CHAPTER XV
IMPLEMENTS FOR DRY-FARMING
CHEAP land and relatively small acre yields characterize dry-farming. Consequently Iarger areas must be farmed for a given return than in humid farming, and the successful pursuit of dry-farming compels the adoption of methods that enable a man to do the largest amount of effective work with the smallest expenditure of energy. The careful observations made by Grace, in Utah, lead to the belief that, under the conditions prevailing in the intermountain country, one man with four horses and a sufficient supply of machinery can farm 160 acres, half of which is summer-fallowed every year; and one man may, in favorable seasons under a carefully planned system, farm as much as 200 acres. If one man attempts to handle a larger farm, the work is likely to be done in so slipshod a manner that the crop yield decreases and the total returns are no larger than if 200 acres had been well tilled.
One man with four horses would be unable to handle even 160 acres were it not for the possession of modern machinery; and dry-farming, more than any other system of agriculture, is dependent for its success upon the use of proper implements of tillage. In fact, it is very doubtful if the reclamation of the great arid and semiarid regions of the world would have been possible a few decades ago, before the invention and introduction of labor-saving farm machinery. It is undoubtedly further a fact that the future of dry-farming is closely bound up with the improvements that may be made in farm machinery. Few of the agricultural implements on the market to-day have been made primarily for dry-farm conditions. The best that the dry-farmer can do is to adapt the implements on the market to his special needs. Possibly the best field of investigation for the experiment stations and inventive minds in the arid region is farm mechanics as applied to the special needs of dry-farming.
Clearing and breaking
A large portion of the dry-farm territory of the United States is covered with sagebrush and related plants. It is always a difficult and usually an expensive problem to clear sagebrush land, for the shrubs are frequently from two to six feet high, correspondingly deep-rooted, with very tough wood. When the soil is dry, it is extremely difficult to pull out sagebrush, and of necessity much of the clearing must be done during the dry season. Numerous devices have been suggested and tried for the purpose of clearing sagebrush land. One of the oldest and also one of the most effective devices is two parallel railroad rails connected with heavy iron chains and used as a drag over the sagebrush land. The sage is caught by the two rails and torn out of the ground. The clearing is fairly complete, though it is generally necessary to go over the ground two or three times before the work is completed. Even after such treatment a large number of sagebrush clumps, found standing over the field, must be grubbed up with the hoe. Another and effective device is the so-called "mankiller." This implement pulls up the sage very successfully and drops it at certain definite intervals. It is, however, a very dangerous implement and frequently results in injury to the men who work it. Of recent years another device has been tried with a great deal of success. It is made like a snow plow of heavy railroad irons to which a number of large steel knives have been bolted. Neither of these implements is wholly satisfactory, and an acceptable machine for grubbing sagebrush is yet to be devised. In view of the large expense attached to the clearing of sagebrush land such a machine would be of great help in the advancement of dry-farming.
Away from the sagebrush country the virgin dry-farm land is usually covered with a more or less dense growth of grass, though true sod is seldom found under dry-farm conditions. The ordinary breaking plow, characterized by a long sloping moldboard, is the best known implement for breaking all kinds of sod. (See Fig. 7a a.) Where the sod is very light, as on the far western prairies, the more ordinary forms of plows may be used. In still other sections, the dry-farm land is covered with a scattered growth of trees, frequently pinion pine and cedars, and in Arizona and New Mexico the mesquite tree and cacti are to be removed. Such clearing has to be done in accordance with the special needs of the locality.
Plowing
Plowing, or the turning over of the soil to a depth of from seven to ten inches for every crop, is a fundamental operation of dry-farming. The plow, therefore, becomes one of the most important implements on the dry-farm. Though the plow as an agricultural implement is of great antiquity, it is only within the last one hundred years that it has attained its present perfection. It is a question even to-day, in the minds of a great many students, whether the modern plow should not be replaced by some machine even more suitable for the proper turning and stirring of the soil. The moldboard plow is, everything considered, the most satisfactory plow for dry-farm purposes. A plow with a moldboard possessing a short abrupt curvature is generally held to be the most valuable for dry-farm purposes, since it pulverizes the soil most thoroughly, and in dry-farming it is not so important to turn the soil over as to crumble and loosen it thoroughly. Naturally, since the areas of dry-farms are very large, the sulky or riding plow is the only kind to be used. The same may be said of all other dry-farm implements. As far as possible, they should be of the riding kind since in the end it means economy from the resulting saving of energy.
