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Show I 1 SUGfR BEETS I FERTILITY OF THE SOIL. Particularly Applicable to the Beau- tiful Snake River Valley, Southern Idaho. During the last five years I have observed ob-served that the greater number of the farmers in the above mentioned scc-1 scc-1 tioii have given but very little thought 1 or attention to the necessity of re ft taining or increasing the fertility of 1 their soils in many localities. In the 1 Snake River Valltey, nature has been I very kind in the depositing of con- 1 Gidcjrablc fertilizer whjich gave the 1 farmers very good crops for a num- n her of years after the soil was pu. H under cultivation, and ma.ny of them 1 simply take all that they can get off of 1 the farm by doing as little work as I , possible, reducing the soil to poverty, as they never thought of putting any-i any-i thing back by way of fertilizer. And Ias a grain crop was the general crop throughout the valley, and as grain is ycry hard on the soil it worked a 1 . I great hardship on certain sections. However, we arc glad to note some improvement during the last few ' jjcars, as we together with a number of the farmers, have found that the cheapest fertilizer is found in plowing into the soil alfalfa or clover of first growth, just when it is coming into blossom, having the soil nice and moist and smoothing the surface as fast as plowed. The hot weather will j cause it to decay and it is plant food to pass off into the soil, giving to the soil immense quantities of nitrogen which the plant has gathered and which the soil is in so much need of throughout the Intcrmountain Wes. In this manner the alfalfa plant is destroyed de-stroyed so that they will not interfere inter-fere with other crops In following seasons. The soil should be plowed again in the fall just before freezing weather. A disc harrow should be used during the summer in order to destroy wced3 or any growth that I might appear between the two plow- ings. In this way the soil will get a thorough rest which it needs, and will be well fed and ready for" future work. Where the seasons are longer and where three crops of ' iy are secured in one year; t'n the second growth mfey be used w th success. Soil prepared in the above mentioned men-tioned manner has been found to be in excellent condition for sugar beet? for at least two crops thereafter. There is great necessity in the Intcrmountain In-tcrmountain West for rotation of crops. In fact it is absolutely necessary neces-sary if we maintain the necessary fertility fer-tility of the soil; first, for successful farming for present and future generations; gen-erations; and scoend, that markets for the crops' may be secured when raised. The farmers should become acquainted with the fact, if they are not already familiar, that at least ,o years ago the beautiful and extensive valleys of the, Sacramento and San Joaquin were used very extensively for the growing of wheat and immcnsJ and -splendid yields were secured." liul they continued to grow wheat consecutively con-secutively upon the soil until they hal reduced it to abject poverty, and now at the present lime about -all that they arc able to grow in a good deal of that section of country is a light crop of barley barley being a little lighter on the soil than wheat or oats, and owing to the fact that California hay crops in this particular section arc light, they find a market for the bar-Icy, bar-Icy, a greater portion of it, at San Francisco and other large cities in place of hay to feed their animals. However, it gives the farmers of that section very small returns for their labor, and the use of the soil, and in some localities they -arc beginning to change their methods of farming and kind of crops. In Idaho along the banks of the great Snake River and its tributaries, is on abundance of 'good land with plenty of water and the farmers in these sections should give more thought to the feeding of the soil, as it is at least just as necessary as the feeding of the horse that plows tli soil; as the soil furnishes food for all mankind and for all the animal creation, and it should be the objeel of each generation as they appear on the scene, to do their part in bequeathing be-queathing to the next generation, conditions better than they found them, as a high standard of culture means better returns for the labor performed with a higher standard of citizenship. I sincerely' hope that the farmers -of Idaho and all other sections, sec-tions, where it is necessary, will wake up and do their part along thejo lines. Northern Colorado (in, and around H Greeley) discovered the benefits dc- M rived from the application of the H above mentioned methods, in the use H of the alfalfa and clover plants as a H fertilizer, many years ago and by the H application of these methods and the M use of these plants have raised the M fertility of their soil to a higher -stand- H ard than almost any other section, H where they arc farming on a large B scale, and the farmers throughout H that section of the country have be- M come immensely rich and their soils H immensely valuable, and farmers who H have similar conditions may obtain H similar results, which I sincerely H hope they will do. M MARK AUSTIN. M ! |