July, 1909.] 



71 



Miscellaneous. 



Early Ohio potatoes have been found 

 most profitable for his section. The 

 best yields are always obtained from 

 this variety, planted about April 1. 



Mr. Parsons attributes his success to 

 the thoroughness with which he culti- 

 vates his soil. He never ploughs his land 

 less than 9 to 12 iuches deep, whether it 

 be sod or otherwise. This is usually 

 done with a hand plough pulled by four- 

 large horses. Mr. Parsons does not 

 approve of disk plough now so common- 

 ly used, by our dry-land farmers. In 

 this respect I heartily agree with him. 

 Sod land especially should be turned 

 over completely, in order that the sod 

 may rapidly and fully decay, and at the 

 same time serve as a blanket to retain 

 the moisture <that has fallen and accu- 

 mulated in th^soil previous to plough- 

 ing. This cannot be accomplished 

 with a disk plough. The disk twists 

 and breaks up the sod, leaving it in 

 clods, thus presenting a very loose and 

 uneven surface, which permits a free 

 circulation of air and thus favours rapid 

 evaporation of moisture from the plough- 

 ed land. On the other hand, where the 

 sod is turned over completely the mois- 

 ture is retained during the entire sum- 

 mer, thus enabling the farmer to pre- 

 pare a favourable seed bed for planting 

 to winter grain —the crop that now 

 predominates in"eastern Colorado. 



In this connection I may state that one 

 of the greatest mistakes new settlers are 



making in breaking up their land on the 

 plains is in use of the disk plough instead 

 of the moldboard breaking plough. This 

 is probably due to the fact that with the 

 disk plough, which is of somewhat 

 lighter draft, the farmer can plough up 

 his land more easily and more rapidly, 

 The results obtained from this hasty 

 method are, however, fully evident at 

 harvest time. In my judgment the use 

 of the disk plough should be discouraged. 



Work at the Akrcn sub-station, Colo- 

 rado, is progressing nicely. Although 

 the land was broken up for the first 

 time last June, it is now in fairly good 

 condition. Winter wheat seeded in Sep- 

 tember and as late as November came 

 through the winter in good condition. 

 In most places there is a stand of 95 to 

 100 per cent. About half an inch of rain 

 fell there April 16. This practically in- 

 sured a pood stand of spring grain. At 

 the time of my visit, April 23, most of 

 the spring grain and all the winter 

 wheat were up and showing a strong 

 growth. 



Prom Akron along the Burlington 

 Railroad en route for St. Louis I observ- 

 ed many excellent fields of winter wheat. 

 Considerable farming is being done in 

 this territory this year, and while the 

 precipitation since 1st February has been 

 very light, the crops look promising, 

 and those farmers with whom I had 

 an opportunity to talk are very confident 

 that this year will be a successful one 



