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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1914)
12 HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Science and Practice of Agriculture 9 ir$ The following is the first of $ s series of articles on "The $ Science and Practice of Agri- & culture, and How to Harmon- $ ize Them," by a L. Smith, $ $ agriculturist of the O.-W. B. $ & N., one of the best known & farming authorities in the $ Northwest ' !S 3 THE SCIENCE of agriculture is only organized common sense. The prac tice of agriculture is a jumble of methods based upon tradition, super stition, more or less absurd theories and varying degrees of business sense combined with a limited measure of ex act knowledge. To harmonize these (contradictory and often apparently an-; tpgonistic factors, is a rather difficult task, requiring time, tact, patience and accurate knowledge. By accurate knowledge I do not mean just what can be learned from books, lectures, labora tory practice or even field studies. I have known men full to running over with all these and yet nnable to har monize any of them with actual farm practice. One reason why the task of harmon izing the science and practice of agri culture is so difficult is found in the average conception of the term "science." I can remember when the term was to my mind always associ ated with unpronouncable Latin words, bad smelling drugs and sulphur fumes. But when I found so good a story teller as Charles Dickens claimed that to sow the same seed, in the same soil, under the same conditions will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind, I began to realize that science was only the knowledge that certain causes would produce certain results. The possession of this knowledge would enable me to combine causes or factors and surround them with conditions that would produce a desired rosult. When I had learned this much about "science" the term lost its terror and became only a name for a group of every-day things. Like Produces Like. From this point of view it was com paratively easy to harmonize the prac tice of agriculture with the science of agriculture. To illustrate, it is recog nized as a scientific fact that under normal conditions "like produces like." It is also a fact that perfect plant growth can be secured only when there are present in the soil a great variety of inorganic elements such as potash, phosphorous, nitrogen, calcium, silica, iron, sulphur, magnesia, etc. That the different plants use different propor tions of these elements, potatoes, lor instance, require a larger proportion of potash than corn or wheat, but less of phosphorous and other elements. What Science Says. Clover roots and leaves make ideal homes for minute soil bacteria that help to dissolve and make available the various elements used by the plants. Furthermore the scientist will Bay that where the soil is too compact, heavy or cold, the plowing under of a crop like clover will loosen and warm it. There fore tell the scientist that you have a heavy clay loam Boil and wish to grow on it a prize crop of potatoes, and from his organized facts he will say: "Grow a crop of red clover, plow under the second crop, leave the ground rough over winter, work fine in the spring and plant as soon as danger of frost is past, planting smooth, sound, even sized tubers, for 'like produces like.' " Now let us see how we can harmon ize this with practice: Jim Kelly of Marysburg had won the prize of a riding cultivator for the beat bushel of potatoes exhibited at the County Fair. I wanted to know how lie did it, and. drove 12 miles out to his farm, which was in a hardwood district where the soil was a rather heavy clay loam. What Practice Says. After complimenting Jim on the prize, I asked him to tell me how he did it. "Oh," said he, "that's easy; just plant them in the old of tho moon in May." "But how did you prepare the land; what did you grow on it the year before; when did you plow it; how doept" "Sure, the only way to grow good potatoes on this kind of land is clover sod plowed in the fall and plowed as deep as the team can pull the plow." "Do anything to it in the spring!" "Harrow it three or four times to fine it, firm it, warm it up and kill the weeds. Keep at it until the moon is right." "What kind of seed do yon plant f" "Ah now, dont yon know, any man that's got sense, will plant the kind ho wants to raise t" Here you see the practical man and the scientist have both reached the same Conclusions, although they started in different directions. They saw things from a different point of view. To harmonize the science and practice of agriculture it is necessary to get Jim Kelly and the Scientist ont on Kelly's field in the old of the moon in May. Scientist on Milk. The scientist after collecting facts regarding the "Building Up of a Dairy Herd," says: "Milk giving is a feminine function. Large milk pro duction is due to the abnormal de velopment of the maternal instinct Petting, liberal feeding, frequent han dling, kind treatment, all aid in the development of the milk producing characteristics. Then along comes the practical man