Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-06-04

H-tsA TX 'TS
1t is on the fact, which is now wei
known, that breaking up the soil b.
blowing. and keeping It loose after II
has been broken III by frequent cult.
walton. that dry farming is based. Ths
scientists say that moisture escapes in,
to the air, under ordinary conditions,
by capillary attraction, or the moving
up from one particle of soil to another
of the moisture and going out into the
air when it reaches the top. When the
soil is loosened it prevents the escape
Of moisture by breaking up the ar,
r~angement Of particles Of the soil nee,
essary to conduct the moisture to the
air. The top layer of loose earth is
different from that below in arrange.
ment Of particles of earth. and is more
or less filled with air and is a poor con.
ductor Of water.
TIL principle is supposed to be the
same as the law governing heat and
sound. When heat has to travel
through different media 1t travels very
slowly. as in the case Of sawdust, In
which case the air has to trava
through layers Of wood and air, and
which is used to prevent heat passing
to stored ice. Sound Will 0 travel
easily If it has to pass through differ
ent substances.
If the top soil is kept loose or as
near to dust as possible, there will be
very little loss Of moisture. 1t has
been noticed that where q pile Of prun-
ings from n vineyard or orchard was
burned in the spring in California at a
time when there was moisture in the
soil. the moisture would be kept in the
soil all through the dry summer and not
dry out as the surrounding land would
in about a month on which nothing
had been burned. The ashes in this
case formed a perfect dust blanket, al
though the ground was not plowed.
The Proper Use of aiming Mills.
Among improved farm machines the
tanning mill stands out prominently as
being especially valuable. The value Of
good seed Is recognized to It's full cx-
tent by breeders Of seed corn, but
farmers who grow wheat, oats, barley,
peas and other cereals have never
walked up to the necessity Of selecting
seed with the greatest possible care.
Prof. P. G. Holden Of Iowa State
College, demonstrated by a series of
experiments that the careful selection
Of seed corn sometimes more than
doubles the yield. Ninety experiments
with seeds taken from the planter
boxes Of ninety farmers gave yields
varying from thirty-one to eighty bush
els per acre. The ground and cultiva-
ton was the same as near as possible
in each case.
There is just as much difference in
the value Of good and bad seed when 1t
comes to wheat and other grains. as
there is in corn, but the fact has not
been driven home to farmers in general
as it has in the especial cor crop in
the corn belt Of the Middle West.
Seed cnrn is selected by hand by the
best corn breeders. They almost pick
out the individual kernels hat they
wish to plant. l believe it would pay
the growers of other grains to do the
same thing. I believe it would pay a
farmer to spend a whole month to Sc
lect his seed wheat by means of a mag
nifying glass If he could obtain a fan
ming mill. I think If he should raise
twenty acres Of wheat he could clean
by hand the necessary seed in q
months time. 1t would be necessary
to 20 over a bushel a day. including
Sundays. It would keep him busy. but
his yield would be many bushels more
per acre. and he could sell every bush
ell for seed at a high price. I believe
he would sell his months labor at q
good figure. and he would learn some
thing greatly TO his future advantage.
I do not wish TO be understood as
recommending farmers to clean their
seed wheat by hand, because there are
improved tanning mills that will do
the work as we'll, If not better, and the
time consumed is insignificant even
the work is very carefully and
thoroughly done as it should be. The
job is most particular, but with a good
mill, a man and helper will prepare a
lot Of seed IL a day.-Agricultural Epi-
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