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Show Tito Cache American. Lniran. Cache County, Iace Two Utah Immense Task of Soil Rebuilding Faces Managers of Nations Six Million Farms Lind Being Mined by Il.lc4 by W.t.rn Union. Excessive Cropping Will Need Fertilizer INTERESTING BACKGROUND OF PACIFIC INLANDS SOME HALF DOZEN years ago. American farmers face the when In Honolulu, I learned of a Frenchman who owned a Pa- most gigantic soil rebuilding cific Island lying about 1.300 miles job in all history when World South of the city, a possible landing War II is fought to a successZealand ful conclusion. base for the Hawaiian-Neair line then being considered. The That is the considered opinFrenchman! horn was but a abort soil distance from my hotel and I called ion of farm economists, and conservation on him. He spoke no English and experts I could not understand his French, leading agronomists of state nor he my English, so we enlisted agricultural colleges throughthe services of his Hawaiian wife out the country. as an Interpreter. What he may What Ihii job will cost, no one have said I do not know, as his know yet, but It will be considerwife refused to translate It on the ably above the 250 to 300 million dolgrounds It was someUilng he should lar expenditure farmers have been not say. making for fertilizer in recent year. "Had he not talked too much, his Virtually all of the nation! 6.000,000 deal would have been completed, farms will need serious attention. the Island sold, before the navy Two major reasons are cited by , soil experts for this situation: stopped him," she said. I went to the navy to find out I Wartime crop goali necessary what it was all about. to produce foodstuffs, meat, daiThat Island, Falmyra, 1,300 miles ry products, oil and fiber crop for victory, are eating up the away, is within the city limits ot Honolulu and the city had imposed aoila resources of nitrogen, a city tax which the French owner phosphorus and potash much faster than they can be replaced thought unreasonable. When his protests were unavailing, he proposed today. Steps to correct this must to sell and a Jap bad offered to buy. be taken immediately the war The Frenchman had been a South ciisis Is over. Sea island trader, operating a small I The Job of soil confleet of trading boats, and had used servation must be stepped up. e the island as a rendezvous. It was operations can be postbut one ot the thousands of uninhabponed no longer. The "fifth colited coral atolls of the Pacific. It umn" attacks of erosion are bewas horse-sho- e shaped, with suffi. coming more menacingly serious. Wasteful farming practices cient space and water inside the horse-sho- e to float a navy or provide over a century and a half have an excellent landing place for seasquandered precious topsoil to a dangerous degree. planes. The navy objected to the island passing into the hands of a Farmers recognize that the presJap owner, and had prohibited the ent wartime drain on their soils' sale, but had Induced the city to fertility level Is a necessary contrilower the tax assessment bution to victory. But they should Today Palmyra island and John- bear in mind the Imperative fact son Island, some 400 miles to the that wealth borrowed from the soil west of Palmyra, are American air- to help win this war, must be refields playing a part in the battle paid later on. of the Pacific. Had that Frenchman Dr. George D. Scarseth, head of not talked too much both islands the agronomy department of Purdue might have been Jap airfields. university, summed things up when While In Honolulu, I watched the be said: "Farmers hi the Middle West and departure of a dozen native Hawaiian boys as they sailed away for elsewhere throughout the nation are Johnson island on a school vaca- making a sacrifice In the war protion trip. Johnson Island was then duction program to an extent not a land, no nation had fully realized by the world. Soili claimed it It was but a dot on that have had to produce war crops the broad Pacific, only some three by fertility exhaustion practices will miles in diameter, and at no point not have dividends to pay after the more than six or seven feet above war, but will require their own kind sea level. Those boys claimed it of taxation in the form of fertilizers. "In reality, farmers are In the as American territory, a part of the city of Honolulu. Midway island, manufacturing business, the same as munitions makers, or steel pro1,100 miles northwest of Honolulu, is also within the city limits. In ducers. They are turning out essential products for our armed forces. area that city, lying far out in foods, with Its surrounding fortifi- They are manufacturing cations representing the bastion that feeds, fibers and oils out of the raw protects our West coast, is several materials of the soil the nitrogen, times larger than any other city in phosphorus, potash and lime. the world. "Fortunately all our soils are not exhausted of their inherited riches. But exhaustion is on the way even PRIVILEGE OF SAYING with our best