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HOME AND FAttM MAGAZINE SEQTTQ-NT
cultural sclonen T7
dogmatic S,aa.d tht
Science and Practice of Agriculture
way of
Practical men . ".I,.1"6"" IL J
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U.
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Tho following is tho first of s
R n series of nrticlcs on "Tho e
,j Scionco nnd Practlco of Agrl- ?
5 culture, nnd How to Harmon- 4
& Jzo Thorn," by 0. L. Smith,
S agriculturist of tho O.-W. It, 5
& & N., ono of tho best known j
R farming authorities la tho ?
J5 Northwest. S
V
S $ J i ! J $ $ j $ $ $
THE SCIENCE of agriculture Is only
organized common scuso. Tho prnc
tlco of ngrlculturo is a jumblo of
methods based upon tradition, super
stition, moro or less absurd theories
nnd varying degrees of business sense
combined with u limited incasuro of ox
act knowledge. To harmonizo these
contradictory and often apparently an
tjRonlstlc factors, Is a rather difficult
tusk, requiring time, tnct, patienco and
nccurato knowledge By nccurato
Icnowlcdgo I do not mean just what can
bo learned from books, lectures, labora
tory practlco or oven field studies. I
liavo known men full to running over
with all theso and yet unnblo to har
monizo any of them with actual farm
practice.
Ono reason why tho task of harmon
izing tho sclenco and practico of ncrl-
culturo Is so difficult is found in tho
nvorngo conception of tho term
''science." I can remember whon tho
icrm was to my mind always nssocl
ntod with unpronouncablo Latin words,
bad smelling drugs nnd sulphur fumes.
Hut when I found so good a story
teller as Charles Dickons claimed thut
to sow tho snmo seed, In tho snmo soil,
under tho snmo conditions will surely
yield tho samo fruit according to its
Kind, I bogan to realize that sclonco
land; what did you gTow on it tho
year boforo; when did you plow It;
how deep!"
"Sure, tho only way to grow good
potatoes on this kind of land is clover
sod plowed in tho fall nnd plowod as
deep as tho loam can pull tho plow."
"Do anything to it In tho spring!"
"Harrow it throo or four times to
fino It, firm it, wnrm It up and kill
tho weeds. Keen at It until tho moon
Is right."
"What kind of sood do you plant!"
"Ah now, don't you know, any man
that's got senso, will plant tho kind
ho wants to ralso!"
Hero you sco tho practical man and
tho scientist liavo both reached tho
samo conclusions, although thoy started
in different directions. Thoy saw
things from n different point of viow.
To harmonizo tho scionco nnd practlco
of agrlculturo It Is nocossary to got
Jim Kelly nnd tho Sclontlst out on
Kelly's field in tho old of tho moon
In May.
Scientist on Milk.
Tho scientist nftcr collecting facts
regarding tho "Dulldlng Up of n
Dairy Herd," says: "Milk giving is
a femiulno function. Largo milk pro
duction is duo to tho abnormal do
volopment of Uio mntornal Instinct.
Petting, liberal foodlng, frequent han
dling, kind trcntmont, nil aid in tho
dovelopmont of tho milk producing
cunrnctonstlcs.
Then along comes tho practical man
with tho nssuraaco that tho best cow
thoy ever hnd on tho farm was
"llcsslo," n pet calf that mothor and
tho girls raised.
Continuing tho samo toplo, tho sclon
tlst says "Tho profltablo dairy cow
is an arunctai nnimai built by n
3vas only tho knowlcdgo that certain combination of fnclors, nil tonding to
causos would produco cortuin results, tho extra dovolopmcnt of tho milk
Tho possession of this knowledgo would producing orenns and characteristics.
! - . " "
enable mo to combino causos or factors
nnd surround thorn with conditions thnt
would produco n desired result. When
I had learned this much about
"solenco" tho term lost its terror and
became only a namo for a group of
,cvery-day things.
Llko Producos Llko.
Prom this point of viow it was com
paratively easy to harmonizo I ho prac
tlco of agrlculturo with tho sclenco of
agriculture. To illustrato, it Is recog
nized as a scientific fact that under
normal conditions "llko produces llko."
