American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1911-03-18

mer Is barely begun. When we have
heat we have little moisture. When
we have moisture we have little
heat, never the two combined SO
as to work together, d~isintegratine
the insoluble matter In the soil.
When the ~sagebrush is cleared away
and the water applied to the land
a rapid transformation takes place.
The soil is opened up to the air,
n we have for the first time a
combination of heat and moisture
the combination which opens the
stores of fertility locked up for ages
For some reasons, which can
no. thoroughly explain. the second
crop OF grain is disappointing, and
many think the fertility is exhaust
ed by the first crop. But ! have
found that better crops are gener-
ally raised the third or fourth
years than the second. / will not
advance a reason for this, but | be-
lieve the experience of others will
bear out the truth of this state
ment. Good crops have been pro-
duced the fifth year. but rotation
Is alawys better. We have all seen
demonstrated beyond dispute the
fertilizing value of leguminous plant
on arid soils. All over the arid
west this has been demonstrated be-
yond question. Our experience on
Twin Falls tract has been limited
but we have sufficient evidence to
convince the most skeptical as to
the fertilizing value of these crops.
I~urnipseed Bros, west of Twin
Fails. harvested Is acres of wheat
which threshed 1855 bushels. or
~ 2-3 bushels per acre. This was
produced on alfalfa land. On the
Al Page farm st. John Skinner, pro-
duced a crop of 10 bushels of wheat
also on alfalfa land, and in every
case where the alfalfa was we'll
plowed and killed out and properly
handled the yield has been doubled.
to say the least. One piece of land
which l handled myself, which was
seeded to alfalfa. pastured one sum-
mer. then plOwed and planted to
potatoes for two years, when sowed
to wheat produced so bushels per
acre. when the same kind of land
the same way which had
MOI been seeded down to alfalfa,
yielded scarcely 80 bushels.
Glover land has given results al
most as good. This shows us what
Is possible in the way of wheat
growing under irrigation. IL the
alfalfa field becomes foul with
troublesome weeds or from a mat
ter of business policy you turn I'M
der the alfalfa sod you Their have
as fertile piece of land as can be
found in the two h~emispheres.
Thus far | have had more to say
about soil that Wheat. 1t Is nee
essarv to know your soil before you
can get the best results. And again
the volcanic ash soil differs greatly
from the alluvial soils and needs
different treatment.
Now just a word about varieties
II grading seed. We are raising
Bluestem. Dick Lowe, Turkey Red
n some other varieties which are
not so popular. The first two are
spring wheats and the Turkey Red
winter wheat. Bluestem and Dick
Lowe are sometimes sown as fall
wheat but do not always come
through the winter in good shane
Turkey Red a only be raised as
winter wheat.
Seed wheat should be run over
a screen which will remove all weed
seed. broken and weak kernels. AL
ways treat to prevent smut. We
prefer the formalin treatment.
believe all OF our record Yields
were from spring sowing. Some
good results have been secured from
iaf' sown wheat and some very poor
ones. Fall sown grain takes less
irrigation. comes right to harvest
between hay crops, and | believe
that If we could give the ground a
good narrowing In the spring would
as a general rule give good results.
our furrow system of irrigation will
hardly permit narrowing, and all on
moisture coming as it does in winter
runs the ground together, and our
o I Is naturally very fine and close.
then 1t bakes hard before the wheat
become large enough to shade the
ground and hence not the best re-
suits. Some winters are not so bad
as Others One year after another
prefer spring sowing. Fall blowing
can be disced and seeding done
early, which insures a good stand.
n the crop. while not quite so
early. generally yields better than
the fall sown grain. believe that
after our soil gets more humus
worked into 1t fall seeding can be
done more successfully. On new land
| prefer spring sowing . Fall plow-
ing of new land for the first +
is a great benefit. If you can get
the brush off In time to pillow your
In the fall you will see a great
Inference in your yield compared
with land spring plowed. but after
land has been farmed for two
or three years | have been unable to
notice much difference in spring and
fall blowing. Yet | recommend fall
with a good deep discing in
he spring. then the float or leveler
over the ground will most gen.
'rally make a good seed bed. Some
'armers say fall blowing is the only
! say IL is good and as much
II your blowing as possible should