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Show agriculture"! 1 , .M - H Edited by Prof. Robert Stewart, Agricultural Ag-ricultural . College of Utah. CHEMICAL PROBLEMS. , Soil Fertility a Fundamental Question The question of soil fertility is a fundamental one and is of far more importance than is commonly supposed. sup-posed. The department of agricultural agricul-tural extension of the Iowa State College Col-lege believes, that one or more of the following topics should occupy -a prominent place upon the program of-every of-every Farmers' Institute in the Stare of Iowa: i. Methods of maintaining the fertility fer-tility of Iowa soils. 2. Plant food What is it, where it comes from, and whore it goes. 3. Farm manures How best preserved pre-served and applied. 4. Crop rotation 'What it can and cannot accomplish. 5. Soil drainage and the problems arising after the land is drained. 6. Preparation of the secd-bed and methods of cultivation. 7. Soil experiments in Towa; the lessons which they teach Iowa farmers. far-mers. Population is increasing rapidly and every acre must feed more people. There arc no longer vast areas of fertile fer-tile prairie which the government can open up at a few cents per -acre, which will in a few years and with but little expenditure become exceedingly productive pro-ductive and valuable. "Westward the course of empire takes its way" was a good motto for our forefathers, but it is useless for us. Not only our-sc.lves, our-sc.lves, but our children and our children's chil-dren's children must obtain their livelihood live-lihood from the toil which we now -' cultivate. They -cannot become wealthy weal-thy by rapid increase in the value of land as has been the case with the average well-to-do farmer of the present pres-ent day. Now i the crucinl time in the agriculture of Iowa. The eastern states arc already compelled to expend ex-pend millions of dollars every year for plant-food a l unless a radical change is made -from the wasteful practigc npw. Employed in , Iowa the day of commercial fertilisers is nearer near-er at hand than we think. The soils of Towa are new j.nd have been under cult'vation but comparatively few years. For centuries Nature has teen storing up fertility in these soils for V the use of man. But, notwithstanding their great native fertility, it cannot .1 be too strongly emphasized iliat Jfl wasteful methods may 4ji -a few jrars 1 greatly reduce the productive capacity x of Iowa soils, for tlKind is no soil so m fertile that its producing power ran- M not be rapidly decreased by wasteful I methods. This fact is so clearly M shown' by the history of older states fl a little further cast'lhaiTits truth can- not be questioned. In; '"Ohio, Indiana W and iilindis, large portions of which M ' arc covered with gIaiaLdrift, in many W respects rcscmb'ling thfc glacial drift M which forms a large area of Iowa, :M vast sums arc now expended annually JS for commercial fertilizers. The fm twelfth census estimates that in 1899 M Ohio spent $2,695,470 for commercial g fertilizers; Indiana spent $1,553,710; :M and Illinois spent $830,660. Later data M is" not available, but it -is known that m the amount expended 5has increased 8a rapidly during the- past seven yenrs. Jj .Thus, wc sec that in Illinois, our ij nearest neighbor, the commercial for- m tilizcr man has gained a strong foot- j hold and is even now knocking at the J , door of our own state. A ton of the average soil of Iowa contains less than four pounds of ac- i tual fertility or plant food. The re- 1 maindcr is simply, -wastf material and I cannot be used by plants -as food. I When this fertility lias once been 1 exhausted, remember that it is gone J fo'rever and will not return to our soil M except as it is piirchasctf in one form W or another, mostly ?is high priced W commercial fertilizers. It is cither M commercial fertilizers for' Iowa in the M future or else there must be more : clover, more stock,, better care of ma- mire and a more systematic rotation "f 'f crops. There is no escape from thc-c j fwts. Which-shall it be? Let us nt , 1 ; become merely soil rdbbers. Let each of us now while it is not yet too lat adopt those methods which will eu-blc eu-blc us to turn our farm over to otr children not less but more productive than when we received them; then also let us do what we 'can to estab 1 lh the bettor .metjiadsm the whole community. " ( The value, preservation and application appli-cation of farm manures deserve special spec-ial emphasis. There is probably ; material on the tarms of Iowa vhosc j value is as little appreciated, and in which so great an unnecessary loss occurs as in the form of manure. ' I The question of crop rotation, in- ! 1 1 eluding the relative value of various rotations, is a matter of .supreme importance. im-portance. It is the common practice in this state to "change the land." By "changing the land" is meant that corn is grown as long as possible and then the land is "changed" by growing a crop of oats or barley. Such a method may help to keep in check insect in-sect pests, but is of practically no value for maintaining the fertility of the soil. Soil management, as regards plow-1 plow-1 ing, -preparation of the seed-bed and cultivation, should receive its ample j share of time and attention. The best seed will yield but unsatisfactory returns if planted in poorly prepared soil, or if improperly cultivated. Large areas in this state are partially partial-ly or wholly unproductive, ow'r to lack of adequate drainage. At .cs-ent .cs-ent there is probably in the neighborhood neigh-borhood 'f four million acres of such I land, or nearly one-half as great an area as is annually planted in corn. Most of this land is exceedingly productive pro-ductive when adequately drained, at least it will (become so in compara-a compara-a tivcly few years. The soil fertility question in its various phases is so fundamental that I cannot urge too strongly the importance import-ance of giving it a prominent place on every Formers' Institute and club program in the state the coming year. The extension depatment is anxious to co-operate with the Farmers' Institute In-stitute and clubs in every way possible. pos-sible. Prof. A. H. Snyder gives his entire time to extension work of this kind and will gladly take a place on the program at any Farmers' Institute Insti-tute or club unless the dates conflict with other engagements already made. There will be no charges except for the actual traveling expenses. Professor Profes-sor Snyder is a strong man. He knows his subject and is a good speaker. His position as soil expert in the United States Department of Agriculture for four years gives him a wide range of practical experience in methods of handling different soils. When it is not possible for Professor Snyder to attend the meeting he will gladly assist any local party whom you may iplacc on your program, to secure data and results of different methods of soil management, etc.. to use in "the preparation of his paper and in' the discussion. ' Ames, Iowa. P.G. ftOLDEN. |