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Show ANOTHER PLACE FOR ECONOMY ECONO-MY ON THE FARM. Erastus Peterson. Written for the Dcscrct Farmer. We often find printed on the pages of this paper suggestions with reference refer-ence to the care of farm implements, and one cannot ljclp but note the marked improvement in this regard. Still there is yet a great deal of indifference. in-difference. An observer need not travel far in a farming district toifind plows, rakes mowers, binders and - even threshing machines standing in the field, exposed to the penetrating sunshine of summer and the rain, sleet y iSind snow of spring, winter and fall. These things have often ."been given considerable space in this .paper; I will therefore leave this topic for a riper time. , There arc other places on the farm that arc crying for more economic practices. To many the following suggestion, or criticisms may seem untimely or out of season, but to the one who is now using the sythc, and ' tb'him who loves "cleanliness and beau ty, they may seem more fitting. It is a common thing on our valuable irrigated ir-rigated farms, to find ditches and ditch banks taking up a far greater fsoace than is necessary. Very often, in place of finding a peat little ditch two feet from the fence, wc discover a wide, deep, fcrooked wash, large enough to carry itcnMimcs the amount of water necessary, neces-sary, from six to fifteen feet from the fence. Then a fcejd ditch about en feet below this and finally a furrow fur-row ditch ten or fifteen) foet further 'down on the land. - Such conditions Actually exist in many places where fiirpow irrigation -is practiced. There are' places where willows have grown so thick along the ditch' banks that fthC'fa'rmcr, ra'tlferthan cut tlfcm out, has moved his -ditch below them tak-mg tak-mg up another space . of equal, or greater area. On a hundred acre farm it is not an uncommon thing for at least ten acres of the best land to be needlessly needless-ly wasted in ditches. Mr. Farmer, what would you say if some one were to ask you for ten acres of even your poorest land for the purpose of growing grow-ing weeds on it? I dare say the man who would venture to make such a request would get a v ry cool reception recep-tion in your presence. But why ridicule ridi-cule him for this? He is willing to raise weeds on ten acres of your poorest land in some secluded corner where it will injure no one, while you raise the obnoxious pest on your very best land, where it injures the entire neighborhood. Can wc afford to allow such waste on our valuable irrigated farms? When wc consider the fact that bur farm is worth about one hundred dollars dol-lars per acre and wo arc using the very best part, yes the very essence of it for the purpose of growing weeds. Is it not time to right-about-face .fluid heed the advice given by scientific agriculturists? Allowing ditches to be so arranged is not only a needless waste of the most valuable land, but also an increased in-creased expense, for it will cost more to cither rid this great space of weed, or to harvest the foul products of nature, than it would if the ditches were where they belong. "Well," says one, "Wc must have space enough between our ditches to permit walking along the banks with safety at irrigating time." True, but this docs not require half the space used by a great number of our farmers. farm-ers. Usually only a small space is necessary neces-sary between the main head ditch and the feed ditches, as very little walking is dpnc on this bank. A' little more roomi is perhaps needed between the feed ditch and the furrow ditch, but even here there is often a great unnecessary un-necessary waste. Here of course is where the principle part of the walk- mg is done and consequently a good solid bank should be maintained. This, however, does not mean that a rod or two of the best land should be used for this purpose. Why not put on a little bigger load of straw in the spring, when you are hauling it to put in the head of the furrows, to pre- vent washing, and scatter part of it along the ditch bank. By mixing w$h the. soil, the straw thus scattered makesa much better bank than wholly whol-ly dirt, one of twice the width. Not only is it a great saving of land, time and means to have irrigating ditches properly arranged, but it also adds beauty and vividness to the surroundings. surround-ings. What makes a farm look more shabby and uninviting than a wide ugly ditch, fringed or practically covered cov-ered with nature's most offensive products? On the other hand, what is more pleasing to behold than a well kept farm with neat ditches, free from weeds and other foreign trash? Remember that nice clean ditches and a straight fence have often almost al-most doubled the selling price of land. |