The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-08-05

as long as 1t was possible TO culllVdie,
he would save enough moisture to
enable the crop to grow vigorously
turing the latter part of the growing
season. Similarly he diS"ed- and
narrowed his small grain land nor
than usual and with the same object
in mind-the conservation of moie-
ture.
The other farmer also had sod ORR,
but he didn't pillow the land till late
in The spring, and hence could not do
much discing. In fact, he did moi,
put a disc on the ground uutil two
weeks after he had begun blowing.
Bv that time the burrows had dried
out considerably and the disc vas un-
able to do effective work. The result
was a very poor seed bed. After the
corn had been planted the burrows
we're still lying comparatively loose
on the ground, making it impossible
for water to rise up into them from
below. Before the corn roots could
penetrate below the furrow slice the
plants had alread become much
stunted, a condition that they had
not been able to overcome when we
saw them, nor will they ever recover
from this early baclkset. Part Of the
land that was seeded to small grains
was also spring plowed and for this
only a poor seed bed was secured.
This poor faner has never grown q
crop of clover on his land, though he
owns the farm he operates and has
owned and worked it for the past ID
wears. Were this mans farm in a
section of country not we'll adapted
to clover, he would have an excuse
for not having tried to grow it, but
as a matter of fact, the farm is loca-
ted in the best clover growing section
of southern Minnesota. He claims
to be a practical farmer. and if the
time spent at farming would neces-
sarily make q man a practical farmer,
he is entitled to be designated as
such, for he has been tilling the soil
for IS years. He is not a reader of
farm papers and never has been. He
is evidently a poor observer, or he
have learned some lessons from his
thrifty neighbor, who, during the
past decade has built up his farm 50
that it will produce twice the amount
of grain with the same amount of
labor as will the neglected farm and
it will continue to do SO for many
years to come, yes for all time to
come, unless the poor farmer awakens
to a realization of the necessity OF
growing clover, of feeding stock, OF
hauling the manure, and of giving
more thorough tillage to his land.
We mention this in hopes that some
of our readers who have not yet real
lied the great benefit that is derived
from the growing of clover, will SOW
a liberal acreage next spring and be-
gin right away to prepare their farms
for this change. Glover gathers nitro
gen from the atmosphere which is
worth Is cents perpound if purchased
in the form Of commercial fertilizers.
Glover seeded in the spring with
wheat, barley or some other small
grain crop, if a good average stand is
obtained, will if plowed under the
following spring in preparation for
corn, add $50 pounds of nitrogen per
acre, worth, according to the price
mentioned above, no less than 1922. SO.
This may seem high, and possibly is
too high a valuation TO put on nitro
gen in sections where commercial
fertilizers are not needed under care
full farm management, but even if we
value the fertility of such a crop at
$40 per acre tits stilla most profitable
proposition to SOW clover with small
grain, if for no other reason than to
pillow it under late in the fall or early
the following spring, as the seed cost
will not exceed $3.50 per acre. In
Canada two successive spring grain
crops following u spring clover seed
ing that was plowed mp in October Of
the same year, yielded IL bushels
more of oats and nine bushels more
of barley than did the same crops on
similar land on which clover had not
been grown. Valuing oats at 40 cents
and barley at so cents a bushel this
increase in yield of grain was worth
$3.50 in actual crops. This is not
theory, but facts that speak for
themselves, proclaiming the value of
clover as a soil builder. These being
statements of facts, how can anyone
continue to farm without clover and
expect to reap the profit that can
easily be secured with ITO Nv