with tho assurance that the best cow they ever had on the farm was "Bessie," a pet calf that mother and the girls raised. Continuing the same topic, the scien tist says "The profitable dairy cow is , an artificial animal built by a combination of factors, all tending to tho extra development of the milk producing organs and characteristics. The order runs something like this: First Selection. - Second Care, which includes shelter, feed, water and method of treatment Third Testing, sorting and weeding out Fourth Breeding. Fifth Feeding, handling and de velopment of heifer calves. Carelessness, negligence or ignorance on the part of the dairyman in regard to any of these factors will eliminate or seriously impair the results. As any capacity above the normal is artificially built up, by the above factors, it follows logically that neg lect of any of the above will tend toward deterioration or return to the natural condition. Ignorance Means Loss. When a practical man boys one of the highly developed, large producing, artificial cows, nd, ignoring the "science" of dairying, turns her out in the woods pasture to find her own feed, and is surprised that each year she gives less milk. Her heifer calves are not as good as the mother, and by the third generation they are comparatively worthless for dairy pur poses, and the owner declares that "All this talk about pure-bred stock is non sense." He has tried it and "there is nothing to it" Yet bis experience has further demonstrated that the scientist was right His conclusions were based on a collection of facts, which is the real "Science of Agricul ture." Again the scientist says: "A liberal supply of humus in the soil, deep till age and cultivation will conserve mois ture, regulate temperature, stimulate plant growth, increase the available plant food and check against bad weather, drouth or hot winds. Fanner Shiftless. Farmer Shiftless ignores the science. The weather conditions are all favor able and he secures a normal crop. Ho boasts of his "practical experience" and continues his unsciontific practices until an unfavorable season. Then the scientist has a full crop and Shiftless blames his "luck." The weakness of much of the so called "Agricultural Science" is due to the fact that an experiment has been tried for the purpose of demonstrat ing some theory, and a summary of conclusions compiled, based on the single experiment, The practice of agriculture has always to do with variable conditions, and those condi tions are often of a character so im portant as to require radical changes in any set of rules or methods of prac tice! It has, therefore, become a rule among those students of "Scientific Agriculture" who are striving to har monize science and practice, to reject as really scientific, any conclusions based on a single experiment, or any summary of conclusions that does not harmonize with conditions that are nor mal to the average farm of the dis trict. When this point of view is main tained, it is far less difficult 'to har monize the science with practice. Science Dependable Today. Recognized agricultural science is to day a radically different proposition from the so-called agricultural science of 25 years ago. What was then termed agricultural science was made up largely of single demonstrable facts, while today agricultural science Is a collection of demonstrated facts con sidered in their relationship to each other and also to such variable influ ences as temperature, rainfall, wind and sunshine. I can best illustrate this by my own experience as an institute lecturer. At that time I had no knowledge of, and vory crude ideas concerning "scionee," but I did have a large measurue of practical experience, and some pretty strong opinions based on observation. My talks consisted almost entirely of stories of what Jones, Smith or Brown had done with certain things under certain conditions. No one at that time realized that such a collection of facts was the best kind of agricultural science, or the very essence of the scionee of agriculture, already harmon ized with practice. Dogmatism. One evening when the subject of fer tilizers was being discussed, some one in the audience asked the speaker: "What is the value of a ton of stable manure!" The professor was a recog nized authority, a man of national reputation, a leader in the new move ment for scientific agriculture, and he answered promptly: "The only ele ments lacking in your soil, or that you will ever find laeking, are nitrogen, potash and phosphorous. Therefore your stable manure is worth just as much as it would cost yon to purchase that amount of nitrogen, potash and phosphorous that a ton of stable manure contains. Approximately $1.50 worth of nitrogon, potash and phos phorous, and this practically measures the value of your stable manure." I did not at' that time know any thing about nitrogen, potash and phos phorous; but I did know a lot about stable manure and its action when combined with the soil, and the effect that it had on plant growth. I had observed numerous experiments made by farmers of my acquaintance with so-called commercial fertilizers, and without