The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-02-23
Many FARMERS
HEAR CAMPBELL

uUAIIuV VIII u O6AA
Wide Awake Aorieulturists From
Northwestern Part Of the State
Listen to Words Of Wisdom-sy-
stem 10 Very Practicable.
The great dry farming expert. H.
w. Campbell of Nebraska, addressed
crowd of seven or eight hundred
farmers. who gathered from all por-
tionS Of Northwestern North Dakota,
at the opera house Tuesday after
noon. Never before was there sucaR
. gathering in this part Of the state.
and the lecture Will no doubt result
In great benefit to this part Of the
state -,-----,-~..--,--.- --,..----
The Independent finds 1t utterly I'm
possible to 60 into detail this week.
concerning the Campbell system. Its
too big q proposition. 1t 10 one OF
the greatest subjects that has ever
been considered by any farmer, and
while the system 10 simple, the work
::zs &ro ol very complex nature.
There u just this to the Campbell
system. The moisture must be stor-
ed up In the soil. You can't raise
a crop without the moisture, but the
trick is to conserve that moiture, 80
that it can be utilized when needed.
Mr.. Campbell told how he came to
make life study of dry farming. He
settled in South Dakota in 1879 and
in 1882, he had in . crop Of 300 acres
of wheat that averaged AZ bushels
per acre. He attributes the wonder
full crop to good luck. Nature was
with him. Other farmers did as we'll.
The next year 260 acres of his land
did not produce q bushel Of wheat,
while 10 acres gave 1s bushels to the
acre. s.. v.ry'.@ -- f
I'VE farmers got together and decided
that something must be done. We
agreed that we must plow our land In
the spring. Accordingly most Of the
farmers left their plowing until spring.
but the next fall, we were surprised
to learn that what little land had been
plowed the fall before, produced twice
az much as that which had been
plowed in the spring. We then de-
cided that we didn't know a thing
about it. It was ten years before l
really knew what the trouble was.
l learned that ground plowed when it
was moist produced more than ground
plowed dry.
It was In 1894 when l first learned
the secret of successful farming. It
was This way. had in Early Ohio
potatoes. In cultivating them, my
horses tramped up and down the rows
packing the soil beneath the surface
to a certain extent. BY observing
closely the results that year, I became
firmly convinced that what we needed
was a sort Of q sub surface packer.
Father was visiting me, and We talk
ed over the way OF cultivating our
potatoes. Father wanted to hill
them up, while stuck to, It that the
ground should remain in = smooth
condition. We decided to divide the
patch and try both schemes. That
fall fathers share Of the potatoes was
IL bushels and mine 142 bushels.
Under the Campbell system. you
don't have in a. many acres of grain.
You cultivate about half as much
land as formerly. and the speaker de-
clared you got form three to four
times az much In return.
Speaking Of corn growing he said:
There is no reason why you should
not grow as good corn in North Da-
kota a. many grow In Iowa.
Mr.. Campell impressed upon the
farmers never to plow their ground
except when it Is moist. This is very
important. How can this be done
In dry year? BY summer tillinS.
How would summer tilt
Double disc the land as early In the
summer as possible, to prevent the
escape OF what moisture 10 already
in the ground. Moisture escapes
from the soil by capillary attraction.
Discing cuts OF that attraction and
closes up the pores thru which the
water escapes. When the rain comes
harrow It and keep the weeds down.
Weeds take the moisture out Of the