Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1911-07-20
THE MATTER OF RAINFALL
Interesting Address by the President
OF the Agricultural College.

Mlnot. n. u, july Ia. -lhat
there is no reason why North Dako-
ia cannot produce a big crop of
wheat in the dryest of years. and
that this is accomplished by other
states that get less than half the
moisture that North Dakota gets,
was the statement of Prof. j. H.
Worst, president of the North Da-
kota Agricultural College. at the an
nual meeting of the North Dakota
retail merchants association, which
closed its session at Minot last
night.
''Other states that do not get
half as much rain as North Da-
kota are producing good crops of
grain under the dry-farming system,
and it is foolish for any one 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 a
crop Of wheat In North Dakota
we get l6, is. 90 and % inches a
year. This is more than enough, if
we only conserve the moisture dur
ing the wet years and save it up for
the dry year. This can be done
through proper system of cultiva-
ton.
To accomplish this. the farmer
should follow his binder it the fall
with disk. thus creating mulch
that prevents the evaporation of the
moisture after the grain is cut and
there is nothing to shade the
ground or pr otect it from the
wind. After the grain is cut in the
fall is the time when the greatest
evaporation of moisture takes place.
If the narrowing is done, it is very
easy to pillow the ground to depth
of eight inches when it is time to
pillow. After blowing. the subsoil
should be Thoroughly packed with
a sub-surface packer. and every
rain in the fall should be followed
by dragging, which breaks up the
crust, which causes the evaporation.
and prevents the moisture from es-
Gaping. When the grain starts to
come up in the spring. it should be
narrowed. This kills millions of
weeds, which take millions of dol
lars worth of moisture out Of the
soil every year. When the wheat is
about four inches high. especially
after rain, it should be narrowed
again. This conserves the moisture
and destroys more weeds. When
the grain gets bushy later on, 80
over it with a harrow again. Don't
be afraid to kill the grain. You
can't do this. know Of one farm
er who went over the wheat so many
times that he thought he had all
the grain killed. and 1t went TWEEN.
ty-eight 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.
lis because the farmers during the
last few years have been very
wasteful of the moisture. 'lhia
spring there was practically M
moisture in the subsoil. because the
moisture that has fallen during tho
last few years has not been bottled
up. AS a result, the first hot wealth
er that came along seriously dam
aged the plant. In ordinary hot
weather. without proper cultivation.
an inch of moisture will evapornte
in a week. This is equivalent To " z
tons of water for every mere Az
an expense of about 81 I'M mere
the moisture that falls duri,Ix tho
summer can be bottled up. Nv not
this good investment for the fnfm
err"
Professor Worst address WIS tho
feature of the closing day Of the
convention, and vote of thnnks was
extended to him by the association