Philip weekly review. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 1907-1912, 1909-04-20

are easier tllleu; IOurtn, the Wlid
legumes of the prairie, the wild vetch,
buffalo bean, ETC., are found there in
greater or less profusion all over the
state, while seldom seen in the bot
toms or on the benches. Each Of
these reasons is undoubtedly factor
in the wonderful success this state Is
having In the growing Of alfalfa on
the rolling lands, where IL does much
better than on the benches or bot
toms, unless irrigated. We have cov-
cred the state three times now with
farmers institutes, and have the
first instance to find where innocula-
tion is necessary, or has proven any
benefit in procuring stand of alfalfa
on rolling, high land.
Note this writer says sweet clover
grows Wild" and ''some alfalfa is
started" Does Mr.. Wallace know OF
any more valuable land in America
for general farming purposes than
natural alfalfa land?
If he will come and take trip
with me from the Missouri river to
the Black Hills, l will show him al
falfa fields as far north as settlement
has been made, and introduce him to
goodly number of men who threshed
with an ordinary separator from $35
TO so worth of seed per acre this
season, and some Of IL from land the
title of which is still in the govern
ment. Can he make as good show
ing from the 800 lands i'm Iowa? Is
there as large section of any state
in the union where as good q showing
could be made within four years after
the first breaking of the prairie? If
he will go over the entire state with
me, l am sure he will acknowledge
that there is much smaller proper
tiOn Of this state that is not adapted
TO the successful growing of alfalfa,
than of Iowa, and no one has been
more effusive in his praise and ex-
pressions of appreciation of alfalfa
land than Mr. Wallace in "Wallace's
Farmer" We are surprised that
when a good Iowa man finds free
land where ''alfalfa is started" and
its prototype "grows wild" MIR. Wal
lace should attempt to discourage
him from appropriating some of it,
even If 1t isawAy over n South Da-
kota, we should judge from the arti-
Gle, probably 100 miles from Iowa.
Then again referring to the dryness
Of the grass when the farmer cuts his
hay; is he aware that the reference is
to hay made the last of August, or
probably in September? That the
native grasses, or most Of them, are
OF varieties that cure naturally about
this season Of thcyear, which accounts
for the drynesS Of the stubble? Do
oat stubble fields not burn OCCASION
ally in Iowa after the ripe oats are
cut? Is he aware that ii he would
fill rack with the choicest Iowa
clover I'm January or February, when
the ground was bare, The cattle and
horses would leave it to 20 out and
pick these native grasses, from the
high and rolling land?" If not, we
wish he would come up and be shown.
Ii the average section Of wild land
in the portion OF the state referred to
will not make more dollars worth OF
beef in year, than the average sec
tion Of Iowa would, at the same stage
of development of that state, we are
terribly mistaken. Theirs would pro-
.ducs more pound of grass, but ii was
not nearly as nutritious, and much
of it was reeds. sedges and flags of no
value, and practically mono OF the
native Iowa grasses had the fat
tening qualities Of the grasses referred
to. If our friend doubts this let him
watch the sales of grass cattle in
Chicago in the fall of the year. Blu,
does he imagine shat these grasses
are not going to disappear, and be re-
placed by Others, just as they have
done in Iowa and Illinois? Bon
HOmme county, this state, was at one
time one vast field OF these same
grasses, and the stubble used to be Sc
dry that it would burn when the
farmers did not make hay until Au.
gust or September, but today all these
varieties of grasses have given way ia
alfalfa, 81 overs, timothy, blue grass
ETC., and we doubt If there is coun-
ty In the United States, Gncluding
Iowa. that in proportion to its size
now produces all the feeds necessary
to grow and finish for the best mar.
kets as many dollars worth of meat
per year as Bon Homme. There was
. time however, when men who had
"never been there" would have writ.
ten of it just as Mr.. Wallace does OF
the section he refers to.
i Then again he refers to the recon.
mendations Of the dry farming con.
gress az TO the amount Of money q
man should have before making the
. venture in this new country. Is he
not aware that the dry farming con
, gress was organized to deal with
problems arising In sections OF ths
; west where the rainfall 10 from x
IA inches, instead of from l6 to 2:
inches, and that the representative.
J in that meetings are principally from
sections where the rainfall is les
! than 16 inches annually? But thi
! term ''dry farming" has been 80 In
! disoriminately used, and applied b
: the agricultural press Of tho eountr