330 DRY FARMING 



276. Substitutes for Summerf allow. Intertilled crops, 

 such as corn, sunflowers and roots, can be grown in the 

 Red River Valley for fodder every year with a fair 

 degree of success. They leave the soil in a better con- 

 dition for the succeeding crop of wheat than summer- 

 fallow. The wheat crop has shorter straw and is, there- 

 fore, less subject to rust. Sow thistle cannot be success- 

 fully controlled by intertilling and the average farmer 

 cannot utilize the crop from 80 to 100 acres of corn, 

 sunflower or roots. While this method may be profitably- 

 practised on a limited acreage, it will never fully dis- 

 place summerfallowing as long as the present system of 

 grain farming is practised. 



277. Preparation of Stubble Land for Crop. In pre- 

 paring stubble land for crop it is conceded in the Red 

 River Valley that fall plowing is necessary. It requires 

 the mellowing effect of frost and moisture to put the 

 heavy clay soil in condition for spring seeding. Spring 

 plowing leaves the land so hard and rough that a seed 

 bed cannot be made ; so if the land has not been plowed 

 in the fall, cultivation in the spring will give better re- 

 sults than plowing. This method of preparing stubble 

 land for crop without the use of the plow will give fair 

 results if the land is clean, but as the average farm con- 

 tains several kinds of noxious weeds this method cannot 

 be recommended. 



278. Preparation of Grass Land for Crop. In the pre- 

 paration of grass land for crop the best results are ob- 

 tained by breaking two or three inches deep in June or 

 even later and back-setting five inches deep in Sep- 

 tember. After the land is backset it should be packed 

 and disked sufficient to keep down the weeds. Although 