The disk plow has recently come into prominent use throughout the land. It consists, as is well known, of one or more large disks which are believed to cause a smaller draft, as they cut into the ground, than the draft due to the sliding friction upon the moldboard. Davidson and Chase say, however, that the draft of a disk plow is often heavier in proportion to the work done and the plow itself is more clumsy than the moldboard plow. For ordinary dry-farm purposes the disk plow has no advantage over the modern moldboard plow. Many of the dry-farm soils are of a heavy clay and become very sticky during certain seasons of the year. In such soils the disk plow is very useful. It is also true that dry-farm soils, subjected to the intense heat of the western sun become very hard. In the handling of such soils the disk plow has been found to be most useful. The common experience of dry-farmers is that when sagebrush lands have been the first plowing can be most successfully done with the disk plow, but that after. the first crop has been harvested, the stubble land can be best handled with the moldboard plow. All this, however, is yet to be subjected to further tests.
While subsoiling results in a better storage reservoir for water and consequently makes dry-farming more secure, yet the high cost of the practice will probably never make it popular. Subsoiling is accomplished in two ways: either by an ordinary moldboard plow which follows the plow in the plow furrow and thus turns the soil to a greater depth, or by some form of the ordinary subsoil plow. In general, the subsoil plow is simply a vertical piece of cutting iron, down to a depth of ten to eighteen inches, at the bottom of which is fastened a triangular piece of iron like a shovel, which, when pulled through the ground, tends to loosen the soil to the full depth of the plow.
The subsoil plow does not turn the soil; it simply loosens the soil so that the air and plant roots can penetrate to greater depths.
In the choice of plows and their proper use the dryfarmer must be guided wholly by the conditions under which he is working. It is impossible at the present time to lay down definite laws stating what plows are best for certain soils. The soils of the arid region are not well enough known, nor has the relationship between the plow and the soil been sufficiently well established. As above remarked, here is one of the great fields for investigation for both scientific and practical men for years to come.
Making and maintaining a soil-mulch
After the land has been so well plowed that the rains can enter easily, the next operation of importance in dry-farming is the making and maintaining of a soil-mulch over the ground to prevent the evaporation of water from the soil. For this purpose some form of harrow is most commonly used. The oldest and best-known harrow is the ordinary smoothing harrow, which is composed of iron or steel teeth of various shapes set in a suitable frame. (See Fig. 79.) For dry-farm purposes the implement must be so made as to enable the farmer to set the harrow teeth to slant backward or forward. It frequently happens that in the spring the grain is too thick for the moisture in the soil, and it then becomes necessary to tear out some of the young plants. For this purpose the harrow teeth are set straight or forward and the crop can then be thinned effectively. At other times it may be observed in the spring that the rains and winds have led to the formation of a crust over the soil, which must be broken to let the plants have full freedom of growth and development. This is accomplished by slanting the harrow teeth backward, and the crust may then be broken without serious injury to the plants. The smoothing harrow is a very useful implement on the dry-farm. For following the plow, however, a more useful implement is the disk harrow, which is a comparatively recent invention. It consists of a series of disks which may be set at various angles with the line of traction and thus be made to turn over the soil while at the same time pulverizing it. The best dry-farm practice is to plow in the fall and let the soil lie in the rough during the winter months. In the spring the land is thoroughly disked and reduced to a fine condition. Following this the smoothing harrow is occasionally used to form a more perfect mulch. When seeding is to be done immediately after plowing, the plow is followed by the disk harrow, and that in turn is followed by the smoothing harrow. The ground is then ready for seeding. The disk harrow is also used extensively throughout the summer in maintaining a proper mulch. It does its work more effectively than the ordinary smoothing harrow and is, therefore, rapidly displacing all other forms of harrows for the purpose of maintaining a layer of loose soil over the dry-farm. There are several kinds of disk harrows used by dry-farmers. The full disk is, everything considered, the most useful. The cutaway harrow is often used in cultivating old alfalfa land; the spade disk harrow has a very limited application in dry-farming; and the orchard disk harrow is simply a modlfication of the full disk harrow whereby the farmer is able to travel between the rows of trees and so to cultivate the soil under the branches of the trees without injuring the leaves or fruit.
One of the great difficulties in dry-farming concerns itself with the prevention of the growth of weeds or volunteer crops. As has been explained in previous chapters, weeds require as much water for their growth as wheat or other useful crops. During the fallow season, the farmer is likely to be overtaken by the weeds and lose much of the value of the fallow by losing soil-moisture through the growth of weeds. Under the most favorable conditions weeds are difficult to handle. The disk harrow itself is not effective. The smoothing harrow is of less value. There is at the present time great need for some implement that will effectively destroy young weeds and prevent their further growth. Attempts are being made to invent such implements, but up to the present without great success. Hogenson reports the finding of an implement on a western dry-farm constructed by the farmer himself which for a number of years has shown itself of high efficiency in keeping the dry-farm free from weeds. Several improved modifications of this implement have been made and tried out on the famous dry-farm district at Nephi, Utah, and with the greatest success. Hunter reports a similar implement in common use on the dry-farms of the Columbia Basin. Spring tooth harrows are also used in a small way on the dry-farms.
