-
co lines. in charge of CommIs-
si"ner +. ). White, arrived here
FRIDAY night and remained until
Sunday noon. Scores of farme RS
aud citiZons visited this splendid
exhibit during the stay here. This
exhibit embraced variety of
grain. garden products, grasses
and The muItitudInous growths of
the Held and farm. This car Is
travelling along the lines of the
Rock lsIand-FrIsco systems of the
Southwest with view of tlevel-
oplng the prnductiveness of the
soil and settling up the vacant
lands
Mr.. White j, pI actica! farmer
of Missouri, thoroughly posted in
agricultural! methods and talks
Interestingly a.'d intelligeutIy on
this topic and the best methods of
tlIling the soIl and preserving its
fertility. His itinerary covers
Ii ,000 miles in Ii states. He de-
llvered two lectures here in the
courthouse To small but deeply
Interested audiences. By request
Major Will IL. Tunnard called
the meetings To order and intro
duced Commissioner White in
well chosen words.
Mr.. White began by saying that
the motive of this exhibit was a
selfish one. The railroads de-
sired to develop the country, fill
up the vacant lands with thrifty
farms and by new methods and
old methods produce Il revolution
in production. He showed what
was being done at the present
time and how it could be RENE
died. He declared that too much
land was attempted to be cult
waited. A product ON one half an
acreage of the present should pro-
sluce as prolific & crop as was gar
nered. The lands needed more
intense farming. There was too
much toll on too much land. One
half of the farmers do not realize
10 bushels of corn to the acre.
they should produce from 20 to
90 bushels per acre. He had
known l22 bushels To be raised.
One stalk of corn, planted Is
inches apart. would produce lis
bushels. He declared that no
business man could last three
months If he conducted his bust
ness on the same basis as the far
mers. He said the cost of corn
production averaged from IS t.
Sill per acre.
Ii he greatest need is the educa-
ton of the farmer. Applying
brain power to the direction of
the hands. Under the new way
80 bushels of corn could be grown
against 5 bushels the old way.
Study plant food; study what the
sml needs to ircrease its fertility.
The plants IN the soil tell its
character.
He declared that there are
three elements necessary-nltro-
gen, phosphoric acId and potash.
Nature gives plants to furnish
the necessary supply. He de-
clared that wood ashes, that Wa
considered worthless. was worth
from So to $l2 per ton as a fer
tilizer. Pine leaves secure pot
ash and 9th .r leaves a good com
post.
So along these lines he explain
ed how farmers could become the
moneyed men of the country
Wisconsin and New Jersey were
the best cultivated of any of tn,
states. There the farmers owned
10 per cent of the money and con
trolled the finances.
No country can become rich by
growing one crop. The tiller'
mu st diversity and rotate theil
crops. Raise hogs, mules. horses
dairy cows, chickens and domes
tic fowls. Last year the womeI
of Missouri sold $40, 100000 worth
of eggs and chickens and the mel
the 81. 900, 900 in dairy results.
He said there was an easy wa,
to live on a farm. Make th'
country homes more attractive
Solve the problem on business
lines. The one crop idea Is
against the prosperity of an,
country. :.
The first thing was the cultiva
ton of grasses-bermutla, johnson