Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-01-16
INTERESTING ADDRESSES S .

INTERESTING ADDRESSES ;
Continued from page ~
Dakotas, but alfalfa should be sown
in it's stead. Whereas clover may be
greatly profitable in the Red River
valley. Where the rainfall is not more
than Is inches in a year, farming can.
not be successfully done unless due
regard is given the methods that con.
serve moisture in the SOIL
Rotating the Crops.
Without some wise system of rOta
ton the producing power of the land
| cannot be maintained.
Growing one crop continuously and
selling it, will reduce the producing
power in the land as sure as the sun
shines in the sky. 1t will reduce it
by removing more or less of its fer.
tility. by promoting increase in weed
growth, by removing humus and by
favoring the increase of fungous dis
eases and of damaging insect life. The
evil day may be long deferred as It
has been in some of the rich soils of
Dakota, but in all of these, however
rich, it will surely come at length. BY
summer following and growing corn,
weeds may be kept at bay, but these
operations will not give humus tc the
land. That can only be done by put.
ting vegetable matter into it, and The
lost ,efrtility can only be restored by
9nn1Vinr t0 Tho 80
Fertilizers, the former including le-
gumes.
TO maintain producing power in the
land, an equivalent must be puC back
onto the land equal to what has been
removed from it as previously init.
mated. This equivalent can best he
Put back again under Dakota cond;.
tons at the present time by growing
legumes and keeping live stock. The
best all round legume that can be
grown at the present time is alfalfa,
but peas may also aid materially and
also clover in the central and eastern
portions Of the state. 1t is question
able if the application of commercial
fertilizers will pay at the present
time on average soils, but it may be
different in the future.
The waste in the Dakotas in many
Instances is not only prodigal. but sin.
fully so. It is seen in the burning of
straw, in the great waste of ungath-
cred heads in the stubbles and in the
crops that are planted so late that
they are destroyed by frosts. At the
present time grain worth millions is
lying under the snow, waste nearly
all Of which could have been avoided.
1t could have been avoided by timely
sowing, timely stocking, and timely
threshing. The evil of those tremend-
Gus threshing outfits must be re-
Small machines owned and
controlled by three or four farmers
are wanted, in order to thresh all the
grain on time. and where this cannot
be done it ought to be put into stacks.
Farmers Must Diversity.
II the farmer is to follow some sys-
tem that will give him employment all
The year, he must do something else
besides growing grain. He must keep
mat amount of live stock on his farm ,,
mat will consume all the coarse
grains and roughage grown on the |
'arm, and that will turn to good &C.
count all the straw. This will fur
1ish profitable employment all the
season through, for the farmer and his |
;amily. While engaged in caring for |
he live stock in winter, farmers will !
'e employed in turning products of |
United value into products of higher
'alue, and they will in this way in
rease their revenues: The work need |
lot of necessity be laborious. It will
lso favor the maintenance of normal
tamina in sturdy peasantry and
'lso in their growing up sons and
daughters. One of the greatest haz-
rds that threatens the agriculture OF
he northwest is the long season of
idleness that comes to grain
rowing farmers.
Road improvements.
Following Professor Shaw on the
rogram, Prof. John T. Stewart. in
tructor in agricultural engineering at
he University of Minnesota, spoke on
Road Improvement in Agricultural
districts" Dean Shepard of the North
dakota Agricultural college delivered
n address on "Corn Culture" which
} one of the vital questions of the
ay for North Dakota farmers.
He was followed by l.. r. Waldron
+ Dickinson, N. D., who spoke at the
fternoon session on the topic, "Alfal.
a Seed Production" He said in part:
Professor WaIdron's Address.
There Is no reason to doubt but
that alfalfa will play a very impor-
ant part in the agriculture of North
)akota, as it has already in Kansas
nd Nebraska. There are many Diff
culties in the way of developing a
arge acreage in North Dakota, but
hese difficulties can scarcely prevent
he ultimate attainment of results.
|ne of these difficulties Is the secur.
1g Of proper seed.
We have been told that the way to
aise alfalfa is simply to sow the
eed: 1t Is not a simple matter to
btain the seed to SOW, seed that is
uitable for our conditions. Alfalfa
} naturally hot weather plant. but
arieties have been produced that will
ndure the cold of North Dakota. The
nj $~AS I .