The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-02-09

and the result. He advised me to >se-
lect from my own as there was no
better to be obtained. I Their selected
were sown in our garden. After the
plants were headed out I carefully
culled out all plants not to my fancy. I
did this at least a dozen times. Nh
soWed on summer-tilled soil, and again
the culling process was resorted to. I
can assure you that I felt a thrill of
Joy as l rode the binder while cutting
this field. The straw had just a tinge
of green, and the grains were quite
firm. l had sown a bushel to the acre,
and the yield was thirty-seven bushels
per acre.
Made Worlds Record.
1t became evident that I could not
get a machine very early, so l hauled
several loads OF sheaves to the barn.
The remainder was left in the stock or
barns that won at Tulsa, Oklahoma,
weighing slightly. over seventy-one
pounds to the bushel, which I under
stand Is a worlds record.
] causing a loss of several bushels per
acre, and was of a somewhat bleach
sample, which, however, woul not i'm
pair it's value for seed.
| l am still further improving my
wheat by hand selection, according to
the rules of the Canadian Seed Grow
ers' association. While culling over
the small fields above mentioned, I
noticed some plants showing a super
iority over the others, the heads were
nearly square and filed from end TO
end with large kernels. spent three
days selecting a sack full Of these
heads, which ] threshed in a bag to
avoid any possible mixture. Last
spring I sowed his seed in the garden
and after the plants were headed out,
1 weeded out any heads not true to the
TUnn I 6aGfrnH AS Gnnn &C tho GRAIN
was ripe, I selected a sack full of heads
conforming to my ideal. These will be
threshed and sown next year. I. shall
continue improving my wheat, if this
is possible.
My system of soil tillage may be DIFF.
) ferent from that favored by farmers
} not familiar with our soil, climate. ant
other conditions. Were T farming II
some other country, the problems there
would demand other methods. Our sol
l is singularly rich in these elements
? which produce good wheat. It is not {
question Of enriching our soil. NJ,
: main effort is toward conservation o.
moisture. In this / try to follow tn,
Campbell system Of soil culture Camp
, bell Soil Culture company, Lincoln
) Nebraska). In prepairing summer faI
) low, I prefer starting the previous
year by following the binder with
, disc harrow, discing the stubble a
soon as the grain is cut, keeping ia
enough away from the standing grain
to permit the large wheel of the binde
to travel on solid ground. AS long a
l the straw is standing, it acts as
(. blanket on the earth, preventing tn,
evaporation to a large extent. AS sool
: as the straw is removed, the protection
is gone and sun and winds soon dry GU
the surface.
, Four Reasons.
By discing as stated, I gain in var
First. I break up the capillarity o
the surface soil to prevent the loss o
moisture through evaporation.
= Second, the soil is in splendid sIlap
to receive a rain, and permit the wa
y ter to enter the soil quickly, and to es
cape through evaporation very slowly
Third. by t~horoughly mixing stubble
\ the surface of two inches or more
when turned under with the plow, viii
produce a fine root bed, whereas, If al
this material were left without dis9n
as is often the practice on most farms
4 the dry earth, stubble, etc, would b
+ turned under all in one mass. Thi
would cause an open, dry condition
which would be an inhospitable HON
for roots of plants. Water from belo'
the depth of the furrow cannot reac
the roots, neither can the roots reac
the water. AS soon as the moisture |
the surface soil is exhausted the plant
suffer.
Fourth. by covering weed seeds a
that time many will commence to gro'
and freeze during the winter. .Thos
a lndL 10 not uIS VI tlOSS Indt Idll I
4 grow during the autumn, will groN
early the next spring, and are the
n cared for.
I d. not recommend burning stubbl
unless there. is too much to disc I'm
der. In cases where a large amount Q
stubble is present and noxious weed
as we'll, I would certainly resort t
burning. desire to put back into tn
81 land as much humus as / can. In de
n stroying the stubble by fire, you do nc
ID improve your soil.