The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-30

brought to Provo by Ernest Carroll,
who grew it without irrigation, near
Orderville, in Kane county. Good
yields OF wheat and corn were obtained
at various places in Sanpete county,
and reports of successful trials come
from numerous other places. All in
all, it appears as if the possibilities of
this method of agriculture have not
been sensed in their fullness, even by
the closest students of the subject.
There is no longer any doubt in the
minds of those who look intelligently
into the future that arid farming will
in a very short time be the most i'm
pOrtant branch of agriculture in this
state.
Yields of the Year.
The wear 1906 was marked bv an I'M
usually heavy precipitation, and it was
supposed by many that the dry farm
yields would be abnOrmally large. As
a matter of fact, however, the aver
age yields have not been greatly diff
ferent from those of earlier years. The
older dry farmers, of course, have re-
allied the benefits of a longer and more
thorough cultivation of the soil. In
general, it may be said that on newly
broken lands the yield of wheat per
acre ranged between 10 and 20 BUSH
els, while on Older and better culti-
waited lands the yield ranged between
% and 80 bushels. Hundreds of acres
yielded above 80 bushels per acre. In
a few cases the yield was over 40 BUSH
els per acre. Corn also yielded well.
with an average of about 80 bushels
per acre. From these figures it may
be seen that the yields of this year
were very profitable, as is well shown in
the dry farmers broad smile and genial
demeanor.
Lesson of the Year.
This year has furnished one of the
most striking lessons ever given Utah
farmers. concerning the relation of
plants TO water When the heavy
spring rains appeared it was generally
believed that the yield of irrigated
wheat and other grain crops would be
extraordinarily large. Instead of this
being the case, thousands of acres OF
wheat in the state were ruined by rust.
Not case of rust has yet been re-
ported from the dry farms. This goes
to show that plants, under our arid
conditions, do not need extraordinarily
large amounts of water. and that we
are already near the danger point
When, in addition to our usually CO.
pious irrigations, we have an unusually
heavy rainfall, the result is detrimental
to our crops. This has made the farm
ers of the state look with more favor
than ever on the dry farm as the home
of wheat and kindred plants. A proph-
ct is not needed to foresee that the
events of this year point very clearly
to time when wheat, corn and other
grains, and a large portion of our Iu-
cerne will be raised on the dry lands.
while more profitable crops will cover
our valuable irrigated lands.
introduction of Winter Oats.
A modest, though notable event in
the progress of arid farming is the in
PRODUCTION into the state of a variety of
winter oats. The farmers of the state
up to the present time, have known
only winter wheat and winter rye
Winter oats and winter barley have
been unknown. Arid farming requires
for its successful pursuit that. as far
as possible, crops be planted in the
fall. This permits the utilization of
the fall and winter precipitation. and
enables plants to begin. their growth AT
the earliest possible time in the spring.
The winter oats now offered on the
Utah market were originally obtained
i'm a Yorkshire farm in October. 1896
by J. X. Goldsbrough of Nephi, Utah
Mr.. Goldsbrough brought home half a
teacupful i'm 1902, which was turned
over to Mr.. Stephen Boswell, who, with
Henry Garrett, was the original dry
farmer of Levan hill. This year Mr..
Boswell raised on ten acres 500 bushels,
or at the rate of 80 bushels per acre