It is also n fact that porfoct plant
growth can bo secured only when thero
nro present in tho soil a great variety
nt Innrtrnnln nlnmnntn mi!i na nnU.li
phosphorous, nitrogen, calcium, silica) ! nalural comlttlon-
iron, sulphur, magnesia, -etc. That tho
different plants uso different propor
tions of theso elements, potatoes, ror
Instance, rcquiro n larger proportion of
potash than corn or wheat, but loss of
phosphorous nnd othor elements.
What Sclenco Says.
Clover roots nnd loaves mako idoal
homes for mlnuto soil bacteria that
Tho order runs something llko this:
Fjrst Selection.
Second Cans, which Includes shelter,
feed, water and method of trcntmont.
Third Testing, sorting nnd weeding
out
Fourth nrccdlng.
Fifth Feeding, handling and do
velopmont of hoifor calves.
Carelessness, ncgllgenco or Ignoranco
on tho part of tho dairyman in regard
to nny of theso factors will eliminate
or seriously impair tho results.
As any capacity nbovo tho normal
Is artificially built up, by tho nbovo
factors, it follows logically that neg
lect of nny of tho nbovo will tond
toward deterioration or return to tho
agrlculturo has nlwnys to do with
vnriablo conditions, and thoBo condi
tions nro often of n charnctor so im
portant aa to rcquiro radical changes
in nny sot of rules or mothods of prnc.
tlco! It has, thercforo, bocomo a rulo
among thoso students of "Scientific
Agriculture" who nro striving to har
monlzo sclonco nnd practlco, to reject
aa really nciontlfic, nny conclusions
based on n singlo experiment, or nnv
niiwHMiirjr ui conclusions tnnt Uoos not
harmonizo with conditions thnt aro nor
mal to tho nvorngo farm of tho dis
trict. Whon this point of viow is main
tained, It is far less difficult to har
monizo tho scionco with practice,
Sclonco Dopcndablo Today.
Kocognlzcd agricultural scionco In to
day a radically different proposition
from tho so-called agricultural sclonen
01 s years ago. What was thon
termed ngrlcultural scionco waa mndo
tip largely of slnglo demonstrable facte,
while today ngrlcultural scionco is n
collection of demonstroted facta con
sidered in tholr relationship to each
other and nlso to such vnriablo influ
ences ns tempcrnturo, rainfall, wind and
sunshine
I enn best illustrato this by my own
oxporlcnco as an Instltuto lecturer. At
thnt tlmo I had no knowledgo of, and
very crtido Ideas concerning "sclonco,"
uut x uiu navo n largo mcasuruo of
practical oxpcrlonco, and somo protty
strong opinions based on obsorvnllon.
My talks consisted almost ontiroly of
stories or what Jones, Smith or IJrown
had dono with certain things tindor
cortnln conditions. No ono nt that
tlmo realized that such n collection of
facts was tho best kind of ngrlcultural
sclonco, or tho very cssoneo of tho
sclonco of ngrlculturo, nlrcady harmon
ized with practlco.
tho Bcienro, clt)gl ' 80 to rej '
"'othods without bej ' ccS
cts,thntVScalSi,rdcol'5
important fflS
composu.on. aclor a' ch
Ignoranco Means Loss.
When n prnctical man buys ono of
tho highly (lovelopcd, largo producing,
artificial cows, and, ignoring tho
"sclenco" of dnirylng, turns hor out
in tho woods pasturo to find hor own
feed, nnd is surprlsod that each yoar
she gives less milk. Hor helfor calvos
aro not ns good ns tho mothor, and
y mo iniru generation tnoy aro
OS "S .-12-S."S-S '!" ! S-H-waETS & '
