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H 4 THE DESERKT FARMiER ; SATURQAVr OCTOBER .3i" 1908. I B THE DESERET FARMER H (THAT BIG FARM PAPER.) B Combined With "Rocky Mountain H Farming." H Established 1904- flj Official r Organ of the H Utah State Poultry Association. M Utah Horticultural Society. H Utah State Dairymen's Association. H Utah State Bee Keepers' Association. H BearRiver Valley -Farmers' Protoc ol tivc and Commercial Association. M Utah Arid Farming Association. H Issued -every Saturday by the Des- M erct Farmer Pub Co., Salt Lake Sc- Hj curity & Trust Building, Salt Lake 1 City, Utah. H Entered as second class matter Dec. H 27, 1905, at the Postofficc at Salt Lake H City, Utah. H Subscription price $1.00 per year (Strictly in Advance.) M Discontinuances. B The publishers must be notified in M writing, at time of expiration, when H discontinuance of subscription is de- M sired, and all arrears must be paid. M Advertising rates made known upon H annlication. The right is reserved to M reject questionable advertising. B All communications and remit- M tanccs should be addressed to "The H Descret Farnvcr," Salt Lake Securi- H ty & Trust Building, Salt Lake City, r, Utah. H Lewis A. Merrill Editor. H P. G. Peterson Asst. Editor. J. .H. Harper Business Mgr. H Salt Lake City, Utah, H Saturday, October 31, 1908. H Next Tuesday is election day. H While farmers, as a rule, have little H time for politics and political discus- H sions, yet they should exercise their H franchises and express their choice H at .the polls. Wc hope to sec the H .western states cast their maximum M vote on Tuesday next. H The Dcserct Farmer has begun a 1 campaign for more subscribers. It is H going to get them-, too. Will you put H yourself in line as a lover of Utah's H 'place as the leading agricultural state H of the west -by sending in the sub- H scriptioiv of one of your friends along H .with your own? H r- I TA1.2 CARE OF FARM TOOLS. H Without the aid of modern nia- H chincry on the farm it is doubtful if H sufficient hcip could be secured to H :grow a fraction of the enormous H amount of agricultural' products in I ' 'OW United- States. Without the tid H of macliinejs, some of which do the work of-eight or ten men, the devel opment of the vast wheat and corn field would have been impossible. On every form there .should not only bp the necessary tools, but a tool house and proper care should be given them. Machinery should not be left in the fields to be weather beaten, and to go to destruction. There is no economy in neglecting the farm implements. It is "estimated" that the life of the average farm tool is ten years, ,1 deterioration of 10 per cent a year. By careful management this should be doubled. Some of the labor-saving machines arc costly and they must be replaced when worn out. It is economy, therefore, to keep them in a tool house which should be kept dry in order to protect the implements from rust. A FARMERS' INSTITUTE TRAIN President Widtsoc of the State Ag ricultural College and the Superinten dent of College Extension work have made a request from the railroads for a couple of cars that, if secured, arc to be fitted up for Farmers' Institute work this1 year. One of those cars will ibc used as an exhibit car, the other for a lecture hall, properly equipped with stereoptienn, charts, tmblcs, .etc. The idea is that these cars shall be hitched on to the rcguicr train, go to a station and remain over for 24 hours, leaving then for the next station. In this way all of the scct;on of country found adjacent to the rail roads could be visited in about nine weeks. There will be four lecturers, a cook and janitor on board, and con tinuous sessions will be held at .each station, so that alt the people may have an opportunity to hear the pro gram. If the present plans carry, the train will start in Cache Volley early in January and continue through until March. It will be seen from these plans that the Institute work in Utah is being organized along serious, en during and comprehensive lines. It is becoming an effective agency for creating an interest in Agricultural 'education in this state. In advertising, aim at the average citizen, and don't get n.ttled if the critic ridicules your copy, if it is sane. Remember that there are about sev enty iiiillions of average citiziensajid perhaps