The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-07-21
DRY FARMING TOOLS
narrow Disk, LeveIer and Weed.
er in One implement.
'e'n Farmer lnVents Maehln.
'"S' Destroys Weeds, Levels
eround and Makes Mulch to
Conserve Moisture.

III the course of an address de,ir
ered before the Dry Farming corarna,
AT billings, Mont, j. C. Hoeenson Of
.'e otah Agricultural college. made
the following remarks,
one day last year while travet,,,
,utousn one of the most weedy dis.
'Ilcts OF the state of Utah, suddenIv
zane upon a genuine oasis in a desert
vi weeds, a paradise of cleanliness
anu order as compared with the
@eeuy chaos surrounding No weary
traveller in the great Sahara desert
eVer gazed upon fertile SPOT in the
desert with greater thanksgiving than
ulo upon this farm. Here in tho
must OF a sea of weeds was n form,
where not weed was to be seen. The
gram was ripening pure and free from
'he encroachment of the enemy The
summer fallow. two hundred acres in
extent, was clean and smooth and
loose, ready with its store of moisture
10 start the new crop successfully
aiohg It's growth. naturally STONED
ana made inquiries as to the methods
used by the owner which brought
such splendid results so vastly diff.
ierent from his neighbors. The own.
er smilingly led me out to the home.
made implement and said: This Is
the implement that has done Il all
This is my harrow, my disk. nv lev.
eler and my weeder. 1t is the only
thing That use after blowing my
land until ! seed il the following
autumn. have used 1t now for eight
years and you see the results. NV
land was just like my neighbors' when
! began, now I have no trouble with
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 perfect mulch
Is always formed which conserves the
moisture had a model of this i'm.
plement made and have brought It
with me here. The implement as the
farmer made 1t consists of a 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 dip
down behind the plank The knives
are bolted to the plank diagonally at
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 of
the steel below the bend is sharpened
on the front side so that weeds will
be cut, this blade being about 10
inches long. The knives on the front
plank slope to the right while those on
the rear plank slope in the opposite
direction, to the left. The arrange
ment makes 1t impossible for any
weeds to be missed, or any part of
the ground to remain unstirred. The
frame work levels the land and
brushes the clods while the knives
destroy the weeds and loosen the
ground to the depth of three inches
and so form a perfect mulch, think
the efficiency of the machine would
be increased by making the frame OF
channel iron and then fastening the
knives on with clamps so that they
can be either raised or lowered to any
desired depth. A still better nipple
ment could be made of it by mounting
on wheels and providing lever to
raise or lower the knives. Three
horses are used on the implement
which is drawn over the ground as
often as necessary, three being the
usual number of times which the fal
low ground is gone over. 1t costs
about $40 for the material and the
making of the implement, which am
sure will be found valuable addition
to our small supply of arid farming
implements.