The weekly soliphone., 1915-01-22
.FARM'O|vERS|H|CAT|ON ].
 Is S0URSE 0F WEALTH
Thos. J. Bentley Pleads With Greene County Farmers to Adopt
 Modern Methods.

l The problem Of cheap and abun- dant food and feed is the foundation of proper development in any com munity, county, state or nation. It was the cheapness and abundance of these things that has made possible the wonderful development that has taken place in Greene county within the last thirty years. Without these our vast timber supplies could not have been worked; our large areas i of fine farm land could not have been developed and put into cultivation. Large banking and mercantile estab- lishments, could not have grown up and flourished.
 Cheapness of feed and provisions has made it possible for us to buy our supplies and raise large crops of cotton in the cotton belt of our coun- | ty. Abundance and cheapness of soil fertility has made us careless about saving it.
 In the states east of us in times past when farmer wore out his farm by careless methods and his one crop system, he abandoned his old farm and came west where he got new one. This practice can no longer be followed The problem for us farm CTS of Greene county is to keep the | fertility on our farms where we have it and to get fertility on our farms where we do not have it. To do eith- CT of these we must adopt some kind of crop rotation on every farm. To do that we must lay the farm out in three or four equal divisions and raise pasture on one, hay on anoth- CT, corn on another, and cotton or some other money crop on the other. Every rotation should contain as many legumes (cowpeas, soy beans, peanuts, red clover, etc.) as possi- ble. Leguminous plants gather nitro gen from the air and store it in the soil. Nitrogen is very necessary. It | is also very costly when we buy it. I All of us have seen how much better crop of wheat or winter oats grows when planted on pea stubble. Most farms in our county that have been cultivated for twenty years or more are greatly in need of nitro gen. Our greatest handicap in growing most legumes and especially the clovers is the acidity or sourness of our soils. The bacteria necessary l for the proper growth of clover will not thrive in a sour soil. uDring last year quite a large number of farms were tested for acid and almost ev- cry one showed to be more or less sour.
 The only cheap way to get the nj trogen back into our soil is to grow legumes. The only profitable way to grow legumes is to kill the acid. The only cheap way to kill the acid is to apply ground limestone.
 I have recently been writing to a lime company and found that ground limestone can be laid down in Para.
 gould in car load lots at $3.95 pel
 ton. It seems to me that the best
 thing for us to do fh planning oul
 crops for 1915 is to lay out our rota
 tions, buy a few tons of lime. an6
 SOW few acres of clover. I shall De
 glad to visit any farm in the county
 and assist you in laying out your croI
 rotation, test your land for acid, ant
 assist in buying lime.
 In fact I am anxious to get enough farmers together to order one or two
 carloads within the next few weeks. If you are at all interested or il you want a few tons of ground lime
 stone this spring please let me know
 THOS. J. BENTLEY,
 Special Agent, U. s. Dept. Agricul ture, Paragould, Ark.