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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1915)
nOJIE AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION 3 Economy in Using European Type of Grain Drill 1 , i HEAVY CROP TAKEN FROM CLOSELY SOWN FIELD. tHMm f t t t t T T T t -f- t t t t 1 t t t 1 t t 1 t t t t t t 4 BY WILLIAM PRITCHETT. THE manner of seeding In Europe should be a very profitable sub ject for the American farmer to consider at this time; very little has been said in the agricultural papers about seeding wheat, rye and other grains in the fields of Europe, where tt Is not unusual at all to produce 60 bushels of wheat per acre and some times as many as 80 bushels per acre have been claimed. Land, of course, is very valuable In the farming sections and the price of labor is much cheaper than we can realize or understand here in Amer ica, so that labor perhaps might be wasted in Europe but the greatest possible care is to avoid the waste of the land. The European land owner or rent er uses a grain drill putting in the continually guide the machine by the fore-carriage In front (called vordi karre) and this fore-carriage has a long lever that extends clear behind the seed hopper and by using this long lever the machine is guided so perfectly straight that not an inch of land is allowed to be wasted and no crooks in the rows are possible. Where three men operate the ma chine, the second man simply looks after the keeping of the seed In the hopper and then it Is the exclusive duty of the third man to simply guide the machine and Instead of the long lever extending behind the hop per It Is hinged so that it can be turned to allow the third man to walk along side of the wheel of the fore-carriage so that he can closely watch the track of the wheels of the fore carriage to see that the machine mm r 5fRH II.VHWOSTISU I'HOl" SUWJI 111 E I'HOl'UAX TVl'li OF 111(11. L. , rows often as close as 2 Inches apart, never more than 3 Inches and you simply could not give a European farmer a grain drill making the rows more than 3 V4 Inches apart. European Grain Drills, Again, If you would investigate the type of grain drill used In Europe It will be seen that they use two men and very often three men to operate a European grain drill; one- man do ing the driving of the oxen, camels or horses and then If two men are op erating the machine the second man sees to It that the hopper Is kept properly filled with seed and that the seed Is kept flowing steadily and accurately. Besides It Is his duty to is driven absolutely straight so that not an inch of the land is wasted. Wasteful American Method. Let us make comparison of this European system with our manner of seeding in America; the American farmer uses a grain drill with the rows never closer together than six inches and more generally in the corn belt states It Is seven Inches or some times eight inches apart. This Amer ican manner of drilling the grain Is found to be really better than broad casting, but it permits a wonderful waste of land; the seed Is not prop erly distributed; it allows a very great waste of moisture because of the bare spaces between the seed rows which allow the sun to come down baking a surface crust and to rapidly take up the surface moisture, especially in a hot and dry year; these wide spaces between the seed rows allow much room for weed seed to fall and every practical farmer knows that It takes just as much strength out of the ground to pro duce weeds as it does to produce grain. Another feature of Importance to consider in seeding grain is the width of the seed furrow made by the furrow openers because If the seed furrow is very narrow it simply puts one grain of seed nearly on top of another, killing both stalks as mentioned In the report of the Mis souri State University, by Professor C. B. Hutchinson, wherein It Is found that "not more than 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the seed plants that sprout in the narrow seed rows of a grain drill ever mature." Increasing Yield Per Acre. Besides the Importance of produc ing much more grain per acre with the seed rows closer together there is also the very great advantage that in a dry year when clover is sown with the wheat or the oats the closer seed rows very