Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-03-09

experimental farms, over a ten year
period, have demonstrated that wheat
following corn shows nearly as large
a yield per acre and 10 produced at
less cost than wheat on summer fall
low. The Brandon. Manitoba, expert
mental farm, in 1920. report the yield
of wheat or summer falloW 20.89
bushels per acre, produced at a cost
of $1.53 per bushel: on corn land the
yield was 2S.S3 bushels per acre. pro-
duced at a cos Of 76 cents per bushel.
The corn when fed to live stock may
Soil Drifting.
Owing TO heavy winds, n shortage
of moisture during he past four
years. much drifting n blowing of
soil a been experienced on many
farms. The system followed in small
grain farming tends to deplete the
hurnus or fibre content until there is
nothing to hold the soil particles to-
gether. Hon. Duncan Marshall Of
continuing the summer fallow prlc-
tice will lead to ruin of h soil. and
that they must adopt a diversified
system Of farming-grow more clover.
grass. cultivated crops and provide for
returning more humus or fibre to the
soil, to prevent blowing, and add
plant food.
Diversified Farming.
The fundamental consideration for
the future prosperity of this or any
other agricultural section, is main
soil. Decreasing yields, weeds, in
sects, plant diseases n blowing of
the soil are indications Of the i'm
proper handling Of the soil, and a
diminishing supply OF fertility. From
1916 to 1891 the decreasing yields
weeds and plant diseases have been
more noticeable than heretofore,
a large extent by weather or climatic
conditions; the skill. Energy and sci
lence employed by the farmer: but the
most important factor is the available
fertility of the soil. In a country
where Ian dis new and the fertility Of
where land is new and the fertility OF
work from the chin down, is about al
that is necessary. In the older ans
drier sections, mere muscle power
will not succeed; the head must care
fully direct very piece of work. j
requires as much knowledge. judE
mcnt. close application and work tt
operate a farm probably in this
region, especially on old land. as i
does to conduct a bank or any Other
business.
The fertility Of the %soil--the pro
~portionately small amounts of nitro
gen, PHOSPHORUS. potassium ant
vegetable matter. humus, which hold
moisture-are the farmers capita
stock, his bank account. Normal ric]
soils contain in the top seven inche
per acre, approximately only 500
PHOSPHORUS. 10000 pounds of po
tassium. The top seven inches Of al
acre Of soil weighs approximate;
1000, 900 pounds. Soils require prope
handling so that these small amount
of plant food are made available. o
there will be no crop. The plant foo
must be dissolved in water, or tn
plant cannot use it. The moistur
must be conserved. SO as to disSolv
the mineral elements as needed b
the crop.
A One-Crop System Robs the Soil.
! The one-crop system of grain farm
: ing draws more heavily on the plar
/. food in the soil than n other system
as usually no provision is made tn
returning anything for h is take
out. The grain is sold. and often tn
straw and even some of the stubble
burned, which leaves the soil poore
to the extent of the full amount {
the plant food required to produc
the crop. 1t takes from the soil ar
~proximately twenty-five cents wort
of fertility, and wears out a lot {
1 nulnuS, 10 pEOuuCS d DuSIl3l VI "lcd
When the bushel Of wheat is haule
away and the straw Is burned. or M
returned to the land. that fertility
gone, and the soil is just that muc
poorer. 1t is not possible to entirel
deplete the soil in a short time, a
only a small percentage Of the neces
sarv elements become available eac
year, depending on how the land
farmed. Hunlus. or decayinS organ
matter helps liberate plant food, an
hold moisture so that these elemen'
are made available for the plant
Nearly one-half the fertility require
to produce Il crop of grain is left |
the straw and stubble; hence. If tn
grain farmer simply took the pre-
caution to return the straw to h
fields he would greatly prolong tt
producing power of the land.
Nothing in the world responds mo
readily to fair treatment than tt
soil, but there is no reward for tt
soil robber or shiftless farmer. Ha'
our soils received fair treatmen'
They have been plowed. summer ia
lowed. planted. harvested, burne
pastured. driven over, allowed to b
come weedv. blow away, and BET
robbed indiscriminately. Only Il
natural fertility. the shortage of raj
fall, and the fact that the surface
frozen half the time has enabled Il
!, soil to withstand such treatment
the extent 1t has. The grain farm
. rohs the soil Of its fertility. becau