The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-10-13
DRY-FARMING WITH
PLENTY OF rain
DRY FARMING Is CONSERVING
THE MOISTURE AND WHEN
THERE is PLENTY or RAIN is
THE TIME TO STORE 1T, SAYS
PRESIDENT WORST,

''The question is sometimes raised,
Shall we practice dry farming when
there is plenty Of rainq" says j. H.
Worst, president of North Dakota
Agricultural college in recent bull
letin. Most assuredly. The time to
conserve moisture is when there il
moisture to conserve. A farmer re-
marked to me the other day, I have
got the moisture on my farm down to
depth of more than three feet, al
ready That farmers idea is exactly
right. He is conserving moisture for
next years crop while his neighbors
are allowing the moisture that has
recently fallen In abundance to go its
usual way, according to the laws of
chance.
Next spring. his neighbors will
plant their wheat and other small
grain and depend upon the clouds to
furnish moisture as the grain may need
1t. This farmer will get just as much
rain from the clouds as they and will,
in addition, have a large quantity OF
water stored up in the sub-soil to
nourish the crop, should a dry spell
occur during the growing season. And
that dry spell Is very apt to come. /
will venture that this particular farm
er will have big crop next year
whether his neighbors do or not. II
they get a big crop, he will get a
bigger crop.
ut has been fully demonstrated that
a considerable portion of the rainfall
OF any one year can be conserved and
carried over, in the soil, for the bene-
At Of the next years crop. Where the
average rainfall is eighteen inches, 1t
should be an easy matter to carry
four or FIVE inches of autumn rain
water over the winter for next sea-
sons crop. Four inches of water
represents approximately 45o tons OF
moisture per acre-a sufficient guam
tity to nourish the growing crop dur
ing weeks of protracted drought.
II am convinced that by means of
suitable cultivation. which includes
deep blowing, the boyle Of drought
will be forever dispelled in this state
There is absolutely no necessity for
a single crop failure in North Dakota
on account of drought. The fault is
not with the soil, nor with the climate,
nor with the plants; 1t is with our
system of farming. AS long as we
apply humid methods to semi arid
conditions, we may expect repeated
crop failures, or partial failures that
will materially lessen the profits which
farmers should realize from their bus
mess.
1T requires approximately 81 per
acre to grow a crop. This includes
| interest on investment, cost of seed,
wear and tear on farm machinery, la
| Dor, etc. BY adding one additional
dollars worth Of labor to each acre,
there is little question but that the
average profits would be doubled. In
other words. as much profit should be
realized from the one additional dol
lars worth OF labor as is now realized
from the 81 worth of unavoidable La
Dor and investment. Consequently, ii
farmers would devote one-third OF
their land to the growing Of corn and
alfalfa, neither of which interferes
with the time and labor employed In
farming wheat, and put one-third
more labor. thus made available on
only two thirds as many acres OF
1 WnGdLp InGy WOd4u SAOW Alo16 WACda
than where they spread their energies
over the one-third larger area. The
corn and alfalfa fed to livestock
would insure them a large additional
income, and one that is not often ad-
versely influenced by climatic condi-
lions, while the fertility deposited upor
the farm resulting from feeding the
corn and alfalfa to livestock would
vastly improve the productiveness Of
the soil. Corn and alfalfa usually car
be attended to when the wheat needs
no care, thus distributing the labor
more equitably throughout the sea-
son.
Another thing, shock-threshing II
generally bad business, for the reason
that all cannot thresh at once wher
the grain Is ready for the machine
| consequently, all who cannot thresl
early stand good chance of having
their grain injured in the shock AM
also are hindered from blowing unit
their grain is threshed. Fully half tn
farmers are thus hindered from plow
ing operations until the following
spring. Better to stack the grain q
soon as fit and start the plow.
'Plow deep and follow the plow witt
a drag. The drag win conserve NOR
moisture than will get into the sol
from melting SHOWS. Besides waite
thus conserved is where 1t is need,
instead of on the surface where
will speedily evaporate."