C2ir T ii . m ' .. : I,osos' nnJ lho owner declaros that "AH
IZi H i . , "m W'1,',ay Umt h' la,k "''O"1 Pnro-brod stock Is non
V ,horo i tho soil is too compact, heavy or, HonR0... Io haJ tricil u nnd ,thero
i11:,,1;" umor of Bl5rP,lkol nothing to it." Yet his experience
tr, nil T ?.n?nr.in ' ,r,,er" lm8 further demonstrated that tho
foro toll tho scientist that you have a scloiitlst was right. His conclusions
Z ii i V nnu. " t0, Rrow woro based on a collection of facts,
M. Ill VJopl(,,ffl,?1,IOMBn,d 'rom which is tho real "Scionco of Agricul!
his organized facts ho will say: "Orow'ture "
a crop of rod clover plow under tho j Agaln tho Montit gnvs. uA 1boral
nv-Tu-.Tnl'' Ti ?rnni1 ro"h -"I'l'ly of humus in tho soil, deep till
over winter, work fino in tho spring ' . uml cu,,iVatlon will conserve mols-
u.u, .,,, n. BDRor iro , tuWi refrulato temporoturo. stimulato
is past, planting smooth, sound, ovon
sized tubers, for 'llko producos like.' "
Now let us sco how wo can harmon
izo this with practlco: Jim Kelly of
Marysburg had won tho prlzo of a
riding cultivator for tho host bushol of
potatoed exhibited at tho County Fair.
plant growth, Incroasa tho availablo
plant food and check ngalnst bad
woathcr, drouth or hot winds.
Tannor Shiftless.
Farmer Shiftless iguoros tho science.
Tho weather conditions nro all favor-
ablo and ho sccuros n normal crop. Ho
JnS.t?iiI,0W.,JnW.h,,,a,tJl,n? boa"t of ,,i9 "Practical experience"
drovo 12 miles out to his farm, whioh n,i n..inn. m ......:niJ n....
was in a hardwood district whore tho ,","" Zt'Z'i 7"" &'?":?.
ll ...o .... 1 .1... 1 ,U.IU OU..OUU. illUH IUU
ou i a i.ikiivt lil-inj- uiu- lUIim.
What Practico Says.
After complimenting Jim on tho
prlzo, I nkod him to tell mo how ho
did it.
"Oh," bnid he, "that's aasy; just
plant thorn in tho old of tho moon
in May."
"Iiut how did you pieparo the
hcfontlst has a full crop nnd Shlftloss
blamw his "luck."
Tho wooknosa of much of tho so
eallod "Agricultural Sclenco" is duo to
tho fact that tn experiment has been
tried for tho purposo of demonstrat
ing somo theory, nnd a summary of
conclusions compiled, based on tho
singlo experiment. Tho practico of
DogmnUsm.
Ono ovonlng whon tho subject of fer
tilizers wns being discussed, somo ono
in tho nuulcnco nskou tho speaker:
"What is tho valuo of a ton of stablo
manuro!" Tho professor was n rocog
nlzcd authority, n mnn of national
roputation, a leader In tho now movo
mont for scientific agriculture, and ho
nnswered promptly: "Tho only do
monts lacking in your soil, or that you
will over find lacking, aro nltrogon,
potash and phosphorous. Thercforo
your stablo manuro Is worth just as
much as it would cost you to purchasn
thnt amount of nitrogen, potash and
phosphorous that n ton of stablo
manuro contnins. Approximately 41.C0
worth of nitrogen, potash nnd phoa
phorons, nnd this practically measures
tho valuo of your stablo manuro."
I did not nt that tlmo know any
thing about nitrogen, potash nnd phos
phorous; but I did know a lot nbout
stnblo manuro and lta action whon
combined with tho soil, and tho offoct
that it had on plant growth. I hnd
observed numerous experiments mado
by farmers of my acquaintance with
so-called commercial fertilizers, nnd
without thinking where I was going
to land, I promptly told tho profos
sor thata ho was mistaken. That a ton
of stablo manuro was worth moro than
twleo ns much as a chemical analysis
Indicated. Whcthor becauso of somo
othor valuablo clomonts than thoso
found by tho chomist, I did not know;
but I did know thnt it would produco
much moro marked results in plant
growth and show its effoct on tho soil
for a much longor period than would
a sack full of commercial fortlllzor
containing as much nitrogon, potash
and Phosphorous as tho chemist said
would bo found In a ton of manuro.
