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Show CORN ON DRY FARM Conservation of Rainfall Is Key to Success. Enough Live Stock Should Be Kept to Pay Moat of Farm Expenses in Semi-Arid Regions Hay and Pasturage Short. In all dry farming arena the conservation conser-vation of the rainfall In the soil where It becomes avtilable to growing crops Is tho keystone of successful agrlcul-ture, agrlcul-ture, wrltea W. K. Porter in the Farm, Stock and Home. Thla la generally done by the cultivation culti-vation of the soil during the entire growing acaaon. If no crop la produced pro-duced on the land this operation la called summer fallow or summer culture. cul-ture. Over most of the dry farming area nearly If not aa good grain crops can be grown following a cultivated culti-vated crop aa aftr the auu.mer fallowed fal-lowed land. When the bare fallow syatem Is used a whole year elapaea without any returna either on the Investment or for the labor performed. If a cultivated culti-vated crop can be grown with aa good crops following it should more than pay Its expense, which will consist of seed, planting and harvesting; the cultivation cul-tivation would bave to be done anyway, any-way, ao thla would not be counted against the cost of production of a crop of corn. Corn la pre-eminently this crop, first, berauso It produces an abundance of cheap feed; second. It shades the soli during the excessively exces-sively hot days of July and August, thereby preventing loss of soil fertility, fertil-ity, and third, a corn field haa a cooling cool-ing rather than a heating Influence on the winds that blow across It. Thla may have a very beneficial effect on surrounding crops when the temperature tempera-ture is near the 100 degree mark. On most farms In the dry farming area enough live stock should be kept to pay most of the running expenses of the farm. Hay and pasturage are very abort In such areaa and consequently too dear for cheap live stock production. produc-tion. Knough corn should be grown to supply, first, the work horses with roughage during the winter If not the working season; second, to supplement supple-ment the pastures of the summer and full as a soiling crop or in the form of ensilage and to from the bulk of their winter ration; third, to supply the sheep and hoga a cheap fattening food for finishing them off In the fall. The first essential to corn culture on the dry farms Is live stock, for without such there Is no way of utilizing util-izing the corn crop, but if live etock are kept feed must be had. the corn crop can be converted Into beef, pork, mutton, wool, butter and egga, com-modules com-modules that can alwaya be converted convert-ed Into cash or Its equivalent. The byproduct of live atock (manure) should go back onto the land to replenish re-plenish the diminishing aupply of humus hu-mus and fertilizing elements bo essential essen-tial to large yields. The second essential 'to corn culture Is a conviction that It will pay to grow live stock on the corn crop produced and a determination to grow corn as their chief feed in spite of adverse rlrcumstances. In order to be succeaa- 1 rul In growing corn on a dry farm the 1 selection of the proper variety la ea- ' sentlal. In western North Dakota ' and eastern Montana Squaw, Ochu, 1 Mercer. King Phillip and Triumph 1 will probably prove the best flint varieties, va-rieties, while Golden dent and North- 1 western dent will probably prove the 1 best dent varletlea. Good aeed la very Important. It should alwaya germinate ' Btrong and 95 per cent, or better. 1 The time to aeed la from the tenth 1 to the fifteenth of May In a well pre- 1 pared seed bed which baa bwn manured and plowed the fall before and which haa been harrowed at inter-vala inter-vala from Ihe time the aoll had thawed out in tho spring until the time of seeding. Thorough cultivation Is very 1 Important aa It warms tho soli, decreases de-creases evaporation of soil water, and forcea the corn ahead very rapidly. On the dry farma the corn should be cultivated cul-tivated after every rain as soon aa possible In order to bottle all water possible In the aoll. Aa aoon as the corn Is cut the land should be disked lightly but It should not be plowed. Should any heavy soaking ralna come after thla In the fall the land should again be harrowed. In the spring wheat should be sown aa early aa poa-alblo poa-alblo but very rarely ahould the corn land be plowed before aeedlng wheat. |