138 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



Varieties of Crops Grown. 



Almost all the crops grown under the ditch can be grown above the 

 ditch. The yield will be lighter in nearly all instances, yet in many va- 

 rieties the quality is so much improved that it stands as an offset against 

 the lessened yield. This is especially true of the Kubauka durum wheat 

 and potatoes, as before stated, but the most remarkable difference is to 

 be noted in legumes, w^hen left for seed. Dry land seeds, especially alfalfa 

 and clover, are in a class all by themselves and are destined to form the 

 source of the seed supply of the nation on account of their higher ger- 

 minating qualities and the cheapness of their production. All root crops 

 do exceedingly w^ell above the ditch in this country and when properly 

 tilled equal in size those grown under the ditch, while far excelling the 

 latter in flavor. 



Flax is par excellence the dry farm crop, jdelding as high as 16 

 bushels per acre on spring plowing. Fall and spring rye and all varieties 

 of barley do well and are especially adapted to the semi-arid region as 

 they require very little moisture. All varieties of wheat, especially the 

 winter wheats, do well. 



The yield from the alfalfa meadows this year at Broadview was 

 very satisfactory although it was not a good hay year. April and May 

 were cold and not good growing months, still the first cutting gave 

 one and one-half tons to the acre and the second cutting made better than 

 a ton. We tried some experiments last season on a wild meadow. Taking 

 a piece of land that had been fed into the ground for the past fifteen 

 years, we put twelve loads of manure to the acre and disced it thoroughly 

 in March and harrowed it in April and May with the result that it pro- 

 duced fully three-fourths of a ton of nice blue stem hay to the acre the 

 first season. Next year we plan to disc again in j\Iarch and harrow later 

 and we confidently expect it will produce a ton to the acre. 



Land Hid,e Bound. 



Most wild lands in this section of Montana are improved by thor- 

 ough discing, as the tendency of the soil is to form a solid layer on the 

 surface that is impervious to water and air and by loosening it up with 

 the disc and harrow this crust is broken and water and air are fully 

 admitted to the roots of the plants. The theory is advocated that nearly 

 all plants, especially the legumes, have parasitic growths on their roots 

 that require air in order to produce the nitrogen which serves as a plant 

 fertilize. Acting on this theory we have adopted the system of thoroughly 

 discing our meadow lands in March and harrowing them until the crop 

 is high enough to cover the ground. The same procedure is followed 

 after the first cutting. This served so well with alfalfa that we adopted 

 it in our wild meadows with equally good results. 



Methods of Soil Culture. 



This naturally brings us to the consideration of the methods in vogue 

 at Broadview for the soil culture and moisture conservation as the two 

 go hand in hand. We are not ashamed to admit that we are (lisciples of 



