Campbell's 1907 soil culture manual; a complete guide to scientific agriculture as adapted to the semi-arid regions

Front matter

Class _2EiM Book - ( J 2.

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm

H. W. CAMPBELL

Contents

PASE

Introduction 5

How to Use the Manual 15

Introduction

Agricultural industry is undergoing in these opening years of the Twentieth century a most wonderful development in the direction of that perfection of method and practical application of scientific principles which has been the hope and inspiration of thoughtful students of agriculture through ages.

That which is being wrought out by workers, by students, by thinkers, by investigators in all branches of agriculture — in plant breeding, in domestic animal industr}^, in crop diversification, in planting, and harvesting, and marketing — goes directly to the final solution of the essential problems connected with production.

Farming methods of the past century were those of preceding years; the methods of our century are to be those of the next thousand years.

This does not mean that our forefathers did not know anything about farming, nor that what they did was all wrong, nor that they failed to solve the problems of their day and age. It does not mean we are on the verge of revolution and are about to overturn old methods and adopt entirely new ones all round. But with the more varied needs of mankind as civilization becomes more complicated, and the proportionate narrowing of our fields as we approach the limit of tillable area, the new and complicated problems are to be met only by the putting together of many heads and the accumulation of much wisdom. The strides we are making just now are beyond those of other days. We are in position to take advantage of the accumulation of evidence and to discover the truth that shall endure.

The reader will not find in the pages of this Soil Culture Manual a universal guide to success in farming. But he will find something here that will be of immense value to him if he but has the patience and industry to master the principles and is willing to give a fair trial to the methods which are here described for the treatment of soils. It is presented with a confidence born of years of investigation and experiment, and of success in many seasons of adverse conditions spread out over many states with soil and climate as different as it is possible to have.

This Soil Culture Manual has to do with just one subject, or rather one branch of agriculture, but it so happens that this lies at the very foundation of all agriculture. Production is the end and aim of all farming. Production is possible only where soil conditions are right, for no matter what may be the climate or the extent of cultivation, there cannot be crops if there is not fertility available in the soil. Available fertility may exist, under most favored conditions, where there has been no cultivation; but it is more often true that fertility comes from conditions brought about by cultivation done intelligently.

This handling of the soil with a view to the development of available fertility is Scientific Soil culture.

It is my purpose to present in this Manual the results of years of labor in this field. ' I desire to treat a complicated subject with plainness and frankness. Here is material for a discourse filled with scientific terms, but I shall try to be so plain that everyone may know all about it. I shall give something of the history of the development of what has come to be known in a dozen or more states as the Campbell system of soil culture; shall tell why and how I came to make the investigations which led up to this; shall discuss freely the principles which lie at the foundation; shall tell what has been accomplished and what may be expected; and I shall give here instructions as to how to apply these principles as nearly complete as possible.

In previous editions of the Manual, and in various other publications and in public addresses, commencing a dozen years ago, I have insisted that science in soil culture and the more perfect adaptation of scientific methods to farming would result in doubling the crops in the great semi-arid belt of America. In later years I have made the statement still stronger and have declared, to the amazement of some of the doubting ones, that crops have not been one-fourth what they should have been^in this region. It is because I have had faith in this region and have been confident that crops could be made as certain here as elsewhere, that I have pursued investigations, often under the most discouraging conditions and in the face of fierce opposition, and it is in the hope that I may convince others, not a few but thousands, that I publish this Manual.

While the investigations which have resulted in the development of this system of soil culture have been carried on in the semi-arid belt, or that region where the rainfall is too small for successful farming in the ordinary way, it should be understood at the outset that the principles are applicable anywhere and in any climate, and that even where there is an excess of moisture, those who make use of the system will achieve results of great value. The difficulties to be overcome by the farmer in assuring good crops are so pronounced in this semi-arid region that it seems specially fitted for development of the very highest type of agricultural science; but everywhere the problems are much the same, and having shown the way to success here, the way will be much easier elsewhere. There is hardly a section of the United States that can be said to be free from the danger of crop failure by reason of the irregular distribution of the rainfall. The season of drouth, or weeks of dryness perhaps sandwiched between other weeks of excessive rainfall, are common to all regions. In showing how to overcome the danger which is ever present in the semi-arid region we have also shown how to avoid the danger which comes occasionally in any farming country. The system therefore is of universal application. If in discussing it solely in relation to the problems of the semi-arid region I seem to ignore this larger truth, it is not because it is not well understood.

