Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-04-04

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To The Breeders Gazette; Iii the
tall Of 190ss Wrote an article giving,
the g history Of a 2o-acre field 81 bronze
grass during the first three years Of
its existence. The article appeared.
first in The Gazette, but II was widely
copied by the agricultural press SO,
that "a the history of that field was,
known \ from ocean to ocean. Owing
to the interest which this new grass
has awakened among agric ulturists
and owing to its splendid adIaptab ility
Tor wide section of our North Ameris
can continent extending from Indian
s. Head to Texas, / have decided to
give q history of this same field for
the next three: years bringing it up to
the present time. have kept care
/ ful account of the way this field has
been treated and also of the expendi-
lures placed upon it and Of the in
come. 3&:,.. -. III &: t7 ~
SIT will be remembered by those who
read the first article that this field Is
on upland prairie rather high and dry
with water no nearer the surface than
about 40 feet. Also this field 4 had
been subjected to a syst rob
bling Of soil fertility for a quarter Of
a century before it came into my
possession. II had been wheated and
grained year after year with no return
until it's maximum producing capacity
was 10 bushels of wheat per acre, ait
which figure it had ceased to be
profitable hence the low price at
which bought it in. i have shown in
the former article that seeded down to
bronze grass this field had Immediate
" become a producer and that the
land had paid for itself three times
over in the three-year period covered
by that article. ,: Hi, ia! '.@:s3 "a q
sI expected that the field would yield
fair returns the fourth year without
further expense to me but 7 had also
expected thatsit would become sod
bound" SO that should have to plow
it up or convert it into pasture there
after. But 1t so fell out that T. COM
menced to stock my farm with sheep
the fourth year, 50 I fenced In about
10 acres of the field and that part Of it
has been doing good service ever
since. Unfortunately It s3ia not easy
to keep account Of receipts and ex-
penddtures on pasture land, SOL must
content myself by d stating that in
general that portion has been carrying
about twice as much stock as neigh
boring prairie sod. But In the case
OF the remaining 10 acres have some
useful and interesting data at hand.
] allowed this part OF the field to- seed
the fourth year andt estimated the
yield of seed at 10 bushels per acre.
OF this am not sure, for soon after
1t was in the shock a terrific hail
storm swept my farm as with a
bosom. Corn, wheat, oats, and every
thing except my bronze grass, sheep
and pigs was completely DESTROYED.
/ estimate that half OF the bronze grass
seed was shelled out. At any rate /
threshed out only bushels of seed
per acre and cut a ton and a half OF
hay per acre. Owing to the destruc-
tive effects Of the storm hay went TO
$40 per ton that year. .:f s$
III debated long in my own mind
about what to do with that 10 acres
OF bronze grass the. fifth year. But
the truth Of the matter was ] needed
hay badly and had noticed wherever
horses had left the droppings upon
the field while making hay and secur-
/ ing the crop that punches OF grass OF
surprising vigor and of remarkable
greenness had appeared: This set
me to thinking that perhaps the pre-
valent sod bound theory for the
decreased production Of old bronze
grass fields might not be the true one.
Bronze grass hay ID rich in protein,
might not the soil need nitrogen? AZ
any rate I eternlined 70 put the mat.
ter to a test. So i covered about Two
acres of the field with well rottsd
,barnyard manure at the rate Of, 10
loads per acre and in order to test the he
nitrogen-exhaus theory u soWed
about two acres more with sodium l
nitrate. using 100 pounds per acre
and left the remainder Of the heldd
untreated.
The results were prompt and sur
prising Where had spread the rot
ten manure there was a good stand of
seed, about 10 bushels per acre and
over a ton and 3 half gof iay. But
where the nitrate was applied y
looked as at the fairies had been ct
work. MY man sowed the nitrate BY
hand and as he was not skilled in
broadcast sowing he did not cover the
ground evenly He did not time his
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