Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-12-13

experiment station Is making a pre-
liminary survey of tn rincipal soil
types of the state.
Specially trained Is are being
sent out into practical all sections
of Iowa to gather hui 3 eds of sam
pies of soil to dee of forty
inches. These will le ,nalyzed in
the soils laboratories = Iowa State
College to determine IL how much
plant food they conE 1 and how
they may be treated to .rease their
productivity. This I'M pation will
be used in a general ort of the
experiment station toN-suow Iowa
farmers how they may meet the
great practical problem of getting
larger yields from their land and
maintaining it's fertility.
This problem of soil conservation
is one of the most serious facing the
farmer in Iowa and he is waking up
to that fact. Every day letters come
to the soils section of the experiment
station asking for information about
this or that kind of soil; every year
thousands of farmers seek help to
check soil robbery Unfortunately,
money has not been available to get
the facts the farmers want The
state of Iowa has. made no provision
for this line of investigation. The
present survey will be only partial
and it is possible only because other
work has been set aside for it. Sta
ton men say it should be followed
. at once by an extended series of field
experiments in all sections of the
state, to show the exact need for
manures and fertilizers in different
soil areas, but such experiments are
not possible with the money in
hand.
Iowa is not keeping step with
some of the other states near it in
this matter of soils Investigations,
said Prof. W. H. Stevenson, head of
the agronomy department of Iowa
State college. Illinois, for instance,
is putting thousands of dollars into
field experiments with soils where
Iowa is putting in hundreds. 1t main
tains some thirty-five fertility expert
ment fields through the state and
spends something like 100000 to-
100000 for this line of investiga-
ton. In Iowa, the sum available
for all soils experimental work is
less than $4,000. Iowa soils haze
not yet suffered serious exhaustion,
guard against it by soil surveys and
practical field experimentation. We
have done a little of that in few
localities, where small tracts of land
were loaned to us for the work, but
only a little. Borrowing lands for
this experimental work is not sue
cessful. Moreover, We haven't the
resources to do experimental work
even in a small way.
The experiment station would re-
turn many folds to the state every
work and soils study. Illinois con-
siders its annual investment worth
millions. 1t is worth while for Iowa
to listen to what Dr. c. G. Hopkins,
Illinois great soils investigator, says
about this matter:
"The state of Iowa is devoting at
the present time to study Of the
soils in SO counties less than $10,-
OG0, including all of the federal
funds used for the purpose, and the
federal funds are half. Now just
consider that for a moment. The
soil, the great basis of all prosper
ity, and there isn't one farmer in a
thousand in Iowa who knows what
his soil contains, and not many of
them can find out, either. The state
can find out. The state can analyze
the soils and take an invoice just as
we'll as the merchant takes an in
voice of his stock of goods. The
state could conduct experiment fields
to demonstrate that the addition OF
the things lacking in the soil would
double the average yield per acre.
am not guessing at that. There Is
no theory in these statements.
can take you to fields in Illinois. 80
of them, experiment fields, fields
scattered all over the state, which
will bear out what say.
] might say to you, too, that, al
an average of the same years. while
Iowa has gone down in the Yield o.
corn per acre, the state of Illinois
has increased her average yield si'
bushels per acre.