Preacher Frank (1960s)

situation I went on to another farm and picked  up an air corn from a fell and this is what he had he'd already fed it up it was all gone but  this is what he had I asked him what happened to him and he says well I forgot to put the  phosphate on so here's no phosphate here's no potage well you have to give this guy  credit he did straighten up the cob didn't he this is Frank boydd an agronomist a missionary  a farmer and a teacher who has shown thousands of farmers how to make more money how to make  their Acres produce bigger and better quality crops his story is the fertilizer story  and he tells it like it's never been told before this is Farmland land that preacher Frank  has lived for and worked for all of his life it could be your land and from its soil you derive  the means to get bread for your family's table clothes for its back education for its mind you  must cherish your land take care of it make it work for you but how ever since the days when  he worked his own farm near Boyd's tank Alabama preacher Frank has been showing and telling  Farmers how for doing this he has been acclaimed by Farm people everywhere a national farm magazine  recently cited him as Man of the Year for service to agriculture a plant food educational Society  made him an honorary lifetime member and Auburn University his Alma mat conferred upon him the  alganon Sydney Sullivan award in recognition of his heart his mind and his conduct that have  always shown a spirit of love and helpfulness to others look and listen now as preacher Frank  addresses a group of foreign people people much like yourselves who cherish their land and depend  for their livelihood on the fruits of its soil our yearsi have been so low in our cost of production  so high that there's been very little profit in fact we just about get up to the break even level  but under this scheme that we'll try to tell you about we're going to do a a job if you were sick  of course you'd call a good doctor if you had legal troubles you get to your lawyer if you have  financial troubles you go to see your Banker if your conscience hurt you you call on your preacher  and if you have fertility problems you'll have to go to the experiment station in the several states  to find the answer we are interested in all this because they have the information and we would  like to find out what it takes to get it used by Farmers as I travel around among the land grant  colleges and the county agents throughout the country I have picked up a handful of bulletins  I have found for instance a bulletin on Cotton production one on Peanut production one on Tobacco  and another one on rice and one on pastures and one on silage and one on hay and winter grazing  and then there's one on small grains one on Alfalfa and one on Sudan and Millet one on grain  sarams and there's one on Bermuda grass we have to do that job frequently now is to get interested  in a new crop and that crop is bmud grass we have one on soy beans they have bulletins about sweet  potatoes and pecans and home orch and fruits and then we have a set of bulletins that deal with the  Plant Nutrition we have a bulletin that teaches us about phosphorus and potach and nitrogen then  we have a bulletin from the experiment station that tell us about the lime and the sulfur and the  magnesium and then they have bulletins that tell us about the minor elements Boron and iron and  manganese and zinc and copper and more lib num then we have bulletins also about fish ponds the  folks at the experiment stations figure we'd lay by sooner or later so they've given us a bulletin  on fish ponds how to build them how how to stalk them how to fatten them how to make them easy to  catch and at this session here today we want to ask people if they thought all of our customers  and people like that would interested in this kind of information as a source of information  to do a better job farming and they tell me that practically everybody in this group today is  interested and they look to that as a source of information but there might be a couple of fellas  in the crowd they told me that wouldn't follow that kind of information so I brought along a  latest birthday Alman act for those fellas that's a big job but that's a lot of reading to do most  of our agricultural workers don't take time off to read all this and the county agents don't have  time to read all that so we've urge the college to really brief that stuff up so we'll have all we  need to know in one little leaflet in other words they have published all the fertilizer information  and a leaflet No More Than This they have all the crops we grow all the fertilizers we make and how  much to put down to get the crops we want but if you'll notice that the title of this bulletin  is General fertilizer recommendations General recommendations well I tell you in this modern day  of farming we can't depend on the general plan any longer in other words your fertilizer that you  ought to use is in that bulletin somewhere but how are you going to find it so what we're trying  to do is for reduce that even further that's still too much reading to get the information we want so  for the purpose of this meeting I have put all the information we have that we need to know that  you Farmers need to know on the backs of three fertilizer sites the way that we find out about  that is that the station tells us experiment stations tell us that one of these ratios will fit  any crop we grow you know in other words you need a fertilizer that's high in phosphate and low in  poach or you need one that's equal in phosphate and poach or you need one that's low in phosphate  and high in poach we've set off the example grades here in other words 16 is high and eight is low 16  down to eight 20 down to 10 over here it's equal fertilizers equal phosphorus and po like 88 and 10  10 and 12 12 and 144 over here we go the opposite to this one over here it's low phosphorus and  high part 8 up to 16 9 up to 27 that suddenly simplifies our story but even now after reducing  it from all this pile of stuff down through this bulletin finally getting it on the backs of three  fertilizer sacks then we must know of course which one of these bags to use which fertilizer shall  I use on my farm shall I use a high low deal or equal pnk deal do I need extra part in a deal  like that