The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-10-30
Farming in the Northwest,
(BY HARVIE JORDAN.)

study their methods and systems of farm
ing, but it gives to us fund OF infor-
alton which can be turned to good ac-
count in the future conduct of Southern
agriculture In the first place, the North
western farmers prepare their soils, plant
cultivate and harvest their crops with
the use of improved modern machinery.
They do but little actual work by hand,
except to guide their teams and machn-
cry. This system has been the means
of enabling them to reduce field labor
to it's minimum. The necessity of : he sit
uation required it, for the reason that but
little outside labor can be had, each FAM
lily largely doing all the field and donlcc-
tic work on the farm and premises. With
machinery and sufficient number of
horses, one man can cultivate 10 Aci vs
of land easily and in many Instances they
undertake to cultivate 125 acres to the
hand A farmer with 300 acres OF land
usually keeps from Is to 20 head OF good
horses. The feeding of farm animals is
not an item of serious cost. because all
farms are planted entirely in grains and
grasses of various kinds. The native
grasses which grow on the prairies Tor
pastures and for hay are exceedingly nu-
tritious and will keep stock and cattle
in splendid condition without other feed
ing In the production of hay the only
thing required is to let the grass grow,
which is principally of the blue joint or
red top variety, and cut it at the proper
stage. The land does not have to be bro
ken and plowed, and there is no trouble
with sprouts CT young timber or weeds.
WHAT is PLANTED.
The principal grain crops in the North
west consist of wheat, corn, oats, barley
rye and flax, the crops standing about in
the order named as to extent in produc
ton, while at Sioux Falls, S. D., Hon.
II. II. Keith, prominent attorney there.
took me for a drive among the farms,
about twenty miles out from the city
so that might have a better opportunity
of studying the farming industry in that
section. Sioux Falls is about 700 miles
northwest of Chicago, and is within 100
miles of the big cattle ranges of the far
northwest. 1t is new city settled about
twenty years ago, has a population of 49,
900 inhabitants and is the distributing
point for a section of several hundred
miles in diameter. | was somewhat sur
prised to find the Georgia Elberta peach
selling on the streets of this far away city
upon my arrival there.
The two Dakotas have rightly won the
distinction of being the finest wheat sec
tion in the United States. The average
yield of wheat in those States this year
has been from 25 to 80 bushels per acre
without fertilizers which is about double
the average yield in Georgia. The yield
of corn is from 40 to so bushels per acre.
One farmer told me his one hundred acres
in corn would yield him this season at
least 5000 bushels. Corn is planted in
rows three feet wide with Two or three
stalks in hills twelve inches apart. The
corn stalks do not grow higher than five
or six feet. The ear shoots out from the
stalk about eighteen inches from the
ground, and / did not see any stalks
with more than one full ear. But there
are thousands of stalks to the acre and
one good ear to each stalk runs the yield
up to high figures. All the crops grow
with uniformity in size in all parts of
the field which makes a most pleasing
sight.
HOW LAND is BROKEN.
The farmers begin turning their lands
in the early fall and keep at it until all
the land which is to be planted the fol-
lowing spring is broken. Heavy gang
plows, with two turner's cutting fur
row 20 inches to the pillow and from s to
inches deep are principally used. From
to 6 large Percheron horses, weighing
1900 to 1,400 pounds each are hitched
abreast to these gang plows, and the
rider takes his seat on the machine and
drives the team l saw several fields that
were being plowed in this way, four plows
with five horses to the pillow, one follow
ing behind the other and each team cut
ting a double furrow averaging 40 inches
across
When freezing weather sets in all plow-
ing is at an end until the following .pring
and the farmer who has failed to get his
land in shape must take the same chances
that the average Southern farmer
does who postpones his work until spring.
The soil in the Dakotas freezes to "a
depth of four feet every winter aud the
weather temperature often registers 40
degrees below zero. Toward the latter
part of March, or the first of April, the
top surface Of the soil begins to thaw.
and just so soon as it thraws to depth
of two inches, the farmers begin to plant
their wheat crops, which is done with
uillllHS machines, OF DTOdQCdSISu anu
narrowed in the same as we do it, about
five pecks being sown per acre.
AS the weather gets warmer the soil
lower down begins to thaw, and as the
moisture rises, the wheat is terminated.
and the plants supplied with an abun-
dance of moisture to push it's growth
along rapidly. There is but little rainfall
in the far northwest and but few streams,
hence nature furnishes the method above
described for plant life in the early spring
to Graw needed supplies of moisture. In
July the wheat crop ripens and is then
harvested with the latest harvesting ma
chinery or with headers. The header is a
machine which cuts off the heads of the
wheat and leaves all OF the straw stand
ing in the field. Rut it has not given gen
eral satisfaction on account OF danger
from rain rotting the heads when stacked.
Farmers were busily engaged threshing
their grain during my recent visit. The
threshers are pulled with traction engines
and are self-feeders. In other words, the
wheat is forked UP on a carrier just in
front Of the machine, which is taken along
and pushed into the mouth of the drum.
The straw comes out through long zinc
tube about Is inches in diameter which Is
movable and is known as "self-stacker.
No hands are required to move the straw
as the self stacker" does the stacking