a dozen critics of advertis rino Agriculture, . Advertising. fRID FARMING 1 "DRY FARMING" IN UTAH FROM AN AUSTRALIAN VIEW. Report by W. Strawbridge, Surveyor General of South Australia. "r"1e"ff there "for Salt Lake eity," passing Las Vegas nud Santa Fe. At both places the rainfall has increased during the last three years, and farm ers axe obtaining good crops and do ing very well; but previously, when the rainfall was less, and under the old system of cultivation, there were many failures. Salt Lake City is in the State of Utah, west of the Wa satch Mountains. Several parts of 'this State ore very dry, the average rainfall being but 12 in., and dry farm ing is largely carried1 on with more or IIess success1. This I learned at Wash ington, when I obtained a letter of in troduction to Professor Widtsoc, the Director of the Utah Agricultural College. The day before I arrived he had unfortunately lost a child, and had to make arrangements for the funeral; but he very kindly furnished me with some details of the College and form) work, and handed me over to one of the officers, with instruc tions to show me over the farm and drive me to some of the principal farms in the district. The Experi mental Farm is" on1 the plain, north west of the College. The yields this season of the principal wheats grown were: Turkey Red, 28.25 bushels per acre; Winter La1 Salle,' 32.15;' Red Chaff," 30.13; New ' Zealand,- 28.25; Egyptian, is.oo;-' Gold Coin, 19.80. These were grown 'on carefully pre pared' ground,' but without ' manure. The farm is near the hills; and, as" in the last few years there were good snowstorms, I preferred to sec 'some of the farms further out on the plains. Out in the' Cache Valley. The Cache Valley is an extensive plain along the Logan River, 'between low hills. A good) deal of the flat is under irrigation; but alA the slopes 'and low rises, which .rc above the irrigation channels, have been dry fanned for a number of years. The rainfa.ll, or, rather, precipitation, which includes snow, was unusually high -for-thc-tost-ycar-and -a-halfvbut -pre- vious.'lo .thaifc.for a: long. period the all-was .low as-the average for" 13 years was but 134 '; ad for the I four years 1902 to 1905 the precipi- I tation was, respectively, 13.33, 13-97. I 13.52 and 12.50; so I was anxious to know how the farmers, who were re ported successful, had fared durini . .the dry periods. Professor Widtsoc gatvc me the names of the two farm ers who ha'dl been longest in the dis trict, and were successful and reliable. The first wc called on was Mr. Pet erson, about twelve miles westerly from Logan. I-tfc was not at home, ' but his three sons, who assisted in working the farm, were. The cEdcst, w!k seemed a very capable and intel ligent man, showed us over the farm, .which comprises 700 acres. They had been there thirty years, and crop a little over 200 acres each year, fallow- I ing a similar area. They grow a good 1 dal of lucerne, which looked well 1 after the third cutting that summer; tut the season was no criterion, as it had been the best for years. They only grow Odessa wheat, .which seems to suit the locality or soil better than any other, though it is a soft wheat and not so good for milling as many other varieties. The average yield is .from 20 to 25 bushels, but has never been less than 15 in the driest season, when they had but 9 or 10 in. of rain. They plow 8 in. deep, harrow the land several times during the season, and after rain in the growing crop. The soil is a fairly deep, light-brown sandy loam on the slopes where the wheat is, and a darker color where .the lucerne is grown. No manure is used for. the wheat, but the stable inanurc is put on the lucerne. . Worked Out His Own Problem. We then drove about two miles fur ther to the farpi of Mr. Farrcll. He waws busy with a steam thresher, but kindly left his work to answer my 1uestions. He did-not know anything of what is called the Campbell sys ter:. His farm contains about 1700 -acres, and he has .about 1000 unler cro-p, ibut does not usually crop so much; and -re has been farming in this locality for twenty-five years. Ho lias never had a failure. This season the part threshed went 30 bushels .to.. the acre, and .the rest would -aivcnage 20 or moi He -used-119 manure. He .estimated .the .oats at .60 bushels and the lM.rle ..bushels .per cr, The '