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Show PRINCIPLE OF DRY FARMING Methods Becoming More Popular Along With Irrigation and Where Moisture Is Too Meager. While the. possibilities of dry farming farm-ing are doubtless overestimated by many, nnd It will yet bo found thai In most Bonil-ijoHcrt regions it cannot do what has been claimed and hoped for from it, thp.se dry-farming methods meth-ods are every d.iy ircoming more anl more popular along with i-rigatinn, and in parts where the moisture Is often too meager. In the last named parts, where at first business men, and especially boosters, boomers anil land men, rabidly fought it on tho ground that it gave a bad impression of the country, it is now being looked to as tho greatest boon that ever came to make uncertain regions almost sure crop producers. To Irrigators who have had ample water, and so foolishly foolish-ly used too much of it till their lands are becoming sour and soggy with subirrigation, it Is proving a great blessing; and to those who must irrigate, irri-gate, but at times lack ample water supply, it is proving perhaps the greatest blessing of all, says the Da kota Farmer. In much of our mountainous region there is an over-supply of water when the snows are going off in the spring, but an equal dearth of it when once the snow water is gone. These people peo-ple are finding that by very deep plowing, occasionally, and. proper surface sur-face tillage afterward, very much of 'his early surplus of water can be re-alned re-alned far into the growing season. This Is meaning much, In fact every-:hing every-:hing In some parts. There are other wide Irrigated sections sec-tions that are opening up more acres than the old wasteful methods can supply; but Instead of discouraging the new acres, all are urged to conserve con-serve the water taken by frequent surface tillage, and other methods known to up-to-date dry-farming This, In some cases coming under our notice, has more than doubled the acreage possible. In California, in Colorado and In the western part of the Dakotas, and all along the rivers In Montana and Wyoming, we have seen an Increase of acreage under this treatment that formerly would not have been thought possible. Nor is the increase of possible acreage acre-age the only gain from this source. It Is found that better crops both 1n quantity and quality can be grown where tillage takes the place, of too much waterfhg. Potatoes especially are greatly benefited by this. The old-time water-soaked "spud" In no way compares with the potato grown by two waterings at the most, and proper sort of tillage. It is found that even spuds can be over-irrigated, and that a small amount of judicious harrowing and even disking, can be made to take the place of overflooding to the general betterment of the hay crop. Sugar beets also tell the same story, as do many other farm products. prod-ucts. A great many close students of tht situation greatly question, and rightly, In our mind, the possibility of this system doing very much for parts of the country admittedly desert; but no one at all acquainted with its possibilities possi-bilities questions for a moment that it is going to be the means of adding greatly to the certainty of crops throughout the vast and otherwise productive region referred to which Is now so often dlscouragingly uncertain. uncer-tain. Deep stirring of the subsoil, if only every third or fourth year; more planted crops well tilled; more early, well cared for summer fallow; more early plowing following early maturing matur-ing crops such as winter rye and wheat, barley, etc.; more harrowing of small grain, and disking of alfalfa and other sods, and last but not least, more deep-rooting alfalfa and clover, with stock to consume it, means much in dry-farming and to us. |