The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-12-30

The following excellent write-up Of
the North Dakota A. c. appeared in
recent issue of The Northwest Farmer. !
Canada's largest agricultural paper:
In two recent issues we presented
some facts about the work being done
by the agricultural colleges and ex-
pertinent stations in Minnesota and
South Dakota In this article we shall |
devote a little space to the work In |
North Dakota.
The agricultural college in North Da-
kota is located at Fargo. 1t Is not in /
the center of the state, but is rather at |
the extreme eastern side, just close to |
the Red river.
1t is not by any means among the |
biggest of the American. agricultural
colleges, hut it has quite group of
| good buildings, some energetic men,
bright, live spirit, and is doing good
work OF course, like all the other
up-to date agricultural colleges, IL pro-
vides quite number of different
courses throughout the year and last
year its total enrolment was some
where between 1900 and 1900 stu
dents
Strong Connection Outside.
| But probably it was the outside
work of the experiment station and
/ collegiate auxiliary work, as 1t were
that most interested the writer upon
| his visit to Fargo. The North Dakota
Agricultural college seems to have a
keen instinct tor placing IT. activities
before the public; ard, after al this
/ is very important feature. The ex-
tension department of the college COM
mands the energies Of soma very wide
awake men, and If the college has any
thing good to give, the people are likely
to hear about It, One of these extern
sion men, Professor Randlett, does a
great deal through the public schools
of the state interesting the boys and
girls in corn growing contests, etc.
thus not only giving to the energies
Of the youth Of the country some prac-
ticaI direction along the lines of agri-
cultural effort but also preparing
these young people to be more easily
interested few years later in the
work of the agricultural college itself.
Substations and Demonstration Farms.
There is in North Dakota, under the
direction Of the experiment station
management, a strong organization
calculated to connect the work up with
the man on the land. Besides the Gen.
trail station at Fargo, there are in the
state five substations and twenty four
demonstration farms.
The Substations.
The substations each contain 100
acres of land, and are simply state
owned experiment stations located in
different parts of the state. The fact
that they are well manned increases
their usefulness very materially. AS
an illustration of this fact we may
mention one substation, the one at
Williston, which has four men on it's
its staff Of management three Of them
holding degrees. Some of the others
have two or three on their staff Of
scientific workers.
We cannot refer at any length to the
work of the substations beyond say
ing that they are intended to supple
ment the work of the central expert
ment station by dealing with local
problems. For instance, at Edgeley,
? which is about 10 miles southwest of
: Fargo, special attention has been given
| to durum wheats. At Dickinson, which
2 is seventy-five miles from the west
! side OF the state. attention has been
. focused on alfalfa growing, and with
very gratifying results with some OF
4 the harder strains. At Williston, only
sixteen miles from Montana, work is
being done on the problem Of irrigat-
ing by pumping.
The superintendent of these substa-
tions have largely won the confidence
of farmers surrounding, and. aside from
the publication of results obtained, they
! are able to do great deal Of good by
giving advice and direction to farmers
who apply directly to them for 1t.
Demonstration Farms.
Then. still further down in the
Q scheme. there come the twenty -foul
u demonstration farms. The annual re-
g port of these, published and distribut-
9 ed free of charge from the college
n contains 100 pages. 1t is hoped soor
2 to have either a substation or q
demonstration farm in. every county
. In the state.
The usual method of procedure in es.
tablishing one of these demonstration
farms is for the experiment station Il
lease about twenty or twenty flv,
acres for period of at least five years
AS a rule an attempt is made to hav'
these in a reasonably conspicuous 10
y cality. but, of course one of the mos
important considerations is to secur.
II the plot under the management Of ;
farmer who will cooperate CAREFUL!
and the difficulty of this may affect tn,
location of the farm. The object o
O. these farms is set forth in the las
ie report published on their work al
/ follows:
e, Putting an object lesson before tn
J. farmers in their vicinity, showing hoy
Al heavy yields of wheat, corn, oats, bar
a ley, flax and hay can be produced, an
"a at the same time have the fertility 0
= the soil increased rather than decreas
ed" AS to the way in which this ha
been met, we read this general state
ment:
ut "This has been done by means or tn
p rotations that are employed. by goo
N tillage methods, by pedigreed seed, b
Id the application Of manure at regula
id intervals, by the eradication of weed
r. and by the production OF leguminou
crops, such as Canada field peas, me
10 dunn red clover and alfalfa. Th
as demonstration farms indicate that an
n farmer can grow an average yield {
e. wheat exceeding twenty bushels pc
D. acre with ordinary farm tools, such g
ee he is now using. If he will kee
1g enough stock to eat up the corn pre-
nd duced on 20 per cent Of his land an
re, the hay and oats on another 20 pt
ly cent The stock will produce enoug
ali manure to fertilize at least one-fift