The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-08-10
10000 FARMERS CAN'T BE
WRONG
BY j. f.. Jones

| w aohih6LOAiJ L. w., FuS
| Farmers in twelve Northeastern
States were asked to kelp compile
representative figures that would ac-
curately answer the question: How
much bigger yields does soil conser-
walton give?" The United States De-
partment of Agriculture put the
question up to 10000 farmers The
Department Soil Conservation Ser
vice shows astonishing yields per
| acre.
| A breakdown of statistics shows
that on $50 farms that the crop
yields of corn before soil cinserva-
ton was 443 bushels per acre; and
| 572 bushels after conservation. Oats
had a record: Before 1876 bushels;
after 40.3 bushels. Wheat 20.9 bu-
shells before; after 24.1 bushels. Po-
| tatoes, before 257.6 bushels; after
302.7 bushels. Tomatoes, before 65
tons, after 83 tons. Hay, before 1.5
tons; after 1.9 tons.
Soil conservation has been one of
the major problems of agriculture
for great many years. 1t ticks soil
erosion. The Federal and State Gov
ernments have spent millions upon
millions of dollars, and now we are
| finally catching up with the Philip
pine Islands who began 1000 years
ago the practice of terracing rice
fields, and the more recent successes
in terracing wheat fields in Austria
| liza.
The Soil Conservation Service of
the Feedral Department in Washing
ton stands fatty on the statement:
Farmer experience and tests by cx-
pertinent stations show that conser-
walton measures help to increase
yields" and the Service gives lot
of credit to comforting of land and
grassing of waterways"
Contour farming, in addition to
saving soil and boosting crop yields,
saves on fuel and cuts down the wear
and tear on machinery. Comparative
tests of contour and up-and-down hill
blowing on an 8 percent slope has
shown in given time that farmer
blowing on the contour can pillow 10
percent more land and that acre for
| acre his fuel consumption will be 10
percent less. The AAA allows pay
| ments for contour seeding, contour
for intertilled crops, contour strip
cropping.
In the first place a comparison of
soil and water losses from different
soils when farmed on the contour,
and up-and-down hill land showed
hat the loss of soil per acre was
ratker startling, but nevertheless it
was reduced to 4.3 percent soil loss
per acre under the contour process
as against the old up-and-down hill
method of Ill per cent soil loss per
| acre on crops of corn, oats and cot
ton in Texas. In Oklahoma the loss
| of soil per acre on up-anddown hill
methods was 55.2% and it was re-
duced to 24.6 ignore than half
by the contour method. Similar sue
cess was reported from Ohio, Iowa,
Missouri, --orth Carolina, Pennsyl-
vania, and in Western States, by the
contour method.
The subject is not easily explained
in a mere newspaper article, but any
farmer who reads this item and is
interested in the effectiveness of in
creasing production through contour,
conservation, modern machinery, or
other methods, may write to the Ma
tional Industries News Servic
Transportation Building, Washing
ton, d. c., and the newspaper organ
ization will send the class of official
material you want. Please indicate
the newspaper in which you read this
item.
In connection with the above there
are Government publications of i'm
portance that show the farmer, in
true pictures, how to cultivate below
the surface Of the ground in order
to leave crop residuees on top.
The Department of Agriculture
has done a tremendous job in cover
ing these important problems that
mean so much to the farmers.