The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know Part 5

2. Maize yard manure, 8 tons.

3. Oats nothing.

4. Wheat acid phosphate, 350 lbs.

muriate of potash, 100 lbs.

5. Clover and timothy nothing.

6. Timothy nitrate of soda, 150 lbs.

acid phosphate, 150 lbs.

muriate of potash, 50 lbs.

7. Timothy yard manure, 8 tons.

Where there is plenty of yard manure, it would be also applied to maize under No. 1, or the yard manure could be applied to maize under No. 1, and commercial 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 to the oats would be advisable. However, the purpose is not to prescribe exact methods, but to point out underlying principles and their possible application.

As further ill.u.s.tration, it seems probable that the practice of a market gardener in using excessive amounts of stable manure might, in some instances at least, be modified to good advantage by reducing the amount of manure and increasing the amount of commercial fertilizer used. Unfortunately there is no experimental evidence bearing upon this question.

Potash required to maintain fertility is largely to be found in the coa.r.s.e fodder, such as hay, maize stover and silage, and in the straw used for bedding; hence where 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, the amount of live stock is limited and the products sold contain large quant.i.ties of potash, such as hay and straw, the supply furnished in fertilizers must be liberal.

Phosphoric acid is always being slowly depleted from the soil either from the sale of farm crops or animal products. There is no way of returning this loss completely, except from the addition of a commercial fertilizer.

The above fertilizer suggestions are based on the experiments covering a period of more than 25 years on a limestone soil. Soils may modify materially the amount and application 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 will require less nitrogen in commercial fertilizers in order to maintain the fertility than where legumes are raised with difficulty or do not form a part of the farm scheme.

One of the most important points to be emphasized is the fact that haphazard fertilization is not effective in maintaining soil fertility. If one starts out to establish a five-course rotation and build up his soil through a rational system of fertilization, he will obviously not obtain the full benefit of the rotation until he begins to get crops from the second round, which will be the sixth year from the beginning. It may happen, and unfortunately it 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 year. It is both interesting and valuable to know that five tons of timothy hay, 45 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of maize and 40 tons of cabbage may be raised on an acre, but the real profit in farming only comes through a lifetime of effort. To the man of capacity who prepares for his work the results will surely come, but they will not come all at once and, as in every other business, he must pay the price in hard work and close application to details.

In this connection it may be emphasized that one of the difficulties in successful farming is to find one man both interested and capable along the various lines essential to a successful farm enterprise. The danger is that a man will ride his hobby to the detriment of the other activities of the farm. A farmer friend of the writer, who keeps a horse and buggy, cares so little for a horse that for several years he has walked two 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 farm crops, while the up-to-date, so-called general farmer is not likely to be a special lover of live stock. In like manner, the man may be a successful farmer, dairyman or horticulturist from the producing side, but be a poor salesman. In fact, those qualities of mind and heart which make for the best success from the standpoint of production, whether soil products or animal products, is not that which makes the best trader.

It is not expected that the young farmer will be materially different from his hundreds of thousands of predecessors, but the better a man is trained and the more fully 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 broad a training as possible. It is, therefore, often more important for him to study those things which he dislikes than to study the things for which he has a natural taste.

There was a man in our town And he was wondrous wise.

He knew that if he wanted crops He'd have to fertilize.

"Its nitrogen that makes things green,"

Said this man of active brain; "And potash makes the good strong straw, And phosphate plumps the grain.

But it's clearly wrong to waste plant food On a wet and soggy field; I'll surely have to put in drains If I'd increase the yield.

"And after I have drained the land I must plow it deep all over; And even then I'll not succeed Unless it will grow clover.

Now, acid soils will not produce A clover sod that's prime; So if I have a sour soil, I'll have to put on lime.

"And after doing all these things, To make success more sure, I'll try my very best to keep From wasting the manure.

So I'll drain, and lime, and cultivate, With all that that implies; And when I've done that thoroughly I'll manure and fertilize."

_Vivian_

CHAPTER IX

THE ROTATION OF CROPS

The two essential reasons for a rotation of crops are: (1) The possibility of obtaining for the soil a supply of nitrogen from the air by introducing a legume at regular intervals, and (2) the prevention of injury to the crops from fungous diseases, insect enemies, weeds or other causes. Other reasons are often advanced, some of which are entirely erroneous, while others are of quite secondary importance.