soils, and we face a YOU ARE FIRED future where these raw materials ONE REASON for our multiplicity of government must be added to the soils as fertibureaus, administrations or depart- lizers in greater amounts than in ments is said to be the Presidents the past. Unless we do this, the dislike to fire any one. To avoid that productivity of the soil will sink to he but creates, by executive decree, a dangerous level. Concerning the future outlook, he a new bureau and transfers to it the Job the inefficient appointee failed said: "Our war debt wont be only a at doing, leaving him on the payroll but without any real duties to matter of taxes and maturing bonds. perform. To me that unwillingness Our farmers are asked to mine their to fire is an appealing trait, even soils because fertilizer materials are though it may be expensive for the scarce. But crops must be made on government Throughout a lifetime the Tat of the soils. This means of acquaintances I have known only that a farmer of the future will have three people who courted the privi- the handicap of a more exhausted lege of discharging employees. To soil and smaller crop yields to pay those three the privilege of saying the taxes that will follow this war. Tremendous Drain. "you are fired provided a thrill. Just how big a drain on the soils All three of them were always very much afraid of being fired. Not fertility resources does this extra that they feared losing a job, but crop production impose? The answer is plenty! Take one they did not want the stigma of havcorn for example. crop single been All were three ing discharged. unhappy individuals with but few, if Agronomists estimate that the 1941 any, real friends, and they hated corn crop in ten midwestem states removed 2,645,404,730 pounds of nithemselves. trogen, phosphorus and potash from the soil. Increasing wartime yields OTHERS MUST HELP boosted this tax to 3,093,123,334 FEED AND CLOTHE EUROPE WITHIN LESS than six months we pounds In 1942 and 3,227,393,770 spent more than 126 million dollars pounds in 1943. Large as this removal was, it repfor food and clothing for the people of North Africa. Within the next six resents but a portion of the fertility months it is expected we will have loss from a single region. Add to poured more than 500 million in food it the fertility drain caused by proand clothing into Italy. Such items ducing huge yields of wheat, soyrepresent but a small start in the beans, potatoes, alfalfa, clover, oats job that lies ahead. The people of and other crops and you have some Europe, friend or enemy, must be idea of the depreciation of fertility fed and clothed. It cannot be done resources. But that doesnt tell the in a strictly idealistic way. It is not whole story, either, for the job of a job for the welfare enthusiast who producing livestock and dairy prodspends the other fellows money. It uct requires heavy amounts of plant food, oo. is a job for practical, The plain fact is that every time a individuals who realize we, alone, cannot save Europe at the expense of crop is harvested and hauled to maror livestock are shipped to a starving America. We can do a ket, considerable portion of the job but packers yards, some of the farms there are others who must help or fertility goes with them. Those essential elements, nitrogen, phos- the American people will rebel. res-Ide- long-rang- phonis and potassium, In various compounds, have been drawn out o tli soil by the plants that grew on It. The bigger and better the crop, the more vital minerals ex traded. Ordinarily, much of these elements Is replaced by rotation, fallowing, or applicaUon of fertiliz- ar years ers, but during theta when every field mutt be mad to yield to the limit, there is an annual lots, Alto, the scarcity of fertilizers, and shortage of help and machinery have conspired to Impoverish the farmer land. There la still another important factor In this pretent problem. That Is the matter of Harvested crops rank text In depleting the soil end are in normal years responsible for taking out .an additional 4,600.000 tons of nitrogen, 700,000 tons of phosphorus and 3.200,-00- 0 tons of potash. Nearly a third of the fertile topsoil of American farms has been lost due to erosion, floods and the damaging effects of overcropping, according to a statement Issued by th Middle West Soil Improvement Committee. Six Inches of Topsoil. A century and a half ago, lays the statement, "there was an averof nine Inches of topsoil spread age over the entire United States. To-- e Big-scal- no-ma- mid-Pacifl- c, g hard-heade- d NO INDIVIDUAL, group, class or party in America has a monopoly on the desire and intention to win the war. Even the most rock-ribbe- d iso- lationist proposes o see that job to a finish. There might be an argument as to the methods or cost of winning, or under what leadership, but there is no argument as to the intended result. THERE IS an always needed lessen that 10 million men in the armed services have learned. There must always be a boss. An aerial view of a large Georgia