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9 1 I Saturday, JULY it, 1908 THE DESBRET ?ARMI1R 16 WM I 1 SUGfR BEETS I FERTILITY OF THE SOIL. Particularly Applicable to the Beau- tiful Snake River Valley, Southern Idaho. During the last five years I have ob served that the greater number of the farmers in the above mentioned scc 1 tioii have given but very little thought 1 or attention to the necessity of re ft taining or increasing the fertility of 1 their soils in many localities. In the 1 Snake River Valltey, nature has been I very kind in the depositing of con- 1 Gidcjrablc fertilizer whjich gave the 1 farmers very good crops for a num- n her of years after the soil was pu. H under cultivation, and ma.ny of them 1 simply take all that they can get off of 1 the farm by doing as little work as I , possible, reducing the soil to poverty, as they never thought of putting any i thing back by way of fertilizer. And Ias a grain crop was the general crop throughout the valley, and as grain is ycry hard on the soil it worked a 1 . I great hardship on certain sections. However, we arc glad to note some improvement during the last few ' jjcars, as we together with a number of the farmers, have found that the cheapest fertilizer is found in plowing into the soil alfalfa or clover of first growth, just when it is coming into blossom, having the soil nice and moist and smoothing the surface as fast as plowed. The hot weather will j cause it to decay and it is plant food to pass off into the soil, giving to the soil immense quantities of nitrogen which the plant has gathered and which the soil is in so much need of throughout the Intcrmountain Wes. In this manner the alfalfa plant is de stroyed so that they will not inter fere with other crops In following seasons. The soil should be plowed again in the fall just before freezing weather. A disc harrow should be used during the summer in order to destroy wced3 or any growth that I might appear between the two plow- ings. In this way the soil will get a thorough rest which it needs, and will be well fed and ready for" future work. Where the seasons are longer and where three crops of ' iy are secured in one year; t'n the second growth mfey be used w th success. Soil prepared in the above men tioned manner has been found to be in excellent condition for sugar beet? for at least two crops thereafter. There is great necessity in the In tcrmountain West for rotation of crops. In fact it is absolutely neces sary if we maintain the necessary fer tility of the soil; first, for successful farming for present and future gen erations; and scoend, that markets for the crops' may be secured when raised. The farmers should become acquainted with the fact, if they are not already familiar, that at least ,o years ago the beautiful and extensive valleys of the, Sacramento and San Joaquin were used very extensively for the growing of wheat and immcnsJ and -splendid yields were secured." liul they continued to grow wheat con secutively upon the soil until they hal reduced it to abject poverty, and now at the present lime about -all that they arc able to grow in a good deal of that section of country is a light crop of barley barley being a little lighter on the soil than wheat or oats, and owing to the fact that California hay crops in this particular section arc light, they find a market for the bar Icy, a greater portion of it, at San Francisco and other large cities in place of hay to feed their animals. However, it gives the farmers of that section very small returns for their labor, and the use of the soil, and in some localities they -arc beginning to change their methods of farming and kind of crops. In Idaho along the banks of the great Snake River and its tributaries, is on abundance of 'good land with plenty of water and the farmers in these sections should give more thought to the feeding of the soil, as it is at least just as necessary as the feeding of the horse that plows tli soil; as the soil furnishes food for all mankind and for all the animal creation, and it should be the objeel of each generation as they appear on the scene, to do their part in be queathing to the next generation, conditions better than they found them, as a high standard of culture means better returns for the labor performed with a higher standard of citizenship. I sincerely' hope that the farmers -of Idaho and all other sec tions, where it is necessary, will wake up and do their part along thejo lines. Northern Colorado (in, and around H Greeley) discovered the benefits dc- M rived from the application of the H above mentioned methods, in the use H of the alfalfa and clover plants as a H fertilizer, many years ago and by the H application of these methods and the M use of these plants have raised the M fertility of their soil to a higher -stand- H ard than almost any other section, H where they arc farming on a large B scale, and the farmers throughout H that section of the country have be- M come immensely rich and their soils H immensely valuable, and farmers who H have similar conditions may obtain H similar results, which I sincerely H hope they will do. M MARK AUSTIN. M ! Bulletin No. 120 of the Massachu- H setts Station, Amherst, contains the H analyses of commercial feed stuffs H found in the Massachusetts market H during the season of 1907, together H with such comments as arc called for H by the results of the inspection. In H addition, is found a discussion of H home-grown vs. purchased cattle H feeds, complete rations for dairy stock H and a tabulated list of the wholesale H cost of feeding stuffs for the year. H Chemist P. H. Smith and Assistant H L. S. Walker arc the authors. H j 1 AWARDED FIRST PREMIUM AT STATE FAIR. GOLD MEDAL BY STATE AGRICUL- 1 M TURAL SOCIETY OF SACRAMENTO, CAL., ALSO GOLD MEDAL AWARDED BY MID- 1 M j . WINTER FAIR, AND LP WIS AND CLARK EXPOSITION PORTLAND, OREGON. I 1 ess?' "wjw ,uAm jdflBHP "fl fC "fiT1 PLOWING TION IN 2lBite LIGHT B I COST RE- HPBJTBB HEADLIGHT H a miwiwum MKB&EireBTft 'JMEBWBffBfrlBW IT WILL D0 1 1i 10 HORSE POWER PLOWING ENG1NH. J H From 50 to 100 Acres Plowed each day doing the work much better than by animal power and at half M the expense per acre. More than two hundred in successful operation. Every one a success. m M The above illustration represents the Utah Arid Farm Company's STEAM PLOWING OUTFIT H at work on their farm at JJephi, Utah. This engine is plowing 50 acres per day of ten hours at an M M expense of 50 cents per acre. And it was also used by them to pull a "BEST" Steam Combined liar- m M 1 ; vestcr on the same farm and harvested an average of 65 acres per day, and at the nominal expense of M Socts. an acre. The grain was cut, threshed, reclcaned and sacked in one operation and ready for the mill 9 M The SUCCESS of DRY FARMING is THE STEAM PLOW AND COMBINED HARVESTER H , For further information address m( H THE BEST MANUFACTURING CO., or T!. " 6. T. INGERSOIL MACHINERY CO., f 1 SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 1