La Junta tribune., 1913-02-08
soosrgas' MONTHLY DINNER
(concluded from F,r., Pase.)

what we need.
The address Of J. D. craiGhead.
whose subject was Live Stock. the
Basis Of Permanent Agriculture -
vas full VI information such A. the
farmers Of thts Aection are most
in need OF and il herewith given in
full:
THE subject assigned me IL too
big for the time allotted tonight. II
is a. vide a. the land itself. and
upon its proper solution depends our
position among the nations Of the
earth.
1T mattered little II our fore
fathers wasted the fertility Of their
fields. for they had q wide virgin
land upon which to draw and with
the exhaustion Of the costal land.
they began that Western march
which ended only at our farthest
shores. The natural resources Of
timber. coal ores. grasses and soil
fertility which they exhausted u
now appalling. and with the exodus
OF our farmers tn Canadian soil
seeking more profitable land. Ne be-
gin to realize that so far az new
land k concerned. We have about
reached the end OF course. large
tracts will ultimately be reclaimed
from the deserts. but compared to
our huge and rapidly increasing pop
nla,ton and To the wide areas need.
I'd to produce our food supply. thA
addition In TOO insignificant to AZ
feet the final result
Having no more new land to oc-
cupy. we began that intensive cul-
tiyatton which has succeeded In
making two bushels OF grain grow.
where only one grew before. Such
production merely hastcns the day
when our farms shall become mere
barren wastes. too sterile to pro
duce n profitable crop.
The Inevitable tendency 10 small
cr and smaller average production
per acre. throughout the whole coun.
try until farming became Improbable
mas brought thoughtful men To con
slider how IN. calamity OF final soil
exhaustion could be av.rted and
the fertility and productive power
Of the land renewed and Increased.
Investigation showed that when with
out returning anything To the soil.
farmer sold bushel OF wheat. he
sold one and one-hslf pounds OF nj
trogen. worth 22i. cents. eie,en.twen.
tieth pounds of phosphorous worth
Shs cents. and nine-twenttcth pounds
Of potash worth :is cents. or u to-
tai value Of 81. cents. In other
words. the farmer who sells \ 80
bushel wheat crop without returning
per acre Of the real value Of his
soil. Such a man IL not a farmer:
he is. As Wallace remarks, q miner,
sbstractinI the chemical wealth Of
his land for temporary and rapidly
diminishing profits As with wheat
- II Is with other crops In great.
-r or less proportions. Even al
faifa on irrigated lands Is subject
u tn. sam. Law; observation show
Ing that after years OF continuous
cropping In alfalfa, our lands are
slowly but surely decreasing In pro-
ductiveness. that v to say. In Q
series Of years III. tonnage gro~s
less from year to year.
Our five leading crops. corn. oats,
wheat. hay and sugar bccts. produce
on an average. crops valued at $3.50
per acre. at q cost In soil exhaus-
ton alone Of $3.50. Nov II instead
of selling our crops In the raw
state. Ne manufacture them Into
beef. Ne find that 4 steer sold from
the farm at weight of 1850
pounds. removes from th. farm soil
values amounting 10 only ta.sl ana
a, present prices. brings return
of sss.7S II sold ~ fat pork. a soil
!o~s OF $3.50. brings return Of
5000. II sold as Who'll. milk ti0.ia
returns sls'.5o. but II sold as but.
ter. an expenditure Of only - cents
In soil values brings IN. sstonish.
Ing return Of Ssls.
To feduc. To u comparative basis: !
90 In soil value produce. In xrain /.
or sugar bec,s products to the av.
crngc ,alu. Of ts.70. 100 In soil
salu" In beef give. return Of
$3.50. si.oo In pork S:3.:. In
Who'll. milk tis.57. bu, In butter an
expenditure of Si.00 IN soil values !
x'Nes the iner.ditablc return Of