The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-09-13
DRY FARMING TOOLS
Harrow. Disk, leveler and Weed
er in One Implement.
Western Farmer Inverts Machine
That Destroys Weeds, Levels
Ground and Makes Mulch to
Conserve Moisture.

In the course of an address deliv
cred before the Dry Farming congress
at Billings. Mont, J. c. Hogenson of
the Utah Agricultural college, made
the following remarks:
One day last year while travelling
through one OF the most weedy dis
tricts OF the state OF Utah, suddenly
came upon genuine oasis in a desert
of weeds. a paradise of cleanliness
and order as compared with the
weedy chaos surrounding. No weary
traveller in the great Sahara desert
ever gaxed upon fertile spot in the
desert with greater thanksgiving than
l did upon this farm. Here In the
midst Of sea OF weeds was a farm
where not weed was to be seen. The
grain was ripening pure and free from
the encroachment OF the enemy. The
summer fallow. two hundred acres in
extent was clean and smooth and
loose, ready with its store OF moisture
to start the new crop successfully
along its growth. l naturally stopped
and made inquiries as to the methods
used by the owner which brought
such splendid results so vastly diff
ferent from his neighbors. The own
er smilingly led me out to the home
made implement and said: This Is
the implement that has done it all
This Is my harrow, my disk, my lev
eler and my weeder 1t Is the only
thing that use after blowing my
land until seed it the following
autumn. I have used 1t now for eight
years and you see the results. My
land was just like my neighbors' when
weeds because my machine destroys
them. l have no lumpy or uneven
ground because 1t pulverizes and lev
els 1t: l have no trouble with my land
drying out because a perfect mulch
is always formed which conserves the
moisture l had a model of this i'm
plernent made and have brought 1t
with me here The implement as the
farmer made 1t consists of rectangle
ten feet by four feet, made OF two
inch planks eight inches wide. To
the under side of each of the ten-foot
planks are bolted nine knives made
from one-fourth inch steel "a inches
long. The steel Is bent eight inches
from end to end so that 1t will diI
down behind the plank. The knives
are bolted to the plank diagonally al
an angle of As degrees by means Of
two bolts. The bend is about three
inches deep which allows the knives
to work that distance below the sur
face of the ground. The long part o.
the steel below the bend is sharpene(
on the front side SO that weeds will
be cut, this blade being about 1;
inches long. The knives on the from
plank slope to the right while those OF
the rear plank slope in the opposite
direction, to the left. The arrange
ment makes 1t impossible for an,
weeds to be missed, or any part O
the ground to remain unstirred Thu
frame work levels the land ant
crushes the clods while the knive
destroy the weeds and loosen tn
and so form perfect mulch. thinl
the efficiency of the machine woul'
be increased by making the frame o
channel iron and then fastening tn
knives on with clamps SO that the,
can be either raised or lowered to an
desired depth. A still better imple
ment could be made Of 1t by mounting
ON wheels and providing a lever t
raise or lower the knives. Tire
: horses are used on the implemen
which IL drawn over the ground a
often as necessary. three being tn
usual number of times which the ia
low ground Is gone over. 1t cost
about $40 for the material and tn
making of the implement, which al
sure will be found a valuable additio
to our small supply OF arid farmin