Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-10-26
ROD, for It is now known that the &C.

tual amount of fertility removed BY
each particular crop does not vary
sufficiently with reference to the diff.
ferent kinds of chemical fertility to
account for the wonderful improve
ment which some schemes Of soil till.
age and rotation give.
Biology Sheds Light. 7 sV
Neither could anyone explain why
these best schemes fail at times, but
the new light which comes from the
study of biol ICY Of seed and soil SAM
tation gives a reason which any clear
thinker can understand. II tells very
plainly Why q proper rotation, pro.
Lazy arranged and consistently fol.
lowed gives good results; why one
ust compost farm manure5 because
such composing processes destroy
parasitic fungi and root troubles, as
well as weed seeds. 1t explains why
proper sumner tillage in dry land re-
gions, gives good results, because such
tillage not only prepares a good seed
bed. but purifies the soil so worked
from the inherent root diseases in
the same sense as 1t purilies it from
weeds. We find this to be true by
actual laboratory studies of soil con.
tent with reference to these diseases.
1t explains Why some farmers have
spoiled good summer fallow. or
prairie land for the production of
good quality wheat. flax, etc, by the
siple addition Of small amounts OF
barnyard which were spread
in the fresh state. 1t explains why
some" farmers Gchave spread" fresh
manures and yet had good results.
1t depends upon the kind of fungi
which happens to be in the manure
-. Reasons For Soil Packing
1t gives a good reason why certain
methods of soil packing prove benc.
Iirial. Such processes not only tend
to conserve: moisture, bur they firm
down the ground in such a form that
the roots of the young crop plants are
properly protected, and being properly
protected from wind and drouth con-
ditions, they have more resistance to
these semi-parasitic root troubles.
Further, by laboratory studies, we
find that these root destroying fungi
are practically all aerobic (air low
ing), and do not largely increase IN
we'll composted sub-soil.
1t explains why seed treatment for
smut is always beneficial, even though
no smut is present. 1t explains why
proper seed selection is highly bene-
fetal because plump, heavv weight
normal seed is not so apt to have or
iginated on q sick mother plant. and
hence not so apt to be internally dis.
eased. (some farmers, after careful:
summer following, rotation and so''
publication, have spoiled all taa: work
by introducing thereon seeds of wheat
or other cereals, no one of which were
free from internal disease.)
This philosophy Of soil and seed
sanitation explains WY the e
prairies which yet remain ~unbroken,
but are surrounded by old wheat
lands cannot now be made to yield
by ordinary farm methods, seed OF
weight and quality and color similar
to that raised on the original virgin
lands. (The black pointed seeds, the
white bellied seeds, many types Of
s~hrivelling and many Characters
which are often commonly spoken OF
as blistering or bleaching, are charac-
t~eristic of certain %diseases.)
The limits Of this paper cannot
allow a statement of all the relations
of soil and seed biology to present
we'll known cropping methods, but
there is one thing of which the author
feels convinced, namely that a pro.
rer biological study of soil and crop
sanitation, associated with prope.
seed handling, will give us a new
basis for constructing the system Of
crop rotation which a be CLEARLY
understood, and when 1t is SO Ill.
derstood, we can expect the farmers
to carry it out. The chemical theory
rotation necessitates an explanation
every time a crop falls down. which
reads something as follows: lyon
over.did the tillage work and made
too much fertility available, which
resulted In poor straw quality, and de-
Perforated seed" You over.did the
application of fertilizers which made
a soft, weak straw and made the land
too fertile" Everyone remembers
these explanations.
tLhEEh% 1901. a. r aE. E'..gt~ 'I-.
Crops Have seIeetive Power.
This should not be takenfsto indi.
cate that there is not some truth in
such explanations regarding over-till-
age and Decentralization, but our ex-
%periments teach that crops have more
selective power than we have ever
given credit for, but that they cannot
do much if their roots are eaten off