The Lamar register., 1905-08-02

method of dry farming is being prac-
ticed on the semi-arid plain OF west
ern Kansas and eastern Colorado with
remarkable success. The results ac-
complished on several model farms,
rnder the direction of the inventor,
discpverer or promoter-Whichever
you may prefer to call him-are re-
l,arkable and are entitled to the re.
spect of every one who is interested
in the development of the high, dry
plains between the Rocky mountains
] and the Missouri river. Its advocates
declare that they have received no
announcement from the Agricultural
Department at Washington
We all believe in irrigation. of
course. 1t is the safest, the most sat
isfactory and the most profitable
method Of farming, but vas areas in
the central western states cannot be
reached by water. and the rain that
| falls upon them is not suiilclent TO
produce crops by ordinary methods.
1t is that class of lands W-ich Mr..
Campbell is trying to redeem
Mr.. Campbell is at preseni engaged
in the development of model farm
near the thriving little town Of Hill
]
Colorado Springs. The latter, who
came into this country seventeen or
eighteen years ago, has been rail
road and town-site promoter He has
| between twenty and thirty thousand
acres of dry land in Graham county
which cannot be reached by irrigation.
| and founded the town OF lilll CITY at
nbout the center of it in beautiful
location. He advertised his scheme
| nll over Kansas and Colorado, brought
! homeseekers and speculators from
| every direction on free railway trains,
sold his town lots at auction and gave
an overcoat to every purchaser. The
! lown has been quite successful. IL
now has about 500 inhabitants, an ex-
cellent hotel, several fine business
blocks filed with stocks OF goods, two
enterprising newspapers, and all the
| other essentials of a first-class frontier
/ town Just outside the limits MT.
Pomeroy fenced off 2i0 acres of land
about six years ago and brought II. W.
Campbell from Holdridge, Nebraska,
| TO lay out a model farm on his system
/ of soil culture.
Anyone who has doubts Of the prac-
| ticability of the Campbell system
| should come here before harvest and
4 compare the crops on the Pomeroy
| farm with those upon the farms that
! surround it. for the yield ol wheat.
oats, corn, potatoes and everything
else that is growing will be four or
! five times as great as will be har-
vested on the other side OF the fence.
Mr.. Campbell has been working In
| North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne
| braska and Kansas for twenty years
or more, trying to induce farmers to
adopt his plan of soil culture, as ne
calls 1t, and everywhere he has beeh'
| from the James river in the north TO
| the Arkansas, he has been equally
successful in producing without irri'
cation the same results that are
! usually expected with irrigation, win
comparatively little more expense. bu'
good deal more care ana LABOR
| There is no secret about II. Inc
whole thing is simply the exercise oi
| care and patience, and any man oil
ordinary intelligence can work II a'
well as a college professor could.
Mr. Campbell's principles, as he eN
planned them to me, are
L. /. Catch the rainfall and store II
where the roots of the plant car
reach it.
?. Keep the soil always fine and
| loose.
3. Have a firm, solid foundation
under the sofia bottom to hold the
water.
what will this accomplish"
/ asked.
The careful, regular application OF
| these principles in farming Will pro
| duce at least three times the results
/ of ordinary farming. and often foui
and five times the results" said Mr.
| Campbell. -.
What is the additional expense?
"In Iowa or eastern Kansas not
more than twenty-five per cent. more
| labor is necessary than is usually eX
| pended upon a crop by a good Farmer
| On the prairies. as a rule. farming is
cheap and slipshod and twice the Ia
| bor is necessary. But this is offset
to a certain extent by saving CT TWO
! thirds of the seed. An ordinary farmer
| sows forty quarts of wheat TO the acre
| and gets from nothing TO twenty
bushels. thirteen bushels to the acre
being the average crop of the state,
and fifteen bushels the highest state
average that has been reached in Kan
sas for ten years. Under my system
any painstaking farmer by sowing
twelve quarts of wheat to the acre
and cultivating his soil carefully Will
harvest anywhere from forty to nifty
six bushels without fail. We can get
forty bushels to the acre in the foot
hills OF the Rocky mountain or any
where else with fourteen inches oil
rain. You can get the same difference
in every other plant or crop that grows
in gross or the acre.
This particular farm where l am
working was cultivated on the old
plan for fourteen years and never
yielded but one good crop. came here
in February, 1900, and very soon will
harvest my sixth crop. l. have never
had less than forty bushels to the acre
and the crop this year will be better
than that, while the farmers all
around me will be glad to get thirteen
bushels to the acre"
why don't they take up your
method?"
Because they are stubborn and pre-
JUDGED; there is a popular dislike to
new-fangled notions. Before | came
here it was advertised for six weeks
that would explain my method of soil
culture al a public meeting. l did so,
and out of court house full of farm
ers only two men-John |. Osman and
. G Hisey-aflODted by recOmmenda-