Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1903-03-06

Toget the best result from fall.plow
ing the stubble and all green stuff and
trash should be we'll turned under al
soon as the crop is cleared off from the
field, But plowing requires time, and
as there are also other works that must
be attended to at the this time. ! aim al
4 managing my fall-plowing 30 that
may have as near a. possible one.third
of my cultivated ground plowed before
the middle of September, by a rotation
of the work I will then have all the
ground gone over at this time of the
season once in three years, which. un'
der ordinary conditions. will keep the
ground tolerable clean right along, pro-
vided, of course, that put clean seed
in the ground at seeding time. This il
also an important point and one. which
it is satisfying to note, our farmers are
observing with more and more vigor.
a. manifested specially by the disap.
pearance of the wild mustard which 80
lamentably disfgured our grainfields
] some years ago.
Effectual dragging at seeding time ia
also very important point, and this
can be done 10 good account now with
the modern drags placed upon the
market of late years. In my opinion
no dragging should be done until after
the seed is put in the ground, except in
the case of corn and perhaps grass seed.
Especially, if the seed is put on broad
cast, it is q direct advantage to have
the seed bed as rough as possible, this
will assist in getting large amount of
the seed deeply covered, and then, after
the seeding. any amount of dragging.
the more the better, it serves to pack
the ground and mellow it, and it de-
stroys the early weed germs and tends
to make the ground all the more smooth
for the harvesting machine. A judi.
cious dragging, even after the young
field has taken on . green hue, is of sd-
vantage.
Dragging also tends to destroy hurttul
insects that are burrowing in the
ground in the spring of the year. such
as cutworms, etc., in that case a short
drag is most effective. Some men are
using roller, or planker, partly for
the same purpose; in case any of these
implements are used they should i'm
mediately be followed right behind
with dragging team, as 1t is too much
of risk for the wind to let the ground
remain for any time in the shape left by
the roller or by the planker.
But our battle with the weeds is not
limited to working the ground, we have
also task to perform at harvest or
about that time. Sometimes we come
across q field of grain that is so~ infest-
ed with heavy weeds of the sunflower
kind growing in clusters 80 thick
that the binder cannot handle them,
they are then gone around and left
standing until some future convenient
time. To leave such clusters standing
to mature seed is grevious mistake, a.
they will multiply their kind many fold
for the next season. They should be
cut down Immediately; if the binder
will not handle them they my be cut
down with some other tool ~ d"
Be 1t said to the credit of our inde-
pendent farmers that it is generally on
ly on rented places that We find such
conditions, and this result is one Of the
curses of the renting method.
Not = single outstanding weed should
be left in a stubble field or along edges;
nor is this generally done, and so care
full are our farmers in this respect that
we find numbers cleaning up their
fence lines with scythe where the
mower did not get at it. With this
CANTON and the regulation, for moving
the roadlines strictly followed, we will
soon have a locality that in decency
and ambition will compare with the
best in the country.
The mode of cultivating the soil by
means of seeding cultivated ground
down to meadow and turning back
again has not been sufficiently prac-
ticed here, as yet, to admit of any def
mite statement upon its merit. So far
it has proven too difficult to obtain a
satisfactory stand of any of the usual
tame grasses, to embark in tho busi-
ness
ought not to conclude this paper
without the mention'of couple Of OBJ.
noxious weeds that so far have baffied
all my efforts Take the morning
glory. the pest of all weed pests-the
more you work the ground the more it
multiplies. The green top may be ef-
faced for short time; but there you
have the trailing and brittle root.fibres,
that the touch of any implemet will
break up into numerous peices, and
every peice will in short time form
new stool. These tenacious rootlets
need to be suspended in mid-air until
they are dry enough to burn before
their life and sprouting capacity will
be extent. The sun may roast them
with heat of 100 to 14O degrees and
still the side that touches the ground
will shoot sprouts and form roots. And
the trailing vines of this pest will pull
down to the ground every straw of
grain or grass that they lay hold on.
Itanyone can give me q hint to a
practical destruction of this weed, T.
shall feel we'll repaid for writing this
paper.
Another obstinate weed is the prickly