The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-08-09
WRETCHED FLOWING
DONE IN WESTERN
OAK0TAS
Expert Says it is Menace to
Future of Crop Pro-
duction.
lBy Prof. Thos. Shawl

NhAS paw ~
the western Dakotas and Montana is
nothing short of a enace to the i'm
mediate future of crop production, be
cause of it's wretchcd character. Some
of the poor blowing is done by the
farmers themselves. but more, much
more of it is done by those who use
power plows and do the work at so
much an acre. Much of the work that
those men do is simply wretched in
character. No mildcr term will fifty
apply to 1t.
The land plowcd is turned over in
part by the mould-board plows and in
part by disk plows. The character of
much of the blowing done by those
power plowS will I've made apparent in
the following demonstration. conduct
ed at Moccasin in the Judith Basin on
the experimental farm at that place
July %. The occasion was the hold
ing of n monster picnic of two or three
thousand people at the farm. Two
power plowS We're at work. One was
a mouldhoard and the other a disk
pillow.
was the character of the work
done? The m%ouldboard pillow turned
the sod over at depths varying from
two to six inches. In some places
there We're two or three skips. Some
OF the burrows Were thrown over quite
on the top of the burrows adjacent to
them. thus making a crown Of earth
n a depression alongside of it, such
as would call for great labor to put it
in an even condition.. n when SO ev-
encd, nan sods would lie on the sur
face in a way that would interfere
with the narrowing of the grain crop
that follows. The disk pillow had torn
the sod into furroW slices of varying
depths and lengths. Some of these lay
with the grass side down and some
with the grass side up. some of them
lay on the edge and they lay length
wise and cross wise and at all angles.
II could not be Travelled over by man
or beast without labored etfort Ana
that was a demonstration, If these
are the kind of demonstrations that
those with power plows give, what
must be the character of the blowing
that is not a demonstration? l do not
say that all the ploWins thus done by
power rloWs is of that character. but
much of il is. l have heard it spoken
of as rascally.
The ground that was turned over
with the disk pillow al Moccasin would
be exceedingly difficult to %pulverize. I
fail TO see how it could be DONE, ex-
cept by using on il a very heavy cut
away disk, n keeping at it until it
was cut in pieces. When thus tined it
would be covered with bits of sod hat
will not rot. II is simply too bad that
land should be treated thus.
The farmers themselves are in part
TO blame for such blowing. They
should not tolerate it. If an agreement
has been properly made. both parties
should live up to it. If d written
agreement has not heen made. such an
omission is q mistake. When a man
agrees to pillow land five or six inches.
he should either do II or go without a
part Of his pay. II such blowing were
not tolerated it would not be DONE. But
many farmers are too easily satisfied.
They too readily listen to the delusion
that three or four inches is deep
enough to pillow.
If the makers of plows are wise.
they will look carefully into this ques-
ton. They do not know probably that
a prejudice is rising up in the minds
of many against such blowing and
against implements that do it. Should
they not be more careful in making
sales: They have an important mis-
sion if they will only rightly fulfil it.
The help they can give in turning ov-
er he stiff sod lands of the prairie is
of Very great value, but it should be
rlghtfully rendered. If it is not, the
day will come when these power ma
chimes may be ~relegated to the junk
heap.
is IL not a tact that farmerS of the
west are going a little too fast in the
breaking up OF their land? Would it
not be better in every Way to break
less land and to break it as it ought
to be broken? Even in the present
eason which was very favorable
to growth the crop on we'll prepared
land was vastly better than on that
poorly prepared. In a poor producing
year the difference would be vastly
greater in favor of the we'll prepared
land.
Is it not a good plan for the home
steader to break up much of his land
with good brood Mares Is it not
quite as good 10 break up much of it
with mules? Would it not be a still
better plan tn break up much of it
with oxen? Oxen are good property
TO turn off for beef when we are done
with them. Would it do any harm to
turn the wheels backward or at least
TO slow up A little?