The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-05-24
Practical Methods to Be Used on
Richland Co. Demonstration Farm

This spring the North Dakota ex-
pertinent station has located eight
new demonstration farms one In each
Of the following counties: Richland
Trail, Walsh, Pierce, Ramsey, EN-
mons, Stutsman and Mclean. The
Richland county farm is located near
Wahpeton on the county poor farm
and is worked by Supt. VIM. Gran
cross of that institution who receives
his instructions direct from the ex-
pertinent station at Fargo.
The land selected tUr this farm is
twenty acres, just south of the city
OF Wahpeton, half of 1t was in tim
othy sod for the past three years and
half of 1t was in wheat and had been
seeded down timothy and clover last
year. This land is supposed to be fair
ly typical of a great deal of land in
the county and is probably like most
of the land in the eastern part Of the
Red River valley which has been
cropped to wheat for the past twenty
flve or thirty years. The part that
was in wheat stubble last year is
probably. in just the same condition in
regard to soil fertility, and kind and
quantity of weeds that the majority
of Richland county soil is in through
tne continuous cultivation of the
small grains, particularly wheat. The
land that was in timothy sod is prob
ably in quite a bit better condition
than the average land of the county.
yet 1t is in no better condition than
average land would be If it had been
sown down to timothy for two or three
Hyon M In Iof
There will be a five year rotation
used on this farm which will con-
sist Of hay crop, a corn crop, and
three grain crops. In other words
one fifth of the farm will be in grass,
one fifth in corn or some other culti-
waited crop and three fifths will be in
marketable grain crops. One fifth of
the land will be manured every year.
The rotation used on this farm will
consist of wheat, corn, barley and
clover. On plot No. l this year tim
othy and clover will be grown in
place of clover as this was seeded
down to this crop last year. This
field will be broken up in the latter
part of July after the hay crop has
been cut. Late in the fall it will be
backset and in the spring of 1910 1t
will be double disced and narrowed
we'll with a peg tooth iron harrow and
will then be seeded to wheat. This
wheat crop will be followed with
crop of corn in 1911. In 1912 this
field will again be in wheat following
the corn crop. In 1913 a crop of bar
ley and clover will be seeded on this
land which completes the rotation.
This field would be in clover in 1914
beginning the same rotation again,
only clover would then be the crop
instead of timothy and clover which is
on the land this season.
Plot No. 2 was seeded down to tim
othy and clover last season. This
spring the land was plowed and disc<
then narrowed till fine and mellow. 1t
will be seeded with barley at the rate
of " bushels per acre and clover at
the rate of fifteen pounds per acre
about May IL or IA. Barley is the
nurse crop used with clover because
it does not offer such reavy shade as
oats or wheat, it also comes of the
ground quicker out of the ground
when it natures. All these things
favor the clover during the first sea-
son. The barley is also sown little
light, GB bushels) in order to ac-
complish the same result. This field
will be in clover next year and follow