The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1921-12-02
CAMPBELL POINTS
WAY TO SUCCESS
Says Summer Tillage Methods Oil
Make Montana Dry Farms " u
Bumper Crops Each Year.

A large crowd of farmers and busi-
ness men gathered at the court house
last evening to hear Hardy w. Camp
bell, noted lecturer and dry farming
expert, who is making series Of lee
lures through the state under the
management of the Montana Devel-
opment Association. Mr.. Campbell's
lecture was intensely interesting from
start to finish.
He dwelt at length on his long life's
experience with growing dry land
crops, beginning in Brown County,
South Dakota in 1879. He recounted
the various successes and failures of
that country in it's pioneer day, which
in way, rather closely paralleled
Montana's history. He traced his work
from there to Nebraska, Kansas, Ne
vada, Colorado and California, telling
of efforts to resurrect localities, which
were known as failures from a farm
ing standpoint. He told Of the many
interesting experiments and practical
demonstrations that have been car
ried on in all these places and which
may be said to be fundamental and
underlie successful dry land farming
in all the semi-arid West. He laid
stress upon the fact that, of course,
slight differences of methods are nee
essary in different localities, to pro-
duce the ideal conditions which make
it possible for the retention. Of the
largest amount of moisture from one
year to another and the development
of maximum of plant food in the
soil thru the establishment of condi-
tions which lend themselves readily
to the development of soil bacteria,
which manufacture plant seed.
Mr.. Campbell's general formula par
alleled very cosely the summer fallow
and summer tillage formulas advo-
Gated by Montana's Experimental Sta
tion and agricultural agents. It is
discing the land at the earliest possi-
BILE time in the spring, plowing while
the soil is full Of moisture, following
the plow with surface packer or
tandem disc, weighted and set one
notch from straight. Then begin sur
face cultivation to depth of two and
one-half inches or so with some suit
able instrument, which will not dis
turb the solid soil beneath the mulch.
This cultivation must be continued
thruout the season, so that the dry
much is maintained on top of the soil
and so that all weed growth is de-
stroyed. Winter wheat should be
planted on land so prepared in Au-
gust or early September and where
ideal conditions have been maintained,
twenty pounds of seed will be suffi-
cient. Where the land is to be plant
ed in spring wheat, he would use from
twenty to forty pounds, planted after
shallow cultivation in the spring.
This scheme, he declares, if follow
ed out religiously, will retain enough
of the moisture which falls during one
season to bring about development
of fertility through beneficial action
to great enough degree in almost
every section of the semi-arid West to
insure a crop the following year.
He advocates very strongly, much
thinner seeding than has been Gus
tomary thruout Montana and main
tains that where the land is properly
prepared according to his methods,
grain will stool much more abundant
ly and produce much harder plants
with longer and better developed
heads and much heavier yields.
An interesting phase of his discus
sion was the question of spring fit
ting. He declares that this same plan
of early discing, plowing moist, pack.
ing solid and cultivating the top fol
a period of time before spring seed is
planted, will create a much more fav.