Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1911-10-05

land, survey it, see what it was best
adapted to raise, and then asked the
farmers to cultivate that crop and
as they we're asked to do it, and they
would guarantee as good or better
yields than they had before. Well
now in a short time they turned the
tide, and they continued to improve.
From 1890 until 1910, fifty years, 1t
continued to improve until they had
raised it from IA or Is bushels to 25.
It is now 33 and here we are on
virgin soil. There soil has been
cultivated we know, since before the
Conquest thousand years ago. Peo-
pie would say to you, "Why the soil
wears out. That is worn out land"
If the soil wore out, what would be-
come of the race? The race would
have gone with it. But the soil
won't wear out any more than the
race will wear out. If the race is
not properly cared for it will wear
out and vanish from the face
of the earth, but it properly
nourished the race won't wear out
but will strengthen and increase,
so with the land.
You must keep the fertility of the
soil, and the best way to do that is
to fertilize it. Every dollars worth
of forage you feed your cattle and
hogs will bring you 33 and one-third
cents back, If you put the manure
on the land. Don't leave it to pile
up.
Iowa is successful state. I re-
member when the whole of northern
Iowa was raising wheat, and the
name of that wheat was Amber Iowa.
It was a light colored club wheat
mostly sold in Milwaukee. Now If
a man would talk about Amber Iowa
you would not think it was kind of
wheat. You might think it was
some kind of sorghum molasses. But
that was what they raised. They
found out early that they were ex-
hausting their soil and they took up
cattle and hogs, and they took up
corn and Iowa certainly occupies
fine position in the list of agricultur-
al states.
But You go down in Iowa to buy a
farm-$10O, 1925 and $3.50 an acre,
and in some cases 5000. It won't
raise anymore than the millions of
acres that you have in North Dakota,
and the product of your acres won't
cost any more and in most cases not
as much to =seach the markets as
theirs do.
Now want to put it squarely to
you and ask you If it is not worth
your while to think it over. Winter
is coming. Before it comes my ad
vice is to take advantage of this
weather and If any man comes along
and wants to talk to you say that
you are busy plowing. You start
your blowing and get it all done that
you can. Through the winter turn
it over in your mind and see what
you can do. Let the agricultural
college make the experiments and
you take their advice and follow it
out If you do you will find it will
be worth while. If country like
Denmark that was largely bogs and
marshes, so low that it could not be
drained, and which today has but
three million out of sixteen or seven
teen million acres that can't be
drained or cultivated, can make such
a record, what can we do here? They
have no such climate as you have
here. They have no such soil. But
they average from 81 to IS bushels
of wheat. Their average farm is
only 43 acres in size. Some of
them have only five acres. The
largest farm in the kingdom, l be-
lieve, is something between five and
six hundred acres.
Suppose, for instance, that a man
should take 80 acres and get rs
bushels to the acre. That would give
him two thousand bushels. Well,
how much an acre do you want for
cultivating it. I will allow you a
high price. I will say that for your
cultivation of your land the seed,
cost of harvest and marketing, and
taxes, $500 an acre. II you get
Is bushels to the acre and 80 cents
a bushel, 1t is 80 cents now, but we
will take 80 cents. At 80 cents .
bushel it will give you $40 an acre
and the acre cost $500, which will
give you a profit Of $1,000. Sup
pose he starts in and cultivates 100
acres, and put the same amount Of
work on 16O acres as on 80 acres,
how much will he get. Remember
you have got to charge up more be-
cause you have got more to cultivate.
n..A nn-E 90 an onva pov vo,,p Rn