The Mankato free press., 1923-06-29
FARM NEWS FROM
STATE UNIVERSITY
ASSOCIATED Press Dispatch !

S-S-S-s-S-e-S-~S$-S-S-~-S
ST. Paul, June 25.-The success.
full operation of the sand land farm
such as is TO be found in consider
able numbers between the Twill
Cities and Bemidji has been found
to depend on lime, alfalfa anu tbs
high producing COW.
The foregoing statement comes
from the result of experiments car
ried on at the Coon Creek expert
ment station under the University
Department Of Agriculture for three
years.
With limited special appropria
tions from the legislature and with
assistance from Anoka county, the
department of agriculture set out to
determine just what could be done
with sand lands and peat land such
as are common in Anoka county and
seFeral other counties between tne
Twin Cities and the southern part of
Beltrami county. The University
specialists found:
! That the application Of lime III
the form Of limestone screenings,
/ pulverized limestone of mari will
enable the growing Of liberal crops
4 Va oh oouuy DuSh %
are found in the region named.
That the feeding of alfalfa To
high producing cows, with other
! things will bring good returns neces-
! sary nitrogen to the soil and serve
to maintain soil productiveness.
! Evidence in support of these finu-
ings was put before the people or
the region named at a special de-
monstration recently. Visitors at a
| farm at Coon Greek saw areas which
without lime had in three years pro-
duced only 1.6 tons of alfalfa to the
acre. Right along side OF these areas
! they saw similar areas which had
been treated with limestone screen
the acre, which produced in three
years eight tons Of alfalfa to the
acre, and that without the use OF
other fertilizers.
! Because the pocket gopher-not
the common striped gopher-is 4
destroyer of alfalfa, and is hard to
suppress, the University Depart
ment of Agriculture has appointed
C.. E. Nickel, of the division of ell
tomology as a general to lead a
warfare on the little animal.
His most effective weapon is
strychnia alkaloid, Mr.. Nickel says.
He mixed h ounce of this poison
with u ounce of sodium bicarbonate
and u ounce of saccharine; sprin-
kles this over cubed potatoes, car
rots or turnips to the amount OF
about four quarts and inserts a
piece of bait in each gopher run
way. A careful treatment Of an in
tested field in this manner rids it OF
95 per cent of its pests and saves
the alfalfa.
Leading potato growers, along
with county agents, agricultural ex-
tension workers from the University
iof Minnesota and representatives OF
the state department of agriculture,
lwiii set out on August ! to study
potato diseases, spraying methods
land principles Of cultivation in the
tour will be the second of its kind
organized in the state
The schedule calls for a visit to
Red Lake county August /; Penn
Iington county, August 2; Kittson
county, August 3; Roseau and Lake
of the Woods counties, August 4;
Koochiching county, August 6; Bel
trami county August Z; Itasca
county; August s. and st. Louis
county, August 9.
Demonstrations will be given in
the uses of machinery and appli-
ances for fighting the potato pests
and diseases.
DR.. Ross A. Gortner, chief of the
division of agricultural biochemistry,
at the University of Minnesota, has
declined the biggest chemistry posi-
fiOn in the country
Offered a position as chief Of the
bureau of chemistry, United States
department of agriculture, Washing
ton, D. c., DR.. Gortner announced
he had to decline the offer, PREFER
ling to retain his contact with uni
iversity activities at Minnesota.
/ Aside from an increase in salary,
1.-THE offer was attractive in that a
budget of nearly s2,000,000 is avail
able for inyestigational purposes by
the bureau of chemistry.