The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-18
AIM AT BETTER FARM1NG.
The Earning Power Of Land taf1es
Greatly. But Results Depend More
on IN Energy and Intelligence OF
the Man Farming the Land Than
on the Quality of the Soil.
(By :. c.


Without endorsing any of the fads
of farming which are heard Of in all
directions, we urge tlIlers of the SOIL
to aim at greater productiveness and
larger profits.
AT a meeting of the Texas Bankers
association, Col. Henry Exall said
that we are now raising a bushel less
wheat per acre than we did forty
years ago; and that unless our meth
DDS were improved, another dec de or
two would see the United States re-
duced to the necessity of importing
d material portion Of its food supplies
from other countries; that is, if other
countries were able to supply us.
BY scientific. or systematic farming,
Mr.. j. J. Hill declared recently: Land
can be made to yield twice as much
as it is now doing. He might have
added that wise marketing is just as
necessary as systematic farming.
The essentials he advised, are
rotation Of crops, more intensive
farming, a more frequent and thor
ough cultivation of the soil. a careful
seed selection. and the j%udicious use
of fertiliZing materials. Seed selec-
ton is alone of the greatest impOr-
lance. 1t has added $4,000, 600 and
upward to the value of a single states
crops"
Bankers associations in fourteen
states Of the Union, with others COM
ing, are perfecting measures to in
duce farmers to grow two bushels of
wheat or corn where now there grows
but one. Their ~earneStneSS and sim
cerity are proved by the fact that they
are putting up large sums of money
for this purpose, money for prizes, for
agricultural schools, and to pay ex-
pertS for teaching improved methods
to farmers.
The railroads of our country are
doing wonderful things for the far
ner. In a pamphlet on THE Essen
tials Of Soil-Fertility," the PeEnsyl-
vania Railroad company emphasiZ S
the Importance of Soil-fertility as a
factor in crop returns, and says that
the conservation Of productive influ-
enceS, and the regeneration or rCcla-
nation of farm lands carelessly al
lowed to deteriorate, are subjects of
greater interest today than ever here
otfOre. The Pennsylvania for some
years has assisted in many ways eff
forts made by the SeVreal state de-
partments of Agriculture and agricul-
tural colleges to carry to the farmers
the gospel of greater farming eff
cheney with resultant increased pro-
fits. Educationa trains have beer
placed at the disposal of the state
authorities and lecture tours in the
cars have been arranged for covering
extensive sections of it's territory and
farm experts have been employed to
visit and instruct farmers along its
lines. =
The Illinois Central has esta blished
fifteen experimental farms of forty
acres each in Mississippi and Luis
lana under direct supervision of two
agricultural colleges, and has en-
ployed an expert agriculturist con-
tinuously to visit owners Ct these
farms, who are given all profits from
crops and guaranteed against any
losses through experimentation.
With proper cultivation, rotation OF
crops, tlage, drainage and soil fer.
tilization, many thousands Of unpro-
ductive acres can be made to yielc
abundantly, while o under cult.
; walton can be made to produce NOR
and better crops There is no ques.
ton Of higher Importance to US thar
that of scientific farming.