The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1912-06-21
SUMMER TITLED CROPS
Dry Farming Had Serious Back
set in Past Two Years.
Fair Crop Could Have Been Raised
Had Campbell System OF FILLING
and Storing Of Rainfall Been
Put Into Practice.

In the last two or three years dry
farming has had the worst backset In
many seasons or perhaps since the Sc
ries of unusually dry years In the early
nineties. However we have had but
few If any years in which fair crop
could not have been grown by the
Campbell system OF summer ulllns
one half of the land every year and
storing the rainfall. thereby utilizing
the moisture Of two years to produce
one crop, writes v. II. Hamilton In the
Denver Field and Farm. Ending with
1907 we had a series OF years OF more
than normal rainfall and in some dry
districts the fall wheat averaged about
twenty bushels the acre and thls by
very poor methods OF farming. Ihen
In 1908 spring rains were light and
crops generally were failure. so that
tie farmers did not harvest them, but
plowed the land during the early sum-
mer for the next years crop.
With a good supply of moisture that
fall and the next spring a boomer
crop was harvested in 1909 averaging
twenty-five to thirty bushels and In
some fields up to nearly fifty bushels
the acre. Then in 1910 wheat aver
aged about ten bushels ar acre with
many total failures. One field OF 100
acres on Gunbarrel Hill In Boulder
county that was summer titled in 1909
averaged 30H bushels the acre, while
II 4 oil fol lure
Another field across the corner was
moved for hay, while still another ad-
joining field made nineteen bushels
and another ten bushels. Then field
of abou. 200 acres two miles from the
first field was summer titled in 1909
and made an average of twenty-six
bushels, while the average of the
whole district was only about ten bush
els. This goes to show that the short
crops Of 1910 were not so much the
fault of the climate as to the slack
IL ethods of farming
Now that we have had liberal
amount of snow this winter and spring,
the dry farmer should get busy and
double disk all land not already In
crops. just as soon as the ground is
dry enough to work Disking will put
the surface in condition so that the
rains will be more readily absorbed.
and in case the weather should be dry
and windy it will prevent evaporation
Last spring | disked part of a field in
March, then early in May we listed the
field in corn. The part that was disked
was in fine condition with moisture
fourteen inches deep. while the part
not disked was SO dry and hard we
could hardly list it at all. The disked
part made good growth with small
ear on nearly every stalk, while that
not disked never got more than a foot
high the season long. Every one farm
ing on the semi-arid plains where the
average precipitation is less than
eighteen inches should carefully sum
mer till part of their land every year
because ordinary methods or the way
they farm back east will fail about
one year In two.
What Is meant by summer filling is
to disk after the binder or at least re-
move the grain as soon as possible,
then double disk which should be done
again IN the spring as soon as the
frost is out of the ground and 1t dry
enough TO work. but do not disk too
deep. not more than three inches.
Then pillow during June or early July
not less than six inches nor more than
eight. using the packer every half day
after the pillow and the harrow every
night, The subsurface packer should
be used while the soil is moist or 1t
will not pack the under part of the fur
row slice sufficiently to make good CON
nection with the subsoil. The reason
for not blowing unirrigated lands deep
er than eight inches is that in order
to obtain good results the plowed part
must have good connection with the
subsoil, for no packer yet devised will
firm the under part sufficiently. The
air spaces in the plowed soil will break
the capillary attraction from below.
so that no matter how much moisture
is stored Ii will be of no use TO the
growing crop unless there should come
q soohii6 ldlH mat Woulu Settle all
the plowed part, exclude the surplus
air and restore connection with the
subsoil. We must do with the sub
surface packer what nature often fails
TO do in the arid region. In summer
filling do not plow too early as 1t
would then be more difficult to keep
the weeds down.