Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1906-12-21
The "Fsther Of Oh Farming ~.
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When the ST. Aba Nessenger
vises its Who's Who Z vermontars d,
will be in order to add IA name OF
tive and former business Imam IN lie o,r-
county to the list--HardN W. Camrh.r
now Of Bethany, Neb., thd father o. A..
farming" Mr.. Campbell tas done r,,..
than to win ephemerai fAme or pre-,
wealth for himself. He has added H.,
measurably to the sum Of the worla,,
wealth and human knowledge. Az o,o
admirer says, He has not merely ma,
two blades Of grass grow where one grew
before. but he has made it possible ,o-
wheat, corn, alfalfa and other crops N
be grown where nothing but buffalo grass
Spanish bayonet, sage brush and caen
have ever grown; and has planted haDpv
homes in the region hitherto abandcna5
to prairie dogs. occident ants and scat.
tered punches Of sheep and cattle"
Mr.. Campbell was born In Montgopcrv
VT, in 1850 and was reared on a stony
hill farm with but limited Opportunities
for educational training. He left homs
at the age Of II to work in the wason car
shops in Springfield, Mass. AS a young
man he invented the j. 1. c. bit He
sold the invention for few hundred dol.
lars. but the purchaser realized a fortuna
on his sales. Mr.. Campbell returned To
Montgomery. where he engaged in the
manufacture OF wooden tubs, pals and
firkins for packing butter. His factory
was destroyed by fire three times and in
1879 he went to South Dakota to engage
in farming. Since 1895 he has lived in
Nebraska. For % years he has been
preaching the gospel OF good crops.
through the intelligent adaptation Of
farming methods to actual conditions. and
for the past 10 or ~ years a large part
OF his energies have been expended IN the
management Of experiment farms.
financed by the great western railroad
corporations. He has been Obliged to
design many OF the farm implements
used in his experiments.
Dry farming has come into It's own
with a rapidly that seems truly aston
ishing when the almost imperceptibls
growth OF the idea during the 20 years
preceding is recalled. Throughout the
plain region it is now generally admitted
by well-informed men that dry farming
Mr.. Campbell representes the most I'M
portant advance made in western agrl-
culture in generations.
The Campbell system Of dry farming
has been briefly summarized as follows:
Keep the top two or three inches OF
soil always loose and finely pulverized
forming a soil mulch that permits the
rapid percolation Of the moisture Of heavy
rains and melting SHOWS to the subson.
and at the same time reduces the loss
by evaporation to it's lowest possible
point Have the subsoil beneath this soil
mulch firmly compacted, increasing its
water holding capacity, and promoting
capillary attraction of moisture from be-
low. A natural storage reservoir Is thus
formed OF which the soil mulch is the
lid. The scanty precipitation OF the
plains region is thus held-not in dis
tant dams-but right where 1t can be
reached by the roots OF growing plants.
II is claimed that the observance Of these
principles will result in the production Of
at least 40 bushels of wheat per acre.
anywhere In the semi-arid lands where
the average annual rainfall Is not less
than IL inches. During the past season
many "dry-farmed' wheat fields have
yielded from 50 to so bushels per acre.
and some were reported as high as GA
bushels.
Similar methods are now advocated by
the government experiment stations OK
Utah, Wyoming and Colorado: but in no
case is any credit given to H. W. Camp
bell. who advocated them when agricul-
tural college experts considered II almost
a crime to intimate that farming without
irrigation was possible with an average
annual rainfall Of less than 20 inches