Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-10-28
CAREFUL
'TILLAGE
Pays The Farmer in More
Grain Per Acre.

In Utah, Idaho, Oregon and WASH
ington and parts of Montana, dis
tricts of very low rainfall, usually
less than Is inches annually, IS per
cent of which falls during late au-
tumn, winter and early spring
months, and large per cent of which
is snow the Importance of the summer
fallow is no longer debatable, says
Prof. w. Jardine, agron0mist of the
Kansas state agricultural college at
Manhattan, Kansas. 1t is known to
be an absolute necessity to profitable
wheat farming. and undoubtedly will |
continue to be as long as wheat grow
ing remains the basic dry farm crop,
or until drOuth-resistant and early |
maturing strains of inter.tilled crops,
such as corn, alfalfa, Canada peas,
Mexican beans, potatoes, sorghums,
etc.. can be discovered or developed
to take the place of the fallow.
The great concern of every farmer
operating in the extreme western
counties of Kansas in moisture. In
years of abundance of rainfall, crops
are usually good, no matter what sys-
tenn has been followed. Profitable
crops are produced in such years,
even when wheat has been stumbled
IN after wheat, but in dry years such
a practice results in failure and the
country is condemned because it is
too dry to produce crops, when in
reality the fault is not with the coun-
try, but with the man.
1t has been thoroughly demonstrate
ed through experiment that the
summer fallow, when properly pre-
pared and cared for. enables a farmer
to store in his soil large amount Of
moisture Of two years precipitation
for the production Of one crop; and
through it's use profitable crops can
usually be grown, even in years of
the most extreme drouth. Though
the summer fallow enables the farm
er to produce bigger yields during ia
vorable years than is possible by any
other system Of farming it's real mer-
it's are only brought out III dry years.
Summer fallow or summer tillage
consist in blowing the lard thorough
~ to a good depth, seven inches or
even deeper, either in the fall or in
the spring, as weather conditions,
soil moisture conditions and the dis
position of the farmers time will
permit, and leaving it lie over dur
ing the summer in cultivated COLI
dition and free from vegetation of
any kind until planting time. The
deep blowing facilitates the storing
of summer rains and the surface Gull
tivation checks it's evaporation from
the soil until it can be utilized by the
growing crop. Weeds, volunteer
grain or any form Of vegetation must
not be allowed to grow on the fal
low, because they drink from the
land as much moisture as Il crop of
wheat.
Farming in the extreme western
counties of Kansas is very exacting
if profitable crops are produced. The
country is all right if natural advan-
tages are intelligently utilized. In Il
very large measure the farmer can
control these by proper methods of
farming, and the summer fallOw be-
longs in this category because it is
the best known way Of utilizing the
scanty supply of precipitation.
There is one possible way in which
farmers operating under low an
nual PRECIPITATION can produce profit
able crops OF wheat every other year
without the use of the fallOw, and
that is by the substitution of inter
titled crops for the fallow. by the
growing of such crops as corn. sOrg-
huns, potatoes. Canada peas, MeNi
can beans, ETC., the land can often be
made to produce profitable titled
crops and ut the same time put the
soil in fair condition for wheat. The
main drawback to such a system al
this time lies in the fact that most OF
the inter-tilled crops now available
are not very drouth- resistant and are
late maturing-too late for the short
growing season common to the semi
arid lands. Usually. too, such crops
cannot be removed from the land il
time to plant winter wheat at thu
proper time.
IL order 10 insure profit by utiliza
ton of inter-tiiled crops in rotation
with wheat, it will be necessary t.
discover or develop more hardy
drOuth- resistant. early maturing va
rieties. Special efforts are being di
rected along these lines by practical
~ every scientific Investigator deal
ing with plants and operating within
the semi-arid districts Of the west
Iy.Ail Saaal, 4l;s.1..a