The Raymer enterprise., 1910-10-06
WORK 0NDRY FARM
Success Of Any Business De.
pends Greatly on Margin
Of Profits.
Careful Study Of Situation Anon
Farmers In Eemi.Arld Sections
Shows That Those Who PIow
Deeply Reap AbundantIy.

By E. R. PARSONS. Practical Farmer.
Parker, Colo.)
The success Of any business depends
on the margin Of profit. the difference
between expenditure and returns. The
same principle obtains in dry farm.
ing az in everything else.
Many are losing regularly every
year from six to ten dollars an acre
on their plowing alone. A careful
study Of the situation. taking facts
and figures from a hundred or more
different farmers in every dry state
In the Union. shows that those who
plow ten or twelve inches reap. as q
rule. almost double the crop that is
reaped by those who plow only siA
or seven inches. The extra cost Is
one more horse, or about one dol
lar per acre. the extra returns are
sometimes as much as ten or more
dollars per acre.
Good plowing is economical in
every sense Of the word. and no
amount Of supplementary work will
take Its place. A crop planted in
deep ground will stand more drought.
and mature with half the cultivation re-
Quired by crop on shallow ground.
Rolling or packing the ground is an
operation that can often be profit
ably avoided. The rule to follow is
to plow In the fall for spring grain
crops and in the spring for fall crops.
This obviates packing. for the ground
has ample time to become settled.
For corn and cane the soil should not
be packed. except in the seed row.
Even for that purpose the split wheel
Is much better than the solid wheel.
as 1t leaves loose space In the CEN
ter Of the seed row for the shoots to
some through. In cultivating these
crops deep cultivation Is the more
economical since the soil stays loose
for longer period and does not
bake as easily as when the mulch ls
shallow; cutting the surface roots at
the beginning Of the season does not
hurt the corn but favors deep root.
ing. Packing the surface stlmu.
Totes the growth Of crop at the
start. encourages top growth, at the
expense OF the root, and on the dry
farm overgrowth at the start Is very
poor preparation for drought at the
finish. For these reasons rolling and
packing have been almost entirely
abandoned In the agricultural com.
munities of the old world and Mr..
Safray tells us the same thing Of the
dry regions Of Hungary.
There are. however. some loose
sandy soils which are the better for
packing. when planted Immediately
after plowing.
agree with Professor Jardine that
1t Is dangerous to pack clay loans,
for fear Of crusting and the expert.
ence Of our friends In Colorado, New
Mexico and Texas amply confirm this
belief.
The most vital point in the dry farm
operations is the economy of moist.
ure. Moisture means crops and good
crops mean profit. Little attention
is paid to this by some formers. They
will plow whole field before harrow.
Ing. This allows thousands OF tons
Of moisture to escape into the atmo.
sphere and leaves the land dry and
full Of clods for the raising OF an In.
different crop. In planting corn on
the level It makes no difference what
ever. whether the rows run east and
west or north and south. The sun
strikes the corn from above on level
land, not from the sides. but on a
side-hill 1t makes all the difference
In the world, as far as moisture is
concerned. . II the rows run up
and down the hill. the cultivator
leaves burrows for the water to run