Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1918-10-11
FARM SCHOOL MEANS
MUCH TO COMMUNITY
County Agents Meet Here to Learn
About Rock Phosphate Ex-
periments

A meeting Of great Importance to
West Central Minnesota was held at
the Agricultural School last Friday,
when county agents from fifteen
counties met here to investigate the
work that has been done at the West
Central Experiment Station with
rock phosphate applied to various
farms in this section during the past
four years.
The soil on which these tests have
been carried out for the past three
years is typical of a very large Sec
tion in west central and southwestern
Minnesota. During the coming year
the results of these tests will un-
doubtedly be staged with many farm
ers in the counties in this soil area.
The conference was in the nature Of
a brief school Of instruction to agents
and Farm Bureau men on the plans
and policies for this work during the
coming year.
County agents were present from
Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Big Stone,
Todd, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Kandi-
yohi, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Will
kin, Ottertail and Yellow Medicine.
: The experiments with phosphate
fertilizers has been carried on at the
University Farm at Morris for four
years, and the school has also co-op-
Grated with forty farmers in Stevens
county in trying the phosphate on
their fields. These forty farmers
have used tracts of from 5 to 40
acres in their experiments and they
report very good results. The aver
age increase on the land which has
been treated with this rock phosphate
| is bushels per acre each year for
the four years, altho on some farms
the increase was II and IL bushels.
The phosphate is applied once in
| four years only at cost of $3.50
per acre put on, including the cost
Of the phosphate, freight,et 200
pounds per acre is the amount put on.
Each agent present was urged to
arrange for several tracts for expert
mental purposes in his county. This
rock phosphate is procured from
phosphate beds and treated ton for
ton with su1phuric acid. The phos-
phate beds belong to the government
and at present are in Tennessee and
Florida, but the biggest and best
beds are in Montana and have not
been opened yet. This means that
an abundance of phosphate is close
to the farmers of the northwest and
can be easily gotten. At present it
is hard to get the phosphate as all
the sulphuric acid is being used for
war purposes, but when the war is
over there will be an abundance.
DR.. F. J. Away, chief of the divi-
sion of soils and chemistry at the
University of Minnesota, was present
at the meeting and among other
things he said: "The West Central
Agricultural Experiment Station is
the happiest accident that has ever
happened in Minnesota in the line
Of agricultural development" DR..
Away also paid splendid tribute to
the work of Superintendent Miller as
an investigator and scientific agri-
culturist. He said: "His work in
connection with the soil problems Of
western Minnesota has been Of ex-
ceptionally high order. All the work
entrusted to him has been put
through in a most thoro fashion. In
addition to this he has always kept
in mind the practical farm conditions
and needs, and all of the work done
bears the stamp of practicability."
In addition to DR.. Away, F. E..
Balmer, State County Agent Leader,
X. A. Kirkpatrick, Asst. State Coun-
ty Agent Leader, Prof. Geo. Nesom
from University Farm made short
talks before the conference. Supt.
p. e. Miller spoke on the relation of
the School of Agriculture to the farm
CONTINUED on page 81