1046 
Iff t ure  on  the  subject  in  hand,  and  tolling  why  they 
awarded  1st.  2nd  or  3rd  place,  were  secured,  and 
all  instructed  to  give  quality,  breeding  and  utility 
precedence  over  what  is  known  as  show  condition. 
All  reputable  commercial  linns  desiring  to  partici¬ 
pate  were  invited  in  and  assigned  space,  but  no 
privileges  were  sold  except  the  eating  house.  Be¬ 
lieving  that  village  carnivals,  theatres,  and  fairs  al¬ 
ready  existent  furnished  all  needed  outlet  for  com¬ 
munity  recreation  of  Unit  kind,  they  barred  all  at¬ 
tractions  other  than  strictly  agricultural,  commer¬ 
cial  or  industrial,  So  that  every  patron  could 
know  exactly  what  he  was  looking  at.  they  printed 
a  catalogue  of  every  article  shown,  giving  name  of 
exhibitor  and  in  stock,  if  known,  the  age  and  breed¬ 
ing.  No  entrance  fee  was  charged  in  any  depart¬ 
ment.  The  financing  was  done  by  flat  ground  ad¬ 
mission  to  all — no  dead  heads.  A  commission  on 
sales  from  the  restaurant  and  each  alternate  page 
in  Ihe  catalogue  was  sold  for  advertising  which  in 
itself  has  paid  Ihe  entire  printing  hill  to  date. 
AN  ALL  AROUXI »  SUCCESS.— No  salaries  were 
paid  except  to  the  secretary  who  did  most  of  the 
constructive  work,  hut  on  show  days  of  course  all 
managers  were  actively  engaged  in  their  different 
departments.  Now,  in  their  fifth  year,  they  have  a 
cash  balance  sufiicienl  tO  insure  against  a  deficit 
due  to  had  weather  or  other  accident.  Of  course 
everything  did  not  run  smoothly,  many  mistakes 
and  some  enemies  were  made,  as  no  judging  can 
please  everybody,  and  at  every  show,  whether  of 
knit  slippers,  or  purebred  horses,  are  some  exhibi¬ 
tors  who  know  their  entry  is  the  host,  and  if  not 
awarded  all  Ists  and  championship,  go  homo  in  high 
dudgeon  and  spend  their  energies  in  condemning 
all  shows.  These  were  exceedingly  scarce,  however, 
mostly  taking  their  winnings  or  losings  philosophic¬ 
ally  and  vowing  to  come  hack,  better  and  stronger 
next  year. 
EFFECT  ON  THE  COMMUNITY.— The  real  test 
of  any  institution  is  its  effect,  on  the  community. 
This  exhibit  has  raised  the  local  standard  of  all 
classes  of  stock  and  produce,  because  the  grower 
has  learned  what  quality  means.  Many  breeders 
have  discontinued  raising  scrubs,  have  bought  or 
patronize  purebred  sires  only,  grading  up  their  own 
herds  and  automatically  improving  the  stock  mar¬ 
ket.  Berkshire  breeders  especially  have  tripled  in 
number,  direct  result  of  the  far-sightedness  of  Ihe 
pioneers  in  building  their  pens  and  showing  in  a 
body  at  the  first  exhibit.  Many  of  the  best  special¬ 
ists  have  judged,  lectured  and  demonstrated,  that 
otherwise  could  not  he  heard,  except  at  State  breed¬ 
ers’  meetings,  inaccessible  to  90  per  cent,  of  the  peo¬ 
ple.  The  wisdom  of  having  high-class  men  has 
proved  in  interest  and  improvement  in  the  depart¬ 
ments  in  which  they  have  judged,  against  no  pro¬ 
gress  where  just  ordinary  or  no  ability  was  used. 
PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE.— With  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  country  farm  agent,  arranged  for  July 
1st  this  year,  they  expect  to  make  more  ellieient  the 
demonstration  part  and  settle  a  lot  of  local  prob¬ 
lems  in  sight  of  all  each  year.  Tn  cooperation  with 
the  county  superintendent  of  schools,  to  interest,  the 
hoys  and  girls  by  corn,  pig,  cooking  and  canning 
clubs,  to  give  the  young  folks  a  community  inter¬ 
est,  the  only  way  to  keep  the  right  kind  of  girls  and 
hoys  on  the  farm.  There  is  need  for  this  type  of 
agricultural  fair  in  every  farming  community  and 
its  organization  is  practical.  It  requires  no  expensive 
equipment  in  days  of  action,  and  no  up-keep  cost 
while  idle.  The  State  department  will  help  with 
judges,  plans,  etc.,  hut  can  furnish  no  financial  aid 
on  account  of  the  county  fair  appropriation  statute. 
The  main  driving  power,  however,  must  he  in  the 
long-headed  people  of  the  community,  who  can  see 
the  moral,  mental  and  financial  benefit  to  he  gained 
by  a  better  community  spirit,  and  “do  it  better  your¬ 
selves”  motto  which  is  the  yeast  in  all  uplift  among 
farmers.  G-  h.  e. 
Live-stock  and  Maintenance  of  the  Soil 
The  Conservation  of  Stubble  and  Sod 
Part  IX. 
ON  SERVING  ORGANIC  MATTER.— To  keep 
up  the  organic  matter  iu  the  soil  the  farmer  has 
three  courses  open  to  him:  (I)  lie  may  soil  his  crops 
and  carefully  save  and  use  his  crop  residues  of  stub¬ 
ble,  roots  and  perhaps  tops.  These  may  he  supple¬ 
mented  by  an  occasional  green  crop  turned  under. 
(2)  He  may  feed  his  crops  to  animals  and  save  the 
manure  to  apply  to  the  land.  (3)  He  may  buy 
straw,  manure,  and  other  forms  of  organic  matter, 
including  organic  fertilizers. 
“PURCHASED  ORGANIC  MATTER  EXPEN¬ 
SIVE. — The  last  method  is  in  general  a  precarious 
and  usually  expensive  practice  to  keep  up  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  decaying  organic  matter  in  the  soil.  Cer¬ 
tainly,  its  application  depends  very  much  upon  the 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
situation  of  the  farmer.  He  must  he  adjacent  to 
supplies  of  such  material  that  can  he  purchased. 
Such  material  costs  considerable  in  first  cost  and 
labor.  This  may  bo  justified  only  on  crops  of  high 
value  such  as  vegetables  and  flowers.  The  truck 
gardener  and  the  florist,  do  buy  quantities  of  manure 
and  make  compost  soils  hut  the  general  farmer  can¬ 
not  afford  to  do  this.  The  price  of  his  crops  will 
not  warrant  such  practices.  They  will  not  pay  for 
organic  matter  at  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  hun¬ 
dred.  Only  as  special  conditions  exist,  or  as  the 
farmer  lias  labor  and  equipment  for  this  purpose 
that  cannot  otherwise  he  utilized  may  he  justify 
such  practices.  Useful  us  city  manure  and  other 
An  English  Mole  Drain  Plow.  Fig.  412 
wastes  are  in  the  soil  the  great  bulk  of  farmers  must 
depend  on  other  systems  of  supplying  humus  that 
are  self  Sufficient. 
CONSERVE  THE  CROP  RESIDUES.— The  start¬ 
ing  point,  in  keeping  up  the  soil  .is  the  wise  use  of 
the  remnants  of  the  crops.  Only  part,  of  a  crop  is 
ever  harvested.  Roots,  stubble,  perhaps  some  or  all 
of  the  toj)  remain  behind.  This  material  has  not 
come  in  large  measure  from  the  soil.  Less  than  10 
per  cent,  of  necessity  come  from  the  soil,  namely  the 
a ^li  elements  and  the  nitrogen  for  the  non-legumes. 
