Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1906-08-02
MILLION ACRES OF IDAHO
LAND TO BE IRRIGATED
Department of Agriculture issues inter
eStng Paper on the Great Snake
River Valley.

( but the average total cost for barb
wire fence is close to So per acre.
The entire tract is covered with
sagebrush, varying in height from
two to six feet, which must be
cleared off before any blowing or
leveling can be done. Most of the
settlers clear land by hand, cutting
down the brush with an ordinary
mattock, and piling and burning
it. The cutting and piling is gen.
orally done during the day, and the
burning at night. One man can
clear an acre of land III two days,
cutting IN one day as much as he
can pile and burn the next. With
a sharp mattock the brush can be
cut easily few inches below the
surface Of the ground. The older
residents of southern Idaho claim
that about an acre day can be
cleared by one man when the ground
is frozen, the brush being firmly
held by the frozen soil, which
prevents its yielding when struck
by the mattock, When the brush
IS dry the land is sometimes cleared
by burning il as it stands. BY this
method one man can easily clear an
acre a day. 1t is claimed that this
leaves the soil in better condition
than before, the roots burning down
into the ground, leaving the ash as a
fertilizer. Contracts for clearing
land by hand, which include the
piling and burning of the brush,
have. been made for an average OF
So. so per acre, the price depends
ing on the market price for day
laborcrs.
When the land is not cleared by
hand, three different methods are
used in grubbing out the brush.
Probably the cheapest of the three
methods is to draw railroad rail
back and forth over the land. With
, six horses hitchcd to an 19-foot rail
J ~ acres were cleared in three days,
three hands being employed. The
rail was dragged over the brush
: twice, in opposite directions, and
then followed up with the grubbing
: hoe. The actual cost by this. method,
5 at the time when wages, board, and
5 horse feed were very high, was
, about So an acre.
A considerable area has been
cleared with grubber consisting
: of knife edge carried on wheel
e base and drawn about six inches be-
r low the surface of the ground.
4 About four acres day can be cut
c by this grubber. Though in use
S only short time it has given very
n good results.
, Sometimes the sagebrush is piled
S in heaps by hand preparatory t.
/. burning, but generally it is rakec
n into windows with an ordinary
= hay rake, or some form of home
S made rake. While most of tn,
IL settlers burn the brush as fast a
e it is cut, quite number stack
d for fuel. Sagebrush burns rcadil,
n and leaves a good bed of Goals
il making it an excellent fuel 70
d household use. With coal at it
It present price in southern Idaho,
4. stack of sagebrush is valuable as
Y set, and will help materially Il
ID cutting down a farmers expense
. "a x.rhA he -
l. ting new land in shape is especial
Y. heavy.
er Settlers frequently do not brin
lie all their fleming implements wit
lg them and consequently must hav
is their blowing done by outside pal
u ties. A contract for blowing genei
to ally calls for a depth of six inche,
j. but a number of fields have bee
to plowed only four inches. The CO.
ry for blowing six inches is betwee
n So and So. so an acre, which do,
is not include the cost of harrowin,
" The cost of putting in seed is abol
he so cents an acre.
ty A number OF farmers, acting
IL the advice OF older settlers, ha'
e disked their land instead of plowil
is, it. A compari son of the crops grow
Ii on the disked and plowed lai
~ shows clearly the advantage of de
al blowing. This was best shown
the experiment farm, at Tw
ter Falls, where two fields were SOW
,g, with alfalfa, both having been pr
sd- pared for crops in exactly the sar
md manner, except that one had be
plowed six inches deep while t
nts other had been disked to a depth
are three inches. At the end of 70
ere months the alfalfa in the pillow
cry field stood twelve inches hig
ere while that in the disked field W
nal nf11u fhraa tr,(hac n.