The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-10-13
WORK ON DRY FARM
Success of Any Business De-
pends Greatly on Margin
of Profits.
Careful Study Of Situation anon
Farmers in Eemi-Arid Sections
Shows That Those Who Piow
Deeply Reap Abundantly.


The success of any business depends
on the margin of profit, the difference
between expenditure and returns. The
same principle obtains in dry farm
ing az in everything else.
Many are losing regularly every
year from six to ten dollars an acre
on their plowing alone. A careful
study of the situation. taking facts
and figures from hundred or more
different farmers in every dry state
in the Union, shows that those VINO
plow ten or twelve inches reap, as
rule, almost double the crop that Is
reaped by those who plow only siA
or seven inches. The extra cost Is
one more horse, or about one dol
lar per acre, the extra returns are
sometimes as much as ten or more
dollars per acre.
Good blowing is economical in
every sense of the word, and no
amount of supplementary work VIII
take its place. A crop planted in
deep ground will stand more drought,
and mature with half the cultivation re-
quired by crop on shallow ground.
Rolling or packing the ground is an
operation that can often be profit
ably avoided The rule to follow is
| to plow in the fall for spring grain
crops and In the spring for fall crops.
This. obviates packing, for the ground
has ample time to become settled.
For corn and cane the soil should not
be packed, except in the seed row.
Even for that purpose the split wheel
Is much better than the solid wheel,
as 1t leaves loose space In the cen
ter of the seed row for the shoots to
some through. In cultivating these
crops deep cultivation is the more
economical since the soil stays loose
for a longer period and does not
bake as easily as when the mulch is
shallow; cutting the surface roots at
the beginning Of the season does not
hurt the corn but favors deep root
ing. Packing the surface stimu-
Totes the growth of crop at the
start, encourages top growth, at the
expense of the root and on the dry
farm overgrowth at the start Is very
poor preparation for drought at the
finish. For these reasons rolling and
packing have been almost entirely
abandoned in the agricultural COM
munities OF the old world and Mr..
Safray tells us the same thing Of the
dry regions of Hungary.
There are, however, some loose
sandy soils which are the better for
packing, when planted Immediately
after plowing.
agree with Professor Jardine that
It Is dangerous to pack clay loans
for fear Of crusting and the expert,
ence of our friends in Colorado, New
Mexico and Texas amply confirm this
belief
The most vital point in the dry farm
operations is the economy Of moist
ure. Moisture means crops and good
crops mean profit, Little attention
is paid to this by some formers. They
will plow whole field before harrow
ing This allows thousands of tons
OF moisture to escape into the atmo
sphere and leaves the land dry ant
full of clods for the raising of an in
different crop. In planting corn or
the level 1t makes no difference what
ever whether the rows run east ant
west or north and south. The sur
strikes the corn from above on leve
land, not from the sides. but on {
; side-hill 1t makes all the difference
in the world, as far as moisture II
concerned. II the rows run VI
and down the hill, the cultivato
leaves burrows for the water to rul
off. on the other hand, where tn,
rows run across the slope, rough cul
tivation will often hold an inch o
rain II 1t comes in 20 minutes.
northern slope holds moistur,
slightly longer than southern ex
posure but this is somewhat compen
stated for by the fact that the south
ern slopes usually catch more snov
In winter,
Much moisture is lost by not break
ing up the surface of a field as sooi
as q crop is OFF, a patch of 40 acre
may evaporate as much as 200 ton
of water into thin air in one singh
warm day. This Is like throwiul
away gold
On the question of following, n,
hard and fast rule should be follow
ed, the farmer should decide as Il
whether to plant a crop or not ac
: cording to the actual amount of moist
ure in the ground. To discover hoy
much moisture the soil contains is
very simple matter of weigVng. dry
ing and weighing again.
Except in orchard work 1t is poo
economy to save more than three fee
of moist soil containing as much a
Il will ordinarily carry with a dr.
subsoil underneath. This amount o
moisture with careful handling viii
raise crop in fairly dry year.
In order to thoroughly understan
the moisture question the farme
should investigate 1t with a groun,
auger, at least with a pick an,
shovel. He will learn more in a fey
months by so doing than he woul,
in years by following theories evolve