Sttfc^
jOURNM
»E FAR1
VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, OCT. 21, 1911.
NO. 42
SOIL FERTILITY LEAGUE.
Some    Cheering     Words     From     the
President of  the  League,
Howard H. Gross.
The plan of placing in every county
a trained soil expert to assist the
farmers to solve the problem of a
better yield and more permanent agriculture is so simple, so direct and so
obviously practical, many exclaim,
"Why does not the government do it?
The expense of ten cents per person
per year is as nothing. It will repay
the outlay a hundred fold."
The Nation Must Move.
The answer is, the government ls a
Tery hig and a very slow-moving body.
It seldom if ever does anything for the
people except upon a loud and long-
continued demand. It took years to
get free rural mail delivery, years and
years to get postal savings bank. For
many years there has been a long and
persistent demand for the parcels post
that now seems near. Judging from
this, if we are to have a realization of
the plan of the National Soil Fertility
League we may only expect it after an
earnest, vigorous, intelligent campaign
and it will come in response to a popular and widespread demand coming
up from  the  people.
The National Soil Fertility League
assumes the obligation of creating a
demand and it dedicates its energies
to the task with full confidence that
the desired end will be~attained.
How the league Will be Financed.
It Is estimated that it will cost from
$50,000 to $75,000 a year to carry forward the work contemplated by the
League. It would be a waste of time
and money to start a great movement
of this kind and not follow it up.
Hence it is proposed to put this matter squarely up to the people and the
corporations, who can afford to contribute substantial sums from year to
Tear, to place the league upon a permanent and   substantial   basis.
A number of subscriptions from $500
to $2,500 a year, for a series of years,
were made before the League was incorporated. Otheft- subscriptions for
similar amounts are promised. This
Sreat work is a business proposition;
i's success will be a direct and substantial benefit to every one who eats
and works; as a movement it is in a
elass by itself. The names appearing
uPon this pamphlet, together with the
h'gh purpose for which the League is
formed, should inspire confidence in
its effort. The management will not
urge anyone to contribute; it will, how-
ever, be glad to have those who can
afi"ord it do so.
One Big Contribution.
°ne contributor of $500.00 a year,
w'th assurance of a like sum for ten
}ears, said:
1 regard it as a privilege to subscribe
0 this enterprise. I believe it will
Prove an investment that will be of far
"•eater benefit to my posterity than it
°uld to leave the sum as part of my
estate."
James J. Hill Joins the League.
tor * m°St encourae'nS and satisfac-
>' experience of the projector of the
Sue was the    hour and    a half he
spent with Mr. James J. Hill of
St. Paul. Mr. Hill is one of
the high peaks of humanity,
and few if any one, have done
more for their day and generation. His
knowledge of agriculture is profound;
his insight into human nature is even
greater. He has done and is doing
unique and wonderful work in developing agriculture as well as other Industries.
After listening to a detailed statement of the plans and purposes of the
National Soil Fertility League, and the
methods it proposes to adopt, and after asking a few questions to get the
matter more fully before him, Mr. Hill
in  accepting  the  chairmanship  of   the
of the movement requires that another
shall lead, the writer will cheerfully
take any place that he can fill, and do
his best there. In the meantime, whatever he has of ability and energy ls
dedicated to this work. He asks, needs
and urges everyone who reads this to
do what he can to help us reach the
goal. With the loyal support of the
people we feel we cannot fail—without
it we cannot succeed.
GROWING A PRIZE WHEAT CROP.
Editor, Indiana Farmer:
First I plow early, getting the ground
in good order by sometimes using a
disc harrow and sometimes a spring-
tooth  or  all    done with    a  peg-tooth,
Threshing Prize Wheat Crop on the "Old Home Farm" of W. A. Barnett,
Hazleton, Indiana, which yielded over  31 bushels per acre.
Advisory Committee of the Lea,gue
said substantially:
The College Bulletins.
"The trouble with most of our college agriculturists is that they talk
over the heads of the farmers; the bulletins sent out are too technical; one
would have to be considerable of a soil
chemist to understand them. My experience is that there is only one way
to get the farmer to take up the better
methods of agriculture, and that is to
show him. You must get right down
on the ground with them, forget your
Latin and biological names, and just
talk common sense and show them results. Your plan contemplates this and
it .will work; there is no question
about it. Keep down to the ground
and you are all right."
Must be No Failure.
