The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-11

ure, will then catch and retain almost
the entire precipitation. The rough,
deeply plOwed land acts as a reservoir,
holding both the snow and the rain,
which finally sink into the rough land.
Early in spring, as soon as the surface
is dry enough, the land is narrowed, to
prevent the escape Of the moisture by
evaporation, and to catch all the water
of spring SHOWS and rains. The har-
hOwing is repeated after every consid-
cradle rain, to prevent the baking and
cracking of the surface soil. BY these
operations, practically two-thirds OF
the entire rainfall may be conserved
for the use of growing crops. The soil
mulch required for conservation is
from two to four inches deep.
East of the Rocky mountains a sub
surface packer is used to compact the
soil beneath the mulch layer. Their
subsoil is loose and open and fails to
draw up the sub-suTface moisture I'M
less the soil Is thus compacted. West
ern soils do not require this treatment,
being nearly always dense enough 10
lift by capillary attraction the water
stored below. The use of the sub
surface packer is the only point in
which the eastern, or Campbell, sys-
TEN Of dry farming differs essentially
from our own methods.
Dfy-Fdrm WneatS,
Wheat is the principal dry-farm
crop: and fall sowing. in order to get
the benefit of the winter rainfall. is
the best practice. It is best to sow
early enough to have the grain well up
before the heavy frOsts come, since the
very young sprouts are delicate and
may winter kill if they get ready to
come out of the ground in early spring.
alfalfa seed, on the other hand, should
be sOwn in the spring.
The principal varieties Of wheat
grown on dry farms are two. the Tur-
key Red a bearded variety with a red
kernel. and the KOfOd. which has a
wlarge, white, beardless head, and a
white kenrneI. Local miiIers, though
formerly partial to the white kernel
are now inclining toward the red
grains: the latter contain more gluten
and hence make better bread. The
Turkey Red is at present our pre-
ferred variety for dry farming 1t has
averaged thirty-eight bushels per acre
during the past five years on the Utah
experiment farms. KOfod averages
two or three bushels less per acre. Gold
Coin wheat is a kind commonly grown
on western dry farms, and though 1t
has hitherto sold as well as the kinds
above mentioned. It is not equal to
ing.
Fall sowing. it has been shown. is
the best for dry-farm wheat; but IL
sometimes happens that We must plant
in the spring or not at all In this
event, the best wheats are the Durums,
called also the Macaroni wheats. These
are the best varieties for spring sow
ing: the kernel is hard, and these are
the only kinds suitable for the manu-
facture of macaroni The macaroni
wheats are all heavily bearded when
in head; and they have higher per
centage of gluten than any other
wheats. The heads of all these sprins
wheats may be black or white. The
yield OF the Drums is less per acre on
dry farms - averaging twenty-five
bushels-thsn that OF the fall wheats
above mentioned.
Best Time for Planting.
Experiments carried on at the Utah
stations for the past five years ind
cate that the best time for fall grain
planting is from Sept Is to Oct. 1.
Only once did earlier planting-fTom
the middle Of August to the middle Of
September-yield a better crop; and IN
that season early fall and late sum-
mer rains followed the planting. The
press drill gives the best results In
planting. With this implement we can
SOW the exact amount per acre that
our moisture will take care of; that is,
from one to three pecks per acre on
dry farms. and about four OF five
pecks per acre on irrigated lands. II
too much seed IS sown on the dry
lands. the grain VIII not mature
owing TO the scarcity Of moisture;
whereas half that number Of plants
are likely to do well and to yiela a
large crop. Up to a certain limit the
thinner the sowing. the stronger each
Individual plant becomes. Wheat
stools or filters just below the ground
surface. by sending out extra roots and
straws from a joint there. Where each
plant stands alone, it sends out many
more of these extra roots and stems
than where It is close to other plants
In dry land, where moisture is not suf-
ficient for all the plants sown, this re-
suit is still more apparent.
If sown in the fall, the Boswell win