The Huttig news., 1914-06-27
Commissioner Pages Weekly letter.

Instead of preparing the usual weekly letter for the readers of the press throu rhout the state or this occasion 1 an going to subst!- ute thesis written by one of the senior students of the RusSellvllie Agricultural School, Mir. Johr Longley, who graduated with the class this .ast week. The follow ing article written by this young man is a splendid thesis and the subject is one of interest to all of the farmers of this state.
 trust that this will have an in- fluence in causing other good fal- mers throughout the state who have bright boys and those filled with energy and ambition. to send them to some of the Agricultural schools or to the Agricultural De partment of the University at Fay ettevile. where they may fit them selves for a useful life on the farm. The article in question follows, and l commend it to your consideration:
 JOHN fl. PAGE.
 Commissioner of Agriculture.
 REcLA AVIATION OF, WORN OUT SOILS.
 John Longley-'
 One of the greatest questions that confronts the farmers of today is that of returning and maintain ing the lost fertility of the worn out soils all over the country. Ur- der the system of home-steading. man did not have to stay in one place long. The farm was mine and when the plant food was mined out by heavy crops and improper cultivation, the farmer merely moved westward prospecting for newer and more fertile fields. But with the increase of population, al most all the ti'lable government ees essa tss Se s.s gR' ssa 3 2 ysks xs mers and immigrants settler"
 The answer to the above ques-  tion will be found if you visit some of the rural districts abandoned years ago by our grandfathers. As you pass along the road you look out across the fields of growing crops. the meadows green with clover the grassy slope affording pasture for the sleek. pure bred cattle; and you contrast the scene with another in the same settlrg g only few years ago. What is now the productive field was then a mere waste; the clover meadow a marsh; the pasture bare hillside; the cattle scrawny and half starved. Leaving the beautiful. we'll culti- vated field behind, you soon come to an orchard where all kinds of fruits, from strawberry to an ap- ple, are grown on what was a rocky hillside. the mate to the pas ture we left behind. Beyond the orchard we find neat farm home, which, with it's beautiful flower beds, shade trees. garden and barn tells plainly that an intelligent and independent farmer lives there.
 When these progressive farmers first settled on this land it was so poor it would not grow hardly anv- thing, so they set about at once to remedy the defect. Commercial fertilizers. obtained by. paying out vast sums of money, proved to be of only temporary value. As the men discovered that this chemical fertilizer did not improve. but rath CT injured the texture of the soil, they began to seek better method of restoring the fertility. The United States Government, through the Department of Agriculture. helped them in their struggle by establishing and maintaining expe- riment stations, where. the best methods were worked out and proved.
 This information has been hand- ed out gratis to the farmers with the best of results. One of the easiest ways, and in fact the only safe way, to restore ths soil fertili- ty is by raising live stock in con