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Show dry farming It simply good tlllags and thorough cultivation of tbt soli, at the right time. In the right way. and In a systematic manner. Scientific farming pays, everywner i writer believes In the practicability practicabil-ity of thorough tillage and good cultivation culti-vation on every farm, and the Increaae In cropa by auch farming will more than pay for the extra labor. But the great problem In wentern agriculture today li not how to get larger cropa out of the aoll for a few years, but rather how to produce paying crops every year and at the name time maintain main-tain the fertility and productiveness of the laud. Simple Ullage will not maintain sol) fertility. It becomes necesary Anally to replace the plant food, exhausted by the continuous growing of crops, with tue application of manure.'or chemical fertilizers, and by green manuring and the rotation of crops, In which the legume le-gume crops, such as alfalfa or clover or field peas or vetch, are Introduced In order to restore again the nitrogen and organic matter, the supply of which has become more rapidly reduced re-duced by Intensive cultivation. The supply of organic matter may be In part maintained by plowing under la stubble and by carefully saving the straw and manure and returning It again to the soil A regular and systematic rotation of crops has not yet come Into general practice In the western plains country. coun-try. Max Is extensively grown In the northern states; the sorghums are an Important crop In Kansas and tht states further south; alfalfa Is grown successfully In the eastern edge of the dry farming belt and In the more favorable fa-vorable locutions farther west, but wheat Is the great western crop. The great plains region Is particularly adap'ed for growing hard red wheat of excellent quality, the beat bread making wheat In the world, and II muBt continue to be as It Is today the great wheat producing area of our country. Any general system of crop rotation, therefore, adapted to th west must Include wheat as the great crop. , DRY FARM PRINCIPLES Proper Preparation of Seed Bed Has Many Advantages. ystem of Culture Outlined to Favor Conservation cf Soil Moisture and Adapted to Regions of Limited Rainfall. (Br PROF. A. M TEN ETCK. Buperln-ttilnt Buperln-ttilnt Weaturo kiiuu fcUptti'iiiieut Himiun.) In a dry climate the proper preparation prepara-tion of the seed bed has several Important Im-portant advantages. Tbe cultivation of tbe land after harvest tends to conserve con-serve tbe moisture already stored In tbe soil. The furrowed land Is In good condition to catch and store the rain and the later cultivation clears the land of weeds and volunteer wheat and leaves a mellow soli mulch to conserve the moisture which has been stored In the subsoil. Tbe early and continued cultivation of tbe soil favors fa-vors the action of the bacteria and tbe development of available plant food. Ily practicing this method tbe farmer farm-er may cultivate a larger area early In tbe season when the soil Is In good condition to cultivate, when. If it had been necessary to plow tbe whole area, some of tbe land might become too dry to plow well. Ukewlse the later plowing leaves the soil too lose and not In good sd bed condition. In preparing land for corn or other Intertilled cropa the listing may be done late In the fall or during the winter win-ter or oarly spring. The usual plan being to split the ridges with tbe lister later in tbe spring, when the corn is planted, or tho corn or kafflr corn may be planted by listing In the same furrow. fur-row. It Is advisable to harrow the listed field once or twice before planting plant-ing to destroy weeds, or prevent soli drifting and to preserve a mellow soli mulch io conserve the water which has been stored In Jhe subsoJJ Jo preparing prepar-ing iand for corn, the early UsUog bas proved equal to early plowing and superior su-perior to early disking, as shown by tbe experiments at the Kansas station. sta-tion. In the drier portions of the great plains area, where tbe annual rainfall Is not sufficient to produce a crop every year, It becomes necessary to practice a system of summer fallowing every third or fourth season, or In alternate al-ternate years In localities of least rainfall, rain-fall, In order to store moisture and develop de-velop plant food and thus Insure tbe production of a profitable crop each rar. Deep plowing either In the fall or spring, and frequent surface cultivation cultiva-tion as described above, is the method of summer fallowing which baa given the best results at tbe Montana, West-srn West-srn Nebraska and western Kansas experiment ex-periment stations. Another good method where tbe soil is Inclined to blow Is to Hat the gTound Into furrows In tbe fall, leveling the ridges early In tbe spring and plowing ibout tbe first of June, giving sutfl-:lent sutfl-:lent cultivation during tbe balance of the season to destroy tbe weeds and prepare a good seed bed. Tbe weeder Is better adapted for harrowing har-rowing whest and other small grains than the common barrow, but the harrow har-row may be used when tbe ground Is Arm. The writer questions whether It Is necessary or advisable aa a rule to narrow wheat if due precautions bsve been taken In preparing tbe seed bed. I'nder rertaln conditions, where heavy rains firm and puddle the soli. It may be advisable to harrow, but very roung grain may be Injured by harrowing, harrow-ing, and after tbe wheat covers tbe round, harrowing Is unnecessary. Tbe Harrowing of wheat at regular Inter-ral: Inter-ral: at tbe Kansas. Ni brinks and Montana experiment stations has not resulted favorably. Without question, '.be prowr preiiaratlon of the seed bed s a much more Important factor In the irowlug of small grains, tban the cultl-ration cultl-ration after seeding The Cultivation of Intertilled Crops. While it is a disputed point among luthorltlfs whether It pays to barrow sbeat and otter sowed crops, there is so difference of opinion regarding tbe necessity or value of frequent cultivation cultiva-tion of com and of all other crops usu-illy usu-illy planted In rowa The main purpose pur-pose being, as described here, to keep jown the weeds and maintain a rnel- ow soil mulch as far as practicable during the growing season of the crop. I There Is some disagreement regarding i the depth and frequency of cultivation desirable. Tbe writer favors .rather I deep cultivation In our drier, hotter I climate, and after every hard rain If possible or at least sufficient to keep i tbe weeds In check. It la not necessary or practicable to attempt to cultivate after every rain, i and there, la no virtue In the admonl- i tlon "Keep the cultivator going in a dry time.' If the aoll baa been well stirred anl the mulch Is of sufficient depth, to cultivate again would be a loss of time and might do actual barm i by drying out tbe deeper portion of 1 Ihe soil mulch and also causing a too Cne and dusty condition of the surface I soil unfavorable to tbe absorption of l moisture when the rsln comes and fa-vorsbie fa-vorsbie to the blowing or drifting of I the soli In strong winds , Such a system of culture aa outlined out-lined here is intended to favor the t conservation of soil moisture, and Is thus especially adapted to regions where a limited or Irregular rainfall i txiakee ihe most careful tm-thods of soil i culture necessary la order to store and conserve the water la the soil and get i tbe most use from It In the produc- i tlon of cropa Tho principles stated above Lave been known and practiced i wor or less for a long time, la fact, i |
