Thirty-sixth Annual Convention 933 



The following editorial appeared in Hoard's Dairyman of No- 

 vember 15th, this year: 



" It is well for all dairymen to know just what is the reflex 

 effect on their soil of the methods they nse. 



'' Hoard's Dairyman has often called the attention of its patrons 

 to the danger of soil depletion that comes if the whole milk is 

 taken from the farm. If the dairy farmer knows the facts as 

 they actually exist and provides for it hy the purchase of extra 

 fertilizer, then all well and good. But if he does not, in a few 

 years he has greatly injured the producing power of his land. The 

 older dairy districts of the eastern states, where the whole milk 

 was taken from the farm in cheese making or milk shipping, shows 

 this incontestahly. 



" The following figures show the real condition of things where 

 the milk is all taken from the farm. Take a cow, giving, say, 

 5,000 pounds of milk, there will be found 29 pounds of nitrogen, 

 9.5 pounds of phosphoric acid and 8.5 pounds of potash. The 

 market value of these fertilizing elements is approximately $5.50. 

 That means the loss in fertility to the farm per cow for each year. 

 With a herd, say, of twenty cows, that means a drainage of $111.40 

 a year. Now, if the farmer is wise, knowing these facts, he will 

 provide for these elements to be put back on the farm each year. 

 If he does not, he will soon have a run-down farm, even if he is 

 keeping cows. 



" It may be said that the growing legumes, such as clover, al- 

 falfa, cow-peas, etc., will keep up the nitrogen supply of the soil, 

 provided these crops are properly handled." 



Now, in regard to growing leguminous crops, such as clover, 

 alfalfa and cow-peas, I would say that the growing of these crops 

 will not lienefit the farmer in the least, unless the crops are fed 

 to the animals and the manure returned to the land. The nitrogen 

 is practically all in the stems and leaves of the plant, and in addi- 

 tion to this, in some of these plants, the roots penetrate very deep 

 in the soil. Particularly is this true with alfalfa, wdrleh would 

 naturally exhaust the soil as quickly as any other crop ; therefore, 

 the great benefit comes from feeding these crops to live stock. 



In addition to what Hoard's Dairyman has said about the re- 



