The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1912-01-05


worked into nitrates available to sue
ceeding plant life.
Perennial legumes are always deep
feeders, bringing a part of their min
eral food from soil depths below the
feding ground of ordinary crops.
This value to succeeding crops is
shown in the opening paragraph to
Coburn's Alfalfa: "There are some s.
lent subscribers that do their work
with aese and in their way, more eff
tectually than any team or plow ever
hitched. The clover plant is right
eously famed as one of these, but
alfalfa is its superior. Its roots work
Sunday as we'll as Saturday, night
and day; they strike S, 10, IS or 20
feet deep, MAKING innumerable per-
forations, while storing up nitrogen,
and when these roots decay they
leave not only generous supply OF
fertility for any desired crop, but
millions of openings into which the
airs and rains of heaven find their
way, and help to constitute an unfail-
ing reservoir of wealth, upon which
the husbandman can draw with little
fear of protest or overdrafts."
Professor Buffum, some years ago
at the Wyoming Experiment Station,
made test showing the gain on al
falfa ground for small grain and po-
tatoes over the same type of soil
where alfalfa was not grown. His re-
suits obtained are here given:
Crop Gain Gain in acre
bushel harvested crop
Wheat per i is o0ea! So R5'ees'
Oats Al 16
Therefore, get the land into a le-
gume of some kind, alfalfa, vetch or
held pea, as soon as you can that it
may be better prepared for successful
and profitable after crops.
In case the farmer is in doubt just
what crop to put in, he will make no
mistake to seed down to alfalfa while
he is planning out the crop rotation
that his environment would seem to
indicate best for him to adopt.
Rotation Destroys Weeds.
The elimination of weeds is effect
ually accomplished by the introduc
ton of cultivated crops like potatoes,
stock roots, sugar beets, field beans
and truck gardening crops. The ir-
rigation ditch is even Greater car
rier of weeds than the winds. Where
an entire irrigation district adopts
the practice of rotation and cutting
ditch and canal bank weeds, they can
be, and are, exterminated. Most of
our worst weed pests are annual and
when all users of given ditch prac-
tice good crop rotation the weed
question is solved.
Get Station Bulletins.
Because weed and incest pests as
we'll as fungus diseases are fully dis
cussed in station bulletins which can
be had by addressing the Director of
your State Experiment Station, l
shall pass up any discussion of them
Rotation Fundamentals.
Let us now consider the funda-
mentals which we should concern
ourselves with, in adopting a rotation
for our irrigated lands, where we can
not afford to grow many cheap for
age or grass crops, unless upon said
farm we can convert these cheaper
crops into more remunerative meat,
dairy or poultry products.
l. All plants tend to exhaust the
soil. They abstract some one or
more food elements to the full amount
of availability.
D. All plants do not exhaust the
soil in the same way and manner
equally.
8. Plants grown constantly or con-
tinuously on the same field favor the
spread of insect pests and certain
plant diseases.
4. Some plants, by methods of til
lage, are favorable to weed growth,
while others are not.
S. Plants differ in habits of root
growth.
E. All legumes are soil builders
and soil renovators. .
7. Some form of stock raising,
combined with crop growing, will fur
nish manure for making humus and
building up the soil. The old English
adage, "No grass no cattle; no cattle
no manure; no manure no grass, is
true everywhere.
Rotation on Irrigated Lands.
Every rotation on the irrigated
lands in this region should contain:
LIST. At least one money or cash
I'd. At least one cultivated crop;
Sd. At least one legume crop;
4th. At least one live stock or
feeding crop;
5th. These should be so grouped
as to most economically dis
tribute farm labor throughout
! the year.