196 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



PROF. JARDINE: "And you got good crops in the spring plowing 

 and poor crops from the autumn plowing of the land?" 

 PROP. CAMPBELL: "Yes, sir." 



PROF. JARDINE: "Of course, you are familiar with farming in the 

 mountains?" 



PROF. CAMPBELL: "Somewhat." 



Soil Treatment. 



PROF. JARDINE: "Of course, you know that farming out there is 

 based on fall plowing, don't you? It is, if you don't know it, and plowing 

 out there is always done in the fall. Of course, there is no one disputes 

 the fact that good plowing can be done when the soil is in the right mois- 

 ture condition, but when you can get that condition in the fall, it is 

 always preferable, so a great many of our farmers in the mountain region 

 are turning their land over in big lumps and leaving it open, and I want 

 to say right here — Senator McColl has referred to us as 'Station men' — I 

 want to speak now from a farmer's view, because I am operating one 

 of the biggest farms in the country. Our land goes into winter condit- 

 ions in bug lumps. We don't say the lumpy condition is better; we would 

 like to have it smooth, but we would never put a harrow or disc on it. 



Conserving Moisture. 



"We want it open and loose like a sponge, so that it will absorb all 

 the moisture and so that the snow will sink down and act on the soil, 

 irrigate it and give it life. If we plow our land in the spring .moist or 

 otherwise, the probable difference is 20 to 50 per cent. Gentlemen, I 

 wish you to remember that this is simply one illustration of Prof. Camp- 

 bell, and I think it is very serious to draw conclusions from one illustra- 

 tion. In the country through the mountain regions especially in Utah — 

 1 don't think any one can question the good work that has been done in 

 Utah — on possibly a less amount of rain fall than you get in any arid 

 farm state, farming is done on the basis of winter plowing, and I believe 

 there isn't a farmer here from Utah but what will swear by this state- 

 ment. I believe ther5 isn't a farmer out there but what will agree with 

 me. My field goes into winter condition in a lumpy condition. I am not 

 saying that is the best, but we w^ould prefer having it go into winter in a 

 lumpy condition rather than leaving it go until spring. Now if spring 

 plowing i's the best in the plains regions, it only illustrates the fact that 

 we cannot make sweeping statements covering all countries. We abso- 

 lutely know in the mountains that we have got to plow in the fall. 



Soil Treatment. 



"PROF. CAMPBELL: "You heard the Gentleman's criticism. It 

 was my attempt when I got on the floor to rivet your minds on one 

 thing, and that was that a certain physical condition of the soil wa^ neces- 

 sary and I don't care how you go ahead to get it. In the illustrations 

 that were brought out with reference to plowing in South Dakota, they 

 simply brought out that same point to view, that in plowing our ground 

 there when it dry and would break up lumpy, that it was impossible to get 