bag over there in other words we have it all worked out but we just got to make one more  decision which bag shall I buy for my crops on my farm and there's only one answer to that we'll  have to get our soil tested the soil test simply points out which one of these bags fits the field  from which you sent a sample if you take a soil sample and test it in the laboratory and they'll  tell you it's either this one or this one or this one we must have a soil test to finally decide  which one of these bags is ours which one fits the red field which one fits the gray field which one  suits the hill land and which one suits the bottom land so that's our story and that's the way we're  going to present it to you is that you let to use one of these fertilizers General ratios with this  several grades on each ratio but it's always high low equal and low high well what about about the  soil test how do you get a soil test made if you send a soil sample to the laboratory to be tested  they check for your phosphate they check the poach and they check the lime three things that's the  only things we have in this it's we involved in the phosphate the poach and the lime what happens  when you send a sample he test it and comes back and says you are high in phosphate but you low in  poage that's a high low low situation in the soil so what kind of fertilizer would you use in a case  like that well if the soil is high low you use a fertilizer just the opposite of that which is low  high in other words you have a high low situation in the soil and the other opposite of that in the  fertilizer and the two together balances it up in other words if you have this kind of a situation  in the soil this kind in the fertilizer then the PO crop gets it like this in other words that's  what we after as a balanced fertilizer for the crop I've seen some of your soil tests and it  shows sometimes you may get one it's a low in phosphorus and low in poish both of them are  low in other words you have a equal situation now low low but you don't have much of it so what  do we do we simply add enough fertility to raise the low up through medium on up to high then if  you test another soil and it comes back medium medium about half enough then you just add enough  fertilizer to get it up to high and if you happen to be fortunate enough to send the sample to the  laboratory that comes back high high then what do you do well being in the kind of business I'm in  I suggest you put on a little inow in other words it's from low to medium to high and that's what  we'll have to get it works like this here's a soil that's low in plant food this is a plant food  situation low low it's leveled off now but not much of it so what do you do you simply add enough  plant fo to fill it full so you can get a good yield that's the object in this whole story here's  another one when the soil is about 2/3 full that's all of a medium medium situation then what do you  do just add enough plant food to get it up to high then you can make a good crop on that land here's  one that's already high high but what do you do it'll hold a little too is you notice in other  words we going to have to have some fertilizer on all soils no soil is so good that doesn't need  a start a fertilizer so that's the way it works as we test the soils it's from low to medium to high  the same for phosphate to part and the line and it's out of that situation that we finally arrive  at this bag situation that I showed to you in other words we want to find out whether we are low  or medium or high in plant food and how much we have to add to get it up to the proper level  to make the kind of corn and cotton and peanuts and crops that we need in other words for this  occasion I stopped at a farm down the road to get an air corn to demonstrate with I stopped at  a farm and asked him for an air corn and that's all he gave me I said what happened to you he said  well I found out too late that I didn't put in the potash in the fertilizer and this is the kind  of corn you get in other words he just didn't make any corn little old nubbing that the grains  were short and the yield was short and The Profit just wasn't any profit at all no poy that's a bad  situation I went on to another farm and picked up an air corn from a fell and this is what he had  he'd already fed it up it was all gone but this is what he had I asked him what happened to him and  he says well I forgot to put the phosphate on so here's no phosphate here's no P well you have to  give this guy credit he did straighten up the cob didn't he he's got the thing on the control then  I finally went to another Farm asking for an air of corn and the fell gave me this I said man how  on Earth do you do that he said well I'll tell you what I had my soil tested and I did what the man  said do and prayed for rain and that's what I got it's the same old story you got to find out what  you need and add it to get the kind of yields you want in other words here's a little a corn that  didn't have any potage here's one that didn't have any phosphat and here's one that didn't have any  nitrogen bad specimen just nubbins and here's on that pool land and here's one that got all three  of them and it does a better job and of course if he had used Harvest King this is what he would  have in other words you have to go after this thing and find out what it takes and add all of  it from no PO no phosphate no nitrogen all three of them then all three plus Harvest King kind of  fertilizer it'll make that kind of a yield for you and we can make make money farming in the  cotton BTS I have seen a lot of farms where it take five or six acres to make a bail of cotton  then but that's not much profit takes five or six acres to make a bail now no fell will stay in  the cotton business unless he's making about a bail per acre but if you'll do all the things  that your local County agent tells you to do about growing cotton now you'll tell all about the  preparation and the cultivation and the fumigation and the rotation and the mechanization and the  pesticides and the what have you and when you add all that up you have spent a bail of cotton  in other words it takes about a bail of cotton to pay the cost of production and that's why  so many folks now are shooting for two Bales to the acre one to pay expenses and one for the  profit and that's a job