Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1907-01-23

sa-pAe pnn<asasa
Ths priaelpses aEe two IL amnAes
.FyFH~ 10 k@~p th@ saFfan~ 0s The aan4
anaer e~aaatEaahaA kxa@~ aaa tsasaE p&t
EeE1Ek1 TAag saEzs . I'll EGsA that
pxrmfs tie rains ana rse3Etng sa@wS
TO r~mFroaaa@ readily thEoAagh 10 To-
egmsac*es safl h~ne&th: and fkaE 81
tie same time prevsas1 The moisture
n&osea In tie gTuzAa fEom being
Trough, to th@ surface By capillary Ct
'r&etAgn. to be- absorbed b. tie bot,
dry ar TAe seeo2a IL 70 keep tho
Eaasoal Pulvegtaaa and fsFEaiy compact
g. Increasing its water holding eAp&r~
NY and capillary attraction. and paae~
ing IN the bssa possible ph"~s>@I "a
eltion toF the gegzniEats2n q seeA and
the development e plant rosts- The
! dry farmer tins restores wateT Rot
In dams and artificial reservoirs, boot
right where II can he reached by the
rOotm II growing crops
Through thee principles a rainfall
Iof twelve inches cal BE- conserved 80
effectively that IL Gill produce better
results than ar" usually expected Of
Ian annual precipitation Of ,~~en'yfr.ur
inches Of humid America
Water moves In the soil By caplll
airy aftraetion-ap - readily a. d0wn.
To prevent IL fFum rising to ahe sur.
face after II has teen sso'et b"nsAsh.
Is the primary object Of the loose soil
mulch. composing the top two inches
of soil This answers the purpose of
q I'D on the natural reservoir. prevent.
ing the moisture from rising 10 the
Surface, and thus evaporating In the
hot dry atmosphere. At the same
time this s0ii mulch forms an open,
poroas bed upon which the rains ana
SHOWS fail. permitting the moisture
to percolate readily through into the
compaeted ground beneath, Special
agricultural implements have been de-
signed aud brought into . for pack
ing the subs0Il and for stirring and
pulverixing the surface. but a detailed
description of these would be aside
from the purpose Of this article.
Anybody Gan Dry Farm.
DRY farming In essentially scienti
fc farming, and for that reason ths
term used BY Mr.. Campbell. scientific
soil culture IL perhaps more truly
descriptive than the popular term
Nevertheless. its principles can be
and are. applied just as successful,
by men who have little OF education
LOT the schools as they are by college
graduates. However. no farmer In thu
arid belt need hope for even moderate
success without u~nceasing and t~ireless
diligence. The remark once made oI
,the lands OF the Dakotas. tickle them
with a hoe and they will laugh with a
harvest ls very misleading. II Is true
that In the Dak0tas and elsewhere as
well, great bonanza wheat farms are
Eoperated al a profit. but no other cult
walton than the preliminary prepare.
ton of the soil. consisting OF shallow
lplowing and narrowing. Sometimes
Ieven the narrowing Is dispensed with
These huge wheat farms rarely yield
a crop OF more than from ten to four
teen bushels TO the acre. and opera.
tons. TO be profitable. must be con.
Quoted on an enormous scale. II. in.
stead of merely tickling the lands.
the owners of the bonanza farms were
to cultivate them thoroughly, they
would be rewarded with a harvest
fchrfoId as great.
After the land has been deeply
plowed. the undersoil packed by the
subsoil packer aud the surface harrow.
ed and pulverized. a full year should
elapse before the first crop Is planted.
In order to obtain the best results.
This season Is needed for the collect.
ing and storing OF water. In the WIN.
ter and early spring heavy SHOWS Gov
Ter the ground. When these melt in
the spring. instead OF draining off the
surface or e%vaporating as they have
done for ages. they sink into the
reservoir prepared for their reception,
As soon as the surface is dry enough,
the ground is narrowed over again and