The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-09-11
DRAG AND HARROW
As SUBSTITUTES
FOR D|TcAEs
President ]. II. Worst Declares
They Can Be Used in stor.
ing Up Moisture
STATES 3 A FALL
o BE
Points Out Problems For the
Farmers in Retaining Sup.
ply Of Water
STATES HEAVY FALL
SHOULD BE

FARMERS IN RETAINING sup.
ply Of Water
That the drag and the disc are the
substitutions for the irrigation ditch:
that conservation Of moisture Is the
farmers crop insurance: that rainfall
that has been experienced this season
will go q long way toward replenish-
ing the subsoil moisture that was TAX
en- from It In the 1910 drought: that
the all-wheat farmer is out OF place
In North Dakota, and that the future
lie far from bright for the land owner
and farmer who detests the COW. the
pig and the scientific farming. are
potnts made by President ]. H. Worst
OF the North Dakota agricultural COL
lege in an article prepared by him
for the North Dakota Farmer, publish
ed at Lisbon by Prof. f. F. Ladd,
state pure food commissioner.
Moisture, the most important fea-
ture In crop raising. is something that
the farmers can provide their land
with, and to make such provision by
proper tillage as against depending
on the clouds to pour forth just the
right amount Of water at the right
time. is the advice that President
Worst gives.
Land that cries for water" he pre-
diets, will be the land that will pro-
duce the most in the future.
President Worst's views r inter-
esting in dealing with the exceedingly
heavy rainfall that has been expert
enced in the last few months. North
Dakota. or at least portions of it have
a three-inch excess surplus fall Of
moisture this year, with August sup
plying an xcess fall Of about an inch
of that surplus. Here is what Presi-
dent Worst has to say on the benefits
OF such moisture:
"The relation the present moisture
sustains, or maybe made to sustain,
toward next years crops is. perhaps,
too remote to be given serious con-
sideration by e"average farmer. l
am still convinced, however, that con-
slant moisture ID the determining fac
tor that regulates 1.-THE abundance or
scarcity OF the;harvest. Even as far
east as Ohio-a state admittedly with
ing the humid belt-more loss is sus-
tanned, on account Of drought, than
from any other single cause. With a
superabundance of moisture In that
state during the year, should a few
weeks deficiency Of moisture occur at
a critical period, as Is often the case,
the result is a greatly reduced yield
of grain or, in some cases, total fail
ure. H..
THE important part that water
plays in the production of a crop
makes it imperative that the farmer
should give it larger consideration
and, by a process Of tillage, to have
stored up in the soil. at all times, the
required percentage Of moisture e C
essary to nourish the growing plants.
That this can be done, no one will
question. That it is not done is SIM
ply because the farmer seems willing
to take the chance Of receiving the
moisture from the clouds Just as the
crop requires IT. AS long as the
clouds give down their moisture as it
is needed, all is we'll. Should the in
terval between showers prove too
long, however the crop suffers and,
in some instances, fails. Here in the
northwest, where the annual percipi-
tation Is much less than east Of the
Mississippi river, the importance Of
conservation of soil water is even
more important. No portion Of it
should be allowed to evaporate I'M
necessarily, and what is Of greater
Importance. weeds should not be al
lowed to steal any considerable por-
ton Of it.
GAS has frequently been stated, the
time to save moisture is when we
have It. The copious showers Of the
past few weeks have a tendency to
replenish the subsoil moisture, so
largely used up during last years
drought. To insure the retention of
subsoil moisture. however, the disc
and the drag, as we'll as the pillow,
should be judiciously used with that
end in view. Deep blowing and sur
face cultivatio nwill water more land
and produce more. wealth, If persist
emily applied. than all the irrigation
water that flows from the western
mountains. The drag and the disc are
our substitutes for irrigation. The
farmer must come to look upon them
as indispensable aids for conserving
moisture. as we'll as for pulverizing
the ground and creating the seed bed.
No matter how much labor may be
required to seal the moisture in the
soil, the fact remains that. unless the
moisture is there during the entire
growing season, the harvest will be
either greatly impaired or a total
failure. Where everything depends
so completely upon one single ele-
ment, like water, the, farmer is TAX
ing a desperate risk II he does not
insure himself. to the, very utmost.
against losing the service Of that
agency.
1.-THE bulk of the wealth that will
be produced during the future ages
will come from the soil that cry for
water And, doubtless, when we un-
derstand better the science Of agri-
culture, we will consider this fact q
wise provision of nature rather than
otherwise. Nature makes men few
presents in complete form. She fur
nishes the outlines but the farmer
must furnish the details. AS has been
we'll said, Nature furnishes the COW