Show SALT lAKE MEN ST ART ORY fARM Tract of Acres Near Lehi Will Be Cultivated Without Irrigation Ditches EXPERIMENT IS IMPORTANT 14 WINTER WHEAT TO BE RAISED AT BIG PROFIT With news that reached Salt Lake City yesterday cst from Lout Lohi L hl Utah pf pr the com corn completion of or preparations for seeding a res of land to wheat near that place this fall tell there has luts been disclosed what Is regarded the mo moh mot t Important and ex extensive x experiments in dry farming arming in the thc on a large scale ever attempted west Est J Before cold weather sets in this winter 4 2600 acres of or land lying being in the great mountain valley alley beyond Cedar Fort Utah about 35 a miles from Salt Lake on the Mer ller Mercur Mercur cur ur branch of the Salt Lake Route will wIlt willbo bo bc b sown to winter wheat and by b next Au August August u gust grain crain will be he harvested No Irrigation I Ditches There is not an irrigation ditch on the entire acre tract and none will be constructed Setting at naught all aU tra traditions traditions of f the impossibility of raising wheat on western farms without the aid of irrigation these four Salt Lake men have undertaken one of the biggest dry fanning projects possible in this state These menY men W H Tobin J M 1 Dalton and aid P B Patterson with Hyrum Brown of Lehi T after months of careful investigation investigation of dry farming tests conducted by b the government department of agriculture agriculture ture tun and by the tho officials of the Agricultural Agricultural Agricultural tural college as well as the dry farms arms suc sue successfully e operated for years near Nephi have hav become convinced that wheat can be raised on the tract of land they have sr sHured cured with no other moisture than that furnished by the fall faU and rains of that thiat section of Utah I Method of Operation I IThe The farm arm is plowed very ver deep during the 4 gummer rummer months and loft to stand until unlit time to harrow in the fall faU Theoretically TheoretIcal the plowed soil left to itself will absorb an immense amount of moisture from the Atmosphere Then It is harrowed before t the h fall rains and seeded The grain is winter wheat and is harvested the fol following following following lowing August This however is but the initial step toward the ultimate and complete forma formation formation formation tion of th the dry Ir farm The first summer after aft r the first cron eron ron the farm is as deep de as possible and amid left to stand throughout the following winter no at attempt attempt tempt being made to grow zt second crop upon it at this time The Tilt following summer it Is plowed fora for fora a third time left to stand until fall faIl then harrowed and seeded and the following August the second crop is harvested In brief this means a crop every other year vear ear the plowed land standing unused the Intervening winter to permit a greater absorption of moisture c Farm Is Divided To permit a crop every year ear the Lehl Lehi farm is to be divided Into sec see sections sections lions and crops alternated on them one farm resting and absorbing moisture for years ars crop while the other is seeded with a crop and harvested The methods Mr rr Tobin and his hs asso associates elates have employed for plowing seed seedIng seedIng seeding Ing and harvesting the crop on their Im Immense immense Immense mense farm are arc probably the most mod modern ern irn rn now in o ue In the United States A A mammoth traction en engine engine engino gine gino pulling fifteen big disk plows with disks plows the farm The big bis bi engine en ine covers two ho and a half acres every verv hour and Is equipped with a headlight for Cor night work so that in a day dav approximately fifty 1 acres can cnn be plowed A patent seeding machine Is used u ed that rovers covers the big farm in remarkably short time and In harvesting the crop big steam propelled headers the largest in use arc are pressed into service Mr Tobin and the themen themen themen men associated with Ith him have purchased their own threshing outfit and the grain brain will be threshed on the ground Sandy Loam Soil The valley in which the big farm lies ties tiesh Is h some twenty miles long and twelve miles nilles wide The ton tor to soil is a a L sandy loam and ana the subsoil black and rich In places It is S covered with white sage and a considerable portion Is covered with a aR heavy R growth of black sage fr The white sage can be easily turned In plowing with the steam disk plows and at atno atno atno no additional cost The portion of the farm covered with the heavy he Y black sage however hower must be bo cleared before it can be plowed This costs per acre an expense that is added to the cost of the first years crop only x Cost of the Crop CropIn In tn discussing dl cJ the cost ost of or the th first crop on the big dry dr farm Mr Ir Tobin said yes yesterday tont It will cost us 15 S an acre acl to plow our tract 50 cents per acre to har harrow harroW harrow row it 50 60 O tents cents an acre for seed 50 cents an acre for cutting the white sage saga and for clearing away the black sage sag This gives us a total expense of or 6 an acre for our first t crop and we expect It to run twenty bushels to the acre Fig Figuring FIguring k wheat at an average avern e of CO GO cents a n aI I bushel 1 and the maximum expense of rais raising raising ing Irig it at 6 G per acre we should get 12 an acre for our crop leaving us a profit of 5 or G 6 an acre the first year On the sec see second second ond crop our expense will drop to about 1 4 l lan an acre and the wheat should go at least thirty bushels to the acre giving lYing us 18 an acre or a profit of 14 to the acre Mr r Tobin and his associates are en enthusiastic enthusiastic over the prospects for big crops on their dry farm as several crops have bave been successfully raised on a smaller dry farm a short distance from the Lehi Lehl tract The experiment that Is being at attempted attempted attempted tempted at the latter place plat Is being watched with great groat interest by the big western wheat growers ro ers and by b the got gov government go agriculture agents |