Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1915-11-18
Making the Farm Pay
In Southern Maryland.
Agent In Charge Of Demonstrs-
tien Work Tells az What Has
And What 10 TO 6e Done For
Improvement.
From the Advertiser-Republiean of
rnrrn


The following article, written by q.
ii. Afford, OF the United States De-
partment of AYriculture, who Is that
departments agent in charge OF the
Farm Demonstration Agency Work
for the whole State, Is OF particular
interest To the farmers of Southern
Maryland.
Discussing the subject of making
Southern Maryland farms pay, Mr..
Afford saws
THE real vital problem before
people of Southern Maryland nj
this time is to work out a safe and
sane system of farming-one that
will include crops to enrich instead
Of wear out the land and plenty OF
good live stock TO consume these
crops and make manure to still fur
Their enrich the land-a system OF
farming that will grow the neces-
sary corr, oats, vegetables, fruits
of all kinds, forage crops, hay.
poultry, hogs, horses, cattle and
other live stock for home use and to
sell.
The too exclusive culture of to-
bacco and other soil-robbing crops
has exhausted the humus, the life
growing principle in the soils, and
the washing of the clean cultivated
fields has gone on to such an extent
that thousands of acres of fertile
soils have been made non-produc-
tive. The one-cror system makes
1t necessary to send the money OBJ
tanned for tobacco to other sections
TO pay for bacon and lard, hay,
corn, dairy products and horses;
causes over-production. forcing the
price down so that there is but lit
tie more than a bare living for to-
bacco farmers, aud co;npels them to
dump all the tobacco on the market
in 4 shot time, also bringing the
price down.
do no. wish to be understood
as advocating diversification OF
crops to the extent of developing a
scarcity of tobacco. ! do not ad-
wise the farmers of Southern Mary
land to supplant tobacco rs the
main cash crop, but rather urge
them to supplement it with
thoroughly good, permanent pas
lures, legumes, grazing and forage
crops, good gardens, good orchards
and good live stock. The sensible
thing for each farmer to do is to re-
duce his acreage in tobacco, prac-
tice a system of rotation, including
ieguminous crops, and raise hogs,
poultry, horses and other live stock.
lie can plant fewer acres IN tobacco.
lime, fertilize and cultivate better,
and obtain much larger yields per
acre. Some of the acreage may be
thoroughly solded to grasses and
clovers or planted In legumes, corn,
oats and vetch and other crops.
Under these improved methods the
soil will increase rapidly in fertility,
q much better price will be obtained
for the tobacco and the money will
be kept at home.
An experience of 25 years con-
vinces me that only occasionally
will a man continue to succeed who
fails 10 give some kind of live stock
q prominent place in his farm OPP
erasiOns. This is practically true
anywhere, but doubly so here and
ASa many iSaSouS' EHSts u laFSe
part of the land is naturally defici-
ent in plant food elements, particu-
larly nitrogen and PHOSPHORUS, and
the manure from farm animals is es-
sential in building mp and maintain
ing soil fertility. Nitrogen is too
costly to buy in its combined forms.
and in order to get it economically
through legumes, we must have live
stock TO consume these and return
the manurial value to the soil. The
soils in this section are so respon-
sive to fertilizers and manures that
il is easily possible to make them
produce maximum crops. Besides
these advantages of live stock the
farmer could, by having all the
poultry, hogs, sheep, cattle and
horses that the farm viii support,
utilize the grasses and clovers that
should be growing on lands now
uncultivated in this section, there
by rendering profitable much of the
land that is too rolling to cultivate
economically.
The growing of tobacco and
other crops that impoverish the soil
and the attempt to keep up its pro-
ductiyity by the use Of commercial
fertilizers must give way to = new
system of farming, practicing a ro-
tation of crops, including legumes.
The crops grown viii be largely
fed to good live stock, the manure
carefully saved and applied to the
soil and the necessary lime and COM
mereial fertilizer iudicially applied.
Probably the greatest need in
Southern Maryland at present is for