Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-11-24
CROP IMPROVEMENT
ABLY DISCUSSED BY
PROF. SHOESM|TH
STORM PREVENTED MANY IN
TERESTED FARMERS ATTEND
ING THE MEETING

Because of the bad storm of last
Thursday evening scores of farmers,
who had planned to attend the board
of commerce smoker and hear the
lecture of Prof. V. NJ Shoesmith of
the Agriculture college, were kept at
home. The lecture was attended by
several farmers, however, and by
many of the business men of the city.
Prof. Shoesmith was introduced by
Fred A. Washburn, who stated that
in the years past he had been farm
err for a number of years, and had
since wished many times that he had
continued to be a tiller of the soil.
He expressed his vital interest in all
agricultural lines and his desire to
cooperate with the farmers of the
community in making all relative con-
ditions between them and the trade
centers the best possible.
In addressing his audience Prof.
Shoesmith said: at is with a great
deal of pleasure that | am with you
tonight. | am sorry, however, that
more of the farmers of the surround
ing country are unable to attend. Had
the night been favorable | am sure
the room would have been filled.
"Now in bringing to you the sub
ject of the evening, Possibility OF
Crop Improvement" | am not going
to make the subject of breeding the
paramount topic. Indeed, breeding is
not the all important thing to make
crop improvement possible. Neither
have we arrived at the point, as has
Europe, where intensity of cultivation
plays as important a part as many
would suppose. There are several
factors that have to do with the inn
provement of our crops. We need
them all, and if we restrict one we
materially decrease the yield.
First of all | want to mention or
ganic matter. In most of our soils
this factor for large crops is lacking
or at least depleted to the extent that
large yields are no longer possible. l
would advise the growing of more al
falfa, clover, vetch and other cover
crops that draw nitrogen from the
air and convert it into growing pro-
perties in the soil. Suppose you do
pillow it under in the spring. 1t has
cost you only the amount of the seed
and the labor of planting it. Your
benefits will be much more.
Second, would speak of lime. Too
many of our farms are acid. The ad-
dition of a little lime to the soils will
bring them back to normal, and in
fact, in many cases lime is all that is
needd to place the soil back into vir-
gin condition. Then you should be
careful in your choice of crops for
rotation. | would advise more alfalfa
and clover. By keeping your ground
largely in alfalfa you will get large
returns from this crop and also have
a better balanced soil for producing
other crops. In this way, | believe,
YOU will get from two to three times
the results from your labor and at
less expense. | am fairly well con-
WINGED that a farm that is kept half
in alfalfa and clover all the time is
paving way to handle the rotation.
Every farmer should plant the best
seed possible and seed that is china
tized to the particular section of the
country. 1t is foolish to plant poor
seed. After you have found the seed
suited for your community stick to it.
It will take you several years to be-
come thoroughly accustomed to the
best methods to use in dealing with
that particular seed. Right here let
me say that we at the college have
found the large berry, late maturing
oats to be unfavorable as seed In
Michigan, and especially in the CEN
"In our experience with wheat, in
GLIDING thirteen varieties and extend
ing over a series of years, we find
nothing better than the Red Rock.
We have succeeded in bringing the
college soil, which is not heavy at all,
I'D to the stae of fertility where a
forty bushel yield of wheat is the rule.
The Red Rock is hardy, it has good
heavy straw and is really very well
adapted to central Michigan.
"More phosphorus is needed in our
soils. | would therefore advise more
crops being planted to be fed to
stock on the farm. The fewer cash
crops raised the better. | find in
statistics that upward of $1,000, 0O0,-
900 of manure is produced in the
United States annually. Of this
amount at least three-ffths is vast
ed every year. We need to use more
absorbant, such as straw, in our
stables. Then the manure should be
transferred to the fields as soon as
possible. Do not use lime. 1t liber-
ates the properties you want to pre-
serve"
Prof. Shoesmith also touched on the
anthracnose and blight affecting Mich
igan beans. He urged close selection
of seed and every farmers best eff
forts to eradicate the evil.