Arizona republican., 1911-09-28
STOCK SAYS SPEAKER That's the Advice of Uni
 Versity Man HF SAYS ITc pR0EIJlRIE
HE SAYS ITS PROFITABLE
Professor F. B. Mumford, of the University of Mis- souri, Delivers an Address to the Conservation Con gress.

What was probably one of the most
 interesting of all the addresses deliy-
 cred before the conservation congress
 at kansas City was by F. B. Mum
 Iord' Of the University of Missouri.
 This address dealt with live stock,
 farming and soil fertility and is as
 follows:
 The agricultural industry has been
 and will continue to be the greatest
 and most fundamental industry in the economic life of the American nation. Not only does agriculture supply the
 means or livelihood to d larger num- per "i people than any other calling,
 hut because of its intimate relation
 to many other arts, it occupies a most ! important place among American in l dustries. From reliable statistics the
 materials of manufacture drawn from agriculture constitute 42 per cent of
 all the materials used in the mann ! featuring industries. Any conditions | tending to decrease these necessary
 materials of manufacture will react
 untaVorably on this industry and re-
 suit in hardship to great numbers of | laborers engaged in this occupation. The dominant place of agriculture
 m the commercial and economic life | Of the nation is indicated by the enormous aggregate wealth invested | Tn agricultural enterprises. In 1910 there was invested in lands. buildings and equipment used in agricultural pursuits $36, 7O3. 3.41S. 900 The value of
 agricultural products for the one year or 1910. according to the secretary of agriculture was $S.926. OOO. 900. a sum So large that the human mind is un- able to grasp it's real significance
 All this enormous wealth comes di- l rectly from the soil Any factors which tend to diminish the produc- ! tiveness of this fundamental resource | is of national concern.
 The fertility of the soil is not i'm eXhaustible. it is not self perpetu ating. Soil fertility can be mined | out of the soil as coal can be mined | out of the earth. When the fertility of soils has decreased beyond q ccr- tain point, then the cost of cultiva- | ton becomes too great and farming | becomes unprofitable and we may have abandoned farms This fact has been repeatedly demonstrated in the history of ancient and modern agri- culture
 But it is also true that soil fertility can be so utilized that the continuous production of crops on the same land can be indefinitely and successfully accomplished. It is also a fact that the conditions of fertility are of such a nature that the natural productive ness of the average soil can be great ly improved and the total production Of food crops largely increased Inn proved systems of farming, based on perfectly definite scientific principles. are now being practiced. which are not only more profitable but likewise maintain successfully the productive ness of the soil
 A permanent agriculture can only be established through a rational svs- tenn of soil conservation. The most important factor in all agriculture is the productiveness of the acre of land No system of farming can endure which is not profitable Any scheme of conservation which aims to benefit succeeding generations. but fails to , provide for the necessities of the peo- pie now living on earth will surely i fail
 Systems of farming which are rec ; should then fulfill two , they must maintain or improve the fertility of the land. and , they must be profitable The failures in agriculture in the past have re- , suited from the failure to recognize one or the other or a combination of , these two causes. Either the produc- tiveness of the soil has been exhaust ed by unintelligent systems or the agriculture has been unprofitable. In T fact, the exhaustion of soil is rather I to be regarded as an economic term f which means that the operations of I agriculture are no longer carried on I at d profit rather than that the eIe- ! ments of fertility have been entirely f from d one-time fertile soil !.
 In considering live stock farming, f then, it is only necessary to deter , mine first whether it is and has been in maintaining soil fertility I
 What is needed to maintain and I improve the fertility of the soils? The f on this matter are , clear. There are four things needed S under existing conditions to supply r directly or indirectly to agricultural { lands: Vegetable matter or humus. I nitrogen and potash. Does live stock farming. as a system. q provide these materials in sufficient a quantity to conserve the fertility of f -he soil? Without going too much f nto detail. it is correct for us to say hat in any well planned system of f stock farming. the humus supply can I easily be sustained; the nitrogen can Q pc rapidly increased and the phos- v )horous and potash supplied either f through the application of fertilizers lirectly or by the purchase of foods il O be first fed to animals and the Q manure later applied to the land. f
 In attempting to determine whether f