Is this not a practical, workable proposition? Scores of the best judges feel
sure that it will succeed if the work is
sustained and well done. The plan is
right beyond a question. If it fails,
it will be the fault of the management.
As the originator of the movement
and its chief executive officer, the
writer desires to say:
The success of this project means a
benefit beyond comprehension. The
opportunity is here. The time is ripe.
Many of the biggest and best men of
the country are back of this movement
with their names and their money.
This means that they believe both in
the plan and tho man. If, however, It
shall   he-eafter  appear   that  the   good
followed by a roller or what we call a
clod crusher or pulverizer. Then with
a peg-tooth harrow and followed with
a good drag to level the ground which,
has previously had the middle furrows and corners plowed in. Sometimes all our fields are back-lashed, at
any rate I want my fields level for any-
kind of seed.
Now, when I commence getting my
seed wheat ready, I want the very best
that can be found, and when that is
secured I use a good fanning mill to
take out all small grains and foul seed.
When I get ready to sow I formaldehyde my wheat as follows:
Uses Farmaldeliydo for Saeed Wheat.
To fifty gallons of water one lb. of
formaldehyde. I next spread out what
wheat I expect to use next day on a
platform, and using a common sprinkler I stir the above formula thoroughly in the wheat, when this is done I
cover it over with sacks or a can%ras
thoroughly disinfected, this Is for smut
or wheat that might be diseased. As to
when I sow I try to wait until I think
the danger of  fly is over.
Crop  Rotation   and  Manure.
In regard to rotation of crops they
vary; if I have a field in corn, I follow
It up in the spring with cow-peas and
sow wheat in the fall, then clover the
following spring; all this time I scatter
all the barn-yard manure I can get. If
I can get a stand of clover I pasture it,
and if the other crops come up to
what I expect I will sow the clover
Peld in wheat. I believe in a rotation
of crops. About half of my farm is
in White river bottoms and I am gov.
erned somewhat by the river and the
seasons, there are times when I am
compelled to sow an oats crop, lf I am
I follow with wheat, If I lose thi
wheat I follow with corn or cow-peas.
At all times I try to keep my ground
up in a first class condition so it will
produce any kind of a crop.
Feed the Land and Use Fertilizers.
If I cut up fodder, I sow the field in
rye. A farm is just like live stock, it
must be fed, and the better we feed our
farms the better results we can expect. I use some commercial fertilizer, when I do I use from two to three
hundred pounds per acre, it will make
a crop mature quicker and be a little
firmer, and weigh heavier. Yours for
better crops. W. A.  Barnett.
Hazelton,   Ind.,   Gibson   Co.
Note by Editor of Farmer—Mr. Barnett was one of the wheat prize winners
of the Indiana Farmer, and one of the
enterprising farmers of Gibson county.
The cut shown on this page illustrates
the late wheat threshing on his farm
near  Hazleton,  Indiana.
FARMERS' INSTITUTES.
Get In Touch With Your Neighbors In
Agricultural Matters.
At this season of the year when
farmers' institute meetings are being
booked for next winter, a short article
concerning the work may be helpful.
Although farmers' institutes are not
a "new thing under the sun", there
are still thousands of farmers who
have had no direct contact with the
work ,and consequently know very little of its merits. We still, occasionally, meet or hear of a man, who characterizes the institute work as "paper
farming", and believes it to be a useless expense. Such objectors are in
the minority, so far as both numbers
and influence are concerned, and
might, therefore, be ignored; but, as
the definite aim of the institute work Is
to improve every farm and every farm
home, these doubting Thomases should
receive some consideration. It is not
expected that one or several newspaper articles will convert these people.
They must, themselves, "sample the
goods." When Nathaniel said, "Can
any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
Philip wisely answered, "Come and
see.". So we say to these skeptical
people, come and see. Attend two or
three live farmers' institutes and get
in touch with your neighbors, who are
trying to improve their farms, their
live stock and their homes, and also
striving to better the neighborhood
conditions, financially, socially, intellectually and morally. Visit the farms
and homes of active institute workers,
and note the Improvement effected by
means of better seed, better blood, better methods, better conveniences in the
home and sanitary conditions in and
around the farm buildings. Actual
contact In the farmers' Institute meetings, with the bright, earnest, progressive men and women of the farm, who
are seeking to improve home and
neighborhood, will prove inspiring
and helpful to every one. Not only
will the very best practical farmers
feel the uplift of such association, but
the indifferent or poor farmer and the
lonely or discouraged farmer's wife
will.