Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1912-05-09
CLEARING SAGE BRUSH
Cheapest and Best Way Is to
Use Gang PIow.
levellng Land for Irrigation is Next
Important Step-PreIlminary Sur
vey Should Be Made to Deter
mine the Slope.

itiinc the olOPc.
Land covered with scattering sage |
brush can be cleared in several ways |
If the soil Is soft and not too stony, |
the cheapest and best way is to plow
the sagebrush out Take a l6-inch |
riding plow-a gang plow is better
remove the mold boards and use only
the share and Landslide of the plow
Keep the share sharp and in sharpen
Ing 1t draw the point down a little so
that 1t will hold well 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 sub
stantially made as for use on land
which has been rallied or dragged. Oft
en- strong sulky horse rake will suf-
fee.
II the land Is level and hay crop
is to be seeded no further blowing is
necessary. although 1t generally pays
In the long run to plow after clear
ing. If economies of time or money do
not interfere. In any event we would
give a disking and a cross-dragging
10 fine the surface. Land covered with
short. scrubby sagebrush is cleared
most cheaply by grubbing out with a
mattock or grub hoe. 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
II about an inch under the surface
where II 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 plow
will have TO cut them of and the roots
will later inconvenience the rancher
/ by clogging up the harrow.
There are other methods OF clear
Ing sagebrush and many machines
have been invented for the purpose
A number OF these are successful, but
the ordinary man who has Il limited
acreage TO clear finds II inexpedient
TO tie up too much OF his capital in
machinery OF this kind II costs Sc or
IS an acre to clear and pillow sagebrush
land leveling new land after the
sagebrush is cleared off is a hard
process TO reduce to adequate de
scripuon. as the leveling depends up
on the nature OF the tract and to give
the general rules about the work
would be only touching the high
places However. there are few sal
lent 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 1t will run down
bill. This seems simple but is not as
simple as IL seems.
Water turned into a ditch that has
too much fall will cut the soil away
and will pass through so rapidly that
II will not scrape out well on the
sides. The whole proposition in level
Ing is to strike the happy medium be
tween these two extremes. Small
Jumps should be taken off with a drag
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 three cross boards. one near
each end Of the side pieces. and the
third near the middle. The boards
near he 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 pc
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 sc
deep as TO make It impossible to pull
Four TO six horses will be required tC
haul this drag.
The small knobs and bumps having
been smoothed down. the next stel
is to decide which way across The
land the water is to be run. II is no
possible to determine this with thu
naked eye. and a preliminary surve,
] should be made to determine the gen
? eral slope In leveling with the drai
l there will not be excessive hauling o
] dirt II tie tract is to be leveled to thu
; draw. which means that the natura
j contour Of the land will be adhered Il
{ as closely as possible. The lateral
( will not rnn straight with the compass
8 but the water will be taken out of tn
{ head bitches along the crest of tn
, ridge and turned into the small ditche
which, running at the proper fall
will take the water over the land ant
y discharge II into the waste ditche
after the soil has been watered.