The rotation should be carefully studied with reference to the farm scheme as previously outlined. Reasons for modifying the rotations are: (1) To change the kind or proportion of crops grown, (2) to change the amount of labor required, or (3) to increase the crop-producing power of the soil.

During 25 years the four crops of maize, oats, wheat, timothy and clover hay have been taken in rotation from the four tiers of plats at the Pennsylvania State College, so that the influence of the soil has been entirely eliminated. At the December farm prices for the decade ending December 1, 1906, the value of these four crops per acre have been: Maize, $29.67; oats, $14.49; wheat, $18.49; and hay, $18.05. It will be noted that during 25 years the average income from an acre of maize has been almost exactly twice that from an acre of oats. The region where these results were obtained is relatively unfavorable to a large yield of maize. It is obvious, therefore, that a modification in the rotation may modify the average income from the farm materially, provided such modification does not reduce the fertility of the soil.

Thus, while the average income per acre during 25 years for the four-course rotation above mentioned was $20.17, if the rotation were increased to a five-course rotation by the addition of another year of maize, the average income would be $22.45 an acre.

It may be desirable to modify the rotation in order to increase or decrease a certain crop usually fed upon the farm. Thus, with a four-course rotation of maize, oats, wheat, clover and timothy, one-fourth the area would produce hay; while with a six-course rotation, composed of maize, oats, wheat, each one year, and hay three years, one-half the area would produce hay. If it is desired to still further reduce the area in oats and wheat, a seven-course rotation could be arranged with maize, two years in succession. This is the rotation that would be desirable for a dairy farm where it is planned to keep as many cows as practicable and to buy the concentrates largely. Either the wheat or the oats could be taken out of this rotation if either the one or the other were thought undesirable and a still greater amount of roughage desired.

On the other hand, there are places where the minimum amount of roughage is wanted. There are certain sections of the central West where it is possible to sow oats on corn stubble without plowing and where occasionally a rotation is practiced of maize, oats and mammoth clover. The clover is plowed for maize, the oats are disked in upon the corn stubble and the next year the clover is pastured until about June 1, when it is allowed to go to seed. In this rotation the only roughage obtained is the corn stover and the oat straw.

Another result reached by this rotation is that only one-third the land is plowed annually. In the four-course rotation mentioned above three-fourths of the land must be plowed, while in the six-course rotation one-half is plowed each year. In other ways the character of the rotation modifies the labor. For example, the labor and cost of harvesting an acre of hay is much less than that of producing, harvesting and thres.h.i.+ng an acre of wheat.

Rotations may often be planned with reference to the main or cash crop. Thus in the Aroostook (Maine) potato district the rotation is potatoes, oats and clover. The chief purpose of the oats and clover is to keep down the blight in potatoes and add through the clover nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.

A system of cropping that is best when the owner operates the farm may not be desirable when the farmer is a tenant. When a farm is rented, the lease should provide that clover or other legumes occur with sufficient frequency to keep up the supply of nitrogen without the purchase of a considerable quant.i.ty in chemical fertilizers. The lease should be so drawn as to make it necessary for the tenant to keep live stock in order to realize the largest profit. The landlord should provide an equitable proportion of the mineral fertilizers when such are required.

The provisions of the lease and the character of the rotation will necessarily vary with circ.u.mstances, but the following system of tenant farming which has been employed for many years in Maryland will ill.u.s.trate the principles just stated:

The lease provides for a five-course rotation consisting of maize, wheat, clover, wheat, clover. The landlord and the tenant share the maize and wheat equally, but the clover for hay or pasture goes entirely to the tenant, unless hay is sold, when it is divided equally. They each provide one-half the commercial fertilizer and one-half the seed, except clover seed, which the tenant is required to furnish.

This lease provides for two clover crops out of every five crops raised, thus supplying nitrogen abundantly, and the terms of the lease are such that it is necessary for the tenant to keep live stock to consume these clover crops in order to secure the most profitable returns. The feeding of the clover makes it necessary to feed some or all the maize and may lead to buying additional concentrates.

Stable manure is thereby supplied for the field which is to raise maize, while mineral fertilizers may be applied to the fields sown to wheat. On the limestone soils of the eastern states 50 pounds each of phosphoric acid and potash per acre applied to the wheat, and 10 loads of stable manure per acre to the maize will probably be found sufficient to maintain the crop producing power of the soil.