I also admonish the reader not to take fright of the subject because it appears to be ponderous and uninteresting. The term, ''scientific soil culture,'' may seem heavy, but I assure you that when once you have grasped the principles here made use of, the study will become the most fascinating imaginable. Other branches of agriculture are attractive to intelligent persons. Consider what has been achieved in stock breeding, in adaptation of breeds to certain purposes, in bringing about perfection in the domestic animals; then observe what has been done in the production of the improved varieties of vegetables and fruits, and in creation of marvelously beautiful flowers; all the result of applying the genius of man to intelligent direction of the resources of nature — and in the special line of scientific treatment of the soil to secure a variety of results there is just as much opportunity for original research. The flower garden does not contain all the wonders

I present this Manual to the public with greater confidence than' its predecessors, because the evidence has been accumulating that the secret of success in the semi-arid region lies in proper fitting of the soil. To the evidence which has come directly "from the numerous experimental farms that have been handled under my personal direction has been added the testimony of scores of farmers who have followed more or less imperfectly the directions contained in previous editions of the Soil Culture Manual. Along with this is the more important fact that everywhere in the states most affected there has come to be general recognition of the vital truths of the system and there is such a unamimous interest in the whole subject that it is no longer necessary to beg for a hearing. I have greater confidence also from the fact that all the time I have been learning more and more about the subject, have been developing my own ideas and dissipating my own doubts, until I feel sure that what I am here to present has far greater merit than anvthing which has preceded. I have not done with experiments nor have I satisfied myself that I have reached the very best possible results, but I do know that I have gone a long way toward perfecting a system through which the forces of nature may be made to serve man at all times.

It is not intended that this Soil Culture Manual shall contain any simple code of imperative rules to govern 3 very act of the farmer in his culture of the soil. The nature of the subject forbids this. What must be done Is to give the inquirer a clear statement of general principles, with simple directions for applying the same under many varied conditions, and to explain the reason for doing certain things — then to leave it to the intelligent direction of the farmer to do the rest. These general principles relate to soil physics, to the character of the soil, the texture of the soil, the movement of moisture in the soil, the development of soil fertility or those elements essential to plant growth, and what can be done and must be done by cultivation to affect the quantity and quality of the crop. One who comprehends clearly these principles and labors with the knowledge that is in him, will find the way to profitable agriculture.

There can be no universal rule for the cultivation of the soil. Conditions are so different that there must be variation. Everyone knows that drainage is necessary to some soils in some climates. It is not so well understood that where the rainfall is insufficient there can be conservation of the moisture by cultivation. Neither is it generally known that by and through cultivation of the soil there is brought about great changes in the physical condition so that soils having but little available fertility may be strengthened and others burdened with plant elements are modified. Some important general rules may be applied, however, in the semi-arid region, so that they may be followed with assurance that there will be conservation of moisture and development of plant elements and the consequent growth of crops equal to those grown in the more humid regions of the country.

It ought not to be difficult for any one to recall facts and incidents which have come under his personal observation tending to prove the main arguments in support of our position. Take, for instance, the very common incident of a large plant growth occurring right where there had been the previous winter a large drift of snow^

Campbell's soil culture manuai 11

lodged behind a windbreak in the field. The average farmer will readily explain it all by a statement that where the snow piled up on the ground it gave a certain protection to the grain, and that it acted like a blanket to preserve the grain from harm, thus assuring a better stand of the grain. But this explanation fails to explain. It does not get at' the real truth. But investigation will show that the snow melted gradually in the spring, and by this slow melting process the water was able to percolate into the soil so that the moisture reached a great depth, and that this moisture was stored deep in the soil as in a reservoir, that later in the season, when the hot days came and evaporation was rapid from the surface, this stored moisture was supplied to the roots of the plants so that they kept on growing at a time when other plants in the field were checked in growth by the drouth. The soil conditions were different beneath the snow drifts. There was an abundance of moisture and it was deep in the soil. By capillary movement of the water at the right time, and having an inexhaustible supply of water at the source, the plants were supplied with what they needed, and growth was perfect, regardless of the climatic conditions which prevailed.

