Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1912-10-19
CLEARING SAGEBRUSH.
Cheapest and Best Way is to Use
Gang Plow.

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the cheapest and best way is to pillow
the sagebrush out Take l6-inch
riding plow-a gang pillow is better
remove the mold boards and use only
the share and Landslide of the plow
Keep the share sharp and in sharpen
ing it draw the point down little SO
that it will hold we'll in the soil. This
pillow will cut off most of the brush
without turning it under, because the
mold boards have been removed
After the soil has been plowed, the
next step is to rake up the sagebrush.
In this case the rake need not be so
substantially made as for use on land
which has been rallied or dragged
Often strong sulky horse rake will
suffice
If the land is level and a hay crop
is to be seeded, no further blowing is
in the long run to pillow after clear
ing, If economics of time or money do
not interfere. In any event we would
give disking and a crossdragging
short. scrubby sagebrush is cleared
to fine the surface Land covered with
most cheaply by grubbing out with a
mattock or grubhoe A mattock drawn
out thin, and wide on its hoe side is
preferable Sagebrush has only one
main or tap root and the blow should
be so directed as to strike it about
an inch under the surface where il will
cut off easily. 1t is a simple matter
to rake up the brush cleared by hand
and an ordinary hay rake will do the
work satisfactorily Land cleared by
hand will be difficult to pillow because
all the roots have been left in the
ground The pillow will have to cut
them off and the roots will later incon-
vcnience the rancher by clogging up
the harrow.
There are other methods of clear
ing sagcbrush and many machines
have been invented for the purpose.
\ number OF these are successful, but
the ordinary man who has a limited
acreage to clear finds il inexpedient
To tie up too much of his capital III
land Leveling new land after the sage
machinery OF this kind. 1t costs 50 or
brush is cleared off is hard process
So an acre to clear and pillow sagebrush
To reduce to adequate description, as
the leveling depends upon the nature
of the tract and to give the general
rules about this work would be only
touching the high places. However,
there are few salient features that
can be laid down as general axioms.
The first OF these is that water will not
run up hill and the second is that II
will run down hill This seems sim
pie but is not as simple as it seems.
Water turned into a ditch that has
too much fall will cut the soil away
and will pass through so rapidly that
il will not scrape out well on the
sides The whole proposition in level
ing is to strike the happy medium be-
humps should be taken off with drag
tween these two extremes. Small
or float. This instrument is generally
made OF two 2x6's or Kiss. thirty feet
long for side pieces, placed on edge
ten or twelve feet apart, to which is
attached there crossroads, one near
each end of the side pieces, and the
third near the middle The boards
near the ends should not extend below
the edges of the side pieces, while the
middle board should extend an inch
or so below the side pieces. The po-
sition of these cross boards will de-
pend upon the soil as they must be ar
ranged SO as not to clog nor dig in so
deep as to make it impossible to pull.
Four to six horses will be required to
haul the drag.
The small knobs and bumps having
been smoothed down, the next step
is to decide which way across the
land he water is to be rum 1t is not
possible to determine this with the
naked eye. and preliminary survey
should be made to determine the gen
eral slope. In leveling with the drag
there will not be excessive hauling oil
dirt if the tract is to be leveed to the'
draw, which means that the natural
contour of the land will be adhered to
as closely as possible. The laterais
will not run straight with the compass
but the water will be taken out OF the
head bitches along the crest OF the
ridge and turned into the small bitches
which, running at the proper fall, VIII
take the water over the land and DIS
charge it into the waste bitches after
the soil has been watcred