Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-07-15
BOTTLE UP THE
MOISTURE SAYS
PROF. worst
(Snecial to khAEiihunel


MINOT, N. D., July l5.-That there
is no reason why North Dakota can
not produce big crop Of wheat in the
driest of years and that this is accom-.
plished by other states that get less
than half the moisture that North Da-
kota gets is the statement of Prof. ].
H. Worst, president of the North d.
kota Agricultural college, at the an
|'nual convention of the North Dakota
Retail Merchants association, which
closed it's session at Minot, N. D., last
night
"Other states that do not get halt
as much rain as North Dakota are pro-
ducing good crops Of grain under the
dry farming system, and it is foolish
for anyone to say that we do not get
enough rain in North Dakota" said
Professor Worst. From six to seven
inches of rain is enough for producing
crop of wheat. In North Dakota we
get 16, Is, 20 and % inches a year.
This is more than enough, if we only
conserve the moisture during the wet
years and save it up for the dry years.
This can be done through a proper
system of cultivation.
90 do this, the farmer should fol-
low his binder in the fall with disc,
thus creating a mulch that prevents
the evaporation Of the moisture after
the grain is cut and there is nothing
to shade the ground or protect it from
the wind. After the grain is out In
the fall is the time when the greatest
evaporation of moisture takes place.
If this is done, it is very easy to ploW
the ground to depth of eight inches,
when it is time to plow. After plow-
ing, the sub.soil should be thoroughly
packed with a sub-surface packer, and
every rain in the fall should be fol-
lowed by dragging, which breaks up
the crust, which causes the evapora-
ton, and prevents the moisture from
escaping.
when the grain starts to come up
in the spring, it should be narrowed.
This kills millions of weeds, which
take millions of dollars worth of moist
ure out of the soil every year. When
the wheat is about four inches high,
especially after a rain, it should be
narrowed again. This conserves the
moisture and destroys more weeds.
When the grain gets bushy later on
go over it with harrow again. Don't
be afraid to kill the grain. You can't
do this. l know of one farmer who
went over the wheat so many times
that he thought he had all the grain
killed, and it went % bushels to the
acre.
Nov the reason why crops in North
Dakota do not look as good this year
as they should from the amount of
rain we received in May and June is !
because the farmers during the last
few years have been very wasteful of
the moisture. This spring there was
practically no moisture in the sub-soil
because the moisture that has fallen
during the last few years has not been
bottled up. AS a result, the first hot
weather that came along seriously
damaged the plant. In ordinarily hot
weather, without proper cultivation,
an inch of moisture will evaporate in
a week. This is equivalent to 112 tons
of water for every acre. At an ex-
pense of approximately 81 an acre, the
moisture that falls during the summer
can be bottled up. Is not this a good
investment for the farmer?"
Professor Worst's address was the
feature of the closing day of the con-
vention, and vote of thanks was ex-
tended to him by the association.