The incident is a valuable lesson in the storage and conservation of moisture in the soil, and the matter of the production of the proper physical condition in the soil to secure best results.

In the pages of this Manual it will be shown that the results which followed this accidental development of proper soil conditions may be duplicated on whole fields and that what was done by the chance piling up of the snow behind a fence or hedgerow has shown us what can be done in a larger way by cultivation in the right way and at the right time. It will be shown that it is absolutely necessary, in regions where the rainfall is scant, that there shall be this storage of the water in the soil and conservation of the water so that there is no waste. The greater amount of water that can be stored in such a way that it will be used when needed, not only storage before the crops are planted but storage during the grow-

MONTANA WHEAT

Field forty-five miles southeast of Great Falls. Wheat grown Without Irrigation.

ing season, and the greater success had in so cultivating the ground as to save all this moisture for the use of the plant while growing, the better will be the results.

But aside from mere storage of the water there must be ever kept in mind this fact that both the cultivation and the storage of the water are for the purpose of producing a proper physical condition of the soil. The soil must be in such condition that there will be the greatest development of roots. There must be development of roots and these roots must be able to take from the soil the elements of plant growth. There must be available fertility. The time comes nearly every season, in almost every climate, when there is severe drouth for a few days; and unless the roots are properly developed in good soil, disaster comes to the growing plants. It is not uncommon to find that the apparently fine growth of weeks is withered by a day or two of extremely dry and hot weather. Such could not be the case if the plant was prepared for such an emergency. The essential thing is to have the moisture available, to have the soil condition such as to develop good roots, and then drouths can be defied.

If the reader is interested in irrigation, then let it be borne in mind that the principles which are here applied are applicable as well to irrigated land. We have no doubt that much that is here written will be found especially useful to irrigation farmers — the moisture and its relation to soil fertility, the movement of moisture in the soil, the part played by air and other elements in the soil, and the general principles regarding fertility.

This book is offered to the intelligent and progressive farmers of the great west. And this term ''the great west^' has come to have a new meaning to very many in recent years. It is indeed the land of great possibilities. We have never more than half appreciated it in the past. It is a region which, under application of true scientific principles in the cultivation of the soil, is destined to be covered with counllesfe homes of happy American families, with. cities and towns prosperous and growmg. May

God speed the day when the people will realize that these vast plains were not intended to be mere grazing lands for the few cattle companies, but that they will give support to many small herds and flocks cared for by many men, and that all the grass and cereals of the best agricultural regions of the earth will be grown here in abundance.

Ours is an age of progress in many lines. We are witnessing almost miracles in industrial and commercial life. Those of us who are devoted to the noblest calling of all should not be behind our neighbors in taking up with all that is good among the new things of the century.

Chapter II. How To Use The Manual

Complete mastery of the principles governing scientific soil culture is essential to success in practical field work.

These are the steps likely to be followed by one who will achieve highest success: Honest inquiry into the merits of the system, study of the question with mind divested of all prejudice, courage to apply the principles regardless of the influence of wrong outside teaching or influences, study over and over again of all that is here laid down in regard to handling the soil, intelligent application to conditions as they may be found affected by local influences.

One who takes up this Manual deeply or even slightly prejudiced against all things new and disposed to scoff at or criticise all teaching that does not have the recommendation of age, will make no headway. Honest doubts will not stand in the way, if the mind is free to accept the truth no matter who reveals it. But at a time when the most eminent students of agriculture throughout the world are admitting that their views are undergoing rapid changes, and when there is everywhere a passion for new things, new plants, new machinery, new methods — no man should be found disputing the conclusions of practical experience.

Then there must be not only courage to go right out into the fields and do the things which must be done for success, but a desire to see true principles fairly tried. Sometimes the farmer starts out bravely to adopt scientific soil culture, but then he comes up against something that appears to be contrary to the teachings of his father

BURLINGTON MODEL FARM.