farm en which several soil conservation methods are used. In the upper part of the picture appears a large meadow strip, which serves as a safe water disposal area for surface runoff from adjoining fields. The curved bands are contour strip cropping, and terracing. The owner. Dr. A. C. Brown of Koyston, also follows improved rotation practices. Increased acreage. In order to produce the extra crop quotas, not only do existing acres have to do a bigger crop yielding job but more and more acres have to be tilled. Much of this land represents a lower strata of fertility level and hence it is not able to bear the burden of heavy cropping effectively. A glance at acreage figures tells the story. In 1941 the total harvested acreage of principal crops In the United States was 334,130,600. In 1942 it rose to 338,081,000 and In 1943 to 347,498,000 acres. New production goals for 1944 propose the use of some 380 million acres. cf Land Rained, When we turn to the job of toil conservation that has been accumulating since the pioneer settlers plows first broke America virgin farm land, we find an even more serious situation. Hugh H. Bennett, chief of the U. S. soil conservation service, is authority for the statement that 50 million acres of the nations 600 million tillable acres have been completely ruined for agricultural purposes. An additional 50 million acres, he estimates, are seriously damaged and a very large further acreage has suffered a marked decrease in soil fertility. As a result of the soil conservation service's work and the efforts of agronomists at state agricultural colleges and experiment stations, significant steps have been taken in recent years in combating this menacing trend. But the major task lies ahead. Six principal factors are responsi--bl- e for the foregoing losses, according to Mr. Bennett. They are erosion, leaching, the removal of fertilizer elements by harvested crops, livestock and livestock marketing, oxidation of soil organic matter, and One-Twelf- th long-rang- e fire. Erosion is the worst offender, removing annually 2,500,000 tons of nitrogen, 900,000 tons of phosphorus and 15,000,000 tons of potash the three major plant foods which make the productions of crops possible. Hilly land often considered practically worthless can be made to yield good returns by proper strip cropping. C. D. Blubangh, Danville, Ohio, is shown weighing the harvest from such a field. He is one of the three million farmers now included in 693 soil conservation projects. Ammonium Nitrate Will Boost Yield of Hay Or Brings Pasture to Grazing Stage Earlier use of a means of or other of The nitrogen as increasing vitally needed hay and pasture production to meet wartime feed requirements, was recommended by Dr. D. H. Dodd of the Ohio State university. Summarizing the results of a series of experiments. Dr. Dodd declared that: 1. Sixty pounds of nitrogen, equivalent to 175 pound per acre of ammonium nitrate applied to a good sod timothy grass by April hay-typ- e 1, will on the aver- age produce an extra ton of 6 to 9 protein hay if cut at the proper early stages. 2. A similar application of nitrogen applied to a good grass pasture sod will bring the herbage to the grazing stage two to three weeks earlier than without the nitrogen. By the time untreated pasture is making sufficient growth to carry its nor- - day this averages only six Inches in depth. The present war emergency, as well as the future of American agriculture itself calls for a determined fight against the forces of soil depletion. The effectiveness of the individual farmers soil management plan in wartime as well as In the peace era to follow, can be aided by the cooperation of agronomist at state agricultural colleges and experiment stations. Through research and experimentation over a long span of years, these experts have developed information concerning fertilizer needs for various crops and soils that is helpful to the farmer who Is striving to rebuild his soils productivity. In combating the destructive effects of erosion, individual farmer and organized agriculture are conn fronted by a stealthy, enemy. Eroslona damage is gradual and in the first stages, barely noticeable. Bnt once it gains headway, winds and rains not only carry away valuable topsoil, but also remove needed fertilizing elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Conservation methods are the surest means of reducing these losses of valuable topsoil and plant nutrients. It has been found that soils having a cover crop suffer only a fraction of the losses from erosion that other farm areas experience. Not only will grasses and legumes provide effective vegetative cover for holding topsoil In place and furnish a balanced ration for farm animals, but they promote nitrogen fixation, improve the soil tilth and help increase crop yields following in the rotation. This is particularly true where adequate fertilization is undertaken. Bonds Will Provide Funds. Fortunately the means for accomplishing this soil replenishment job are in the hands