The gazette-times., July 09, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 16, Image 22

16
ITOME AND FARM MAfiAZTNE SECTION
Practical Farm Conservation
Knowing How to Do Things More Efficiently a' Real Saving of
Human Energy.
BT C. F. HODGE,
Professor of Social Biology University
of Oregon.
fB ARE apt to pride ourselves in
being a common-sense, practical
people. Are wet Take this as an
Maniple. We toil for months, plowing,
harrowing, sowing, harvesting, threshing
and hauling and shipping a million
bushels of wheat. We send it over to
Italy and Caruso comes and sings to us
a few days to pay for it. We adore
straight through the whole problem of
the beautiful and the inspiring, but our
"common-sense, practical" way of get
ting just a whiff of these higher things
now and then is scarcely above the
level of the brute beast stupidity. Well,
this is better than not getting any
whiff of higher things at all, but
our agricultural life we have to work
bo hard, because we do not know any
better.
. Now, "knowing" is only another
word for "science," and the best defi
nition of science I know is one given
by Huxley "Trained and organized
common sense." What must ultimately
prove a greater loss than the labor
comes from the fact that with the mil
lion bushels of wheat we have mined
ont and sent over the ocean $250,000
worth of soil salts and these may be
lacking, when we want to raise another
million bushels of wheat to exchange
for music, so we still have to go with
out our music.
The first and greatest need of con
servation in our farm life is real sav
ing of human energy by knowing how
(to do things more efficiently. In fact
standards of efficiency are being ap
plied to farm operations and some ol
the' results are shown in the table be
low: .
Standards and percentages of effi
ciency for farm crops:
' Standard Per cent
, yield Average of
per acre Efficiency
Pota'oes 500 bu 96 19
Wheat 50 bu 14 28
Cotton lbale 0.35 35
Corn 100 bu 28 28
Oats 100 bu 32 32
These low percentages are merely ex
pressions in mathematical terms of not
knowing how. The standard of 500
bushels of potatoes per acre is really
low. With addition of knowing how to
breeding and selection of seed, precision
of fertilizers and culture methods, we
may raiso the standard to 1000 bushels.
In fact the mere use of .immature seed
has been proved to more than double
the crop over that from dead ripe seed
of the same variety. Probably Lord
Eoseberry holds the world's record for
yield of potatoes at 2000 bushels of mar
ketable tubers with 45 bushels of culls
per acre. With the standard at 2000
bushels our efficiency falls to 4 3-4 p?r
cent When we know how, it may be as
easy, or even easier, to raise 1000 bush
els of potatoes per acre as 100 bushels.
The most laborious and expensive part
of raising a field of torn has been
"thorough cultication." After this
bad, for centuries, been tearing off half
the roots of the corn plaat and with
great labor had been reducing the yield
from 20 to 50, or more, bushels per acre,
someone hit upon the idea of trying to
know something about the growth of
the corn plant. It was discovered that
the' roots spread out close under the sur
face of the soil for six or seven feet in
every direction. Next came the ques
tion: did not deep cultivation injure
these roots! Recent experiment have
proved that by merely shaving off the
weeds, without stirring ihe soil in the
least we get yields of corn equal and
often better than we obtain with most
eareful surface cultivation. The amount
of human energy conserved along the
line of this one bit of knowing how
nay make the difference on many a
farm between lite being wurth while
and not being worth the living.
The largest factor of all in the whole
problem is the plant food content of the
soil itself and a knowledge as to bow
this may be utilized. This may mean
the difference between raising nothing
on a field, after a hard year's work
and raising a crop of 75 bjshpls oi corn
to the acre. These are actual figures
obtained from Illinois fields As a re
suit of such experience tin i.it ol
Illinois has pianned a soil survey which
is to cost $2,000,000, but it may save
ten times that amount of futile labor
in a single year. We Shall soon bo buy
ing and selling land on tho basis of
soil analyses which shall indicate what
the land is able to produce.
Stories at Which You
Will Smile
CC S1IALL refuse to pay for attend
I ance," said tho irate tourist who
had been staying at an old-fash
ioned country hotel and who had just
been presented with his bill. "Why,
the bells in the rooms are a perfect
disgrace; not one- of them would ring.
