The pioneer express., 1912-12-20
"HAULING AWAY "FERTlLlrY.' -


p, ,878, 400 square feet. Hence to remove
the surface soil to the depth of one foot
would require the removal of that mum.
Der of cubic feet.
A load" of dirt is usually considered
as yard or q cubic feet. Therefore it
would take a million "loads" little
larger than usual to remove one foot of
soil from the surface of section of land.
If such section of land was occupied
by four farmers and instead of farming,
they spent their time in removing the
soil at the rate of twenty-five loads each,
per day of ten working hours, for two
hundred days in each year, it would take
them 10000 or fifty years to finish the
job.
It is therefore evident that if all the
farmers Of the Red river valley had been
hauling away the surface soil ever since
they came to the country, that they
would have not been able to skin off
more than six inches, allowing them to
have been here on an aveage of twenty
five years. and omitting the consideration
that very considerable part of the land
has not been occupied in that time.
But even if they had succeeded by
this time reducing the general level one
foot, there would still remain from two
to three feet of alluvial loan, and about
fifteen feet of yellow clay subsoil that
is just as fertile as the loan.
We make this illustration for the
reason that some of our prominet agrl.
culture scientists and philosophers insist.
and not only insist but advertise widely,
that the lands of the northwest" are
growing infertile and to the eastern and
southern reader give the idea that the
Red river valley after twenty-five or
thirty years Of continuous cereal crop.
ping is rapidly becoming "worn-out"
and consequently worthless.
The absurdity of such agricultural
talk" is self-evident. II the farmers had
been as we have shown, deliberately
hauling away the soil itself there would
still be sufficient left for several gener-
ations to haul away before the soil would
become exhausted"
This writer is perfectly willing to
agree to the general idea of exhaustion
of the soil by succession of crops of
the same kind. He is also willing to
agree to the fact that if one takes a
dipper and goes to the seashore and fills
that vessel with seawater that there will
be less water in the ocean than before.
But it is also just as evident that it
would take great many dippers of
water to make the ocean dry.
The farmers of this valley have pro-
blems. But the principal problem is
just the opposite from lack Of fertility.
A worn-out field produces nothiug but q
few coarse weeds or bushes. 1t won't
grow crops Of any kind, just now the
question for our farmers is how to stop
some things from growing on their farms?
It is because there are two crops grow
ing every year on this land, that the
scientists say is becoming infertile that
is making trouble for the farmer. The
farmer is putting in one Of these crops
and Mother nature is putting in another.
Consequently there is crop Of wheat
and also crop Of weeds; and by the
way. it is certainly remarkable what
success both cultivators have-if the
soil has lost its fertility.
Thousands Of acres Of the valley raised
as good crop this very season after
years Of continual cropping in cereals
without manure, % ever in their history.
This valley as whole is now marketing
one Of its greatest crops after twenty
and thirty years Of such cropping.
Tackle the problem Of weeds gentle
mon scientists, but don't advertise 70
the world that the soil of tho Red river
valley = dstsrioeating; that isn't pos.
sihly trus bscsuse there's too much of
lit1 Ssr aay - gsnsrst stioa % sxhasss.