The Ordway new era., 1916-04-07
SOIL FOR DRY FARMING
Most Desirable Land Is Sandy or
Silt Loan.
Can 30 Piowed Deep and Readily
Combined With Organic Matter
Making Rich Seed Red-AIso
Readily Absorbs Moisture.

Primarily the success or failure of
the dry-land farmer depends upon the
nature Of the soil he Is tilling. The
most desirable land for dry-farming
operations is sandy or silt loan five
or more feet in depth. Such soil
can without difficulty be plowed deep
and is easily cultivated and readily
combines with organic matter making
rich, deep seed bed, writes DR.. w.
E. Taylor in Denver Field and Farm.
A sandy or silt loan readily absorbs
moisture and maintains perfect capil-
larity. Shallow land or land where
the surface soil is thi nand sub
soil is sand or gravel is very undesir.
able and to attempt to raise crops on
such ground in semi.arid regions is
labor and seed lost except when the
summer rains are frequent.
While a gravel or sandy sub-soil
will readily absorb water neither con-
dition will maintain capillarity. Again
IL the water line or table is too near
the surface, that Is. so near that the
roots will extend into the water, they
will die, hence the soil should be thor
oughly examined for a depth of five
or six feet. The successful dry-land
farmer, and l may say any farmer.
must religiously observe four impor-
tant operations and the neglect Of
any one will imperil his crop or at
least impair the yield. The seed bed.
fertility, seed and plant cultivation
are interdependent and like a chain
that can be no stronger than its weak
est link, the harvest will correspond
to the weakest step in the evolution
Of production. We must remember
that pedigreed seed like the purebred
animal will soon become a derelict If
the proper care, the right food and a
comfortable home Is not provided,
hence the necessity for thoroughness
in work and an evenness in distribu-
ton from the formation of the seed
bed to the gathering of the crop.
Deep plowing is the first step to be
observed in storing water. The sub
soiler is a valuable adjunct to the
plow and materially assists in loosen
ing the ground below the reach of the
plow, thereby increasing the porosity
Of the hardpan. However, dire results
may come from using sub-soiler II
1t Is run so deep that the under soil
is rendered so loose that capillary at.
traction is hindered under ordinary
circumstances. The sub-soiler should
not be run deeper than one inch the
first year, a little deeper providing
the stirred soil is kept compact; in
other words. free from Jumps and air
spaces each succeeding year.
Water will gravitate through the
lumpy space, but will not come up
through lumpy soil and air spaces. II
however the ground Is disked before
plowing so that when the plow turns
the slices of earth the interstices that
may exist on the bottom of the fur.
row made by the sub-soiler are filled
with pulverized dirt, the contact is
sufficiently compact to insure capil-
larity and at the same time loose
enough to freely admit surface water.
The use of the corrugated roller or
sub-surface packer. run at right angles
with the prevailing wind, prevents in
great measure the blowing of soil If
stubble, manure and straw is thor.
oughly mixed in.