In laying out a farm for a rotation it is desirable to plan the number of fields or tracts that will go in a rotation and try to get these as nearly equal size as possible. Having decided upon the number of years the rotation is to run and having adjusted the fields or tracts accordingly, it is quite possible to modify the proportion of crops by adding one crop and dropping another at the same time. Thus, if there are six 20-acre fields, any one of the following rotations might be used and the change from one to another easily made:

1. Maize Maize Maize Maize Maize 2. Oats Maize Maize Maize Barley 3. Wheat Oats Oats Wheat Alfalfa 4. Clover and Wheat Clover and Clover and Alfalfa timothy timothy timothy 5. Timothy Clover and Timothy Timothy Alfalfa timothy 6. Timothy Timothy Timothy Timothy Alfalfa

During the first year the 20-acre field could be divided into four tracts of five acres each, containing potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and sweet corn, and then followed for four or five years by any succession of crops above outlined. The point is that a definite adjustment of the farm to some general method of rotation and a definite system of fertilization and soil renovation do not prevent a considerable lat.i.tude in the crops raised. It will be obvious that the longer the rotation the more flexible it becomes in this particular, which is a point to be considered in laying out the farm and in adjusting fields and fences.

In some cases it may be desirable on account of the arrangement of the farm or the character of the crops to be raised to have two distinct rotations of crops. For example, if the farm lends itself to be divided into eight tracts, a five-course rotation of maize, oats, wheat, each one year, and clover and timothy two years, and a three-course rotation of potatoes, oats or wheat and clover may be arranged.

CHAPTER X

THE EQUIPMENT

The workman is known by his tools. The problem of obtaining the most efficient machinery for the conduct of the farm without having an excessive amount is not easy of solution.

It is probable that the cost of maintaining machinery and tools is not less than 15%, 10% for upkeep and 5% for interest, even under the most careful management. Doubtless in practice it is as much as 25%. If this is conceded there must be a limit to the amount which may be economically invested in equipment. This is a place where the lead pencil may be used profitably. For example, if $125 is invested in a self-binder, the annual cost of the machine at 15% will be $18.75. If one has but 15 acres of grain to harvest, it may be better to hire a self-binder at $1 an acre. On the other hand, it may be necessary to own a self-binder in order to get the grain harvested at the proper time.

Among the machines requiring a considerable investment for the number of days used may be mentioned hay loaders, hay tedders, corn-binding harvesters and lime spreaders. There is a certain cla.s.s of labor-saving devices, however, for which there is more or less constant need, as, for example, means of pumping water, methods of handling manure, both from the stable to the manure shed, and from the manure shed to the field. This leads to the remark that there is at present great need of modifying our traditional ideas concerning farm barns. Why do persons usually sleep on the second floor, while horses and cattle are placed in the bas.e.m.e.nt? Three things have brought about the need of a radical revision of our practices concerning the planning of barns: (1) Our present knowledge of the difference in the function of food in keeping the animal warm, and that of producing work, flesh or milk; (2) the discovery of the bacillus of tuberculosis; and (3) the invention of the hay carrier. It is not the purpose here to discuss barn buildings, but merely to call attention to the fact that the traditional barn has long since outlived its usefulness, and that the young farmer should plan his farm buildings to serve the purposes required in the light of modern knowledge.

Various attempts have been made to manufacture combined machines; that is, a machine which, by an interchange of parts or other modification, may be used for two or more purposes, as, for example, harvesting small grain and cutting gra.s.s. Such attempts have usually been unsuccessful. On the other hand, the young farmer should consider the range of usefulness of any given type of machine or tool; thus, a disk harrow is more efficient for some purposes than a spring-tooth harrow.

For other purposes the spike-tooth harrow is better than the spring tooth. The spring-tooth harrow, however, will do fairly well wherever the disk harrow or the spike-tooth harrow is needed. When, therefore, only one of these tools can be afforded, the spring tooth may be a better tool to buy than either the disk or the spike-tooth, although it is not for certain purposes as efficient as either of the others.

The kind of machine should obviously be adjusted to the conditions, as, for example, the size of the farm, and the character of the farming. Riding plows may be desirable on level land, but where it is necessary to plow up and down hill, walking plows should be used. The extra weight of the wheel plow is not a serious matter on level land, because the sliding friction has been transferred to rolling friction, but no mechanical device has been or can be invented which will decrease the power necessary to raise a given weight a given height.