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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1911)
i;ur "ILL . J- n Experts Whose Work Increases Sum of Human Happiness A 4 i i mi v urn k ,x . nr. ' if , "- mi V, v. V 1 . l ! -.A.V -J . v-.,vr.. " i vj " .-,V - ; V : A . ; v It Vi i - r " : - " ' ' 13! '.CI I ' XIII III l. Xjl 1 1 II I I sr o j j i i r . f i .,,.,,. i"HwiT -, rJ I SamesW. Zones - (1 I-' t th corn crop of his state compiled a series of corn JV f I I H I ' f 1 commandments, eight In all. They are: ' 'r -Vvv J'ryJ''''?i i VJ 1 l XoUSfeiV ' I Thou shalt test each ear of thy seed corn. v Ibef Vtlil. 5 - w Tnou snail narvest ana nang an or wy seea corn ! f f JB .ARMS are made of soil. Crops grow from the soil. The relation between these two slm ply stated facts makes the slcence of agriculture. Time was when the farm era and the scientists were far apart;' that was before the days of agriculture. When It waa just the process of putting seeds in the ground and waiting to see what came up, the process could be called farming. Science has entered Into the industry of. producing the things that people, eat and It has, therefore, become agriculture. Not many years ago the farmer sneered at the ag riculturist. Th farmer -was - growing things. ' The agriculturist was the man in the laboratory full of theories, experimental ideas. Today the agriculturist and the farmer are one. . The man of science has be come the special adviser of the farmer? Perusal of the ancient stories of the geological historian tell us of the days when primitive man first learned to scratch the face of the earth, put down cer tain kernels and cover them with earth. That was the beginning of farming. JuBt as slow as the devel X opment of the race has been the process of learning that certain seeds grow best in certain soils and the reasons why. In no other industry of the world doesxtradttlon die harder than on the farm. As his fathers did be fore him the primitive farmer of the unprogressive oriental countries and undeveloped Mexico plants and waits. A measure of the. same tendency has long re tarded the progress of American agriculture, and in agriculture America leads the world. The science of seeds and soils for years was viewed askance by the farmer. Prejudice Against Ikwk Farming. I that was before the days of agriculture. II i V - : '..X -l-'-' Prof. Holden's work tends toward the better util- V. . V' f could be called farming. Science has entered Into j'f Work- in a comparatively? new country Is being v4 I ; SS i the industry of. producing the things that people. eat , done by Prof. Thomas Shaw of St. Paul, Minn., a. XSV j . . .,.jf i Y and It hlLH therefore, become agriculture. X. '' - Ton aVinnr noiksr Prnf Shuw (n rarinr-inir tha -mWA ' " LSi-. ' I . njT ' ) n "No book farming" was the cry that answered the ' first appeal of the pioneers among the agricultural J scientists. The man with a degree earned by labor with alembic and test tube had no standing. The farmer assumed that the way to learn to grow things was to grow them, and he had been growing things the old way long enough to have confidence in no other. Today the man of science has the respect and attention of the farmer; they are working together. In fact, the farmer has become as much a scientist as the sugar chemist, the electrical engineer, the hy- draullc expert. The farmer's science Is just natural law applied to the fields and growing things. Applied science in all its branches may be defined in the same way. Two forces have been at work to bring about the co-operation farmer and scientist. First came neces sity which, by the way, seems to be the prime mover in most of the world's new enterprises; then came the assertive forces of the scientific men exploring the field of agriculture. Necessity was presented by the very primitive de sire to eat. The world has to eat. Detter farming had to come If the world was to keep on eating. The available productive areas In the reach of centers of civilization, and therefore centers of greatest con sumption, have with the growth of the nations become less and less adequate to tne demands made upon them under the old methods of farming. The "book farmer" asserted himself by moving from the botanic laboratory to the agricultural exper iment station and to the agricultural college.' The experiment station was the great force In convincing the farmer that science was a factor in the most suc cessful agriculture. Thus It has become possible to increase the yield of feed products per acre. The "book farmer" has given the man on the farm better seeds, new crops and new methods of cropping, hj the scientist the methods of intensive farming, which means Increased production on a given area, have been evolved and brought to perfection. Yet it was not many years ago that the man who preached rotation of crops was looked upon as a crank. But the cry for food has not been silenced yet. Intensive production on the areas now udder 'cultivation ran meet the present needs of the popula tion, but the tomorrow of possible want is always near at hand. Trusts, tariffs, copper magnates, market manipu lators, railroads and countless other