The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-01-19
LESSONS FROM THE DRY
SEASON OF THE YEAR 1910

4 lean D. n. SHeppeFus Oh the Ns ~.
| A. C. is a favorite with the farmers
of the northwest because of his prac-
tical common sense talks. His address
| yesterday held the keenest attention
of the big audience, His subject was,
Lessons from the Season of 1910.
Professor Shepperd said: The sea-
son of 1910 was an erratic and unus-
ual one In North Dakota. The oldest
settler does not recall so prolonged a
drought and the weather records do
not show as long a season of light
precipitation as we have had during
the past year. A few places have been
favored with rainfall in normal
amounts, and distribution: others have
had long dry spells followed by rain
fall which approached water spout
in its volume. High temperatures and
heavy winds persisted for an unrea-
sonable length of time after the grain
was headed. An early frost cut short
the prospect for ripened corn In many
districts, even where excellent care
had been taken and reasonable yields
were naturally to be expected. The
northwest alone has been short Of
moisture this season as the middle and
central states have been unusually ia
vored.
Can Learn in a Season.
Much more can be learned in a sea-
son with so many and such severe han
dicaps than can be CLEANED from an
ordinary year. Anyone who drove
through a neighborhood last summer
was impressed with the sight of
field here and a piece there that was
superior to the average field of the
community.
Special inquiry generally brought
out the information that the land had
produced a crop of corn in 1909 and
that the corn had been titled; or that
the land had been in potatoes last
year and was kept clean by frequent
cultivation; or that the land had been
summer fallowed in 1909 and that a
good job had been made of it.
In some cases the additional infor-
nation that the land had been man
ured before the corn was planted, or
that the field had been in clover two
years before, helped to explain the in
crease in yield, which was coming to
the owner from the crop of 1910. In
nearly every instance the good yields
were harvested on land that had been
plowed to a good depth.
Land which has poor mechanical tex
ture or which is commonly called gum
DO showed very poor results for the
season of 1910. Gumbo land is at one
extreme in mechanical condition and
land which has been MANFRED or has
produced a crop of clover and has been.
plowed to a good depth is at the other
extreme of mechanical condition, or in
other words, in the very best shape
that it can be made. Land which
produced a cultivated crop in 1910 or
that which had been summer fallowed
had the largest quantity of water
stored from the rainfall of 1909 with
which to supplement that which came
to it in 1910.
No season in recent years has given
a stronger lesson on the Importance
or adopting cropping system, which
will include a cultivated field of corn
or potatoes, one of clover or field
peas along with the standard money
producing crops of wheat, fax, oats
and barley.
Well rotted stable manure also has
shown it's value and advantage, as it.
Is unable to do in an average sea-
son. The turning under of trashy
manure, containing a vast amount of
straw has on the contrary given much
poorer results than it usually does by |
reason of having cut off the furrow
slice from the solid land on which it |
rests which kept the moisture from
being able to pass from the lower
Zenith nf the Soil--Which constitutes
he large reservoir-into the upper
portion where the plant food is chiefly !
stored
Withstood Dry Conditions.
The alfalfa crop pressed it's import
ance and value home to the farmer
his past season by reason of it's be-
ng able to Withstand dry, hot con-
iitions and give a fair yield of hay
when timothy, millet, and some of the
)ther plants commonly relied upon
made almost or a total failure.
Many mistakes have been made in
sacrificing the live stock of the farm
his year in addition to the slaughter
ng of them which has gone on in
he past two years when the price of
Tered was especially attractive and
when the grain which they would re-
luire was bringing very high price.
In this year of a short market crop.
surplus cattle, horses, hogs and sheep
help to tide over and ward off the
necessity of going in debt and paying
interest. The dairy cow has been hard
% provide for the past summer, and
has required hay and sometimes the
1astllrape of Door grain tn live dI1ripor