The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1910-01-15
THE SCIENCE OF DRY FARMING
Continued from arst page.)

THE SCIENCE OF DRY FARMING
Continued from arst psge.)
tanned in sufficient amount for the crop
next season.
Experiment and Demonstration
Some people inquire what n demon.
s~tration farm is and In what way IL is
different from the existing experiment
farms throughout the country.
The difference is really shown by the
words experiment and ~"demonstra.
ton" but a little further explanation
will serve to make 1t palmer.
The one respect in which mn expert.
ment station differs from a farm il
that its income or rather its support,
does not depend ON the sale Of It's
products II may, and to q large de.
gree does, dcfote its efforts in direc.
tions where no possible revenue Is ex.
pccted.
For this reason failures are expected
ON the experiment farm, or at least, do
not cause surprise or effect tho revenue.
and In fact are often m valuable from
the experimental standpoint as are sue
cesses, In arriving at n desired know
ledge. Therefore, an experiment farm
is not designated for a model to be
followed by actual farmers who must
support themselves by the proceeds Of
their farms.
Duty of tho Farmer
The proper function OF the expert.
ment station farm Is to "prove all
things" with the farmer mus, ''hold
fast to that which is good"
lie must avoid mistakes. But how
shall he avoid themi That is the prob.
lem. True, the experiment citation pub.
fishes and distributes free, the results
Of its work, but as a matter Of fact,
most people End these bulletins far
from satisfactory. This is true Of
those who read them. The great ma.
jority Of farmers never read thom.
Now right here is where tho praeti.
cal usefulness of tho demonstration
farm comes in. In the first place, a
good demonstration farm comes as near
to the conditions of the average actual
farm as possible, and, for this reason,
it ought to make enough money to
show n prift on the years work. I'm.
less IL does this IL is u poor sort OF
demonstration. In order to do this
it must do exactly what the actual
farmer must do. That is, avoid mis-.
takes.
Work Of Demonstration Farm
Now right here is where the demon
s%tration farm works hand in hand with
both the experiment station and the
actual farmer.
From the experiment station it take,
only such crops AS the experiment,
have proved to be successful and grow,
them on Il commercial scale by the US,
OF the methods Of cultivation which
have also been tested and found sue
c~essful.
Big Help for Farmers
On the farmers side Of the demon
s~tration farm, by producing profitable
crops under conditions very similar {,
his own becomes II valuable object les
son.
He can visit this farm and see 70
/. himself what crops will grow in hi
vicinity, and how he may grow then
himself, which is n very difficult thin
from reading about it In a book.
The result at Tucumcari will be
watched carefully by the progressiv,
farmers of New Mexico aud elsewhere
and it will be seen that II 1t works GU
~ now proposed, the cost to the terri
/, tory will not be great, and there is n
reason why it may not be u source o
revenue.
In a recent address James j. Hi
T, said tina, il he had his way about i,
he would build one less battleship an,
use the money to establish IA thousan,
. demonstration farms ins,ead.-El Pas
. Herald