The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1905-07-08
Some Reflections on [. r. WaIdron's Essay
on Now to lrrigate With the Cuitivator.

What MIR. Waldron says is all very
true. know that it is so by experience.
do not know where Mr.. Waldron lives,
but am sure that he has not had the
sad experience with such "botlling
up" system as have had.
Five or six years ago summer fal-
lowed over 100 acres and worked it on
the Campbell method" plowing seven
to eight inches deep, packing the fresh
ground with Campbell packer and
keeping the field perfectly clean all
summer and fall by cultivation with
harrow, disc and cultivator. The ground
was we'll moistened at time OF plowing,
the latter part Of May,-but the sum-
mer proved very dry. in this part of the
state at least. Grain, and even corn,
was almost total failure. Many fields
were not worth the cutting, but kept
moisture in my summer fallowed field.
The water was bottled up" and was
quite confident that my extra labor
would be we'll rewarded with an extraor-
dinary crop the following year. But
alas. my bill was made out without the
landlord. Very little snow fell the
following winter, high winds blew the
fine soil miles away and the coarser dirt
was piled up on neighbors' land like
snow.drifts. In the spring the field was
disced up and seeded to wheat with
drill. No harrow was used, to prevent
blowing, but high winds started it
again, and when once started very little
wind will cause it to blow, and it kept
on blowing. One day you could see
cloud Of dust going south, the next day
north, and the following day in some
other direction, until we'll along in June,
when, on the higher places, no more
productive surface soil was left, and
seven bushels per acre was my reward
for such "bottling up" system. Other
old fields, on which the seed was just
disced into the stubble in the cheap,
ordinary, slipshod manner, gave much
better returns that year. That l was
altogether disguised with the thing is
needless to saw, for it meant not only no
returns for the extra labor, but what
was much worse, it ruined the field; it
blew it to the d and left it there
until last year, when took pity on the
field and plowed it up again, planting
it to corn. kept it clean as it ought to
be kept,-"bottled up water" you know.
l sowed the field to wheat again this
spring and in spite of all I've done. or
any one else could have done, those high
winds started the game again and blew
even the seed out of the field, in some
places. What are you going to do now
with that field, some Of my farmer
brothers may ask? Let it go wild again?
No. Ill SOW it to broomgrass the COM
ing year. don't expect large returns
from it as the higher parts of the field
are now unproductive, but there'll be
some returns on the lower parts. l have
now 100 acres seeded to broomgrass;
the first was seeded six years ago and
am we'll pleased with the result.
1t is the rotation system" which will
prove Of benefit to the farmer, rather
than the "bottling up" system.
Broomgrass is the only means we
have of carrying out such system.
have tried different kinds OF clover, also
timothy and alfalfa all without sue.
cess.
Every farmer should make a start
with broomgrass, if with only few
acres. From them he can raise his own
seed.
If this should prove of benefit to any
one in this country, it will be sufficient
reward for the little time spent at it,
SAM BRAND.