Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-09-24

when this land would be gone. Many
would not believe that they could ever
wear ont the so1i~ aud il they did they
were williuG Ia move ou to newer and
therefore, more fertile fields.
Today when we travel over much of
the eastern and crutrRl sections of our
country and see the hills bare of timber
and almost of vegetation, much of the
rolling land washed So full ot yulies as
to he almost worthless, the poorer
farms abandoned, the fields ovorrun
with every kind of nnNiouS weeds and
manure poorly cared for, ii makes us
think that cur agriculture is far from
what 1t ought to he,
Many ot the farmers OF southern
Wis 'onSiu followed the methods that
prevailed farther east and raised one
crop OF wheat after another until the
soil was robbed of its fertility and
humus and il became necessary to turn
to live stock hushandry to make farm
ing pay and to prevent further deple-
ton of the soil fertility. Being covered
with timber and clearing, stumpiug,
plowiug and seeding being more
SliMcult the northern portions of the
state were saved from this waste.
Moreover, much ot this land makes
good pastures or hay land six to eight
years before the stumps can ho easily
| removed. These very difficulties early
| turn the farmer to stock raising and
| l. Al.
opportunity to greatly exhaust the
| fertility of the soil.
by buying millstutls and oil meal
which came from the states to the
westward the farmers farther south
have hceu able in many instances to
| to fully restore the depleted fertility of
| the soil and rides through nearly all Of
| southern Wisconsin now reveals such
prosperity of the farmer as can be
found in no other section of our coun,
try.
" Nearly all Europe is now plunged in
= to the horrors of war, tlocks and herds
will be destroyed, farms devastated.
= buildings destroyed and the flower of
" the yolnlg manhood killed or MANNED
This will mean, If only thess nations
can secure the money with which to
/ buy them, an increased demand for all
4 of the products OF our farms This
8 may make possible for time, proiita
= Bile farming by other than the best
n methods but we must remember that
e every pound of fertility now sold from
our farms must be replaced or the soil
will be so much the poorer.
More and more our Wisconsin
farmers are realizing the value of the
manure produced by the live stock on
our farms and are hauling 1t directly
from the stable to the field but still too
many farmers leave the manure in the
yard over summer, thus not only losing
year use Of it, but by teaching. and
evaporation losing much of the fer
tlity. A man who will do this would
~ think u man crazy who would be will
o ing to leave his money on deposit
u whole year in the bank without in
II terest, but he would not be as foolish
Il as the farmer who loses the years use
Il banking system he stands practically
) no chance Of the loss Of any of
X principal
Wisconsin is now the leading dairy
state, and our farmers are buying large
amounts OF fertility in feedstuils but
still the milk going TO the cities and
the cheese sold are taking large
x amounts Of fertility from our farms.
y Our dairy and live stock industry are
but just in their infancy and we have
. less to fear from loss of any of the
i humus and soil fertility than almost
any other state. Still the fertility sold
. AZ grain, potatoes, milk, cheese and
> rncat is largely dumped into the city
sewer and gone forever. To know
what real permanent agriculture is
i we should learn something from the
; patient and plodding Chinese. In
y China the fields have been farmed for
thousands Of years and in that country
y not II bit OF the fertility in human
. execrement il allowed to go waste but
= IL all carried back TO the soil.
Our Wisconsin slogan should be
Live Stock Fertility Prosperity" and
with right methods we too, may be
pointed TO Thousand years from now
, AS an example Of farmers who built for
permanent agriculture"