factors In the i rnou. snail not lnipon seea corn irom aiar. j ' v 1 II ? . Thou shalt not follow oata or other small grains f ,' I , 1 ' ' with corn. J I 11 i s Thou shalt not farm without rotation of crops. . t- It II , x All of these commandments shalt thou observe and iit II " v " v- obey that you may be prosperous all the days of thy L! f J r " ' " .x -. i nfe. .. ;.:. . f " Izatlon of the resources already In hand In the well VA ,. I fj ' settled states. vCv H CS. "IP country of the northwest, hitherto never successfully L 1TX .Hansen. commercial forces of the nation have been blamed for the high cost of living, each by a different diagnosti cian. The one fact remains that none dispute if more food is produced there will be more to eat. Given sufficient production, at least a part of the ex perts admit, the question of price will tend to care for itself. Then, to Increase production, new areas of land must be brought under cultivation. Again, the man of science is called in to help the farmer serve the consumer. Science, both of agriculture and of englnering, has given water, to the arid sections through irrigation and made possible crops In others by the so-called "dry farming." Estimates made by the now accepted men of sci ence place the total acreage yet to be utilized In the country lying to the north of the Oklahoma line and west of the Missouri river to the Pacific coast and the Canadian boundary at not less than 100,000,000 acres. This is the territoy which was represented at the Omaha Land show just closed. The settlement of this almost continental area and its utilization for the purposes of food production represent the greater aim of the Land show held by The Omaha Dee. The scientific men who are making technically possible the utilization of this country gathered at the Land show to tell the people of the west their message. The producs were at the show as concrete evidence of pos sibility. How to achive the utmost that these oppor tunities offer was the story of the scientific men. The soil analylst, the dry farmer, the Irrigation expert, the entomologist, silo experts, grain culturlsts and professional lecturers on agricultural science In gen eral figured on the dally programs of the show. -- Holden a Farmers' Evangelist. Prof. P. G. Holden of Ames, la., head of the agri cultural extension work of the State Agricultural col lege, is the evangelist of the farm. Prof. Holden be gan his work as a corn specialist, but as his field of endeavors unfolded beforevhim he became more and more broadened in purpose. It is his mission now to tell the people of Iowa to be better citizens through being better farmers. The efficacy of this work is shown in the lows statistics. While it is true that population of the state has decreased in the last de cade, as shown by the United States census, the pro duction from the farms has increased. Prof. Holden is concerned, he says', more largely with the produc tion of better men than he is with crops. "If we see to it that the farmer is properly edu cated and Intelligently Instructed in his work the farm will work out its own problems under his administra tion," said Prof. Holden. "If the young msq can but be Interested in his work he will arrive at his own methods and the de tails of the problems put before him from day to day. The making of better people seems to me the best wsy to solve the general problems of the country, agricul tural and others." Prof. Holden's"department Is allotted an annual appropriation of $33,000 by the state. Under his di rection are twenty lecturers and instructors whose mission it la to travel over the state glviug lessons and demonstrations In the public schools, at the ex periment stations and before farmers' institutes. The gospel of farming rather than the concrete work of the field Is the greatest concern of Prof. Holden. He is known, however, as a corn specialist. He has In connection with his work toward the Improvement of the corn crop of his state compiled a series of corn commandments, eight In all. They are: Tbou shalt test each ear of thy seed corn. Thou sbalt grade thy seed" corn and test thy planter. Thou shalt improve thy corn by planting the best seed on one side of thy field. Thou shalt harvest and hang all of thy seed corn in the last days of September. Thou, shalt not import seed corn from afar. Thou shalt not follow oats or other small grains with corn. Thou shalt not farm without rotation of crops. All of these commandments shalt thou observe and obey that you may be prosperous all the days of thy life. Prof. Holden's work tends toward the better util ization of the resources already in hand in the well settled states. ' Work, in a comparatively; new country Is being done by Prof. Thomas Shaw of St. Paul, Minn., a Land show speaker. Prof. Shaw In reducing the wild , country of the northwest, hitherto never successfully cropped, produces the same feeds that are harvested in the lower Missouri river valley. One of the greater, works of Prof. Shaw Is the extension of the territory In which winter wheat may be grown. The produc. tlvlty of the northern wheat fields will be increased by nearly 50 per cent when the mission of