VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, OOT. 28, 1011.
NO. 43
BETTER CROP YIELDS.
1VHAUSTION   OF   SOIL  FERTHJTY
IM/USTRATED.
PRODUCTION       COMPARISON       IN
THE UNITED STATES AND IN
EUROPE.
.ROWING     GREATER     CROPS     IN
AMERICA.
be kept 26 head of stock which in the
period they are housed annually would
make approximately 180 tons manure.
This would supply about six tons manure per acre to the  30 acres of corn
Fertilizers Must be Used
Fertilizers come to the assistance of
the farmers in keeping up the supply
of fertility of his farms. These fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphoric acid
COMPARATIVE YIEtaD ON SAME ACREAGE
IN EUROPE. IN TIIE  UNITED  STATES.
[Addresses at Springfleld,  Illinois.]
Five important circumstances force
Ihe attention of American men of affairs toward the crop yield of the
farm, Viz. :
(1) The   rapid   increase   in   population
of the  United  States.
In 1870 it was 38.5 millions.
In  1910 it was 91.9  millions.
In 1960 at the same rate of increase it will be 200,000,000, all
to be sustained on 873,000,000
acres.
(2) The   exhaustion   of  the   supply   of
free lands.
(3) The rapid increase in  land values.
Much   higher  yields   must  come
from    the average     farm    now,
than did 30 years.ago to pay the
same rate of Interest on  the investment.
H)  The increased  cost of  living.    The
farmer's income must  be  larger
now  than  it  was   30   years ago,
because  his  living  expenses  are
higher.
(5)  European  farms  which  have been
operated  for the past  100 years
have   been   brought   up   to  yield
nearly double per acre what the
average American farm is yielding.
Agricultural     Experiment     Stations,
Agricultural  Colleges,  Schools    of Agriculture,  Farmers  Institutes,   Granges,
thp Agricultural press and various other agencies are working for the betterment of agriculture, and carrying on a
vigorous campaign of education among
the agriculturists of this country. These
organizations   are   pointing   out   to   the
farmer  that     the  essentials     to  better
farm  returns     are  scientific     drainage,
""il   tillage,   crop   rotation,   seed   selection,  application  of  barnyard   manure,
t'rop   cultivation     and   crop     spraying
'for   potatoes      and      orchards).    The
most up-to-date agriculturists are adding to this list of soil fertilization. ReUable experiments have shown conclusively that fertilizers have an essential
Part to play in keeping up the fertility
°f the soil, and    in getting    maximum
Welds from  our crops.
Professor Hopkins of Illinois Experiment Stations points out a constant
exhaustion of soil fertility from each
"ere of a farm operated on a 5 year
svstem   of rotation,  as  follows:
v««   Crop Tield per A. Nitrogen.
i    Corn 150 bushels 148
-   oau 100 bushels   97
< "beat 50 bushels   98
Meadow 4   tons 160
Pasture 4 tons 160
Total   for  6   years 661
'«•   Crop -yield per A.              Phos. Acid.
J   Corn ioo buahels 23
:    "ats 100 bushels 16
■•    "neat 50 bushels 16
,     Meadow 4 tons 20
Pasture 4 tons 20
rotal  for 5  years 95
?'   Cr°P TleldperA.                       Potash
,   Corn 100 bushels 71
3   »vs . 10° bushels 68
< SL*JL* *" """"el- 58
WHEAT
OA TS ^*i
BARLEY
POTATOES
m*m
Meadow
4 tons 120
4 tons 120
s    Pasture
Total   for   S   years..!,'.'.'. .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.4i1
n this farm  there would  probably
each year; or, each acre would receive
60 lbs. nitrogen, 30 lbs., phosphoric
acid and 60 lbs. potash once in flve
years. When the pasture is plowed in
the fall let us grant that about one
ton per acre of ,_reen material is plowed under. This with the roots of the
grass and clover will supply about 68
pounds of nitrogen, 30.8 pounds phosphoric acid and 54 pounds potash, according to Prof. Roberts of Cornell.
