4 SUGGESTIONS TO SETTLERS ON BELtLE POURCHE PROJECT. 



used for corn or flax on spring breaking. But if the land is on the 

 high-lying prairie (especially if north of the Belle Fourche River) 

 it is practically useless to try to obtain a crop the first season without 

 irrigation, and irrigation would be difficult on sod land the first sea- 

 son. If com is planted on the sod some fodder may be obtained, 

 but certainly very little grain, if any, will be produced, and it is 

 doubtful whether the fodder harvested will repay the labor involved. 

 It should be kept in mind that this refers to the prairie uplands north 

 of the Belle Fourche River rather than to the area south of it. 



It is an observed fact that more rain occurs south than north of 

 the river, probably because the south side is benefited by the rains 

 occurring in the Black Hills, which are more frequent than those 

 northward on the prairies. For instance, during the summer months 

 (April to September, inclusive) of the years 1908, 1909, and 1910, 

 Vale, a town on the Belle Fourche River, received an average of 4.11 

 inches more rain than was recorded at the experiment station 10 miles 

 to the north during the same periods, the records for each year being 

 as follows: For 1908, Vale, 13.84 inches, experiment farm, 8.84 

 inches, a difference in favor of Vale of 5 inches; for 1909, Vale, 16.77 

 inches, experiment farm, 14.37 inches, a difference of 2,40 inches in 

 favor of Vale; for 1910, Vale, 12.64 inches, experiment farm, 7.71 

 inches, a difference of 4.93 inches in favor of Vale. 



For the new settler on the north side who comes on his land in the 

 spring it is a question whether it will not pay him better to break 

 what land he can in the spring, disk it enough to close up the coarse 

 air spaces so it will retain moisture during the summer, and then 

 obtain work somewhere on the project for the remainder of the sum- 

 mer. There is a fairly good demand for labor in connection with 

 the work of the Reclamation Service and also on the farms already 

 started. During the summer the land that has been broken should be 

 kept in good condition bj' an occasional disking or harrowing, so that 

 the sod will rot and be ready for backsetting in the fall. If the 

 backsetting is not too deep (that is, not more than 4 or 5 inches) the 

 soil can easily be worked into condition for winter wheat, which suc- 

 ceeds very well in the area. This procedure will probably prove bet- 

 ter for the new settler than to stay on the farm the first summer with 

 but small prospect of getting any returns from the land. If the new 

 spring breaking is planted to a crop and the crop harvested without 

 irrigation, the land w^ill probably be too dry in the fall to be put into 

 winter Avheat. 



PREPARATION OF THE SEED BED. 



On land that has been previously broken, the seed bed for spring 

 planting should be prepared as early as practicable. The plowing 

 should, when possible, be done the previous autumn, so that the soil 



[Cir. 8?.] 



