Evening star., 1948-01-25

In Northern Montgomery County,
only a few miles from the we'll
Travelled Frederick road, a modern
day miracle" has been going on al
most unnoticed during the last u
months. For there, not far from the
town of Dickerson, progressive
farmer, H. s. Kahle, has succeed
ed in bringing back to life-and
productions farm that, for all
purposes of cultivation, had been
declared dead" for more than 10
years.
Being modest man, Mr.. Kahle
does not take full credit for the
transformation. To be sure, it re-
quired much work and long-range
planning on his part, but Mr.. Kahle
prefers to attribute some of his Sue
cess to a silent partnership" he
formed early last year with soil
conservation farming practices. Mr..
Kahle firmly established them in bis
business and feels they have been
his biggest help in reclaiming this
wilderness" for crop cultivation.
The success of this silent part
nership" may be judged from the
fact that Mr.. Kahle, who has been
a farm owner less than one year,
was recently selected by the super
visors of the Montgomery County
soil conservation district to repre-
sent that area in the Statewide soil
conservation contest sponsored by
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
A Record in Strip Cropping.
Although he became a cooper
ator" in the soil conservation dis
trict's program only last spring, Mr..
Kahle has established more than
145 acres of his farm in contour
strip-cropping, one of the chief
farming practices recommended by
soil technicians for preventing
erosion and conserving moisture in
the soil. According to j. Frederick
Hazen, Montgomery work-unit con-
servationist, Mr.. Kahle has installed
more acres of contour strip-crop-
ping than any one else in the Mont
gomery district, under more difficult
conditions, and has established them
most successfully.
No "rills" or washing Of any kind
developed on any of the contour
strips installed last spring, although
three heavy rains fell within 10 days
after the strips were seeded. In the
same rainy period, number OF
other farmers in that area who had
planted entire fields to corn, using
ordinary straight-row methods, were
forced to disc and replant their
fields-twice in many cases.
Mr.. Kahle's accomplishments ap-
pear the more significant in view OF
the adverse conditions present.
First, the nonavailability OF new
machinery necessitated the installa-
tion of these soil conservation prac-
tices largely by means of old, Sec
ond-hand equipment. Besides plan
ming and directing the farm work,
Mr., Kahle holds a regular position
in Washington, to which he COM
mutes daily. His only regular farm
help. F. M. Harrison-although born
and raised on a farm-had not
worked on one for more than 80
wears. Occasionally, however, one
of Mr.. Harrison's two sons has oeen
able to contribute part-time work,
particularly with spring and fall
seeding.
Clearing Was Major Task.
Mr.. Kahle's rolling 307-acre farm
is located on the south side OF the
Comus-Barnesville road, a short dis
tance from Comus. When he pur-
chased the land in December, ls46,
it was in an extremely wild con-
dition and had not been WORKED
cultivated or grazed since 1887:
With the exception Of rs acres OF
wheat seeded just prior to its pur-
chase, the farm was completely