SOIL SURVEY OF KIMBALL COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 13 



Generally but very little labor is used in the preparation of the land 

 for corn and in the cultivation of the crop. Frequently the grain is 

 planted in the roughl}^ broken sod without disking of the furrow 

 slices or subsequent cultivation. 



In the irrigated area there is a more thorough preparation of the 

 land, careful cultivation, and scientific methods of watering the land 

 and handling the crops. 



Systematic plans of crop rotation have not been seriously con- 

 sidered on the dry land. Farming is comparatively new ; to a large 

 extent it is still experimental, and the agricultural conditions are 

 more or less unstable. 



In the handling of crops, wheat is generally stacked in the ©pen, 

 whether it is cut with the binder or the header. On account of the 

 thinly settled condition of the country, there are but few thrash- 

 ing machines, and it is generally late in November before all the 

 crop is thrashed. The grain, as far as possible, is marketed direct 

 from the machines. "When corn properly matures and yields well, 

 the ears are pulled from the standing stalks and stored for winter 

 feed ; otherwise stock is turned into the fields and allowed to feed on 

 the crop. The forage crops are stacked in the open and used as 

 required for winter feeding. Stock feeding for the market, princi- 

 pally sheep and cattle, is carried on during the winter months. 



Commercial fertilizers are not used, and it is generally believed 

 that there will be no necessity for them in the immediate future. 



Farm laborers are scarce. The ordinary day wage during the 

 busier seasons is $2.50 or $3. Where labor is hired by the month, 

 $30 to $35 is paid. Most of the farmers, however, do their own work 

 or require but little extra labor. Russians and Japanese are em- 

 ployed in the production of beets and other special crops, both on a 

 share plan and for wages. 



The greater proportion of the farmers own their farms, and there 

 is only a very small percentage of tenants. 



Most of the land has been homesteaded or purchased in tracts of 

 640 acres. Many farmers lease extra sections for pasture and wild 

 hay, and there are a number engaged principally in stock raising 

 who have holdings, either by ownership or under lease, ranging 

 from 3 to 20 sections. 



The upland best suited to farming has a selling price of $10 to $25 

 an acre. Sections containing a small area adapted to grain growing, 

 but mainly of value for pasture, may be bought for $5 to $10 an acre. 

 Most of the land under irrigation is valued at about $60 an acre. 



SOILS. 



Kimball County lies between the steppes and the desert. It lies 

 in a region where the moisture supply is too low to permit the accu- 



