The Baltimore County union, the Towson news., 1909-09-25
HOW TO RAISE MORE WHEAT.
Representative Farmers of Baltimore
County Tell How Yield of Worlds
Greatest Cereal May be
Doubled

Representative Farmers of Baltimore
County Tell How Yield of Worlds
Greatest Cereal May be
Doubled.
10 order that all the readers of The Union
News may have the benefit of the experience
of the more successful farmers in raising wheat
-one of Baltimore county's most important
products-copies of the following letter were
this week sent to 30 representative farmers in
various parts of the county:
Dear Sir: Voicing the sentiment of many
observers. Mr. James ]. Hill, the Railroad
King of the Northwest, has repeatedly stated
that unless the average yield of wheat to the
acre in this country is largely increased we will
| be compelled within 10 years to import bread
stuffs Other careful observers have practically
agreed with Mr.. Hill, but they have predicted
| that we will obviate this unpleasant alternative
| by increasing our average yield to correspond
| with that in European countries, which IS said
to be largely in excess of ours Owing to the
| scarcity of farm labor, 1t seems particularly
desirable that growers should endeavor to in
| crease their yield of grain without increasing
| their acreage AS this is seeding time, please
! give the readers of The Union News the beueft
| of your opinion concerning the manner In
which the farmers of Baltimore county may
| help in the good work of preventing bread
| famine, and incidentally profit themselves, by
raising larger crops Of wheat for the next and
| succeeding haryests Preparation OF the SOIL
manner of sowing fertilizers and seed selec-
| tion all have their bearing on this important
matter, and if you do not feel prepared to speak
| on all of these subjects please discuss one or
| more of them
| The following replies have been received:
Director H. j. Patterson of the Maryland Agri-
| cultural Experiment Station replied as follows
| sI believe with a continuance of the present
wasteful and negligent methods in agriculture
that there will come time in few years that
will haYe deeefcy Of 9Teaa @ seus % IN arrvs rnls
at that condition as quickly as Mr.. Hill prophe-
cies. but believe that it is very important that
the farmers should awake to this probability OF
a deficiency in bread stufrs and adopt better
agricultural methods. l am Satlshed that
through the use of better wheat and better cui-
tural methods the yield in our State can be in
creased from 25 to 50 per cent, and believe that
what is true of our State is equally true of most
of the older states east Of the Mississippi river
works for this State at the present time is to
teach the people methods of conserving our
agricultural resources and better methods of
farming. This must be done by enlarging the
scope of agricultural Investigations and devel-
oping the agricultural extension work, so as to
/ have demonstrations of our best methods of
farming in several sections in every county and
adopting some means for bringing the latest re-
| suits in touch with every farmer in the State.
Il believe there is no work which the State
| could undertake which would be so fruitful and
which would do so much for increasing the taxa
"Most farmers could cultivate half the area
that they do and by concentrating the same
h are ba raise more e and be better oil
| financially. There are thousands OF acres in
Maryland which are now entirely unproductive
| which could be made available for farm purposes
| by drainage. Most Maryland soils contains sutfi-
| cient plant food to grow maximum crops for
| several hundred years, and one OF the most i'm
| pOrtant things for farmers to study is such
| methods and systems of crop rotation which will
| render the latest plant food available. The use
| of 'leguminous crops to supply nitrogen, digest
plant foods and I'LL the landS with Organic mat
fer is one of the most important factors in help
| ing to increase the productive capacity of the
| SOIL"
| Mr. David A. Harlan of Baldwin says: II think
| the farmers of Baltimore county could raise 30
| per cent more wheat by being more careful in
preparing the seed bed (and earlier in the season
| than many do), by using perfectly clean seed
| and drilling in time for the wheat to get good
| fertilizer per acre would vary according to the
| fertility of the soil. raised this season "a
| bushels to the acre and my brother 26. which is
| about twice the average for the State of Mary
| land"
| Mr.. w. d. Curry of My Lady's Manor is opti-
| mistic, as BELTS man who raises 81 bushels of
| wheat to the acre. He says: II think we need
have no fear of bread famine in this country
| labor is scarce, and hope it may continue so
until the price of farm products will justify a
| farmer in paying as much for eight or ten hours
| Then and not before will we cease to hear that
| farm labor is not satisfactory. AS long as we
have to WORK ga man egnI nours % 10 tae ,,g
! of his work to pay his wages, we will have only
what is left after every other employer has
| picked out all that is worth having. II farm
| iaborers were satisfactory from a capitalist g
view we would find men with large holdings
| of land raising wheat and other farm products
| in way and under conditions with which we
small farmers could not compete. So; let the
farm laborer be as trying as he is. and the price
| of his products go on up until the farmer and
his family are able to enjoy the shorter hours of
| labor and the comforts and even some of the
| luxuries that other folks, making no greater
| effort, are able to have.
