THE RURAL NEW- VO KKttR 
701 
Who is the Scientific Farmer ? 
Training for Efficiency. 
I WAS much interested in reading the article on 
page 513 on "Who is the Scientific Farmer." and 
so desire to call attention to certain other phases 
nf this subject, that the reader may get another 
point of view. 
1 have been actively identified with agricultural 
education for over 35 years. During all this period 
of time, great changes have been taking place in 
farm methods and development. These changes 
have come about very largely through the scientific 
investigations of the experiment stations and the 
promulgation of this work, and its application, 
through the agricultural press, the agricultural col¬ 
lege. the farmers’ institute, and the experiment sta¬ 
tion publications. One may fairly say that in 25 
years agriculture has gone through a great evolu¬ 
tion, and that this is very largely due to the agencies 
referred to. I doubt if many men would care to de¬ 
bate the accuracy of that statement. A careful study 
of the agricultural literature of the day. be it farm 
press or otherwise, will show the predominance of 
information based on the studies of the investiga¬ 
tors in experiment stations and agricultural colleges. 
Tens of thousands of young men these days are 
taking courses in our agricultural schools and col¬ 
leges. The instructions they receive there are based 
on science its a fundamental thing, and they are 
taught to "practice with science," which is not ne¬ 
cessarily .a difficult thing to do. Then these young 
men go back on the farms in many, many cases, and 
attempt more or less to put into application the les¬ 
sons taught in the school. 
Now one thing we will all concede, and that is 
common sense as we all understand it. is of tirst 
necessity in this world. It 1ms an equal value, 
whether a man has been to college or not. And it is 
not fair to expect all men who go to college to return 
to tlie farm, and be successes, any more than it is 
fair to expect men to be successful, 
who have been educated in other fields. 
I doubt if anyone who has long been 
identified with agricultural college 
work, but who can cite numerous cases 
of men educated in the agricultural 
college, that have been decidedly suc¬ 
cessful in their work, their success be¬ 
ing based on their college training. I 
would have no difficulty in furnishing 
such evidence. Yet it is easy to sup¬ 
ply the other kind—-Just the opposite, 
where no advantage has seemed to 
come from the scientific training. 
Tint is it fair to hold the college of 
agriculture responsible for the misfits, any 
more than it is fair to hold the law college 
responsible for the poor lawyers, or the medical 
college for the poor doctors? So long as man 
exists on this planet, we shall have successes and 
failures in all kinds of business, irrespective of the 
part education plays in their early training. How¬ 
ever. without question the average man has risen to 
a higher degree of efficiency and usefulness, as the 
result of the influences of modern scientific training. 
Another phase* of this matter of agricultural edu¬ 
cation I must refer to here. There is a great de¬ 
mand from various sources for men trained in agri¬ 
cultural schools, to take charge of. or to assume 
certain responsibilities on farms. Men expect young 
fellows IS to 20 years of age to go to college, and 
then be able to conduct farming operations with a 
degree of success which only comes with time and 
experience. These same men would expect but lit¬ 
tle from a newly fledged lawyer or doctor, and in 
fact would employ such as a last resort, but to 
the contrary they seem to think the agricultural 
schools should furnish men who will never make 
mistakes. This is absolutely absurd. Long ago, I 
stopped recommending young graduates to serve as 
farm managers—the responsibility is too great, 
and tlie young man will surely be expected to give 
tar greater results than his seasoned judgment 
would justify. lie should either work for himself, 
or occupy a subordinate position on the farm, and 
then grow into efficiency and authority. Yet even 
then some fathers seem to think their sons never 
develop enough sense to be given more than a hired 
man's job, with all the agricultural college may do 
lor them. I know of some pathetic cases, of fine 
young men. whose fathers would never consent to 
any ideas but their own to lie applied on their prop¬ 
erties, after sending their sons to college. The re¬ 
sult was the sons left home to get a chance else¬ 
where that tin* father was unwilling they should 
have at home. 
I recognize that MV. Morse has no intention of 
discrediting the value of scientific training as ap¬ 
plied to agriculture, but to be perfectly frank, many 
people will not interpret bis article as he intends 
they should. They will consider it a hit at the scien¬ 
tific farmer and further, it will prejudice some peo¬ 
ple where there are no broad, sound reasons for do¬ 
ing so. It is unscientific education that should be 
rapped. Furthermore, farmers should actually be¬ 
come interested in the efforts to make scientific 
farmers, and so secure more and more to be desired 
results. Too many people have great big micro- 
White Wyandotte : 265 Eggs in a Year. Fig. 256. 
(See Page 716) 
scopes over little man, watching his every move, 
criticizing and finding fault, forgetting that we are 
all but human, and that we none of us live up to 
our opportunities. c. r. plumb. 
Ohio State University. 
Work of the Clover Root-borer. 
A very discouraging condition exists in this vicinity 
regarding Rod clover. In recent years we have been un¬ 
able to grow clover, due probably to the ravages of 
some insect. The plant starts and thrives the first 
>ear. giving promise of a good crop of bay the follow¬ 
ing season, but the growth stops early in the second 
year and as a result there is no clover hay grown. This 
seems to he true on all kinds of soil, and the application 
of lime does not appear to help any. Usually a mixture 
of clover and Timothy is sown with oats, barley, or 
Winter grain, and the beneficial effects of tin* use of 
lime are easily apparent on the Timothy. Alsike grows 
no better than Reel clover. What seeding mixture* would 
you advise? Could Alfalfa he used in the place* of 
Red clover with any chance* of success? s. u. m. 
