The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1915-11-12
ON DRY LAND
Deep Flowing Gives Proper Sub
soil Conditions
Subsurface Packing tdea ~ Over
Worked in Certain Quarter
Weeds Are Worst Enemies Of
Average Western Farme~.

Our agricultural friends who come
from the humid states often tell Us that
dry farming Is nothing but progressive
farming-good farming. This Is a seri-
Gus misconception OF the facts Dry
farming Ia a branch by itself, a new
agriculture, writes Maj. ]. S. Muir
ply in Denver Field and Farm. The
SOIL and water physics are entirely Diff
ferent; for. speaking broadly. dry
farming is done In capillary waters.
while humid farming is done with free
water. In dry farming the water ia al
ways going down and the top drying
up, while In humid farming the free
water Is always helping out the surface
moisture and supplying the roots In
the seeded. Therefore. we find 1t
impossible to raise profitable crops
without the right subsoil conditions.
which can be obtained by one metht d
only-deep blowing.
Some folk think this deep blowing
proposition Is a hobby with noe, and
that l am riding 1t too hard. think
differently and | repeat, 1T is che es-
sence OF dry farming" And there is
another thing my experience con-
vinces me of. and 1t is this: Water
that Is held in the ground from six to
ten months, the longer the better, is
much more effective in producing
healthy growth than water recently
placed there or water placed there
about the time the roots are ready to
use 1t. 1t seems to go through a sort
OF aging or ripening process-and
believe. that more fertility is thus lib
Grated and made available; also | be.
leve 1t creates and maintains condi-
tons favorable to the preparation OF
plant food. The gardener and fruit
grower in the irrigated country likes
10 get the water in the ground at least
TWO months before he uses 1t for the
simple reason | have here given: 1t lib
crates fertility
Regarding subsurface packing. which
is great hobby of H. w. Campbell.
who has preached a pretty good gos-
pei generally. do not take 30 much
stock in 1t. My own experience leads
me to the conclusion that this idea is
overworked In certain quarters.
In the first place. no packer has yet
been made that will pack the bottom
of the furrcw-slice when the blowing is
ten inches deep and this is what a
packer Is supposed to do; and. again,
summer-tilled land or allplowed land
needs no packing If it has been plowed
deep enough, for the contact between
the furrow-slice and the subsoil is CON-
plete after the blowing has laid over
winter. or course. in comparatively
shallow spring blowing, l believe the
packer is helpful; but have never yet
seen packer that did any more effect
i've work than good disk, set straight
and weighted down.
The average observant farmer will
admit that weeds are his worst ene-
mics. There are thousands of fields
In the West which ten years ago
were native sod and that are today
Astounding with Russian thistle, wild
oats, sunflowers and other vicious
weeds and in the most of those fields
the weeds are taking more moisture
and fertility than the crop. The weeds
must be eradicated. In the lexicon of
the dry farmer it is a crime against
heaven and the human race to permit
weeds to grow and go to seed. When
you become dry farmer you will grow
to SO detest weeds that you will get
up in the night and walk mile to kill
one. Another practice ! find invalu-
able is narrowing growing grain
first sweep over the field with light
harrow just as the first blades are COM
ing through the ground and as often
thereafter as necessary. depending on
the conditions. l have narrowed grain
only once after It started to come up,
and l have narrowed it three times
again, depending on conditions. 1t
takes courage, too. when you are unac-
cIstomed to it, to put a harrow into
field of wheat that looks good and
thrift.