394 RKPORT OF OFKirE OK KXPKRTMKNT STATIONS. 



pluwiiit^ for the new iioj). In this way,iiii(l also thi-ou<^h tlii' washing 

 of the soil, when unprotected l)y weeds and grass, much of the finest and 

 richest surface soil has heen washed oti", and there has been consider- 

 able loss in soluble plant food. The people in this region are too poor 

 to purchase conunercial fertilizers, but it is (|uite within the means of 

 any of these men to utilize the homemade fertilizers of the farm. 

 To some extent it has beiMi the ])ractice in this district to burn farm- 

 yard manur>^ or to throw it into the gulches. Year after year every- 

 thing in the way of weeds and cornstalks has been destroyed or 

 burned as being something of no value. To im[)rove the condition of 

 the soil, it is advisable to increase the humus content of the soil. As 

 a beginning, and especially as an objiM-t lesson, a stalk cutter was 

 purchased in Nebraska, and the standing cornstalks on the 10 acres 

 of land chosen for the experiment were chopped down I)}' this stalk 

 cutter and plow'ed into the soil, and the weeds and grass on the 

 land were also plowed in. The land was not simply plowed, as has 

 been customary b}^ others, to a depth of 1 to 2 inches, but to a 

 depth of from 6 inches to a foot. During this plowing all of the 

 large stones which had been plowed up were taken fronj the field. 

 As a matter of course a considerable quantity of subsoil was thrown 

 up, and the presence of this subsoil at the surface would, to a certain 

 extent, decrease the yield of corn during the first year, but it would 

 improve the condition of the soil for the second and succeeding years. 

 On one piece of land, and especially on several washed knolls, a 

 quantity of manure from an old corral was spread over the surface of 

 the laud before plowing. In addition to these methods of improving 

 the condition of the soil, and hence the general condition of the plants 

 themselves, a crop of crimson clover seed was sown between the corn 

 rows at the last cultivation just before the crop w^as laid by. Not 

 only has clover never been planted in these islands, but no crop what- 

 ever is ordinarily used on the land where corn is planted to retain the 

 surface soil and prevent washing. On all of these cornfields a good 

 many milch cow^s and horses are pastured after the crop has been 

 harvested. A crop of clover, grown on the land after the corn is 

 harvested, would not only improve the condition of the soil for 

 succeeding corn crops, but would also supply forage during the cold 

 and usuall}' rainy winter season. About an acre of a small white 

 bean was sown during the winter of 1902 on a part of this experi- 

 mental cornfield, with a view not only to enriching the soil by 

 turning under the crop, but also to see if an intermediate money crop 

 could not be produced during the time that the ground was idle. 

 This part of the experiment was not very successful, the yield of 

 beans beijig too small to warrant anvone attempting to grow them 

 for profit, })ut the vines and stul^ble were, instead of being burned, 

 turned under and the hunms content of the soil increased to that 



