The Greeley tribune., 1909-01-08
WINTER IRRIGATION AND MOIS.
TuRE SAVING BY TILLAGE,
READ AT Big INSTITUTE
irrigate Your Land Before Planting
IL Possible. A Good Seed Bed
Is OF the Greatest Import
ance. Results of Irri-
CATION in Spring.

The following address by Charles
H. Bliss, one OF the most progressive |
farmers in this county, was listened |
TO with great interest at the Farmers |
Institute this afternoon. Mr. Bliss
speaks from his own experience and
observation and the Weld county
farmers know that his ideas have al
ways proved a success Mr.. Bliss
said:
( Once upon q time, as many good
stories begin, man learned that by
lOosening up the ground around al
p|ant it would make larger growth
and bear more fruit Probably his
FIRST tools were crude affairs made of
forked sticks of wood, and welded
by main strength and awkwardness,
|es we sometimes say. On some hot
day, as he rested in the shade of
nearby cottonwood, happy thought
Icame to him that he might get lit
tie different shaped forked stick and
harness up his wife and dog and he
would only have to walk along be-
hind and hold the handle and carry
the whip. And from that day to
this man has been ever thinking how
he could better loosen and fine the
soil and % give the plant better
start. Our boys hear us talk good
|3esl 49, plowing and cnltivating
SO % to kill the weeds, and we some.
times are so cruel as to send them
to the field with hoe to kill the few
left by the cultivators, until they
think We till the soil to keep the
weeds down So we do, but that is
secondary to the keeping of the soil
in good condition for plant growth.
Every successful farmer must know
when his ground is in good
shape to work and when it is in
good growing condition, and in pro-
portion to that knowledge and his
ability to conform to those conditions
will his success be in producing a
crop.
The first requisite is good seed
bed. All of us will acknowledge this,
but few of us give it enough atten-
tion.
This leads to the first part OF my
subject, winter Irrigation. real
ize that this is something which many
cannot do. but with the rapid IN
crease of reservoirs and seepage
bitches. more and more of our farm
ers have fall and winter water Ma
ture's own way of breaking up and
the solids in the soil
is by freezing and thawins. and dry
soil does not freeze, at least very lit
tie. How loose and easily worked is
the soil after the ground thaws out IN
the spring. and how often we wish
we could keep it that way all sum
mer Are we doing all we can to pro
mote this condition?
The effect of fall irrigation on al
falfa is very noticeable every year
such ground often produces from one
half to three-fourths of ton more
hay from the first cutting. The ell
feet on all other ground is quite no
Iiceable in our dry springs in Colo
rado; if we work the ground prop
arly In the spring, so it does ho'
bake. A wear ago last November
was watering piece of aiiaiia an"
below it was n piece o'
round on which potatoes had pee''
,rown the preceding summer WISH
ng to soak the alfalfa thoroushiN'
md having plenty OF water, soV
bout four acres of the upper END ot
his potato ground watered from what
an off the alfalfa. TINS pota'o
,round was planted to late peas inns
ast sprinr. being planted about the
middle of April With our Ions dry
winter and spring up to the first ol
,Iay without any moisture, one Wouio
ave supposed that there would De
10 difference between the ground II
gated and that not irrigated p"t
he peas on the irrigated sro"nu
anne up quicker and made at least
nehalf more growth during the sum-
ner One reason. perhaps, In this
ase, was because they got the start