Crop of Wheat at Holdrege, Neb. in 1906, yielding 51 J bu. per acre testing 64 lbs.

or grandfather or a neighbor, and he resolves upon such a variation that he undoes all he has accomplished.

But the danger to the novice lies chiefly in his failure to study the method enough. He must know it well. The principles of scientific soil culture must be grounded deep within him. He must be saturated with the subject. It must become part of his being, and this can only be accomplished by going over the subject many times and mastering every detail, always guarding against a wrong understanding of a seemingly minor question,

V The professional man prepares himself for his vocation by long study of the books in which are laid down the general principles of his profession or science. The lawyer cons the big books which contain nothing but common sense principles. The engineer or architect or draughtsman spends months in special study of very simple principles. So also in this science or profession.

The vital point is ability to understand the soil, its relation to air and water and their combined relation to plant life, and the processes of development of soil fertility, so that the farmer may comprehend fully the effect of various conditions, and the further fact that he himself can by cultivation control these elements; just what, when and how certain work should be done, what to guard against and what to encourage, and what results to reasonably expect.

The Manual must be studied well. It would be impossible to put into a whole library detailed instructions as to every phase of soil culture, adapted to every possible condition that might be encountered; but herein is laid down general principles from which the intelligent farmer can gain an understanding of what should be done. The Manual should be studied every month in the year, and while crops are growing it will pay to consult it every day.

To further assist the student in grasping all the many principles and details in scientific soil culture we have prepared a correspondence course of twelve lessons through which a full understanding of all the points may be reached. There is no subject today the full knowledge of which means so much to the farmer as how to get the most out of his soil, for it is the key to his prosperity and happiness. Anyone interested in a thorough course can learn all particulars by addressing H. W. Campbell, at Lincoln, Nebr. There is so much to be made known on the subject that the farmer will not be able to get it all in one book or in one year.

Chapter III, The Ideal Farmer

One of the principles long followed in educational work is that the ,man who is well educated with a niind, under good discipline, is fitted for almost any sphere in life. In recent years this theory has received some rude shocks, and school men are finding out that the man who is really educated is one wlio has some specialty in which he is better than others. Therefore specialization has become the rule in schools and colleges and in all walks of life. The man who tries to be a good minister and a good lawyer at the same time is no more found. Neither do men try to be -at once a blacksmith, a plumber and a shoemaker.

So it is in agriculture — men have found that it pays to learn all about the subject. Just because one is schooled in many books or has been successful in trade or a profession is not sufficient to qualify him for farming. He must know his subject and know it well. And at the basis of his science lies knowledge of the soil and its character and possibilities.

But the farmer must have a well trained mind. He must be keen of perception and broad-minded. He must l3e studious and keep abreast with the times. He should take farm magazines and read farm books. He ought also to have the daily papers at hand, and know what is going on in the world. All these things will give him power to reason. But above all else, he must have adaptability.

Agriculture is a science with new problems every year^ and where conditions change the application of the principles must change also. The farmer must meet conditions as he finds them. With the true principles well grounded in him he must be ready to adapt himself to all conditions that may come up.

The problem of farming in what is known as the semi-arid region is quite different from that in the humid portions* of the country. The old methods will not get results. Thfe farmer who must readily adapt himself to this fact will be quickest to achieve success. Farming, for instance, in the lower portions of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys is comparatively easy. The farmer has water to waste, and he does let it go to waste. Of course he would do better farming if he did not waste his water, or rather if he had it under control perfectly, as he might have, but in fact, he can farm very well and be indifferent to the waste of water. Not so everywhere.

As a matter of fact the men who have been making a success of farm operations in the region between the humid belt and the western mountains are men capable of working out hard problems. They have actually been engaged in solving these hard problems for many years. The early land seekers made the mistake of trying to farm as they did in the states where they formerly lived. The later farmers profited by, their experience. As a result ideal homes are springing up all over the western states.

All this may be dismissed as intelligence in farming; but it is true that there has been entirely too much farming done without this intelligence.

