The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-29
DRY FARMING
PIONEER TALKS
George L. Farrell of Cache
County Relates Many In
tereSting Experiences
KNOWS NOT THE WORD FAIL
POINTS THE WAY TO GREAT
WEALTH FOR UTAH.

George l. Farrell of Smithheld.
Cache county, Utah, has made prac-
teal success of dry farming, perhaps
the greatest success in the entire arid
west, certainly the greatest success
thus far scored in Utah. He is now The
owner of LOO acres of land, for which
he has refused $3.50, GOO. Not an acre of
this land is irrigated. Relating his ex-
perience, Mr.. Farrell gives the follow
ing interesting facts. facts that should
prove of great value. to every dry
farmer in the community:
Jan. 70, 1866. | entered upon a piece
of arid land on the west side of the
Cache valley and took up a quarter
section, which proved To be railroad
land. Then ! entered two sections of
railroad land, which took in the noun
tain and the bottoms on either side of
the mountain between Cache valley
and Salt Lake valley in Box Elder and
Cache counties.
Il began TO work at once i'm the
spring as soon as the snow went off.
/ was farmer, had been engaged in
farming ever since / was a little boy,
but always worked where there was
plenty of rainfall. AS consequence,
] started blowing about three inches
deep. 1 worked my ground over
through the summer and in the fall
/ sOwed it to grain. The next spring
it came up all right. 1t did well till
il got TO be about ten inches high.
Then the sun dried it out and 1 lost
my crop.
Keeps Right on Trying.
The next year l plowed this same
piece of ground again, this time about
an inch deeper / sowed TO grain again,
but il dried out again. and my neigh
bCrs then told me that 1 had lost my
senses. used to feel of my head once
i'm a while to see whether it was hot or
cool. I found it to be cool, and I de-
termined 10 go ahead and do the best
/ could.
Z got another team and made up my
mind to pillow the ground about two or
three inches deeper still. I got a new
pillow and started. The first forenoon
/ ran into a big root of great grass and
broke my pillow beam short off at the
standard. Well, I made up my mind
then TO go TO Logan and get a beam
put in that the team could not break.
] did. I had a beam put in an inch and
a half thicker and two inches deeper,
and I had the bolt made longer. Then
l started out again. But the caTpen-
ter got the point of the beam too high
and the pillow ran down eight inches,
so LldI the team COulG not pun IL
While / was sitting there a man who
HAD cattle three miles off came along.
whats the matter says he. I
have seen you sitting there for the last
hour?'
Look where the nose Of my pillow
is says L
well says ne, go down to Peter
son; he has a big team running on the
prairie. 1 promise you he will be glad
TO let you have it,
4 jumped on a horse and went down
TO see Peterson. Certainly says he.
Here is the team, the harness and all,
and 1 won't charge you but two bits a
day
Plows Eight Inches Deep.
"'AH right says I. and l put the
team on and plowed 100 acres eight
inches deep. Then l put my roller onto
il and rolled 1t down. Then 1 disced
il lengthwise and narrowed it cross
wise. / continued to disc it and har-
row n and work it till the first of Sep
TENDER Then I SOWed my grain. 1t
came up very nicely in the fall and the
next spring it did well. l raised TWEEN
ty-eight bushels to the acre off that
100 acres, and the neighbOrs began to
think / was not quite so crazy as when
] started out. In fact, a number of
them moved closer to me and took up
adjoining land and went to work.