of virtually every American farmer. Dollars invested in war bonds now that farm cash income is at the highest level in history and farm debt at the lowest point in many years, can provide the ready cash to pay for the purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash needed to restore the fertility level of farms later on. It is not too early to begin planning for this agricultural reconstruction job, any more than it is premature at present to lay plans for future political and economic peace, a statement by the Middle West Soil Improvement Committee concludes. "For it is becoming increasingly clear that the whole structure of future security will rest on the productivity of the soil. While every encouragement will be given to soil rebuilding projects by the federal government and by state agricultural agencies, the major responsibility for getting the job done will rest on the shoulders of individual farmers. By earmarking part of present war bond purchases now for peacetime soil rebuilding expenditures, farmers can be ready when the materials and manpower become readily available in the postwar era. fifth-colum- mal load, the nitrogen-treate- d grass will have exceeded it by 700 to 1,000 pounds of herbage containing 175 to 250 pounds of protein per acre, figured on a dry basis. 3. The inclusion of 20 to 30 pounds of nitrogen with phosphorus or phosphorus and potash in a first treatment for general pasture improvement, may be expected to increase the returns the first year by 50 to 75 per cent instead of 25 per cent, which is a reasonable expectation for the first year for the mineral without nitrogen. f r Mt S,1 Agricultural Readjustment Seen as Postwar 'Must' Farmer-Educat- Stresses Need for or More Efficient Farming, More Attractive Life In Order to Maintain Production. By BAUKIIAGE Newt Analyit and Commentator. Trnt Building, (2) Decreasing tbe output per mao In agriculture operations Washington, D. C. cutting Ever since the beginning of tha down its hours or doing away with year, Washington bas realized that some of th mechanization. one of th most important problem (3) Development of greater aelf before It la demobilization. aufflclency on th part ot the farmIt Isnt a future problem. Its ers themselves. bere. (4) (Something we would hardly Nearly a million and a quarter want to see) Immigration to lest demen bava already been discharged veloped countries, except, of course, from the army and navy since Pearl in tbe case of places like Alaska, Harbor. More than 50,900 were where there Is a need of settlers. physically "duabled, but excepting Another danger which besets the the severely wounded, roost f these farmer can b absorbed into civilian activi- would and which regional planning avert is the sense of insecuties. on the part of the farm people, rity Reconversion of our economic and due to the tendency toward tenant social ctructure la beginning. of farms under short-tim- e Two weeks ago. I discussed at operation which tenures, naturally leads to insome length in this column, the efficient farming, bad living condP George report on reconversion. Since tiona, lack of continuity. then hat coma the Baruch report oo Then, of course, there is the anthe same subject, which was rapidly of one-cro-p farming, followed by executive action. It cient bugbear inherited from slavery days partly looked aa if congress and the White House were In a race to see who and particularly noticeable in cotton Another factor is the would be first to start the colossal agriculture. wage labor situation in particular Job. While attention la being centered localities (also a heritage of another on readjustment of industry, less at- day) which results in poor living tention bas been paid publicly to the conditions and unproductive and unsatisfactory work. Other disturbing necessary readjustments in agricul- factors are the use of submarginal ture which must come. Because lands or unsuitably located farms to will have many starving peoples be fed for seme two years after the and then, of course, the problem of the exhaustion of resources with the war la over, the demand on the counter-measure of conservation. farmers for production of food and out la It that the situation textiles should continue on somewhat pointed the same basis as at present But which met the pioneer in America adjustments will have to be made resulted in certain definite tendenwhether or not this high rate of cies and traditions affecting the production Is maintained because American attitude toward agriculany changes In our economic life ture. These pioneer conditions, of are bound to affect tbe farmers. course, ceased when there were no One of the most Important recent more good, new lands which could contributions to this planning for the be opened up. But their effect lives on and has affected land policies adjustment of agriculture has been made by Dr. Murray R. Benedict ever since. Dr. Benedict lays great stress on a Wisconsin farm boy who Is now a professor of agriculture in the Uni- the fact that land policies