Arizona republican., 1907-06-25

crop failure in fall seeding. Prepara-
 ton of seed bed is the most important
 thing in farming the non-irrigated
 lands, and as soon as spring crops are
 in, the new settler should piow and cultivate his field he expects to seed to fall crops or the following springs grain.
 Summer culture is an essential of the eastern Colorado farmers sue cess. The French found some centu- ries ago that "maneuvering" the land
 causing the particles of earth to
 change place by tillage-made it more
 productive. Experiments now show ! that summer tillage in our semi-arid ! lands has an added value-it conserves | the moisture, while il renders more | plant food available. Good results have been obtained in eastern Wash ! ihgton, eastern oregon. Utah, and many sections of Colorado from sum-
 mer culture of the land every other
 season. IL has been found that in this way sufficient moisture can be stored from the years rainfall to mature a crop in man- localities.
 After the snoWs of winter have melt [ ed in the spring. Uow the ground at [ least seven or eight inches deep. With I disc harrow. corrugated roller. imperial pulverizer. or packer. level and firm this ground as soon after blowing as possible. at least not later than each half day. and follow up with smOoth- i'm har iSn ha !,
 mulch to check evaporation. This mulch must not be too fine. as the winds of the plains will tend to rift the soil or blow the earth mulch en- ! tirely away. If possible. stir the sur face soil with a good spike-tooth or acme harrow several times through the summer from two to four inches deep Follow every summer rain with a good | narrowing of this summer cultured" ground. preventing the formation of a crust at the surface. Keep this ground clean-free from weeds
 Ground that has been well cultivat- ed for several years will produce two crops in succession and can be given summer culture the third year. In this
 way it is possible to grow two crops i,r three years on well titled soil. If ' a farmer expects to cultivate so acres,
 he should divide it into two crop di- Visions-cropping 40 acres the first year. and giving summer culture to the other 40 acres. This gives him a crop
 a.. one half his land each year while
 h is storing uo moisture in the soil reservoir Of the other half to make
 the next years crop. A farmer on ] ha rric tod f,, T
 ty last season, after seeding his spring crop. at once prepared his fail wheat seed bed-150 acres. The writer vis-
 ited his field early in July and found his seed bed in a fine mellow, moist condition for seeding. Just a few
 miles from this careful farmers ranch
 was 500-acre field which had been
 simply Dlowed and left in that condi-
 ton to dry out and become hard. AL
 though an inch of rain had fallen the week previous. the water found the
 soil in this field in very poor me- chanical cOndition-dry and hard.
 This clearl" shows how not to do.
 Farmer No. now has d most promis-
 ing field of wheat aM will undoubted- ly be rewarded. with a satisfactory harvest
 One of the writer's correspondents.
 living ten miles south of Akron Colo.
 has practiced summer culture for sev- eral years. He reports that in the fall when he seeds his summer cultured land. he often finds from three to five feet of moisture.
 The writer knows that this method of summer culture has been practiced m some parts of California for. up wards of forty years with satisfactory results.
 Use every practical method you can t0 conserve the moisture. Summer culture keeps the ground in good tiIth. Keeps down weeds renders the plant fcod easily avilable for the next years crop, while it stores up the moisture so necessary to the plant in assimilat-