The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-29
HEAD OF AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE GIVES POINTERS

Professor John Widstoe, president of
the Agricultural college, has given
much thought TO farming conditions in
Utah. He has been in positions Tor
years to enable him to make special
study of the possibilities of dry farn-
ing, and for these reasons his opin-
ions are worthy of consideration. He
says;
''The soils of Utah are almost With
out exception of higH fertility, and we
have no occasion at present to worry
about the food requirements of The
plan-s that are grown. For the sue
cessful prosecution of this branch of
agriculture, the soil must be looked
upon as a reservoir for holding the
water that falls in the form of rain
and SHOW. 1t is the moisture already
stored in the soil in the spring that
is Of the greatest help in producing
crops The rains that fall in the early
summer may or may not be helpful.
We have gradually learned that if our
soils are well stored with moisture in
the spring plants may be produced
whether rain falls or not during the
summer season.
Right . Kinds of Soil.
The essential requisite of soil to
be used by the arid farmer is depth,
and, as far as possible, uniformity.
Gravel streaks, or a gravelly sUbsoil.
are detrimental because they interfere
with tho continuity of the soil. There
must be a continuous layer of soil
from the surface to the greatest depth
attained by the roots if the storage
capacity of the soil reservoir is to be
utilized properly. 1t matters little
whether the soil is sand, clay or loan.
The ridge on which Father Layton
practiced arid farming in the late SOS
is a coarse sand, and the soil near Bear
River City on which the Danish farm
ers produced crops in 1865 is d some
what heavy clay loan. Today sue
cessful dry farms are found on every
kind of soil ranging from the veaviest
clay to the lightest sand.
I'm choosing a soil for an arid farm,
it must be remembered that much of
the secret of success lies in causing the
water to pass down rather far below
the surface; that is, the rainfall of
the season should be stored to a depth
ordinarily of at least six to eight feet,
and in many cases much deeper. IN
der such conditions it is far from the
effects of the sun, and may be drawn
upon slowly as needed by the plant
roots.
Two Fundamental Requisites.
with a suitable soil and a reason
ably sufficient rainfall, the two funda-
mental questions in arid farming are:
First, how to get the water into the
soil: and, secondly. how to keep it
there until needed by plants. By deep
blowing the soil must be placed in
condition to be a ready absorbent of
any rainfall or snowfall, however light.
that may fall upon 1t. Water does not
soak easily into a hard and compact
SOIL and in soil that has been plOWed
shallow the suns rays frequently sue
coed in robbing the soil of much of
its moisture. Deep blowing is, there
fore, always recommended on our Utah
farms. Moreover, to obtain every
possible advantage from the fall rains
and winter SHOWS the doctrine has been
laid down that the only right time to
pillow is in the fall. BY systematic
fall blowing it is possible to retain
for seeding time about IS per- cent of