Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-03-16
INSTITUTE WAS
GREAT SUCCESS
Splendid Gathering of Farmers
City People Commended for
ARRANGEMENTS Made.

City People Commended for
Arrangements Made.
A noted character of fiction re-
marked that fleas were good for a
dog because they kept the animal
from thinking he was dog. For
est Henry. director of the farmers
institute which opened here Mon
day morning, applied the same line
of homely philosophy to weeds,
when he declared that they made
the farmer use his brain to get rid
of them.
81 believe weeds perform most
important part in the economy of
agriculture he said "They con-
front you with problems which you
must solve to be successful. They
make you think and think hard,
and that is just what we need.
Farming is no longer a hit and
miss proposition. 1t is a science,
and he is going to be the most sue
cessful who mixes dirt with brains. -
Farmers came early and from a
long distance to the institute and
the attendance at the afternoon ses-
sion was more than 500. After the
morning session, which was devot-
ed to preliminary work, more than
400 farmers and visitors were given
a luncheon by the Commercial club,
the serving being done by a COM
mittee from the Housekeepers'
club.
The main topic of interest at the
afternoon session was 1.-The Impor-
tance of Glover in Crop Rotation" "
discussed by Mr.. Henry.
Glover is Of inestimable value in
the rotation Of crops" said Mr..
Henry. "Other grains and grasses
rob the soil of plant food; clover
makes good the loss by taking nj
trogen from the air and giving it
to the earth. 1t also liberates min
eral plant food and by means of it's
fine roots draws valuable foods
from below. 1t chokes out weeds
and binds the earth together by put
ting vegetable matter in it. An
other important function it per-
forms is that of equalizing mois-
ture. Pulverized rock won't hold
water. Glover puts vegetable mat
ter into it, thereby making a
sponge Of it near the surface, caus-
ing the water to stay where it is
needed. In wet seasons it breaks
up the compact soil, permitting the
air to enter and remove superhuous
moisture.
$50 many farmers up here say,
If we could only move our farms
200 miles SOUTH You can put them
there as far as productivity is con-
cerned by using clover in your crop
rotation-with the additional ad-
vantage that here you can raise
clover the like of which they can
never hope to get down there.''
"We are gradually coming to see
that intensified farming is the only
kind Of farming" he concluded.
THAT will mean smaller farms,
that again will mean better care
and consequent increase in yield,
and that will mean a larger and
more prosperous population.
! Mr.. Schultz Of lie Roy, gave an
interesting talk on 1.-The Value of
Small Fruit on the Farm" and Mr..
Hale of Stewartville, closed the ses-
sion by lecture on "How to Raise
Corn" He urged the necessity OF
close study Of the condition of the
soil and climate, in order that the
best results might be attained. He
gave a number Of practical sugges.
tions on how to select seed corn
and closed by saying that every
farmer would find it to his advant
age in the end to stick to one vari
ETY..
E Otto Bergquist, Lewis Eddy ant
=. P. H. Frye were appointed by tn,
institute to work in conjunction
with the committee appointed b,
2 the Commercial Club in the selec
. tion Of a state demonstration
farm" Willmar was one of tn
:. places selected for such a farm b.
{ the state department Of agritultur
and the state federation of CONNER
r cia( clubs.
t Among the topics discussed yes
t terday were "The Apple Orchard,
J. DAIRY Cows Pigs" "Poultr
n for Profit and Title Drainage".
"You don't necessarily have
have fancy breed of COWS to SC
a cure good results" saiu Mr.. Henry
S who discussed this topic. ''Prope
r care and feeding will accomplis
k wonders with even All ordinary COW
II That leads me to say that the bes
kind Of feed is corn fodder put int
silo and early cut clover hay. Clc
y yer hay is the ideal feed, and tn
5 more Of it you can make the COW
J. eat, the better. And speakin
& about silos, be sure that they a,
'e perfectly tight, or your work wi
be all in vain. Be sure also
pack the corn tight against tt
'g wall, leaving it high in the middl,
'e It you don't the corn will sett
re aUainst tho wall and Lot in tho air