The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-03-31

OF COtDTdQO, WHITES DIS IOIIoWS III IHS
Dry Farming Congress Bulletin for
March list.
This fall have received SO many
letters of the same tenor that an
answer through the Bulletin would
seem desirable. One farmer writes.
II have been plowing my land
about five inches, following strictly
all the rules laid down for the con-
servation of moisture, but getting
only about ten ushels to the acre,
which is hardly payable. How can
] increase my yield?" The trouble
with this man is the trouble with
affirming is too much on the sur
face. Deep blowing, deep roofing,
and holding the moisture where it
cannot evaporate, is the only anti
dote.
Besides the loss of moisture en-
gendered by shallow blowing, we
have to consider it an equally serious
evil-the combustion humus. There
is nothing facilitates this as much
as shallow blowing and frequent
shallow tilling.
Secretary Wilson has already
drawn our attention to this by de-
noting it as "a vicious system of farm
ing" and the only way around it, as
| pointed out at the time, is by plow-
ing deeper and cultivating the fallow
less, Tut putting it in better shape
for acumulating moisture.
In many places our sandy loans
are already becoming exhausted and
so devoid of humus that some of our
farmers say it does not pay to pillow
them deeply.
Humus Is a carbon compound, and
when the oxygen of the air attacks
it, it becomes carbone dioXide-the
carbonic. acid gas SO deadly to human
life, so indispensable to plant life.
In dry climates, when humus is at
or near the surface, this combustion
can go unimpeded; but in humid
climates it is much slower on account
of the water film around each parti-
Gle which protects it from. the oxy-
gen.
Therefore, it is plain that, in order
to save our humus, we must keep it
damp, keep it away from the atmos-
phere, bury it as deeply as possible.
This clement of our soils is found al
most entirely on the surface, being
a product of the sod. and every atom
of it that finds its way into the at
mostphere is dead loss to the
farmer.
Pure humus is said to be able to
hold 200 per cent of water, whereas
some soils will not hold over 20 per
cent. without teaching.
Some farmers will contend that
deep blowing on their soils does not
bring results, and there is much truth
in this, for often their last chance to
raise crop is to skim the surface
again and use up the last particle of
humus. But this, of course, is burn
ing the candle at both ends. The
remedy Is 10 pillow deep at the start,
In ,pf hun, x-ytt
10 inches of soil, and then if too thin
to raise fair crops pillow under more
green material until the results are
satisfactory.
The most handy crop for this work
is fall rye, because it can be raised
during the winter months and plow-
ed under when a foot high in time
for planting the regular crops. They
say in Germany that land that will not
respond to deep blowing is not agri-
cultural soil, but where this is the
case through lack of humus, it can
be remedied, for our soils gre usual
ly rich in al mineral clements, and
barnyard manure and green crops
will supply the other. A soil that is
becoming exhausted for want of nu-
mus can be planted to alfalfa, which
will eventually rcplenish it, but in
order to obtain stand, eight to ten
inch blowing is necessary, and 1t the
soil that is turned up is poor and thin
top dressing of rotten manure or
old corral dirt is the thing before
drilling the seed In. BY this method
/ have raised slfalfa on sand bar, |
and after six years plowed 1t up and
took off q crop of oats, and then back
into alfalfa again, this line without
manuring.
The hardest and most unpopular
work that we have ahead of us is to
convert the farmers Of the West TO
deep blowing. 1t tool, England 40
years to do this, and Germany 49,
In the meantime, the average pro-
duction of small grain increased from