The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1915-02-25
Fulton County Soils.


repeat it so often? For answer
we have only to point to the
thousands of acres that, at one
time, grew wheat "as high as
the fence" but which are now
run down." The firstly" re-
ferred to is, that before there is
much use to try to farm success
fully, plenty of humus must be
restored to the soil. Our ances-
tors ignored this first prin-
ciple so long that many sons have
not heard of in soil management.
Two years from now the State
College expects to offer Fulton
county the privilege of securing
a resident farm counselor; but
before he could make much pro-
gress in furthering better farm
ing, he would have to teach this
principle and wait two or three
years for it to go into effect.
Why not begin now?
Do you remember Mr.. Terry's
stories that ran in the Stockman
and Farmer for several years?
Mr.. Terry was not well, and did
not have much money. He NOV
ed out of town to a small, run
down farm of thirty-three acres.
1t was the nearest to a farm"
that his means permitted him to
buy. He reserved three acres
for garden, fruits, vegetables,
and a cow. On these three acres
he kept his family for three
years. On the remaining thirty
acres he sowed clover and plough
ed all of it down for three sue
ceeding crops. After he had
ploughed down the second fine
stand of clover instead of cutting
it for hay, his neighbors began
tapping their foreheads when
speaking of that "city feller Ter
ry." But Mr.. Terry was not con
cerned about what his neighbors
thought of him, and after he was
good and ready" to go to farm
ing, he rolled in such immense
crops, that by another year or
two his neighbors were falling
over themselves to initiate him,
with the result that Terry and
his neighborhood became central
figures in the agricultural papers
for several years. After start
ing to farm. Terry's method was
to plough down a heavy crop of
clover at least once in three years,
and in some cases, every year, and
he soon got rich" on what was
but a few years previously, arun
down farm. Some time after he
had secured a comfortable bank
account, it occurred to him that
it would be fun to turn "robber"
for just one year, chiefly for the
benefit of his fellow farmers, by
showing what the possibilities of
his methods were. So he pro-
ceeded to gather in everything
that the soil would yield hay,
potatoes, cloverseed, fruits, &c.
leaving nothing except closely
clipped hay sods to plough down
just as many of us do now.
When the money was counted,
he found the amount to be SO, 300
just $100 for each acre. He lost
something in fertility, but he dem
onstrated a great principle for the
benefit of the public. Our
Experiment stations and counse-
lors would have US all learn to be
Terries.
Bringing the illustration lit
tie nearer home, we need but to
visit the truck growers down in
Maryland. When Mr.. Moses Hill
a former Fulton county man
now trucking near Sharpsburg,
Nd, was in our office last week,
he said that he noticed that ma
tive growers were sowing alfalfa
or clover, after the last cultiva-
tion of such crops as sweet corn,
&c., He followed their example
and sowed more than a peck of
alfalfa seed per acre in his late
sweet corn, in August. 1t made
good growth, and by ploughing