The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-01-16

1t may safely be asserted that the
age of economic agriculture has not
yet fully dawned upon the American
continent. Indeed, 1t may safely be as
serted that a permanent, self sustain
ing system of agriculture has not been
established in any country. The mark
ed advance In cereal production made
In Germany, Holland, Belgium and
Denmark by means of applied fertility
cannot be considered conclusive or self
sustaining, for the reason that much
or the tertilizing material they employ
on their farms is imported from other
countries. They maintain the fertility
of their soils at the expense of other
and less provident nations, of which
the United States cannot be excepted
Chilli is robbed of her potassium nj
trate beds to enrich the fields OF the
European farmer. The South Sea is
lands also contribute thousands oftons
Of bird a to maintain the fertility
of English and continental soils.
Moreover, ship loads of linseed and
cotton seed oil meal are annually Inn
ported into European countries which,
together with the bran and shorts
made from the large volume Of wheat
annually imported by those countries,
and all fed to beef and dairy animals,
produces a prodigious amount of the
choicest and most active fertilizing
agents with which European and En-
glish farmers maintain, al least tenn
porarily, the fertility Of their lands.
The United States contributes a very
large proportion Of the livestock food
just mentioned and to the positive det-
riment of our country.
No single state contributes a larger
share than North Dakota, for our
principal exports are wheat and FAX
seed. Every bushel Of grain we export
or wheat fax, or any other cereal,
whether sent to Europe or only across
the state boundary, means an ultimate
loss to the state by the commercial vail
ne Of the fertilizing material it con-
tains. This annual loss Of fertility
cannot be wholly checked nor is sc nee
essary that 1T should be. We should,
however. practice such systems of farm
management as will. as nearly as pos
sible, annually restore to the soil the
equivalent of what each crop takes out
of It,. 70 the intrinsic value of any
agricultural land depends almost en-
tlreiy, other things being equal. upon
the available fertility it contains.
II a large quantity of plant food is
Withdrawn by the cereal crops and q
nearly equal amount is restored again
by keeping livestock on the farm
many years u elapse before the de-
pletion of soil fertility will visibly d.
minish the yield Of crops. Not so, how
ever, If large drafts are annually made
upon the fertility of the soil. as is the
case where exclusive wheat farming IS
practiced, and nothing returned to it.
Some Startling Figures.
When we come to scientifically esti-
mate the value of soil constituents
which a crop mines from the soil. the
figures to say the least, are startling.
According to the very best authority
authority which no one here would
care to dispute-one acre producins
twenty bushels of wheat, incIudine
the straw, mines from the soil:
A pounds potash, worth 5 cents
per pound ....-.. 1920
20 pounds phosphoric acid worth
4 per pound .... Sc
AZ pounds of. nitrogen, worth rs
per pound ..........,.. $50
This makes a total OF $3.50 per acre.
or 46h cents per bushel. As a matter
OF fact, these items with US here in the
northwest, are never taken into the ac-
count, but in the long run thew cannot
be evaded. They are related as essen :
tally to correct farm bookkeeping as
n farmers check book is related to
his bank account.
Where the wheat is shipped out of
800 bNN~C 0AA4 NAAS blEdW DuTnGO-WhlCn
is largely true. OF both our wheat and
straw-lt should not require much
mathematics to determine whether the
average farmer, after making due all
loWance for cost of production. is cet :
ting the commercial value of his plant
food, to say nothing Of making a iegit-
innate profit.
When a good farmer closes the sea-
sons account with any, particular field
he certainly should not feel satisied
with receiving less than the full market
value of the material the crop takes
out of n soil, and a reasonable proft
besides To this value, moreover. the
farmer must d labor. cost of produc-
ton, interest on investment. cost 81
marketing, depreciation, ETC., which ac-
cording to the United States denart-
ment of agriculture's estimate for land
worth less than $50 an acre, is So cents
per bushel, for wheat. This brings thu
cost of a bushel of wheat (incllIdinp
the commercial value of the constitu-
ents removed from the soiD up tc
$1.04h,
II, however, the straw is converted
into manure n returned to he field
the equivalent of 23h cents per bushe
goes with it back into the soil. which
lessons the cost Of a bushei az wheai
by that amount, or reduces its intrin-
sic cost to 81 cents. If the bran ano
shorts also were fed to livestock on fhe
farm and the manure applied to the
land. the cost of the busheI of wheat
would be lowered still further, BIZ
probably 15 cents, making a bushel Of
wheat cost approximately Sc cents.
On the other hand where the brau
and shorts are not fed to livestock or
the farm, blu exported, and the straw
not converted into manure but burned
instead, the farmer must estimate his
absolute profits by what he receives for
his wheat above $1.04h per bushel-
which is nil. Instead, he produces at a
positive loss, when he takes into 40
count overhead expenses or the value
OF the fertilizing constituents which the
/ wheat mines out Of the soil. And This
he hould do. There is no other fai,
! way to reckon the actual cost of q
buShel of wheat. The mere fact. owins
to its p%royidential abundance. we may
draw upon the fertility of the soil Fol
many years without replacing Ii. Il
masquerading under false colors; it Ii
} nanntlng present prosperity by dis
counting the future.
No more can a man withdraw valu-
able constituents regularly from the
soil without making due compensa.
tion in the form of than ht
can preserve his credit at the banl
without compensating ie for the check,
he issues against Ii.
Assuming that 461h cents Per bush.
el represents the commercial value
of the nitrogen, phosphate acid. ans
potash which every busheI OF whea
takes from the soil and carries with
it to some foreign market--carrfes i
away never to -retuFn-then the az,
count stands thus:
BY this years expert Of. let us es
! Ultimate, the crop at I500OO.0O0 busf1el