The Dickinson press., 1912-03-23
MAHpAn MEETING WAS coon
-WAlDRoN SPOKE on ALFALFA

T WAlDR0N SPOKE on ALFALFA
Morton county Dry Farming Congress-
1held the boards It Mandan the 18th and
fi4th Of March. Many Of the best farm
ers Of the county were in attendance.
Much Of the time was taken up with
ldiscussions. MI. Nelson Of Glen Ullin,
the president, wat present but prevailed
upon Supt Hoverstad to,preside over the
meeting;
The program included some of the best
dry farming experts in the Northwest.
Prof. Thomas Shaw in his address on
dry farming called attention to the fact
that dry farming cannot be carried out
in n year. The preparations for the
crop must begin the year before. He
recommended that q part of the farm
be summer fallowed and a part of it put
into a cultivated crop. so that the
grain crop shall come after a cultivated
crop or on summer fellow.
d. E. Willard who had made q geo
logical survey of the county called at
tention to the fact that the soils con-
tain q large PERCENTAGE of silt which
gives them good water holding capa-
city. He urged that the farmers study
the nature Of the soil and handle it ac-
cording to its fineness Or coarseness.
A. E. Chamberlain discussed the
principles according to which water
moves in the soil. He demonstrated
that the moisture moves freely through
a compact soil but very slowly through
a loose soil. He advocated deep plow-
ing and the making of a good bed.
He advised discine before the plow in
order to make this seed bed. The point
he emphasized was to have the soil in
a condition so that the plant roots come
in contact with fine soil that is we'll
supplied with moisture. -
L. r. Waldron in talking alfalfa
classed the alfalfa as the best forage
plant that this section has and that it
ought to be grown much more extern
sively than it is at present. That it
will yield on an average of two tons
to the acre. He reported that in his ex-
periments he had had good results with
growing il in rows and that sown in
this way it wiIl..resist dry weather bet
ter than grown in drills. He reported
good, results with the growing of sweet
clover, that it has about the same feed
ing value as alfalfa and that stock will
eat it and do we'll on it when they get
used 10 it. He also reported that he had
taken the wild sand cherry and by cul-
tivatine it had developed it into quite a
bush and that he had picked as much
as a peck of fruit from each plant after
it had had care for a few years. He has
also tried the wild Missouri currant and
found that it yielded much heavier that
the cultivated currants.
The Importance of fertility in dry
farming was discussed by w. C.
Palmer. He called attention to the re-
suits secured by DR.. Widtsoe of Utah
who has found that it requires less
moisture to produce. crops on a we'll
handled soil than on one that is poorly
handled. For instance. corn grown on
summer fallow or on land that has..been
MANFRED. made more growth with a
given amount of m~oisture..than did corn
growing on land that was in poor shape.
THIS means that keeping the. soil fer
tile is n of the most. effective ways of
making the water do the mostgood.
A telegram from John T. Burns,
secretary of the International Dry Farm
ing congress, was read. He wished the
management much success, end urged
that exhibits and delegates be sent to
the dry farming congress that will be
held at Alberta next October.
In the election Of officers J. T.. Nelson
of Glen Ulln was reelected. E. N. Bos-
worth of Flasher was elected secretary.
c. L. Zimmerman of Mandan and E.
N. Bosworth of Flasher were elected
delegates to the International Dry Farm
ing congress.
Many of the farmers present reported
good results with the dry farming prac-
tises.
CAPT. A. u. kEEnE WRITES
ennns 1lue slulrssan llnnse