| 80 much for the trouble. Now the remedy is
| an Individual matter and will continue to vary
as much as do the individuals who are working kig
wheat began two years back by sowing alsike.
| alfalfa and red clover together in my corn ahead
| of the last working. cut fine crop of hav the
next harvest, then plowed down the stubble
| and aftermath and rolled and narrowed the field
| until it was in almost perfect condition (six or
| sowed wheat with $50 pounds of South Carolina
| rock and rawbone meal, 200 pounds OF rock to
300 pounds of the bone meal The result was 81
| bushels of wheat to the acre. If we would give
| our land the chance to grow the clover crops
| twice in each rotation instead of once. and then
| give it much, very much. better preparation we
| would have no cause to fear wheat famine.
Mr.. S. Seymour Smith of Long Green thinks
| more attention should be paid to selection OF
seed and fertilizers II think, he says, that the
| usual methods employed in preparation of soil
and sowing are sufficient if they are only carried
| out thoroughly. except the time of sowing could
| be a little earlier. Two of the most essential
| factors, to my mind, are the selection of seed
| and the constituents of the fertilizers. In re-
gard to seed, think some plan of selection simi-
| lar to corn seed selection recommended by the
experiment stations should be devised and then
| the selection done by those in charge of the
State Experiment Station, and when good
strain of good variety was obtained it should
be distributed among farmers in different parts
| of the State.
Second In regard to fertilizers, think the
use of sulphuric acid in nearly all fertilizers has
had tendency to get the soil in az, an acid condl-
tion which is injurious to plant life. Nearly al
fertilizers contain one-half or more dissolved
South Carolina rock, which requires ton OF
sulphuric acid to each ton of rock, and this alst
reduces the quantity of phosphoric acid which
the fertilizer contains. 1t has been suggested
that large quantities of refuse Stag from blas
furnaces are annually wasted which could bt
made into a Stag phosphate which contains {
large quantity of phosphoric acid, besides lime
and is free from the Objectionable sulphuri'
acid"
Mr.. Edward ]. O'Donovan of Baldwin thinks
we should only raise wheat on land naturally
suited forit. He says: "I think the greater par
of our land in the East is unsuited to the profta
BILE growth of wheat, the soil being too shallov
| on rolling and hilly land to withstand the wash
ing rains, which deplete it in fertility by carry
ing off the top soil and leaving the raw subsoi
so1 Close bese Io se lenSa in nv oninion should b.
seeded to permanent grasses and kept In SOD 10
| moving and pasture by top dressing with ma
| nure from spreader. think wheat can be mos
economically raised by disking up corn stall
| land, following the disk harrow with goot
spring tooth harrow to prepare the stony spot
| on which disk harrow makes but little lmpres
| sion. After q fine deep seed bed has been pre-
| pared drill in the wheat and fertilizer with
| disk drill. which needs but one man to operate
| as there is no raking out trash. After drilling
| wheat, which includes seeding to grass, Away
roll the land to leave it level for moving ha!
after the wheat the following year,.
| "Many good farmers do not seed corn stall
| wheat to grass on account OF the land Deln
| rough. but plow it after harvesting wheat ono
and seed back to wheat and grass the seconi
year. This practice holds good on good land
but believe that much plowing and poverty g
hand in hand on hills and that the quicker sue
| land is back in sod the better for the land. an
incidentally the larger crops it will produce
| and that we must improve our land in SOD D.
manure, then we get a thick, heavy sod to plo'
| under. This creates humuS, which is only de
caying vegetable matter in the soil, enabling /
to soak up and retain water. which we have am
| pie proof can be very scarce at times. by usln
| my disk harrow "a twelve disk one with the tw
outside disks Off the same as cornworker, TAX
ing row at time and straddling it, l cut ou
the corn row and leave the land level which
spring tooth harrow finishes nicely. On uplan
would use two bushels of seed wheat; on low
land one bushel and peck, and vary between
according to the lay of the land. In the sam
way use 500 pounds of fertilizer to tn
acre on upland to 200 on lowland, and vary be
tween these amounts as in the case of seed Whea
For grass use a peck of timothy and red to
mixed in the fall and alsike red and white Glove
in the spring, and am not bothered with plaI
tain, as the grass occupies all the land after th
wheat"
Mr.. Lewis NJ. Bacon of Philopolis, while say
fn0 thof jndividual conditions shOuld ALWAYS b