Thon ho nsked mo why, and I had
o confess that I didn't know; but
still inslstod that it would do it. Thon
ho camo back with tho question:
"Would It improvo your soil to add
to it any eloinont of which It already
had a sufficient quantity!" I had to
admit that I didn't think It would.
"Hut," said ho, "if tho soil Is lack
ing In nny particular clcmont llko
nltrogon, potash and phosphorous, thon
when you ndd cither manuro or any
other compound, it is worth to your
land just tho market valuo of thoso
elements which it contains and no
moro."
Sclenco Based on Facts.
Thirty years ago that was ngrl
Thon camo n- t.
2-2J " SIS.
ess of tho co mposltK ? "
contained InnumcribhT Iirt
microti, 0fffuS JJUJ.'J
their life nnd death mo- . A
ments which tho plant, !JMio,I,(1
tl'cr investigation .L1 8W"w
t that adorer ZUi lk
wntcr, heat IndPS,".
necessary for Mrf,,t . ic' it U
nny othor olnmf '""" Wwtk u
Bacteria In Soil
Next, tho scientist cjnKli, .
long well known h i .V d & '
Rl.t of, that lictcria wS?'"?
in organic matter. ThoJ ttV
their collection of facU th b'
tho fact that nothing cad fc'
something else most dlj 80 J?
years I could answer th fl, " W
toll him that tho vak'"
manuro was in its physical .m
tho soil comnoritl rl'J'P
chemical compounds. That It fifi
a homo for tho, L. . f'8
made available 11 "bSJ J
meats; that It regulated to Bfi
degree tho sell temperature, hml2
Its capacity to abKorh JaVS"
turo and could therefore carry aJJ
larger amount of oxygen without whlS
tho littlo bacteria would havo to A
businoss, v
And then I remembered wht a
yoars ago a practical Oerman prfu,
or, whon showing mo a row of nrtv
bngas, said. At one end they wwjj
avorago about ten pouudi nptM
at tho opposito end of tho rm .
two ounces aplwe, I akcJ Ma wb
nnd ho said: "Oh, this ground up bttj
whoro tho big ones aro Ii alive. Tin
ovor thoro whoro tho littlo ones u It
dead." I asked him what would wt
now llfo Into tho soil and bo .
sworod: "l'loaty of stablo raaiuro,"
Imprnctical Science,
Down in Georgia, ono of tin all
school scientists applied ten Jolkn'
worth per aero of nltrocon, poUrfi ud
phosphorous nod doubled his yield of
cotton on n plcco of worn-oat had,
but tho next year it took ttrcht dol
lars' worth to accomplish tho &ai re
sults. Ho kept increasing tho dw
of modiclno until tho medicine cost
ns much as tho market valuo of ti
crop,
Tho old dnrky who drove the mules
to cultivate tho cotton had seven atros
of tho samo kind of land, but u
monoy to buy modieinc, so ho jut
grow weeds until they wcro a foot
high, and thon plowed them under.
Thon ho sowed somo oats, cut off Its
heads and plowed under the stnir.
Thon ho sowed somo cowpeas and bar
vested for hay, sold lho hay to tk
boss for $15 per ton to feed the mulo
usod to cultivnto tho cotton that wu
taking modiclno.
For convonlenco tho mulo wu
Btnblcd on his seven acres, and M
kept tho manure.
Harmonizing.
Tho fourth year his three acres of
upland cotton that hadn't had "7
modlcino, produced moro tlmo any tore
ncros of tho scientist's that had W
forty-fivo dollars' worth of medietas,
Whllo his other four acres produced
onts, corn, swcot potato ond pea hsy,
oqunl in valuo to any four acres of IM
doctored cotton. Thon Sam, tho p
tlcal, and Professor Jones, tbo Klentut,
got together ia tho cotton field, "
mittcd their facts ana jorrouwuv. -now
agricultural sclenco that was la
porfect harmony with practice.
In conclusion, tho true science of
ngriculturo is easily barmoniwd when
tho sclontlst and practical man get to
gether in tho field, lay aside the tradi
tions of tho collogo and tho farm and
frnm M.nir pniiivtpd facts, formulate a
method that is in ontlro harmony with
sclontlfio mothods and Intelligent practice