i \ Supervisors, .Present -—
Narrative Report
(Editor’s Note: The supervisors of the Holt County Soil
County Soil Conservation District—D. E. Bowen, chairman; E.
J. Revell, vice-chairman; Carl Lambert, secretary-treasurer; F.
E. Keyes, member, and L. G. Bernholtz. menTber—present here
{ with their narrative report for the year 1949):
Important Practices—
The Holt Soil Conservation District has shown considerable
progress in 1949 in several ways. Possibly the most outstanding
is furnishing trees and planting services at a minimum cost to.
the cooperator.
The promotion of shelterbelts and farmstead plantings ac
cording to approved planning has proven a very worth while
benefit. *
In an area such as ours, the production of cattle being prob
ably the most important phase of agriculture, conservation mea
sures which add to this enterprise are of prime importance. These
high ranking practices include tree planting, grass seeding, der
ferred and rotation grazing and others. In more local areas such
practices as drainage, strip cropping, terraces and waterways
4 stand out but they are not general throughout the area as are the
# practices dealing with increased beef production.
In 1949, 78 cooperators planted 110,880 trees with the aid of
the Holt Soil Conservation District equipment Cooperators pur
chased 4,706 from Clarke-McNary that were planted by the Dis
trict’s equipment, the remainder were purchased from the Dis
trict Supervisors. The District purchased 42.966 from commercial
nurseries and secured the balance from the Soil Conservation
Service nurseries.
Grass seeding was limited very greatly last spring because of
the severe winter weather putting farmers and ranchers far be
hind in the regular work and unable to get seeding done. Until
late in the season it was too wet to get field work done in most
areas throughout the county.
Seventy-six applications were received during the year for
conservation work. This is more than the normal amount in
previous years. Two factors probably account for a greater part of
'f the stimulated interest. First, the publicity and recognition re
ceived in winning in the Sioux City and Omaha World-Herald
Conservation awards. Secondly, the blizzard of 1948-’49 demon
strated so vividly the value of shelterbelts that many individuals
were eager to get trees planted as soon as possible.
Cooperation with Other Agencies—
The District has benefited by cooperation with the extension
service in several ways. First, extension, of course, “mothered”
the organization of our District. The Soil Conservation Service
technicians and the county agent have planned and worked out
some meetings of the two services giving members of both
groups better understanding and respect for one another. The ex
tension service does among many other things the educational
work for the District and plans are made annually with the coun
ty agent and district supervisors as to what educational meetings
are desirable to hold the following year.
We have found the Fish and Game Commission quite coop
erative in the stocking of ponds and planting of refuges for game
' birds on projects laid out by the U. S. Soil Conservation Service
technicians. A supplemental memorandum of understanding was
entered into with the Game Commission this fall. In so doing,
the Game Commission will furnish trees, shrubs, posts, wire, a
fencing and planting crew for 4 game refuge plantings in the
state. Arrangements have been made that these plantings be
made on farms and ranches of L. W. Reimer, T. F. Matthews,
and J. B. Ryan, of O’Neill, and Theo. Baumeister, of Atkinson.
We have had little contact with the highway department but
it seems to be a good idea for consideration. Also, we have had
little contact with the county supervisors except as individuals.
However, we believe that anything demanding cooperation be
tween the Soil Conservation District and the county ‘“dads”
could be worked out.
The Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club at O'Neill
have been very friendly and cooperative, showing a sincere inter
est in the progress of the Soil Conservation District. The Farmers
Home Administration, through J. O. Walker, is inaiating that all
clients make application to the Holt Soil Conservation District.
^ While cooperation between the different federal and state agri
Grass Is Greener
On The Other Side!
t
IT’S AN OLD ADAGE that grass looks greener on the I
other side.” When it comes to good soil management
and sound soil conservation practices, there’s no question
about it. . . the grass IS GREENER on the other side.
JUST AS progressive farmers and ranchers are showing
the way in soil management, so does the O’Neill
National Bank set the pace in the banking field, steadily
improving our banking facilities and banking services.
LET US DISCUSS WITH YOU
YOUR BANKING PROBLEMS
O’Neill National Bank
— Member FDIC —
o
GOOD AND BAD . . . Cattle are contented to make good gains
when they aiv grazed on a good pasture with plenty of grass
(above). An over-grazed pasture (below) gives very ittlg feed”*
valu to animals and returns per acre are greatly reduced.
cultural services has been good, it can stand some improvement.
i Perhaps it would improve if each organized agricultural service,
' also the different civic groups, could get together and understand
one another’s aims, and set up a goal of more and better service
to rural people at less cost to the taxpayer.
District Equipment—
One of our big problems on grass seeding was to have the
equipment available for the individual when he was ready to use
it. Each cooperator was responsible for getting and returning the
equipment. A large amount of breakage and waste of time in
equipment usage resulted. It is planned to hire a man, train him
in proper seeding technique and let him transport the equipment
from place to place and assist the cocpt. ator with actual seeding
operations.
