Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1910-01-28
Ranchers and Business Men Fill
Lecture Car of Denonstra-
ton Train Wednesday
ALFALFA, POTATOES AND FRUIT
Are Undoubtedly Going to Make South
ern Idaho Enormously Wealthy While
Present Century Is Still Young

The Farmers Demonstration Special
arrived IN Shoshone the 26th as adyer-
tised and although the early hour OF
9 o'clock caught some unprepared, the
lecture car was rapidly filed with an
eager and sppreciative audience.
The first speaker was J. z Wing,
editor Of the Breeders Gazette of Chi
cago, expert on soil The speaker be-
gan by saying that the fertility OF any
soil depends largely On the quantity OF
carbonate Of lime it contains East Of
the Mississippi river the average soil
contains only one-half of one per cent
of carbonate of lime while the soil OF
southern Idaho contains over four per
cent. Every acre Of this volcanic ash
soil contains so tons Of the carbonate
within one foot Of the surface
Besides contributing plant food this
form OF lime makes the soil sweet and
puts It in Just the right condition fer
bacteria TO live and multiply N which
transform the nitrogen of the air into
q form available for plant food
Mr.. Wing then dwelt on alfalfa and
stated that II would not grow on soil
destitute OF the carbonate of lime In
the east ard south the soil must be
sown to lime in order TO adapt It TO
alfalfa
! The line in the soil of Idaho makes il
the best for alfalfa and alfalfa in turn
makes home for bacteria called nitro
( cultures which fills the soil with nitro
gen. The humus and nitrogen together
make the best and cheapest fertilizers
IN the world He further stated that
an acre Of alfalfa would produce more
food than any other crop on the same
area
E. H Grub. the potato king, then
took the floor. He advocated the fol-
lowing crop rotation for POTATOES:
Three years to alfalfa, two seasons TO
potatoes and the sixth season seed
again to alfalfa with a nurse crop. For
potatoes begin with deep fall plowlng.
Then disc and harrow thoroughly In the
spring before planting. Plant in rows
three feet apart and drop an average Of
nine inches in the row. Plant small
potatoes whole, cut larger ones once
IN two, and the largest cut into four
pieces. The same or day after plant
ing. cultivate with q double shovel
pIow, using shovels "A inches long and
4 inches wide Let the shovels go
clear down ard very close 70 the rows
Then put on the harrow. first lengthwise
and later erosswise OF the rows Keep
up the narrowing till the potatoes are
quite high. Then trench and irrigate
between rows but only in every second
row or trench. Follow with the shovel
plow and then irrigate the alternate
rows and cultivate again with the
shovel plow. a good irrigation closes
the work
H. L. Edgerton followed with a talk
on seed selection. He stated that the
farmer who devotes all his time to
hard manual toll gets the least returns
in crops or animal productions. Ii Il
the man who uses his brain in his work
that makes the big gains and prospers
beyond MS neighbors. After a general
on seed selection, Mr. Ed
gerton ended with q few specific re-
marks on selecting seed potatoes and
other vegetables and grains
MIR. Stalker then followed with !
talk on marketing products.
Like the other speakers. MS remarks
were very practical and right 20 the
point. He ended by showing samples
Of potatoes that command the highest
fancy market price and described now
such potatoes are obtained One Of his
main points was the storing Of farm
products by the farmers themselves
thus keeping the supply at ali times
veil within the market demands
The closing moments were occupied
oy NJ. Mahoney OF Grand Junction. Colo,
sxpert on orchard heating. This sub
ect IS 50 important that nis remarks
viii be omitted here and continued In
ne next week s Journal
Before the train pulled cut the sI.di-
nee Inspected the potato machinery
N board the train as well IS the
nudge pots.