Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1912-11-02
TO RETAIN MOISTURE.
Deep Flowing, Followed With Drag,
Will Do 1t.

moisture than will get into the soil
from melting SHOWS. Besides water
thus conserved is where it is needed,
instead OF on the surface where it VIII
evaporate speedily.
The question is sometimes raised
Shall we practice dry farming when
there is plenty OF rain? Most assur-
edly The time to conserve moisture
is when there is moisture. a farmer
remarked to me the other day: Il have
got the moisture on my farm down
to deph OF more than three feet al
ready" That farmers idea is exactly
right. He is conserving moisture nc.
for next years crop while his neigh
bors are allowing the moisture to 20
its usual way, according to- the laws
of chance. Next spring his neighboi ;
will plant their wheat and other small
grain and depend on the clouds to fur
nish moisture as the grain may need
it. This farmer will get just as much
rain from the clouds as they and will.
III addition have a large quantity
OF water stored up in the sub soil to
nourish the crop. should dry spell
occur during the growing season.
will venture that this particular farmer
will have big crop next year whether
his neighbors do or not If they get
big crop, he will get bigger one
/, hae E..,, III 4
a considerable portion of the rainfall
OF any one year can be conserved and
carried over, in the soil, for he bene-
fit of next years crop. Where the av-
erage rainfall is Is inches it should
be an easy matter to carry four or five
inches OF autumn rainwater over the
winter for the next years crop. Four
inches of water represents approx
mately $50 tons of moisture per acre
a sufficient quantity to nourish the
growing crop during weeks of pro-
tracted drouth. | am convinced that
by means OF suitable cultivation, which
includes deep blowing. the bogie of
drought will be forever dispellcd
There is absolutely no necessity for
single crop failure in North Dakota
on account of drought The fault is
not with the soil, nor with the climate
nor with the plants; it is with our sys-
TEN OF farming. As long as we apply
humid methods To semi arid condi-
tons. we may expect repeated crop
failures. or partial failures that will
materially lessen the profits which
farmers should realize from their bus
mess.
1t requires approximately seven dol
lars per acre To grow crop. This in
cludes interest on investment. cost OF
seed. wear and tear OF farm machin
cry. labor. etc. BY adding one add
tional dollars worth OF labor to each
acre. there is little question but that
the average profits would be double
In other words. as much profit should
be realized from the one additional
dollars worth of unavoidable labor
and investment. Consequently, il
farmers would devote one third oi
alfalfa, neither of which intcricres
with the time and labor employed in
farming wheat, and put the third
more labor, thus made available. on
only two-thirds as many acres oil
wheat. they would grow more wheat
than when they spread their energies
over the onethird larger area.
The corn and alfalfa fed to live
stock would insure them large add
tional income. and one that is not
often adversely influenced by climatic
conditions, while the fertility deposit
ed upon the farm resulting from feed
ing the corn and alfalfa to livestock
would vastly improve the productive
ness of the soil Corn and alfalfa usu
ally can be attended to when the
wheat needs care. thus distributing
the labor more equitably throughout
the season
Another thing. stock thrcshing Is
generally bad business, for the reason
that all cannot thresh at once when
the grain is ready for the machine
consequently all who cannot thresh
early stand a good chance of having
their grain injured in the shock an'
also are hindered from blowing until
the grain is threshed. Fully hall
the farmers are thus hindered IRON
blowing early. many of them being
compelled to postpone blowing opera
ton until the following spring Bet
ter to stack the grain as soon as fit
and start to plow.-J II. Worst, North
Dakota Agricultural College.
Growing Feed Crops.