26 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 16, 1912. 



SOIL FERTILITY FROM DAIRYMAN'S STANDPOINT. 



Prof. Eckhardt, University of Illinois. 



Meeting called to order by the President at i 130 P. M. 



President : The first number on our program this after- 

 noon will be an address by Professor William G. Eckhardt on 

 "Soil Fertility, from the Dairyman's Standpoint." 



Professor Eckhardt: I am very glad to have the opportu- 

 nity of speaking to you this afternoon on "Soil Fertility from 

 the Dairyman's Standpoint." I am glad that the Illinois State 

 Dairymen's Association recognizes the need of definite informa- 

 tion regarding the soil on a dairy farm. It is commonly con- 

 sidered that when live stock or grain farming fail, the dairy- 

 man can step in and build up the land. We have an abundance 

 of examples of farms that were considered run down or worn 

 out that have been made to return a good profit to the dairy- 

 man. Several causes contribute to such a result. 



In the first place, the dairyman sells a highly finished 

 product. His crops are manufactured, so to speak, into the 

 finished form, which may be milk, cream, butter or other dairy 

 products. In this way he realizes a much larger income than 

 could be secured for the raw materials, such as hay or grain. 

 On many dairy farms, feeds must be bought and manure made 

 from this feed will add fertility to the farm. Then, too, a good 

 dairyman must have a variety of feeds requiring a rotation of 

 crops with part of the land in pasture, forcing a better system 

 of tillage than might be followed otherwise. 



On the other hand, there is probably no system of farming 

 more destructive of organic matter. Special care is necessary 



