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Show HI OBSERVATIONS IN EASTERN Ht UTAH. h . 1 rof. J. C. Hogenson. i K It is much tobc regretted that dur- ! ing the recent visit to -eastern Utah B iif Profs. Caineand Hogenson the B cathor wa very cold and the ground H rovcre.ith snow. Some obscrva- H tionst however, were made nnd much H gleaned by conversation. Tcn cn- H thusiasAic farmers institute meetings j were held at Vernal with an attqtjd- H; ancQ, ranging from one hundred to M threw hundred at each lUccting. M'cct- B mgs were also held at vRooscvcU and H Price. H Thero !s no question but that the M shlcy valley is one of the richest H in Utah. The only drawback being H Idic lack of transportation facilities. B raercals, grasses, legumes, potatoes, H mi gar beets, and the hardier fruits H grow easily and abundantly. There H is a little sclf-supportingempire there H nlnu?st entirely shut off from Qfhqr m 1r of the State. .The people are wide awake, enthusiastic and willipg to learn. Some arc practicing up-to dat'C farming and some arc npt. One thing that they desire above everything every-thing else is -a-branch Experiment-Station Experiment-Station to help solve the Agricultural problems which arc somewhat differ-firt differ-firt from those found in other parts of the State. The reservation is rapidly being brought under cultivation. There arc thpce elevations or benches each characterized. by a distiiiGt.vcgctationjp -The highest growing sage brush, the second shad scale and the lowest greas wood. The sage brush and shad scale lynches arc prefcrabl.c for farming purposes. The two principal princi-pal kinds of soil arc sandy loam and clay loam to a heavy clay. Both the sandy and clayey soils with proper care will make good farm soils. There arc two great problems with regard to the soil that confront the people; 1st, the lack of organic matter' mat-ter' in the soil; 2nd1, alkali or a concentration con-centration of mineral matter near the surface of the soil Owing to the lack of organic matter mat-ter the soils arc very light in color, wash very easily so that the rains and irrigation streams dig" out deep gulches with almot perpendicular banks through the fields and when water is applied by irrigation the surface sur-face of the soil puddles. (The compound com-pound structure of the soil is broken down and the individual grains fall close together.) The texture thus being destroyed water is prevented from sinking into the soil so that most of it runs to waste. When this soil dries out a crust almost impervious imper-vious to water, air, and plants, is formed which of course is very detrimental. det-rimental. Drainage also is very slow and imperfect in this kind of soil. The remedy for these conditions is the adding to the soil of organic or vegetable matter. This may be done either by plowing under stable manure at the rate of from 10 to is tons per acre or else by growing n crop of alfalfa, peas, beans, hlairy Vetch or grain if need bc. This in a few years will add sufficient vegetable vege-table matter to improve the texture of the soil so that it will become light and loose and not bake or wash so easily and also will drain more effectively. ef-fectively. $e;cpnd; The alkali ..situation will . b'e rather serious in some sections lii.K 11 1 I 1 t 1 II.'. owing (q thv extravagant methods of irrigation practiced. Much more water is added than is actually nccd-cd nccd-cd to produce a maximum crop. This excess of water dissolves a larger amount of mineral matter and as drainage is very poor and 'slow, most of this excess water escapes by means of evaporation from the surface. This excess in coming to the surface through the capillary tubes brings with it the dissolved mineral matter ' sand upon 'evaporating leaves the min- eral matter there. This, by accumulation, accumu-lation, soon forms a very concentrated concen-trated zone vhich is so deadly to plant life. The first thing to'dc is to irrigate judiciously. Plow deeply' and keep the surface of the soil well mulched. Plow under organic matter. All ol these methods will have a tendency to lessen the accumulation of alkali at the surface of the soil. In some sections under drainage may have to be resorted to especially on the lower land's that arc covered with grease-wood. grease-wood. TI16 Reservation is one of the best watered sections of the state hence the need of precaution to irrigate irri-gate with care and not to over irrigate irri-gate just because the water is to be had. Another observation which was noted not only of the farmers of eastern east-ern Utah, but of the farmers in general gen-eral throughout the State, is the carelessness care-lessness with which they care for farm machinery. In driving' about from town to town and from valley to valley various kinds of farm macihncry can be seen standing in the field where last used. This way of doing may be handy for a lazy man when he wants to usie the tool next spring, but it is rather hard on the machinery which costs a great deal of nifcney and' represents much of the farmer's capital. By leaving the machinery exposed to the weather weath-er during the seasons when not used much more damage is done than the wear during the time of use. The iron and steel parts rust, and the wood parts rot so that the machine will never work so perfectly again. Its parts will be greatly weakened and its life shortened more than one-half. one-half. WIumi a farmer has finished his work for the season with a certain machine or tool its various parts should be well cleaned an(J then put under shelter Tf will then nc in pcr- lect order for use the next season and I half its worth will not need be ex- I pended for repairs before it can again I be used, neither will it necessitate I consuming a week of time that could I at thafrtimc be very advantageously Mid profitably used in doing some- I thing else. It is a business proposi- I lion. Sec to it that it is taken ad- I vantage of on your farm and thus help ypu to prosper. A good machine ma-chine shed will pay for itself in one year by prolonging thcj life of your nmchincry. o |
