Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-06-03

THE FARM AND RANGE
Campbell System for Dry Soils.

Campbell system OF dry soil culture.
gives an account of his experiments
and description OF the practical de-
tails OF the system. frcm which :he fol.
lowing extracts are made:
This system Is not an undemon-
strated theory. but a combination OF
principles and facts that have brought
out by more than twenty years of OBJ
seryation. study and experimenting In
the great semi-arid belt where l have
been resident for more than twenty
iivc years. During the years 1886 and
directed a large number OF expert
ments for different railroads In the Da.
kotas. Nebraska. Kansas and Colorado.
In 1897 had forty.sevcn dircien. cx-
periments scattered over the ayo
aforementioned states. since that
time my experiments have been son-
iincd exclusively TO western Kansas
and Nebraska and eastern Colorado.
in the spring OF 1900 we opened up
and managed for three years the Pom,'-
roy model farm Mt Hin City. In in
Graham county. Kansas. the object Of
this farm was to prove or disprov. our
OF the more arid portions of the srcat
scmi.arid belt. Three successive erors
Of winter whca; have been harvested
and the yield upon lands properly Ct
ted has In no year been less than for
ty.two and n half bushels. In 1909.
when western Kansas crops were near.
" all ruined by the lons-continurd
drnu,h aud the best yield In the Imhio'
diatc vicinity Of this farm on the same
kind Of land vas only ci.h, bushels. wo
secured over forty. Upon this same
land In the spring of 1900. wc planted
sst fruit. shade and ornamental trees.
not only was the loss less than one
pcr cent. but the growth of the Trees
was simply marvellous. one peach tree
for example which stood three srs
half foe, hish In the spring Of 1901. It's
body measuring one inch In diameter
af the ground and the limbs cst.rIins
from twelve to sixteen inches oniy,
ON the :tth of Angus, tho same year
this tree stood cisht feet hish. the
limbs expanding over four fee, each
way and the body measured tao ard
one-hait inches at the ground. An sim
that stood four feet hish In the sprinE
and had simply become well rpo,sd
with its hrs; years growth. an the
:t,h Of August stood nine fee, four
inches hikh.
In connection with the experimental!
work on ,hi. land II is hut fair 70 say
that the whole fi-id has a strong aouth
slope. that tho surface soil ~as only
eight to twelve inches deep und-rlaii
with clay strongly prrmCatci with
mssnesia. this same lani has been
fsrmcd for fourteen years. six years
by one man and eight by another and
4
this ground and location In order to
give the system q Through test. In
1904 fis,y-siS puahris per acre vas
harvested from one ncid in Thomas
county. Kansas. and ffty.,wo from an.
other Just west of Oakley. Kansas. the
soil Of which uas handled by our plan.
AZ Akron. Colorado. We met the
farmers at a meeting last January.
where these principles were thorough.
~ discussed and learned Of several in.
stances where twenty TO thirty.hyp
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 ].
~. Henderson. who resided ten miles
south of there. He stated that he
had raised over forty bushels of corn
,Ion. His statement was substantiated
by others.
This system consists in simply stor.
ing the natural rainfall in the soil by
a simple method of cultivation to-
se,her with the recognition Of the bcst
possible physical conditions Of the
soil for the rapid development of roots
zs we'll as to Increase its watcr4holdiug
capacity and such a mechanical or
physical condition as shall encourage
the most rapid movement OF moisture
towards the growing roots and enabI.
ing the plants TO utilize practically all
Of Il by preventing its 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 retardins Of growth by
lack Of sufficient air. although moisture
may ba abundant about the roots.
This is accomplished in the more afid
portions Of this belt by the following
treatment Of the soil. via:
"Besinning early in the spring by
double disking 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 piowcd six or seven inches
deep. following the plow with a sub
surface packer. a tool that makes the
lower portion of the furrov slice firm.
following this with the Acme harrow
or the common smoothing harrow to
more thoroughly fine the surface. con.
tinuine 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
be done in the usual manner after the
grain comes up. In case OF a fall of