favorably protect the clover and It has been proven, re peatedly that a good stand of clover is obtained under drouth conditions with the narrow seed rows when otherwise with the seed rows six inches or seven inches apart. the clo ver has been entirely killed out by drought. I succeeded in buying a three-inch American grain drill in January, 1912, and have now used this ma chine for three years, putting the grain drill rows only three inches apart and I have never failed to pro duce at least 10 bushels of wheat per acre more than any of my neighbors seeding with the rows made six inches or seven inches apart, and my oats likewise correspondingly in creased over the wider seed rows. NOTjB LEACH ED ""H 1 IE "HEARTS, WHEAT A NATION'S BREAKFAST EVERYWHERE 15c. If your dealer does not handle, send 15c stamps lor regular size package by Parcel Post to MORGAN MILLING CO. GOLDEN DAI.K, WASH. What Do You Think OF THIS? 3,000,000 Acres I'ISE FREE HOMESTEADS and Moutnna Heeded Lands ts to HO an acre Ready for the plow. Yields 30 to 60 bu. wheat, Oats, barley, flax, hay, etc., in proportion. Finest Inland Climate. ' Lund Sold on Crop Payment 1'lnu. Low f ,i re Hcmeseekers' Excursions on first and third Tuesdays of each month. Western IinnilKratlon Agent, f. M. ST. P. RV. 2d nnd Cherry, Seattle, Wnwh. American apples sold In Sweden' . ... , , aro known as California, 6regon and HOW TO GET 320 " American apples. . ACRES FREE Do You Want a Homestead? CROP REPORT OF OREGON AND UNITED STATES. FINAL estimate of acreage production and price December 1, in the state, and production and price In the United States (acreage and production in thousands, i. e., oou omitted.) Every time you buy from advertisements in this paper you help to make a better paper. List of Government lands In each state subject to homestead and for what best adapted. Also description of Oregon by counties. Send for 240-page book, "Advantages of Oregon." Price 50 cents, postpaid. R. C FISKE 410 Panama BldBn Portland, Or. Crops Acre- Jregon Produc- Price Wheat, 1913. Oats, 1914... age. tion. Dec. 1. 22 660 82 SI 598 70 799 16,604 10a 750 15,717 76 364 12.740 45 ,360 15.228 38 123 3,660 61 120 4,200 55 21 336 100 20 350 75 United States. Produc- Price tion. rov. 1. , 49 4.753 60 , 50 6,750 58 ,858 'i.716 M 825 1,732 9.09 Rye, 1914 Bye. 1913 Buckwheat, 1914 Buckwheat, 1913 Flaxseed, 1914 Flaxseed, 1913 Pvlce, 1914 Rice, 1913 Potatoes, 1914 Potatoes, 1913 Sweet Potatoes, 1914 Sweet Potatoes, 1913 Hay, 1914 858 1,716 9.20 70,071 11.12 Hay, 1913 82il 1,732 9.09 64,116 12.43 Tobacco, 1914 1,0.14.679 9.8 Tobacco, 1913 953,7:14 12.8 Cotton. 1914 Cotton. 1913 14.166 12.! Sugar Beets, 1914 5,147 5.43 Sugar Beets, 1913 6,659 5.69 (Quantities of hay and sugar beets in tons; tobacco in pounds; cotton In bales; other products In bushels. Prices for hay and beets in dollars per ton; cotton and tobacco, cents per pound; flaxseed, dollars per bushel, other prod ucts, cents per bushel.) Wheat sown this Pall in the state 636,000 acres, compared wtih 637,000 acres last year; condition 93 per cent normal, compared with ten-year average of 96. Similarly, In the United States, 41,300,000 acres, compared wtih 37.100,000 acres sown last year; condition, 83.1 per cent, compared with 90.3, the ten-year averase. 2,672.804 2,446,988 891,017 763,380 1,141,060 1,121,763 194.953 178.189 42,779 41,381 16,881 13,833 15,659 17,853 23,649 25.744 405.921 331,526 66,674 69,057 70,071 64,116 1,0,14.679 953.734 15,966 14,166 5.147 63.7 69.1 98.6 79.9 43.8 39.3 64.3 53.T 86.5 63.4 76.4 75.6 1.26 1.20 92.4 85.8 48.9 68.7 73.0 Double the Wheat and Oat Crops Money must be made by better fanning; it is common sense to see grain drilled only 3 inches apart, not 6 inches or 7 inches between rows means much better seed distribution, better sur face covering with crop, less wasted land, better saving of moisture, crowding out the weeds and many other advantages; one maker of 3-inch drills guarantees 25 or better increase or no pay for the machines. Fetzer & Co., of Spring field, HI., claim in a dry year the yield has been increased four times more per acre, besides mak ing a good stand of clover where the clover with wheat was dried out with 7-inch rows. Write today for the proof and guarantee and free printed matter.