The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-02-08
HOW TO GET SUCCESS in
USING DRY FARM METHODS
Ross Martin Tells About the Campbell SysemWhy Some
Farmers Fail to Get Crop--Eary History Of the
Work--Experiments That Failed

bell are very modest indeed. The rea-
son others do not get the results he
and others do, is undoubtedly because
they do not follow his instructions
closely enough or discard some Of his
instructions and follow some old the
DRY handed down from their fore
fathers.
How to Get Results.
Most likely Of all 1t is through not
paying attention to physical conditions
and thinking the secret consists in
mechanical work. But the interesting
point is how to get results. Here
and all through my description l want
to emphasize one thing, that is, the
secret lies not in any amount Of me-
chanical work but in careful applica-
ton of a certain amount Of mechani-
cal work when the soil is in just the
right physical condition. This con-
dition Is neither too dry nor too wet.
In blowing this is just when each
particle of soil separates, that is Meth
er rolling up in chunks of mud nor
Jumps Of dry soil baked up by drought
nor loose ashy condition as found
in some soils when dry.
When soil is plowed in this condi-
ton 1t packs very nicely and If a sub
surface packer is then used 1t will
force the soil particles together ex-
Guiding all surplus air and re-estab-
fishing capillary connection with the
lower soil. So the water can work
up from below as needed by the grow
ing plants. In this condition OF soil
a vTonA will en- v,pn1faro1Ixy I
as each root goes out it absorbs plant
food and as there is surplus material
in the organs Of the plant, new sprouts
or stools are sent out TO make use
of 1t. So by a fine firm seed bed we
get prolific stooling. On our farm we
have often found from forty to fifty
stools and sometimes sixty from a
single kernel Of wheat.
Where the land is in good condition
and seed not to exceed one-half bushel
per acre is used we find an average of
eighteen stools per kernel of seed.
Now on the other hand If this soil were
left loose and plowed dry and IL 1t
is favorable weather in the spring we
have a prolific growth as spring rains
continue
Then as the dry weather comes on
we find the stools falling off one by
one and imagine some dreadful plant
disease has attacked our wheat. They
continue this way until only the orr
ginal or main stalk remains and that
becomes a dwarf. On digging into the
soil we find a layer of stubble hold
the furrow slice off the subsoil and
the plenty of moisture may be found
below, the entire furrow slice is dry.
But on the other hand our packed
field is stooling prolificaIly and has
that rich dark green color so much de-
sired in wheat, which our unpacked
field has long since lost. We follow
the same crop TO the thresher and fnd
on inquiry that the one has yielded
treble the other. Doesn't / pay brother
farmer?
The Right Application.
| 1t isn't the extra mechanical work
that brought the pleasing results but
application of this work when the sol
was in the right condition. A surface
packer is useless on dry land or or
| land plowed dry just as a trowel is
worthless if used on hardened cement
Another question here arises: How
| to pillow when the soil is in just the
right condition. This is possible by
| following the harvester with the disk
delivering the bundles on the disked
| land. This operation Is beneficial in
many ways. 1t covers all seed and
volunteer grain They are thus ger
minated so they won't come up in the
next years crop. Then by loosening
the surface evaporation is hindered.
| Thus holding the moisture in the soil
When there is moisture in the soil and
the surface is loose so the air can cir
culate through the soil in the right
proportion plant food is liberated or
produced by chemical action of the
air. heat and water which is one of
the deep green color so much desired
This dark green color shows that the
crop is healthy. The chemical action
I above described also purifies the land
and frees nitrogen. This disking mixes
! the stubble with the upper soil and
thus allows the furrow slice to pack
down against the subsoil. Then by
disking We open the soil so rains are
readily absorbed and stored below for
future use.
Now to repeat-our first operation
is to disk the soil behind the binder
or as soon after as possible. Then
possibly once or twice later as re-
quired to get desired results.
We have found on our farm that
sometimes, this fall for once, three
dislkings were very beneficial, for in
stance, we disl1ed behind the binder,
then we found the land too hard on
the surface so we tried single disk
ing and while that helped 1t didn't
leave 1t as loose as we would like to
have had it, so we tried double disk
ing, and we found this very beneficial.
How to PIow.
Flowing is the most important work
which we do on the land. So many
have set time In which they do
their blowing and when that time
comes they just stop all other work
and go at 1T and rip 1t up" without
any attention to the physical condition
of the soil. Some say plow in the fall
Now what Is the reason of all this
late, some say pillow in the spring
some say pillow early, some say pillow
difference OF opinion? Simply this
One has happened to pillow at GER
/ tain season of the year and on account
of conditions happening to be right
| just at that season of the year he gets
a big crop and he imagines that HI
has discovered the ideal time to plow
But the next year he plows at the
same time of the year and loses hi
crop.
Should your wheat ripen weel
earlier one year than usual would yot
let 1t stand enough longer to make uI