Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-07-16

"Til ask him. the next time write" his mother
But when the answer came it proved that Uncle
Frank knew nothing whatever about dry farming
Wso0t wa Gey wh was Of quite absurd
and meanwhile JOeIs inquiries among the neigh
bors had met with no better success =,
eron stranger called at Joeps house. His costume
was dark gray knicterbocker suit and leggns. A
pair of glasses extremely concave made his eyes
seem to protrude like those of some great insect.
and the resemblance was heightened by his large
head and slight. why figure. He was canvassing
for book and because strangers were rare. he was
= made welcome and sat for twenty minutes dseours
ing upon the merits of his volume. The decision
that it best for them to buy he received with
a quite surprising good grace and forthwith rose
Fit seems to have been pretty bad year for
crops all through this section, he remarked. as he
descended the steps.
ITS lack of rain" said Joel
How much have5you had?
"None to speak Of siucesNay-
The stranger took little book and
FYou've had fourteen inches IN the last year." he
said
Joel made no reply
of wheat to-the acre, he went on, and in that field
used e0t the ra mos zonva Wasted it 'e % ~
The stranger ended, with smile. or sJoel might
have retorteds ausrify = AfteE' his months of unre
hitting labor, twas not pleasant to find himself
accused of being the aIthor9 his own rnisfortunes
The stranger replied by putting another ques-
ton in quick nervous tone;
partne G about your troubles may Ask" -
No" answered Joel. Len Stewart said it
Ever visit the Agricultural College at Wans-
hoe?"
mo"
Ever visit one of their model farmsl"
You've hired man7"
DO you use sub-soil packerf"
DRY farming"
And then of sudden Joel fen upon that book
agent and seized him. if he feared that he might
take to his heels and escape down the road.
"See here he exclaimed What is dry farm
ing? I've been trying for months to find out"
They sat down on the steps and talked After
the farm another inspecting and discussing it, not
needing the time, while the sank lower and
lower in the. western sky.
Where did you find out all this1" asked JOEL as
the twilight began to close about them. WHO
you anyhow"
the stranger. 81 teach at Wapahoe This is vaca-
ton time and so I'm tramPing the country and sell
ing books to pay expenses"
. Come in, and have supper" said Joel.
stayed the night Every moment that was not spent
in sleep was spent in earnest compensation and
when he left next morning, Joel walked with him
down the dusty road mile
TN send you the books and the tool catalogues"
said his new found friend, at parting You'll want
to,read it up. 1t would help too if you would
to the college and of model farms. If
ever you get Stuck write to me and I'll
send some one, but in the main, all you need is
remember few simple things. There's rain enough,
this section has always had rain enough, if only it is
kept from running off the surface and evaporatng.
To it you keep your sub soil packed and
your surface your soil mulch, pulverized Begin in
the spring, as soon as the ground is dry enough
let you on it, follow your pillow with the sub-soil
packer and the disk harrow, Harrow after every
rain. Save the water, don't let it get away from
you that's the of the whole thing. Keep
the work up all summer and if, you say, you
have the money to skip crop that year, and give
your time and energy to getting your soil into the
right condition, there isn't reason in the world
why, after that you shouldn't have good crops every
year. You won't need to depend the weather.
The work will be hard and steady, dry farming
Ia I,1f,
hired man will be able to do it, with perhaps another
morse 1t IS the results you after and when you
come to try it, will find that you less seed
and get bigger crops than you did the old way
ditch would help even dry farmer, but, as you
say you won't get that for some years yet"
90 They They shook hands and E1dredge Brewster Sc.
dozen rods, he turned and came back.
Just one thing more" he said. don't be talked
out of this. If it wasn't so pathetic, it would be
funny, the way the old line farmers stick to the
notion that methods which were good in Illinois
and Ohio, and New England, must be good here
ana never stop to consider that there they had twice
the fam fall I've talked to such men, and men who
know ten times what do about dry farming have
suits, and still they keep on in the same old way
year after year. and fail The hope of the country IS
IN IN, the young men Don't give this up, or be talked
you do as say. you won't fail Goodbye" -
And this time he was really gone.
Joel set to work soon as the books came
reading them evenings and at odd moments His
mother Joined him in the study and later after their
helds mad been harvested and, as anticipated, had
proved almost total failure, she insisted that he
follow M Brewster suggestion and visit the Agr-
That wee tro 1n es to f1[ de at Wapshoe
ing over the grounds of the college with his friend
h ne saw corn wheat sorghum potatoes, and sugar
weather conditions exactly similar to those upon
his own farm, seventy-fve miles away. He saw, too
sciences which he had never known to have any
bearing upon farming and before he returned home