The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-09-09
Lessons from the Drouth

icillClllDclcu ID SoIUd1ily oiuO. LiS
oldest inhabitants say that it is the
worst that has occurred since the set
This at
least IS true OF MIA, alpus. Vi course
we are apt to forget, but there can be
no doubt of the severity OF the
dlolth. 1t is at least the most severe
that has occurred in years. 1t should
not be without it lessons. What are
some of these?
A first lesson is that drouth may
occur. a hundred times and more
have | been asked at the Institutes
held in the northwest, "Will the dry
seasons come again?" care not the
seasons changirg?" To these ques-
ticns l have all along given the one
answer. 1t is, that the seasons are
not changing. In this respect the
thing that hath been is the thing
that shall be. The present season
has certainly sustained the correct
ness Of this view with reference to
this matter. Unless they have, they
are much they are much liable to be
off their guard. When, however, they
look upon this matter correctly, they
will try to be prepared for the dry
season when it comes. Many times
have | said to the farmers at institute
that the farm operations should be
conducted as though it We're an as
sured fact, that the next year would
be the dry year. With this thought
constantly present, the farmer will
not be taken off his guard when the
dry year comes.
A second lesson is that the farming
operations should be Of that character
which will best meet dry conditions
when they come. This means that
the farmer will so order his methods
of tillage that they will tend to con-
serve moisture to the greatest extent
practicable. 1t means that he will
summer-fallow a part of his land
every year in the dry country. The
fallow will not necessarily be bare.
NllllCl 1 . lluN w oUdlC Cu H. CllC 1ill
and the rye buried when coming into
head. The fallow will then be kept
clean by surface cultivation during
the rest of the season, whether it is
sown to spring grain OF to autumn
grain. 1t mean that a part Of the
land shall be devoted to the growing
of some cultivated crop, as corn, po-
tatoes, beans or field roots. The por-
tion thus cultivated will grow a good
crop Of grain the next year, though
the season should be dry.
"A third lesson is that the farmer
should aim to have his land so stocked
with plant food that the power of the
land to hold moisture will be in
creased. To accomplish this some
tinually stock the land with humus.
This is no easy task in a dry country.
One of the best plants for the pur-
pose is winter rye. This will be the
easiest to grow, for it may be own in
the fall and buried in the spring on
the land that is to be summer-fallowed.
Another crop for the purpose and a
much better n is alfalfa, where it
will grow successfully. Ii clover will
answer the purpose, good and well,
but clover is not usually markedly
successful in a dry country. If alfalfa
will grow readily the roots of the
crop will furnish the humus. The
best way of accomplishing this with
alfalfa has to be worked out. Where
a stand is virtually assured when the
crop is soWn, it may not be necessary
to keep the stand many years before
breaking up the land. The alfalfa
land would not then be very hard to
plow, and it would bring humus to
the land more frequently than if the
crop were kept for a long term of
years. Other crops could be grown
and buried, as peas, but the seeding
Of these is expensive.
A fourth lesson is to stop gambling
in sowing crops. BY this l do not
mean gambling in the bad sense, but
gambling in the sense of dealing in
uncertainties. If the farmer in the
dry country sows acrop on i'll prepared
land, he is mourning the hazard of
failure. If he sows his crop on spring
plowed land, unless it be perhaps a
cultivated crop, he does it at the risk
of failure. If he sows crops that
ripen late, he is taking more risk
than if he sowed crops that ripen
early.
The fifth lesson is that he should
not fail to plant lots of corn for fod-
der. Ii the corn is planted in season
and on good land it is pretty certain
to make a fair crop, let the season be
what it will. The corr will furnish
more food than any other crop that
can be grown. 1t will befa pretty
safe reliance in a dry season. 1t will
not only furnish more food than any