The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know

cheme. He must contemplate well and seriously the philosophy which underlies his plans. Unless he sees clearly what he is

ed in the results of a single year. For this reason the itinerant tenant system will not be satisfac

more seasons of preparation an enormous crop of cabbages may be secured. This fact is of little value unless sufficient quantity is raised and the process can be repeated annually. Cabbages cannot be grown again on this particular piece of land for from four to six years on account of club root. If the farmer

h products year after year, and (2) how to keep up or improve the fertility of the soil economically while doing so. I

or animal products, but more likely they will be both. When animals form a large part of the enterprise the cropping system must be carefully adjusted to meet the needs of

nitrogen and the larger part of the potash in the manure, he is able to raise twelve tons of silage in place of eight tons, or three tons of hay in place of two tons, his enterprise as a whole will be more profitable when he uses the extra amount of bedding, although so far as the production of a quart of milk is concerned the cost is increased.

the yields have been: Maize, 42 bushels; oats, 32 bushels; wheat, 14 bushels; and hay, 2,783 pounds per acre. But when conditions exist which represent the feeding of corn, oats and hay and the return of manure to the soil, the

ity of the soil. From a financial or economic point of view the most important soil element is nitrogen. First, because it costs from 18 to 20 cents a pound, while phosphoric acid can be purchased at five cents, potash a

evised at the present prices of farm products and cost of fertilizers for the production of the ordinary cereals and hay that does not include the production of some legume. Assuming a legume in the cropping scheme, the fertility of the soil may be maintained by yard ma

le amounts of purchased feeds are used and the resulting manure carefully preserved and

ut the philosophy underlying farm s

ertilization which the results of the Pennsylvania Station indicated wo

d manure, 8

ts no

W

sphate,

f potash,

and timoth

Tim

of soda,

sphate,

of potas

n and one on which there is no considerable amount of purchased feed. Where concentrates are purchased libera

mount of maize and hay and reduce the amount of oats and wheat, the

id phosphat

yard manu

ts no

W

sphate,

f potash,

and timoth

Tim

of soda,

sphate,

of potas

yard manu

fertilizer applied to timothy under No. 6 could be repeated under No. 7. If the land is more or less depleted, an application of 200 pounds of acid phosphate

manure might, in some instances at least, be modified to good advantage by reducing the amount of manure and increasi

these substances are used in abundance and returned to the soil the amount of potash required to be supplied in fertilizers is reduced to a minimum. Where, however, t

the sale of farm crops or animal products. There is no way of returning

ation of the fertilizers, but not the principles enunciated. For example, a soil on which common red clover grows luxuriantly and has a prominent place in the farm scheme w

has perhaps usually happened in the past, that during the first rotation the increase in crops has not paid for the cost of the fertilizers applied. In many instances a rational system of fertilization has not been introduced because the owner of the land could not afford to wait six years for his return. Profit in farming, therefore, does not consist in raising one big crop or even in obtaining a large balance on the right side of the ledger in a single

wo miles each morning and each evening rather than to take the trouble to hitch up his horse. If one visits a high-grade breeder of dairy cattle, he is very apt to find his pigs of ordinary character. On the other hand, a specialist in hogs is likely to keep scrub cows. A man may be an excellent wheat raiser and a poor potato grower, and the reverse. The breeder of live stock is likely to be lacking in his methods of producing

he studies his own adaptabilities and deficiencies, the more likely he is to succeed in the open country. For this reason, the young man should be careful to get as broa

a man in

as wondr

at if he w

e to fe

that makes

man of act

kes the good

ate plumps

ly wrong to w

and sog

have to p

crease t

have drain

ow it dee

then Ill

will gro

soils will

sod tha

have a s

to put

oing all th

success

y very be

ting the

, and lime,

that that

e done that

re and f

vi