Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-05-11

agricultural extension department, with headquar-
tiers in Chicago organized for worldwide teaching
of agriculture. After period of great work in
Illinois. and greater work in Iowa. Profess
Holden entered upon the worlds work.
But first there was more work TO do at home
and Professor Holden not long i'm deciding
where to turn first. He had long known that the
agricultural problem of the Northwest was the
one-crop system. Great tracts of land had been
seeded to wheat year after year until the soil
becoming worn Out-robbed of the elements
necessary for the growth of plant life He de-
cided at that the remedy was the growing Of
alfalfa, that wonderful plant which is not only
a money-making crop in itself, but possesses the
magic power of putting nitrogen and organic mat
ter into the soil. Thereupon Professor Holden
organized the inland empire campaign. and, in CO
operation with six great railroad systems of the
Northwest. started the campaign for alfalfa on
every farm.
While the agricultural demonstration train in
augurated by Professor Holden in Iowa was a
mighty step forward, he believed there was still
better way of reaching the farmers. At last he
hit upon 1t; the automobile I'm conjunction with
the railroad train. The farmer could come to the
towns where the trains stopped, and thousands Of
them did but in many instances this meant a long
trip to and from the meeting places and perhaps
whole days absence from work. The thing to
do. then. to go to the farmer, to meet him in
the fields 'on his own threshold. 1t was planned,
therefore, that at every place where the alfalfa
special stopped automobiles should meet II and
whirl the speakers to prearranged meeting places:
In schOOlhOuses. churches. town halls, theaters.
barns out in the open fields. by the roadside.
When a meeting was held in an alfalfa field
there question of its success as many
good lessons easily driven home by Illus
trations from the growing crops. In the fields,
too the lessons of incubation of lime. eradi-
cation of weeds and time Of cutting, could all be
very plainly illustrated. To supplement this work
the speakers used huge charts which told some
interesting stories in manner that was indiSput-
able The big comparative figures shown on the
charts gave every farmer plenty of food for
thought. The results Of various tests showed that
alfalfa whether alone in combination with
other feeds. was far and away the best food for
the production of pork, beef. dairy products and
eggs.
One of Professor HOlden's strong points was
that alfalfa will act as land retainer. He de-
clared that once ii is given n chance ii will refuse
to be kept off Of land that is now considered prac
tically vaueless. Alfalfa is known to put back
into the soil what other crops take out. BY pc
culiar process the nodules that form on the roots
of rle plant extract nitrogen from the air and de-
post it in the soil. And nitrogen is what other
crops need.
The regular schedule of the alfalfa special in
cluded from six to eight stops day, thus allow
ing for from 60 to 100 meetings, according to the
number of speakers employed. After the daily
stops il was headed for some town where an eve