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Show I fRD FfRMINGl ARID AGRICULTURE IN UTAH By J. G Hogcnson, Agronomist. Agriculture of to-day is 9 science which must be thoroughly understood by those who practice it 'before they can expect to make a success of it, Those who do not advance with the times, but keep on 'scratching the ground with a hoc' not caring how or when, will be left far behind, not only in knowledge and success, but a so financially. Many of the young people who live in an agricultural community fai! to realize in their younger days at least the advantages to be gained from a thorough Study of agriculture. They would rather get far away from rural affairs into the busy rustle of our crowded cities and leave the green meadows, the waving grain the singing sing-ing birds, the pleasant shade, the pure sparkling water and fresh air far behind. be-hind. These God-given privileges are not appreciated because they arc not understood. If a'-l the underlying principles of agriculture, botany, and other natural sciences were understood, under-stood, every piece of work, every step and look upon the farm would be of interest, because then we coiud sec the workings of that wonderful natural law which docs so much for us, upon which we unconsciously depend, de-pend, and which is perfect in its organization or-ganization and workings. At the Agricultural Ag-ricultural College and Experiment Station some of these principles arc being worked out and taught so that they may be understood. The energy of the department of agronomy during the last year has Ibecn devoted to studying the problems prob-lems as outlined below: Soils. The soils of Utah as a general rule arc rich and deep and contain an abundance of plant food. The main efforts put forth by the Tanners of the state are directed toward the securing se-curing and storing of moisture and not toward the accumulating and storing stor-ing of plant foods. In many places in the state where the drainage is poor, the plant foods and other soluble solu-ble salts have accumulated in Alkaline Land, such abundance that alkaline land is the result. Where rainfall is plentiful plenti-ful and the drainage perfect these salts are washed and bleached our, but in the arid regions they arc brought to the surface by capillarity and remain there in crusts. There arc two kinds of allkali: the white and the black. The white consists con-sists largely of sodium' sulphate. Black alkali consists largely of so- 'l dium carbonate. This is the most dcad'y to plants and may be remedied ' to a certain extent by the addition 1 l land plaster (gypsum). This changes the black to a white alkali which is less injurious to ants. Drainage is the only sure remedy for alkali land. Deep pltfwing and frequent cu'tivation tend to help alkali al-kali land, because they lessen the capillary cap-illary rise of water and thus also the I evaporation of water from the surface i and a'so the concentration of salts there. The addition dT organic master mas-ter weakens for a time tlic alkali solution solu-tion and .checks the capillary rise of water so that plants wi'l grow there. Arid Farming. A great deal of interest has recently been taken in this type of farming, and justly, too, because it is one of the most important of coming industries. indus-tries. There arc some 20,000,000 acres in the state that can be reclaimed re-claimed in no other way than by the application of scientific principles of agriculture. Good crops cannot be - grown on these 'lands by careless methods because of the lack of moisture. mois-ture. Summer Fallow. The great problem of arid farming I is the securing of moisture, which 1 must first be gotten into the soil an.l m then kept there until the plants need 1 it. The land should be plowed deep- I ly in the fall to make an adequate I reservoir for the storing of the win- ter moisture. The land should be fallowed fal-lowed during alternate years so thnt the moisture of two years will be available to the crop. The fa'llow land should be kept cultivated and free from weeds to prevent the evaporation evap-oration of water from the surface;. Deep-rooted crops should be selected I so that they can reach far and wide for moisture. Dry Farm Wheat. Wheat is now and perhaps a'.ways will be the principal arid farm crop. Fall wheat is a'.ways preferable to spring wheat. From two to three pecks an acre sown with a press drill gi'ves better results than more thick'y sown grain. Broadcasting grain is not satisfactory in any way. During four years of trial on the various arid experimental farms in this state, the Turkey Red wheat has given the bcit A yields of good quality wheat. It i L considered the standard of mi'ling ,'j wheats in the great northwdst. The KofToid wheat also is an excellent variety and during the years of trial has stood all the tests and yielded good crops when most other varictLs have failed. It combines the qualities of high yield, good quality, stiff straw, docs not shell easily and stands frost and drought well. Other good variw-tics variw-tics arc Winter Lasa'lc, Odessa, Gold Coin, Blue Stciu and Red Chaff. The Durum wheats take the lead as spring wheats. They arc adapted to grow in soil rich in plant food an3 in a cli mate that is hot and dr.y. Other good spring wheats arc Sonora and New Zealand. Winter Oat3 Best. Oats is now considered a good arid farm crop. The on'y drawback has been spring oats. About three years ago Mfl. Stephen Boswcll, of Ncphi, Utah, imported some seed of a foil variety va-riety from Europe, which has since proven a great success and is the best we have today. It is icallcd the Boi well winter oats. Diversified Cropping. Alfalfa, fiJd corn, bromc grass, potatoes, po-tatoes, etc., also give excellent results re-sults on arid farms. Alfa'fa should be sown with a drill at the rate of about 8 pounds an acre. A disc run over the field every spring wi'l be found 'beneficial. Corn and potatoes should be planted in check-rows, the cultivation shou'd be fiat and not ridged, as less water will be lost in this way. Bromc grass is by far the best grass grown on arid land. It is sown "broadcast in the spring at the rate of from 15 to 20 pounds an acre. It may be used either for pasture or for hay. The hay is of excellent quality qual-ity and is relished by all farm animals. |