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


mysterious, and TO be dreaded. Mr..
Wallace has for years been an advo-
cate Of deep plowing, and this Is the
first step in dry farming" Plow
deep At least once in three years.
Then he has always advocated q good
mellow compact seed bed, and this Is
the second step in ''dry farming"
and through cultivation of the sur
face is the other, and "Wallace's
Farmer" never quits on that propo-
sition, in the corn fields of Iowa,
weeds or no weeds. The main object
Of this we think is always to conserve
moisture, or rather that 1t Is from
the conserving Of the moisture that
we derive the greatest benefit from
the surface cultivation. Deep plow-
ing ITO catch and hold the rainfall),
compact seed bed Ito aid capilarityl,
and a dust mulch Ito conserve the
moisture), is good farming in Iowa,
and just as good in the drier sections,
and after the prairie il once broken
to the desired depth, it Is much
easier to work, and keep In the proper
condition in the section the inquirer
asks about than in the average soil
OF Iowa, and the high rolling lands
are better adapted to this method of
farming, and easier to keep In the
ideal condition, than the bottom or
bench lands.
Bat probably the most amusing
features Of the advice given, are to
an old timer In Dakota the amount OF
money the homesteader should bring
with him, and size of the farm nsces-
sary. OF all the ambitious hopeful men
who have come to this state since its
first settlement, to farm, unQusstion-
ably q mach larger per cent OF those
who brought considerable money
with them, and proceeded to procure
a large farm, have made q dismal
failure, than of any other class Of
settlers we have had. 1t is nice to
have she money to bring along, and
to have a farm Of 1000 or l, 200 acres,
but for some reason or other too
many of the people who come fixed In
this way, and undertake to follow
this method wind up broke, and have
to start all over again, and generally
make it then. OF course there are
exceptions to this, and many OF them,
but q much larger percentage OF the
men and families who came here
with less than this inquirer has, have
made good. and become financially
independent, than of those who came
here fixed as Mr.. Wallace advises.
Then there is that terrible thing of
having to till the land at North
Platte two years to get an average
yield of 66 bushels Of wheat per acre.
Will he or some other Iowa farmer
tell us what crop they grow In Iowa
that there is as much profit in as
there was in the crop he refers to?
They will have to 20 outside all re-
ports and even estimates OF yields
for that state. But possibly he will
say that is or was exceptional. 1t
certainly was, and so is a summer
fallow in this state. The college here
has never been able to find that q
summer-fallow is any better, and
scarcely ever as good for planting to
small grain the following year, either
here or at Highmore, as good clean
corn or potato ground, and it is quite
probably true that allowing this land
to lay bare ell summer, burning out
the humus, is positively injurious, as
compared with growing a cultivated
crop on it, and keeping 1t cultivated.
Iowa Is all right, and SO is oval
lace's Farmer" and its splendid edi-
tor, but sometimes we all get to talk
ing about things without any inform
alton except heresay, and when we
do, we generally make mistakes.
South Dakota and Iowa are very
much alike, and what Is good farm
ing in almost any part OF either is
not very far from being right any
place, at least 80 far as principles and
methods of tillage are concerned.
Each, too, has its drawbacks. Even
an occasional summer-fallowinE in
South Dakota would not be any more
expensive than tilling is in Iowa.
But then 1t is not necessary-that is,
summer -fallow In South Dakota Is
not.-SiOux Falls Journal.
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