St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-02-12
Of Farm
! Demonstration
Pfitcllett

~ tuC aAMcIS VI 0t i ANNUALLY
Parish:
1t has become my great pleasure
to be one Of you by appointment as
county agent Of the U. s. Department
Of Agriculture for this parish. And
1t Is my earnest desire that may
be of some assistance in not only
helping you make the year 1916 the
most prosperous one in your farm
ing history, but in the development
|of this parish until it will be second
to none in agricultural prosperity.
The main impression that / have
gained from my observation is that
OF the great agricultural possibili-
ties OF this section and the great
future that awaits US, but this ultf
mate goal will never be reached ex-
cept by the sympathetic cooperation
of all forces, the practice Of improv-
ed and business methods of farming
and systematic organization.
The farmers demonstration work
is not theoretical or experimental but
rather very practical. We do not
ask you to experiment but only to
take advantage and put into practice
those fundamental and essential
methods of successful agriculture
which have been demonstrated be-
yond a doubt to result in more in
creased and economical crop yields.
One of the retarding features of our
work is that many people have q
wrong conception Of its nature. They
call it '.book farming" or theoretical
farming. My friends, this is far
from correct. We only ask you to
put into practice simple. common
sense yet fundamentally important
methods of farming that the most
successful farmers have found to be
the best. and most profitable, and
those that our agricultural expert
ment stations have through actual
experiments demonstrated to be the
best methods and taFe these and
adapt them to your local conditions
or farm. While the writer believes
that he has fair knowledge Of
scientific agriculture both from tech
nical and practical experience, | do
not ask you to take my personal
advice altogether as an individual
but as representative Of the Universi-
ty Agricultural Extension forces, and
the U. 8. Department Of Agriculture,
l hope to bring to your attention In
formation and instruction from these
sources, that otherwise possibly
would not be available. Did you
ever stop to think that thousands of
dollars are spent for the accumula-
ton Of this agricultural knowledge.
your money for your benefit? Then
why not take advantage of it?
While the is no set rule for
farming, there are some very impor-
tant and l will say imperative neces-
sary rules of any scheme Of success
full agriculture and especially apph-
cable to all southern conditions.
From these nave been evolved what
has been termed cdr. Knapp's Ten
Commandments Of Agriculture" the
gospel Of the demonstration work.
Space does not permit going into
these in detail, but briefly they are:
l. Prepare deep and thorough
ly pulverized seed bed we'll drained.
break in the fall to the depth Of 8.
10 or IL inches, according to the
soil, with implements that will not
bring too much of the subsoil to the
surface; the foregoing depths should
be reached gradually.
2. Use seed of the best variety,
selected and carefully
stored.
3. In cultivated crops. give rows
and the plants in the rows space
suited to the plant. the soil and the
climate.
1. Use intensive tillage during
the growing period of the crop.
5. Secure a high content Of hum
us in the soil by the use OF legumes,
manure, farm refuse. and
commercial fertilizers.
s. Garry out systematic crop
rotation with winter crop on your
farms.
Z. Accomplish more work In 4
day by using more horsepower and