The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-04-25
WRONG IDEA HELD
ABOUT SCIENTIFIC
FARMING BY MANY
COMMISSIONER PECK ATTEMPTS
TO REMOVE THE ERRoNE.
Gus IMPRESSIONS.
EXPERIMENT WORK IMPORTANT
Farmers Must Watch Their Soil and
Improve lt.--No New Land to Be
Cleared Up for Cultivation With
Depletion.
By Capt. T. F. Peck, Commissioner
OF Agriculture.

BY Capt T, F. Peck, Commissioner
OF Agriculture.
| want to talk to you about snenti-
fic farming, and | hope to convince
you that many of you have held the
wrong idea about it. Many of you
have the notion that scientific farm
ing is only possible for the rich or
those VINO have had the advantage
of technical education in agricul-
ture, and because of that notion on
your part you have turned your Lack
on the whole proposition as being i'm
practical to you. AS consequence
you have made very little effort to
profit by what came to your notice
in scientific agriculture.
To you farmers who have thought
that way about the matter | want to
say that some of the most scientific
farmers | ever knew were men that
had very limited educational advant-
ages they were men who thought
about their work, men who reasoned
for themselves, men who kept their
eyes open and profited by what was
going on around them.
II farmer in the neighborhood
made success of any crop such a
man would find out all about how the
ground was prepared for that crop,
the kind of seed and method of cult
walton and compare with his method.
He would try that out on his farm
and if his results were better there
was bit of scientific agriculture he
had learned, and it is just in this
way that our fund of scientific agri-
culture has been accumulated, much
by farmers as | have described prof
iting by others experience, adopting
that which helped them and avoiding
mistakes made by neighbors.
Much more has been learned about
scientific agriculture by the expert
ment stations which have men work
ing on all the problems the farmer
has to contend with; they keep work
ing until they get the facts. The
farmer of today can get the facts. it
is up to Dim to take them and give
them practical application on his
farm
Conditions are different now. Their
fathers had fertile land but they re-
duced it's fertility b. their methods
| They did rot notice it much in their
time; If they did they could o. ar up
additional land and let that worn out
go; but that day has passed. We
have no more virgin land to clear
We must build up and make rich tina,
we have.
We are passing through period
that farmers in older countries have
passed through. Their farmers. b!
poor method, depleted their soils
their production decreased and thei
population increased: they had thei
choice-improve their soils or g,
hungry Gcd gave them minds t,
think and when hunger and starva
tion began to stare them in the fac
they began to think about their work
They increased their crops ,1hei
land increased in fertility and ha
been increasing since. they woke u
to the fact that their soils were thei
Icapital and made them a profit jus
lin proportion to the intelligent after
ton given them.
Land in Germany that has been il
constant cultivation for hundreds @
Years is producing better than ours
I'VE have to learn the same lesson
and experience is going to be GU
best teacher and common sense on
best text book. We have a decide
advantage over the farmers in tn
old countries who have restored thei
iland to fertility. They had no expo
riment stations to solve their prot
lens for them.
Brother farmer, the information j
yours if you will accept it; the benz
fits will De yours if you do. Let m
urge you to make the most of the OF
portunity now knocking at you
door. | want you to prove that yo
have the capacity to grasp the oppoi
tunities while they offer.