The U. S. Soil Conservation Service technicians and the Dis
trict’s planting crew are to be congratulated for planting so large
a number of trees. We realize also that even though they were
forced to a late start that any bad break in the weather after
planting operations started would have proved costly. Thus a
new tree planter has been purchased and two crews will be hired
to take care of the tree planting load in the future.
In previous years we stored the District equipment, and the
equipment on loan from the U. S. Soil Conservation Service, in
the county supervisors’ lot near the office. This year the county
moved their lot making it necessary for us to find suitable space.
A fence was built around the lot leased from the CB&Q railroad.
(Continued on page 10.)
Attends Shorthorn
Show and Sal*—
State Sen. Frank Nelson re
turned Friday from Omaha
where he had attended the an
nual Polled Shorthorn shew and
sale. Mr. Nelson bought a bull
which was first in his class and
nexvt to the reserve champion
of the show. _
No Agency Rules
Holt District
By D. E. BOWEN
Chairman, Holt District
Board of Supervisors
I have had the honor of serv
ing as a member of the board of
supervisors of the Holt Soil
Conservation District since its
organization in the spring of
1944.
Our district, like all others in
Nbraska, is administered by a
board of supervisors composed
of land owners who are respon
sible only to the people of the
District. This is truly an exam
ple of democratic home rule.
No outside state or federal a
gency dictates the policies, pro
cedures, or programs sponsored
by the District.
At the beginning of each
year, our local board develops
a plan of work which includes
a list of soil and water conser
vation practices designed to fit
.he meds of the farms in this
county. The supervisors see to
H that employees of the Soil
Conservation Service assigned
to assist the District, carry out
the provisions of the plan in
their work on farms throughout
he county.
We have included educa
tional work in the plans for
the District in order that
farmers will know the pro
gram being carried out in the
county. We have scheduled
meetings where our plans
and the various types of work
have been discussed.
With the help of the Soil Con
servation Service employees,
we will schedule demonstra
tions for anyone interested in
how to build terraces that can
be farmed with regular machin
ery. There is considerable
“know-how” needed in build
ing a farmable terrace, and we
try to pass this kind of informa
tion along to those who want
it.
Those of us on the board be
lieved that trees can play an
important part in soil and water
conservation in this territory
and included demonstrations in
the planting of farmstead shel
terbelts and field windbreaks
as a part of our educational pro
gram. In fact, we try to keep a
general educational program
constantly moving forward to
inform the people of this county
of all the different parts of our
Soil Conservation District pro
gram.
It is the desire of the super
visors that every farm has a
'complete conservation program
that will fit the needs of the
land and as completely as pos
sible conserve the soil and the
rain that falls upon it. Each in
dividual farm plan then be
comes a part of a still gre ter
plan of the county which in I
turn fits into and will become |
a part of a conservation pro
gram of all the Districts in. Ne
braska and eventually the
whole nation.
I believe every District su
pervisor is always on the look
out for better and easier ways
to accomplish the conservation
job ahead of us. We will, for a
long time, need to be alert to
the needs for research in con
ervation.
In the early days of the Dis
trict, we learned that there
were certain soil conservation
practices needed in the county,
but available equipment was
lacking to get the job done. The
U. S. Soil Conservation Service
placed on loan to the District
a grass drill, packer, tractor and
tree planter and then we sign-'
1 d a note to borrow money to
buy native grass seed. A small
charge was made for the use of
SECTION 2 — PAGES 9 TO 16 ]
O'NEILL. NEB., THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 23. 1950—PAGE 9
the machinery and the grass
seed was sold at a little profit.
What money the District
has made in the past years
has enabled us to increase
the amount of trees, seed and
machinery available to coop*
orators.
In 1948 the District won the
$500 award in the Omaha
World-Herald Soil Conserva
tion contest and won regional
recognition in the Permanent
Agriculture program sponsored
by the Sioux City Chamber of
Commerce and Journal Tribune.
A new and modern tree
planting machine was purchas
ed by the supervisors this
spring for use in the District
as an example of one of the ac
tivities of the local board. We
consider the selection and pur
chase of equipment, not com
monly available to farmers, as
just another one of the services
we can perform for the people
in the Holt Conservation Dis
trict.
Conserve Moisture
NO QUESTION about it! It will rain dollars from heaven
if you hold the moisture ... if you practice the soil
conservation practices that many of your neighbors are
finding so profitable and helpful.
★ ★ ★
Preserve Buildings
PAINT UP AND FIX UP is the same principle applied
to your farmstead instead of the soil. Many of you
have not “touched” your buildings since before the war!
Better not delay any longer. Hot winds and driving rains
in summer hasten deterioration. Why not plan to PAINT
UP and FIX UP this spring. We’d be glad to discuss your
plans with you.
Spelts-Ray Lumber Co.
PHONE 74 O’NEILL