Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-01-22

raising, IN all sections OF the Alfalfa q 90
country, there is apt to prevail 600
the opinion that the soil is in O Q 90
exhaustibe. Such was the Q Fertilizing = oo
case in Iowa no farther back Q O 90
than many a South Dakota Q Nop Q 90
farmer can easily recollect. Q Q O o Q Q Q 90
The same idea was current in the early days Of ~
South Dakota. 90
If one but looks about him, allows his mind 90
to traverse back over the history of production 90
in all regions, he will at once understand that a.
nothing in the material universe is ineXhaustibie. 90
There must be a replenishing now and then, a 90
putting back some of the things that have been
withdrawn through the process of production. 90
No soil has ever been found rich enough to 90
withstand the continuous production of any given 90
cereal. Perhaps the l%eguminous crops, such as -
clover and alfalfa, may approach the nearest to a 90
continuous yield, but even they will eventually 90
fall below the maximum, especially so with re %
gard to clover. a.
1t is doubtful whether any crop now known 90
will >urpass alfalfa in the matter of longevity and 90
withouI material deterioration. We have known ~
fields OF alfalfa to produce without interruption 90
for periods varying from twenty to thirty years, 90
and without running OUT 90
The cause Of this I~ong-lived characteristic is *
easily ascertainabo, Instead of taking the bulk of 90
the nitrogen from the field in gathering the crop 90
the bnIk of it is left in the soil. In cutting clover, oo
for instance, more nitrogen is taken away from 40
the field III the form Of crop than is left in the 90
crown and the root system, whereas, in the case 90
of alfalfa, the reverse is the case. The nitrogen
which the crop gathers from the air during the 90
growing season is largely left in the soil, because 90
OF the great root system which alfalfa develops. y
Alfalfa, therefore, is considered one Of the 90
greatest fertiizing crops. We have known alfal- 90
Ia roots to penetrate a shale subsoil that defed 90
the shovel to remove. He have known alfalfa = -
roots to worm their way through cracks and crew 90
ioaC in cho1a +bot would ,Iy,ne+ Joe I,1 x;a1, ,,l aoo Z
in the removing process but small pieces of the 90
shale could at all be budged by the use of the pick.
We believe it is a matter if record that alfal- 90
ia roots have penetrated the soil to a depth Of one 90
hundred feet. 90
For these reasons it is doubtful whether any 90
form of fertilization is as profitable as the use 90
Of alfalfa in rotation with cereals. With it one 90
may produce good paying crops while developing
the fertilizer and getting it ready to turn under. 90
% 90
This paper contends that a newspaper should, 90
first Of all, be a business institution and not a DO = =
ltical organ. Necessarily it may have political 90
leanings and political views, for It's owners and it's 90
editors are supposed to be human beings, but it is 90
first and foremost a business institution il it is 90
anything at all worth while in the great activities 90
of life. If it deals in politics it should do SO only 90
as an incidental matter. When politics becomes
the chief aim of a newspaper, its opinions and 90
EVENTS news columns are apt to become accord 90
ingly warped. 90
% 90
If the theory Of some Of the ~latter-day experts 90
be well founded, it matters little whether we. 60
continue to construct battleships or whether we 90
quit spending our hard earned funds for such =
purpose. There won't be any more human be- 90
inbs reproduced, anyway, by the end Of a few 90
more generations, 50 fast is the race deteriorat- 90
ing! *
If anybody has introduced any sort Of alfalfa 90
into South Dakota that is worth while, other than 90
Tho Grimm alfalfa nnlass II 10 profassor Hansan 90
! .......Ia TO- !, 10 90
= tie eohes WI is - see inc 90
color Of his hair. 90
$780, 90
When one gets to the point Of saying that he 90
favors governmental ownership of any one public ~
utillty, ne IS on the highway 70 q 1ull acceptance 90
of the propaganda Of governmental absorption of 90
! about everything absorbable. %