The Globe-republican., 1902-04-10
Soil Culture in Nebraska.

In some respects Nebraska is ahead of
Kansas. Kansas is great on compilation
of resources, while Nebraska is great on
experiment. The best results must come
from experiment. c. S. Harrison, presi-
dent Park and Forest Society, Nebraska a,
writes the following letter, which will
interest Kansas:
To Hon. James Conklin, President of
Nebraska Real Estate Association:
hereby congratulate you on your reIatio q
to such an able and representative class
braska. Having been in that business
myself, bringing in hundreds of people
into the state, and selling thousands OF
acres in early days, am sure you will
pardon this. L think class of men
more loyal to the state or will do more
to develop its resources. To large ex-
tent the real estate dealers have peopled
Nebraska with worthy and industrious
class of settlers.
What we want is a better state and
more people, You live under the Tooth
meridian. We were neighbors; we know
the possibilities and drawbacks of that
| region lying to the west of you, and some
of US believe it possible to double the
value of all those western lands.
There is now movement on foot or
ShO Pdi u Tue VI lAS OdHipOOl
system of soil culture and the Nebrasks
Park and Forest association to develop
the region west of the Tooth meridian sc
that region, being much of it desola-
ton may yet be settled with prosperous
farmers.
Briefly stated, the rainfall year by veal
is not enough to mature crops. The
Campbell 81 stem is designed to put two
years rainfall into one years crop
Take eighty acres of land 100 miles wes
of you, disk it early in the spring, ther
harrow it, pillow in June. or when the
ground is moist, pillow eight inches deeI
| and cultivate all summer. Allow nc
weeds to grow, be careful to harrow afte
every rain and seal the ground UP airtigh
SO there can be no evaporation. Thu
one years moisture is conserved and this
with what rain falls the next year, Sc
| cures a bountiful crop, for we know il
our western experience, that if the sub
soil is well loaded with moisture in the
spIingtime. with good cultivation crop
can be made. By this process thirty
bushels of wheat have been raised where
there had been consecutive failures fol-
for fourteen years.
In the western region not one acre in 3
hundred can be irrigated, but this sys-
tenn is cheaper. 1t saves the great ex-
pence of bitches and the water is dis
tributed more evenly. With this system
large crops can be raised in all those west
ern regions. You have a crop in two
years, but double crop, which is cheap
er to handle than two poor crops. We
are also confident that under this system
large part of the plains can be clothed
with forests, especially the ponderosa
pine and the native cedars, and this
would trans form all the western region.
lie mig ht not increase the rainfall, bat if
would save what does fall and would
check the drying winds.
l have thus briefly noted the possibili.
ties, the next thing is, ssHow to get at
it. Private enterprise will do some
thing, but we must have experiment
farms IN different places in the west, and
what we want is for you real estate men
to talk it up, to agitate the matter and
bring pressure to bear so that something
can be done. This is a farming state, SO
the state should do all it can for farming
interests. Too often there are heavy APP
preparations for everything but the farm
ing interests, which is not right, fer a
great agricultural commonwealth like ou1
own.
Another steal, someone cries. By nc
means. If he is a benefactor who makes
two blades of grass grow where only one
grew before, is it wrong for a state to
demonstrate the fact that ten blades can
be made to grow instead of ones 1t will
be the best paying investment a state ever
engaged in, and when nearly one third
of OUR area is a desolatfon, surely we
should do something to turn the wilder
ness into fruitful fields.
Above all things keep this matter out OF
politics. We have good men who under
stand these matters, men who can be
trusted, who will account for every dollar
expended. Let the state authorize the
Horticultural society the Park and For
est society or the Soil Culture association
to take the matter up. Give n generous
appropriation or delegate this work to
the agricultural department of the uni
versity. There are millions in it which
should be brought out.