Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-02-19
LOafing Acres.

some time during the winter of eact
year to look over his farm CRITICAL,
and see how many acres have beer
loafing, or, in other words, have
brought no return, and if he finds
such acres, what method should be
adopted to insure a return of some
kind. At the present price of land a
man can not get ahead very fast un.
less he has every acre on the farm re.
turning some revenue. We think
many Of our readers will be surprised
when they see the number of acres
that have been loafing, some of them
doing nothing at all, others doing
very little, and probably none of them
doing all they might be made to do.
1t is equally important to inquire
what can be done to make these acres
contribute their share to the revenue
of the farm. How about your sloughs:
Are they growing up in coarse grasses
and weeds, unsightly to say the least,
or are they cutting back in the more
hilly sections farther and farther
each year, thus forming washouts?
| If so, what can be done?
The trouble with great many Of
these sloughs is that when the wild
grass has once been eradicated, either
by plowing up or by the gradual sub
stitution Of , alsike clover, these
sloughs cut back and you have ra-
vine which is much worse than a
slough. Many farmers conclude that
the best thing to do is to let the wild
grass alone, especially where there is
rapid fall, and thus prevent gully
ing. Nearly any slough can be con-
verted into a good pasture or meadow
by simply seeding to alsike clover in
the spring and keeping the slough
grass cut back. There is, however,
this danger Of washing. Hence the
best way to treat slough is to drain
it, putting in tile large enough to
carry off the water. When there is
drainage they can be farmed with the
rest of the land and will gradually fill
up in the course of years.
On great many farms there are
pieces of rough land, sometimes
gravelly or rocky, into which the plow
should never be put. What should be
done with these? The best use for
some OF these lands is to cover them
with manure where that is practic-
able, seed them down to blue grass,
and use them as pasture. Others of
them may be allowed to grow up in
trees, either hard wood or soft. This
would necessarily involve separate
fencing. and keeping out of stock.
There may be no immediate return;
but the land will at least retain it's
fertility and contribute something in |
the future both in the way of shade,
fire wood, and possibly in some cases
valuable lumber. Where the locust |
borer does not interfere with the |
growing of the locust this is the tree
to plant on land of this kind. Black |
locust trees are native on good deal |
Of land Of this character in some sec
tions of the country, and the proper
thing to do is to let it grow up as
locust thicket.
There are sometimes acres that are
off by themselves, inconvenient to the
buildings but rich land, that may be
converted into timber plantations.
The trees selected should be such as
are either native or known to grow
we'll in the climate. Black walnut
grows over most of our territory, and
black walnut timber will always be
especially where grown on
we'll drained alluvial lands Every
arm of one hundred and sixty acres
should have at least an acre some
where growing up in trees that may
De suitable either for posts or timber.
The genuine hardy catalpa is one Of
'ur most valuable trees. Don't fool
way any time with any variety Of
atalpa except the hardy catalpa, the
atalpa speciosa. It is an upright
rowing tree, bears few seed pods, has
rough and deeply furrowed bark
hat is not inclined to be scaley. The ,
oft catalpa is the very opposite and a
lOoC VI &C..
In many sections ash trees will
row. Plant these. We do not ad-
Use planting cottonwood or Carolina !
oplar where any of these better trees {
will grow, although there are sections
where these and even willows may be
rown to advantage.
Most of the acres that loaf, how
yer, need drainage. These acres will
ecome most valuable when drained,
nd it is worth while to have surveys {
1ade of all undrained lands and take ,
he advice of experienced men as to
be size of the tile, the depth and the ,
'idth between drains that will carry
fl all the water that falls on the :
md or that may flow onto adjoining :
lndS.
1t is not the fault of good many r
these acres that they are loafing.
hey need the stimulus of good farm {
lg. AT any rate it is worth while
skiing the question: Are any Of my
cres loafing? If SO, is it my fault or
~ misfortune? In either case what
the best means of putting them to i
ork?