The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-03-07
NEXT SEASON
MAY Be DRY
PROF. THos. SHAW WARNS FARM
ERs TO PREPARE FOR SMALL
RAINFALL THIS YEAR-LAsT
YEAR WAS MOST UNUSUAL IN
AMOUNT OF MOISTURE.

"In regard to moisture, the summer
of 1912 was phenomenal in the Dakotas
and Montana says Prof. Thos. Shaw.
crops were phenomenal. They were so
bountifuI in both the Dakotas and
Montana, that the same average of
production may not be realized again
for many years to come.
THE phenomenal crop of 1912 is not
without it's dangers. The hazard Is
present that some, yes many will be
lulled into a sense of false security,
They will feel like saying, why should
we give attention to dry farming meth
DDS when we car grow such crops as
we grew last year? 1t should be re-
membered, however, that a season so
favorable as that of 1912 may not come
again in twenty years: Farmers do
well to remember that the average an
nual rainfall west of Minot and Bis
marck is around fifteen inches and
that in all probability it will never be
more. They should shape their work
accordingly. The work should be SO
conducted every year as though the
conviction were present that the next
year would be a dry year. If the dry
year comes the farmer is then prepared
for 1t. If it does not come his crops
will just be SO much better because of
the special preparation that has been
given.
Should this year be dry, who will
get crops? The answer is not difficult.
Those who summer fallowed their land
and did the work properly will get a
grain crop if they SOW it in time and
do the work right. n give 1T judiciOus
narrowing. Those who have grown corn
or other cultivated crops and taken due
care of it may likewise look for an
equally good grain crop. None of
these grain crops may DO of normal
yield, but they will be such as to repay
the grower for his outlay. But the
unfortunate thing is that a great ma
jority of the farmers in the area under
consideration did not nave any sum
mer fallow in 1912, nor did they grow
any cultivated crop. The harvest was
late. The after-harvest weather was
showery, very many farmers did not
stack their grain. The showery wealth
er hindered threshing. h shocks in
the field hindered blowing. The result
is that the greater portion of the land
is still ~unplowed.
Suppose this year is unusually dry
what is going to happen? This will
happen. Much of the moisture that
fell in 1912, and that a it been saved
would have insured q crop in 1913 was
lost in the late fall, because the lane
was not plowed M narrowed to aim
der its escape, when that land is plowed
in the spring more moisture will es-
cape, even though the land should be
packed. Much of the land will be
plowed and sown late if sown at all.
This will mean, that should the season
be abnormally dry, zone of the crop
will be good and much of it will be a
total failure.
Many may answer, we could not
plow our land last fall, because the
grain shocks were on the land. /
answer it was not necessary that the
grain shocks were on the land. A
part at least could have been stacked
and a part Of the land could have been
plowed. w.
What then should be done when the
land is not plowed? Why, the farmer
should curtail the area of his grain
crops. The best that he can do is to
go on and pillow and SOW till the normal
season is ended for sowing each kind
of grain. and hen he should stop SOW
ing these grains. To continue would
be to gamble.
Flax and corn fodder will be two of
the safest crops to plant, as they may
be grown under more dry conditions
than nearly all other crops. When the
season is too late for sowing, the bal
ance of the land should be summer
falIowed, thus preparing it for a crop
the following year. whether that crop
should be sown in the autumn or in the
spring" ..a...