They have no special advantage over the smoothing harrow or the disk harrow, except in places where the attempt is made to cultivate the soil between the rows of wheat. The curved knife tooth harrow is scareely ever used on dry-farms. It has some value as a pulverizer, but does not seem to have any real advantage over the ordinary disk harrow.
Cultivators for stirring the land on which crops are growing are not used extensively on dry-farms. Usually the spring tooth harrow is employed for this work. In dry-farm sections, where corn is grown, the cultivator is frequently used throughout the season. Potatoes grown on dry-farms should be cultivated throughout the season, and as the potato industry grows in the dry-farm territory there will be a greater demand for suitable cultivators. The cultivators to be used on dry-farms are all of the riding kind. They should be so arranged that the horse walking between two rows carries a cultivator that straddles several rows of plants and cultivates the soil between. Disks, shovels, or spring teeth may be used on cultivators. There is a great variety on the market, and each farmer will have to choose such as meet most definitely his needs.
The various forms of harrows and cultivators are of the greatest importance in the development of dry-farming. Unless a proper mulch can be kept over the soil during the fallow season, and as far as possible during the growing season, first-class crops cannot be fully respected.
The roller is occasionally used in dry-farming, especially in the uplands of the Columbia Basin. It is a somewhat dangerous implement to use where water conservation is important, since the packing resulting from the roller tends to draw water upward from the lower soil layers to be evaporated into the air. Wherever the roller is used, therefore, it should be followed immediately by a harrow. It is valuable chiefly in the localities where the soil is very loose and light and needs packing around the seeds to permit perfect germination.
Subsurface packing
The subsurface packer invented by Campbell is [shown in Figure 83--not shown--ed.]. The wheels of this machine eighteen inches in diameter, with rims one inch thick at the inner part, beveled two and a half inches to a sharp outer edge, are placed on a shaft, five inches apart. In practice about five hundred pounds of weight are added.
This machine, according to Campbell, crowds a one-inch wedge into every five inches of soil with a lateral and a downward pressure and thus packs firmly the soil near the bottom of the plow-furrow. Subsurface packing aims to establish full capillary connection between the plowed upper soil and the undisturbed lower soil-layer; to bring the moist soil in close contact with the straw or organic litter plowed under and thus to hasten decomposition, and to provide a firm seed bed.
The subsurface packer probably has some value where the plowed soil containing the stubble is somewhat loose; or on soils which do not permit of a rapid decay of stubble and other organic matter that may be plowed under from season to season. On such soils the packing tendency of the subsurface packer may help prevent loss of soil water, and may also assist in furnishing a more uniform medium through which plant roots may force their way. For all these purposes, the disk is usually equally efficient.
Sowing
It has already been indicated in previous chapters that proper sowing is one of the most important operations of the dry-farm, quite comparable in importance with plowing or the maintaining of a mulch for retaining soil-moisture. The old-fashioned method of broadcasting has absolutely no place on a dry-farm. The success of dry-farming depends entirely upon the control that the farmer has of all the operations of the farm. By broadcasting, neither the quantity of seed used nor the manner of placing the seed in the ground can be regulated. Drill culture, therefore, introduced by Jethro Tull two hundred years ago, which gives the farmer full control over the process of seeding, is the only system to be used. The numerous seed drills on the market all employ the same principles. Their variations are few and simple. In all seed drills the seed is forced into tubes so placed as to enable the seed to fall into the furrows in the ground. The drills themselves are distinguished almost wholly by the type of the furrow opener and the covering devices which are used. The seed furrow is opened either by a small hoe or a so-called shoe or disk. At the present time it appears that the single disk is the coming method of opening the seed furrow and that the other methods will gradually disappear. As the seed is dropped into the furrow thus made it is covered by some device at the rear of the machine. One of the oldest methods as well as one of the most satisfactory is a series of chains dragging behind the drill and covering the furrow quite completely. It is, however, very desirable that the soil should be pressed carefully around the seed so that germination may begin with the least difficulty whenever the temperature conditions are right. Most of the drills of the day are, therefore, provided with large light wheels, one for each furrow, which press lightly upon the soil and force the soil into intimate contact with the seed The weakness of such an arrangement is that the soil along the drill furrows is left somewhat packed, which leads to a ready escape of the soil-moisture. Many of the drills are so arranged that press wheels may be used at the pleasure of the farmer. The seed drill is already a very useful implement and is rapidly being made to meet the special requirements of the dry-farmer. Corn planters are used almost exclusively on dry-farms where corn is the leading crop. In principle they are very much the same as the press drills. Potatoes are also generally planted by machinery. Wherever seeding machinery has been constructed based upon the principles of dry-farming, it is a very advantageous adjunct to the dry-farm.
