The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-10-28
RAW LAND CEREALS
Best to Count on LeveIing Of
Land for Economical irrigation
Fall Flowing 10 Preferable and II
Should Not BE More Than Five to
Seven Inches Deep-Harrow-
ing Should Follow Quickly.


ing Should Follow Quickly.
(By JOHN U. M'PHERSON.)
Land first cleared and then leveled
always settles more or less unevenly
after the first seasons irrigation, and
consequently it Is generally best tc
count on the permanent leveling OF
the land for economical irrigation OF
such permanent crops as alfalfa,
clover or orchard after some cereal
crop has been grown and the land is
irrigated during the first year.
AS soon as possible after the land
has been cleared Of sage brush. either
In the fall, winter or very early
spring. the fall being preferable, it
should be plowed. If the clearing is
done In the fall, and the soil is in con
dition for fall blowing it is better to
plow then, provided, of course, the
soil is not of a leachy nature. The
blowing of land for the first time is
not done very deep. that is, not more
than five to vel inches, in order that
the top or humus soil may not be
turned too deep and the roots of the
| plants, during their early growth, may
have the advantage of the humus.
1t is probably preferable to pillow
the first year with a mold board
plow on land where surface rock may
not interfere. though | have seen sue
cessful first year crops grown on land
plowed with disk plows; in fact, ou1
entire acreage was done with disk
plows this year and good crop re
suits were gotten.
Narrowing as a general rule should
be done as soon after blowing as pos
sible. The ideal condition after spring
blowing that has been done on that
day, and where an individual is farm
ing a small acreage you will find II
about as economical and very essen
tial in the conserving of the moisture
to follow this plan. OF course. in
large acreages, this ideal condition
is not practical, but the next thing
to it is the narrowing just as soon
after the blowing as possible.
AS a general rule it is letter to har
row the land at ono each way. This
pulverizes the soil, the
moisture. and makes a better seed bee
than narrowing once. though we
found it necessary with the large
work we had In hand this year tc
harrow some of our land once only,
and substantial first year crops we're
produced.
Either a disk OR spike tooth harrow
is used in this work with good results.
with preference for the disk harrow
where the soil is tough and cloddy.
1t has been unnecessary in the
sandy soils to do any narrowing. but
instead of the floats which are used In
leveling and which 1 will describe
later, Immediately follow the blowing
About as important as any one OF
the operations in connection with
cereal production on the first year
land is the leveling. Where the land
is extremely uneven. it is a GOOD
plan to take off the high bumpy spots
either with graders OF fresnos, filling
up the low spots before any blowing
Is done, and covering the spots where
the top soil has been taken off with
we'll rotted manure-provided that is
available.
Where, however, land in general is
comparatively even. the leveling fol
lows the blowing and narrowing. and
is simply a process of floating with a
home-built l%eveler, of different sizes
according to the amount of work to
be done, and the amount of stock tc
be used. This floating is not done
with any idea of doing more thar
giving the land a general evenness OF
surface on the existing slope in some
n or two definite directions so thai
the water will have u general slope
without humps or hollows to check its
flow.
Too much time cannot be given tc
the proper leveling of land as it be.
comes a permanent asset to the farm
Just as do buildings. and it reduces the
irrigation cost proportionally.