Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1911-12-29
DRY FARMING
AND MOISTURE

J. II. Worst, President Of North
Dakota Agriculture college: The
question is sometimes raised, "slall
we practice dry farming when there
is plenty Of rain?' Most assuredly.
The time to conserve moisture is when
there is moisture to conserve. A
farmer remarked To me the other day,
II have got the moisture on my farm
down to the depth Of more than three
feet, already" That farmers idea is
exactly right. lie is conserving
moisture now for next years crop
while his ncighbors are allowing the
moisture that has recently fallen in
abundance to go it's usual way. ac-
corGing to the laws Of chance. Next
spring. his neighbors will plant their
wheat and other small grain and de-
pend upon the clouds to furnish mois-
ture as the grain may need it. This
farmer will get inst as much rain
from the clouds as they, and will. in
addition have Il large quantity OF wa
ter stored up in the subsoil to nour-
ish the crop. should 4 dry spell occur
during the growing season. And that
dry spell is very apt to come. will
venture that this particular farmer
will have big crop next year, whe-
get big crop, he will get Il bigger
crop.
1t has been fully demonstrated that
Il considerable portion OF the rainfall
OF any one year can be conserved aud
carried over, in the soil, for the bene-
fit of next years crop. Where the
average rainfall is eighteen inches, it
! should be an easy matter to carry
four or five inches of autumn rain wa
ter over the winter for next seasons
crop. Four inches of water repre-
sents approximately $50 tons OF mois-
| tnre per acre, Il sufficient quantity tn
nourish the growing crops during the
weeks OF protracted drouth.
l am convinced that by means Of
i
deepplowing. the bogie Of dronth will
he forever dispelled in this state.
There is absolutely no necessity for Il
single crop failure in North Dakota
on account OF ,lronth. The fault is
not with the soil, nor with the eli
mate, nor with the plants: it is with
the system of farming. As long us
we apply humid methods to semi arid
conditions. we may expect repeated
crop failures. or partial failures that
will materially lesson the profits
which farmers should realize from
their business.
1t requires approximately seven
dollars per acre to grow II crop. This
includes interest OH investment, cost
of seed, wear and tear OH farm ma
chinery, labor, 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 he realized from the one
additional dollars worth ut labor as
is now realized from the seven dol
lars worth OF unavoidable labor and
investment. Consequently, ii farm
ers would devote one-third Of their
land to the growing of corn and al
falta, neither of which interteres
with the time and labor employed in
farming wheat, and put one-third
more labor, thus available. on only
two-thirtls rs many acres Of wheat,
they would grow more wheat than
where they spread their energies over
the one-third larger area. The corn
and alfalfa fed to live stock would in.
sure them a large additional income,
aud one that is not often adversely
Influenced by climatic conditions
while the fertility deposited upon the
farm, resulting from feeding the corn
and alfalfa to live stock. would vast
~ improve the productiveness Of the
soil. Corn and alfalfa usually can
be attended to when the wheat needs