1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
675 
are in debt to them, and feel under obligations to sell 
to them.” 
When I was there, they were asking more for 
bran, etc., by 83 to 84 per ton than the same grades 
could be bought for in Connecticut in car lots, though 
they are on grain freight routes, and freight is less 
than to Connecticut points. 
What is the matter with the farmers ? They don’t 
know the market value of what they have to buy or 
sell. Intelligent reading would remedy this. Buying 
on long credit virtually makes slaves. Successful 
business farming ought to have for its motto, Buy 
and sell for cash ; buy of the producer; sell to the 
consumer. h. g. Manchester. 
THE DAKOTA WHEAT FIELDS. 
ARE THEY IN DANGER OP EXHAUSTION ? 
(Concluded.) 
The successful management of soils for best results 
in the Red River Valley, is quite a different problem 
from that of the hills of New England, or even of 
New York. The valley was formerly an old lake 
bed that has been gradually filled up by the deposits 
of fine, impalpable sediment that found its way into 
the lake through the many small streams that flowed 
from the adjoining country. This soil is so fine that 
from one-third to two-thirds of it will pass through 
a sieve having 100 openings per square inch. From 
1% to 3 feet of this surface soil contains from three to 
eight per cent of humus matter. What a feeding 
ground a soil so fine and rich in organic matter fur¬ 
nishes to growing 
plants. A soil 
with its particles 
two or three times 
as large, and with 
its store of organic 
matter in the first 
six inches, needs 
to be handled in 
quite a different 
manner from one 
so fine. It must 
not be thought for 
a moment that 
such a soil is in¬ 
exhaustible. Far 
from it, but with 
good manage¬ 
ment, the gradual 
replenishing o f 
the humus we 
have a supply of 
plant food that 
should be as pro¬ 
ductive for future 
generations as at 
the present time. 
The college farm 
at Fargo had 
grown continuous 
wheat for about 15 
years when it 
came into posses¬ 
sion of the college. 
At this time, the 
soil showed by an¬ 
alysis a humus content of 63 tons per acre, while 
the adjoining unbroken prairie showed a content of 
109 tons per acre. But this is not all, the available 
nitrogen is contained in the humus, and we find a 
heavy depletion of this, and sooner or later, under 
such a condition, there would be apparent soil ex¬ 
haustion, but in fact, a squandering of that part of 
the plant food which nature had made ready for the 
growing plant. This land was a school section that 
had been rented and, each year, the tenant was try¬ 
ing to secure, with as little labor as possible, a 
profitable crop of wheat, with no attempt to main¬ 
tain a good physical and mechanical condition of 
the soil. 
For successful farming in this valley, the first 
essential is to maintain, as nearly as possible, a per¬ 
fect physical and mechanical condition of the soil; 
the second essential is to maintain a proper balance 
of humus and organic matter with its store of nitro¬ 
gen to be drawn from the atmosphere through the 
agency of legumes and good tillage. With these two 
conditions fulfilled, 500 years from now, we shall still 
have a fertile soil. Grow two crops of clover on the 
poorest hillside of New England supposed to be ex¬ 
hausted, and then plow and cultivate thoroughly to 
put the soil in the best physical and mechanical con¬ 
dition, and in a favorable year, there will be a good 
crop of corn or wheat. Have phosphates or potash 
been added by such a system ? I believe it is not so 
muQh a question of phosphates and potash as of put¬ 
ting the soil in a proper physical and mechanical 
condition, and the adding of organic matter with its 
store of nitrogen, and the bringing of the food into a 
form available to the growing plant. 
Several years ago, a farmer on one of the hillsides 
of Maine was starved out and left his farm as worth¬ 
less. It did not produce one-half ton of hay per acre. 
A poor but thrifty family became its owner. Clover 
was their hobby, and clover was grown, beginning in 
a small way, with only one horse and a cow. Five 
years later, a large field (for Maine) about the house 
was producing good crops, and no artificial fertilizers 
were used. The soil was exhausted, but not depleted. 
Good cultivation and restoring the humus again un¬ 
locked the storehouse, and success followed where 
shiftlessness had failed. 
In 1891, a field long under wheat culture showed 
5.35 per cent of humus and .79 per cent of phosphoric 
acid in the humus, Crop rotation was practiced, in¬ 
cluding one crop of clover and, in 1894, there was 
6.82 per cent of humus and .91 per cent of phosphoric 
acid in the humus. The soil had been enriched in 
humus, and the phosphates made more available to 
plant growth. We cannot maintain a good physical 
condition of the soil unless there is a good proportion 
of humus ; neither can there be a good stock of avail¬ 
able food material unless the humus content is main¬ 
tained, and the soil well tilled to keep it in a good 
physical and mechanical condition. 
Perhaps your readers may say that my assertions 
are too strong, but I believe the trend of all recent 
lines of soil investigations point in this direction, and 
each year has brought me farther and farther from 
the old views of soil fertility and how best to main¬ 
tain it. If I provoke discussion, even by taking, in 
part, a wrong stand, research will bring the truth to 
light. Then will my wish be accomplished. E. f. ladd. 
WHAT A GOOD SOW DID. 
WHAT COW CAN BEAT HER ? 
