Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1909-07-30
DRY FARMING In THIS
STATE IS PRACTICAL
Continued from first page.)

thoroughly, and they are located where
there are most people, and in conse-
quence will do most good.
1.-The Great Falls experimental
farm" he said, has extremely light
soil, which is readily aerated and
dries out rapidly. II success in crop
raising is possible here" said he, cit
is possible on any Of the land in the
state that is classified as suitable for
dry farming. Conditions are most
mfavorable on this farm. and one
reason is that it is hard to get crop
started in the spring. The soil, being
light and sandy, drifts over the plants
and smothers them. In some cases
the soil blows away from the roots of
the plants killing them in another
manner. Windbreaks are the only
cure for this evil, and it takes time to
grow these.
"The keynote to successful dry farm
ing is conservation OF moisture, and
consequently it is most necessary to
take advantage of all the rain that
falls: often it is necessary to save one
years moisture for the following sea-
son, which may be unusually dry.
Next to conservation of moisture
comes proper cropping and the man
ner of working the soil. Cnirrigated
land should be cropped only in alter
nate years. In connection with this
matter Professor liniield told OF eN-
pariments conducted ut the Forsyth
experimental farm, where, ut the end
Of four years Il tract Of land cropped
in alternate years gave as big yield
in two crops as a tract of similar size,
cropped every year. gave in fourc crops.
This proved that cropping this sort
OF land in alternate years was the
more profitable manner OF working
it, as there was only half the expense
of seeding and harvesting, while the
revenue from the land was the same.
Where the land was given a years
rest between crops it was not impov
erished 50 rapidly.
Professor Lintield stated that fall
crops OF wheat and rye were the best
paying Oh unirrigated land, and he
urged compa ratively light seeding.
Most farmers, he stated, sOWed two
bushels or more to the acre, whereas,
according to experiments on the state
farms, bigger yields were secured ii
less than one bushel per acre was
used in seeding.
Professor Lintield stated that the
problem of the proper rotation of
crops on Montana lands had not been
worked out satisfactorily, and he felt
that it might be Is or ~ years before
this phase OF dry farming is thorough
~ understood.
AS IL fodder crop alfalfa stands at
the head of the Montana dry farm
list, lie said. Alfalfa grows every
where, and farmer is sure Of good
yield III fairly wet season. In poor
years there are poor crops, but one
advantage Of alfalfa is that it's roots
withstand dry seasons and are not
killed Off.
keep the weeds out of your fields
if you hope to have paying crops, =
said Professor Lintield. This Is a
phase of dry farming in Montana that
should never be lost sight of. Weeds,
once established, soon get possession
of the land, and you must remember
that every weed that is permitted to
grow reduces the yield. \ surrender
to weeds spells ruin for the farm"
Professor Lintield's closing advice
to dry farmers was to use plenty OF
horse power and have enough equip
ment to farm properly, his reason be-
| ing that more land is necessary to
make an unirrigated farm pay than is
the case where irrigation is practiced
and the farming is of the intensive
kind. More land has to be broken
and worked, and it pays to do II
thoroughly.
Professor Atkinson gave an outline
of the conclusions reached by the mel
in charge Of the experimental work
at the end of four years. lie statet
that the work on the Great Falls farm
consisted Of testing grain crops II
various ways: of watching the result:
when larger or smaller amounts o.
seed were sowed, the amount varying
from two to eight pecks per acre. Ill
stated that such results had been not
ed, and also the results of the sum
mer following. He stated that it hat
been clearly shown that there was NJ
comparison between the spring ant
fall crops in this section, the fal
varieties of grain invariably bringing