Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-11-02
rhe Transition Period Of Farming.

The Transition Period Of Farming.
There is no small measure Of comfort
in the declaration OF SO competent an
authority as Professor Milton Whitney,
chief of the United States Bureau of
Soils, that the soil of this country is not
wearing out under continued cultivation.
Professor Whitney substantiates his
assertion by figures showing that the
long cultivated wheat fields of Grea
Britain and continental Europe are pro-
ducing larger average yields Of wheat,
corn and other cereals than the much
newer fields of this country, and that
even in Vermont, which is popularity
supposed to contain much worn out soil,
the yield of wheat averages IS IL bush
els an acre, as against an average OF IL
bushels in Illinois. These figures, along
with others of like trend given by Mr.
Whitney, would seem to set at rest the
somewhat pessimistic predictions of Mr..
James j. Hill and others, who have been
publicly deploring the reduced produc
tivity of American farms.
There is another side to the question,
however, to which Mr.. Whitney does
not, in this connection, atleast, give all
the emphasis that it deserves. That is,
that the larger yields secured from long
titled soils which he finds in the old
country, and in Vermont, for instance,
are secured only by means of the most
intensive farming. Intensive farming is,
of course, the chief tenet of modern
agriculture. Widely taught, It is, never
theless, comparatively little practised
1t seems hardly the part of wisdom to
ignore the fact that intensive farming is
repugnant to the average American
farmer. For years he has braved the
perils and discomforts of the frontier In
order that he might farm on an exten-
sivs rather than on an intensive plan.
He likes to mount his gang plough and
turn virgin soil, plant his wheat with a
four-horse seeder, reap it with four
horse binder, take off crop of from
thirty to forty bushels to the acre, feed
no stock other than his horses, put moth
ing back on the soil to replace that
which he has taken out, and when the
yield runs steadily down to fourteen or
ten or eleven bushels to the acre pack
his belongings in freight car or prai-
rie schooner and move on to seek more
virgin soil. This custom he has prac-
tised until virgin soil is no longer avail
able, but still he has not adapted him
self to the new conditions. Intensive
farming is little practised. A rapidly
growing population has largely made up
In price what the farmer has lost in
yield, and the increased cost of food
products presents grave problem.
1t is gratifying to know that the soil
is not sworn out" and that under in
tensive cultivation it will again yield full
measure, but it is futile to deny that
from now on there must ensue period
of transition, more or less protracted,
during which the farmer must learn the
lesson of producing the largest possible
crops by care and an attention to de-
tail generally repugpant to him, and
that during that period the consumer
must pay the cost of progressive
methods. 1t is also true, no doubt, that
to the increasing necessity of abandon
ing the old extensive methods is largely
due that exodus from the farm to the
city which Mr.. Hill and other shrewd
observers so greatly deplore.-Tribune
Farmer.