Tensas gazette., 1916-04-14

By CARL vROOMAN. Assistant secre-
tary of Agriculture.)
The best and shortest cut to profit
able yields on a rundown farm in the
corn belt generally is to be found
through legumes and live stock, says
Farmers Bulletin '7O4 of the United
States department Of agriculture. This
bulletin is the work of Carl VrOOman,
the assistant secretary of the depart
ment. Its purpose is to suggest to the
corn-belt farmer of the middle West
some ways of applying scientific agri-
culture to the practical business of
farming. 1t is intended especially for
the farmer whose soil has been run
down by continuous grain farming.
The early portion of the bulletin. there:
fore, contains a number of fundamen-
tai rules for handling the soil. These
are in part as follows:
O) Put humus into the soil-That
is the first move toward building up
rundown farm. Humus is the stuff
with which nature fertilizes unculti-
waited soils-the rotted remains of
dead leaves and grass, of weed stalks.
fallen logs, plant roots and the like.
Without humus the soil would be
merely mineral matter, just rock more
or less finely ground and decomposed.
Organic matter increases the water
holding capacity Of the soil. and as 1t
rots down to form humus it furnishes
organic plant food for bacteria and
plants, and by chemical action in
creases the available supply of min
eral plant food that comes from the
fine rock particles in the soil.
To get humus, pillow under all the
waste vegetable matter you can obtain
all stable manure, straw, cornstalks,
stubble, leaves, weeds and green ma
nure crops, such as clover. Anything
vegetable that will rot in the ground
makes humus when 1t has decayed.
Legumes should be used for green ma
nure crops when possible. because
they add more nitrogenous plant food
to the soil. whereas other green ma
nure crops merely make the plant food
on hand more available. Never burn
straw or cornstalks unless absolutely
necessary-it's like burning money
Spread your straw upon the field next
to be plowed. or. better still. use it
first for feed or bedding or as a mulch
for some crop like potatoes, and plow
1t under later as stable manure or with
the refuse of the crop.
(2) Establish a sound and regular
rotation of crops.-It is difficult to
make general rule as to crop rota-
tions, because rotations vary with
local conditions, but there are some
rules in this regard that hold any
where. A two-year rotation. such as
corn and oats. is entirely inadequate
Every rotation should include at least
one legume crop. The rotation should
be planned with the aid of your county
agent or your state agricultural COL
lege to fit the individual farm and
local conditions.
(3) Select your crops to suit your
soil.-Some farms have grown crops
that have depleted the humus and d.
minished the productivity of the soil
until 1t Is no longer possible to grow
profitable crops OF corn, oats and tim
othy. Yet such soil will often produce
good crops of some annual legume,
such as soy beans or cowpeas. Where
nature grows sweet clover you can
grow sweet clover, too. and after you
have plowed under a crop Of that
rank growth you have a good start on
the road to fertility. Remember,
there's legume crop for almost every
soil, and that no rotation is complete
without a legume. Try to find the le-
gume best suited to your soil and con-
ditions, and then make it the basis
of your rotation.
(D Use drain tile freely.-Artificial
drainage is factor of greatest impor.
tance in soil Improvement; often the
factor Of greatest importance. In en-,
ables US to grow potatoes or onions
where nature can grow only cattails,
because 1t insures the even distribu.
tion Of both the water and the air that
our cultivated crops demand. Where
the land lacks natural drainage, every
thing else depends on how thoroughly
the soil is ditched or tiled.
(5) Suit your plowing to your SOIL
J As rule, the harder the soil is to
break the deeper and the more thor
oughly 1t must be broken up to let all
! In to do its work.
(6) Manure as regularly as you har
vest.-Stable manure is the best form
OF fertilizer, because it not only adds
available plant food but also improves
the physical texture of the soil. /,
tends to tighten heavy soil and tc
make sandy soil hold more water
Stable manure contains easily avail
able plant food. both organic and min
eral. and as 1t decays in the sol
hastens the liberation of other plant
food. Green manure is an excellent
substitute for stable manure, and II
essential to good farming where little
or no live stock is kept. Where stable
manure is not available. green manure
must be used to get results. No
merely stubble. but the entire greer