The ideal farmer is first of all a student, then an investigator, and finally a specialist; ever alert for new things and new ideas, open-minded and free from conceit;

a man familiar with what is going on around him, and yet intensely devoted to his own work.

In order that we may realize our fondest hopes as to the future of our country our farmers must be men who are capable of developing their industry to its fullest extent.

FEASTING TIME.

Watermelons Raised in Lincoln County, Col., by the Campbell System.

This ability must have a scientific basis. It need not be wrapped up in terms so strange that the farm lad may turn away in despair. Science requires only words that we can all understand. But I am sure that if the young men and women of today would throw away that old delusive idea that soils produce just in proportion to the sunshine and rainfall and that these are matters of chance, and that the physical condition of the soil has little or nothin.'^ to do with the crops, there would be a better feeling as to the safeness and sureness of agriculture. Then the farmer should try to comprehend how God has provided the necessary elements for the germination of the seed and growth of the plant; but it has been left to man to discover what is necessary under all conditions to develop the magnificent crop of cereals or to cause the gardens to glow with the beauty of finest flowers. Man must prepare the way. He must combine the different elements and give direction to the forces of nature. It is a study worthy of the greatest minds of the world. It is a science which the ideal farmer must know.

There has been a good deal of tendency in recent years to follow the cry of back to the farms; but if the nature of the science were better understood and men were more familiar with what has been accomplished and what lies just ahead, I feel sure that public sentiment would change radically and that rural life would be far more popular than it is now.

Scientific methods under the guiding hands of the ideal farmers are rapidly eliminating the drudgery of farm life. Our teachers in schools and in literature are not so much teaching a way to avoid work as they are showing how more can be accomplished with a given amount of work. It is being shown how larger crops and surer crops are to be garnered. The men and women of the farm are being awakened to the fact that they are not mere toilers, but important factors in the affairs of the world. It is open to them to make real progress, for if they do all that they should they will discover methods of improvement, and by their investigations show the way to better methods for the production of crops.

CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 2S

More and more it is becoming recognized everywhere that farming is the one business that all others depend upon. No other business or profession is so important from a material standpoint. It supplies that from which all other development proceeds. But it is not what it once was. It is not an incidental calling. It is the business of millions of the very best of the people of the earth. These people have a broader outlook and are facing greater possibilities than ever before.

The tendency is now as it must ever be to the small farm as against the ''bonanza farm," which has so much characterized the newer portions of the United States, The abolition of the bonanza farm, which is inevitable, will change the whole feeling toward farm life. The small farmer is the one who gets the most out of his work. He is the one who develops. He will follow the more intensive system of farming. He will do the most to develop his state and country.

And the small farmer is the one who makes his farra his home. He seeks comfort for himself and his children. He does not build a shed to shelter him during the crop season with his family miles away. He becomes a permanent fixture in his country. He builds good houses and barns, he gets the best cattle and horses and hogs, he has a garden of flowers and he plants trees. He wants the school house to be located not far away and he willingly taxes himself for support of the school. He contributes to the erection of a church in the village and he is careful that the rural route and the co-operative telephone do not pass him by.

The ideal farmer makes the ideal farm, and in turn there is compensation quite enough.

Chapter IV. Basis Of Prosperity

Prosperity is a sort of endless chain. The dollar goes round on a debt-paying tour and everybody is happy. If the dollar stops somewhere along the line then everybody is gloomy.

If you set out to explain this and devise a chain for the dollar to follow in its rounds, you will invariably include the farmer somewhere in the circle. If you begin with the grocer then you will go on to the miller or the baker or the packer, and soon back to the farmer. You may begin with the lawyer and his fee in court, or the minister and the contribution box, or start down in the ''pit'' of the stock exchange where gambling goes on daily — but you will always follow back t^o the farmer if you go long enough.

The farmer himself is a consumer as well as a producer. The farmer is always buying something. He seldom hoards up the money he gets from his sales of grain or steers. The farmer is a consumer of manufactured goods, and when he has money in abundance he buys freely of the things which are made in factories. Finally the circle is completed, and the money comes back to him in purchase of more of the farm products.