By C. M. Connor, Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbia

In fertility of native soil, in equable temperature, in well distributed rainfall, in facility of filling the land, and harvesting and marketing crops, in freedom from scourges, of droughts, insects, hot winds and blizzards; in cheapness of land-in fact, in all resources and conditions which unite to promote and maintain a prosperous and successful agriculture, Missouri is unsurpassed; is indeed unequalled by any section of similar area in the United States.

The soil is of remarkable fertility, and ranges in depth from two to twenty feet. It will need no costly fertilizers even in the coming generations, provided the renovating crops, cow peas, red and crimson clover which thrive well here, are used judiciously in crop rotation.

The farmers of the Atlantic States pay annually for commercial fertilizers the princely sum of $40,000,000. This is essentially an annual tax levied upon the agriculture of that section in return for which the farmers get no larger crops than those of North Missouri who are exempt from this burden.

In many of the newer sections, where fertilizers have not yet become a necessity, an outlay of from twenty to forty dollars per acre for tile drainage (a sum sufficient to buy as good land in Missouri) is necessary in order to render them soil productive and susceptible to tillage .

Corn

Missouri is the peer of any section in the production of corn, both with respect to the cheapness with which it may he grown and the high yields obtained.

An annual average rainfall of thirty-eight inches, equally distributed throughout the year, makes crop failure unknown, and insures a fair crop every year. The friable and easily tilled soil in large fields permitting the fullest use of labor saving machinery, reduces the cost of producing a bushel of corn to a figure which is impossible to the eastern farmer.

It is furthermore true that with unrivaled blue grass pastures, a milder climate, immense quantities of corn fodder, and other cheap foods, Missouri can and does produce beef, pork, mutton, wool, butter, milk, etc., to a vastly greater advantage, and at an immensely greater profit than is possible even under the most favorable circumstances in the north and east.

Wheat

All the facts given above concerning the special fitness of Missouri for growing large crops of corn at the minimum cost will apply with equal force to wheat, oats, grass, clover, potatoes, etc.

The yield of wheat ranges from twenty-five to thirty-five bushels per acre, grown in large areas, handled almost exclusively with horse and steam power.

One special advantage over others in the production of wheat is the satisfactory results from following corn with wheat without plowing the land. The tillage given the corn furnishes an excellent seed bed and dispenses with the cost of plowing and harrowing the land-a saving from $1.50 to $3 per acre, or from six to twelve Cents Per bushel, computed on an average crop of twenty-five bushels.

Oats

The oat crop of Missouri for 1895 was estimated to reach 34,200,000 bushels. In growing this crop also the loose friable nature of the soil is taken advantage of in dispensing with plowing the land, and by this means saving $1 to $2 per acre. When oats follow corn, which is the nearly universal rule, the seeding is either done with a drill without plowing or harrowing, or the oats are sown broadcast and covered with a two horse cultivator and harrowed once. The high yields obtained furnish sufficient answer to the charge that this is poor farming.

The soil permits of maximum crops being grown by these cheap methods.

Grasses

It has been said that no county has ever advanced to the highest grade of civilization save over a grass soil. If there is truth in this adage and the degree of civilization attained by a country is proportionate to extent and quantity of her grass area, Missouri should boast of the highest civilization of the age. Her blue grass pastures rival those of the far-famed blue grass region, Kentucky. This is the native domestic grass of the country. The moment the land is cleared or pastured closely the wild grasses yield to the blue grass

Without artificial seeding, without cost, and without effort on the part of the farmer. This furnishes the most palatable and nutritious feed from the middle of April until the latter part of December or the first of January. It resists droughts and excessive rainfall, and may be depended upon with confidence and assurance.

TIMOTHY –The king of hay grasses thrives splendidly on all classes of soils. A crop of hay of from one and one half to three tons per acre is cut in July, and the second growth will almost maintain a steer per acre for three or four months as pasture. Little or no difficulty is experienced in getting a stand, and a reasonable hay crop is assured.

CLOVERS--No section of the United States produces clover with more certainty and with less cost and exertion. In many seasons after a crop of hay of from two to four tons per acre has been removed, a crop of seed of from three to six bushels, worth from $12 to $24, is obtained from an acre at the mere cost of cutting and threshing. Crimson clover, although but recently introduced, appears to be well adapted to this soil and climate. It was in blossom this year by April 25, leaving plenty of time to remove the crop, or turn it under as green manure for corn or potatoes.

Forage crops, such as cow peas, kaffir corn, milo maize, sorghum, hungarian, millet, etc., yield abundantly here.