The evening times., 1911-07-24
SUGGESTIONS As TO
RAISING WINTER
GRAINS
They Are Made By w. R. Por
ter-Gives Real Cause of
Crop Shortages
(By W. r. Porter,

MI Oxsy
mere is no use Disgusting tha f.c.
oaa. ema. many counties Of western and
.sn!ral .s North Dakota have failed to |
produce a better corp than In 1e10 |
ana Whole townships will not even
produce enough seed to plant tho
crop Of 1912. '"e
The soil in these sections ia very
aly on account Of deficient rainfall
LOT @ tne past two years. The land last |
iall or this spring was plowed when
ory, the subsoil was dry and the
rainfall the past season was only
suIlcient to wet down from six to
eighteen inches at the most. This
caused the wheat plants to form verv
shallow root systems, the straw and |
leaVes OF the plants made a magnifi-
cent growth as long as the rains SIM
piea moisture, but when the rains
Iaiied and the winds blew the plants
wNnered away for lack of water in
exactly the same way a fame goes
ouI when the oil In the lamp is ex-
nausteo. IL was not hot winds or ad-
verse weather conditions that caused
1a, op iallure IN western Dakota in
1911 but lack Of water in the soil
The land in these sections ~ tho
state Is now without a crop and the
SOIL 1s very dry and in many cases
compact. How should it be treated to
pest insure crop next year? Part
OF the land should be fall plowed.
should abundant rains come this will
De accomplished without difficulty. It
should be plowed not less than six
inches deep when the surface soil is
reasonably moist. But soaking rains
probably will not come. Prepare for
such by discing the land as soon as
harvested or if the crop is not worth
cutting disc thoroughly now, this
will cause what moisture there is
IN the ground to be arrested below
the mulch made by the disc. The
chopped-up straw and weeds lying on
the surface will also help to hold any
water that may come in the form of
showers exactly as leaf mould holds
moisture. In this way two or three
light showers might wet up piece of
disced land so it would plow easily,
while the same showers would have
no effect on an undisced piece of
land. The disced land can then be
plowed to depth of six or more
inches If 1t is moistened to good ad-
vantage.
But many will say there is no mois-
ture in the lower layers of soil or sur
e face soil even. If the Russian this
ties are growing they are using mois-
: ture that should be stored in the soil
}. to make plowing practical and easy
D for the crops next year.
Follow the plow with the subsur-
face packer or harrow and do this
the same day the land is plowed and
e as soon after plowing as possible. 1t
e is as necessary to follow the plow
r with these implements the same day
4 the plowing is done as it is necessary
4 to use cement the day it is mixed.
8 Light soils that are inclined to
8 blow are often better left for spring
0 plowing but if fall plowed, such land
/ fis generally better left unharrowed
4 as rough land does not, blow so read
r lily as smooth land.
9 Winter Wheat
Q If this crop could be successfully
carried through the winter and spring
! it would be worth millions of dollars
2 to North Dakota as it is mature be-
: fore the advance weather has time to
: injure it to any great extent. Ex-
8 periments carried on for several
j, years show that winter wheat cannot
, be depended upon to go through the
l winter on plowed land or summer fall
, dow but If it is planted in standing
corn or in stubble it can nearly al
| ways be depended upon to go through
/ the winter and produce good crop
provided there is enough moisture to
, germinate the seed. Winter wheat
r should always be drilled into the corn
and at least one row in four should
be left with the stalks standing to
catch the winter snow.
A one horse drill should be used be-
tween the4corn rows; if the corn is
short the ordinary disc grain drill
may be used. Stubble land should
be disced with the discs set nearly
straight three or four days before
the wheat is seeded in order to ar
rest moisture for the wheat kernels
as soon as planted. If winter wheat
is seeded in stubble it should always
be seeded with disc drill and the
wheat should be put down about
three inches. From the 10 to the 18th
|of August is the best time to seed
winter wheat in western North Dako-
to and under no circumstances should
1t be seeded after September ! or be-
fore August 1. Weeds in the stubble
such as Russian thistle, will help the
winter wheat to go through the win
ter to very marked extent. Turkey
TGU 1NOIlu DdhOId SIOWA ocSu SAOuIu
be used If obtainable.
Winter Rye
Winter rye Is a crop that has been
grown to quite an extent in the Red
River valley in order to clean up the
land 1t is a crop that is entirely
hardy and will go through practically
any winter without killing out. 1t has
been grown quite successfully in the
central and western part Of North
Dakota the past two seasons with
excellent results, producing a good
crop Of grain where wheat. oats, bar
, ley and fax entirely failed to pro-
, duce . crop on account Of the ad-
, verse conditions.
Winter rye makes excellent spring
pasture for horses, cattle. sheep and
ihogs. II cut green it yields large
. lcrop Of good grade Of hay. Farm
ers in western North Dakota who
want to be reasonably sure of . hay
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