The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1905-03-10
The Science Of Grain Growing.

The Science Of Grain Growing.
Farm. Stock and Home.
Prof. H. c.. Bolley, Of the Dakota
Agricultural College, SAYS:
1--WE have observed, other things be-
ing equal, that the first wheat seeded
in the spring gives the best yield and
best grade, and usually is out of the
way of the attack of rust He fur
Their says: "Make a good, ever seed
bed with good soil continuity from
below upward, and bury the seed at
an even or regular depth, so as to
insure even development of the crop"
More sound and profitable advice
was never given grain growers. Good
business Judgment and reasoning is
just as necessary in farming as in
any other line of business. There are
three questions that deeply interest
the farmers as a whole, and especi-
ally the farmers of this great North
west, and they are:
1st. How can | get the largest
yield of grain per acre:
I'd. How can | provide for an even
development of my crop, so tnat it
will all ripeu, early and evenly and
grade high so that | will get a good
price for it?
Sd. How can | put my seed in at
the proner time in the spring, and put
it in right, if my ground is very wet
and sticky?
The first two questions can be an
swered in a nut shell, as follows: Put
your seed in right. The full meaning
of the word ''right'' as used in con-
nection with seeding is worthy of
thought on the part of the farmer.
1t doesn't mean simply to put some
seed into the hopper of a drill having
any old kind of a furrow opener, a
double or single disc or holes or shoes,
that merely 90 without clogging,
without paying careful attention to
the way in which the drill deposits
and covers the seed. To put the seed
in right the drill should have such
furrow openers as will not merely go
without clogging when the soil is
sticky and muddy. but will at the
same time put all of the seed mot
merely a portion of it at the bottom
of a clean, wide furrow which should
be made of an even depth, and then
all the seed not merely a part of it
should be covered with equal amount
of earth. In other words, if it is right
to put the SEED in at a depth of two
inches, it is wrong to put some of it in
at thai depth and the balance at a
depth of three inches, one and a half
inches, and half inch and some laying
bare on top of the ground. If the seed
is put in right, the seed bed made
correctly, all seed put at the bottom
of a clean wide furrow and covered
with an equal amount of earth, it will
sprout at the same time, come up at
the same time, stool at the same time,
ripen at the same time and the crop
will be of an even high grade: while,
if the seed is deposited at various
depths, some in moist ground, some
in dry ground and some on top of the
ground, it will not all sprout at the
same time, nor will it stool or ripcn at
the same time. The crop will not be
as healthy and strong and as able to
withstand a drOuth, as IN evenly sown
crop. The yield will not be as large
and the grade will be inferior because
the crop must necessarily ripen at
different dates 1t will not all be of
uniform grade, the whole crop will be
graded not up to the best, but the best
must come down to the grade of the
poorest. If the grade is lowered, the
price is lowered correspondingly.
Therefore, by sowing right you will
not only get a larger yield per acre,
but also a better price per bushel for
your crop.
1t is on the third point, Chow can I
put my seed in at the proper time in
the spring, and put it in right, if my
ground is very wet and sticky" that
many farmers make a mistake. In
Tho Eac< ~1onn o-o lnt11n IN Tho
market today cannot be operated when
drills that can be operated under such
conditions and at the same time put
all of the seed at the bottom of a
it uniformly. 1t is here that many
farmers go astray. Competition
among the manufacturers, jobbers
and retail implement dealers some
times leads them to make exagger-
ated statements. You want to be alb
solutely sure not only that a drill will
go in all kinds and conditions of soil
without clogging, but that it will
make a clean, wide seed bed, put all
of the seed way to the bottom and
cover all of it with an equal amount
of earth. Get the machine that will
produce the results. A few dollars
difference in price on the first cost is
a small item. You al better afford
to throw away a machine (if you have
one that won't do its work right than
to keep it if you have as much as fifty
acres of grain to put in. The right
machine will increase your yield
enough to pay for itself. The same
principle of common sense should be
applied in raising a crop of grain as