Show profitable DRY possibilities OF THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT great thing tc to learn how to auf land in proper condition to ab aora moisture also to know which crops are suitable by V T COOKE the results 0 the experiments carried on during the recent years in the state of wyoming have demonstrated beyond cavil the great possibilities oc utilizing the immense areas of land commonly known as part of the great american desert on the experiment and demonstration state farm one and one halt miles east of cheyenne the following crops have been raised successfully winter and spring cheats winter and spring rye emmer commonly called several kinds of barley oats canadian beld peas sorghum mil let kafar corn potatoes sugar beets alfalfa and brome grass the past seasons have tested the work the question as to whether we can make dry farming pay is la my opinion determined by the mea who have to do the work these men must learn to do their work antell gently hit or miss farming will not do there are certain fundamental rules which it followed will give good returns year in and year out even if the seasons are not just as we would like them to be we must put our land in the proper condition to absorb mol tui and learn when and how to cultivate lt so as to keep this moisture in the land we must find out which crops do the best on our farms all soils are not alike we must learn to rotate our crops and improve the fertility of our land instead of depleting it the more I 1 sec of the state and find out the character of its soils ell conditions vegetation growing the more I 1 am convinced that ahls state is going to be filled up with men who will make good in farming but to be successful these men will have to realize that they must use an intel legent system must make their soil in that condition that no moisture runs off but acts the same as a dry sponge would and absorbs that vital necessity to vegetation moisture our wyoming soils are extremely fertile our climatic conditions although erratic give us crops that are unsurpassed elsewhere in quantity or quality another phase in our farming which will be better understood by and by Is wa jean mature good crops with less moisture than at lower altitudes cattle and cheep fatten on our native grasses get tat without being fed any kind ol 01 grain this proves that these grasses are of superior nutritive value the conditions which make them so feces harily make our cereals alfalfa and brome grasses also of superior quality our growing season is short but what Is the difference whether our crops mature in 60 90 or days it Is the crop we are after and it we get large ones of superior quality that is what we want there is no doubt we can raise canadian field peas to perfection just think what this means to any state first as a feed ing and fattening proposition second improvement in fertility of the land we have been too prone to make hard and fast rules about farming and have been very derelict in studying our conditions the farmer as a rule has not made as much progress in hla work as have other men in theirs it is just as easy to raise large crops as email ones and far more satisfactory the men who understand this are tha men that will be successful in the arid and states so many bay ou cannot dry farm in wyoming men of brains in their own line ol 01 business and even men who kney so much not any of us can tell un til the matter has been thoroughly tested and it takes time to test the many points in agriculture anywhere but although we know BO little about anything as a whole there are some things we do know as for instance deep plowing under certain condition Is better than scratching the soli or shallow plowing that good aeed gives best results and improved ma chinery enables us to do better work any kind of farming to be successful must be done intelligently therefore I 1 say to the careless man who expects god almighty to do seventy five per cent of hla work and he to do twenty tive per cent to keep away from wyoming the results of dry farm ing as been by me the last four years carried on in different parts of bbate prove that men with the feces eary capital can dry farm here and that it will pay the motto of the newcomer should be brains and muscle in the order mentioned it the early failures of any propose alon were a criterion of success or failure the world would not be where it la today many early settlers la all new states fail through not know ing the proper way to farm in the locality wherein they happen to be coo are not the same every where and we must learn to apply proper methods for best results |