Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-07-09
INLAND EMPIRE FARMEs
sEE EXPERIMENTS ON
COLLEGE FARM
,continued from first page)

..a4,on staff. The object of
-. NJ experiments was explained by
n,rector e. C. Johnson as follows
I'M an axperiment station and branch
...,ors are working to solve the
s-oh,ems which are of the greatest
r.tonce to the practical farmer,
-. from the standpoint of crop
live stock production, farm
management, cost of production, and
.rrating. 1t attempts to solve not
XIV the problems of today but to
anticipate those of tomorrow. While
:. 10 working to determine what are
~. heat varieties of crops AID to
aovalop new and better varieties
from the standpoint e. yield, smut
resistance, and value for food and
faed. II is also studying the effect of
msthods of tillage upon the nitrogen
sunply and methods of replacing the
nitrogen removed by crops, and how
,os, IN dispose of crops through the
,,oduction and feeding of various
sinds OF live stock. The cost of pro-
ducing crops and live stock and the
marketing of the products of the
form are receiving increasing and
careful attention by the experiment
.,ation. The policy of all its work
IA To be as hnipfu. az possible to the
basic industry, agriculture, and
therefore to the entire state. by de-
yeIouing information that will serve
as basis for permanent Aid prof
table agriculture"
On this trip the visitors were sur
urised at the magnitude of the work
heing carried on in the interests of
the farmers. They were shown over
1000 experimental plots and with
difficulty tried to realize what it
mean. to keep records and compile
4 data on 500 varieties OF cereals, 120
h varieties OF alfalfa, numerous kinds
q of clover and peas and other forage
crops, besides almost e''cIy conce;V-
able practical method Of tillage, Ter
tilizatiur fnd rotation of crops 10
determine he best praCIiCa! method
OF farming for the production of
crops and the maintaining of soil
fertility. This work is under the
direction of E. G.. Schafer, assisted
by corps of specialists, and has for
It's direct purposes the adaptation of
Farieties of field crops, conducting
rotation experiments to determine
4 The most profitable cultural meth
DDS and the building up of the quail
ity of the crops by breeding, which
4 Includes smut resistance in wheat,
yield, and milling quality.
Among the plots that attracted
the attention of visitors first were
me experiments in manure fertiliza-
ZION for spring wheat in which it
was shown that manure plowed un-
per IN the spring increased the yield
~ bushels per acre while manure
used in the fall for winter wheat in
creased the yield Jap bushels per
acre, thus showing the advisability
Oh applying the manure in the fall.
The depth of spring blowing for
spring wheat was shown to have had
practically no effect upon the yield
as these plots have been plowed an
nualiy Tor 20 years at four, six and
eight inches depth and the records
SHOWN only variation of from 27.8
10 zS.l bushels, or less than two
bushels.
Inc summer fallow methods ex-
peflments proved to be very interest
ins 10 the practical farmer and he
was gwen data to prove that early
pio"lng was the greatest factor in
'iS system of farming, the expert
n's showing comparison of from
'O.O bushels for the early plowing
"uu only n4.8 bushels for the late
NO OFT repeated question about
slowing corn on summer fallow was
"e0in asked and could only be an
S"ered by the farmers observation
:. the various plots under this ex-
p'i iment' the question not having
~ oeen satisfactorily answered bv
NC numerous experiments under
~ each side of the question hav-
s us supporters who are endeayor-
'Ds - TO prove their contention.
=. me rotation plots attracted the
',n'ioh OF the farmers and thew
r nau the opportunity of seeing the
,o s'ious crops being produced by
~, sa'ions of all kinds. These rota-
t a0n plots were established in 1918
~ ~. determine the best grouping CON,
1,'ion for wheat production and ~