The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1914-01-06
COULD Be USED FOR BEANS.
Idle Lands in Washington, Oregon and
Idaho Would Produce PrOfitAbly.

Washington, d. c., Dec. 30.--Thou-
sands of acres of land are lying idle as
summer fallow each year in eastern
Washington, eastern Oregon, and
northern IDAHO that are well adapted
to the growing of beans, states Farm
ers' Bulletin No. SCI, issued by the De-
partment of Agriculture. Fifteen
years experience shows that as good
cereal crops can be grown following
beans as after an ordinary summer
fallow. The cultivation of the bean
crop replaces the work necessary to.
care for the fallow, and leaves the soil
in excellent condition for seeding win
ter wheat. The crop is also harvested
in ample time to permit early fall seed
ing.
Beans do not seriously compete with
wheat for labor, and the two crops can
be grown with practically the same
equipment approximately $3.50 worth
of extra machinery is needed to plant,
harvest and cultivate from 70 to 50
acres of beans instead of cultivating
the land as summer fallow. With the
gresent wage for man and horse labor
it requires about Sc more per acre to
grow, harvest, and market a crop of
DSullS lllul1 IL uObS W SuululSI -ldIlCW
an equal area. Since beans yield on
the average about 500 pounds per acre;
and sell for 3 cents per pound, the
gross return per acre is approximately
$24.. In districts adapted to bean Gull
ture, beans are therefore approximate
ly SIS per acre more profitable than
summer fallow.
Generally speaking, the soils of the
bean growing districts are rich in all
the mineral elements necessary for
plant growth. Under such conditions
the maintenance of soil fertility will
depend almost entirely on keeping up
the organic matter of the SOIL This is
not easily accomplished when beans
and cereal crops are grown exclusive
ly. Stubble should always be plowed
under instead of being burned The
blowing under of partially decayed
bean and wheat straw will also do
much toward keeping the soil in a
productive condition The decayed
straw should be scattered thinly over
the grain stubble in the fall 1t should
be thoroughly worked into the surface
soil with sharp disk harrow and
ploWed under as soon as possible after
the first autumn rains. The discing'
causes the straw to mix thoroughly
with the soil at the time of blowing
instead of forming layer in the bot
tom of the furrow.
The arabic land of eastern Wash
lngton, eastern Oregon, and northern
Idaho has been devoted almost exclu-
sively to the production of wheat, oats,
and barley for more than 80 years.
Because of the introduction of serious
weed pests soon after the land was
brought into cultivation it was found
Improbable to grow a crop of grain
each year. Many of the new settlers
had come from the Willamette Valley,
oregon, where wheat and oats were
grown by summer-fallowing the land
every second or third year. Hence.
they naturally turned to this system
OF farming as solution of their weed
problem, and the growing of small
grain by the summer fallow method is
still the general practice among the
farmers of this region. Under this
system of farming from one-third to-
one-half of the land lies idle each sea-
son.