Newspaper Page Text
BESS
T;v'.y
p " :
"SflgtiM?
" -i
-
jj-
V.
.-
" TA
j!;.
Farmers' Champion
SucccMor to tndiahoma Champiot?
f r
4i Vol. 3
ELGIN, OKLAHOMA, THURSDAY, MARCH i 1913
IW2&
UWj:,?
M&
8
I-i
m
an
D E. McAnaw
I umber
" Comp
Dealers in . . .
All Kinds of v
Building Material
Grain, Cotton, Coal.
Best Mexico Coal
$7 a Ton
1VM!:4.4..:..:..:...JM;.KJl
The Bank That Accommodates
Bank of Elgin
,-.?-
y-
Elgin; Oklahoma-
Deposits Guaranteed
If you are not already our customer, open an
account without delay. ,
Checks on any other bank cashed without any
.charge. Drafts issued without any exchange
H. P. Wettengel, President.
AT 111& nnutt.
N T '
v. j?
w .
A Progressive' President is Now Guiding Our Ship of State
M
1
l Cfo
i I Z
.
?,A. 1
' 444-4-MkW-W
J. P. KENNEMUR
. For the Very . . .
Bargains in"
GROCERIES
AND FURNITURE
ir-J
See Kenneniur
First Door West of
Port office
Elgin, Oklahoma
r- 1
'4
rooressLue
Crarming
i ti
1AVVMMiWWM
This Department if deveted to those methods Hiat
i r ' II i a i
are so wonaerruuy revolutionizing Agriculture
DEFINITION OF DRY FARMING
Accumulation and Conservation ef
Moisture In Soil la Aim and Pur-
poie of Arid Farmtr.
lv E. R. PAItSONa)
"Dry farming has otteu been defined
aa the conservation of moisture. A
much like definition and a more ac
curate one would be the accumulation
and conservation of moisture We
must acquire our moisture bofore we
can conserve It, and unless we give
duo weight to each of theso proces
ses we cannot llvo up to the highest
standard of dry farming.
"It Is self-evident that In order to
make use of tho best form of mulch,
local conditions must bo given seri
ous consideration. Some of the prob
lems aru as follows: (1) In a coun
try whore tho precipitation Is moro
or less evenly divided throughout the
year, will the moisture bo ablo to pene
trato tho mulch sufficiently to got
down Into tho sub-soil T My answer
based on experience Is that the mois
ture at the end of the season Is large
ly found In tho soil under a mulch
from two and a half to three Inches
In depth. (S) Will the mulch crust
easily after a rainfall or tho reverse?
A furrowed surface will never crust
or bako llko a smooth one after a
storm, the bottom of the furrow be
ing much better than the top. (8)
When high winds prevail will the
mulch blow? The smoothest land
blows the worst everywhere. If we
could tako the edge off the wind It
amounts to the same thing as tak
ing the edge off a razor It cannot
out (4) Will a crust form under the
mulch In very dry weather, and If so,
how can It be prevented f Ever) dry
rear a. wall goes up from the shallow
plowers and surfaoo farmers as to
combating this problea. There Is
only one remedy, deep-plowing, but
not a preventlvo as coining oil earth
can prevent this crust terming, pro
vided the drouth last long enough.
(5) Iq a country Ilka California,
wbtnh has a rainy aid a wet season,
wr Is the bost typeset mulch for
conservation purposes after the rain
baa alt fallen and a tamer faces the
regular five months' drouth? The
deeper" and finer the mulch the bet-
per If conserves molcture when pre
cipitation 10 no longer a factor. In
such a country wa fad: tad beef for-
JMAakAJtW.ttJstojrai 8fj
mulch from six to efchf inches deep.
The evaporation from the sub-soil
with a mulch of this kind Is almost
nil. (6) lb the top soil or, seed bed
of a cultivated field a mulch to tho
sub-soil or does the sub-soil molsturo
move up freely with it? This Is moro
a question of dry farm physics. In
actual piaotlcc, agricultural books to
the contrary notwithstanding, I havo
never been able in my thirty-five
years of dry farm work to discover
any capillary or film molsturo moving
up from tho subsoll Into the seed bed
by capillarity, and therefore I argue
that the top soli acts as and should
be regarded as mulch for the sub-soil.
"As a genoral rulo on the dry farm
all fields will yield mora when plow
ed and fallowed ahead of plan
time if only for a few weeks c
month. A, farmer who does this t
tematlcally will find that he can m
together dispense with a packer for
the soil after being settled by a good
rain or two Is In much better physi
cal condition for the crop than when
artificially taxed."
BENEFITS OF DEEP PLOWING
Where Work Is Done In Shallow Metfe
od Mulch Becomes Dry, and Then
Inevitable Cruet Perms.