For  the  legumes  only  part  of  the  nitrogen  comes 
from  the  soil  if  the  roots  are  properly  inoculated. 
GROWING  CROP  INCREASES  ORGANIC  MAT¬ 
TER. — Ninety  per  cent,  or  more  of  the  dry  sub- 
Hunting  Eggs  on  the  Haystack.  Fig.  413 
stance  of  plants  is  made  up  of  the  elements  of 
the  air,  and  of  water — carbon,  hydrogen  and  oxy¬ 
gen — which  arc  the  basis  of  organic  substance. 
When  a  crop  grows  on  the  soil  its  tissues  arc  built 
up  only  in  part  at  the  expense  of  the  organic  mat¬ 
ter  in  the  soil.  Under  the  magic  influence  of  the 
sunshine  and  in  the  presence  of  the  green  coloring 
matter  of  the  leaves,  the  elements  of  air  (carbon 
dioxide)  and  water  are  made  to  combine  to  build 
up  starch  aud  sugar  and  fats  and  fiber,  and  all  the 
other  parts  of  plants.  Consequently,  if  a  third  or  a 
half  of  the  total  growth  of  the  crop  is  left  behind 
on  and  in  the  soil,  the  soil  may  he  actually  richer 
in  organic  matter  from  the  production  of  tile  crop 
than  if  it  had  been  hare.  One  third  of  ninety  per 
cent,  is  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  crop  added  lo  the  soil. 
August  5,  1010. 
BTC,  CROPS  GOOD  FOR  THE  ROIL. — From  this 
it  follows  that  the  bigger  crops  one  produces  the 
more  rapidly  the  soil  should  increase  in  organic 
matter,  because  the  roots  are  proportional  to  the 
tops.  It  is  an  actual  fact,  that,  all  tilings  consid¬ 
ered,  small  crops  may  run  down  the  soil  faster  than 
large  crops.  But  the  tillage  incident,  to  crop  pro¬ 
duction  is  destructive  of  the  organic  matter  in  the 
soil.  It  hastens  decay,  and  if  the  materials  re¬ 
leased  are  not  used  by  a  growing  crop  and  the  de¬ 
struction  more  than  offset  by  its  growth  there  is  an 
actual  loss  at  the  end  of  the  season.  The  hulk  of 
Hie  roots  of  a  crop  are  in  the  top  layer  of  soil. 
They  concentrate  in  the  surface  four  inches.  Pull 
up  an  old  cornstalk  or  a  Timothy  crown  and  note 
the  mass  of  roots.  Is  not  the  old  sod  toughest  at 
the  surface?  Then  there  is  the  stubble  and  the 
crowns  themselves.  They  are  above  the  soil. 
ORGANIC  MATTER  CONTINUALLY  LOST.— 
If  there  were  no  loss  or  waste  of  this  mass  of  or¬ 
ganic  material  left  behind  in  and  on  the  soil  when 
a  crop  is  harvested,  the  soil  would  constantly  grow 
richer  in  that  material.  Great  layers  of  organic 
soil  would  be  lmilded  up  wherever  plants  are  grown 
and  the  whole  land  would  he  covered  with  a  peaty 
layer.  In  the  deep  forest  something  of  this  sort 
happens  and  a  thick  layer  of  leaf  mold  accumulates. 
One  of  the.  objects  of  reforestation  and  the  preven¬ 
tion  of  forest  fires  is  to  restore  that  layer  of  leaf 
mold  over  the  earth  to  catch  and  hold  the  rainfall 
and  prevent  washing.  But  in  field  practice  other 
conditions  prevail.  The  efliieiency  of  the  stubble 
and  roots  t<>  keep  up  the  humus  is  dependent  on  the 
rate  of  decay  of  this  material  as  well  as  on  the 
amount  supplied.  Decay  it  will  if  conditions  are 
favorable,  and  the  more  favorable  they  are  the  more 
rapid  will  decay  go  on.  If  the  rate  of  decay  equals 
the  rate  of  accumulation,  the  soil  just  holds  its  own. 