thinking wheTe I was going to land, I promptly told the profes sor that he was mistaken. That a ton of stable manure was worth more than twice as much as a chemical analysis indicated. Whether because of some other valuable elements than those found by tho chemist, I did not know; but I did know that it would produce mueh more marked results in plant growth and show its effect on the soil for a much longer period than would a sack full of commercial fertilizer containing as much nitrogen, potash and Phosphorous as the chemist said would be found in a ton of manure. Then he asked me why, and I had to confess that I didn't know; but still insisted that it would do it Then he came back with the question: "Would it improve your soil to add to it any element of which it already had a sufficient quantity!" I had to admit that I didn't think it would. "But," said he, "if the soil is lack ing in any particular element like nitrogen, potash and phosphorous, then when you add either manure or any other compound, it is worth to your land just the market value of those elements which it contains and no more." Science Based on Facts. Thirty years ago that was agri cultural science, and that was the dogmatic way of teaching it The practical men couldn't give any rev sons that would logically contradict the scientific conclusions, so he rejected the science, clinging to his tradition, and continued to practice certain methods without being able to explain why. It took ten years for the scien tist to reach the conclusion based on experiment, observation and collected facts, that physical condition was quite as important a factor as chemical composition. Then came the bacteriologist who dis covered that live soil was productive and dead soil non-productive, regard less of the composition. That live soil contained innumerable quantities of microscopic organisms that through their life and death made available for the use of the plants the various ele ments which the plants used. Still fur ther investigation demonstrated the fact that a proper proportion of air, water, heat and light were just as necessary for perfect plant growth as any other element Bacteria In Soil. Next, the scientist explained a fact long well known, but apparently lost sight of, that bacteria were found only in organic matter. They vindicated by their collection of facts the theory of the fact that nothing could live but something else must die. So after 20 years I could answer the Professor and toll him that the value of stable manure was in its physical effect upon the soil composition rather than its chemical compounds. That it furnished a home for those minute bacteria that made available those inorganic ele ments; that it regulated to a marked degree the soil temperature, increased its capacity to absorb and hold mois ture and could therefore carry a mueh larger amount of oxygen without which the little bacteria would have to quit business. And then I remembered what 40 years ago a practical German garden err, when showing me a row of rata bagas, said. At one end they would average aboat ten pounds apiece and at the opposite end of the row about two ounces apiece. I asked him whj and he said: "Oh, this ground up her where the big ones are is alive. That over there where the little ones are is dead." I asked him what would pot new life into the soil and he an swered: "Plenty of stable malure." Impractical Science. Down in Georgia, one of the old school scientists applied ten donas' worth per acre of nitrogen, potash and phosphorous and doubled his yield of cotton on piece of worn-out land; but the next year it took twelve dol lars' worth to accomplish the same re sults. He kept increasing the doses of medicine until the medicine cost as much as the market value of the crop. The old darky who drove the mules to cultivate the cotton had seven acres of the same kind of land, but no money to buy medicine, so he just grew weeds until they were . a foot high, and then plowed them under. Thon he sowed some oats, cut off the heads and plowed under the straw. Then he sowed some eowpeas and har vested for hay, sold the bay to the boss for (IS per ton to feed the mule used to cultivate the cotton that was taking medicine. For convenience the mule was stabled on his seven acres, and he kept the manure. Harmonizing. The fourth year his three acres of upland cotton that hadn't had any medicine, produced more than any three acres of the scientist's that had had forty-five doUars' worth of medicine. While his other four acres produced oats, corn, sweet potatoes and pea hay equal in value to any four acres of the doctored cotton. Then Sam, the prac tical, and Professor Jones, the scientist, got together in the cotton field, sub mitted their facts and formulated a new agricultural science that was in perfect harmony with practice. In conclusion, the true science of agriculture is easily harmonized when the scientist and practical man got to gether in the field, lay aside the tradi tions of the college and the farm and from their collected fncts, formulate a method that is in entire harmony with scientific methods and intelligent practice.
