The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-31
Agricultural Experiment Station.

our government was among the first to
| establish an elaborate system. The
! government has already realized that
| the appropriations made for this pur-
! pose are among the most profitable
! which the nation has made. There are
! so many people engaged in farming,
| and all other industries or occupations
/ are so intimately associated with and
| dependent upon farming, that an ad-
/ vance in the agricultural science which
! helps the individual even a very little,
/ will in the aggregate benefit the nation
/ almost immeasureably Contemplate
! for a moment what an increase in the
| wealth of the nation il would mean
! each year if, as a result of such in
! Vestigations, each hen could be pur-
! suaded to lay one more egg a month;
/ or each cow yield one more quart OF
milk a month; or each apple tree
/ yield an additional bushel of sound
| apples; or each acre of wheat land
| yield one more bushel Of wheat. 1t is
/ not as a matter of sentiment, but as s
purely business proposition that these
| agricultural experiment stations were
| established. and the results thus far
J give abundant justification.
Benefits to Utah.
In our own state, the station has been
| of immeaSurable benefit TO the public
and if some of its conclusions were
more widely known and put into prac-
| tice it would TO that extent further
multiply it's benefits. If the appIica-
| ton of water to the several crops were
more nearly in accord with what the
! experiments at this station show to be
most advantageous, it would increase
| the average yield and prevent some of
! the alkali troubles. Doubtless where
water is plentiful, there is far more
damage done by over irrigation than
by too little. Had more scientific
methods been practiced in past years,
| then much land that is now almost
| ruined might have been saved. We
need not, however, despair because Of
! the alkali The experiments which
| the station is now carrying on in CO.
! operation with the United States de-
! partment of agriculture on alkali and
| Water-logged lands give fair prospects
| of their successful reclamation.
Some Of the more recent experiments
| in dry farming reveal the fact that
| large areas which lay as a barren
waste are capable of producing valu-
able crops, and Utah's agricultural
area is increasing in leaps and bounds
as a consequence The thoughtful eX-
perimenter in dry farming recognizes
| that there are a number of factors en-
] tering in the production of a crop, and
! that If any one is deficient the crop
will suffer. It's yield will then he de-
| termined primarily by this deficient
one. Among these factors we
| may mention soil in which
a root system may Develop plant food
constituent, especially potash phOs-
| pilates and nftrates in the soil; water,
! oxygen and carbon dioxioe in the air;
/ frhf
earths surface may be pointed out
where any of these can be shown to
be the limiting factor. In this semi
arid region without irrigation it is
evidently water. In fact all the other
factors are unusually favorable. The
soil is so rich that the remark is
sometimes appropriately made that if
they had this land in the exhausted
regions of some the older humid states,
they could sell IL as a fertilizer. The
sunshine is so abundant that crops can
! mature in appreciably less time than
In a more cloudy climate. It is easy
to keep the soil in good filth so that
the air can circulate and supply the
roots with their needed oxygen.
Water Must Be Conserved.
1t is evident, therefore, that if we
wish TO make any advances in dry
farming, we must concern ourselves
primarily with the water supply. AS
we cannot increase it, it is left for us
to experiment on accommodating and
economizing it. Even in the best Of
the Utah valleys Their is not regularly
enough rainfall annually to mature
a good crop, therefore we adopt means
of accommodating the water through
two seasons and try TO mature crops
only on alternate years. We know
that 10 produce a ton of dry plant sub
stance the common crops require from
600 TO LOO tons Of water to pass
through the plants from roots to
leaves and out into the atmosphere.
This is unavoidable, therefore we must
look elsewhere TO do the economiZing.
In the first place we must be sure TO
set all the rain or melted snow into
the soil. For this the soil needs to be
loosened up deep and allowed to lie
rough during the winter and spring,
while the rains fall or the SHOWS melt.
That there may be no loss by natural
under drainage. the soil should be four
feet or more in depth before reaching
any porous gravel bed. Besides drain
age from the surface or under the sur
face, another great source OF loss
is by evaporation from the surface.
This goes on the more rapidly the
more frequently fresh quantities Of
air come in contact with the water in
the soil. 1t therefore behooves us to
protect the soil water frope the circu-
luE inc at. l. iii