ITattsburgh. X. Y. 
A N IMPORTED PEST.—Red clover is subject 
to the attacks of .several severe insect pests, 
among which is the (’lover root-borer. one of 
the* most serious of the .whole* list, and is probably 
the cause of the injury referred to. We me indebted 
Lady Laymore : 286 Eggs in One Year. Fig. 258. 
(Sees Pagro 716) 
to Europe for this clover pest, for it undoubtedly 
was imported from some European country where 
it has been a pest of clover for more than a cen¬ 
tury. The insect seemed first to have attracted at¬ 
tention in this country in Central New York in 
D7S. Since then it has spread westward into On¬ 
tario, Canada, Michigan. Ohio. Illinois, and even 
to Oregon. It apparently attacks Red clover, Mam¬ 
moth clover, also Alsike, and occasionally Alfalfa, 
and the pea. The adult insect is a small, dark 
brown beetle only one-tenth of an inch in length. 
It is, therefore, not often seen by the owner of the 
Add of clover although the beetle may be abundant 
and doing much damage. The beetle deposits tiny 
white eggs in May and June in small cavities eaten 
out in the crown of the plants or in holes dug into 
the sides of the large roots, fi’he eggs hatch into 
small white grubs that burrow channels all through 
the roots of the infested clover plants. When the 
"rubs attain their growth they change to pupa* in 
the burrows in the roots and most of the pupa* 
transform to the small black beetles before the first 
of October. The beetles, however, remain in the 
roots until the following Spring, feeding when they 
are not dormant from tin* cold. Fortunately there 
is only one generation a year. The beetles do not at¬ 
tack first-year clover, as a rule, because the roots 
are too small for them to work in. The second-year 
clover, however, is often so badly attacked that it. 
is practically destroyed. Affected plants wilt and 
finally die. A badly injured plant easily breaks 
off at the crown. Such plants, if examined will be 
found to have the roots furrowed out lengthwise and 
in the burrow one can find tin* small, white, footless 
grubs that have done the work. The injured plants 
are liable to die after the crop is cut. especially if 
j drouth follows. 
CONTROL.—In the first place there is nothing 
now known that can be* applied to tin* soil to kill 
the beetles or tin* grubs. Fertilizers will not do it 
and will not save badly injured plants. The only 
thing to do is to plow infested second-year clover 
fields just as soon as possible after tin* crop is cut 
and the hay removed. By so doing the grubs in the 
roots will be starved and will Ik* prevented from 
transforming into adult beetles to reinfest Inter 
crops. The plowing should be done as soon as pos¬ 
sible because, in Ohio at least, and probably 
the same is true for New York, 
the grubs early in July begin to 
change to pupa* and these may not 
be killed by plowing. In addition. Red 
clover should not 1 m* allowed to strug¬ 
gle* along after a field becomes badlv 
infested because the scattered plants 
will simply act as a nursery for the 
borers. In this connection, it might 
be said that clover growing here and 
there along roadsides and in other 
places is probably very often a breed¬ 
ing ground for these beetles. All 
such patches should be destroyed if 
practicable. Finally, there should be co¬ 
operation between the farmers in any given neigh¬ 
borhood in the control of this pest. If every 
one would cooperate and treat their clover fields 
in the same way for a few years the insect, 
could be kept under much better control. Fields 
of clover left here and there without any at¬ 
tempt to check the increase of the insect act, more or 
less, as breeding grounds and centers of distribution. 
It. should be said, however, that apparently the root- 
borer migrates slowly and therefore no farmer 
should hesitate to attempt control on his own farm 
although bis neighbor does not. 
[PROF. | GLEN W. HERRICK. 
Alfalfa as Hog Food. 
T HE Arizona Experiment Station figures the 
comparative return when Alfalfa is sold as 
hay and when grazed by bogs. These figures 
represent local prices in Arizona : 
The net annual returns per acre of Alfalfa, yielding 
six tons, when sold as hay were not over $10. Tile 
net returns for a similar acre of Alfalfa when grazed 
oil by 12 hogs, were $47.25. These hogs were fed a 
supplemental ration of grain, but the value of this was 
determined and deducted. In other words the net re¬ 
turns for tin* Alfalfa alone when marketed as gain in 
weight of hogs were more than four times greater than 
when Alfalfa was sold its baled hay . 
The fertilizing ingredients in a ton of barnyard ma¬ 
nure are worth $2.50, calculated according to price of 
commercial fertilizers. On this basis the value of tin* 
hog manure as dropped over the field must be at least 
$5 per ton. Figuring that 85% of the six tons of 
Alfalfa was returned as manure to the soil, there 
were then five tons of manure, worth $3 per ton. or 
$15. This added to $47.23 would be $62.23, represent¬ 
ing the net gain per acre of Alfalfa when grazed off by 
12 hogs, as against $10 which is the net gain per 
acre when the Alfalfa is cured and sold as baled hay. 
In this case tlie net price for Alfalfa bay was 
only $8 per ton and of course the bogs paid more 
than that for it. There might easily be another sit¬ 
uation where the reverse of this would be true. 
There are situations in the Eastern States where 
Alfalfa bay will bring $18 or more per ton, while 
small droves of hogs would not pay. In such cases 
it might pay better to sell the hay and use chemicals 
to keep up the fertility. 