Then the fertility account stands as
follows:
Nitrogen, lbs.
Plant food removed per acre In 5 years. . 661
Returned In manure and in g-reen crop..  128
Acre loss in 5 years  533
Acre   loss   ln   1   year  106.6
Phos. Add. lbs.
Plant food removed per acre ln 6 years..  95
Returned In manure and green crop   60
Acre loss in 5 years 35
Acre   loss   In    1   year     7
Potash, lbs.
Plant food removed per acre In 5 years.. 437
Returned  In  manure  and  green  crop,... 114
Acre loss ln 5 years .323
Acre  loss  In   1   year...,. ...64.6
and potash in readily available or
slowly available form—the advisability
suited to the nature of the crop to
which they are to be applied.
In the soils of the middle west phosphoric acid is found to be the element
of plant food most deficient. Phosphoric acid is supplied in at least five
important forms:
(1) Barnyard manure which carries on
the average flve to ten pounds
per ton.
(2) Ground  bone,  tankage and dissec-
ated bone black which carry
about 22.9 per cent, 15 per cent
and 15 per cent phosphoric acid,
respectively.
(3) Raw rock phosphate which carries
25 to 32 per cent of very slowly
available   phosphoric   acid.
(4) Basic, Slag, which carries 15 to 20
per cent of slowly available
phosphorie acid.
(5) Acid phosphate—acidulated phos-
phatic rock—this form carries
14 to 18 per cent phosphoric
acid  readily  available.
Experience From Europe.
The experience of Great Britain,
France, Germany, Sweden and other
European countries point to the value
of fertilizers used in their proper place
along with all the other scientific practices   of   agriculture   noted   above.
European yields ,Vmerlcan Yields
Bushels per A Bushels per A.
Wheat 35.1 .   13.5
Oats 35.9 29.6
Barley 35.2 25.1
Potatoes 212.8 84.4
•Average of 10 years yield per acre.
The increased yields of European
crops over American must flnd its explanation in better methods of agriculture which prevail among European
farmers; methods which include wise
use of fertilizers. We have at hand
copies of letters from the leading agriculturists of Germany, France, Holland and England, which attribute
from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the
increase of European yields over
American yields to this wise use of
fertilizers.
Crop Yields in This Country.
A comparison of the yields per acre
of the North Atlantic States of this
country which use large quantities of
fertilizers with the yields per acre of
the Center West States east of the
Mississippi which are Just coming into
the use of this commodity, shows the
following:
TIELD  PER   ACRE.
North Middle
Atlantic States        West States
Corn     40.3 bus. 37.7  bus.
Wheat    19.1 bus. 15.9 bus.
Barley 28.7  bus. 26.1 bus.
Potatoes     115.0 bus. 91.7 bus.
Hay      1.33  tons 1.27 tons
Indeed the average yield per acre of
potatoes in the state of Maine for the
year 1910 was 220 bushels; and the
average for the previous two years exceeded this by five bushels per acre.
Greater Crops in  America
The well-known Agronomist, Prof.
H. Bell, says:
The following flve circumstances
force the attention of American men of
affairs toward crop yields of the
farm:
1. Rapid   increase  in   population.
2. Exhaustion    of supply    of    free
lands.
3. Rise  in  land  values.
4. Increase ln cost of living.
5. The   fact   that   Eastern   farmers
upon  lands     which   have     been
operated  for  the  last  100  years
have been able  to  bring up the
yield   per  acre   of   cereal   crops,
and other crops, to almost double  what  the   American   farmer
is  getting.
Agricultural     Experiment     Associations and all other organizations working for the betterment of the farm are
impressing    upon    the    minds    of the
farmers  the  importance  of  up-to-date
methods of farming.    One of the chief
among these ls crop rotation, but when
crop rotation is figured out in its ultimate analysis—granted   that  the  farm
is carrying as much live stock as it will
support—the  fertility  of  the  soil  cannot permanently be maintained.
Fertilizers to Help.
Fertilizers come to tr»e assistance of