If  faster,  the  soil  loses.  This  is  usually  what  hap¬ 
pens  in  farm  practice.  The  soil  loses  organic  mat¬ 
ter  by  decay  faster  than  it  accumulates  by  the 
growth  of  crops.  Gradually  the  supply  stored  from 
the  time  of  the  forest  covering  is  exhausted  and  be¬ 
comes  hardened  and  resistant,  hence,  of  little  value. 
Coincident  with  this  loss  the  soil  changes  its  color, 
and  becomes  light  colored.  It  rims  together,  packs 
down  and  hardens.  The  soil  works  with  difficulty, 
turns  up  in  lump,  loses  its  moisture  capacity,  and 
we  say  the  soil  is  exhausted. 
Cornell  University.  e.  o.  Firrix. 
An  English  Mole  Drain  Plow 
T1IE  picture  at  Fig.  412  shows  wliat  is  known 
as  a  mole  drain  plow,  used  more  or  less  in 
England  for  opening  drains.  It  operates  somewhat 
on  the  principle  of  an  American  subsoil  plow,  but 
is  designed  to  open  holes  or  drains  through  the  soil 
up  to  3 Yj  feet  deep  without  the  use  of  tile.  At  the 
back  part  of  the  machine,  between  the  two  hind 
wheels,  is  a  sharp  coulter,  going  down  straight  into 
the  ground,  and  carrying  at  the  bottom  a  mole  or 
core  somewhat  like  the  shells  used  in  cannons.  By 
means  of  a  wheel  this  mole  is  lowered  into  the 
ground  to  the  desired  depth,  and  the  machine  is  then 
hauled  across  the  field  by  a  tractor.  This  mole 
down  under  ground  opens  a  round  hole.  It  does  not 
throw  the  soil  up,  but  forces  it  hack,  so  as  to  form 
a  hole  like  a  tile  drain  right  through  the  subsoil. 
The  coulter  above  the  mole  makes  a  slit  or  open¬ 
ing  which  soon  closes  on  the  surface,  but  allows  the 
moisture  to  sink  down  into  the  drain  so  that  it 
flows  away  the  same  as  through  tile.  It  is  said  that 
on  heavy  stiff  land,  drains  cut  in  this  way  will  last 
about  10  years  before  they  till  in.  Of  course  on 
lighter  land  they  will  not  last  so  long.  The  drains 
are  put  in  as  wide  apart  as  desired,  and  the  hauling 
is  done  up  the  slope  of  the  field,  so  as  to  give  as 
much  fall  as  possible.  It  is  said  dial  this  machine 
really  does  good  service  on  many  English  fields.  On 
most,  of  our  heavy  American  lauds,  underlaid  with 
rocks,  we  should  doubt  the  profit  of  such  a  device. 
Kelp  and  Seaweed  for  Potatoes 
YSELF,  my  neighbors  and  some  thousands  of 
farmers  along  the  slioress  of  flu*  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Atlantic  Coast,  need  not  shed  any 
I  ears  over  iheir  inability  to  obtain  commercial  pot¬ 
ash.  when  I  hey  can  get  plenty  of  kelp  along  the 
seashore  for  the  labor  of  gathering  it.  This  mixed 
seaweed  which  we  get  consists  mainly  of  kelp, 
but  includes  roekweed  and  moss.  It  is  a  most  valu¬ 
able  potassic  manure.  The  dry  matter  of  kelp  is 
as  valuable,  pound  for  pound,  as  kainit.  The  wet, 
fresh  kelp,  at  present  prices  of  potash,  is  worth 
$15.50  per  ton. 
Last  week  I  obtained  the  analysis  of  this  kelp 
from  the  supervising  chemist  at  the  Experimental 
