The Elbert County tribune., 1909-03-11
DISCUSSION AT THE RECENT DRY
FARMING CONGRESS AT
CHEYENNE.
ONLY GENERAL RULES
MANY THINGS TO BE coNsID
Erred IN FARMING WITHOUT
IRRIGATION.

In his paper on results of dry land
agriculture investigation. read at the
recent Dry Farming Congress, E. G..
Chilcott of the Department Of Agricul-
ture. said:
THE methods which give most sat
isfactory results one year will some
times fail completely to give the same
results another year on identically
the same soil. And that what will
bring good results at one station will
fail utterly to give like results at an
other station, even when climatic con-
ditions are similar In some locali-
ties, upon a certain type of soil, spring
plowing will generally give better re-
suits than fall blowing. In other local
ties, with another type of soil, fall
plowing will generally give better re-
suits than spring plowing.
But even these are only very gen
eral rules. for We find that the com
parative merits of fall and spring plow-
ing are frequently reversed at the
same station on identically the same
kind of soil. under slightly different
climatic conditions. Alternate crop
ping and summer tillage will generally
give better results than continuous
cropping, but there are exceptions to
this rule. The blowing under of green
manure will generally give better re-
suits than summer tillage, but not
always. A proper system of crop rota-
tion will generally give better results
than continuous cropping, but even
this rule is not of universal applica-
ton"
DR.. v. T. Cooke, state director of
dry farming experiments in Wyoming,
said:
Since my advent in this state. there
has been brought to light the fact that
dry farming is and has been success
fully carried on for the past fifteen or
twenty years in various parts of the
state, but / want to direct your atren-
tion to very important point in con-
nection with some of these farmers
and that is great many of them have
raised as high as fifty bushels of oats
per acre. year after year. without farm
ing. In other words, their grain was
sown by hand and covered with a disc
or corn planter. What cannot these
men do by intelligent, up-to-date meth
ods?"
Many irrigators are finding out
that methods recommended for the
dry farmer apply equally well to them
and that to get maximum crops, deep
plowing, less irrigation and more irri-
tation or cultivation pays"
Alfred Atkinson, agronomist at the
Montana experiment station, addressed
the congress on the Dry Farm Sum-
mer Fallow" He said:
LAS a permanent feature the sum-
mer fallow has not held its place on
well managed farms in the humid re-
gions.
with the absence OF teaching on
the dry farm because of the light rain
fall, it would seem to many that the
summer fallow will have a permanent
place on these farms"
o. w. Bryant, irrigation manager of
the experiment station at Cheyenne,
said:
in certain districts of the semi-arid
portion of the United States so-called
dry land farming has been notably sue
cessful during the last few years. This
has probably been due to the introduc-
tion of new drought resistant plants,
scientific tillage OF the soil, and rain
fall above the normal
"Of the drought-resistant plants,
probably Durum wheat has been most
successful and has made the greatest
showing in the shortest length of time.
1t withstands the dry weather excep-
tionally well and has found a suitable
home west of the ninety-ninth meri-
dian. In 1906. 20.000,O0O bushels was
exported to Europe, while in 1907 the
total yield in the United States was
45,000,000 bushels. This was practi-
cally all grown in the dry farmed belt
and covered about 100000 acres of
land.
All advocates Of dry land farming
will advise conservation of moisture
in the soil. This is, no doubt, the
most important factor entering into
scientific dry land farming. Some
teachers show us one way to prepare
the soil for the retention of moisture,
while others discuss methods slightly
different, but they all come to the
same conclusion. viz: that a blanket
OF fine soil mulch must cover the
ground to prevent excessive evapora-