The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-11-08

4NoI N Col II III = ~
verBifed farming has proved profit
able and is becoming more popular In
| North Dakota, the farmers Of the
| state, as a rule, are still pihning their
faith to wheat, oats. rye and barley
are especially adapted for these cfopB.
They are easily grown, and with the
present prices Of farm and can be
:. produced at q fair profit. J, II. john
| son or Diekey county, who Is farming
| IN an extensive scale, gives his meth
| Cd of growing these important crops
| ds. follows:
''The oats crop is considered one Of
| the important crops OF this section.
| For varieties, I have the Canadian
| Abundance and the Swedish Select.
| The former is easily the fayorite. be-
,ause Of its heavy yield and splendid
quality. The soil best adapted for the
;rop is a heavy, black loan, with a,
clay subsoil and gently rolling sur
face. The fields are usually plowed In
the falL.%o a depth of six inches. and
receive no further cultivation until
spring. Rotation is quite generally
practiced, but the plans vary accord
Ing to conditions, for instance. on new
ground l usually grow two crops or
wheat, these followed by oats and
then corn. On the old ground it is
CubtcfIlhEy W DSSlh LhS IctdIlOl Win
corn, following with wheat one year,
oats ono year, then rye or barley, Rye
is usually stubbled in on barley fields.
This rotation Of crops has proved sat-
isfactofy, and IL advantageous for
several reasons. It results in cleaner
yields OF all crops, and better soil
condition. Corn or other culti-
waited crop is very necessary in any
rotation.
in the early spring or as soon as
the frost is out of the ground. the
heavier soils are narrowed and leVeled
before seeding. This preparation OF
the soil is of great Importance, as It
puts the seed bed in fine condition.
resulting in early and vigorous GER
mination. All Of my oats seed is &c"
lected. The results AVE been sur
prisingly good, as such c will n
doubtedly produce larger yields and
better quality. just as surely as a.
pure-bred animal will produce a bet
ter animal Of it's kind. Then, too, I
am very careful about removing all
foul seed and foreign matter possible,
and to accomplish this, the seed is
run through the tanning mill one or
more times as necessary. This is an
other factor in the production of good
crops. 1t can hardly be presumed that
he stand will be uniform when any
amount Of broken straws or chaff is
soWn with the seed or where weeds
are allowed in large quantity to sap
the soil fertility and moisture.
No Trouble With Smut and insects.
II have very little trouble with in
sects, but smut sometimes damages
my crops. To prevent this, I treat all
seed every other year. A few farmers
have experimental with mixing the
varieties Of oats, but the results have
not hnsA mr. ttrpn af@~xp n~I ~ - npff-
nation 1t is just as poor policy as to
mix varieties in different breeds of
.pure-bred stock. Different varieties
are preferable in different localities,
and no given variety is always salts
factory to all farmers. In my judg-
ment, the wisest plan is each one to
select the cariety that seems especially
fitted for his soil, and then keep that
variety pure. This, Of course, refers
only to grain sown for seed or feed.
I have frequently sown oats and bar
ley mixed for pasture, and with splen-
did results. Canada field peas and
a p or oats with field peas and rape
form a splendid combination for sup
plemented pastures. The Dwarf Es-
sex is the variety Of rape most usually
Sown.
THE oats crop il sown as early in
the spring as possible, about April
20, and always before wheat. / use
two and q half to three bushel r1ea-
sures per acre, and SOW with a double
disk drill, placing the seed two inches
deep, or sufficiently deep to cover nice
ly. After seeding, the fields are har-
rowed at least once before the grain
m up, and If very weedy they are
again narrowed, when tho oats are
two inches high. Nothing more Is
done to the crop until harvesting time.
I harvest with binders, shock the grain
as fast as bound and thresh from the
shock. My usual acreage is between
500 and 600 acres, and the average
yield per acre will not fail short Of
seventy-two bushels. Much Of the
grain is fed or the farm, and several
hundred bushels are sold each year for
seed. All surplus grain is disposed of
on the local markets.
BARLEY Is a better paying crop than
oats from q feeding standpoint. and
1 grow 10000 to 1900 acres each year.
The Manshuri and the Chevalier are
the two principal varieties. I am
growing the Manshuri six row cx-
clusively. This Is a heavy yielding
variety ana the quality Is especially
fine. Like oats, heavy loan soils
are most suitable for this crop, and
figures in the crop rotation as out
lined for oats. The fields ale plowed
in the fall, at a depth Of six inches,
and left without other attention until
spring, when they are double disked