Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-01-31
La Sale County Better Far11ing
~ Department ~

: Increasing what he is trading oil. o
agricultural products, as rapidly as hi
neighbors ara increasing what they
are trading to him. No he has no
so much as kept even with his reeort
Tor the lirstsperiod. excepting in tire,
articles, namely; Hogs. milk m
eggs which have increased % pei
cent. s. per cent. and Il per cent.
respectively in export value. Oul
experts in cattle have decreased q
per cert. as compared with the firsl
period horses decreased 2S per cent.
mules II per cent, sheep Sc per cent
butter 20 per cent. cheese 700 pei
ce1s, wool SO per cent. and tota
animal matter 81 per cent The total
exports Of grain and grain products
have decreased q per cent.
Flow long can such natural. normal
adjustments of disposal of our ne
.cessitles continue until the demand
for l0ol will exceed the available sup
ply? | will not venture a guess. buJ
all this seems to me TO say In un.
miStakeable tones, that il Is high tine
for US as nation to take inventory
Of our agricultural assets, and be.
gin to prepare to produce more food
in the near future, if we would keep
the cost OF necessities down to u lev.
q that viii permit us to maintain our
present standar dof civilization do
not say that the price of agricultural
products should be kept so low that
the farmer cannot get fair return
above cost of production. wonder
who has assumed the authority to
set the prices and the hours of labcr.
so that the farmer must now work
sixteen hours day in order to pro.
duce food cheap enough that his city
cousin may live by working only eight
hours a day.
When Samuel Gompers wants
something from our National Con.
gress he Is listened to attentiyely, and
he usually gets it, unless the Nation.
al Commercial Association heads him
Off. But which ever wins, you may
have noticed that the other seldom
loses. The one which is apparently
to lose, just has the farmer make up
the deficit Has it ever occurred to
you that that game may some day
become a three handed one, so that
the profits will be divided into thirds
instead of halves as now, and the
losses will also be divided into thirds
instead of being passed out in one
lump sum? Now, lest we bear down
on this chord so long that we be rat.
ed a pessimist let us see what can
be done to alleviate the situation
which we seem to be approaching
with certainty. but with uncertain
rapidity. 1t all apparently rests on
the problem OF obtaining food
Since the SOS our expirement sta
tons in the different states have been
devoting an increasing amount of
time and money to the study of this
food problem. Let US notice for a
moment some valuable tips obtained
by them from work done elsewhere.
It is more than SO years since Liebig
wrote Agriculture is of all industrial
pursuits, richest in facts, and poorest
in their comprehension. Facts are
like grains OF sand which are moved
by the wind, but principles are these
same grains cemented into rocks"
An important part Of the work per
formed by the Illinois Experiment
Station has consisted In assembling
the facts the world affords and ce.
menting these into concrete form
which serve as a firm foundation. IN.
on which to build systems of perma.
nent agriculture. Four Fundamental
Facts have been made large use of in
the study Of soil fertility. Nearly $50
years ago Senebier. OF Switzerland
found that the carbon of plants ia der
ived from coz of the air. It has
been more than 100 years since De
Saussure of France, first gave to the
world a correct and almost complete
statement, concerning the essential
mineral food of plants. Later Lawes
ana Gilbert, of England. established
n mn MID ~ an
must furnish the nitrogen as well as
the mineral elements. And more than
q quarter Of a century has passed
since Hellricgel, of Germany, discoy-
cred that bacteria living in symbolic
relationship with legume plants have
power to gather nitrogen from the in.
exhaustiblc atmospheric supply. These
four facts have been assembled In
a way which shows that the main
problem Of permanent fertility is
simple. II consists, in word, in
word. in making sure that every es.
sential element OF plant food is con
tinually provided to meet the needs
OF maximum crops, anu oil course, any
clements which are not so provided by
nature mast be provided by man
Those materials which are naturally
contained In the soil In inexhaustiblc
amounts are to be liberated from the
soil, and thus made available for crop
production; those contained In air arc
likewise to be drawn upon as needed
while those materials which must be
purchased, are bought and apDliea ir