Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1920-01-14

OF the county and came within the
area ia ken care Of BY the Assistant
County Agent, and consequently d de-
tailed description Of the project viii be
given by him. 60 s,7 II. Al
In addition to these demonstrations.
however, eighteen co-operators were &C.
cured. Those perpetrators obtained the,
phosphate fertilizers to apply to any
Held or crop they might desire. and
agreed to give only a general report Of
results as compared to the rest sc The
held -Four Of these co-operators were
located in this end Of the county and
consequently are reported on. s.i .3 .s.s
Farmer No. applied phosphate fer
t1l1zer on timothy and clover sod. two
years old, but SO poor that it had never e,
been cut, at the rate Of $50 lbs, r,er
acre, and left check stripes blank. The
fertilized portion yielded more than one
and one-half tons Of cured hay per acre
while the check strip was not worth
| cutting. Il ia s#g ! Es.as .&
Farmer No. 2, applied 200 lbs uer
acre on peat soils seeded to oats. on
the 9Th day of July the estimated in.
crease stand on the fertilized peat was
at least 100 per cent better than the
under-fertilized portion Of the field,
Further, the fertilized portion was
fully headed out while the unfertilized
had just commenced heading. On the
18th day of July the entire field was
wiped out by the flood. ii
Farmer No. 3, applied 300 lbs. fertil-
| izer on shallow peat and low mineral
soil and obtained an estimated increase
of at least 100 per cent both in stand
| and yield.
Farmer No. applied 400 lbs. per
acre on shallow peat mixed with min
eral soil. This land had never pro
duced paying crop nor did crop con
ditions indicate that it would do so
this year on unfertilized portion, while
on the fortified plot bumper crop
was in the making. This plot also was
largely ruined by the July rains and
floods. r. >4#
In spite Of the disastrous season the
crops developed far enough so that the
demonstration proved to be an unuual-
flied success. Enthusiasm is running
high for further demonstration work
along this same line.
FARM MANAGEMENT.
The Control of Weeds Problem
The spread Of weeds in the county,
and especially of SOW thistle, is caus-
ing no little concern. It is conserva
| tive statement to make that sow thistle
increased 100 per cent in the county
during 1919 over what it was in 1918
The knowledge Of this is what causes
uneasiness amongst the farmers.
! The question is continually asked
''How can we get rid of this pest %
and the gist of the answer is, eve
never expect to entirely get rid of it,
The question is asked with veiled
hope that there is some soft and easy
way. and that idea must be dispelled
The SOW thistle is here to stay, and oul
object will be to make the most of it
We must have a system of livestock
farming and crop rotation with which
the sow thistle will interfere the least
We have examples Of just such farm:
in the county; SOW thistle farms tha
are paying proposition, and we always
prefer to refer to them. We are always
glad to work out a system to fit any
farm, Incorporating these basic ideas
namely, livestock and crop rotation.
The Farm Labor Problem
4, The labor problem is and always will
be one of the difficult problems in Farm
Management, especially here in the
northwest where farming operations
are so extensive. In 1913 it was acute
to put it, mildly. 1t was then really a
project in itself. In 1919 there was
| great improvement due to a larger sup
ply of labor and smaller crop. The
work Of supply transient labor to farm.
ers in the wheat sections was largely
left to local labor dealers: During the
year records show that ~ men were
placed through the Farm Bureau office
These were mostly month men, working
through the season, but few were day
men working only through harvest and
| threshing. /. :#= ii @.
Supplying laborers for the rush sea
son will always be a problem in the
county and the only solution is to have
reliable local men to handle that work
In time, farming operations will be cut
down, as is the tendency now and that
will be the ultimate solution of the
labor problem. III 3 \,
@... IMPROVEMENTS
Sio Becoming Popular
Building operations in the county are
practically at a standstill, largely due
to the high cost of building materials
and shortage Of labor. Consequently
but little assistance could be given
Il along lines OF farm improvements