The Grit-advocate., 1904-06-03
THE FAM AND RANGE
Campbell System for Dry Soils

IN u ietleT udteu ApTll 10, lSVi. Mr-
H. W. Campbell. introduoer of the
Campbell system of dry soil culture
gives an account of his experiments
and a description of the practical de-
tails of the system. from which he fol-
lowing extracts are made:
This system is not an nndempr-
strated theory. but combination Of
principles and facts that have brought
out by more than twenty years of OBJ
| servation. study and experimenting in
the great semi-arid belt where I have
been a resident for more than twenty
five years. During the years 1855 and
| &. directed large number of expert
ments for different railroads in the Da-
| kotas. Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado,
/ in 1897 | had forty-seven diffeIen- ex-
| periments scattered over the five
aforementioned states, since that
| time my experiments have been ron-
fined exclusively to western Kansas
and Nebraska and eastern Colorado.
In the spring of 1900 we opened up
and managed for three years the Pome-
roy model farm at Hill City. in in
| Graham county. Kansas, the object of
this farm was to prove or disrrnve our
| broad assertions as to the possibilities
semi-arid- belt Three successive CROPS
Of winter wheat have been harvested
and the yield upon lands properly Et-
ted has in no year been less than for
ty-two and half bushels In 1902,
when western Kansas crops were near
ly all ruined by the ng-continued
drouth and the best yield in the imme.
diate vicinity of this farm on the same
LIT I,v, ,t.rkt
secured over forty. Upon this same.
land in the spring of 1900, we planted
964 fruit. shade and ornamental trees,
not only was the loss less than one
per cent, but the growth of the trees
was simply marvellous, one peach tree
for example which stood three and Il
half feet high in the spring of 1901, its
body measuring one inch in diameter
at the ground and the limbs extending
from twelve to sixteen inches Cniy.
On the oath of August the same year
this tree stood eight feet high, the
limbs expanding over four feet each
way and the body measured two and
one-half inches at the ground. An elm
that stood four feet high in the spring
and had simply become we'll rooted
with its first years growth on the
24h of August stood nine feet four
inches high.
In connection with the experimental
work on this land it is but fair to say
that the whole field has strong south
slope. that the surface soil was only
eight to twelve inches deep uaderlaid
with clay strongly permeated with
magnesia, this same land has been
farmed for fourteen years, six years
by one man and eight by another and
only one crop harvested, we selected
this ground and location in order to
give the system thorough test. In
1908 fifty-six pushels per acre was
harvested from one field in Thomas
county. Kansas, and fifty-two from an
other just west of Oakley. Kansas, the
soil OF which was handled by our plan.
'At Akron, Colorado, we met the
farmers at a meeting last January,
where these principles were thorough
ly discussed and learned of several in
stances where twenty to thirty-five
bushels of corn had been raised for
the last three and four consecutive
years by the farmers of this locality
At the meeting held in Colorado
Springs in February last. we met J.
NJ. Henderson, who resided ten miles
south of there He stated that he
had raised over forty bushels of corn
per acre under our plan of cultiva-
tion. His statement was substantiated
by others.
This system consists in simply stor-
ing the natural rainfall in the soil by
simple method of cultivation to-
gether with the recognition of the best
possible physical conditions of the
soil for the rapid development of roots
as Well as to increase it's water-holding
capacity and such mechanical Or
physical condition as shall encourage
the most rapid movement of moisture
towards the growing roots and enabl-
ing the plants to utilize practically all
of it by preventing it's loss through
evaporation with the loose soil much
over the surface. also watching closely
and carefully to see that no crust
forms beneath this mulch, which would
check the circulation of air and thus
cause the retarding of growth by
lack of sufficient air, although moisture
may be abundant about the roots.
This is accomplished in the more AND
portions of this belt by the following
treatment of the SOIL viz:
Beginning early in the spring by
double disklng the surface for two pur-
poses. to enable the next rainfall to
more quickly percolate into the sail:
after each rain the surface must be
loosened with disk or harrow, continu-
ing such work and allowing no weeds
whatever to grow until the latter part
of June or early July when the ground
should be plowed six or seven inches
deep. following the plow with a sub
surface packer. tool that makes the
lower portion Of the furrow slice firm.
following this with the Acme harrow
or the common smoothing harrow to
more thoroughly fine the surface, con-
tinuing the cultivation Of this surface
after each rain of any magnitude and
at intervening periods of one to two
weeks in case OF extremely drouthy
period. For fall grain the seeding may