Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-02-16
ON DRY FARMING
CAMPBELL SYSTEM Is THE ONLY
APPROVED PROCESS.
EXPLANATION BY AN ADEPT
System Can Only Be Judged BY Its
Scientific MISUNDERSTANDING
Methods Of Farming Afford
No Criterion.
(By J. l.. Donahue. }

tby y, Ia IOhdhue.b
The following Is written In answer
70 an editorial in the Denver Repubii-
can on the subject Of dry farming:
Your contention is that the success
of dry farming is TO be determined by
how IL will show up In years when pre-
eipitation IL below normal. and you go
20 far as to declare that II Il does not
stand the test In dry season Its en-
cheney is nil. In this much. OF course.
you aro correct: for system OF asri'
culture. like any other system. must
Gear the scyerest tests 10 which II
can be- subjected. ar IL Ii unworthy
The attention Of thinkin. men. quote
as follows from your editorial:
TO reckon with security upon doing
anything without irrigation in this
state We must base our calculations
not upon the precipitation of normal
'~or average years. bu, upon that Of alb
normal dry years. II the method EN-
ployed falls when the moisture In less
than that 0f normal or average year.
success can be counted on In only half
the total number OF years. and II may
be questioned II success Of that Kind In
worthy the name. We must. therefore.
base our calculations ON abnormal dry
seasons. II We would build rational and
stable hopes Of success In farming
without irrigation"
The above IL. according To tn. writ
cris understanding Ot what the Camp
bell system claims to bc. wholly irrcie-
want To the subject under discussion.
The proposition which IN always un.
dcrstood by III. advocates Of Mr..
campbcii's principles when the phrase
dry farming Is mentioned In this:
Crops can bc grown successfully
where the avcrnKc normal prccipi'a.
tiou IL ut least twelve inches and
where there IL n good sandy loan sur
face and clay subsnii. providing pains
arc taken to conserve the moisture In
the sail by the practice Of scientific
methods Of soil culture.
Now. proving the exact opposite nj
this proposition. every ono Will admit
does not disproyc the PROPAGATION IT.
self. or proving that certain ou-rr
things happen that have no connection
whatever with the question under dis'
cussion has no bearing whatever on
scientific dry farming.
To bc specific: II II can be shown
thht certain farmers on the plains To
the cas-; Of this city In years when
tho precipitation In below normal. by
the practice of ordinary methods ot
farming get no crops. does that prove
anything either for or aSains, dry
farming" ns II IL understood by those
of us who stand for the practice OF
scientific methods Of soil culture?
= Obviously your editorial WAS In
tended to call the attention To dry
farming of NIL those who are Interested
in the subject ms II was discussed nj
the meeting of the Campbell System
Farming Association the day before
your editorial was written. lf IL was
10 intended. the substance OF your cd
itortal is not gcrm,nc. For those who
constitute the Campbell System Farm
ing Association and all who follow
Mr.. Campbclfs teachings Insist that
our proposition be stated In exact
terms ard proven or disproven on its
own merits. II In certainly most un'
fair to n scientific agricultural, like
Mr., Campbell to say ,hat dry farm.
ing" (when every one knows that you
mean the Campbell system) is 10 ba
measured by the success or failure or
those who practice farming on our
plains without irrigation by the most
ordinary methods employed by farni'
ers in humid sections of our country.
We arc willing and anxious that the
Campbell system shall be subjected to
the very sevcrest tests. II Will never
accomplish much toward rcclniming
the millions of unoccupied acres In the
eastern part Of this state unless II can
stand the test o. >sry dry seasons.
But let Il be Understood that the ad-
yocates of the Campbell system prac-
ticc the self.same scientific methods
Of preparing the soil In wet season.
ms they do in u dry season. And those
who do practice the methods outlined
by Mr.. Campbell will so well succeed
in conserving surplus OF moisture In
nj, ny ptt n.
tion, that they will have abundant wa
ter under their fields to carry crops
safely to maturity in season when
precipitation Is below normal.
The Campbell system and dry
farming" are not synonymous phrases.
DRY farming means nothing more or
less than producing crops without irrl'
cation by ordinary methods of farm
ing. In some seasons, like the past
three, dry farming" will be n success
anywhere in eastern Colorado.
1t IL because we know this that the
Campbell System Farming Association
is in existence. We are unwilling to
have as great publication as the Den.
yer Republican discuss dry farming
and the Campbell system as II they
were one and the same thing, and to
say that the success or failure OF one
Is the measure VI tue SuSeSaS VI i""'S
Of the other.
Our association purposes separating
the sheep from the goats. We Will
give the stamp of our approval to
those who are practicing methods of
soil culture and to them alone. When
dry seasons come we Will demand that
the success of such as these be taken
as the test of the system and not the
failure of those who by slipshod
methods produced abundant crops
when nature was kind to them and
nothing when she frowned on them.
The Campbell system has a'ready
heen proven through Il period OF two
decades in different portions of the