Paine r, ilia ska
Dorothy I'. 3 11 ,Eflitor
Published every peek at Palmer, Alaska, for the Itotanuska Valley Formers1 Cooperating
Association for'the purr, o so of Riving nera of the Associations rork, problems and
accomplislTionts, and the dissemination of nerrs of a nublic character.
StfBSCaiTTICjr.-'Sh'JEr per year &L.00 6 nos. lOf a eop(y.
' ’ WHAT DOES OUR SOIL MEAN TO US ?
During the last 15 years -ehave heard much about reclamation and soil conscrvatio .
This lnas been particularly true since the D.ist Bowl years -rhich brought us to our »
senses rith a jolt. Agricultural leaders pell knot* that American soil had boon ex
ploited for the last hundred and fifty years or more. "Te all kner it, but not much
•"as done about- it uptil it began to blov and '"ash aray so rapidly that large sections '
of the country more becoming barren arid depopulated, ’"a have had just too much land
and haven’t approciatod the value of that land. There mas alrays more and -hen farmers
more out one farm, they just picked up and novod to virgin soil.
The last -He- dor’s Digest carries a condensation of a book by Louis Bromfield ’hich is
entitled, "II. labar 7 m," It is roll "'orth reading rhethcr you are a farmer or not.
It gives one something to think about. Forhaps re should make a study of European
farm practices. They may not have the modern eauimont that "e have, but they nay
have a better knorlodgo of simple farm practices. They have never had r.er land on
rhich to move •'•hen they '•ore out rhat they had. They have had to make the best, use of
•.'hat they have.
His story opens by stating that "c produced record amounts of food during the vurjbut
or. too inch land. V is he says is expensive and inefficient management. ’To have, ho
says neglected the fundamentals—soil preservation, maintenance and restoration.
Te'prove the points ho noires in regard to the inefficiency of our American agriculture,
III', Bromfield tells in this story of Halabar F m in Ohio hot? five farms regained their
fertility and productivity through scientific farm'practices rith the building up and
maintaining of the soil always of first importance. This region had boon farmed to
death through the product ion of Timothy hay. "Beon the demand'for Timothy hay docreased
Sue to'mechanized farm pover, and the farms rrcro morn out too, farmers just left- the
Valley. T .r.nr.t farriers moved in and out, and the result rac unpaintod '.voathor beaten
buildings, falling for.cos and all the: marks of a "orr. out farm. Hill tops became bar
ren an. gullies formed on the hillsides carrying the soil te crystal clear crook making
it "’nddy and unfit for the fish. All forms of ‘“ildlifo became sc arc o because there
mas ..elfhor food nor shelter there anymore.
B-onfiild visit'd the V.iloy
Then Hr.
jee't ran
ap.no d in
-hero he had lived as a toy;
-hieh five of the so Valley f arris /ere included.
1 experiment pro
Gi moralized farr ing
v'as at first pract 'cod, but later they turned to specialisation. Trying to raise too
many different things bee ones too expensive says Hr. liroisficld and detracts from the
efficiency of the form.
T:vo first problem in rehabilitating those farms -as to biy'ld up the soil. T'-’C erosion
.vas corrected first by engineering. PUrrotrs no longer ran up and dorn the slppes, but
rare nado on the contour. Lire -as added to th soil as ••oil as commercial fertilizers.
Croon manure crops -ore olant-d aid plouod under to increase the fertility as -oil as
the humus. Barnyard manure
applied -and plo-ed under. Seo
ul a of trasses and
loyun.es became heavier. Here livestock could be kept rhich meant more manure to pier
under. A:‘tsr four years of this, the production per aero had increased from less’ then
5 bushels per acre to over 50 of -heat-. Gnass is a ’areat lioaler, It, Bremfibld says.
It is ‘impossible to over estimate its value. Plants rith a heavy root system are of
particular Value in adding hums to the noil!.
Other interesting roints brought out in the inr-rovement of these farms through bettor
farm. -•r-’Otiecs "ero in the improvement 6f everything else in the V-lley, healthier
plants resisted not only plant diseases, but insects. After the first four years the
amount of sprays and insecticides needed lessened.. In the fifth and sixth years no in
secticides -.ere necessary and this' condition remains, ^ildlife returned to the 7 Hoy
.as food and shelter mere improved. Hie fish returned to the nov crystal clear creek.
The farm buildings could non afford to bo painted. Edi.ccs -ere repaired. T o fair/ ani
mals became sleek and healthy.- All of this because the soil had bee:, built up.
"o all li-'C from the soil. Could it be that many of our ills cculddbc- traced to de
fied// -ic3 in the soil. It roll night bo that imnrovcd farming methods th- nation
over mould improve the health of the people of the nation, Vho knars?