Norwich bulletin., 1916-02-18

No. 6, Patrons of Husbandry, in Py-
 thian hall, Thursday the members vot-
 ed the sum of s15 towards the financ-
 ing of corn fair which it Is planned
 to hold in the town hall at some fu-
 ture date. W. O. Rogers announced
 that he would see that the s15 was
 raised to $25. This makes the total
 pledged so far just s100.
 Morning and afternoon sessions were
 held. with Worthy Master I, E. Crouch
 absentees to be Mrs. Ernest Nailer,
 Flora. of Preston City, Erva Barnes,
 steward of Preston City, and Mrs. H
 H. Iceland of Waterford.
 Four Demits Granted.
 Demits were granted to Maud Cong-
 don of Colchester-gran Rev. and
 Mrs. G. Elmer Lamphear of Bozrah
 grange. MT. and Mrs. Charles A.
 Hagberg were put through the difth
 degree. Woodbury O. Rogers of Nor
 wich grange, No. 172. was appointed
 member of the executive committee for
 one year. to fill out the unexpired term of the late Carroll Staples of Colchest-
 CT grange.
 Intersting remarks were made by Me.
 Chapman, worthy master of Washing
 ton County Pomona grange, Rhode Is
 land, and Mrs. Chapman. The sum of
 $15 was voted towards the fund be-
 ing raised for the corn fair which is
 to be held at some future date. It
 was voted to reinstate Harriet Beck
 CT of North Stonington grange. F. c.
 Warner of the New London County
 Improvement league was present at
 the morning session and explained the
 nature of the proposed corn fair.
 At the Afternoon Session.
 Worthy Master Crouch gave his an-
 nuaI word at the afternoon session
 which was called to order at 1.3o
 o'clock. Fred Taylor of Lebanon
 grange, Alice Bishop of Bozrah grange
 were appointed a committee to draft suitable resolutions on the death of
 Mercy E. Fuller of Lebanon, a charter
 member of the Pomona and also of the
 Lebanon grange.
 The Lecturers Programme.
 The lecturers programme opened with a piano duet by Mir. Montgomery and Mrs. Allen, both of Ledyard. Then followed a reading by Lela Montgomery and Q solo by Brother Montgomery. Rev. E. F. Goodenough made a highly interesting address on The New Agriculture and the Religious Lead CTS. From the days of the Nomandic Abraham until now, scientific agricul-
 turc has been maintained, said Rev. MT. Gcodenough. Abraham, the father of the faithful was such a good herds
 man thaat his f1ocks increased out of to pasture ana ne naQ to separate from Lot so that they wouldn't get their fioclSs mixed up. He | gave Lot his choice of land. and he (Abraham) took just such a hilly coun- | try as rocky New England.
 After the beginnings of Christianity | throughout the early and later middle ages, agriculture w5A discouraged by | the wars of Europe. In just one place they were nourished. the monasteries. Rev. Mir. Goodenough went on to l speak of the progress made in agri- culture during the years that followed
 the middle ages. In closing he said; Christianity, whenever it may be | taught or preached, is a thinking re- 1 ligion. It teaches the open eye and ! the understanding heart. and all agri- 1 culture grows scientific if these av- | enues of knowledge are kept busy. A sketch, Farmer Corntossel and | Family in New York. was given by | Mrs. Lizzie Culver, George Montgom-
 cry and Miss Leila Montgomery of | Ledyard grange.
 Professor Esten's Address. Prof. Esten of the Connecticut Agri-
 cultural college at Storrs made a | timely address on The Agriculture as
 revealed in the recent Studies of Soil Bacteria.
 Prof. Esten said:
 The present price of sodium nj | trate makes it prohfbitive for use in 1 dL fOIdSu IS purchase at any price. Acid phos- phate prepared with sulphuric acid, which latter has advanced in prica | from $5 to s25 a ton, is too expensive to use in profitable crop production. | These conditions are blessings in l forced to turn to the immediate supply | of nature. These sources of plant foods are on and in the very soil we
 cultivate. These acres of diamonds" we can dig out of our farms if we | know and practice the science of agri- culture. Know the truth and the | truth shall make you free. Truth is | knowledge and knowledge is power. | The practice of buying plant foods at retail, raising crops from them and 1 selling the produce, a manufactured product, at wholesale is a paradoxi- cal business proposition. No busi- ness or industry can ever thrive on | these conditions. The sources to | which we must turn for plant foods are the air, the soil beneath, the sub soil below, lime from the quarries, and phosphorus from the Tennessee mines l The air furnishes the most necessary and most costly element, nitrogen, not even at wholesale prices, but for less | than nothing. The air furnishes a premium for the nitrogen fixed in a | plant by bacterial action. Bacteria will | fix nitrogen in all the legumes we are willing to cultivate, and they will do i it free of charge. This is the most inn portant factor in the problem of soil | fertility.
 "One of the greatest problems in | the maintenance of soil fertility for the | maximum production of crops is how | to secure and keep a sufficient sup | ply of available nitrogen at the least cost For most of our arabic lands | it is now pretty well agreed that this | is problem of bacteriology with the soil as a culture medium. As in most i other great problems. nature and pracE | tical experience have pointed the way | to it's solution. Many of the standard | practices of cultivation, crop rotation, ! etc, which have developed from expe- | rience have very important relations | to bacterial action in the soil. Tn fact.
 the true relation of many of these | practices can be understood only from | the standpoint of bacterial avtivity.
 FaIIacy of Depending on Commercial Fertilizers.
 | A fifty bushel crop of corn requires | seventy-five pounds of nitrogen As | thirty to forty pounds of nitrogen are | leached out of every cultivated acre each year there will be needed for this | crop at least one hundred pounds of nitrogen. The application of half a
 ton or 2-s-2 fertilizer per acre will fur nish only sixteen and one-half pounds