The Glasgow courier., 1921-04-29

} into solid, moist soil, not over an incl
| from the surface. Press wheels hell
{ to insure prompt termination. Seed
ing alone is most satisfactory. Too
much seed is often the cause of un
; satisfactory growth of alfalfa the
| first few years. On irrigated land, il
, at satisfactory growth is not secured
with four to six pounds, or less, pei
acre, it is not the fault of the amount
of seed The only advantage in seed
ing alfalfa in rows is to get fewer
plants. Broadcast seeding can be cul-
tivated with a spring tooth harrow
just as satisfactorily, or more so
than row planting. Alfalfa should
not be crowded by weeds or a nurse
crop, allowed to bloom the first year
Clip it frequently and let the root
system grow. Leave a growth for
winter protection. Cut for hay when
the new growth starts from the crown
Much of the hay is too old-too much
stem and too few leaves.
Sweet clover is best used for pas
ture, but can be made into good hay,
and will loosen up and improve the
hardest gumbo soils. Study and take
advantage of these crops. A ton of
good alfalfa or SWEET clover hay is
equal to a ton of bran and can be
grown for one-fourth the cost of bran.
The land is improved by growing these
crops and you keep the money at
home.
A SILO WITHOUT MONEY
We met Dry Land farmer who dug
a pit silo six feet in diameter and
twenty feet deep, and finished it at a
cost of $3.50. He could not afford to
buy a siage cutter alone, and his
neighbors all quit and went East to
wife's folks; so to beat the grass
hoppers and hot winds, he cut his
corn by hand, hauled it in, got chunk
and laid it on the edge of his pit silo,
and chopped the corn with a corn
knife 1t took him eight days to fill
the silo, but he saved his feed, kept
four cows milking, which supported
him over winter, and saved him his
farm. You can build a silo and fill it
if you want to. Near Forsyth, Mon
tana, farmer did not have time to
dig pit silo, so he took frenso,
scraped out trench eight feet wide,
five feet deep and thirty feet long,
cut five acres of sunflowers into this,
put a layer of straw over the silage
and covered it with six inches of dirt.
This silage kept fine and he SIMPLY
uncovered the silage at one end and
let the cattle go to the silo and help
themselves. Can you beat that? Ne
cessity and laziness are the parents
of many things. We would prefer a
nice concrete silo, barns and sheds,
but stock can be fed from a pit silo
and protected by straw sheds Just as
satisfactorily. We would not 90 into
debt for these things.
DON'T BUY MILK, BUTTER,
VEGETABLES OR MEAT
The West is a live stock region,
and many kinds of fruits and vegeta-
bles can also be grown easily A small
town with four grocery stores sells
eigth thousand dollars worth of con-
densed milk-some farmers buy it by
the case. Butter made in the East
is shipped into North Dxkota and Mon
tana. A restaurant in Montana ad-
vertised Kansas City beef These
steers were probably raised in Mon
tana or North Dakota, shipped to Oma-
ha, sold as feeders, fattened in Ne
braska, butchered in Kansas City and
the meat sent back to Montana. | will
not mention the eggs that were ship
ped in from China. Farmers must
consider these things.
There are thousands of tons of al |
falfa in Montana for which there is no
sale. Corn can be grown and siloed, !
and other feeds raised, that will make
the production of butter, eggs, beef
and cured meats just as profitable in
the northwest as anywhere in the
world. Get the feed and the stock to-
gether. Produce and consume what
is needed of these things at home
and have some to sell instead of buy
ing. The money spent on many farms |
for food that could be grown on the
farm, would pay a lot of debts or
buy many improvements that are
needed. A few hogs, chickens and a
good garden will not interfere with
growing small grain. Be sure of
living first, and have something to
sell; poultry, butter, hogs or cattle
to sell every week, keep down the
store bills and other running expenses. |
DIVERSIFIED FARM
ING MUST COME
Much of the soil in the Great Plains
Area is very rich in plant food, and
where it is possible TO irrigate, and
this is done intelligently, there is no
question as to the possibilities. Where
rainfall must be depended on, crop
production will always be more or
less uncertain The system of farm
ing must be adapted to the climate,
for climate does not change. Too
much dependence must not be put on