The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-09-06
PLANTING DRYLAND
Soil Is Narrowed and Disked
Four or Five Times in Season.
Whenever Seed 10 Too Thick Il VIII
Draw Sustenance Out Of Ground
and It Cannot Mature SO as
to Make a Crop.

The question has been asked. is 1t
best to pillow dry land In the fall or
the spring? l say, pillow in the TALL
every time. don't care how dry The
ground is, 1t matters not. If rough
the Jumps must be broken of course.
but It Is all the better. | leave the
ground rough all winter and the snow
and rains come and fertilize that soil
and pulverize 1t. AS soon as spring
comes | take a disk with a harrow be-
hind 1t and lap the disk and harrow
half way. We go lengthwise and as
soon as that Is done turn crosswise
and do the same. In a short time We
see the little weeds coming up and
when they can be seen nicely | put
the disk to work again and the har-
row. sometimes harrow and disk 1t
four or Ave times In the season, writes
George l.. Farrell In Field and Farm.
We do not allow weeds to grow on
the ground. We cultivate and from
the twenty-fifth of August until the
last OF September, just before we SOW
fall wheat. we put the leveler to work
and level 1t over so that we can see
to an inch where the drill has run
and we do not miss any of them. We
cannot afford to miss and we SOW IS
pounds to the acre and II the ground
Is very rich we SOW a little more. But
writing that they will not SOW more
than 40 pounds to the acre and II they
SOW over = bushel they have to pay
for the loss In crops. because 1t will
not produce half as much as that
sown thinly. Whenever seed Is toe
thick in dry farming 1t will draw sus.
tenance out of the ground and 1t can.
not mature so as to make crop.
will relate one circumstance to
prove this. l used to SOW rye and q
Danishman moved into the neighbor-
hood about q mile away. He came to
me and wanted to know II l had some
rye to sell for seed. l said. Yes. sir
plenty Of It," He said, Il want to
buy IL bushels" "All right. sir, you
can have It," He said, will you take
work for It; have no money!"
said. Yes. sir. would rather have
work than money" Il want Is bush
els" How much can you SOW in 6
day." Twenty acres" "All right
sir. you are just the man l want.
will give you three bushels Of rye {
day and board you for Ave days and II
that Ave days you can SOW 100 acres
that will give you Is bushels of rye.
"All right. sir. that's good pay; II
do It,"
He came along and had the rye al
sacked ready to SOW. He came dow
and said. You have not got nea
enough rye here to SOW that ground
yes, l have" How much are 20,
going to SOW to the acre?" Half
bushel." He said. you don't know
nothing about raising rye" said
Il don't pretend to know much abou
1t, but that is all l want sowed.
Why" said he. I'm Denmark we so,
three bushels to the acre." I said,
want you to understand We are not 4
Denmark now. we are out west. Ca
you SOW half bushel to the acre ?
yes, | can SOW a peck II you wan
It," He did 1t and did 1t well. pal
him his Is bushels and he sowed ths
Is bushels on his own Ave acre.
About the middle or latter end {
April | was going past one day an
he called to me to come to his hous,
l drove up and he said. II want 20
to come over and look at my rye"
went out and looked at his ~
back of the house and barn and
stood about four inches high and ju.
as thick as 1t could be. | said, "Ths
looks nice, don't it," He said, Il al
going to show you how to raise ry
! this season. looked at yours an
} there was one spear up here and a
other within about foot of it; yc
won't raise much on that" sal
Perhaps will show you how
raise rye"
After a while there came on SON
end OF April We could see the ~
coming up. 1t grew fine and got l
as high as the top Of my head and v
cut 1t in the fall and threshed 1t al
1t made 81 bushels to the acre.
surprised the whole country and
told the threshing man when he we
|. up to Erickson's to let me know he
much that rye OF his threshed. In
day or two he came along and said
threshed that Ave acres Of rye and
Just made 20 bushels, four bushels
4 the acre. He said the heads we
!. only one inch long and the kerne
a only one-fourth as large as mine.