The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-14
PROFESSOR MASSEY REPLIES
TO ARTICLE BY DR.. HERRING

To the Editor: My attention has
of the 7th signed n E. Herring. My
only reason for M II any reply to
such nonsense is l. the matter
right before the public. Herring
sent a long winded col. '~s:ation
to the Progressive Farmer. / Ho'ch
the paper had no space, since ~.
was no special point of value in
being merely a report in regard to q
corn crop made when he pretended to
follow my directions, and the rain
drowned out his crop, and he wished
to hold me responsible for his failure
Since | am not running the weather
and do not even pretend to predict
what the result OF crop may be,
nor do the hundreds Of practical farm,
ers who write their experiences in the
Progressive Farmer, nor the thou
sands in all parts of the country who
write to me that by following my
suggestions they have built up run
down farms and made them produc-
tive and profitable, l could not see
what Mr.. Herring had to complain
Of But he got SO mad over the re-
fusal to print his stuff that he stopped
the paper and turns to a thirty year
mule and the rabbit foot better
guides in farming than the experience
of a man who has been cultfvatIng
and improving the soil for more than
fifty years with success. OF course,
with highly improved land and plenty
of fertilizer man may make a good
crop with less preparation and cuih-
walton than another could with poor
land. [ have not read Mr.. Bats re-
port of his crop, but would say to Mr..
Herring that there is no difficulty in
breaking land twenty inches deep
where there is even hard clay sub
soil such as Mr. Bats undoubtedly
had. Not turning it that deep, but
running subsoil plow after the turn
ing plow and loosening the subsoil
to remain and hold the water that
would otherwise run down hill. and
thus maintan ming moisture for the crop
in dry weather Mr.. Bats probably
had his own cotton seed meal ex-
changed for seed, and it cost what he
said it did. It is true that l have
often urged farmers to farm in good
rotation, to grow plenty OF lesume
forage and feed cattle and make ma
nure for the corn field, and to aban-
don the purchase of ammonia by get
ting all the needed ammonia for the
corn crop through the manure saved,
as being cheaper than buying ammonia
F! for the corn crop. But Mr.. Bats ex-
pertinent was simply to show how
much corn could be grown on an acre
with abundant plant food By good
rofo ia I endoavOro0
to show that good crops can be made
in an economical way rather than by
buying ammonia, since the good farm
er can get all he needs without buying
it. I know that if that 2,4O0 pounds
of cotton seed had been judlclously
fed to stock along with good forage the
manure made after getting its feeding
value would have given Mr.. Bats
all the ammonia needed. But GER
tainIy 7 do not wonder that Mr.. Her
ring cannot understand how land can
be broken twenty inches deep wifi
only a thirty year mule weighing 500
pounds He evidently needs good
team or teams and a good subsoii p1ow
Mr.. Bats made 226 2-3 bushels Of
corn and the mule and the rabbit foot,
aided by the moon, made less than half
as much, and Mr.. Herring evidently
had better land than Mr.. Bats had.
The Progressive Farmer stands for
SCOU anu tiS CNOiAciAAA'cNA iiAi
proyement of the land, and all over
the land farmers rise UP and thank
us for leading them out Of the old
ruts into profitable farming. and has
no space for the lucubrations OF men
who cannot understand that we do
not manage the weather. If Mr.. Her
ring can make his sort Of farming
pay. he has no use for the paper: the
moon, the rabbit foot and the thirty
year-old mule are all he needs.
Thomas Carlyle once said The
n.pulation Of England is forty mil