Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1916-03-10


<By CARL vRooMAN, Assistant secre-
tary of Agriculture.)
The best and shortest cut to profit
able yields on 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 It's 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 q number of fundamen-
tai rules for handling the soil. These
are in part as follows:
~ 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 1t furnishes
organic plant food for bacteria and
plants, and by chemical action in
creases the available supply Of min
@ral plant food that comes from the
fine rock particles in the soil.s
To get humus, pillow under all the
waste vegetable matter you can obtain
ali stable manure, straw, cornstalksr
gtnbble, leaves, weeds and green ma.
nure crops, such as clover. Anything
vegetable that will rot in the ground
makes, humus when it has decayed
Legumes should be used for green ma
nure crops when possible, because
they add more heterogeneous plant food
to the soil, whereas other green ma
nure crops merely make the plant food
on hand more available. Never burr
straw or cornstalks unless absolutely
necessary-it's like burning money
Spread your straw upon the field mex
to be pfowed, or, better still, use Il
first for feed or bedding or as a mulch
for some crop liko potatoes, and plov
It under later AZ stable manure or Will
the refuse OF the crop.
(2) Establish sound and regula
rotation OF crops.-It is difncult Il
make q general rule as to crop rota
tions, because rotations vary witt
local conditions, but there are SOM
rules in this regard that hold ans
where. A two-year rotation, such a
corn and oats, is entirely inadequate
Every rotation should include at leas
one legume crop. The rotation shout
be planned with the aid of your count
agent or your state agricultural 60
lege to fit the individual farm an
local conditions.
(3)(Select your crops to suit you
soii.-Some farms have grown crop
that have depleted the humus and
minished the productivity OF the so
until it is no longer possible to gro
profitable crops Of corn, oats and tin
othy. Yet such soil will often produc
R00A CAOPA III 5On6
such as soy beans or cowpeas. Wher
nature grows sweet clover you ca
grow sweet clover, too, and after yo
have plowed under a crop of thu
= rank growth you have a good start Q
the road to fertility. Remembe
there's legume crop for almost ever
soil, and that no rotation is complet
without legume. Try to find the |
gume best suited to your soil and co
ditions. and then make it the bas
of your rotation.
"a Use drain tile freeIy.-Artifici
drainage Is q factor of greatest impo
lance In soil improvement; often Il
factor of greatest Importance. IN e
ables US to grow potatoes or onioI
where nature can grow only cattail
because it insures the even distrib
tion Of both the water and the air tn
our cultivated crops demand. Whe
the land lacks natural drainage, ever
thing else depends on how thorough
the soil is ditched or tiled.
10 Suit your blowing to your soil.
As a rule, the harder the soil il
break the deeper and the more thS
Oughly It must be broken up to let q
in to do it's work
80 Manure as regularly as you hi
veS-Stable manure is the best for
of fertilizer. because It not only ad
available plant food but also improy
the physical texture of the soil.
tends to tighten heavy soil and
make sandy soil hold more wat,
Stable manure contains easily ava
Nahae plant food, both organic and m
eral, and as it decays in the Q
hastens the liberation of other pIa
food Green manure Is an excelle
substitute for stable manure, and
essential 20 good farming where lit
or no live stock is kept Where stall
manure ia not available. green MANI
must be used to get results. \
MEnara1w m4rhRFn Asx.& @Rnn -..&a.n -