Supposing that a,, mas plow six or
seven Inches, his rirb, which should
be about three Inches, becomes dry,
thon the lnovltablo crust forms, one
or two Inches thick; how much will
he ha loft for his crop? About one
inch. Is It any wonder the crop dries
out? On the other hand, it be plows
ten to twelve inches deep, be will have
six lnche( of soil left fer bis crop be
fore comlt's to the hardpan. After six
or eight weoks' droUghtJhls crop will
have as much dirt to grow on as tho
shallow plower gives bib crept at the
start
Packing or rolling lacrosses the con
ductivity, but redueee. tab moisture
holding capacity of laid'fef water, and
promotes the formatlewof a crust In
clay soils. Every iaek the drought
creeps downward1 lnta our v soil the
longer It Uskos to dry Mi the succeed
ing Inch; the top laeh may dry out
in a few days, but it takes months to
dry out the fifth lack; therefore, with
even one-inch plowing) w have a very
Good chance to weather say drought
that coatee, - V . V -
DRY FARM ESSENTIALS
First Catoh and Store ItaM
Water Whith Ft on Una.
Can Be Aeeempllehecl by Making
ubaell a Reservoir fe Held Rain
Which Otherwise In Large
Measure Weulsl Run Off.
1
Or R- R. OLARIIXIB, Lonsvlew, TeneeJl
As the term U usually understood
"dry-farming" la crop-growing wltlk,
limited rainfall. But the methods:
which bring sucoeee, la ethor words;
"dry-farming methods." apply In great'
er or lesser degree to farming under
all conditions.
la a nutshell dho essence of dry
farming Is first, to eatoh and store ltat
the soil, the rate water wblcb falls'
upon the land, and then to hold it
where It will do tho most good to
crops. The first Is accomplished br
making of the subsoil a rcsorvolr tcf
hold tho rains which otherwise In;
largo measure would run 08 the land
This Is done by deep plowing and rah?
Soiling.
The second essential of diy-fafmtat
Is to hold In the ground against a time
when It shnll be needed, the molstur
thus stored la the soil and subsoHj
This is done br surfaoe stirring.
fore and after planting.
Aa molsturo from the soil eeape
Into tho air by way of tubes or capita
larles connecting with the surface
anything which breaks these up at the)
surface has the effeot of preveaUner
the escape iato the air of soil bow
tare. For Instance, when we boys,
young or old, is a dry time, roll over
the old logs to get worms fer- flahv
bait, we find the worms on the swrfaW
of the ground because there is mokfi
turo there. The moisture is there, be
cause It cannot get out, the log eper?
atlna as an obstruction to lte DaeeeceJ
by closing the coil tabes aft tho mV'
'i
if
ee The wott, rauJek.1,
k . ... V- naJL v'it
ae "tlrrlngef' 't.3Tsees' sWiii
same pu-pose as the old log.
Experimenting to some small osteal
with the soil mulch, I have beers great
ly surprised at .how long molsUre hiayi
be held in the ground by the establish-'
mont of such a mulch upon the surf-.
-aoe. Last season, for lnstanoe, 1 hsld(
an Irish potato crop in the ground 'a '
month for better prices. There: via1
not a drop of rain for two weeks bo
foro they wero ready to dig, the 10h
of May. And yet there waa molsturc
of Juno. And yot there was moteturei
enough in the ground p bring up to
a good stand cotton planted ImmedV
atoly after digging the spuds a month)
later, gomo of my neighbors wondered,
why I should cultivate potatoes so long.,
after they had matured. Fearing rain,
would not come in time, I was stern
ly holding the moisture to brlag tip.
the cotton whtcb, by tho way, staAV
more than half a bale per acre.
The same season I was taking soma
strawberry plants, late planted,
through the summer. After the last
rain in the spring I made, with a boa
and with my own hands, a better soil
mulch than one could afford to de
vote to field crops. For two month'
they kept green and fresh. Not wish
ing them to bloom so late, I even
pinched off a good many blooms. Dut
when a heavy midsummer rain eame
I was away from home, and did not re
turn until seven or' eight days after
the rain. I was surprised to find my
vines about "all in." Seven er elghf
weeks drought, In other words', did not
hurt them, but they were nearly"
ruined by a hard-baked surface very"
soon after tho rain.
The dry farmer soon learns that,'
falling his soil muleh after a rain, he
is out of business, and that it is Im
portant his mulch should be saado at
the right time. If the surfaoe is per
mitted to bake before it to stirred. -H
becomes broken into elods, and 4 aus
afraid that moisture go'ee Into the air
through clods as fast cr faster thrm
through a bnked surface
Among peoplo casually up to tho
subject of surface stirring to hold In
the moisture, I find tho Idea prevail- (
Ing that the thinner the soil mulch tho
better. Well, there is such a thins a?
a subsurface crusf, h!ch, prevent
ing the rise of moisture, li nabaU or
worso than a top onist. Thin oomra v
usually where tho surface is stirrnol
shallow aftof a rain, and then ,lnfr
alone through a lody dry spell. The '
first mistake la no doubt from stirring'
a little too shallow and then yaltian
too long for another rain. ' 1,
Keep step wllS : foii-wis?.
.
cj
V
ji
'! ;
V
' &
-V
Hwt
. i
1 .-. '
jrv'-U.'.tN
-
M ....r. .
j.
f . .iifc.
MrJ
:-:?.
L," W,
n -
.i
rf'i-
a
.
r-
