Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1913-05-30


Investigations by the department OF
agriculture In Kansas and Nebraska
show that the average increase In the
yield of corn grown after alfalfa, com
pared with corn grown after nonIegu-
miDous crops. is 75 per cent. A good
crop Of clover has a similar effect on
the yield Of crops which follow It. In
stances are known where the practice
Of sowing bur clover In cotton fields In
the fall OF the year and turning 1t un-
der IN spring In time for another crop
of cotton has 10 three years doubled
! the yield Of cotton. Crimson clover
sown IN similar manner between
crops Of corn has in few years In
creased the yield Of corn 80 per cent
or more.
The reason these leguminous crops
have such marked effect on fertility
In many cases on depleted soils lies in
the fact that nitrogen Is not a con-
stituent Of the soil proper. but only Of
the decaying plant and animal matter
In the soil. When soils are farmeG for
many years without any attention to
their fertility this organic matter is
rotted out and the nitrogen disappears
Hence nitrogen is nearly always the
first plant food constituent to become
deficient In the soil.
The fact has already been referred
TO that we export large proportion
of our cottonseed meal. oilmeal and
other rich heterogeneous feeding stuffs
These materials are all exceedingly
rich In nitrogen. They should be kept
ut home, fed to live stock and the
manure returned to the land.
| Dependence on Our Own Resources.
There Is this difference between om
situation and that of the older coun-
tries OF Europe: Hitherto we have been
exporters OF our feedstuffs rich in fer
tilizer constituents. while they have
been importers. They have been draw
ing on the newly settled regions OF the
world for materials with which to feed
their crops. The American farmer will
be making long step forward when
he quits exporting these materials and
returns them to his own soil. What
ever shortages there may he must be
made up by the intelligent use of com
mercial fertilizers. There Is no danger
OF nitrogen famine. We can grow
leGuminous crops to supply nitrogen.
We can also. by judicious use of the
refuse from grain and other crops and
by the use of intelligently planned crop
rotations with occasional catch crops
for green manure, keep up an abun-
dant supply of humus. Even If we had
no other resources for maintaining the
fertility of the soil than leguminous
plants and humus making crops we
could on much OF the land in this coun-
try maintain a much higher standard
OF yields than obtains at the present
time.
Examples of Successful Farming.
In New York state there are iaTgs
areas Of land which formerly produc-
ed satisfactory crops. but which in re-
ty TO the point where their cultivation
is no longer profitable by the methods
In vogue in that section. A few years
ago representative of the department
of agriculture induced farmer in that
section to grow four acres Of potatoes
under his direction. This GARNER had
been growing potatoes for many years.
using seed which had been grown for
sixty years In that locality without Sc
lection to maintain its quality. His or
dinary yields of potatoes were about
forty bushels per acre. He was induc-
ed to secure new and improved seed
and to cultivate in the most thorough
manner AS result these four acres
produced a yield of 7250 bushels of po-
tatoes per acre. Similar results have
since been secured by number of 9TH
er farmers in the same locality.
An Illinois farmer good many years
ago established on his farm a rotation
Of corn, corn, oats, clover. The corn
and oats were fed to hogs. which were
allowed to Craze on the clover. Very
little feed was purchased, but every
thing raised on the farm was converted
into manure and returned to the land
At the beginning of this system OF
farming the yield Of corn was about
thirty-f1ve bushels to the acre. Ter
years later 1t had risen to eighty bush
els per acre, the average yield for -four
consecutive years being SO,4 bushels
per acre.
A Missouri farm which had been de-
voted to corn and wheat for seventy
years and on which the yields of wheat
were about eight bushels per acre and
corn about twenty-five bushels was
subjected to system of farming SINH
lar to that just described for an lii
nois farm. In six years the yields OF
this farm were more than doubled. In
! work of this character the following
! points are emphasized:
Deep fall preparation Of the soil.
Planting Of well selected seed.
Mainly shallow and frequent cultiva
ton of the croR during the growing
season and especially after a rain.
: The judieious use OF commercial fer
tilizers and the increased use Of home
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