19 



failed to get a stand of clover in this field. I applied it at the rate of 1,000 

 pounds per acre. 



I watched this piece like a small boy watches his prize colt, calf or 

 pig, but was disappointed in the corn of 1907, the oats of 1908 and the 

 wheat of 1909, as I could see no results. I rather began to go back on my 

 New York friend, but first determined to find out if I had used it correctly. 

 During the winter of 1908 and 1909 I went to a farmers' institute and 

 heard Dr. Hopkins talk on raw rock phosphate. I now know why I had no 

 results. 



In the spring of 1909 I got nine tons and put it on twenty acres that 

 had been in clover in 1908. I said "clover", but honestly it was just a 

 pretense at clover. This twenty acres was immediately plowed and planted 

 to corn and yielded five bushels more per acre than the other fields. This 

 hardly satisfied me as I did not yet know what caused the increase, the 

 clover or the phosphate. 



It was in 1910 that I really knew I had gotten results. The four acres 

 where I had applied the first two tons was in clover with the balance of the 

 field. The difference between the field that had phosphate and that which 

 had no phosphate was as noticeable as a dead furrow, there being more 

 than twice as much clover on the phosphated ground. 



The twenty acres that had been phosphated in 1909 was put in oats in 

 1910. This gave an increase of 15 bushels per acre more than my other 

 fields. 



Then I was sure that raw rock phosphate had given results, but as 

 some farmers began to ask questions and others to scoff and I could not 

 explain the real reason I managed to get Dr. Hopkins to speak at a farm- 

 ers' institute in Fairbury. One statement that Dr. Hopkins made was 

 very encouraging to me. It was to the effect that a farmer having 160 

 acres and not being able to borrow the money could sell 40 acres to get 

 the money and apply the Illinois System of Permanent Fertility to the 

 remaining 120 acres and make more money than if the 160 acres were 

 farmed. The following spring of 1911 I borrowed money to buy my first 

 carload, 32 tons, of raw rock phosphate. 



In 1912 I was in DeKalb County and called upon William Eckhardt 

 the first morning he opened the Farm Bureau office. After some talk with 

 him and stating that I would like to see a County Advisor in Livingston 

 County so as to know more about the types of soil, he suggested that I 

 get some soil man from the University of Illinois to go over my farm and 

 make a soil map. I secured Mr. Gustafson to do this for me in September, 

 1912. From him I learned that I had a type of soil termed a sandy phase 

 of brown silt loam, very low in organic matter, quite acid and deficient in 

 phosphorus. 



I have given this in detail to show how slow I was in getting started. 

 I know now that 1 could have gotten my information sooner, but there 

 is certainly no excuse for being so slow now, with all the information from 

 the University and with the county advisors in nearly every county. 



I have three methods to show my results from the use of raw rock 

 phosphate. In the following table I have a comparison of results on the 

 farm during the years I was making the first application of raw rock 

 phosphate: 



CAMPARISON OF RESULTS ON FARM. 



No 



Phosphate. Phosphate. Increase, 



bushels. bushels. bushels. 



1910 Oats 45 30 15 



Clover More than doubled. 



1911 Corn 40 35 5 



1912 Corn 71% 53% 18 



Oats 78 53 25 



1913 Corn 48 42 6 



Clover More than doubled. 



1914 Oats 47 38 9 



Clover More than doubled. 



1917 Corn 63 45 18 