Prof. Shaw is accomplished. - Something of the methods of the agricultural i scientist may be observed In the work of Prof. Shaw in winter wheat. Simple application of a very simple principle Is all that it is necessary to accomplish the successful growing of the great staple breadstuffs in the north. "Protection long enough to allow the wheat to get established in the soil Is all that Is necessary," de clared Prof. Shsw In the course of a conversation at the Land show. "One of the methods of gaining this protection is to plant corn on the proposed wheat field. When the corn has reached a sufficient height the fod der may be cut away, leaving a series of rows, dress ing the field preferably east and west, cutting the line of the prevailing wind. Let the wheat be planted at the proper seeding time in the fall. When the winter's snows come the standing cornstalks will bold enough of the drifts to cover the wheat securely. Or, the same thing may be accomplished by sowing wheat in barley stubble. It Is but a question of holding the snows during the cold weather. The success of this method has been amply demonstrated by Prof. Shaw on experimental tracts in Montana. Thousands of Kindly Thought I need no house, I need no bed, Except the blue sky overhead. I need no book and need no wine. The wind and all the world are mine. I need no steeple and no spire, I warm myself by mine own fire; I need no hostel and no dome, I bide in peace where'er I roam. I need no lamp to guide my feet, Where'er I go the way Is sweet With light' of laughter on sweet faces I lean to with my fairy graces. I need no throne, for there on high I keep my state in God's blue sky, And round me like a tent His love Keeps me as warm as any dove. My house. Indeed, Is all the world, My flag the banner never furled; For where around the world I g My house Is In the heart of woe. My house is in their hearts that weep, For when to them in Joy I creep There is a sunlight comes to bring The warm, sweet glory xf the spring. My house is where I go to heal The aching and the pain men feel; My hostel is the field of strife, . My tent is in the dream of life. There are no heralds run before To hall me coming to my door; There are no couriers when I leave. Though I'm the guest that all reeelve. With smiling and with welcome warm. Or if I came in sun or storm. Or If I come In winter Thill, Or when the sweet flowers paint the hill. But ever where I roam, the poor Make me most welcome at their door, For unto them It is I go With wealth that only they can know. Baltimore Sun. acres of winter Trtieat a.w grown by his methods near Fargo and Moorhead, in North Dakota. "Eventually wjnter wheat can be grown as far up .as the north branch of the Saskatchewan river, in Canada," said Prof. Shaw. The success of the dry farmer working under scientific methods is shown by an experiment con ducted by Prof. Shaw at Cut Bank, Mont., where a crop of twenty bushels of wheat to the acre was pro duced in a season when the total rainfall for the growing period was but three Inches. The year in which this wheat was produced, September, 1909, to September, 1910, but six inches of rain fell. In the northwest states -there are millions of acres yet to be planted where such obstacles do not have to be overcome. The experiment denotes the success of the method even under extreme test. This is a tri umph of the "book farmer." "There are 10,000,000 acres in Oregon alone which ought to be set to work producing food which are now growing nothing more important than ragged sagebrush," said Prof. Shaw. "But where sagebrush can grow, crops can be produced. The time will come when these 10,000,000 acres will have to be farmed." Application of scientific principles is being carried on in Idaho orchard districts by Prof. J. Wilkes Jones, known to Omaha as the manager of the first national corn exposition. He is showing how fruit may be grown at big profits on soil which without the aid of man will literally "not grow enough vegetation to hide a jack rabbit." Prof. Jones, whose head quarters are now in Boise, was formerly connected with the agricultural extension work of Iowa's State Agricultural college, where he was associated with Prof. P. G. Holaen. For several years Prof. Jones had charge of extensive orchards near Council Bluffs. Utilizing a Disused Plant. The remains of an hydraulic plant south of Boise have by happy fortune become of use to farmers of the section through the Ingenuity of Prof. Jones. The high pressure plant has been made to carry water to the crops of an extensive section. In this area land which produced but enough grass for two weeks of grazing in the autumn now Is made to yield nine tons of alfalfa per cutting. A combination of buHiness principles and scientific facts has'' produced results in the Idaho project. "There is one conspicuous advantage in growing fruit in an Irrigated section such as we have at Boise," said Prof. Jones. "The country is naturally so dry that the fungi troubles of the orchardlst in the middle west are not known. Insects are few and easily com bated. Since we so seldom have rains, one spraying of the trees there has the efficiency of several In the vicinity