Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-01-30
FASTENER TELLS OF HIS IDEAS
FOR SUCCESSFUL OPERA
TION OF FARM.
MUST STUDY REQUIREMENTS OF SOIL
No Chance for Fertility of Soil to Be-
come Less-1912 Crop Largest
in History-Modern Imple-
ments Help.


at the hardware and implement deal
ers' convention in Spokane:
The farm is the greatest of all fac
tories. Soil, atmosphere and water
contain the elements of which plants
are constructed. The farmer is the
operator of the factory, and the pro-
duction, whether it be crop or stock,
is the finished product To operate
the farm successfully requires knowl-
edge, skill, perseverance and capital.
II the farmer is not familiar with the
constituent elements of fertility, if he
does not know the requirements of
the various crops and what crops to
adapt to certain soils or does not have
a scientific knowledge of the mean
ing of balanced ration, he will be
wanting as successful operator, just
as the novice would be failure as a
foreman or superintendent of a mod
ern implement factory or any other
manufacturing institution.
Too often the farmer attributes his
failures to the season or to his land
when in reality he has neglected some
of the essential requirements. A sue
cessful farmer must observe and re-
gard stock raising of equal Importance
to tilling the soil. If he neglects that
feature, sooner or later the soil will
fail. Stock raising is profitable when
the three essential steps, namely,
breed, care and feed, are all observed.
Tilling the soil consists of four es-
sential steps, namely, the seed bed,
fertility, selection of seed and cult
walton. The availability of fertility
depends upon the character and meth
DDS of cultivation and management OF
the soil. The essential inorganic ele-
ments in the soil are phosphorus. pot
ash, silica, lime, magnesia, iron, sui
phur and soda. They exist in the
particles of disintegrated rock which
| compose the substance of the soil and
were placed there when the rocks
were created. Other elements of fer
tility are oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen
and carbon. Oxygen and hydrogen
also exist in water. The availability
of all of these elements depends upon
the way the farmer manages and tills
the soil.
Humus or organic matter is just as
essential as any of the elements we
have mentioned. Nitrogen cannot ex-
ist in the soil without humus. HUI
mus is the home of the soil micro-or-
ganisms or laboratory workers that
form plant food compounds. Humus
exerts a powerful influence on the
temperature of the soil and it is in
strumental in absorbing and holding
moisture, in fact without humus
there could be no plant life. Many
of our soils which are producing
grudgingly and by some are regarded
as worn OUT simply lack live humus
in order to be extremely productive.
Plant roots require atmospheric
oxygen. This can be secured by deep
and thorough tillage and by under
ground drains. Nitrogen can be Sc
cured from the atmosphere by plant
ing legumes. The amount of carbon
which plant takes from the atmos-
phere depends upon the abundance
and condition of the leaves. The
amount and availability of water de-
ponds upon the depth and thorough
ness in cultivating and resorting to
the right methods in storing it. 1t is
generally thought that the entire sub
stance of the plant comes from the
soil, when in reality from 971s to 90
per cent Of the dry material of the
plant is composed of carbon, nitro
gen, oxygen and hydrogen, elements
which are secured either directly or
indirectly from the atmosphere. To
secure them, however, thorough til
lage, good seed and a free use of
manures is absolutely necessary.
1t has been said and is being said
by gloom agitators that the fertility
of our soils is becoming less and less
each year and that it is only a mat
ter of few years before we will face
absolute want if not famine. These
pessimists have just received a severe
rebuke. The crop of 1912 was the
largest in our history. The soil has
produced more per acre than ever be-
fore, which indicates not depletion but
that the fertility in the soil has been
made available by better farming
methods.
When 1 say better farming meth
DDS, l mean a deeper seed bed, thor
ough pulverization, storing water in
the deeper subsoils to be used during
time of drouth. and the utilization of
barnyard manures, rotation of crops
and better seed selection, adapting
specific crops to certain soils and
more scientific cultivation.
1t occurs to me that in view Of our
recent demonstrations and scientific
researches, no man can anticipate the
possibilities of our soil under proper
management, any more than he can
foresee the future inventive power of