Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-09-22
THE DRY LAND
FARMING PLAN
Campbell system, and How II is On.
Grated In Kansas, Idaho and Some
Other States.
SECRET OF IT is MADE PLAIN
All In Intense Cultivation, SAYS Mr.,
campbeII-soil Stirred After
Each Rain.

While the farmer who has plenty of
water with which to irrigate cares lit.
tie about dry land farming, yet there
are others less fortunate than he who
have to depend upon dry land farm
ing for their living. The farmer who
depends upon dry farm for a living
knows that If he can retain the MOS.
ture in the soil, he can raise a good
paying crop every year. The ques.
ton then is how to retain the mois.
ture which falls from the heavens,
H. w. Campbell, of Kansas, says he
is In possession of the secret.
The Campbell dry land system is
followed largely in Kansas, Colorado,
Idaho and Iowa, and, in some re
spects, it is very similar to that prac.
ticed by the owners Of dry farms in
the Gallatin valley.
The process by which H. w. Camp
bell claims to preserve or hold the
moisture in the soil according to Will
lam E. Curtis. who has recently in.
terviewed Mr.. Campbell for the Rec.
ord-Herald, of Chicago, is as follows
l. Catch the rainfall and store 1t
where the roots OF the plants can
reach it.
2. Keep the soil always fine and
loose.
3. Have a firm, solid foundation
under the sofia bottom to hold wa
ter.
What will this accomplish" asked
Mr.. Curtis.
THE careful, regular application of
these principles in farming will pro.
duce at least three times the results
of ordinary farming, and often four
and five times the results said MI.
Campbell.
What is the additional expense"
In Iowa or eastern Kansas, not
more than rs per cent more labor is
necessary than is usually expended
upon a crop by good farmer. On
the prairies, as rule, farming is
cheap and slipshod, and twice the Ia
Dor is necessary. But this is an Offset
to a certain extent by a 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 to the
highest average that has been reach
ed IN Kansas for ten years. Under
my system any painstaking farmer.
by sowing twelve quarts of wheat to
the acre and cultivating his soil care.
1ully, will harvest anywhere from Az
TO St bushels without fail. We can
get 40 bushels to the acre in the foot
hills of the Rocky mountains, or any
where else with fourteen inches of
rain. You can get the same difference
In every other plant or crop that
grows-in gross or the acre.
How do you do it?
by storing the rainfall in the soils, /"
answered Mr.. Campbell; "by keeping
the surface of the ground always loose,
winch stops evaporation. 1t is impos-
slble for moisture to rise to the sur.
race through loose soil, and that leaves
the ground in the best condition to
receive the net rainfall. Thus YOU
can make IA inches of rain go as far
as rs or 30 inches in raising all kinds
OF crops or plants or trees. We do
not lose any of the rain-we have the
full benefit of it. We keep it stored
where the roots of the plants can
reach 1t when they need it."
How can you accomplish this ?"
by stirring up the soil with a re
volving disk and then going over 1t
again and filling up the furrow. We
call this double disking.' It pulver-
ICES the soil and levels it off. We KEEP
going over 1t again and again, begin.
ming early in the spring and continu-
ing until the last of June or the first
part of July. After every rain VIC
stir up the soil, either with a disk NJ
an Acme harrow. Finally we plow
seven inches deep in the ordinary way
and follow the pillow with sub-surfacc
packer-a machine which makes
compact, solid bottom, four inches
from the surface, under the loose soil
Then we go over it again with the
Acme harrow, so as to keep the ton
soil loose and pulverized. After work
ing the soil year in this way Dy
what we call summer ti1ling' we put
In our wheat, either in the fall or in
the spring, as is usual. The first year
VIC w uOC put III any Sec0. we SIN
ply keep stirring up the soil, so that
1t will remain loose and pulverized,
and after one year of this sort of Gull
tivation, three crops can be grown in
succession without renewing the till.
ing. In some cases, it is better to till
every other year and raise a crop al
ternate years.
IF crops are planted every year, the
reaper must be Immediately followed
by the pillow and the stubble immedi-
ately turned over and the soil disk
and harrow kept at work all winter.
II 1t is spring wheat. or from the June
harvest to the September planting,
II winter wheat. The same rule must
De applied to all other kinds of
crops.
TO repeat: 1t is simply a question
or the thorough working of the soil,
as | nave described That is more i'm
portant than the rainfall. No man can
expect crop who simply turns under
the sod and haus harrow carelessly
over the field. Labor and pains are
necessary to produce good results,
whether you are farming or making
furniture or publishing newspaper.
Certain scientific phenomena must
De observed also. | cannot tell you
why, but after certain amount Of