The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-04-04

Known to Be Absolute Necessity
to Profitable Wheat Farming.
When Properly Prepared and Cared
for Enables Farmer to Store IN
Soil Large Amount Of MoIs-
ture for Ono Crop.

Soil Largo Amount Of Mo's-
ture for Ono Crop.
(By PROF. w. NJ. JARDINE. Agrono-
mist. Kansas State Agricultural COL
lege.)
In Utah, Idaho. Oregon and Wash
lngton and parts Of Montana, districts
of very low rainfall, usually less than
Is inches annually. rs per cent OF
which falls during late autumn, winter
and early spring months, and large
per cent. of which Is snow, the impor-
lance OF the summer fallow Is no
longer debatable. 1t Is known to be
an absolute necessity to profitable
wheat farming, and undoubtedly Will
continue to be as long as wheat grow
Ing remains the basic dry farm crop, or
until drought-resistant and early matur-
Ing strains of inter-tilled crops, such
As corn, alfalfa, Canada peas, Mexican
beans, potatoes. sorghums, ETC., can be
discovered or developed to take the
place Of the fallow.
The great concern OF every farmer
operating In the extreme western coun-
ties of Kansas is moisture. In years
Of abundance Of rainfall, crops are
usually good, no matter what system
has been followed. Profitable crops are
produced in such years, even when
wheat has been stubbled In after
wheat, but In dry years such practice
results In failure, and the country is
condemned because 1t Is too dry to
produce crops, when in reality the
the man.
1t has been thoroughly demonstrated
through experiment that the summer
fallOw, when properly prepared and
cared for, enables the farmer to store
In his soil large amount of the mois-
ture of two years precipitation for the
production Of one crop; land through
Its use profitable crops can usually be
grown, even In years of the most ex-
IRENE drought. Though the summer fall
low enables the farmer to produce big
ger yields during favorable years than
is possible by any other system of
farming Its real merits are only
brought out IN dry years.
Summer fallow or summer tillage
consist in blowing the lands thorough
ly to good depth, seven inches or
even deeper, either in the fall or In the
spring, as weather conditions, soil
moisture conditions and the disposition
of the farmers time will permit, and
leaving 1t lie over during the summer
in cultivated condition and free from
vegetation of any kind until planting
time. The deep blowing facilitates the
storing Of summer rains and the sur
face cultivation checks its evaporation
from the soil until it can be utilized by
the growing crop. Weeds, volunteer
grain or any form of vegetation must
not be allowed to grow on the fallow,
because they drink from the land as
much moisture as a crop Of wheat.
Farming in the extreme western
counties of Kansas is very exacting If
profitable crops are produced. The
country is all right If the natural ad
vantages are intelligently utilized In
very large measure the farmer can
control these by proper methods OF
farming, and the summer fallow be
longs in this category because it is the
best known way of utilizing the scanty
supply of precipitation.
There is one possible way in which
farmers operating under low annua
precipitation can produce profitable
crops of wheat every other year with
out the use Of the fallow, and that i.
by the substitution of inter-tilled crops
for the fallow. BY the growing of sucl
crops as corn, sorghums, potatoes, Can
ada peas, Mexican beans, etc., the lane
can often be made to produce profita
BILE titled crops and at the same tim,
put the soil in fair condition for wheat
The main drawback to such a system
at this time lies In the fact that mos
Of the inter-tilled crops now available
are not very drought-resistant and ar
late maturing-too late for the shor
growing season common to the semi
arid lands. Usually, too, such crop
cannot be removed from the land il
time to plant winter wheat at tn
proper time.
In order to insure profit by utiliza
ton of inter-tilled crops in rotatio
with wheat, 1t will be necessary to dis
cover or develop more hardy, drought
resistant. early-maturing varieties. Spt
cial efforts are being directed alon
these lines by practically every scier
tific Investigator dealing with plant
and operating within the semi-arid di!
tricts of the west Until such disco,
cries are made and their practicable
demonstrated farmers would do we'll |
western Kansas to summer fallow g
summer till their land at least once |
three years. There would be abs,
lutely no doubt, II such q system wer
practiced. that more farmers would b
producing larger quantities Of graf
from one-half their land each year tina
they are now producing from the
whole farm.
Al