that's before all of us and that's the one we're working on the thing that  makes this go is that you'd have to have your soil and your fertilizer balanced up right properly  in other words we'll call this one soil and call this one fertilizer let's get them together some  way so they would be a good smooth flow well that's a tongue and groove deal if you get the  tongue in the groove you have a nice smooth board and that's what we would have in a fertilizer  situation the soil and the fertilizer must match up like a tongue and groove board or you must  have your soil and your fertilizer matching or fitting like a hand in a glove if they don't match  and they don't fit then your yields are going to come up short because you're not getting to it  just right this glove will not fit this hand I have a glove for that hand in other words you  got to get the one that fits to make the match up properly as I showed you on the board and if  you get that we'll have the kind of yields we want another thing many of you people have been on  your vacations and ride up through the mountains and pass through a tunnel on the highway or on  the train do you know how they dig a tunnel well they put a crew on this side of the mountain and  another crew on this side and they start digging they just keep digging and they keep digging and  keep digging and if they meet of course you got a tunnel other words it fits like that the man  building a tunnel has got to get the crew on this side and the crew on this side to come together  and if they miss or don't come together what do you have you got two tunnels in other words  we can't make this thing if we're guessing at it and miscalculating we got to get them together  make them fit like that and that's where we'll get the yields we want here's two magnets I'll show  you another way it works these are good magnets it'll pick up a hammer they're strong here's one  will pick up this big knife over here they are strong magnets and they're real good but let's see  what they'll do to each other see if they ATT trct each other like that so I'll put them on this  board so you can see and I'll see what they'll do no he's going to push them off the board  they're not matched properly let's try this one oh no it won't work they are not matched either  let's turn this one over and see what happens they come together when you match them up and  they hold on so tight you can't get them apart that's what we must do with our soils and our  fertilizers get them matched up properly and then we can get the yields that we're looking  for if they don't match you're going to have to be satisfied with a nubbing there's no way to get  it but that way so as we plug away at this thing and try to get all these job done then we going  to have a job that we want in our profit end of the angle I've been talking about phosphate and  potach and getting them balanced up that whole story was about a balancing act for phosphorus  and prodas but nitrogen also has to get in the fertilizer has to be applied nitrogen is a thing  that makes grass green makes crops grow makes corn green makes yields up we have to have the nitrogen  and if we don't have nitrogen then even though we have the other balance it's like your oil and  the water in your car you get them balanced out properly but it takes gas to make the car move  and that's what had nitrogen does to us I when I left down in my home to come up here to this meet  with you people I pull in a service station and a woman right ahead of me told the man she wanted  two gallons and the fell on the other side wanted five gallons and when I got up there he says how  much do you want I said man fill it up and run it over I'm headed for way away from here I've got a  thousand mile trip ahead of me so fill it up and run it over I'm on my way and the same way with  our crops if we don't do that we'll never make it this Field of Corn when I went to look it over and  asked the farmer about how his yields turned out and he said that didn't do so good I said what on  Earth could have happened to that corn he says it gave out of gas right in the middle of the summer  it gave out a nitrogen which is the gas and corn production he just couldn't make it but I got  an ear of his coin and here it is you notice it started off like a house of fire putting on coin  but when the gas gave out when the nitrogen quit it didn't put on another grain in other words  we have to feed it to go all the way you have to put enough to finish the job and that's what  we up against in this nitrogen game or in a part of the fertilizers for that you've but enough  to accomplish your aims and that's the way it works now as I've been talking about phosphate  and potage and now I have told you about the value of nitrogen in this thing well of course if  you have our best fertilizer in the world and it meets all the requirements and is used according  to soil test then if the soil is sour too sour the fertilizers do not function properly so this lime  that I've been telling you about has to be checked too the lime can be low or medium or high and the  man tells you all about it when he tests your soil he says it's too low you'll have to put online  for certain crops if it's medium it'll fit some crops and if it's high it'll fit other crops  so we have to have sweet or necessarily sweet or slightly acid soils to do the best job on  extremes that is too low and too high we run in trouble with our crops and with our fertilizer  we just have to check all the things that go into production if we're going to make a good profit  from farming well it's nice to have all of it balanced up properly but you know what happens a  lot of our Farmers just don't want to go all out they just do some of the things he's still hanging  on to some of his Granddaddy's ideas about how to make corn and so on and make other crops the other  day I read a story about a man who was an expert at throwing a boomerang finally saw in the paper  where he could get a new one somebody invented one still better so he ordered the new one and then  he ran himself nuts trying to throw his old one away you just can't keep on and hold on to those  old ones you'll have to get rid of them and in a lot of cases we're going to have to dig a hole and  bury them you just can't throw them away it's not that easy but if we're going to shoot