The Cheshire sow, Chapman’s Balva No. 1894, is one 
of the most profitable animals I ever owned. The 
following table gives her performances. Farrowed 
October 14, 1893 : 
Pi*s. 
January 1, 1895—first farrow. 10 
September 1, 1895—second farrow. 12 
April 1, 1896—third farrow. 1-1 
September 25, 1896—fourth farrow. 14 
April 30, 1897—fifth farrow. 14 
September 1, 1897—sixth farrow. 14 
Total number of pigs. 78 
Total number raised, 72. 
Total value at 85 each, 8360. 
The dam of the sow was brought up in idleness, 
and feasted on the best her owner had. She was a 
beautiful animal to look at, a prize winner, and as 
worthless as she was handsome. Small litters and a 
smaller flow of milk, accompanied a disposition which 
allowed her to lie and listen with perfect composure 
to the dying squeal of her best pig imprisoned beneath 
her huge carcass. She was a victim of prosperity, 
and soon after coming into my possession, was con¬ 
signed to the pork barrel. 
The sire was very long in body, and had an ex¬ 
ceedingly well shaped and prolific mother ; he trans¬ 
mitted these qualities to his offspring. Chapman’s 
Belva inherited a calm disposition, quick maturity, 
and strong digestion from her dam, and strong legs, 
capacity of body and prolificacy from the sire. This 
combination makes a foundation for a grand breeder, 
if properly cared for. The most profitable sows are 
so gentle that they will not lie on or trample with 
hasty movements, the little ones. They have hearty 
appetites and no tendency, natural or acquired, to 
lay on flesh. The milk required for large litters is 
about equal to that given by a cow, and as rich. They 
are strong in limb, to carry the load of pigs before 
birth, and to avoid fever, caked bag or scours, must 
be healthy. 
Belva was not a promising specimen at first; a fall 
pig without milk, never is growthy and fine. She 
was, however, always moving, prying open the gate, 
and was energetic. Her food consisted of wheat 
bran (fine) wet with water, and flat turnips or beets. 
She was not bred so young as is our custom, being 
small of her age. About May 20, she was turned out 
to pasture and had to shirk for herself. Young stock 
feeding exclusively on grass will be perfectly healthy 
and strong, bub do not grow very fast, or fatten. 
When she dropped her first litter, I do not think that 
she weighed over 130 pounds, but had a frame for 
200. She was fed milk, wheat middlings, oil meal, 
beets, and charcoal. The pigs made such demands 
that surplus growth was prevented and milking 
qualities developed. She was not bred till just 
before going to pasture in the fore part of May, 
and the pigs were not taken from her till she 
weaned them. This course made demands on her 
system till about a month before breeding, and kept 
her from fleshing up. She had begun to grow fast 
when put out to grass, and was able to do well on it 
alone. She has, 
with age, gradual¬ 
ly filled out, and 
has a strong 
“ working frame,” 
but is a little un¬ 
der weight for her 
age. This system 
of feeding and 
care produces 
profitable breed¬ 
ers but not prize 
winners. She has 
not had any side 
rails in her pen, or 
any one near at 
farrowing time. 
She has but 12 
teats, yet she has 
never killed one 
pig, and gives milk 
enough for 13. 
Four different 
service boars have 
been used, which 
proves that her 
tendency to throw 
large litters is not 
due to the sire. 
Her daughter', 
reared under simi¬ 
lar conditions, has 
just farrowed 10 
very fine pigs. I 
am satisfied that 
this cheap, prac¬ 
tical vegetable ration, early breeding, and an early- 
maturing, easily-kept hog will give the greatest profits 
in breeding. There need be no losses from sickness. 
A careful study of the losses, number of pigs and gen¬ 
eral trouble encountered by those who feed heavily of 
corn, confine to pens and provide no roots, will prove 
me right. 
Some writers, breeders and swine papers have been 
trying to prove two litters per year too much for the 
health of the sow. The trouble comes from the flesh¬ 
ing up between the litters. One will have more loss 
from one than«two. At service time, the sow should 
be poor and, perhaps, just beginning to grow. She 
should gain a little from then till farrowing time, 
and then be only in store condition. With six litters 
at four years of age, Belva is in her prime in every 
way. We have no sows over 18 months, which fail to 
breed and do well, twice per year. 
The manure made by a mature hog is worth, for 
use on corn or small fruits, the cost of caring for it. 
Beets cost but a few cents per bushel, and flat turnips 
still less. Sown as a second crop after strawberries, 
they require no labor except pulling. Middlings are 
cheap, and water is free. Is not 830 a liberal allow¬ 
ance for the cost of keeping one sow a year ? Ours 
do not cost near that—four cents per day in winter, 
half that in summer, except for a short time while 
suckling pigs. We do not sell many pigs at 85 each, 
but I allow the overplus for advertising, registry 
fees, service fees, and labor. Her account, then, 
stands as follows : 72 pigs at 85, 8360 ; 4 years’ feed at 
830, 880. Profit to balance, 8280. o. *. chapman. 
Small Potatoes and Few in a Hill. What Will Fill the Dinner Pail? 
THE CROPS MAY FAIL, BUT A FARMER “KNOWS WHERE TO GO WHEN NIGHT COMES”. Fig. 286. 
