Bisbee daily review., 1907-06-29
ONE BULLETIN Of
 GENUINE VALUE

Dry farming IS fecSlF1nB a great deal of attention these oays, and is very timely topic in Arizona Much is being printed on the subject, but gen erally the articles are so long, and deal in such generalities that after reading them, one is still doubtful as to what he should do. The following is a very short and interesting bulle- tin on the subject, recently issued by the Colorado experiment station. may be read with profit by many Ari- zona farmers. who, if they are not en- gagged strictly in dry farming, are farming with a shortage of water to which some of the same facts may apply.
 Many hundred farmers. unfamiliar with the soil and climatic conditions of our eastern plains. are this year coming to make homes on 160-acre farms in easternColorado in regions where crops have not been generally grown. Many of these settlers have but a limited amount of money and cannot afford crop failure. It is to be feared that this spring, crops will be only partially successful, since many of them are farming ss they did back home" and are not using drouth resistant crops of demonstrated value in their farming operations. This timely suggestion is sent out to pre- vent crop failure in fall seeding. Prep aration of seed bed is the most inn portant thing in farming the non-irri- gated lands, and as soon as spring crops are in. the new settler should blow and cultivate his field he ex- poets to seed to fall crops, or the fol lowing springs grain.
 Summer culture is an essential Of the eastern Colorado farmers success. The French found some centuries ago that "maneuvering' the lsnu-causIng the particles of earth to change places by tillage-made it more productive. Experiments now show that summer tillage in our semi-arid lands has an added value-it conseryes the moist ure, while it renders more plant food available. Good results have been ob- tained in eastern Washington, east ern Utah and many sections of Colo rado from summer culture of the land every other season. It has been found that in this way sufficient moisture can be stored from the years rainfall to mature crop in many localities.
 After the snows or winter have melt ed in the spring blow the ground al least seven or eight inches deep. With disc harrow. corrugated roller. imper- ial pulyerizer, 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 smoothing harrow to establish the earth 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 entirely away. If possible, stir the surface soil with a good spike-tooth or acme harrow several times throush the summer from two to four inches deep. Follow ever summer rsiu with good narrowing of this summer cuI- tured" ground, preventing the forma- ticn of crust at the surface. Keep this ground clean-free from weeds. Ground that has been well cutliYat- ed for several years vii produce two crops in succession and can be given summer culture the third year. Tn this way it is possible to grow two crops on it in three years on well titled soil. If farmer expects to cul- tiyate eighty acres he should divide it into two crop divisions-cropping forty acres the first year, and giving summer culture to the other forty acres This gives him 9 crop on one half of his land each year while he is storing up moisture in the soil res ervoir of the other half to make the next years crop. A farmer on the
 non-irrigated lands in Weld county 1 last season after seeding his spring crop. at once prepared his fall wheat seed bed-150 acres. The writer visit cd his field early in July and found
 his seed bed in fine, mellow. moist condition for seeding. Just a few miles from this careful farmers ranch 1 was a 500-acre field winch had been simply plowed and left in that cundi-
 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 mechan- ical condition-dry and hard This clearly shows ho wnot to do. Farmer
 No. 1 now has most promising field of wheat and will undoubtedly be re-
 warded with a satisfactory harvest. 1 One of the writer's correspondents. living ten miles south C., Akron, Colo, 1 has practiced summer cultufe for sev-
 eral years. He reports that in the
 fall when he seeds his summer cul-
 tured land he often finds from three
 to five feet of moisture.
 ] The writer knows that this method
 of summer culture has been practiced
 in some parts of California for up-
 wards of forty years with satisfactory
 results.
 | Use every practical method you can
 to conserve the moisture. Summer | culture keeps the ground in good tilth.
 Eeers down weeds renders the plant
 food easily available for the next
 years crop, while it stores up the
 moisture So necessary to the plant in
 assimilating it's food