Rocky Ford enterprise., 1905-08-25
METHODS OF DRY FARMING
BY the CAMPBELL SYSTEM


revolving alsA ana then 90 over il
again and nil up the firr0w. TO oy.T
u again aud again. beginning early IN
the spring snd continuing until Tire
last ~ June or hrsi al July. Alter
every rain go over the ground with an
Acme harrow Then plOU seven
inches deep Ia the oriiniry way and
then go over III. gn0uni with sub-sui
fac. packer. which makes "A compact
bottom. Then follow with th. Acme
harrow arAln- After working IN. soil
In this way for a year. put In yoir
wheat either Ia the fall or the spring
as IL usual The first year NJ do no.
put in any seed Just keep the soil
loose ana alter u has been cult
waited ia this way for year three
crops eau be raised an. after another.
Now ! want io com. la ia. phyEi'
cal condition al ih. ground when tbs
work IL done. You have little idea
of what radical dinaTane. ,hcr. may
be in III. p1ssihi. results % a fisid
by "A littl. change ia III. condition ot
that ground so far M moisture II son.
eern.d
TO Illustrate. las, year "A farmer
raised a very I'm. crop uf wheat ani
disked his ground immediately after
cutting. In fact. h. followed III. har.
yestsT and after III. threshins Was
done right away h. started ia Ia pinN'
Ins a strip abou, seven rods witG
around a tOarT- field: then for some
reason b. quit. and u was over
month bcfoT" any further work wrs
dom.
During that time very Iitti. rain
had fallen, II was hot and dry. An
enormous growth uf weeds camc M
there. Evaporation. together with
what moisture had been taken nut by
III. weeds, had nearly dried thu
ground. II. went In nnd pioW"i II. and
tina, strip produced two and on-hai:
times a. much wheat mn the c.nt.s
did
There are "a many details Ihst 4,
II utterly imrosRibi. for M, Ia think
Of them all. md u may ba thai rom. u
you are personally Interested sni !
would like ,o hay. yuu ask any gn-s
lions sou think nf:
Q-whhi IN the best iim. ,o SOW fall
wh.at7
k.-FTom the LIST Ia 10Th of Sspt.m
ber. Til. condition OF your ground has
a great deal To do with this. I nm AZ
Euminr that you have got your Ground
In good shape.
Q.-Whnt tim. would you break sod
for putting Ia fall whcntI
A.-sh,n ! cam. from the Dakotas
down here I was thoroughly convinced
that the only time proper for breaking
Of III. rud waS when the grass wns
growing iaricHt which would probably
be III. latter pari of May or first part
Of June. hut down here whcr. the sod
dc.sn', seem to b. IIitc as dense. and
after experimenting further. ! have
com. to the conclusion that III. earlier
you break III. nod tho better In nn'ict
patton q: saving all tho water TINT
comes early In the sprins.
Q.-Do YOU recommend piowing over
i've !nchsn dc.p7
A.-FToin two and onc.half To fvd
inches.
Q.-whcrc does the packer ct'm. !n1
A.-Aii.r piowing.
Q.-Huw often do you harrow thisf
A.-As often AZ the rain II heavy
,nourh 20 an io crust II over: II II moi
as important that yon harrow M often
aS In old ground. Bs tho sod itself 10
really the blanket.
Q.-Now In rolling. In there special
roller?
A.-No. Just the ordinary roller. Yon
might think II would put you to foa
much expense to buy a roller TO roll
the ground. but IL Is my opinion II
will pay for itself In forty acres.
Q.-Thcn after you have rolled and
narrowed II, you don't do anything
more to IL unless you should have q
heavy rnin?
A.-No. We piow again In June or
first part of July.
Q.-Afior the second plowing In
June or July then do you follow that
with packer. then Acme harrow: then
al 1,uN
before seeding time?
A.-Not unless we get rain.
Q.-wha, kind of drili do you use?
Al think favor the closed heel
shoe drill.
Q.-Wherc liz the Pomer0y farm and
how many acres has II?
A.-The Pomeroy farm IL one Of 240
acres, near Holdrege, Nebraska Mr..
Pomeroy employed me to lay out
model farm here.
Q.-Whero is your Burlington farm1
A.-On the Burlington road, In Ne.
braska. have been conducting ex.
perimental farms there for several
years. Some OF the farmers thero
have entered into this plan. but do not
want to give IL the attention and pa.
tience II requires. One man at Tren.
ton, Nebraska, harvested forty-ono
bushels of fifty.nine-pound wheat by
this system. while most OF the other
farmers there did not get more than
ten bushels to the acre.
Q.-What plow do you recommend
for this dry farming?
Al consider the iuold.board plow
good one.
Q.-Could you tell me the cause of
the worm destroying crops here2 I
had twenty acres of fall wheat that
came up beautifully and was fine
stand this spring, and then there came
an army of worms which destroyed 1t
all.
A.-You will find this question an
swered in the recent report of the Ag-
ricultural Department at Washington.