which versity of California. He points out were well suited to the pioneer do in a very thorough study of "Farm not fit In at all with our modem economy and he emphasizes heavily People and the Land After the War, released by the National Planning the need of altering the tenant-farmsituation. In the old days a man, association, that if we want our people to be adequately and suitably if conditions were unsatisfactory, fed, and if we want our farmers and could pack his family and belongings farm workers to be satisfied, farm- in a covered wagon, cross the range ing will have to be made more eff- and stake out a fresh claim for himicient and farm life more attractive self. Now, if he hai no place of his both as a business and as a way of own, he has to work on someone else' terms and like it life. "The past two decades have Political Reaction brought clearly into view, says Dr. Unfortunately, there Is a great Benedict the insecurity and danger that such efforts will be frus- destructiveness of the American systrated owing to the very natural tem of tenancy, the rapid deteriorapolitical reaction of a democratic tion of soils, and the increasing difcountry, long under federal regulaficulty with which able young farmtion which is necessary in wartime. ers can become established on the Once peace returns, a free people land. is anxious t throw out its chest and start off lustily, paddling its own Three Improvements He believes that wise legislation canoe again. It must be remembered that up could be put into action and three important improvements could be until 1870, the condition of agriculture shaped the entire anatomy of brought about: (1) Powerful Incentive for the tenthe American body economic-politi- cal to conserve the soil since he ant social. After 1870, industry developed to the point where it would reap the benefits. (2) Much more careful selection of became the tail that wagged the tenants, since removal of poor tenagricultural dog. would be more difficult Since 1870, the percentage of the ants (3) Improved community status of in nonagricul-tural engaged population activities has remained either those tenants who become ofestabthis about stable or has shown a slight lished under arrangements The farm population kind. increase. Such is a brief summary of the showed a decrease until now when it has become fairly stabilized at goals studied in typical research now being done for the benefit of the about 30 million. It would be possible, provided cer- farmer. Unfortunately, however, as I said tain definite steps were taken, either to increase the number of paying earlier, politics Is bound to play a tarm jobs or to achieve greater pro- powerful role in the effort to secure duction with a fewer number of any wise legislation and, with selfish interests, will make up the chief workers, so that we could have more obstacle. or less farmers, according to proCircumstances will force action in duction needs and still make it reto the reconversion and adregard munerative to all. of in the present Accordmg to Dr. Benedict, the nor- justmentof industry congress but it would be mal birth rate keeps the farm popu- session lation just about stable unless sharp an optimist indeed who would preshifts to and from the farm are dict that constructive farm legislamade. The shifts do come and they tion could be carried out in an electhrow the whole farm picture cut tion year. The farm lobby is one of kilter. This is where the tail of the most powerful in congress wagging the dog comes in, for in but unfortunately pressure exerted time of depression, of course, in- by it frequently fails to have for its dustrial workers seek livelihood on objective the general good of the country. Proponents of certain the farm and, therefore, have a tendency to glut the market in time measures may be really honest in of boom, the farm boy deserts the expressing the wish of their particular constituents but the farm probHelds fqr the cities and the betterlem in America is so closely interpaying jobs. woven with every phase of our life, Four Major Factors social as well as economic, that to There are four factors which can envision it properly one must consider the welfare of the entire natake up or let out the slack: (1) A larger demand for farm tion, not the special interests of any one particular locality. products at home or abroad. WNU Service, Union er "... BRIEFS. Men representing the War Man- power commission and the war de- partment have been surveying areas Df labor shortage where prisoners of war may be used effectively in farm-n- g and industry. About one million men have been nade dentally fit for duty by U. S. irmy dentists, according to the war iepartment. . . by Baukhage Increased imports of coffee and cocoa from Brazil and other American republics now assure a larger quota of these products for U. S. civilians in 1944. ... About 118 cups of tea per person more than in 1943 will be available for U. S. civilians this year if shipping conditions permit, according to the War Food administration. |