The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1916-01-25


gest to the corn-belt farmer OF the Mid
dle.West--especiall the farmer whose
soil has been run down by continuous
grain farming-some ways of coordi-
mating and "cashing in the scientific
advice offered him in hundreds of in
valuable bulletins on single crops" is
the purpose of Farmers Bulletin 704,
as stated by it's author, Carl Vrooman,
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.
The standpoint of the bulletin
"Grain Farming in the Corn Belt with
Live Stock as a Side Line" is that of
the farmer who is farming for living,
and emphasis throughout is on simple
ways of securing greater cash returns
without depicting the soil The whole
farm is considered as a unit. All grain
crops suitable for the section are dealt
with in their relation to one another, in
rotation with various legumes, green
manures. cover crops for soil mainte-
nance and feeding, and in connection
MllH llNt SlOCh dS a plOhNdblC olhD
line and especially as a source of man.
ure and fertility. Special attention is
given in the closing pages to effective
employment of time and capital, prof
table side lines, the need for cooper
alton, and the importance of efficient
marketing of crops. There are also
ahor+o,, cn 4ha human oronc nf thp
farm, especially the boys, girls and
womenfolk.
This new type of bulletin, for which
the author acknowledges his indebted
ness to many authorities but assumes
full responsibility, refers in its Al
pages to many Department and State
college bulletins dealing in detail with
the growing of single crop. The
many original recommendations in the
bulletin are designed ito supplement
the other publication" but its chief
purpose is "to serve as an introduction
to them and to stimulate wider and
more profitable study and application
of them by the average corn-belt farm
err"
Maintaining Fertility
| The bulletin throughout strongly con-
demns "soil robbing" and Crop bur
glary" and emphasizes the need of
keeping up fertility and productive
ness by means of stable manures,
green manures, legumes, rotations,
lime and phosphorus Put humus in
to the soil; manure after every CROP
is the major text of the bulletin.
The following extracts, necessarily
omitting detailed recommendations,
such as special treatments for each
grain crop, the fourteen possible ro-
tations discussed in diagram and text,
and the use of waste in feeding live
stock-give an outline of the author
plan for combining business. farming
and scientific agriculture to the mon
etary and social profit of the farm:
The Farm-Civilizatio Unit-"The
farm is vastly more than business
! II ID a hOillC, q pONidi anu
civic center-the most important unit
of civilization. The success of a farm
home is based on the success of the
farm business What farmers need
most to know is how to make the sci
ence of agriculture boost the business
to farming"
Robbing or Saving the Soil The
farmer who robs his soil is saving of
the limb upon which he is sitting
Your deed calls for the subsoil as well
as the surface soil and the subsoil is
a mine of fertility and well of water
if properly utilized.
Lime is the one thing most needed
by the average run down soil. Phos
phorus, next to lime, is the minera
plant food probably most needed by
as regularly as you harvest. Stable
manure is the best form of fertilizer
Where stable manure is not available
green manure must be used
Proper tillage becomes more i'm
portant as the farm grows older unit
on worn out farms it is factor o
chief importance. Tillage gives tn,
crop more soil surface on which t.
feed without increasing your taxes
makes existing plant food more avail
able, gives air to the roots, regulate
water supply and kills weeds. Wher
the land lacks natural drainage, eV
erything else depends on how thol
oughly the soil is ditched or tiled"
: Burglarizing the Farms. The farm
err who sells all his crops off the plac
and then also burns all his cornstalk
and straw reminds one of the burgla
who takes all the valuables he can cal
ry off and sets fire to what is left.
sHumus and Legumes. Humus is tn
stuff with which nature fertilizes III
cultivated soil. Plow under all stabl
8 manure, straw, cornstalks, stubblt
lleaves, weeds and green-manure crop