The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1910-03-16

farming has been done in nDrther1
Montana up to the present time, sug
gests the desirasilty of acQraintin,
new settlers with the conditions an
; how best to conduct farming opera
tons on the bench lands. The follow
ing instructions have been prepared
by Professor Thomas Shaw, the wei
known agricultural expert, and ar
Egiven publicity for the benefit Of al
tconcerned:
The Work Of the First Year.
1t will be a decided advantage i
tsome OF the ground has been broker
1.-THE previous year, but to hire sucl
work may involve considerable cost
I'm any event the settler should he or
the ground and ready to begin worl
as~soon as it will answer to till the
ground in the spring.
1he first season he may SOW or
spring breaking, oats, alfalfa and
flax, and he may plant corn, potatoes,
field beans, rutabagas and garden
vegetables. The oats fed in the sheat
or otherwise, and the corn fed chiefly
as fodder would furnish food for the
horses, the alfalfa would at once get
a start to furnish future hay crops.
The fax and potatoes would be the
money crops for the season. The
beans, rutabagas and garden vegeta-
bles would aid much in keeping down
store bills.
The aim should be to SOW or plant
these crops on land plowed fairly
deeply and thoroughly cut up with
disk and harrow on the surface, so as
to make a fine seed bed. The oats
should be drilled in as early as pos
sible, the fax coming next and alfalfa
after the flax. The other crops may
follow as soon as the danger from
frost is past. The corn and beans if
we'll planted, will grow without cult
walton, but will be greatly benefited
by it. The rutabaga seed may be
scattered broadcast and covered with
the harrow.
AS soon as the crops are planted,
as much additional ground should be
broken Is a be we'll cared for on
which to grow the bulk of the second
years crop. Such breaking should
be chiefly done late in May, in June
and possibly early in July. AS the
ground is plowed from day to day it
should be rolled or planked the day
that it is plowed. The disk should
then be used, followed quickly by the
harrow. The harrow should be used
at intervals say of two to four weeks
the remainder of the season, and es-
pecially after any considerable amount
of rain has fallen. The object of these
operations is to hold the moisture.
Sometime in August, a part of this
land should be sown to winter wheat
with a grain drill, putting the seed
down to where moisture is found in
the soil. The best variety to show is
the Turkey Red, because of it's hardi-
hood and of the ready sale which it
commands in the market. This wheat
will probably be the best money CROP
for years to come of all the crops
grown in dry areas. The land thus
managed and not sown to winter wheat
will be in fine condition for cereals to
be sown the next spring. The larger
the area of such land we'll prepared,
the larger will be the crop of the Sec
ond year, but in no case should the
care of the land broken in the summer
be neglected in order to increase the
area sown.
Observations Regarding TilIage.
l.. Avoid breaking land in the early
spring to grow crops the same season,
as there is seldom time to put enough
of labor on it to make a good seed
bed. But for the first two seasons it
may be a necessity that cannot easily
be avoided.
2. Avoid breaking land and leav-
ing it to lie all season without work.
ing it down. Such a system allows
moisture to escape and does not rot
the sod.
3. Aim TO break the land somewhat
deeply at the first as a rule, as when
then broken reasonably deep blowing
subsequently may be practiced.
1. Aim to pillow for grain crops the
year before sowing them, as such
lands " usually more moist than
spring plowed lands, and the crop
may be planted earlier. Autumn
blowing is not necessary for cult
waited crops, but is usually preferable
for them also.
5. The more shallow tillage that is
given to cultivated crops, as with the
harrow and c%ultivator, the better they
will grow, and the more completely
will the moisture be retained for the