158 DRY FARMING 



types of heavy clay, the danger is not in its running to- 

 gether too much but in its not running together enough. 

 In addition to turning the furrow as flat as possible it is 

 important that it be placed firmly in contact with the 

 subsurface soil. This can be done by using a land packer 

 or by thorough surface cultivation, or, if the plowing is 

 done early enough, the rains accomplish the same end 

 and at no cost. 



A summary of all our work with the "surface" land 

 packer on fall ami spring plowing shows that packing 

 deep plowing increased the yield of wheat 2 bus. and 

 6 lbs. per acre, and packing shallow plowing, 40 lbs. per 

 acre, while packing unplowed stubble land decreased the 

 yield three years out of four. It was observed that where 

 packing ivas done the crop was invariably more uniform 

 and earlier. It is generally considered advisable, except 

 on soils inclined to drift, to follow the packer with the 

 harrow, particularly if the packing is done after seeding. 



131. Burning Stubble is Permanently Wasteful of Soil 

 Fertility, but Of ten Immediately Profitable. — The five-year 

 average yield of all stubble land that was surface culti- 

 vated in any way was 22 bus. 25 lbs. of wheat, while the 

 average for the same length of time on land that was 

 burned and then surface cultivated was 22 bus. 49 lbs. 

 per acre. ■* 



A very much greater increase from burning has been 

 reported from the Qu'Appelle Valley and the Regina 

 Plains, where the soil is heavier, and where the stubble 

 grows longer and holds more snow. It would seem that on 

 heavy, rich soils, where the straw grows tall, burning in 

 the spring after the long stubble has been left to gather 

 snow, is a practice that, for immediate profits on new 

 land, is conducive to good net returns. On the other 