Everything I wanted I had to fetch my
self. I must have spent some hours tug
ging at those bell -pulls."
"It s true we have charged for at
tendance," said the smiling proprietor,
"but, see, we have charged you nothing
for your pLysical culture course."
"Physical culture course!" exclaim
ed the tourist in surprise. "I don't
know what you mean."
"The daily use of our dumb-bells,"
was the cool retort.
Cause of De.'tli.
fiCWOU may say you: automobile did
1 not touch this man, and yet he
was dead when you picked him
upf" shouted the prosecuting attor
ney. "That's my claim," coolly retorted
the prisoner. "My machine didn't
touch him."
'And yia saw this man start to cross
tho street t"
"Yes."
"Did you blow your hornf"
"I did."
"What sort of a hern is itt"
"One of those new-fangled clatter-
boxes that create a sound that is a
cross between a shriek and a dying
wail."
'That explains it. Ton simply
scared the man to death."
A Feminine Realist.
E WAS enraptured with the seen
ery. His fair companion at the
country resort sat upon the stone
wall beside him.
"Behold that exquisite sunset!" he
exclaimed. "Note the delicate flesh
tints, the cream shades, the long dashes
of vermillion, and the almost living fire
that leaps up from the sinking sun as
from a fountain. Behold the frame
work of darkening skies and of deep
green. Isn't it wonderful T"
His fair companion sighed heavily,
"Tou just bet it is!" she exclaimed.
'It looks just like a great big lobster
salad!"
m
Thirteen Trumps One Trick.
MITII had itfvited several of bis
friends and neighbors to tea th
other night, and the conversation
veered around to whist.
"I have seen some remarkable whist
hands," said one of the guests. "I re
member not long ago I saw one man
hold all thirteen trumps."
"That s not very unusual," remarked
another.
"Not at all; bat the curious part of
it was that he only took one trick,
"How's that!"
"Why, he trumped his partner's ace
first time round, and his ptrtner was
so furious that be got up and threw
him out of the window."
a
Too Thin.
ICpATHER," said the student, "I
I want to talk to you about chang
ing my course of study."
"Talk to your mother, son," directed
the father, who was reading the sport
ing page.
"Mother," said the son, "I mado
mistake when I selected chemirtry. But
it is not too late to change even yet,
1 want to take astronomy instead.
The mother searched the eyes of her
son sharply. Then she said:
"Nope. You 11 have to think u
some better excusu in staying out at
night!"
A Suspicious Conductor.
BNTLEMEN (in railroad train)
How did tho sceide.it happen!
Conductor: Some one pulled the
Hotel
Seattle,
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all departments all rooms redecorated and re
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DAILY RATES
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ROBERT J. ROBINSON
Manager
cord and stopped the train, and the fast
train ran into us. It will take five
hours to clear the line for us to go
ahead.
Gentleman: Five hours! Gnat
Scottl I wa to be married today.
Conductor (a married man, sternly:)
Look here, are you the chap who stopped
the train!
After Effects.
'Ton say you had a corking good
time last night!"
Yes."
'Judging from the way you look this
morning, it must have been an uncork-
ng good time. "
i
On Pay Day.
TUB workman was busily employed
in exepvating operations by the
roadside that is to say, he was
digging, digging, digging and the way-
rarer, wno happened to be passing,
paused to inquire:
"Whpt are you digging for!"
The workmkan lookei up.
"Money, be replied.
" Money i And when do you expeet
to strike ltT"
"On Saturday," replied tr. other,
end resumed operations.
tome thing Wrong.
'These potatoes taste strongly of
gasoline, my dear. What recipe did you
use! '
"1 must have got my recipes mix
ed," answered the young wife after
some reflection, "and used the one for
cleaning velvet."
Why Lightning Strikes Trees.
THAT trees arc the objects most fre
quently struck by lightning is 1'ie
observa' in of Mr. F. G. Plummer
of tho Unite! States forest service. As
the roots of a tree extend into the
damp ground, a tree is more likely to
be Btruck than any other tall object.
tree's form is almost ideal for convey
ing electricity from the air to the
earth.
Butler
Wash.
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