Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-06-28
DRY FARMING IN THE WEST.
Wonderful Prospect Ahead for Desert
Country Through the Method Intro
duced by Campbell, a Vermonter

Wonderful Prospect Ahead for Desert
Country Through the Method Intro
duced by Campbell a Vermonter.
From the Canadian border on the north
to the Rio Grande on the south, and from
the Rocky Mountains westward almost TO
the sea, lies that great strip Of land
known to geographcrs as aried America.
Twelve hundred miles long and thirteen
hundred miles wide, 1t comprises an area
equal to about one third of that Of con-
tinental United States, exclusive Of Alas
ka. Here lie vast domains Of public
lands, 600 900 acres i'm all, besides rail-
road grants and school lands, and TO-
900, 900 of these acres are known as des-
ert land.
Yet in this desert country there lie, so
scientists and practical farmers tell u.s.
the possibilities for fulfilling the old bib
Heal prophecy that the waste places may
be made glad and that the desert Will
blossom as rose, writes Frederick j.
Haskin in the Pittsburg Dispatch. 1t
will need no miracle to prove this, and
little outside Influence to bring It about
1t will mean only a scientific use Of the
materials nature already has at hand
This method by which the desert land is
to be redeemed Is known as dry farming,
and its principle is the very simple one
of conserving every particle of moisture
reservoirs or behind expensive concrete
dams, nut in the soil itself A year be-
fore n crop is to be planted the farm
land Is plowed deeply by special ma
chinery. Strong disk plows not only pull
verize the subsoi but pack 1t into a firm
bed through which the conserved water
may not sink. and through which the ex-
cessive salts (which usually lie four or
five feet below fhe surface may not rise
by evaporation, to burn and blight vege-
tdtion.
On this subsoi the surface soil Is pull
verified to such n fineness by special
machinery that 1t seems It must have
been done by the fingers. This makes a
mulch through which rain and melted
snow may percoate to rest on the packed
suhsoil beneath. but through which no
moisture can rise, 1t demonstrates the
physical law Of capillary attraction, for
moisture most easily rises through moist
channels. just as oil rises more quickly in
lamp wick that has been saturated in
oil than II does in a dry wick. Lectur-
ers In ting their theory have
represented the damp subsoi with a lump
OF loaf sugar sprinkled over with pow
dered sugar. When the lump Is wet the
powder remains dry.
The pioneer dry farmer Of America
and Of the world, for that matter. was
II. w. Campbell Of Lincoln. Neb Over
20 years ago he evolved this theory. and
having the courage Of his convictions
put II into practice. From the James to
the Arkansas river he has tried Il on all
the former waste places and has made
good. Others have followed In the wake
Of his disciples the Spanish bavonet the
yucca, greesewood and sage brush are
disappearing and wheat. corn. alfalfa
barley. grasses. fruits and vegetables are
sprlnEing up In a most satisfactory and
lavish fashion. The secret Of the sue
cess lies in the fact that the dry farmer
must never stop work In the older fields
or the East and the South there are pc
RODS OF Incidence that follow the lay
ing by time or the harvest. and the
farmer may turn his thoughts to barbe-
cues, fishing excursions or simply 60 lie
out under the trees and follow Riley's
plan Of seeing "jes how lazy he kin be %
Not so with that sturdy man who goes
TO conquer the land Of the West Even
as eternal vigilance Is the ACKNOWLEDGED
price Of peace, so is tireless industry the
price Of his prosperity The minute a
few drops Of rain fall he Is out in his
prairie field with disk harrow to stir the
soil and powder II so fine the moisture
may not rise again. He stirs II this wav
Tor n year before he plants his seeds
He stirs II while the seeds are sprouting
until he is in danger Of iniuring the
terminating plant, and ceases only when
IN" plants are large enough to make a
protecting shade for the soil The min
ute the crop Is harvested he does not sit
Idle and think OF his profits on that crop
Instead he follows the harvester that
same day with his subsol plows and has
his land all ready for the next planting
let,.ng It lie fallow until then
Modern invention has come TO the aid
Of the dry farmer. Giant machines min
imize time and labor for him. Across
the unbroken, virgin soil Of the prairie n
3o-horse power engine passes, drawing in
IS wake an aggregation OF agricultural
machinery that includes 10 l4-inch plows
two iron rollers, two clod crushers two
seed drills and other necessary things
II leaves behind II a great stretch Of
brown, pulverized soil, in which the seeds
lie hidden for the coming crop This
giant prepares and seeds 35 acres Of land
in working day OF 10 hours at cost OF
about 90 cents an acre. BY the old meth
cd the time would have been many DAYS.
and with horses ms motive power would
have cost IS an acre
The ordinary farmer on the plains
plants 40 quarts Of wheat to the acre, and
has n return OF anywhere from nothing
to 20 bushels. The dry farmer plants u
quarts Of wheat, practises care. inteln-
gence and endless cultivation. and has n
return Of from 35 to 56 bushels an acre
II is claimed by advocates OF dry farm
ing that their methods in Kansas would
have raised her 1905 yield OF 12% bushels
an acre to 81. They also claim that II
! per cent Of the money spent on irri-
CATION were expended in the teaching OF
dry farming 500 900 900 acres of desert
land could be scientifically reclaimed. The