The Ward County independent., 1910-07-21
A Lesson n
Dry Farming

Dry Farming
Prof. w. C. Palmer, who has Just
returned from q trip thru Montana
and Washington with the Northern
Pacific Better Farming train,
states that they have had the driest
4 summer since they started in farm
ing, having had no rain since the
middle of April, yet in spite of this
the crops are looking fine In many
sections where they are practicing
the dry farming methods.
In the Gallatin valley in Montana
the bottom lands are irrigated a1d Of
course they raise big crops, but the
bench lands that cannot be reached
by water are also farmed by the dry
farming methods and while rain fall
is less than in North Dakota, yet
where they had practiced the good
tillage they had enough water stored
up in the soil to carry the crop thru
to maturity. Considerable winter
wheat is raised there and the crop
is in very good condition. Spring
wheat and oats were not looking so
good and yet they will produce a
good crop in spite of the dry weather.
hot, f0
fallow every other year and in sum-
mer following to stir the ground oc-
casionally so as to keep up the soil
mulch. In other words, they aim to
catch all the rain that falls by deep
plowing and to let none of it escape
by stirring the surface. In this Sec
ton if they should try to raise a crop
every year the wheat would not yield
over seven or eight bushels per acre,
but by growing crop every other
year the yields run fran twenty to
forty.
In the Palouse country OF Wash
ington It has been equally dry this
summer, yet the crops that have been
grown according to dry farming
methods are in fine condition., while
those that have been handled care
lessly are almost failure. The rain
fall in this section is over twenty
inches. ......-
At Ritzville the rain fall is from
ten to twelve inches. Here again
dry farming methods are bringing
about fair crops, although it is work
ing under very severe conditions and
no attempt is made to grow a crop
only every other year. "A
These crop conditions in the face
of the very dry summer SHOULD b.
particularly encouraging to US in
North Dakota and emphasizes the
need Of storing up moisture 80 as to
have supply of it in the ground that
will carry crop thru considerable
portion Of the summer without rain
Many sections Of this state are now
suffering from a lack Of such prepar-
alton. The writer, in going thru tho
state saw several fields that were
burned up for the want Of moisture.
He also noticed some fields that
would have a very good crop while
the adjoining one would be practical
ly failure, and the good crop would
be one grown on corn land. In those
sections where the grain had been
completely dried up corn and pota-
toes were yet doing nicely where
they were free from weeds. In some
cases when weedy the corn was wilt
ing. r .- s
The teachings of the experts in
Montana and Washington on the
Better Farming" special train was
to this effect: Fall plow and plow
deep, harrow early in the spring,
grow a cultivated crop, follow this
with grain crop and where the rain
fall is over fifteen inches this could
be followed with a crop OF clover.
They also emphasized the need OF
Vl1ihling weeds, as these are large
users Of moisture as well as plant
food. Where the soil would drift
easily they recommended using the
disc in producing the soil mulch as
it would leave the ground rougher
than the harrow and would not blow
so easily. IT, I'D @
The soil in North Dakota is fully
as rich and fully as retentive OF
moisture as in either of these states
and the rain fall is sufficient to grow
good crops, provided it is not allowed
to escape either by running of when
it comes down in a heavy rain or by
evaporating from the soils surface.