of Omaha, for instance. A spray properly put on the tree is allowed to remain practically until It wears off. Here if the trees are sprayed a rain may come up in a night and undo a great deal of expensive work. "The irrigated land, too, offers another advantage of the alfalfa farmer. He can be assured of getting up his crops without the Interference of rain." Regardless of soil fertility and moisture, seeds are required to produce crops. Through the seed the wealth of the soil is mined. The mining machinery roust be of the best to get the best results, the highest efficiency of the soil elements which produce agricul tural wealth. The work of Prof. Buffum of Wyoming, the inventor 'of emmer, a grain of unusual qualities, has been devoted both to the production of a plant that will make the most of its opportunities and grow where, under the environment offered, wealth must be wrested from a willing soil In an unwilling climate. All the grain that grew in the west, the distant cousins of the wheat family, have been called to con tribute a trait in the breeding of emmer. Prof. Buf fum has taken from one its hardiness, another Its vig orous growth and another its seed-bearing qualities. Emmer is a resultant of these many forces and quali ties. It is not a mosaic, it la a new grain. Emmer is more highly productive and more easily produced under a given set of conditions than any of the grains. Further, it is said that emmer offers more nutrition for feeding purposes than any of its progenitors. The "book farmer" has given new volution to nature. Through the "book farmer" emmer has been evolved a process of evolution which nature, unaided, would never have completed. While some of the scientists are interested in the study of the seeds which are to utilize the energies of the soil, others are concerned with the soil itself. The study of soils is thus the basis of all scientific pro gress in agriculture. If a plant demands a certain component for its makeup it is worse than futile to try o produce that plant on a soil and under condi tions where this component cannot be obtained. In Nebraska one man has been analyzing the soils of every nook and cranny of the state for nineteen years. He can take a handful of soil delivered to him in his laboratories at Lincoln and tell you within a few miles of where it came from. That man is Prof. George E. Condra, who came to Omaha last week to preside at the sessions of the Western Development league. Prof. Condra is known for his workJn the department of economic geology of the State university of Ne braska. That may sound rather technical, but out there in the Nebraska cornfields the story of hia work is told, though few there are who can read it. His analysis of the soil have long been the groundwork for authoritative effort at the statq experiment sta tions and .at the agricultural college. It is a long way from the dim light of the laboratory whore a patient man bends over his test tubes to the broad expanses, of waving grain out across the state, but the connection Is direct and positive. Hansen an Alfalfa Specialist. A man so modest that even the ubiquitous re porter was put to his utmost to corral him Prof. Neils E. Hansen of South Dakota, is performing a world service in the betterment of alfalfa. Prof. Han sen, like so many of the nation's famous in agricul ture, took his rise in Iowa. From the Iowa Agricul tural school he went into the north among the Scan dinavian settlers. Prof. Hansen set for himself the task of evolving fruits and field crops which coii4d be grown in the chillier northwestern states. ' He has hundreds of berries, small fruits and orchard trees which are giving rare satisfaction In the coldest por tions of the United States. Some years past Prof. Hansen went Into the wastes of northern Siberia looking for a hardy alfalfa. The value of alfalfa had long been recognized, but it was then a plant successful only in the milder sections of the middle-west and the coast states. In Siberia Prof. Hansen discovered alfalfa, a yellow-flowered plant far up there in the wilds, which will grow in the most northerly points of the country. By crossing this plant with those indigenous to the United States Prpf. Hansen expects to be able to evolve an alfalfa adaptable to every condition which plant life must meet in the agricultural territory of the nation. The explorations of Prof. Hansen in Siberia were marked by many an unusual happening. His Jour neys were not without hardship. There were drives of thousands of miles over unknown wastes, dealings with balf-savage men and hunger, but Mr. Hansen kept on until he found the yellow-flowered alfalfa. Mr. Hansen Is another "book farmer." A lesson In conservation at home was given at the Land show by Prof. A. L. Haecker, formerly head of the dairy department of the State Agricultural college at Lincoln. Prof. Haecker is the enthusiastic sponsor for the silo produced by a process by which 40 per cent of the corn which is now allowed to go to waste with the withering fodder in the fields can be saved and turned into good, hard money. His work began as "book farming," too. Today hundreds of farmers are putting silos on their farma.