Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1905-08-24

called the Campbell ayatem q dr.!
farming. lis SAID 70 be reclnfminl
tie Ssmi-Arid lands Of western KhnsaI
and turning them into productive
farms. Dry fSrAing is said to be pc
culiarly adapted to lands which ar
90 located Oh not to allow irrigation
| W. E. Curtis, 8 newspaper cOrrespon
dent, has been West investigating
this supposedly new system Of agri
culture, and % he 10 evidently lacking
Ia d general knowledge Of agriculture,
he 10 evidently Of the opinion thai
something new and important hai
been discovered BY Mr.. Campbell
which will reyolutionizs the industry
in many sections. Mr.. Curtis says
Mr.. Campbell has been working In
North Dakota, So1th Dakota, Nsbras.
ka and Kansas for twenty yearS OF
more, trying to induce farmers to
adopt bis plan Of "SoiI culture" %
be calls II, and everywhere hO he's
been, from the James river 10 the
North 10 tbs Agkapsas, be hah been
equally successful In producing with
out irrigation the same results th1t
dfS uShally expected with irrigation,
with com perAIively, little more OK.
psnSe, bnt 8 good dsSl more care and
labor. There 10 no secret about It.
The whole thing Is simply the exer'
else Of care and patience, and any
man Of ordinary intelligence can work
1t as well a. Q college professor conld,
Mr.. Campbsll's principles, a. he
explained them, are:
First-Cstch the rainfall and store
1t where the roots OF the plant can
reach IL. l...
sscond-Keep the soil always dne
and loose.
Third-Have q firm, solid founds-
ton under the SOFIA bottom to hold
the water. ..t
The careful, regular application Of
these principles In farming will pro-
duCe Of least three times the results
Of ordinary farming, and often four
and five times the results" said MIR.
Campbell.
what 10 the additional expenseP"
"In Iowa or eastern Kansas not
more than 20 per cent more labor Is
necessary than 10 usually expended
upon a crop by q good farmer. On
the prAirieS, as 0 rule, farming 10
cheap and slipShod, and twice the
labor 10 necessary. But this is OBJECT
to a certain extent BY a saving Of
two-thirds Of the seed. An ordinary
farmer COWS 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 Kansas for ten years. Under my
system any PainStaklng farmer byI
sowing twelve quarts Of wheat to the
acre and Cultivating his soil carefully |
vii. harvest anywhere from forty to
Iifty-six bushels without fail. We
san get forty bushels to the acre In
The foothills Of the Rocky Mountains
,r anywhere else with fourteen inches
II rain. You can get the same diff
ference In every other plant or crop
hat grows-in gross or the acre."
Dry farming, therefore, 10 simply
Intending to other crops the system
Il cultivation pursued In corn grow.
ng, |. g., keeping the soil thoroughly
with . dust mulch to pre-
'ent evaporation Of moisture from
be soil, and so preserve II for the use
I the growing crop. This system
as also been applied for many years
o other crops than corn, such -
cans, potatoes, etc. Mr.. Campbell,
appsarS. also applies It to the wheat
rop. This may look Ike . new Ap-
llcation Of the system, but It was ap.
lied In Michigan over thirty years
20. A farmer 10 Brandon, Oakland
ounty, invented o peculiar instru. ,
lent, which be called . wheat hoe,
nd used 10 his wheat fields. He al
'ays insisted that be was more Ger.
lin to get q good yield BY bis system
"hOeing" his wheat fields, especial
In dry season, than By the old /.
IsthOd. We do not know how many
rmers followed this Oakland county
rmsr's example, but We do know he
I'D to bis wheat hoe and used It for
number Of years. 80 that "dry /.
rming," as advocated and followed =
: Mr.. campbsll. is simply . system !
soil cultivation that good farmers !
I'VE followed for many years. There .
hardly farmer In Michigan that !. \
zee not follow Il with one or more ?
his crops. I
IA . I