Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-03-06
The Trouble with Our Wheat.

The Trouble with Our Wheat
As the Prairie Farmer is always in
terested in the subject of wheat-raising,
will give its readers some of my ex-
perience in raising this crop, which dates
back forty-seven years. Our country
/ was then comparatively new, and we
had no trouble in raising thirty-five and
forty bushels to the acre; indeed, this
was considered the average crop, though
some farmers raised as high as fifty
bushels and over to the acre. One case l
will mention, that of Reuben Flag.
ESQ.,, of Plainfeld. The land where his
crop was raised was rather low and wet
until drained, ard before it was plowed
produced large crop of hay. Why !
am 50 particular in describ' ng the loca-
ton and condition of the land where this
crop of wheat was raised is, that it goes
far to prove my theory correct. and if
correct there is no reason why we should
not raise equally as large crops now as
we did then.
This was the first crop after breaking
up. Previous to this the tall grass hid
been burnt and the ashes leached on the
ground, forming an alkali that had pen
etrated to quite depth, and for many
years bountiful crops of all kinds were
raised on this ground. But now one
can not be sure of ten bushels of wheat
per acre on this same ground, although
it has had the benefit of the barn-yard
fertilizer freely applied.
will here state that sowed, in the
fall of 1915, eleven acres of wheat on
ground that had but one crop of sod corn
upon it after breaking up; this yielded
forty-three bushels to the acre, and up
to this time it has been our custom to
burn our straw on the ground. We
were not troubled with worms. weeyils
or bugs. You ask why? l answer be-
cause everything grown was So impreg-
mated with alkali that insects could not
live.
When the burning over of our prai-
ries, as we'll as the burning of our straw,
had become thing of the past, then
our crops commenced to fail. We be-
gan to increase the stock on our farms,
carefully saving all droppings, thor
oughly cleansing our barn-yards once
year, and spreading the manure thus
collected upon our land. This increased
the crop of. straw materially, but the
berry failed rapidly; insects of all de-
scriptions ma 'e their appearance.
claim n, their share of the little that
was raised. The correctness of these
can be testified to by all the
early settlers, farmers, | mean.
Now for the remedy: Let us bring
lack our land to the condition we
found it in when we raised large crops,
and free from insects. l would not
have you burn your straw, as we need
that for paper, and also for feed.
Neither could we burn our hay land,
but let lis replenish this alkali by lib
eral use of quick-lime, say four barrels
to the acre. Sixteen years ago l be-
came so convinced of the practical use
of lime that made this offer to all par
ties who would comply with my propo-
sition, to-wit: would furnish five hum
dred barrels of lime, no one person to
have over twenty barrels, sthis to be
sown on four acres of land and sown to
wheat, with an equal amount of land
sown to wheat that was not lined. In
pay for which they were to give me one
dollar barrel in one year, or what sur
plus wheat they raised on the land that
was lined over that which was not
lined
But one farmer took advantage of this
offer-a German living near Wheaton.
He came and got eight barrels of lime;
hot fxxyn IF
sowed it TO wheat. At the same time
be also sowed two acres that was not
lined He told me there was no differ
ence at all in the land-as the four acres
we're broAen in one year and on one
piece o. ground, and had been cropped
every year with the same kind O, crop.
He paid me for the Line before he liar
vested his crop, but gave me the state
nent of it ter he had thrashed his
wheat. He had twenty two bushels and
,hree pecks of No. wheat to the acre
where the lime was sown. and where
The lime was not used, only between
;welve and thirteen bushels to the acre
md that of an Inferior quality. Where
line was used it was fully two weeks
earlier. Had not the German moved to
he would have taken one
barrels the next year.
l have tired lime on corn with re-
narkable success, and believe that ii |
pro usely used, it will save our potato |
,rop from the bug. We must use
enough to thoroughly impregnate the
ines.
This is the way would dry Stake the
ime: For one acre, take four barrels
# quick lime, wetting with, say ten
,ails of water: cover with earth so as to
etain the heat and steam; do not leave
until it is through steaming and
racking; keep constantly patting the
arth down as it cracks, and SOW as you
would grain, in grain drill. if you
ave one-or it can be thrown quite
venly with shovel from wagon.
For top dressing for tame meadows
se two barrels of lime to the acre; sow
as you would for wheat, and run over
he ground with light harrow, to
reak the grass roots. This does to
'rass what judicious pruning does to
urrant bushes. Where this has been
ried the result has been satisfactory
,Or. Prairie Farmer.
Ornamental Hedges.
II ia hardly 1;Ealv that atto,npta will |