Harvesting
The immense areas of dry-farms are harvested almost wholly by the most modern machinery. For grain, the harvester is used almost exclusively in the districts where the header cannot be used, but wherever conditions permit, the header is and should be used. It has been explained in previous chapters how valuable the tall header stubble is when plowed under as a means of maintaining the fertility of the soil. Besides, there is an ease in handling the header which is not known with the harvester. There are times when the header leads to some waste as, for instance, when the wheat is very low and heads are missed as the machine passes over the ground. In many sections of the dry-farm territory the climatic conditions are such that the wheat cures perfectly while still standing. In such places the combined harvester and thresher is used. The header cuts off the heads of the grain, which are passed up into the thresher, and bags filled with threshed grain are dropped along the path of the machine, while the straw is scattered over the ground. Wherever such a machine can be used, it has been found to be economical and satisfactory. Of recent years corn stalks have been used to better advantage than in the past, for not far from one half of the feeding value of the corn crop is in the stalks, which up to a few years ago were very largely wasted. Corn harvesters are likewise on the market and are quite generally used. It was manifestly impossible on large places to harvest corn by hand and large corn harvesters have, therefore, been made for this purpose.
Steam and other motive power
Recently numerous persons have suggested that the expense of running a dry-farm could be materially reduced by using some motive power other than horses. Steam, gasoline, and electricity have all been suggested. The steam traction engine is already a fairly well-developed machine and it has been used for plowing purposes on many dry-farms in nearly all the sections of the dry-farm territory. Unfortunately, up to the present it has not shown itself to be very satisfactory. First of all it is to be remembered that the principles of dry-farming require that the topsoil be kept very loose and spongy. The great traction engines have very wide wheels of such tremendous weight that they press down the soil very compactly along their path and in that way defeat one of the important purposes of tillage. Another objection to them is that at present their construction is such as to result in continual breakages. While these breakages in themselves are small and inexpensive, they mean the cessation of all farming operations during the hour or day required for repairs. A large crew of men is thus left more or less idle, to the serious injury of the work and to the great expense of the owner. Undoubtedly, the traction engine has a place in dry-farming, but it has not yet been perfected to such a degree as to make it satisfactory. On heavy soils it is much more useful than on light soils. When the traction engine works satisfactorily, plowing may be done at a cost considerably lower than when horses are employed.
In England, Germany, and other European countries some of the difficulties connected with plowing have been overcome by using two engines on the two opposite sides of a field. These engines move synchronously together and, by means of large cables, plows, harrows, or seeders, are pulled back and forth over the field. This method seems to give good satisfaction on many large estates of the old world. Macdonald reports that such a system is in successful operation in the Transvaal in South Africa and is doing work there at a very knew cost. The large initial cost of such a system will, of course, prohibit its use except on the very large farms that are being established in the dry-farm territory.
Gasoline engines are also being tried out, but up to date they have not shown themselves as possessing superior advantages over the steam engines. The two objections to them are the same as to the steam engine: first, their great weight, which compresses in a dangerous degree the topsoil and, secondly, the frequent breakages, which make the operation slow and expensive.
Over a great part of the West, water power is very abundant and the suggestion has been made that the electric energy which can be developed by means of water power could be used in the cultural operations of the dry-farm. With the development of the trolley car which does not run on rails it would not seem impossible that in favorable localities electricity could be made to serve the farmer in the mechanical tillage of the dry-farm.
The substitution of steam and other energy for horse power is yet in the future. Undoubtedly, it will come, but only as improvements are made in the machines. There is here also a great field for being of high service to the farmers who are attempting to reclaim the great deserts of the world. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, dry-farming would probably have been an impossibilityfifty or a hundred years ago because of the absence of suitable machinery. The future of dry-farming rests almost wholly, so far as its profits are concerned, upon the development of new and more suitable machinery for the tillage of the soil in accordance with the established principles of dry-farming.
Finally, the recommendations made by Merrill may here be inserted. A dry-farmer for best work should be supplied with the following implements in addition to the necessary wagons and hand tools:--
One Plow.
One Disk.
One Smoothing Harrow.
One Drill Seeder.
One Harvester or Header.
One Mowing Machine.
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