for the moon  if we're trying to make this kind of yield and make this two bales of cotton and a ton of peanuts  and a ton of tobacco and tons of hay and tons of everything we'll just have to go all out and that  all out May mean something an addition to lime and nitrogen and phosphorus and poage and those other  elements I mentioned them a while ago they are Boron and zinc and manganese and copper and iron  and so forth well if we don't use them we just missing the boat when we're shooting for such high  yields in other words we're going to have to have not only old regular fertilizers which contain  nitrogen phosphorus and potach and calcium and magnesium and sulfur we're going to have to switch  to harvest King which has all this has Plus vitel in other words this vitel is a combination of all  those minor elements that I mentioned including molum just what it does to it I'm not so sure but  they tell me you have to have a pinch of it if you make the grade we're going to have to shoot  for the moon and that's what we do with Harvest Kings we're not satisfied with one baale or 40  whistles of corn or half a ton of anything we want to go all out to get it and that's what we're  up against it works like this here's a little Boy Scout knife belongs to my grandson it has eight  gadgets on it knives and scissors and saws and bottle openers and Coke screws and can openers  and what have you and my little grandson wouldn't dare go out on a Boy Scout overnight trip without  his knife he has to have it so I asked him on one day when he came came back I said Son you didn't  use all of those gadgets you had on your knife he said oh no I didn't use them all but I didn't know  which one I was going to need so I took them all along those Boy Scouts figure out it's better to  have them and not need them than to need one of them and not have it if you're shooting for high  yield you have to go all out our catlan are doing the same kind of a deal all back in the old days  we used to just feed common salt to Kettle now we feeding mineralized salt to cattle did you  ever drive by a past you and see cows licking salt where both of them were available they all  congregated around the one with the minerals in it I don't know just which one she wanted but she  there was something in there she had to have and that's the kind of deal we have up against when  we get all this thing worked out and that's the same way with our fertilizer for the man who's  going all out to make the most profit with the biggest yields we're going to have to have  everything we've always had plus vit which adds up to that much stuff we got to do it to win  the battle you can't do it any other way and the way to win this battle of course is we'll have  to get our SS tested you can't guess at it any longer you'll have to go so when you people leave  this meeting and you go out on the streets and on the roads and the highways back home every fell  you meet from there out don't say good morning Jones or good morning Smith or good morning Jim  good morning just ask him when you see him if he's had his soil tested keep asking everybody and  the first thing you know everybody in this whole area will get a soil tested and if we do we'll be  making these kind of yields you have to get a soil test you can't do it any other way so when you go  to church Sunday don't say good morning Preacher just ask him if he's had his soil tested and that  soil testing will bring another million or two million and sometime $3 million extra money into a  County by just having your soil tested and getting the job done and when that preacher hears about  that extra million coming in he'll preach two sermons on these jobs that we're talking about  here it's one of those things that you have to get everybody working at if you do a good job I  went by the courthouse this morning and talked to the County judge and I told them about what we  were going to do here today and they said well I believe we could help you a little bit and I said  how is that he says you know a lot of people come in here to get married so we not going to marry  another couple unless they've had the soil tested we'll have to have a soil test to win this battle  and if you get a soil test It'll point out to you what ratio you should use and then if you're going  full forth way ahead of your neighbors you'll have to use Harvest King to get the job done let me  give you a little problem there I'm afraid you haven't quite caught on to what I'm trying to get  at on this prop Prof deal in other words will you put down on your notebook there any figure but  any number between one and 10 just any number now double that number now add 10 to that number now  divide by two now subtract from what you have that original number that you thought of well of course  I don't have the slightest IDE of which number you thought of in the beginning but I can tell you  that your answer is five the answer is always five so when we get into this fertilizer business it  doesn't matter where you start from whether you're on gy land or red land or north or south or east  or west we have all starting wherever we are but we must all arrive at the same answer and that's  profit and I'll show you how it works on the board if the yield is up high the cost of  producing the corn or cotton or peanuts or tobacco or hay or what have you is down low the  object of getting high yield is to reduce the cost but if the yield slips and starts downward  you see what happens to the cost it goes up and up and up and up as the yields come down but if  you want to get your cost down You' have to raise the yields up and if we can keep a situation like  that with high yields and low cost then of course there is profit in farming and that's the only  way we can get the profit is to have this spread wide enough from between the yield in the cost of  production so that there is some room for profit and that's the way we get it in other words the  whole story after all adds up to profit and the only way to make profit is to get a good yield  and the only way to get good yields is to have your soil tested and follow instructions  and if you want high yields put on enough to make high years so after all these years of  working at this deal and preaching this story This Is My Philosophy early to bed and early  to rise work like hell and fertiliz [Music]