The chronicle=news., 1914-09-12

the plow in its effort to feed the
world, 1t has assumed that RESPONSE
bility now. Not. since the narrowing g
days following our. own strife of the
sixties have the tillable acres Of this
country faced sBch q. possible drain
upon their bouRtifulness. Without
even dimply pro2hesying the dura-
tion of the. war now raging, we are
already assured of the fact that next
year this country will be the store
house Of the world. Every farm
owner, every tenant and every share
worker will have his part to play in
fulfilling this great responsibility.
No matter how remote his resi-
dence. he will hear Europe's call for
beef, bacon and bread, and on the
amount he has to sell will depend
not only his satisfaction Of having
served his fellow men but the addi-
tional satisfaction of having served
himself; for big crops. much stock,
many hogs next year will mean big
profits.
1t is thus that the American farm
er begins his fall work with two
strings to his bow. With one hand
he Ia rescuing the perishing and with
the other. he is, reaching out for
tangible encouragement toward a
bank account and a better home.
NOW Is THE TINE TO START
Now is his opportunity, and this
month is the time to lay his founda-
tion. There are two lines along
which he should plan his work, but
only one line along which he should
work HIS plan. First. he should
strive to raise the average yield of
his farm per acre. There will be no
danger of over-production' for the
crops sown this fall. The man who
hns big yield will find a big mar
ket. But to get this yield means
better kind of farming. Now would
be a good time to break away from
some old-fashioned ideas about the
moon; from some other old-fashioned
ways OF shallow blowing; and some
old-fashioned carelessness in culti-
waiting: and some old-fashioned
theories in regard to seeding. In
those parts of the country which do
fall plowing and fall seeding, the
way the seed bed is made and the
way the sowing is done this fall will
determine the crop per acre next
year more than next years rainfall.
hot winds or frosts. In an expert
ment not long ago described by F.
l.. Peterson of the University Farm at
Davis. California. lie says: '"''tr-
LAS the pressure for supplies be-
comes greater, 1t becomes more evi-
dent that the world cannot afford
large farms SKINNED over with care
less culture. In an actual expert
ment a gain of 200 per cent which
was made in the productiveness Of
certain area, 100 per cent was found
to be due to better plowing and har-
rowing, so per cent to better cultiva-
tion, and the rest to better seed"
A lesson or two like that in every
community would soon work its way
into farm operation in such way
that several costly practices sane
toned by time and custom would be-
come in short time as historical as
grading wheat and threshing 1t
with a fail are now. The great eco
ncmic law which makes a mans land
profitable is not SO much the price
he gets for his produce as It is the
difference between this price and the
amount spent in producing this pro-
duce. The above experiment was
apropos of the tractor-a mechanical
way of plowing, and of disking-a
mechanical way of massaging the
land, SO to speak. and of drilling-a
mechanical way of sowing the seed.
In the cost of raising a crop, Just the
same as in the cost of making car
pets. shoes or wagons, hand power
and animal power cannot compete
with mechanical power. The me-
chanically prepared seed bed not only
costs less in its preparation but 1t
gives forth more in its harvest.
The War Will Make Horses Too
Costly to Keep.
Oats and oil are in the throes of a
little war of their own Just the same
as the human back once combatted
with the reaper knife. This strife lie
fast becoming more acute because the
already high price OF horses is being
accentuated every day by the number
being sold out of the country for
cavalry mounts to be used abroad.
The drain upon the American horse
supply will soon be such that wher-
ever possible mechanical contrivanc
es will be used to do their work
| Were we to begin at once, 1t will re
quire five years to replenish tn,
drain which war has already mad
upon the horse supply Of the world
The United States Government De-
partment OF Agriculture has estimat-
ed that it costs SIS to $50 per year to
keep d horse, and in a studyo horse
utility for a period covering six
years, 1t was found that he averaged
only 3.14 hours Of work per day as
his contribution to lessening the high