10 HENRY FIELD’S SEED SENSE FOR MARCH, 1945—Henry Field Seed & Nursery Co., Shenandoah, Iowa 
ial. 11.) ane Ue e eC es EES EER 


Licking Erosion in Le! Field A ESGLS 
Those of you who have been in Shen- 
andoah during the last two or three 
months may have noticed the work that 
was going on in our field across the high- 
way southwest of the Sleepy Hollow 
Farm. This is the field where we used to 
raise some of those fine Spotted Poland 
hogs. We have been finding it difficult 
to supply you people with all of the nur- 
sery stock you want so we decided that 
this fine piece of land should be raising 
some of that nursery stock. 
For a long time now, Shenandoah has 
been recognized as a great nursery cen- 
ter but along with that there has been a 
lot of gossip about the terrible amount of 
erosion that has been occurring on the 
nursery lands. The old straight-row 
methods of farming haven’t worked too 
well here. This system has not only 
caused great losses of soil and fertility 
but in many cases has caused damage to 
the growing nursery stock by washing 
soil away from the roots of some plants 
and burying others at the bottom of the 
slope. You can see how such losses could 
increase the cost of the stock which you 
purchase. ‘ 
We didn’t want to make any mistakes 
like that if they could be avoided so we 
got hold of the Soil Conservation Dis- 
trict representatives here in Shenandoah 
and laid the case before them. We told 
them the kind of nursery stock that we 
wanted to raise and that we absolutely 
wanted to keep our soil at home and the 
productivity of the land high. 
The program which these men outlined 
eertainly looks like it would do the job. 
First they had us take out all of the in- 
side fences and pull an old hedge row in 
the middle of the field. Then they laid 
out a system of terrace lines on the 
slopes, starting at the top of the ridge. 
They helped us find a man with a farm 
tractor and dise terracer to build the 
terraces to the proper specifications and 
they checked the work from start to fin- 
ish. They had us leave grassed water- 
ways in two different places to carry the 
water in the hardest rains but really it 
doesn’t look like a drop of water could 
ever run off the field now. It will all soak 
in the ground where it is needed. 
We made some fall plantings on part 
of the land and our rows follow the ter- 

This i is how erosion is ‘heing anipolied § in 
one of the H. F. nurseries at Shenandoah. 
Note how the water is prevented from run- 
ning off. 
race lines on the contour. Those curves 
don’t seem to be difficult to make with 
our equipment either and George Rose, 
our nursery manager, is pleased with this 
new system, 
The Soil Conservation technicians will 
help Mr. Rose develop a plan for rotat- 
ing the nursery stock occasionally with 
legumes and grasses to keep our produc- 
tivity up and our soil in good shape. 
This is a program that more of you 
farmers could use with advantage and 
profit. By advantage, I mean that you 
can save your soils and keep gullies from 
forming while you raise the food for war, 
and keeping your farms in good shape is 
important to those boys too. Some of 
them will want to take over the old home 
place some day. By profit I mean that by 
contouring and terracing your land you 
can actually increase the yields per acre, 
The College at Ames tells us that con- 
touring alone increased yields on corn by 
almost seven bushels in 1944. That was 
an average for the State of Iowa and be- 
lieve me, we can use those extra bushels 
now. 
In counties where there are Soil Con- 
servation Districts organized there are 
technical men available to help you work 
out such a plan on your own farms. Their 
services don’t cost you anything. They 
are employed by your own United States 
Department of Agriculture. Your tax 
money helps to make their services avail- 
able—why not use them? 

Best for the Least 
I want all you customers to take an- 
other look at a little colored picture on 
the back cover of the big spring catalog. 
Especially all flower lovers. There you 
will find six beautiful phlox plants that 
form a collection that can’t be beat. These 
are the best colors and the finest speci- 
mens. Their names are Brilliant, Star- 
light, Hauptman-Koehl, Mrs. Jenkins, 
Lillian and R. P. Struthers. If you know 
phlox you will recognize them as the 
leaders. Amazing even to me, is the 
price I’m asking—only $1.29 for all six, 
postpaid. These are big, healthy, field- 
grown plants that will bloom the first 
year and almost forever afterwards. 
Plant them the day you get them, give 
them plenty of moisture when they’re 
oon and you’ll be repaid a hundred- 
fold. 

Listen to KEFNF 
Yes,-I’m still broadcasting every day at 
12:30 noon and 7:30 P.M. Listen to ihe lens 
Lek LA, programs. Tune in at 920 kilo- 
cycles. 
“Succotash with a 
Mexican Accent” 
When we were in old Mexico several 
years ago we liked their way of cooking 
sweet corn, so Mrs. Field got the recipe, 
and we have used it a lot since. Here it is, 
It’s good. 
1 Qt. fresh sweet corn, cut off. 
14 cup shelled green beans (if desired). 
2 Tbls. chopped onion. 
16 cup chopped sweet pepper ~ (either 
green or red). 
8 Slices (144 cup) chopped bacon. 
Seasoning to taste, we use as polowst 
146 tsp. salt. 
11% tsp. sausage Reasoning? 
2 tsp. sugar. 
Add 1 qt. water, mix thoroughly and 
boil until done, say half an hour, maybe 
more. 
If canning for future use, boil for 10 
minutes, then pack in glass jars and 
process the same as for straight corn. We 
give it 75 minutes at 10 lbs. in pressure 
cooker. 

OREN SOOO RE 
Recommends to Anyone 
“Dear Mr. Field: Myself with part of 
my chickens. They are really big for 4 
months. If I order chicks next spring I 
expect to.order from you. -I can certainly 
recommend your chicks to BUTCH 
Wilma Lawson. : 
A Gift of Chives. 
Do you know what Chives are? Ever 
eat them? If not, you are missing a 
really good thing. ‘And I’ve got a lot of 
them I’m going to give away. 
They are a small, slender growing, 
member of the onion family, used like 

onions for seasoning in cooking or in sal- 
ads. Taste like onion but milder—more> 
delicate flavor. They don’t make a regu- 
lar bulb—just a clump of little fine ‘slen- 
der tops and fibrous roots. You use just 
the tops. Cut them off and cut them up 
fine or minced. More tops just keep com- | 


ing all the time. Hardy outdoors an 
where, or they can be planted in a flower 
pot and grown in the kitchen window or 
in a window box. . Z 
I grew a big bed of them: at. my Ozark. 
garden, and I will give a small clump 
of them to every one who orders some of 
my Ozark Wild Flowers listed on page 42 
of our big catalog. I’ll just wrap them 
right in with the wild flowers. Sorry I 
haven’t got enough to give to the whole © 
million of our customers on everything, 

but I will have enough for all who order > 
~ the wild flowers. . 
You’re welcome. H. F. 

Pet White (Blue?) Rock 
DRE ER AUIS eo ES SE oe 
“Dear Henry: My grandson, Lee Skin-. 
ner, who lives with us, taken with his pet, 
Henry Field White Rock pullet. He calls 
her ‘‘Blue.” Keeps her colored with blu- 
ing so he can recognize her as she grows.” 
—Mrs, W. F, Liston, Dickens, Nebraska. 




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